Page 83 of Call It Home

I saw her wince, and it felt like a knife to my heart. She didn’t return the words, and that was like the knife twisting.

I thought it had been hell when Trey was taken away. But it was nothing compared to watching Cam drive away.

Chapter33

Cam

I drovedown the dark road, away from Mac’s house. I was numb, still processing everything he’d just told me. I was feeling so many things. I honestly didn’t know which I should feel first.

I hit the intersection close to downtown. If I turned right, I’d head toward my house. It had been my sanctuary for the past several years, ever since I’d bought it and updated it. But now, if I thought it felt large before, it was only going to echo the loneliness I was feeling.

I turned left, and, as if on autopilot, the car turned into the driveway that led behind The Dogtrot, toward Em and Zach’s house. I would have gone to Bristol’s house, but she and Reid hadn’t returned from their long honeymoon yet. I worried it might be too late, but lights still blazed from the living room window. I thought I heard a peal of laughter.

Maybe this was a mistake. Sure, they’d been through their share of tough times, but they were so happy now. They didn’t need to deal with my mess. I should be able to handle it.

The porch lights turned on. Shit. It was too late. Zach stood in the doorway, his hand shading his face as he tried to see past the headlights of my car. Instinctively, I turned the car off and killed the lights.

Zach approached the car. “Cam? What are you doing here? Everything all right?” he asked through my open window.

“I…I don’t know.” I tried to choke back the tears, but they still leaked down my face.

He opened the door. “Come on, sweetheart. Let’s get you inside.” He took my arm, handling me like a wounded animal, which I guess is how I was behaving, if a broken heart counted as wounded. It felt more like a death sentence at the moment.

With his arm around me, he guided me up the front steps. As soon as we stepped inside, he yelled for his wife. “Em? I need you.”

I heard footsteps pad our way. “Shh. I just got Olivia to sleep. What’s wrong?” she asked as she came around a corner. “Oh, shit.”

As soon as I saw her concerned face, the dam broke.

“Aw, crap,” Zach whispered as he pulled me into his arms and pressed a kiss to my head. Then he quickly passed me to his wife. “I’ll get the wine,” I heard him say.

“Shh. We’ve got you.” Em drew me into her arms and pressed my head into her shoulder. “Zach,” she yelled over her shoulder, “get out the chocolate ice cream, too.”

“It’s more like a three-alarm,” I said, sniffling.

“Oh, honey. Come on. Let’s go into the kitchen.” She kept her arm around me as we walked into her beautiful kitchen. It was her favorite room in the house. I’d helped design it, too, but at least she used hers. Zach was opening a bottle of wine. “We need the cookies, too, please,” she whispered.

“Shit,” he whispered. “Should I go beat the shit out of him now or later?”

I shook my head. “Nobody should hit anyone. That’s what started it all in the first place.”

“Mac hit someone?” Em asked as she poured the wine Zach had put on the table.

I shook my head, then nodded. “It was five years ago. I got in the way of a five-year plan.” I sniffled and took several swallows of the glass she set in front of me, then grabbed for one of the chocolate chip cookies from the plate Zach had hurriedly put together.

“I’m going upstairs to let you two talk,” he told Em. “Call me if you need anything.” He knelt beside my chair and pressed a couple of tissues into my hand. “Say the word and I’ll drop him with a horse tranquilizer and bury him in the wet foundation of a building.”

My lashes stuck to my face as I blinked at him. “I thought he was your friend?”

“But you’re family.”

He looked confused when his words made me cry even harder.

“I’m so confused,” Zach whispered to his wife. “Isn’t that what I was supposed to say?”

She squeezed his hand that rested on her shoulder. “Just go on upstairs. I’ve got this.”

“Zach?” I called and waited for him to turn around. “Thank you. Maybe you could just keep that tranquilizer nearby but put it on hold for now.”

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