“Cam!”
Cam’s gaze lands on me. He crosses the room and gives me a quick hug. “Hey, Felix. It’s good to see you.”
“What the hell are you doing here?” I ask, clapping him on the back, then stepping back to look at him. “Checking up on me?”
“Not on your life. You’ve been doing an awesome job,” he says, but then his smile fades.
I look at him with concern. “Is everything okay? Is Greg all right?’
“He’s fine. It’s Mom.”
My heart sinks. “Your mom? What’s wrong?”
“Her MS has relapsed. It’s a pretty severe flare-up this time around.”
“Oh, no. I’m so sorry, man.” I know how close Cam is to his family. “What can I do?”
“There’s nothing much anyone can do,” Cam says. “She’s got a great doctor, but only time will tell how fast and far she’ll recover.”
“She went into remission last time.”
“Yeah, for a while. We’re all holding hope that she’ll respond well this time too. In the meantime, I’ve come back to be with the folks, drive her to appointments, help around the house, that type of stuff. I think Dad appreciates the support too.”
“So you’re cutting your vacation short?”
Cam huffs a laugh. “So much for the big world trip, huh? At least we got to see Australia. I’m glad we started there.”
“I’m so sorry.”
Cam shrugs, putting on a brave face. “It is what it is.”
“So….” It hits me I could be out of a job, a job that I love. “Does that mean you’ll be coming back to work?”
Cam shakes his head. “I was hoping you’d be able to keep taking care of things here a while longer.”
The relief is instantaneous, and I feel like a dick. It’s only his mom’s illness that is stopping him from returning to work while he’s in town. I give his arm a reassuring squeeze. “Of course. As long as you need.”
“At least until after Christmas. Sometime in the new year.”
The new year.Cam’s return makes me confront the fact that this job was only ever meant to be temporary. Managing the coffee shop was a stopgap and now I need to start thinking about what I want for the future.
“Sure. I can do that.” I paste on a smile. “Hey, while you’re here, do you want to go over some stuff? It’s easier with you being face to face.”
Cam chuckles. “Time differences and doing most things via email is challenging.”
We grab some coffees and move to a table in the corner. While Will takes care of the customers, Cam and I discuss an issue with suppliers and I run an idea past him. The local hospital is having a fundraiser and I want to donate some coffee cards as raffle prizes, an idea I thought of when Uncle Shawn was chatting with Geraldine. I’m happy to pay for the cards but want to put the CC’s branding on them. Cam is fully on board and wants to do even more. I guess his mom’s illness has provided extra incentive for him to support a great cause.
Seeing how passionate Cam is about looking out for his mom and taking some of the burden off his dad’s shoulders, gets me thinking about family. Although my parents live in Florida for most of the year, and that’s where I’ve visited them recently, I feel like coming back to Collier’s Creek is returning home. It’s where I grew up, and where the family business is. Sure, the rental cabins have seen better days, but I remember when they were popular and it was a thriving business, which they can be again. The cabins are part of my roots, and coming up with ideas and discussing them with Uncle Shawn has given me a real sense of purpose.
It dawns on me that a big part of me wants to stay in Collier’s Creek.
And then there’s Kit. My chest warms just thinking about him. I can’t believe how quickly he’s made his way into my heart. We’ve gone from zero to full steam ahead in such a short time, but it feelsreal. I can’t imagine leaving now that things are getting serious between us. However, there’s no guarantee he’ll stay in Collier’s Creek. In fact, it’s a given he’ll be leaving. It’s just a matter of when.
“Are you okay, dude? You spaced out for a minute there.”
I shake my head and focus back on Cam. “Yeah, cool. I’d better get back to work, though, and give Will a hand. How about we get together for a drink later this week? I’d love to catch up with Greg and hear all about Australia?”
Cam pushes back from the table. “That sounds awesome. I’ll call you later and we can set something up.”
