Page 13 of Falling for Him
“You have to let me pay you back for the piece of land I build on.”
His brows furrow and I can tell he wants to argue.
“We have that land appraised and I pay for it, that’s the only way I’m doing it.”
“But that isn’t what I intended.” He is also the man that wants to take care of everyone else. He is the most loyal and dedicated man I know. It tore us apart to be at odds over Sutton, and I’m glad we were able to make it through. Finn may be my best friend, but my brother, he’s a part of me, when he hurts, I hurt. When we are at odds, I feel like a part of me is missing.
“I got the land for next to nothing,” he clarifies. “I can’t have you paying what it appraises for Bennett that would be more than I paid.”
“Okay then we take what you paid and divvy it up, if I take half, I pay you half. If I take a third, then that’s what I pay. It’s the only way I’ll do this. You have Suttons and one day a family to take care of. I wouldn’t feel right taking it for nothing.”
“But you’re my family too.”
“Exactly, that’s why you are going to be right there helping me build each and every day.”
His smile widens. “So we doing this?”
“Yeah, we’re doing this.” It’s been on my mind for weeks, knowing that if I was serious about showing Lexi I’m over the running around and making poor choices, I needed to get my shit straight. It was time to get out of the tiny ass apartment and start building a future.
“So after this deck, we need to jump on over to the other side and build yours too,” Brantley says with pride and it’s crazy how me committing to building has him whistling happily while continuing to work.
CHAPTER FOURTEEN
Lexi
“This is my mom.”Camryn holds out a picture and I take it from her. We’ve been having sessions twice a week for the last three weeks and each time she opens up a little more. “We went camping a few weekends before the accident and we ate so many s’mores I felt sick. But it was a good night.”
“I love s’mores.”
Camryn is silent for a few minutes, then says something that breaks my heart for her a little more. “Do you think I’ll ever stop being sad?”
“I think there comes a time when we can think of them, or we can tell a story, and it hurts less. We start focusing on the memory more than the loss. But I also think that no matter how much time passes we will always miss them and wish that they were here with us. Something special will happen that we want more than anything to share with them.”
“I talk to them still,” Camryn confesses. “People think it’s weird.”
“I don’t,” I interrupt her, needing her to understand that however she chooses to grieve it’s okay.
“I talk to them when I’m lying in bed at night. I tell my mom how I miss her cupcakes, the chocolate ones with sprinkles.” Her eyes are so full of tears I almost break. I want more than anything to scoop her up and hold her close. The way she lost her parents really hits home, it’s so close to my story it shakes me to my center. “She puts this white cream in the middle, kind of like those cakes you can buy from the store in a box. Only my mom’s were so much better.” She gets quiet for a few seconds looking down at the second picture she still holds in her hand.
“This is my dad.” She passes it to me. “He gave the best hugs.” Camryn’s lower lip trembles and I have to bite the inside of my cheek to keep from crying.
We talk for the remainder of our time, and when we are done I feel stripped raw. Like my insides have been scraped clean and there is nothing left. My heart is left aching, my throat on fire and as she walks to the door, looking back over her shoulder offering me a little wave, I break.
The second the door closes I turn in my chair and cry for the little girl who lost everything. No other family member willing to take her in, she lost the only two people that ever made her feel safe.
I am destroyed and I do something I never thought I would ever do.
Spinning around to my computer I open up a tab and start typing out an email. Without a second thought I hit send and instantly joy and anxiety rush through me all at the same time.
“I’m doing this!” I say to myself.
Picking up my phone I dial Sutton’s number and the second she says hello I rush to say the words.
“I applied to foster Camryn.” I don’t feel fear or regret, just pure excitement at the idea.
“Hello,” she says, “and who is Camryn?”
For the next ten minutes I tell her all about the sweet girl that has captured my heart. I tell her a little about her story and by the end of the call, Sutton is also in tears. She knew my mom, we’ve been best friends since daycare and were both in diapers. Our mothers were friends, when I lost her, so did Sutton.
