Page 53 of Back to You

His father laughed and slapped him on the back as he walked by with the plants to set them on the back porch.

“Hey, parental units.” He closed the door behind him. “How goes it?”

“It goes. What brings you by? Need up to your room for more research?”

“No. I wanted to talk to you both.” He slid a chair out and motioned for his mom. Instead, she grabbed the pitcher of tea off the counter and his dad grabbed three glasses before they settled around the table with him.

“So…” Cam cleared his throat and glanced around trying to figure out how to say this.

It wasn’t like he was dying. But he was afraid that’s what it would sound like since that’s what it felt like. “Some things have come to light, an opportunity has come knockin’, and I’m here to get you both up to speed.”

“Oh.” His mom looked nervous and he hated that. “I was hoping you were stopping by to tell us you got a dog.”

Cam stopped, replayed every conversation he’d had with his mother for two weeks, and couldn’t figure out where that came from.

“A dog?”

She shrugged. “I guess it just seemed like the next step. We’d love to have a dog to watch occasionally.”

Oh. Family, grandchildren… dog.

This was already going worse than he’d expected.

“So, no. No dog. But I do have some exciting news.” His mother practically started bouncing. “I’ve been accepted by McGregor to study under him. It’s something I always considered the next part of my career. So I’ll be heading over to Scotland as soon as the sleigh is done. I’ll get a chance to really dig into a different set of mediums and a new specialization. It’s a great opportunity.”

His parents paused, looking confused before his mom spoke again.

“What about Vivian? And Tyler?” She probably didn’t mean for her questions to sound like an accusation, but they definitely felt like it.

“So, that’s kind of… off the table. This seemed like a good time to take some time and…” He really should have written a script or something on his walk over. But he’d spent the entire time thinking about their reaction, not his telling.

“What do you mean off the table?” his dad asked, wrapping his hand around his mom’s.

He knew they’d take his leaving hard since there was no end date, but he had underestimated how attached they were to Vivian and Tyler as future Ross family members.

He took a long sip of tea, trying to not bring his own pain out too much to explain it.

“Vivian has asked, clearly and politely, for me to let her go and not reissue my campaign to win her back.”

His parents stared at him. His dad collapsed back in his chair while his mom reached out and wrapped her hands around his big one resting between them.

“So, Scotland?”

He nodded, glad they understood immediately and weren’t going to make it a thing when it was hard enough.

He forced a grin. “You’ll have a wonderful time visiting.”

“How long?” his dad asked.

“Until I’m sure I can come back and be here and keep my promise.”

His mom got up and came around the table, her eyes already damp with tears she was trying not to let fall.

“Camden Frazier Ross, you’re one of the best men I know.” She kissed him on the cheek and headed out the back door before either of them could start to cry.

21

Vivian

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