Nic stepped to his side, tangling their fingers together. “Because I’m in love with your son.”
There were some surprised faces, at least one very happy face, several realization-dawning faces, and then there was Bobby’s face. Smug, no other word for it.
“Something to say?” Cam asked him.
“I’ve been telling ’em this since April.”
“Our phone call about the case?”
“When you told me about Nic working with you, there was something more in your voice. More than when you talked about your FBI partner. Or anyone else for that matter.”
He glanced around again at his family. None of the faces were angry, disgusted, or what he’d feared the most, disappointed.
“He obviously loves you,” Quinn said. “And you him. As long as you’re happy, brother, that’s all we care about.”
“And Mom got to meet him too,” Keith added.
“I wish I’d told her though,” Cam said quietly, echoing his sentiment from last night.
“She’s still here.” Bobby stepped forward and wrapped him in another hug. “Go tell her. Tell her to stay. To be here to see you get married.”
Nic’s hand spasmed in his, and Cam swallowed his half chortle, half choke behind a “Whoa now.”
Laughter improbably rippled through the group until his dad approached again, hand patting his cheek. His eyes were misty, and there was resignation there, mixed in with peace and hope. “And tell her if she needs to go, Erin’s waiting for her.”
Cam swallowed down the lump in his throat and blinked away the threatening tears. Just a little bit longer. With Nic by his side, he entered his mom’s room, no longer shocked by her condition but terrified in a whole new way. He’d promised her this truth, and if she needed to move on, he had to let her, as his father had said, but he hoped to God that what he was about to tell her wouldn’t push her that direction.
“I’ll be right here,” Nic said, leaving him at the side of the bed. He took a seat in the chair, giving Cam a moment with his mother but not leaving him alone. His presence filled the room, wrapped around him like a blanket as the chill of the truth settled on his shoulders and in his gut.
As he put words to that truth and had the hardest conversation he ever had with his mother.
Completely one-sided.
“I found her, Mom,” he started, then told her everything. She’d want to know. Would need to know, if she were to find Erin waiting for her. It ended on a high note, however, Cam also telling her about Nic, who stood and wrapped an arm lightly around his waist.
When he was done, goodbye and I love you said in case God forbid the worst did happen, exhaustion began to creep in and fill the void dogged determination and two decades’ worth of guilt had left behind. He leaned heavily against Nic. “I’m ready to go.”
Nic kissed his temple, then reached out a hand, lightly grasping his mother’s forearm. “I promise to take care of him, Edye.”
Tucked beneath Nic’s arm, they were halfway to the door when the heart monitor beeped off rhythm. Cam turned, expecting the worst, and found the best.
His mother’s dark eyes were open, and she was smiling at the both of them. “’Bout time you caught a good one.”
Twenty-Five
Nic recognized Cam’s shock setting in as they left the hospital.
It had been another few hours after Edye woke before they’d given everyone goodbye hugs and finally made their way to the elevator. Hours during which Cam had held it together remarkably well despite the swing from low to high to low again. He’d held his mother’s hand while she cried in grief and relief over the news of Erin. Nic hadn’t drifted more than a few feet away from Cam at all times, even when the nurse had insisted she treat the cut on his head. He’d had her clean it and butterfly it shut while he sat in the chair behind where Cam stood by Edye’s bed, always within reach, ready to catch Cam’s trembling hand or to lay a steadying hand on his back whenever he needed the extra support.
In the elevator though, on their way down to the ground floor, the slight tremble in Cam’s hands and knees spread to the rest of his body, leaving goose bumps in its wake. And when the doors opened, Cam’s dark eyes stared ahead, unseeing.
“Hey, Boston,” Nic called gently, grasping his hand. “Exit’s this way.”
He tugged him out of the elevator, trailing behind Jamie through the hospital lobby and out to the parking lot. Jamie glanced over his shoulder periodically, expression increasingly worried as the chatter of Cam’s teeth grew louder despite the warmth and humidity that hung heavy in the air. When they reached the Jeep, Jamie opened the back door and Cam practically fell inside.
“He’s in shock,” Nic murmured low to Jamie.
“Should we take him back in?” Jamie asked, eyes cutting to the hospital entrance.
