Date with Destiny

Emily nodded. “I love fashion. Not that I can afford anything better than chain-store clothes these days. Riley keeps growing out of his gear quicker than I can buy them. But I would love to have my own store one day. And maybe study design.”

Grace pressed her hair back and looked at the textbook on the table. “That’s a great ambition. Now, about this makeup exam?”

Emily rolled her eyes. “I’ve missed a lot of school this year. Nan was helping out with Riley until my half brother and sister came to live with us.” The teenager pushed the book toward Grace. “My mother is a screwup. She’s in jail. Her husband died last year. No one knows what happened to my dad.”

Grace hid her surprise. Teenagers with serious family issues weren’t something she had experience dealing with. Unlike Cameron, who she knew spent a lot of time with needy kids like Dylan and Emily. “I’m sorry.”

Emily shrugged. “It happens. We’re lucky we’ve got Nan. But she’s getting old, you know, and can’t do things like she used to. Besides, I have to think about Riley.”

Grace glanced at the toddler, still happily playing in the corner. Adolescence, high school exams and a baby? It seemed like a heavy load. “Which is why Cameron wants you to finish high school?”

“Yeah—so I can get a good job or go to college. He’s cool, you know…he just nags me a bit sometimes.”

Grace smiled. “Well, nagging can be helpful.”

Emily laughed. “That’s what my nan says. And I guess I know that.”

“But?”

The teen shrugged again. “The studying is hard. And I get so tired of being treated differently at school because I’ve got Riley.”

Grace felt the frustration and pain in the girl’s voice. She knew firsthand how it felt to be different and then ostracized. “So, how about you show me what you need to study and maybe I can help.”

“Are you a teacher?”

“Finance broker.”

Emily frowned. “Which means?”

“Which means I’m good with numbers,” Grace replied with a wry smile.

She spent the next hour working with Emily. By the time Cameron and Dylan returned, the books were packed away and Riley was asleep in his mother’s arms. Emily had asked Grace to hold the little boy, but she’d resisted. Babies weren’t her thing. Making money and math and meetings and work lunches were what she was good at.

Not babies.

Grace didn’t have a ticking biological clock. She didn’t have some deep-rooted and instinctive yearning to reproduce. She had her career. And it had always been enough.

Being back in Crystal Point wasn’t going to change that. Being around Cameron wasn’t going to change that either.

“I’ll just drop them home,” Cameron said as they watched Emily collect her knapsack and haul Riley higher in her arms.

“I should get back to the B and B and—”

“I’ll be ten minutes, tops,” he said. “Wait here.”

Before she had a chance to object, Emily and Dylan waved goodbye and they all disappeared through the doorway. Grace lingered by the desk for a few minutes and got herself all worked up about his high-handed demands. She was just about to head home in protest when her cell rang. It was her boss, Jennifer Mullin-Shaw.

“So, are you relaxing?” Jennifer asked.

Grace was pleased the other woman couldn’t see her frown. “Of course.”

“And taking the therapist’s advice?”

“All of it,” Grace assured her. “I’m even watching old movies on cable to relax.”

Jennifer laughed and they chatted for a few minutes about mundane things such as the weather and then she gave a brief rundown of her sister’s wedding. Minus the part about making out with Cameron on the beach in the moonlight.

“So, you’re not dwelling on what happened?”

Grace gripped the phone harder and told a tiny lie. “I haven’t thought about the accident at all. I’m feeling…better.”

“That’s good. I’m pleased you’re taking it easy. Give me a call when you’re ready to come back to work.”

I’m ready now.

But she didn’t say it. Instead she ended the call and slipped the cell in her jeans pocket. Her plan to return to the B and B was forgotten when she turned on her heels and discovered Cameron standing in the doorway, arms crossed over his chest, one shoulder propped against the doorjamb.

He looked her over in that slow, infuriating way she was accustomed to. “So, how did it go with Emily?”

She nodded and placed the visor back on her head. “Good. She’s a smart girl.”

“Yes, she is. Did she tell you about her home life?”

“A little. She told me about her mother and how her two half siblings now live with them and her grandmother.”

“Pat took the kids in when her daughter got locked up. Drugs,” he explained. “It’s been tough for the family. Emily and Dylan’s father disappeared years ago and they’ve lived with their grandmother most of their lives. The father of the two younger kids was killed a few months back. But now they have a chance to start fresh with a new home out near Burdon Creek.” He told her how the town had rallied to help the family purchase the small farm.

Grace thought about what he was doing for Emily’s family. She tried to think of one selfless thing she done the past year and came up with nothing.

No wonder he thinks I’m shallow. Not that I care one hoot what Cameron Jakowski thinks of me.

“It’s good of you to look out for them,” she said in a vague way she suspected sounded like some weak attempt to make conversation.

“Someone has to.”

Knight in shining armor. Hero cop. All-around good guy.

Not the guy for me.

Where did that come from? Grace crossed her arms and stared out of the window. Those mindless minutes on the beach the night before, that’s where.

She pulled on her good sense, determined to not think about his arms, his kisses, or anything else to do with the one person who’d managed to get under her skin and make her feel like she was the most self-absorbed woman on the planet. She’d never really cared what Erik thought of her. Or Dennis. Perhaps because she’d always held herself apart and avoided getting too close. But Cameron…he was different. He saw her. Every flaw.

“So, you said you had something to show me?” she asked.

“I did?”

“Mmm-hmm,” she replied and tried to dismiss the silly way her pulse raced. But he was hard to ignore in low-rise jeans and a pale blue T-shirt that showed the broadness of his chest and shoulders. And suddenly the air in the room grew hotter, thicker, like a tempting force had swept between them. She’d felt it before and always managed to ignore it. But today she couldn’t. He had good looks and charm in bucket loads.