Page 72 of I Loved You First

She held the picture up for Cam to see—the three of them standing snuggled up, grinning for the photographer. “Did you know about this?”

Cam shook his head, loving how the three of them looked together. “Nope. Mom and Brady cooked up this surprise when she picked him up to have breakfast with Grampy.”

“We have a picture, too,” Brady told Cam. “I snuck it up to my room when Grammy came in to give you a hug. That way you could be surprised, too.”

“Thanks, bud.”

“You’re welcome.” Brady sat next to Fiona. “The lady at the picture printing place said we’re a gorgeous family.”

Fi’s eyes darted to Cam’s as she wrapped her arm around Brady’s shoulders. “Friends are a special type of family.”

“Yeah,” Brady said as he hugged her. “’Cause you’re my best friend.”

She hugged him back, holding on, kissing the top of his head. “Thank you so much for my present. I love it.”

Brady smiled. “Now you can put your picture in Seattle.”

She nodded. “I definitely will. Right where I can see it every day.”

“You have to go there because that’s where you live.”

“I do. In a big building that reaches up to the sky.”

Brady’s eyes popped wide. “In the sky?”

She nodded again. “It’s called a high-rise because it’s so tall. I have to take an elevator to get to my house.”

“Wow!”

“This week I’ll show you some pictures on the computer.”

Brady nodded excitedly. “Okay.”

Cam restlessly scratched his jaw as he watched the two people he loved most talking about Fiona’s life that didn’t include him or his son. “Who needs a snack before we go swimming?”

Brady stood in a rush. “I can get us granola bars. And there’s cantaloupe in the fridge. But I can’t get that because the bowl’s too big.”

Gaining his feet, Cam walked to the kitchen, grabbing the bowl, looking at Fiona as she looked at him. “Are you sticking around for snacks and swimming?”

She nodded. “Sure.”

He took the lid off the bowl, only to glance up from what he was doing when he felt her eyes still on him. “What’s up?”

She shrugged. “You tell me.”

He grabbed a serving spoon from the drawer. “I’m good.”

Or he would be after he took a couple of deep breaths. The last thing he wanted was to spoil their day because of his problem. Fi lived in Seattle. Brady seemed to understand that. Both he and Fi regularly explained that to his son. And it wasn’t changing. Fiona dug the fast-paced, high-rise lifestyle. That’s how it was.

She nodded again. “Okay.”

Brady walked over with two boxes of granola bars. “Fiona, you pick first. That’s what you do to be polite.”

She smiled. “That is polite. I’ll take chocolate chip, please.”

He brought the box closer for her to take one.

She grabbed one. “Thank you.”