A Family to Cherish

Damp-palm crazy nervous.

But that was ridiculous so he ignored the upswing in pulse and respiration and herded the girls toward her. “Meredith, my daughters, Sophie—” he palmed Sophie’s head, her dark brown hair a gift from her deceased mother “—and Rachel.”

True to form, seven-year-old Rachel reached out to shake hands.

Sophie hung back.

Meredith took the offered hand as Rachel beamed.

“I love your house! You must have a really big family to live in such a huge place! Do you have little girls like us?”

Meredith’s laugh tunneled Cam back again, but he refused to be mentally transported any further than the house standing before him.

She bent low, meeting the girls at their own level, giving him a bird’s-eye view of soft, highlighted hair, a perfect blend of sun-kissed gold-to-brown, pink cheeks that seemed unfettered by makeup and lashes that brought back too many memories to be good for either of them.

“I don’t have kids,” she told the girls. She reached out and took each one by the hand, drawing them forward. They went along willingly, as if she were some kind of designer-clothes-clad pied piper. Which she wasn’t.

Right?

He followed them in, paused to shut the bulky door and turned in time to see her over-the-shoulder expression.

Talk about awkward.

He’d give her ten minutes and an out-of-the-park price that would push her business elsewhere. No harm, no foul, because the last thing he needed with outdoor soccer season approaching was to be tied to a huge job for a fastidious woman while juggling soccer games, 4-H functions, and his full-time job as a wood-shop teacher at the high school.

Ten minutes he had.

More time when it came to his high school sweetheart who was even more beautiful now? Wasn’t about to happen.

He pulled a small notebook from his pocket and a pencil from behind his ear, keeping his gaze averted. Limiting eye contact was better for his heart and probably his soul. Although there wasn’t enough of the latter left to worry about.

* * *

Dream eyes.

She remembered Cam’s baby blues like it was yesterday.

But it wasn’t, and he was married with children so Meredith put a firm grip on the emotional punch she felt when their eyes met as he stepped out of the SUV.

The smaller girl clung to her hand as if they were new best friends. The older girl remained withdrawn, her gaze cautious, assessing her surroundings. She didn’t look like Cam, but she acted like him, the hinted wariness offering another gut stab.

When they were young, Meredith had longed to embrace everything. Live free. Experience life. Escape the town that knew too much about her and her whacked-out family demographics, the cheating father, the drug deals gone sour that nearly toppled the family business. The illegitimate half brother who had the rug pulled out from under him. The workaholic brother trying to fix everything he could from a young age.

It had all been too much. Too dark. Too heart-wrenching to witness your family fall apart like that. Sometimes a girl needed a chance to start anew. Begin fresh. So she did.

Cam loved staying put, a hometown boy all the way.

Well, the joke was on her, because here she was, back in Allegany County. Who said God didn’t have a sense of humor? “Girls, would you like to explore the rest of the house while your dad and I talk?”

“Yes.” Rachel swung toward the stately mahogany staircase, expectant.

“Umm…” Sophie looked like she wanted to follow, but paused, uncertain.

“There’s nothing they can get into?” Cam asked.

Meredith turned, met those blue eyes dead on and stumbled for words. “I…don’t think so.”

He frowned.

“I mean no. The house is empty. There’s nothing here.”

He directed his attention to the girls. “And you know not to touch anything, right?”

Two heads bobbed in unison, one dark, one fair, quite different but obviously united in adventure. Meredith couldn’t help but grin.

“Okay. But if there’s a problem, just yell. I’ll be…” Cam shot a look from room to cavernous room “…somewhere. This place is absolutely amazing.”

“Isn’t it?” Mahogany-trimmed rectangular arches lay to the left and right of the center entry hall, while the broad, turned staircase to the second floor lay before them. Meredith moved to the expansive living room on the left and swept a hand across an antique glass window. “Aren’t they stunning?”

Cam stepped closer and made a face. “But not caulked properly. And half of them are facing west. Big drafts in winter and spring. And they won’t be up to code.”

“Code?”

“Fire code. Building code. They’re sealed so they don’t offer an escape route.”

“And bad hair can be a life-threatening experience.”

She offered the retort lightly, but Cam turned a serious stare her way. “Are you planning a pedicure tub, like the one Heather’s mother had?”

Heather had been Meredith’s best friend throughout high school. Her mother had run a two-stool shop in her home and did mani-pedi’s alongside. Sandy Madigan’s gentle example had offered Meredith her first shot at her current career. She nodded. “Yes. Four.”

“Blow dryers?”

“Yes.”

“Curling irons?”

She was starting to see his point. “Umm…yes.”

“Chemical propellants?”

She frowned.

“Hair spray.”

“Oh.” She grinned. “Of course.”

“So multiple sources of heat and flammable liquids. Brett Stanton and Bud Schmidt do the fire code inspections for the town. They’ll check thoroughly to ensure everyone’s safety. Code is important.”