be so hard on him. I stepped up. I work for the family.”
Cam knew Jasper wasn’t saying that out of spite. He was only trying to help.
“And what an employee you turned out to be. Always wanting to change every damn little thing.”
That same painful look flashed in Jasper’s eyes now and Cam wanted to kick himself. He hadn’t planned to come in here today to upset everyone. Nor had he intended to cause so much ill will when he stopped working for his parents and started his own company.
But it didn’t take a soured afternoon to see the results of his decision. He carried around the guilt on a daily basis.
Cam used to go to every construction site of every building, shopping mall, apartment complex or whatever else his dad had been working on. Collin had proudly introduced him as the future head of Dumont Industries to anyone who would listen. That included Rick, the foreman on one of his job sites.
Rick had been the first person to really talk to Cam about construction. He’d patiently answered question after question. Walking around wearing a hard hat, looking at foundations and I beams made Cam feel excited. Not once had he ever felt that way in the office with his dad.
One summer Cam had announced that he would be working with Rick on the construction of a new multiplex. His dad still hadn’t realized that Cam liked working with his hands, enjoyed building things. Instead, Collin had bragged that his son wanted to learn the business from the ground up, and wasn’t that just great.
But even as a sixteen-year-old, Cam knew he’d found his calling. His dad never forgave him for it.
Cam pulled himself back to the present when his father let out an awkward and forced cough.
“I need to take this.” He waved his phone and made a quick exit from the room, hurt trailing in his wake.
Cam didn’t look at his mother when she rose from her seat, nor did he say goodbye as he left the solarium and headed back through the sprawling house toward the front door. He turned only when he heard his brother’s voice.
“Cam, wait.” Jasper bounded toward him, his expression concerned.
“Don’t worry about it,” Cam said. “And don’t listen to the old man. You’re doing a great job.”
Jasper’s face fell. “Yeah, I can’t get my own father to listen to my ideas, let alone the rest of the board. Quick, someone get me on the cover of Forbes.”
Cam didn’t know what to say and he couldn’t stand seeing the frustration in his brother’s eyes. “Listen, I’ll stop by your place later and fix that balcony door.”
Jasper shook his head.
“What?” Cam asked. “It’s been hanging off the hinges for weeks. And while I’m there I can measure for those shelves you were talking about.”
“Stop,” Jasper said. “You don’t owe me anything, Cam.”
But he did. Cam was in debt to his little brother and fixing a few things around his condo didn’t even come close to making up for it.
“I’ll be by around seven,” he said, his voice offering no room for argument. With his hand on the brass doorknob of the opulent front door, he asked his baby brother, “Are you happy?”
“What?”
“Answer the damn question, Jasp.”
Jasper let out a long exhalation. “I’m fine. Stop worrying about me. Things are going fine.”
But he did worry about him. More than his brother realized. Because Jasper had stepped up for him and Cam would spend the rest of his life making it right.
“Hey, bro. Answer me this.” Cam waited for Jasper to meet his eyes. “Do you really not remember Elle Owens?”
Jasper shrugged. “Kind of. But if you say she’s gorgeous now...”
Unbelievable. Because to Cam’s way of thinking, the woman he’d picked up this morning was pretty damn unforgettable.
“I never said gorgeous.” But he very easily could have. Suddenly, Cam felt incredibly uncomfortable.
His brother grinned as Cam flipped him off and left the house, thoughts of just how gorgeous Elle had become following him out the door.
“Cancer-free as of today.”
The breath she let out was full of relief. Elle had been holding her jaw so tight that her face actually ached.
“Seriously?” she asked tentatively. She knew better than anyone that her dad had a habit of downplaying. The fact that he hadn’t shared his diagnosis—even during their recent Christmas visit—until a couple weeks ago still had her seeing red.
“Cross my heart.” Her dad kissed her on the head before engulfing her in a long, hard hug. Nothing could have felt better. “I’m sorry I wasn’t there to pick you up this morning.”
“Oh, don’t worry about that.” She waved a hand in the air as she took in her father. He looked mostly the same, a little thinner maybe, and a bit pale. But that was to be expected. “Tell me everything the doctor said, and start from the beginning.”
Even though he rolled his eyes, Elle held firm. She would get the truth of the situation even if that meant calling the doctor herself.
“Our food is going to get cold,” he said, gesturing to the spread on the table.
“It won’t if you hurry up and tell me.”
“You’ve always been the most stubborn little thing,” he said with a laugh.
She returned with a chuckle of her own. “Wonder where I get that trait from.”
“Fine, fine. The treatment seemed to work. When I went back in today, doc said the scope we did last week didn’t detect any cancerous cells.”
He was beaming and Elle wanted to share in his joy, but she’d done a fair amount of research on bladder cancer. They would need to stay on top of this to ensure it didn’t return. Her dad would have to get scopes often and probably for the rest of his life.
A small concession for keeping him in her life. With her mother already passed, Elle would do anything to protect her only remaining parent. Even though she barely remembered her mom, she wanted to think that her returning from Italy would have made her proud.
But for the moment, she’d try and enjoy the victory with him. She reached for a pair of wineglasses when an invitation on the counter caught her eye.
Her father followed her gaze. “Mrs. Dumont is having another party on Friday and the theme is Printemps.” He rolled his eyes as he took the wineglasses from her hands.
“Springtime,” Elle murmured. “Well, that’s a fitting
