A Reason to Be Alone (The Camdyn Series Book 2) Read online

  “And you think I’m driving you crazy?” I asked incredulously, right before he lowered his head and drew me into an unbelievable kiss. I rested my hand against the smoothness of his cheek as his fingers trailed lightly across my neck and into my hair, pulling me closer.

  Surely this is what heaven feels like, I thought as I nestled against him.

  “Yuck!” I heard a little voice exclaim, and I felt a breath escape Cole’s lips as he laughed quietly. I started to lean back, but he held me where I was and shook his head, so I rested my forehead against his cheek.

  “Charlotte,” he whispered, “are you spying on us?”

  “They’re gross kissing!” she yelled, and I heard her footsteps running back toward the front door.

  “Ratted out by a four-year-old,” he complained, and I tilted my head up and pressed my lips softly against his cheek. He grabbed both my hands and held me about a foot away from him, flashing his impeccable smile.

  “Had enough?” I teased him quietly.

  “Never,” he whispered. “Marry me, so I can be the happiest man on earth.”

  “I thought you told your mom you weren’t going to propose,” I said, gazing up into his brown eyes.

  “I guess I lied,” he chuckled.

  “Well, I lied too,” I admitted. “As long as you keep proposing, I will keep accepting, every time.”

  Chapter Three

  It was almost seven o’clock when Rachel stated that they had to go because Jeff’s band had a gig at B’s. Liz piped in and said she would like to see the band play, asking Ted to run her over there for a while. Rosalie stated she would like to tag along.

  “Who’s watching Charlotte?” Ted asked inquisitively before he bothered answering his wife or his sister.

  “Oh, it’s okay, Daddy, she can come with us,” Rachel stated sweetly. A grimace crossed Ted’s usually happy face.

  “You’re taking Charlotte to a bar?”

  I almost laughed when I heard those words, because the notion sounded so ridiculous, but Rachel had a ready response.

  “Just for a little while, and there won’t be anybody there yet anyway,” she told him. He sighed heavily as he looked from one face to the other and finally relented. I could tell by the way the light shone in his eyes that he knew something was going on, especially when a strange car pulled into the driveway carrying a friend of Rosalie’s who “just happened to stop by, but would be happy to man the bed and breakfast for a couple hours.” As Cole and I walked toward his truck, Ted winked at me with a slight grin playing about his lips.

  “Your dad knows,” I told Cole as soon as we started up the driveway.

  “Yeah, he’s pretty perceptive about stuff like that. I don’t know why they thought they could pull one over on him.” I looked out the window for a few seconds, but I turned when Cole reached over and took my hand, smiling at me from the driver’s seat.

  “I should have brought my phone,” I suddenly realized. “It actually works on the way to B’s.”

  “You really should get a new provider, now that you’re staying,” Cole remarked with a smile. “Speaking of phones, I forgot to tell you that your brother called me earlier.”

  “Charlie called you?”

  “Yep. He said he talked to you yesterday morning and just wanted to make sure you made it back in one piece.”

  “Oh, that’s nice,” I shrugged, but Cole started laughing.

  “I could hear Trina behind him, pumping him for information. He asked if you were with me. I told him you were helping Aunt Rosalie today, and that I would see you tonight. I’m pretty sure he wanted to know whether I proposed, but he couldn’t ask with Trina right behind him, so he just kept asking how things were going.”

  “And how are things going?” I asked him with a grin.

  “Pretty perfectly at the moment,” he stated.

  It didn’t take long to get to B’s, and we followed Rachel, Jeff and Charlotte inside. I was surprised at how many people were in the building, and I decided then that Ted must be a pretty popular guy. A couple of people said hello to Cole as we passed, but Rachel was quick to tell everyone that Ted was coming, so people were waiting quietly and expectantly. As soon as Rachel set Charlotte on the ground, she came running to me and threw her arms around my leg. I knelt beside her and let her put her little arm around my neck as we waited for her grandpa to arrive.

