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“No toppings, just all that cheesy goodness. Unless you’re lactose intolerant, then it sucks.” She was pleased when he laughed, and doubly pleased when he ordered the pizza she’d recommended. “So,” Emilia said, suddenly aware of a slight, tingling tension between them. It had been ages, maybe years, since she’d felt this attracted to someone. She had to think of a safe topic. “What made you become a mover?”
“My dad. He has a passion for all things housing, and he got me into the business.”
“A passion for all things housing. I’ve heard that phrase before?”
“Oh, right, he just celebrated his 30-year jubilee with the company, and it was all over the local and regional news. You probably heard or read about him telling his story.”
“Wait… is your dad Walter Rockford, from Rockford Homes and Movers?”
“He is.”
“That company built our office building! Oh my God, you guys are huge! I remember because I loved the idea that he’d grown from movers, to home builder to building offices and all these huge contracts but had obviously refused to change the company name, even though it makes no sense. I loved the quirkiness of just tacking on his extra qualifications. I had no idea. Why wasn’t your name on the truck when Mia moved out?”
He laughed softly at the mock indignation in her tone. “All the trucks were out and the one we wanted to use had a flat. We didn’t notice till it was almost time to leave, so we got a rental.”
The server came with their meals, interrupting them briefly, but Emilia hardly noticed. Her mind was whirling. Cameron’s dad’s company was about to go national, expanding across all states. “Local and regional” news, he said. They’d been featured in the Financial and New York Times.
“This has just completely blown my mind,” Emilia said. “What were you doing at ours last Saturday? You don’t have to do that kind of work, surely.”
“No, I don’t, which is why I do.”
“Huh?”
Cameron laughed. “Dad made both me and my brother get summer jobs when we were about fourteen. Carting stuff and driving the trucks were my favorite parts about it. He also made us work our way up, Walmart style, so we could get a feel for all the moving parts in case one or both of us wanted to run it when he retired. I go out on a job every now and then because I miss it.”
“I wouldn’t miss it,” she said drily. “I hate moving.”
“Yeah, I hate it when it’s my stuff, but getting to look at all those other people’s stuff is just legal snooping and I love it.”
“I used to think I’d love to be a housekeeper at the hotel for the same reason. So what’s your actual role in the company then?”
“I do a little bit of everything, to be honest. My brother’s the finance guru and is pushing the expansion and I’ve got my hand in nearly all of our projects. So does Dad, but less, these days. Enough about me, though. How did you come to work for your cousin?”
Emilia felt her stomach drop at the line of questioning. And the wording. It was part of the problem she’d been having lately—only being seen as her cousin’s PA.
“We don’t have to talk about that if you don’t want to,” Cameron said quietly and reached for her hand. She let him hold it because she felt a bit stupid that he’d obviously noticed her reaction. She took a steadying breath and squeezed his hand before pulling away.
“No, it’s okay. It’s just a bit of a sore point, that’s all. I’ve been working for her for a year and before that I was unemployed for a couple of months and beforethatI did odd jobs around town; waitressing, cleaning etc.”
“Right, so you’re finding your purpose then?”
“By process of elimination you mean?” Emilia felt a little of the weight lift off her shoulders as she laughed. “That’s putting a positive spin on things for sure.” She still wasn’t sure what it was about him, but felt in that moment like she could almost tell him everything.
The things that had been bothering her lately had started to feel like chains around her neck, and his kind green eyes were sparkling at her with understanding. “I thought I’d found my purpose. After getting the job with Mia, and being financially able to, I did some volunteer work at a youth center—I gave art classes with different themes that are important to the kids in my class, giving them a healthy outlet to work through their shit, you know? I loved it. The people there encouraged me to apply for art school.”
“Which you did.”
“Which I did,” Emilia had to take a deep breath, so grateful for Cam’s instant understanding. “I applied for a full scholarship to Appalachian State’s fine arts program. I got rejected.” There was power in saying the words out loud and sitting there across from Cam, watching him watch her and not feel any judgement or disappointment, Emilia felt some of the shame lift off her shoulders.
“When was this?” His voice was calm.
“Just before I met you, actually. Which is also when I decided to swear off dating. I feel like I can only focus on one thing in my life at the moment, and that area—of finding my purpose and jumping on the actual career ladder—became a priority. I mean, I’m almost thirty and I thought my life would look very different by now.”
“Do you have a good support network?”
Emilia couldn’t help it, she scoffed. “My friends are great, but I hadn’t even told them I was applying. I don’t know why, in hindsight. My mother…” Emilia looked out the window, surprised by the sudden lump in her throat. Old hurts welled up as tears in her eyes. She pushed them ruthlessly down before they could spill over. “She wanted, desperately, for me to be a model. Enrolled me in beauty pageants by the time I could walk. By the age of seven, I had an agent. By the time I was nineteen, and lost my last chance at becoming Miss North Carolina, she got really angry. She accused me of throwing the pageant on purpose, which was really the last straw for me. I’d been toeing that fucking line for fifteen years, and no one had ever asked me if I wanted to. We had a big fight. She never understood my passion for art. Or my lack of ambition. She calls it a lack of drive. So that’s been tough.”
“And then you didn’t get the scholarship and started wondering if maybe she’d been right all along?”
