Page 13 of I Loved You First

Cam frowned as he stared at her. “Ally won’t be there. She and I aren’t together.”

She flicked a glance at his left hand—at his bare ring finger. “Oh.”

His frown deepened as he followed her gaze, looking at his hand. “I’m raising Brady on my own.”

“Oh,” she repeated when their eyes locked again. “I didn’t realize…” Then she swiped her hair behind her ear. “I’ll try to come,” she finished lamely.

He nodded, still looking at her as if he was confused. “We have a place out by the lake, off the old logging road.”

She swallowed now, needing no other directions to find his home. Long ago, they’d dreamed of the space where they would put a house—the place where he’d kissed her for the first time and the spot where they’d often made love on sleeping bags in the back of his truck.

“Um, how much do we owe you for the railing?” she said in a rush, wanting to move their conversation to anything else.

He shook his head. “Don’t worry about it. I was hardly here for any time at all. The post needs a little paint where I screwed in the dowels. I can take care of it, but I need to know the color.”

She adamantly shook her head. “I can do it. But thank you,” she added.

And then they stood there in the horrible silence, staring at each other. “I should go check on my mom.”

With that, she went back inside and out to the garden, where her mom sat in her favorite rocker, tilting her head to the sun.

“Mom?”

Her mother didn’t bother to open her eyes. “It’s a gorgeous day.”

She huffed out a quiet laugh, caring little about the bright-blue skies and mild temperatures. “You could have warned me that he was here.”

“I asked Ellie to send Danny. When she didn’t, I figured I’d take a page from her book and let things play out however they were going to.”

Her mouth fell open as she frowned. “Gee, Mom. Thanks.”

“I couldn’t tell him to leave, Fiona. They were doing us a favor.”

She sighed as the sun warmed her shoulders. “Cam and Ally aren’t together.”

“I know.” Mom looked at her now. “They haven’t been for a long time.”

Fiona’s frown returned because she’d been certain Cam and Ally would have gotten married. Cam was a family man through and through. He’d only ever wanted two things in life: to build houses with his father and brothers and to get married and have kids of his own. “But what about Brady?”

“Cam’s been raising him on his own since Brady was a baby.”

The surprises kept coming. “Where’s Ally?”

“She left town. I don’t know much about the situation. They don’t talk about it.”

Fiona stared at the cheerful flowers swaying in the breeze. “I had no idea.”

“That’s the way you’ve seemed to want it. After you left, you were so determined to carve out a new life for yourself. Melody and I knew how much you needed to move on, so we let you. Were we wrong?”

She shook her head, thinking of her childhood best friend, whom she frequently talked to. “No, you weren’t wrong.”

“He’s an excellent father, Fi. Loving and attentive.”

She nodded, expecting nothing less. “He lives out by the lake.”

Mom nodded this time. “For the last couple of years now. He and his family built the place.”

All of this was coming as the biggest of shocks. Nothing was how she’d imagined it in her head. “I think I’m going to head out for a while. The newel post needs some paint. I’ll grab a sampler at the hardware store.”