  Finally, the door swung open to the bright daylight outside and Cole’s parents stepped through the door, with everyone yelling, “Surprise!” Ted did a fairly good job at feigning shock, even though I knew the truth. The silence broken, the room suddenly became a bustle of noise and activity, with people mingling and talking loudly. I carried Charlotte to a table at the side of the room, where I sat her in a chair and then settled in beside her.

  “It’s loud in here,” she remarked, sticking her fingers in her ears. I smiled down at her in her pink dress with her pretty brown curls and nodded.

  “If you think it’s loud now, just wait until your daddy starts playing the guitar,” I told her. She opened her eyes wide and gritted her teeth, and then laughed as though she had done something hilarious. Glancing over at Cole, I noticed that he had stopped to chat with Tony, the lead singer of Jeff’s band, and his wife Sara. When Jeff and Rachel joined them, I couldn’t help but realize that they kept glancing over at me. Finally, they all moved toward the table where Charlotte and I sat, and I stood to meet them.

  “Tony and Sara want to go on the float trip with us,” Rachel announced.

  “I can’t believe you’ve never been camping,” Sara said emphatically as Rachel draped her arm across my shoulders.

  “I had never been either, until I moved here,” Tony interjected, his pompadour hair showing a hint of green tips at the ends.

  “You city folk,” Rachel teased. “Just think of all the great things we’ll get to do now that you’re staying.”

  “Oh, are you staying for good?” Sara asked, wide-eyed as Tony put his hands on his hips and leaned against the wall.

  “Yeah, what do you think of this?” Rachel interjected before I could answer, pointing at my ring. Sara gasped and reached out for my hand.

  “Oh my word! Cole Parker, I cannot believe…” Sara began, but when she glanced at Cole, she shook her head. “Never mind, I guess I can, but I wouldn’t have expected you to say yes, what with all the…”

  The proposals? Am I never going to live that down?

  I felt my eyes grow wide at the same time Sara looked into my face, and I knew immediately that we were both thinking the same thing.

  “I’m so sorry, Camdyn,” she said with a sigh.

  “Don’t worry about it,” I told her quietly. “Rachel and Cole have already teased me about that tonight, so you’re in good company.” When I smiled at her, I could actually see the relief cross her face.

  “So you popped the question?” Tony directed at Cole. “I was wondering why your face was as smooth as a baby’s butt.” He reached out and slid his hand across Cole’s cheek for effect, until Cole jokingly glared at him.

  “You would think I never shaved before, the way everyone’s acting!” he stated, shaking his head.

  “It’s just because we’re not used to seeing you quite so pretty, Parker.” Tony rocked to his toes and smoothed down his purple t-shirt as he stretched himself to try to match Cole’s height, coming up just a bit short.

  “Did you just call me pretty?” Cole wanted to know. “This coming from a guy who has more hairspray on than any woman in here. Sara, can’t you control your husband?”

  “I’m pretty sure we both know the answer to that question,” Sara told him emphatically.

  “That’s right, I will not be controlled,” Tony relayed to the group of us as he narrowed his eyes for effect, but then he smiled and shrugged. “Congratulations, though, seriously man.” He shook Cole’s hand and then patted him on the back as Cole said thanks.

  A couple of other men walked up then, and they all wa
ndered off together leaving us ladies alone with Charlotte. Sara and Rachel busied themselves by talking about camping, and Charlotte and I began a game of I Spy. She was busy describing her mom’s purse to me for the third time when she suddenly jumped to her feet, whispering in my ear that she needed to go potty. I hurriedly passed her off to Rachel, who headed off with her straightaway. Sara smiled before sitting down in a chair next to me.

  “So, how long have you and Cole known each other?” she asked, putting her elbows on the table and resting her chin on her hands. I hesitated for a moment, looking into her light green eyes.

  “Almost three weeks,” I managed to blurt, feeling a little foolish. Even though it felt perfectly natural to me, it sounded completely insane to say it out loud.

  “No, seriously…” she said with a laugh, looking at me expectantly.

  Great, she thinks I’m a total lunatic.

  “Seriously, almost three weeks,” I stated again. She gasped and lifted her chin off her hands, folding her arms across her chest.

