Page 16 of Best Laid Plans
Cam, to his credit, seemed just as shaken by the news. He scratched at his light scruff and opened his mouth but then shut it again.
“You really didn’t know?” Elle asked, suddenly unsure about everything. It seemed like her family was playing out a whole life that she had no part in. And even if she’d been busy with work and then her MBA program over the last few years, it still hurt. A lot.
She didn’t have the strength to pick apart why no one had bothered to tell her; She was too terrified. There had been a lump in her throat since she’d found out that in just over two weeks, he was going to be put under anesthesia while a machine cut into his body to create a detour for blood flow around his heart. Down in the restaurant, she hadn’t even pushed Cam away when he’d placed a steadying arm around her shoulder, just like he’d done when they were kids.
Sitting in front of her now, he put his elbows on his thighs and stretched out, keeping his hands clasped together. When he looked at her, his green eyes were dark and stormy, and there was clear frustration in his voice when he said, “I promise you, Elle. I had no idea any of this wasgoing on. Wyatt didn’t tell me.”
At least they were aligned that her brother had been way out of bounds keeping this to himself.
“I’m going to murder him.” Elle half-believed her own words. This was beyond the pale, even for her ‘the world is on my shoulders’ big brother. He could be as self-sacrificing as he wanted, but not when it meant that Elle was in the dark about something this serious.
“I’ll bring the shovel.” A small smile played at Cam’s lips, and she appreciated that he was trying to bring a little levity to the situation. They both knew that he considered Wyatt to be a brother as much as a best friend, and even if he was frustrated about being kept out of the loop too, his anger would probably wane a lot faster than Elle’s.
It all just felt like too much. She hadn’t even thought about her life outside of Rock Harbor today. Which was strange because two days ago, it had been the thing keeping her up at night. Plotting and planning to get back to Boston as quickly as possible.
If you’d have asked her yesterday about her weekend plans, she’d have told you that she expected to spend her days sending out resumes for jobs back in Boston and popping down to visit her parents to prove to them that she was alive and, in fact, still a functioning member of society.
In the span of less than twenty-four hours, she was now shacked up with Cam, her former childhood best friend had made an unexpected appearance–TBD on how that was going to go, and Wyatt had moved into the space as ‘arch nemesis’ on her list of enemies.
But all of that felt so insignificant compared to what was going on with her dad and to a smaller degree, her parents’ restaurant. And the worst part was, she had no idea how to help them.
“What are we going to do?” Elle asked, more to the universe than Cam.
Pierce’s Lobster Co. was her parents’ whole life. She hadn’t existed in this world without it–or her dad–and she didn’t want to find out what that would be like.
Just like that, the seriousness of her dad’s situation knocked the air out of her lungs. It had taken a lot to keep it together downstairs, but she didn’t have any fight left in her. Now, away from her parents’ mildly concerned stares–which was crazy, since she wasn’t the one with a serious health issue!–it felt like the apartment walls were closing in on her.
She tried to take another breath, but air was nowhere to be found. She managed a shallow inhale as tears began prickling behind her eyes, the edges of her vision going blurry. They intensified so quickly that before she knew it, fat droplets were streaming down her cheeks, and she felt like she was sitting at the bottom of a hole, only a pinprick of light miles up at the top.
Elle had forgotten Cam was in the room with her–or that she was in a room at all–until she felt his large arms wrapping around her easily, enveloping her in a hug. She buried her head against his chest, trying to finally take a full breath. She could smell his body wash, something clean and woodsy that made her want to inhale more deeply.
She wrapped her arms around him, too, her hands coming to rest on his shoulders, her fingers finding purchase in the solid cords of muscle running across his upper back.
“I’ve got you,” he said with quiet confidence that was so reassuring there was nothing else to do but believe him. His hand rubbed at the base of her neck, soothing circles as she felt the tension that she thought would crack her body in two start to dull.
This was calming her. Cam, of all people, was calming her. Which was insane, given that he’d been the person driving her crazy for the last twenty-four hours. She’d hit him with a baseball bat for crying out loud, but that didn’t seem to matter right now. Not when she felt his scruffy cheek press againstthe top of her head, providing even more solidness for her to cling to.
He held her gently, giving her all the time in the world to find her center, to feel like the light at the top of the hole was getting just a little bit brighter. And inside of that safe cocoon, finally, it felt like she could breathe again.
After relief came the embarrassment. Swiftly.
They must have been standing like this for minutes, but it wasn’t until Elle felt like she’d returned to her body that she realized how closely they were pressed together. She could feel his heartbeat thrumming through his thin t-shirt, and he was so warm that he felt like a heated blanket wrapped around her smaller frame. But there was also a teary trail across where her face was still nuzzled against his chest, and at some point, she’d fisted Cam’s shirt in one of her hands, holding onto it like a branch that was keeping her from falling off a cliff.
“Ugh, I’m so incredibly sorry.” She released his shirt and used her now free hand to wipe at her tear-streaked face. She tried to take a step back, but strong, steady arms continued to hold her close.
And if she was being honest, she liked it. A lot. Feeling so protected and safe, like it was okay to fall apart and there’d be someone there to catch her.
Not someone.Cam. And that wasn’t a possibility that she should let herself consider, regardless of the major life events happening around them.
She reached one of her hands up and patted Cam’s chest, feeling the solid muscle that she’d seen first-hand earlier today. “I’m really okay.” Her voice wavered a little, but she took another steadying breath.
Her mortification about breaking down in front of Cam aside, she really was okay.
Or at least, she would be. Her dad would have his surgery, and he’d come through it fine, the way he did with everything inlife. They’d figure out a plan for the restaurant, even if it seemed insurmountable right now.
His arms relaxed around her, and for a second, it seemed like he didn’t want to let her go.
But he did, and when he let his arms drop to his side, the moment was broken, even if Elle still felt the remnants of his touch across her exposed skin.
