dad’s barbershop at the end of high school.
“Thanks,” she said with a smile.
“Have you always had those dimples?”
“What?” she asked with a surprised laugh.
“Nothing. Sorry.”
Searching the square, she tried to find her father’s car before she realized that she had no idea what kind of vehicle he drove now.
“I just got in from the airport. I’m waiting for my dad to pick me up,” she explained to Cam.
He shook his head. “Sorry, I should have said right away. Your dad called me this morning and asked if I could bring you home. Something came up.” He looked away.
The reminder of why she’d returned from Italy came crashing back into her mind. “Is he at the doctor’s?”
Cam nodded and quickly changed the subject. “Let me help with your bags.” He grabbed all three of her bags with an exaggerated groan. “How many bodies do you have in here?”
“Just a few.” Elle picked up her carry-on and purse, then followed him to his truck. She noticed that Bayside Builders was emblazoned on the side in black block lettering. After securing her luggage in the back, Cam surprised her by opening the passenger-side door. She slid into the truck as he skirted the hood and climbed into the driver’s seat.
After starting the engine, he turned to her again. “It’s been a while, Elle.”
She could feel the heat flooding her cheeks. Was he referring to the night she wished she could forget? There was one particular bad memory she’d give anything to erase. “That was a long time ago, Cam,” she said defensively.
Frowning, he turned in his seat to face her. “What was a long time ago?”
She rolled her eyes. “You know exactly what I’m talking about.” Seeing his blank expression, she paused, then decided to get it all out in the open. “The video...about Jasper,” she whispered, even though they were alone in the truck.
If she closed her eyes, she could see her dad’s disappointed face as he watched his only daughter hiccup and slur as she drunkenly professed her love for Jasper Dumont.
How could she think making that video would get Jasper to notice her? Maybe because the alcohol hadn’t allowed her to think at all. It definitely didn’t help when her oversize T-shirt had slipped off her shoulder, giving way to a wardrobe malfunction that would have made any reality-TV star blush.
To be honest, it wasn’t as though Elle had obsessed over the video every day for the last decade. Certainly not while she’d lived in Italy, the most beautiful place in the world. Why was it, then, that as soon as she stepped onto the sidewalk of her hometown the memory of the one bad thing she’d ever done came slamming back in crystal clear vision?
To her shock, Cam started laughing, his deep voice filling the truck. “Oh, my God, I forgot all about that.”
What the hell? How could he act so blasé about the fateful event that almost got her suspended and laughed right out of town? Even now the thought of it could produce an embarrassed blush on her face the color of a ripe Italian tomato.
He must have noticed her doing her best blend-in-with-the-seat impression because his own expression softened. “Don’t tell me that stupid little video is why you’ve stayed away all these years?”
Stupid? Little? No way. It had been the single most humiliating experience of her life. And while it might not have been the reason her dad had shipped her off to college in a galaxy far, far away, it hadn’t helped matters.
In the end, her dad had, as usual, been right. She’d needed to get far away from Bayside—to forget, and to become her own person, without all the baggage weighing her down. Besides, she’d loved college, especially when she took a year to study abroad. Her love affair with Italy began then, and concluded after her graduation, when she’d moved to Florence for grad school. Staying in Italy for an art history major was a no-brainer. She’d been able to work in the most amazing museums and galleries. Every second she spent at the Uffizi, San Marco Museum, the Accademia or the Palazzo Vecchio had been among the most amazing moments in her life, and did help her forget. A little.
Still, she’d missed home.
“Happy to be back?” Cam asked as if he’d read her mind, before pulling out into the light traffic.
“I missed...certain things.”
“Your dad,” he supplied softly.
She smiled for a moment before it faded. The worry that had nestled inside her belly began to spread, causing her to roll down her window.
“How is he really?” she asked quietly.
Elle still couldn’t believe her dad had kept the cancer diagnosis from her. When he’d finally told her, he’d been so flippant about it. “Oh, it’s only bladder cancer. That’s one of the easy ones.”
There was nothing easy about cancer.
Cam followed suit and rolled his own window down. “He had some rough moments toward the end of the treatment period. But I think overall he’s doing really well. Except for a couple days off here and there, he never stopped working.”
For twenty-four years her dad had been the chief of police in Bayside. After her mom had died, they’d moved back to her father’s hometown for a fresh start. While he’d retired a couple years ago, no one could keep a man who’d been working since the age of ten at home. He’d been volunteering as security at the local high school ever since.
“Really?” she asked.
Cam nodded. “Sure. Heard he broke up a minor fight last week.”
“A fight? Is he okay? Should he even be doing that right now?”
He slanted a steady glance in her direction. “He’s fine. Don’t worry. The whole town’s looking out for him.”
Yeah, the way they’d looked out for him ten years ago? Elle shook her head and willed the memories away. It hadn’t been the town’s fault he didn’t get voted in as county sheriff. That had been her doing. Her and that damn video. She wiped her sweaty palms on her khaki linen pants.
Cam turned the truck onto Bay View Road, heading away from the center of town. They passed the fork in the road, the one that would take them to either the east side, known as the nice, wealthy portion of town, or to the west side, where she lived.
“Really,” he added with another sidelong glance as she raised an eyebrow.
“Please tell me the truth.” She could hear the urgency in her voice.
“The truth is he has cancer.”
She gulped. “I gathered that part already.” Typical. The very few conversations she’d ever had with Cam had been pretty similar. He hadn’t been known for his words. Or his demeanor. Really, he’d been a loner. A tall, somewhat scary kind of recluse.
Elle didn’t know what she was expecting now. To be honest,
