Total pages in book: 104
Estimated words: 98264 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 491(@200wpm)___ 393(@250wpm)___ 328(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 98264 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 491(@200wpm)___ 393(@250wpm)___ 328(@300wpm)
“Who is that?” Cam asked, his brows furrowed.
I scrambled from the bed and went to my dresser to drag on a pair of jeans and a T-shirt. “Ramsey and Thea. I guess it’s meet-the-family day. You should probably get dressed.”
His eyes flared and it made me laugh.
Still tugging my shirt down, I sauntered over to him and bent for a quick kiss. “Relax. They’ll love you, but hurry up. A half dozen bagels isn’t going to last long with Ramsey.”
With that, I was out the door, carefully shutting it behind me so he had privacy to get dressed. “Well, well, well. Look what the cat dragged in. I see you found my hide-a-key.”
“Who needs a hide-a-key? I made a copy of that thing,” Thea teased.
Ramsey’s whole face lit when he saw me. Abandoning his bagel on the plate, he headed straight for me and wrapped me up in a bear hug. “Jesus, Nora. Why the hell didn’t you call?”
Because Ramsey would have felt guilty for having moved away. Thea would have gotten pissed and raised immortal hell at the police station.
And, well, they had just gotten married and started a life together. I really liked the idea of not dragging them into more of my mess again. But, most of all, with Camden at my side, I really felt like we had things under control.
I stepped out of my brother’s hold and crossed my arms over my chest. “I’ve been…busy.”
“Doing what?” Thea asked, sliding the tub of cream cheese she’d found in my fridge toward Ramsey. “You were arrested, Nora. By a freaking Caskey. We would have been here sooner but we had to get special permission to come down for the day. Dad tried to tell me you were in good hands, but honestly—” Her shoulders snapped back as her gaze lifted over my shoulder.
“Hi,” Camden said, his front hitting my back, his hand going to my hip.
“Oh my God,” Thea whispered.
Her eyes bounced from me to Camden and back again. While Thea didn’t understand the depths of my relationship with Camden, she’d heard me talk about him over the years. Being that her soul mate had been incarcerated for the majority of her adult life, I’d tried not to rub it in on the few occasions I had gotten to spend time with Camden. Though, one night, after a few too many glasses of wine, I’d spilled all about our night in and out of the hot tub. I’d even shown her a picture of him from Instagram once too. But as far as she knew, Camden Cole was the one who got away.
“Are you…” She flicked her gaze back to me. “Is that…”
Shocking the hell out of me, it was Ramsey who finished her stammered question. “Mr. Cole.” He wiped his hand on the thigh of his jeans twice before extending it for a shake.
Cam took it immediately. “Please. For the hundredth time, call me Camden.”
Mr. Cole?
For the hundredth time?
What the hell?
It seemed I was not the only one on the train to Confusion Junction.
“Do you two know each other?” Thea asked.
Ramsey laughed and continued shaking Camden’s hand, going so far as to cup it between both of his palms. “This is Mr. Cole. The attorney I told you about who helped at my parole hearing.”
“Just Camden. Mr. Cole was my dad,” the obvious stranger—the one I was planning a life with—said behind me.
Wait…
Oh my God.
“No way!” Thea gasped, stealing the exact words from my mouth. She came unstuck and hurried around the counter. Then she thrust a hand out, and Ramsey let go long enough for her to get a shake in too. “It’s so nice to finally meet you. Ramsey told me you were incredible speaking to the board on his behalf. He doesn’t think they would have released him without you.”
“Happy to help,” Camden said.
Had I been able to form coherent sentences at a decibel that would not leave all the dogs in Clovert deaf, I would have taken that route. But finding out the love of my life—who had just come back into my life days earlier, who’d then planted his foot in the ground that we were no longer doing goodbyes and fewer than five minutes earlier had been debating where we were going to live—had somehow gotten my brother out on parole for a crime he had not committed after we’d all given up hope and had never so much as mentioned it, did not lend itself to those kind of rational reactions. Therefore, my only response was to crane my head back and stare up at him.
Blinking. Lost for words.
His blue gaze met mine and he must have caught the gist of panic in my eyes, because he released Thea’s shake, wrapped his palm around my hand, and inquired to my family, “Can you excuse us for a moment?”