Page 105 of I Loved You First

His frown stayed in place. “Is everything okay?”

She sighed as she stopped before him. “You tell me, Cam.”

He shook his head. “I don’t want to talk about it.”

Mom blocked his path when he moved to take a step around her. “Talk about it, anyway.”

Exhaling a long sigh, he rubbed at the back of his neck. “Everything’s a mess. Ally’s back. Fi’s gone. Brady’s sad⁠—”

“And so are you.”

Clenching his jaw, he shook his head as he sat down on the entryway bench, scrubbing his hands over his face. “I don’t know what to do.”

She sat next to him. “What do you want to do?”

“I want to talk to her. I want to tell her that I don’t give two fucks that she might not be able to have kids. I feel like I can’t breathe without her.”

Mom nodded as she rested her hand on his arm. “I’m sorry this is so hard for you. I hate seeing you so upset.”

He shrugged as he sighed again. “It feels just as bad as it did when she left the first time, but it’s worse because Brady’s caught up in it.”

Mom nodded again. “We should probably… I need to show you something.”

His frown reappeared because he didn’t like the way she said that. “What?”

“Come on,” she said, gaining her feet, hooking her arm through his as they walked to the dining room table.

He immediately zeroed in on the picture Brady had drawn: two figures with short brown hair and green eyes that had sad faces while they stood next to blue waves that he knew were the lake.

“Craig pulled me aside when I picked Brady up,” Mom said. “He and Dana are concerned. Brady’s quieter than usual. When they saw the picture he drew today, they felt compelled to speak up.”

Cam nodded, never feeling like a bigger failure. His little boy was sad. He was letting Brady down. “I’ll go talk to him.”

Mom stopped him with her hand on his wrist before he could turn. “After you give your mother a hug.”

He wrapped her up, returning her embrace, holding on to her strength and support.

“Fix this, Cam. Because you can.” Mom eased away, holding his gaze. “I have no doubt that Fiona loves you as much as you love her. She loves your son. Don’t let her get away this time.”

He nodded.

“I’m going to head out.”

“Thanks, Mom. For picking Brady up. For listening. For being the best.”

She winked as she smiled. “Anytime, sweetheart.”

Shaking his head as his mother headed for the door, he restlessly scratched at his jaw as he made his way upstairs. He stopped in Brady’s doorway, watching his son building a block tower while Bob lay by his side. “Hey, buddy.”

Brady looked up, sending him a smile. “Hi.”

He walked to where Brady played, sitting down cross-legged next to him on the floor. “How was your day?”

Brady picked up another rectangular red block. “Good. You can play with me.”

“How about we talk about a couple of things before we build blocks together.”

Brady put down the block. “Okay.”