the stairs, Cam congratulated himself on devising a way for Erin and him to set their less-than-friendly past to rest for good. It might seem goofy to someone else, but he acknowledged that his solution had done more than clear the air.
It had made a very serious woman smile. To his mind, there was nothing better than that.
By the time he found those stools buried under a pile of old furniture in the back corner of the basement storeroom, he’d nearly given up. They were dusty and laced with cobwebs, but after a quick hosing and drying, the sturdy chairs were ready to go. Just in time, too, because as he was delivering them to Erin, he spotted Maggie Kinley’s familiar old SUV turning onto Main Street. He hurried upstairs, set the stools in place and was on his way out when he heard, “Where are you going?”
Turning, he found Erin standing outside Parker’s room holding a pillow in one hand and some kind of outdoorsy pillowcase in the other. “I figured this is a family thing.”
“You’ve been helping me all day long,” she argued with a smile. “I think you deserve to see Parker’s face when he finds out what we’ve been up to in here.”
Something about the way she said “we” touched a part of him that he didn’t often bother with. It was the shadowy, distant corner of his heart that still believed—however faintly—that his own company wasn’t really enough for him, no matter how many times he insisted it was. Since there wasn’t time for him to gracefully leave, he decided to let that part of him answer, just this once. “I’d like that, too. Thanks for thinking of it.”
She gave him the kind of smile he’d never seen all those years he’d been tormenting her. Shy and sweet, it had a warm quality to it that made him smile back.
Footsteps on the stairs broke that brief, unexpected connection, and Cam retreated down the hallway with a vague comment about checking the drains in the bathroom. When it occurred to him that he meant to leave so Erin would have the spotlight, he was puzzled. It wasn’t like him to give ground to anyone, and why he’d suddenly do it now was beyond him.
Maybe there was still a hint of Christmas spirit in the air, he mused before grinning at his own foolishness. Then again, it was as good an explanation as any.
* * *
“You mean, we’re going to live here?” Parker asked, blue eyes shining with an emotion Erin couldn’t quite identify. It could sometimes be hard to tell what he was feeling, since he seemed reluctant to get excited about things. Even at Christmas, he’d held back from tearing open his gifts the way Abby had, as if he was scared to let anyone know how he felt about his presents.
Her mother had come and gone, so it was up to Erin to put him at ease. “You remember we talked last month about moving into town when the judge retired, right?”
He nodded, and Erin forged ahead with a chipper attitude that was as much for her benefit as his. She recognized that she was taking a huge risk, starting a new business in a less-than-robust economy. If Pampered Paws failed, she didn’t have a Plan B, and that kind of situation had always made her nervous. Now it was even more worrisome, because she had someone else relying on her. “Well, living over the pet store will make it easier for me to get it up and running quickly. Plus, you’ll be closer to the town park where you and Abby like to play.”
“Can I still go out to the farm?”
The anxiety in his soft voice just about broke her heart, and she realized that he’d assumed that in gaining one thing, he’d have to give up another that meant a lot to him. Countless times in the several months she’d been his foster mom, she’d silently cursed the people responsible for making this sweet, intelligent boy so fearful of losing what he loved.
Forcing a bright smile, she ruffled his hair. “Anytime you want. The horses and all the critters at the rescue center would miss you if you didn’t go see them. Not to mention, Grammy would forget how to make oatmeal cookies if you weren’t around to help her.”
“No, she wouldn’t,” he replied with a shy smile. “Grammy knows how to make everything.”
That tiny burst of confidence in her mother made Erin want to cheer. More than anything, Parker needed to have adults in his life that he could trust without question. That Mom had earned her way into his heart through baking didn’t surprise Erin in the least. Between her own children and a small army of local kids, Mom had been doing it for as long as Erin could remember.
“Yeah, I guess you’re right.” She heard footsteps coming out of the bathroom, and in the hallway she saw Cam holding a faucet handle that had apparently broken loose. At his questioning look, she smiled and waved him in. “Parker, this is an old friend of the family, Cam Stewart. He was at Drew and Bekah’s wedding, but he left before I could introduce you to him. He owns the Oaks Café.”
“Actually, my mom does,” Cam corrected her, addressing his comment to Parker as he offered his free hand. “It’s good to meet you, Parker.”
“Nice to meet you, too, sir,” the boy responded quietly, avoiding eye contact while they shook hands. He was that way when he encountered anyone outside the family, and Erin reminded herself that while it was concerning, she had to be patient with him.
Cam, however, seemed to have other ideas. Setting the fixture on an unopened box, he hunkered down so he was on a level with the shy boy. An awkward silence settled over them, and Erin opened her mouth to fill the void. Catching her eye, Cam stalled her with a slight shake of his head.
Focusing back on Parker, she noticed that he seemed to be waiting for something. Erin couldn’t begin to grasp what was going on, but instinct told her that it was important, so she kept quiet and watched the two of them.
After what felt like forever, Parker lifted his chin and gazed thoughtfully at Cam, assessing this new adult to determine whether or not he could be trusted. For his part, Cam didn’t say a word, just kept staring back as if he intended to do it the rest of the day if that’s what it took for Parker to be comfortable around him. And then, just when she was beginning to think it was all pointless, the most amazing thing happened.
“Is that your old truck out front?” Parker asked.
“Yeah, it is. It’s a fifty-six Ford pickup my granddad and I restored when I was in high school.”
“It’s real nice. You did a good job.”
Cam grinned at him. “Thanks.”
“Does it have three gears or four?”
Standing, Cam fished his keys out of his jeans pocket and dangled them in front of Parker. “Why don’t you come check it out for yourself?”
The kid who never spoke more than a sentence or two to a new acquaintance flashed a questioning look at Erin. “Can I?”
A surge of joy threatened to pop out of her mouth, and she swallowed to keep it in check. “Sure. You boys have fun.”
Clearly delighted, Parker all but ran from the apartment and started pounding down the stairs before Cam even stood up.
Because she could no longer contain her excitement, she beamed up at him. “I’m not sure what you did, but thank you.”
“I didn’t do anything, but you’re welcome.”
“Modesty from Cam