  “Wow, I guess Cole was serious about that ‘the one’ stuff after all. Three weeks, though… y’all are crazy.”

  “Yeah, I suppose so,” I told her with a smile. “How long have you known Cole?”

  “Practically all my life. We went to school together, and he used to go out with my best friend, so he was always around.”

  “Stephanie was your best friend?” I asked a little apprehensively. I remembered the way I had actually been insanely jealous of Stephanie not too long ago. After everything Cole had told me about his ex, though, I had a new admiration for her, and I also felt a little sorry for her.

  “Yeah, Steph,” she said wistfully. “She called me several days ago, you know. She said she ran into you and Rachel. I didn’t know what to say, because it had been a long time since she had mentioned Cole. It was funny, though, because she just laughed and said, ‘Thank God I met Brian and I’m so happy now, because if I had met that girl a few years ago, I would have full-on hated her.’ She said you were perfectly cute, and she could totally see you with Cole.’”

  “She said that?” I was a little shocked.

  “Yeah, something along those lines. It is kind of funny, though – she turned down Cole’s proposal, and he wound up proposing to someone who did the exact same thing to another guy.” A pained expression crossed her face, and she wrinkled up her nose. “Sorry, I guess I shouldn’t have just assumed you knew about the whole proposal thing. I keep putting my foot in my mouth.”

  “It’s okay, I know,” I told her. “Stephanie is a way better person than me, though, I assure you. I don’t think I could have done what she did.”

  “No, but I can’t imagine marrying someone who didn’t love me, either,” she offered. I smiled at her sitting next to me, blonde bob gently moving in the breeze coming from the vent above her head, and I wondered what she really thought of me, having been Stephanie’s best friend.

  “Cole doesn’t think anybody knows what happened between him and Stephanie, but you do, don’t you?” I asked her pointedly.

  “I will admit, there’s not much I don’t know about that,” she stated. “I’m sure deep inside Cole thinks I know, but he’s never talked to me about it.”

  All this talk about Stephanie was making me feel a little strange, and I glanced over at Cole as I slid down a little farther in my seat. I tried to imagine him proposing to me again, and me telling him no, and it physically made my heart hurt.

  No, I definitely couldn’t have done it – not if it was a man I loved.

  “I’m sorry, I didn’t mean to bring all that up,” Sara said then. “You’ll have to excuse us a little bit – we’re not accustomed to seeing Cole with anyone, especially not someone he’s crazy about. He’s usually so laid back, but when he’s with you there’s this pent up energy, almost like he’s about ready to bust.”

  “Really?” I asked with a laugh as I gazed over at him, his arm strung over his dad’s shoulders as the two of them competed to tell a story. “I honestly can’t believe he wants to be with me. I feel like I’m inside a dream or something.”

  “Aunt Cammie, I had to poop,” Charlotte announced suddenly as she returned to the table.

  “Some dream!” Sara exclaimed, and we both laughed so hard I thought I was going to cry.

  We listened as Rachel gave Charlotte a very thorough lecture on when and where it was appropriate to talk about bodily functions, which was basically not anywhere and only in a whisper, and only to her mother. That brought on all sorts of questions, such as what happened when Charlotte was at Grandma’s house, or if Aunt Cammie was watching her. Inevitably Rachel relented and agreed that it was okay to tell her grandma or me or whoever was watching her, but those were the only people. After a moment, Rachel sat down as though she was exhausted, giving me a look that could only be described as: See what I go through? Charlotte shrugged her shoulders and looked at me with a mischievous grin.

  “Really, Mommy, it’s no biggie. Everybody poops!” Charlotte exclaimed, causing Rachel’s face to turn a brilliant shade of red as Sara and I burst into laughter again.

  Pretty soon we all stood to move to the center of the room where the cake had been displayed and everyone was preparing to sing “Happy Birthday” to Ted. Cole put his arm around me protectively as I stepped up beside him, pressing a kiss against my temple. After the singing, Rosalie went to work cutting the cake, passing out huge slabs of the chocolate with fudge mixed through that absolutely melted in my mouth. I made a mental note that I would have to run a little harder in the morning to take care of the huge dinner and that hunk of cake, but I would worry about that later. When the band got up to play, Tony asked if Ted wanted to say anything before they got started, and he rambled up to the stage looking a little sheepish but definitely young for his fifty years.

