The Fall (Colorado Coyotes #6)

Chapter 8

CHAPTER EIGHT

Cam

“Remember, the word ‘half’ has a silent l !” I call as the boys get out of my car for school. “Have a good day!”

I exhale hard once they’re gone, smiling when Sam turns to wave at me. I wave back and blow him a kiss, then glance over my left shoulder and pull into the lane of cars exiting the drop-off line.

So far the only gripe I have about their third-grade teacher is that she gives spelling tests every Monday. That means frenzied Sunday nights studying after dinner for us. Well, mostly for me and Tate because Sam always aces the pretest and doesn’t need to study.

Now that the boys are gone, I face the music and push a button on my phone to call Tess. I told her I didn’t want to talk about the date with Rowan when I picked up the boys from her. I needed some time to think, which of course required ice cream and Netflix rom-coms. I texted her a few details yesterday and told her we could talk about it this morning on my drive to work. I’m feeling over it now, so I’m ready.

“First of all, thanks for making me wait so long to talk about this like I’m some work friend you barely know or something,” she says in answer over my car speakers.

“You’re right. This is entirely about you and your feelings.”

She bypasses my sarcasm. “I need you to tell me how he said the sexual compatibility thing. I can’t get his tone from you just texting me the words.”

“Listen. I don’t want to do the thing where we break down what he said and what he might or might not have meant. I know what I want, and Rowan’s not it. I’m done wallowing and ready to move on.”

There’s a pause before she says, “How emotionally healthy of you. It’s the self-help books, isn’t it? You don’t even need me anymore. Enjoy your next wine and cupcake night with a paperback next to you on the couch instead of your sister.”

We try to take turns being overly dramatic, so I just roll my eyes. “Well, I won’t have to fight with the book over the last of the wine left in the bottle.”

“I’m just super fucking disappointed in Rowan. You told him you didn’t want to have sex and he tried to anyway?”

“No, that’s not how it happened.”

“How did it happen?”

I sigh softly, not wanting to replay it. “I proactively told him that I don’t want to have sex outside of a relationship. I’d say he was...confused by that.”

“Was this over dinner?”

“No, it was when we were making out on the couch.”

“Oh.”

“What’s with the tone? You’re making it sound like it’s a totally different story than it would have been if I’d said it over dinner.”

I can tell she’s moved the phone away from her face as she says, “No, it’s in the microwave. Boni steals it off the counter if I leave it out.”

“You made bacon,” I say, remembering Dom’s dog snagging it from the plate every time when we lived there.

“I’m just saying if you guys were partially naked and he was all ready to go and then you said you didn’t want to do anything, I can see how that would confuse him.”

I groan as I pull up to a red light after the car in front of me makes me miss the yellow. “We weren’t naked and you’re doing what I said I don’t want to do. I’ve moved on. I hope Rowan and I can still be friends.”

There’s a moment of silence, and then, “Okay. I just...you guys have always had such great chemistry. Could this have been a misunderstanding?”

Now she’s pissing me off. “Tess. I’m no longer letting men talk me into things I don’t want. Don’t make me deal with it from my own sister.”

“Well, shit. I’m sorry.”

“I have to get my head into work mode. I’ll talk to you later.”

“Okay, call me tonight.”

“Have a nice day being a trophy wife.”

She cackles. “Suck my tit. I’m volunteering at the women’s shelter today.”

I smile as she ends the call and my radio starts playing over my car speakers. Tess continued working as a waitress for several months after she and Dom moved in together, but he convinced her to quit since they were engaged and soon to be married. I’m happy for her; she busted her ass for years to support her family and she deserves to be the one being taken care of for once.

I thought I wanted that, too. To fall madly in love and maybe even have more kids with my dream man. Finishing my degree, starting my job and buying my house have changed me, though. Finally I’m in complete control of my life. I don’t need help supporting my boys.

Sure, affection would be nice, but I’ve pretty much forgotten about sex. Or I had, anyway, until Rowan kissed me.

He woke something up inside me. And I need it to go back to sleep. I like my stable, predictable life. Dreams don’t have to be grand and exciting. Sometimes, they’re simple—like being able to pay all your bills and having a garage to put your car in when it snows.

When I walk into the work break room thirty minutes later, my coworker Nia is glaring at a box on the counter.

“Philip brought donuts in,” she says flatly.

“Ooh, any apple fritters in there?” I turn to walk over to the box.

“Not only are there no apple fritters, it’s just a few two-day-old glazed grocery store donuts leftover from his kid’s Friday night sleepover.”

She rolls her eyes and I laugh, ditching the donuts and heading for the coffeepot instead. Nia is also a paralegal at the firm, and she’s my closest work friend.

