Elena suppressed a laugh as she surreptitiously glanced around hoping to identify her new friend. No luck—everyone ignored her, busy with their own tasks. She tucked the note into her purse with plans to stick it to her bathroom mirror when she got home.
* * *
“So, how was your first day on the job?” Camden asked over the phone later. Elena had just walked in the door with Tina after picking her up from the after-school program. She tucked the phone between her ear and her neck as she sliced an apple for Tina’s snack while considering what to make for dinner.
“Mixed, at best. My new boss hates me and the feeling’s pretty mutual, but I think I have a friend there already.”
“Uh-oh. You wanna tell me about it?”
“Julia didn’t approve of the cookies I brought in—”
“So she’s a monster,” Camden interrupted.
Elena laughed. “But they disappeared completely, and somebody left me a note thanking me and said that Julia ate three.”
Camden chuckled, the deep growl of his voice up close and personal in her ear sending pleasant tingles up and down Elena’s spine. “Bet she ate four. So none left, huh? That makes me sad. I wanted one.”
Elena grinned as she plated up the apple slices and set them on the table, then called to Tina who was playing in her room after a very successful day at her new school. “No worries, I always make extra. I promised I’d stop by Watchdog with a batch to thank you guys, and I thought I’d bring extra for everyone else to say thanks for loaning you Toby when you came to Nebraska.”
Tina heard the dog’s name as she ran into the kitchen and her face brightened. “Are we gonna see Toby today?”
At the same time, Camden said, “What do I have to do to get my very own?” and this time, that growl made Elena’s toes curl. She quickly turned away from her daughter before she could see the blush rising in her mom’s cheeks. “I’ll go straight to your office and make sure you get first pick.”
“Mom, are we gonna see Toby?”
“Not today, Pepita,” she answered as Camden spoke again and she missed what he said. “Sorry, I was talking to Tina. What did you say?”
“I said I have a better idea.”Could his voice get any sexier? Elena doubted it.
“Yeah, what’s that? Wait, are you driving?”
“Not anymore. I parked a couple minutes ago.”
“Are you just now getting home from work?” Elena opened a cupboard and grabbed a pot to make rice. She still didn’t know exactly what to cook for dinner, but she could do a dozen different things with rice. “I should let you go, Cam, so you can make yourself something to eat.”
Someone knocked at the door and Tina said, “I’ll get it!” as she jumped up, adding to Elena’s distractions.
“Tina, wait.” Elena rushed after her. She put a hand on her daughter’s shoulder before she could turn the knob and Elena gently stepped in front of her. “Camden, sorry, I’ve gotta let you go, there’s someone at—” Elena opened the door.
“—the door. Oh, hi.”
Camden stood in the doorway, and God did he look good in cowboy boots and a white button-down shirt tucked into the waist of his tight jeans.Oh, mercy.
He fixed her with a smile but his eyebrows pulled down. “You shouldn’t ever open the door without checking first. It’s a safe enough neighborhood, but you and Tina are on your own.”
The scolding was enough to cool Elena off.How dare he assume I’m so stupid, when it’s just that I have twenty different distractions going on.
“Good thing it was you, then, huh?” she said. “Come on in.”
Tina was already pushing past Elena to hug Camden as he dropped to his knees to catch her. A pang of sadness squeezed Elena’s heart while she watched. Tina forgot a little more about her father every day that passed, but some things didn’t change. Her little girl used to toddle to the door squealing ‘Papa’ every time Antonio came home, and Camden reacted the same way her husband had, every single time.
Her heart broke a little more remembering Tina going to the door every night for months after Antonio had been killed. She’d pat the wood and whisper ‘No more Papa.’
Elena cleared her throat and blinked back tears as Camden carried Tina in. “So, this was your idea how to get a cookie?”
“Did it work?” Camden smiled at Elena over his shoulder as he set a giggling Tina down on the couch.
“Well, I have cookies but no dinner yet.”