  “Well,” he began, smiling out at his friends, “I’m really not one for giving speeches. Telling stories, sure, but giving speeches…” There was some laughter through the crowd, and he shook his head. “This is really nice, what you all have done for me. They say you can tell a man by his friends, and I think you’re making me look pretty good tonight. I just want to say thank you.

  “This is probably going to be my second most memorable birthday. I say second, because there’s one that I will always remember a little more, and that was thirty years ago today. On that birthday I had finally worked up the courage to ask the prettiest girl in the county to be my wife, and she said yes. I love you just as much today, Lizzie.”

  Everyone cheered and clapped, and Liz smiled at him and shook her head as though she was slightly embarrassed.

  “But I want to say one more thing, on that note,” Ted continued. “The only thing better than being happy myself is seeing my kids happy, and I found out tonight that the pretty little blonde over there sitting next to my wife is going to be my daughter-in-law soon. Cole and Camdyn, would you join me up here for a minute?”

  There was not a single bone in my body that wanted to walk up to that stage, but what was I supposed to do? I felt myself rising from my seat almost like an out of body experience. I dared a glance at Cole as he grabbed my hand, and he looked nearly as worried as I was. Suddenly I wished I hadn’t eaten that cake.

  After moving methodically up the steps, I neared Ted, and he reached out and put his arm around me.

  “Camdyn, do you remember the night we met?” he asked, a grin spreading across his face. He had a really pleasant smile – not as wonderful as Cole’s, but pretty great nonetheless.

  “Of course I do.” I knew instinctively that my cheeks were turning red, but I had no idea what to do about it.

  “You know that pretty shade of pink that your cheeks are turning now?” I couldn’t help but laugh.

  “Yes, sir.”

  “You looked just like that when I met you. In fact, you both seemed kind of embarrassed that night. Why was that?” I could hear the laughter out in front of me as I closed my eyes and tried to
calm my nerves, remembering very well the night I met Ted. Cole had been just about to kiss me when his dad knocked on the door.

  “I guess neither of us expected you to interrupt our date,” I said with a chuckle, as Ted squeezed my shoulder.

  “Well, I have to tell you something about that,” he stated, keeping his arm around me. “That next morning, I saw Cole bright and early. I asked him casually about the girl I saw him with, and he was just smiling from ear to ear, and tells me, ‘She’s the one, Dad.’ I said, ‘You just met this girl, and just like that, she’s the one?’ But he was insistent, ‘I just know…she’s the one.’”

  “Really?” I asked in disbelief, looking over at Cole, who was smiling in a way that told me he couldn’t believe his dad was talking about that. I grinned and looked down at the stage floor.

  “That night, though, we saw him at the house and Lizzie asked him about you, and he said, ‘I don’t want to talk about it.’ Right then I thought, this girl is either going to be the best thing that ever happened to him, or the worst thing, but there won’t be any in between.” He paused as he looked over at Cole, who was shaking his head. “Of course, after that, you two got in a fight at my dining room table. I knew then that you were destined to be part of the family.”

  Ugh, how humiliating.

  “Oh my gosh,” I muttered as I dropped my head into my hands. He chuckled and went right on talking.

  “But all that being said, it’s easy to see that you make my son happy, and I will consider it a privilege to be your father-in-law.”

  I was sure at that moment that Ted had no idea why what he had just said to me was important, but the fact that I hadn’t enjoyed the experience of having a father in upwards of twenty years started bubbling up in my chest. With my eyes beginning to fill up with tears and absolutely no idea what to say, I simply turned to him and threw my arms around his neck. He only hesitated a second before he wrapped an arm around me protectively, exactly the way I imagined a dad would react. There was applause for a moment, and then Tony started introducing a song, and the music started. Ted and I walked down the stairs, and then he pinched me on the cheek gently like I was a little girl before handing me off to Cole.