Walking over to me, she lowers her voice. “I don’t get how a partner who makes as much as he does won’t even spring for some fresh fucking donuts once every quarter.”

Philip McGill, one of the firm’s founding partners, is notoriously cheap. He has an iron and an ironing board in a room attached to his office, where he presses his own work shirts between meetings because he refuses to pay for dry-cleaning.

“How was your weekend?” I ask Nia.

“It was really good, actually. Derek and I had the first date night we’ve had in a long time. And Sunday, I got all the laundry done. Like all . Every single thing.”

“Nice.”

“How about you?”

I wrinkle my nose and shrug. “Not the best weekend ever, but it was nice to sleep in. The boys brought me breakfast in bed on Sunday morning and my bed is full of crumbs now.”

Tom comes into the break room. Nia and I both do a double take when we see him.

“You don’t look like an extra for The Walking Dead ,” I say. “Did you finally get some sleep?”

He smiles, looking about ten years younger than he did on Friday. “Jeannie’s parents flew in on Saturday to help with the babies for a week. We both got seven continuous hours of sleep Saturday night and again last night. I feel like I could run a marathon right now.”

Nia, his paralegal, gives him a skeptical look. “Maybe you should climb Mount Workload first. We are so behind on the Fielding filing.”

“I’m on it, boss. Planning to work through lunch today and get it all done.”

“I’ll tell Andrew to order in sandwiches for us.”

Tom shakes his head. “You don’t have to work through lunch just because I am. I’m the one who’s massively behind.”

“And I’m the one who’s gonna help you catch up.”

Tom opens his arms like he’s about to hug her. Nia puts up a palm. She’s let us all know she’s not a fan of work hugs.

“You hug me and I’ll not only go out for lunch, I’ll take the afternoon off.”

Tom grins and drops his arms. “So no hug, then. I’d name our next baby after you, but I’m getting a double vasectomy in a few weeks.”

I furrow my brow. “A...double?”

He nods as he pours a cup of coffee. “I told the doctor to cut the stuff, burn it, tie it up, douse it with acid...whatever it takes to conclusively close down all the pipelines. If Jeannie got pregnant again while we have newborn triplets...” He shudders. “Let’s not even go there.”

I smile and walk toward the break room door. “Have a productive morning, guys.”

“You too,” Tom says. He goes over to the break room counter. “Who brought in donuts?”

Nia answers. “Leftover from Philip’s daughter’s Friday night sleepover.”

Tom shakes his head. “Jesus, he’s cheap.”

I leave the break room and go into my office, where I run into an administrative assistant named Lila in the doorway.

“Morning, Cam,” she says brightly. “Just making a delivery for you. Also, Harrison Stevens wants you to call him back as soon as you can.”

“Okay, thanks.”

The delivery was a beautiful arrangement of assorted pink and white flowers, which she left on my desk. I read the card and sigh softly.

I’m sorry. I’m giving you space but I hope we can talk soon.

Rowan

A flood of emotions pours in. That was sweet of him. Did I overreact Friday night?

No. I’m not the woman I used to be. She was beyond easy to please because she had no standards. I’m complicated now. I don’t even know if I want to be in a relationship, but if I decide to, it will have to be with a man who understands I’m not as trusting or easy to be with as I once was.

I move the flowers to my windowsill, but not being able to see them anymore as I sit down at my desk doesn’t help.

Harrison Stevens is an executive at Sundrift, the company Kathy just signed a new contract with. Harrison is an engineer, so he often helps me make sure I have the wording right when I draft briefs and contracts for the company. I call his office and his assistant puts me right through to him.

“Hey, good morning, Cam.”

“Good morning, how are you?”

“Not bad. Thanks for getting back to me so quickly. I need to ask a favor.”

Sundrift is such an important client for the firm that he could ask me for just about anything and I’d agree to it. “Sure, how can I help?”

“We’re scheduled to review the latest contract on Wednesday at nine, but I just had something come up here at the office for that time that I can’t miss. Can we review the contract over dinner Thursday evening instead?”

“Of course.”

We could review the contract next to a dumpster in an alley at midnight if he wanted to. Kathy made it clear to me that what Sundrift execs want from us, they get.

“Perfect, thanks. I’ll have Amelia make a reservation and send you the details.”

“Sounds good, see you Thursday.”

We end the call and I immediately text Tess about helping with my boys that night. Tate has hockey practice, but I know she won’t mind keeping the boys and getting them both wherever they need to go. I rarely have to work during the evening and to keep Harrison happy, I’ll lean on my sister.

The sweet scent of the flowers makes me turn and look at them. They really are beautiful. I want Rowan and I to stay friends. I probably need to text him.

I pick up my phone and stare at the screen for a solid minute, trying to figure out what to say.

Finally, I start typing.