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and I would really not like to lose it. I’m sorry this is hard on you, and if there is anything else I can do, just let me know. Unfortunately, though, no matter how many stories you tell me, I can’t give you what you are looking for.”
“Damn,” I said, sighing. “All right, well thanks for at least hearing me out.”
“It was my pleasure, Mr. Phase,” he said.
“Please, call me Cameron, my father is Mr. Phase,” I said, grimacing.
“Of course,” he said, nodding his head. “I will let you know as soon as your room is ready. And good luck finding that girl. She sounds amazing.”
I nodded my head and walked toward the bar, deciding that a drink was definitely in order. As I passed through the doorway, I looked up, seeing Brian back there polishing glasses. He glanced up at me, doing a doubletake and then put the glass down and smiled big, reaching out his hand.
“Cameron,” he said, shaking my hand. “It’s good to see you, man. At the same time, it’s a bit confusing seeing you.”
“Yeah, I just needed a little vacation,” I said. “The holiday was really stressful on me.”
“Well, I figured that, but that isn’t why I’m confused,” he said.
“What is it?”
“It’s just, well, Bea was in here earlier asking about how to find you,” he said. “Like literally, she checked out just a few minutes ago, maybe fifteen minutes.”
“What? Shit.” I thought about the girl climbing in her SUV. “Hold on. I’ll be right back.”
I got up from the chair and ran across the lobby and out into the parking lot. I stopped and scanned the lot until I found the place that I had seen Bea just a half an hour before. Just as I figured, the car parked there was gone, and Bea was nowhere in sight. I went back into the hotel and moped my way across the floor, sitting back down in the bar.
“Did she tell you her last name?” I asked. “Or maybe she gave you a phone number? Anything would help me out here.”
“No, unfortunately, she didn’t give me anything,” he said.
“What about Hailey? You were seeing her while she was here. Do you have her number?”
“No, I mean, she bolted that morning since she was running late,” he said. “I never got the chance to get her number.”
“Damnit,” I replied. “This is insane. I really need to find her.”
“Well, if it makes you feel any better, she looked absolutely frantic to see you as well,” he said. “She didn’t even drink all weekend, except for some lemon water every few hours. Eventually, I just had a jug made for her and sent up to her room. She looked so tired.”
“Fuck,” I sighed. “I literally just missed her. And by that, I mean I saw a girl that I thought looked exactly like Bea climbing in her SUV before I got inside. I am pretty sure that was Bea.”
“No way,” Brian said, shaking his head.
“I just missed her,” I replied, taking a swig of my whiskey. “I can’t seem to catch a damn break.”
“Well, maybe she will come back,” he said. “I mean, I didn’t even realize her info might be in there until I saw her. But when I looked it up, she had booked everything under Hailey’s name because she gets special perks for being a frequent visitor.”
“Of course,” I replied.
This was starting to feel like I was running in circles.
Chapter 24
Eight Months Later
Bea
I stood at the hospital window, looking out at the beautiful October landscape. The trees were ablaze in vibrant colors, and I knew it wouldn’t be long until winter weather had knocked all the leaves to the ground and covered them with white once again. Until then, I got to enjoy a view that was strewn in oranges, browns, and fiery yellows. It made me miss home and sitting in my living room, getting a full view of everything around me. Soon, though, it wouldn’t be long until I could take Lily home from the hospital. Labor had been hard, but quick, and I was just glad that Hailey had gotten me there before I had her.
Once inside the hospital, Hailey fielded all the questions about where the father was while I focused on breathing through the pain. I wasn’t going to lie. Some of that pain was the absence of Cameron, and how much I struggled through the nine months that Lily was growing inside of me. However, I wasn’t angry with Cameron. He had no idea what was going on, and I had been the one to walk away without any ability to contact each other. It was the stupidest and most reckless decision of my life, and now, not only was I going to pay the price for it, but so was our daughter, possibly never knowing the wonderful man that I knew. I had spent the last eight months scouring the country for Cameron, always seeming to be two steps behind him, and never in front. It was frustrating as hell, but not surprisingly, they moved faster than I could investigate.
