“Or the storefront, anyway. And not because Des is manipulating me, or whatever it is you think he was doing. I’ve been thinking about it for a while, and he’s made some good points.” The older woman inhaled deeply, then gestured at her legs. “I’m not as young as I used to be.”
Cami took a long, slow breath to steady herself. “Did you decide to do this because I was leaving?” The store had been Lenny’s dream. She would never forgive herself if she gave it all up because of Cami’s hasty and melodramatic actions.
“No.” Lenny’s response was sturdy and resolute. “I’ve been considering it for a while. The offer Des is brokering is more than generous, and I’m the last holdout in the plaza.”
“What will you do after?” Cami asked carefully.
“I’m not sure. I could look into selling online only, I guess. It would be cheaper just to rent a warehouse to ship out of than the mortgage on the store. But you know, I’m not great with computers.” For a moment, Lenny looked like she was going to shrug again, but she seemed to remember how well that had gone last time and thought better of it.
Cami considered this for a moment while Lenny, still valiantly avoiding her gaze, peeled the wrapping off the chocolate bar and broke a piece off to shove in her mouth.
Finally, she said, “I could...help with that.”
Only then did Lenny look up. “Meaning?”
“I could finish the website for you. Keep it going.” Through the haze of awkwardness in her mind, visions of the site design and the store coding began to spring up. It would be a lot of work, but it was definitely something she could handle, especially if she wasn’t working at the store any longer.
Especially for family.
Lenny’s brow furrowed. “You would do that?” she asked, her voice taut.
Cami nodded.
For a moment, Lenny was silent. Then she deflated a little and turned her gaze to the chocolate bar in her fingers. “I guess you could do that from anywhere. You wouldn’t have to be in Santa Monica.”
“I could stay.” Cami’s heart thumped in her chest. “I mean, if you’re selling the storefront, I’d have to find somewhere else to live, but...”
“We could work it out, sweetie.” Lenny reached across the bars along the side of the bed and clasped Cami’s hand. “If you’re sure that’s what you want. Don’t do it because you feel guilty I’m in this bed. I won’t have you resenting me for holding you back.”
“I would never.”
“I’m sorry for everything, Camille, darling. I should have been honest with you from the start.”
“I’m sorry, too.” She captured Lenny’s hand and squeezed it between her palms. “I felt betrayed, and I handled it badly. I know you didn’t mean to hurt me, and I understand why you kept the truth from me, at least at first.” Cami swallowed against the lump that was rapidly forming in her throat. “You’re the only family I have.”
“I know, kiddo.” Lenny pulled her into a hug, and despite the awkward angle, the IV tubes, and hospital bed rails poking her in the ribs, it was easily the best hug Cami had had in years. “But you’re the only family I need.” Just as Lenny’s grip on her started to relax and Cami began to pull away, Lenny added, “There is one more thing I need to tell you, though.”
Cami felt a rush of panic, but it washed away quickly; there wasn’t much Lenny could tell her at this point that would be worse than what she’d already found out on her own. She took a deep, preparatory breath. “Hit me.”
“You don’t have a scholarship, hon. I’ve been paying for your schooling.” Lenny winced as though expecting hard backlash.
Cami frowned. “But—” Now that she thought about it, she’d never received any paperwork from the scholarship committee. It had been the school administration that had informed her everything was taken care of, and they’d said it was a scholarship based on financial need and merit, but that was all theinformation they’d ever given her. She’d never thought to ask for more information. “Why would you do that? When I enrolled, you barely even knew me.”
“When we first met, I wasn’t ready to tell you about your daddy. It’s—” Lenny’s mouth tightened, her brow furrowed as she took a moment to formulate her words. “Losing him was the worst thing that ever happened to me, Cami. We didn’t know about you, and when you showed up out of the blue, I didn’t know how to handle it. It took me a long while to get my thoughts together, then I kept putting it off, and eventually, so much time had passed... I know. I should have told you who you were to me, but telling you about that would mean talking about a lot of things that are still painful. So I guess you can blame my lying on a desperate need for grief therapy.” She snorted mirthlessly. “Paying for school was my way of helping from behind the scenes. And the money I used for it… Well, as you know, he was military. If he’d known about you, you would have qualified for survivor benefits after he’d passed, and that’s to say nothin’ of the child support he would have paid. He would have put you through school if he could have, Cami. I wanted to do right by him. And by you.”
Lenny’s voice had grown thick with emotion. Cami caught Lenny’s hand for a squeeze. “I appreciate it. I wish…I wish I could have known him.”
“Me too, kiddo.” Lenny blinked rapidly, huffed out a breath as though shaking off her emotions, then said, “Now about our little family. You feel like adding Desmond to the mix? We could use a little fresh blood.”
Cami rolled her eyes, lifting a finger to brush away a few stray tears. “That’s unlikely. He was only with me because he wanted the store. Now that he’s got it, he has no reason to see me ever again.”
“Oh, Cami, don’t be dim,” Lenny blurted. She waved one hand dismissively. “That boy’s totally gone on you. Besides, he never mentioned buying the store to you, did he?”
“Well, no, but?—”
“He never mentioned you or your relationship when he was talking about the deal. He wasn’t using it to pressure me. And if he wasn’t honest with you about his job, how could he have been using you to further it?”
“He did lie, though.”
