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“Wait.” Lyra slapped a hand down on the table. “I don’t have a job.”
Spence wrapped an arm around her and pulled her in. “Don’t worry, I’m sure I’ll need some cultural interpretations and an undercover spy no one will see coming.”
Cam grinned at the two of them, picturing the day Vivian leaned into him the way Lyra leaned into Spence. That day was coming, he was sure about it.
On that note, they all stood and headed out.
Cam watched Spence grab a coat to throw over Lyra’s shoulders as he went to walk her home and grinned.
Vivian was just reaching for the door when he opened it for her.
“Walk you home?”
13
Vivian
It wasn’t likeshe could say no since they literally lived in the same building. But she’d seen him watching Spence and Lyra all night and just knew he was scheming.
She was desperately working to come up with a plan to avoid walking the short distance home with him when she remembered Tyler needed to be picked up. It was the first time she’d left him somewhere instead of having a babysitter come in, so it had taken her a second.
And now, she let out a brief sigh of relief.
“Sorry, not heading home. I’ve got to pick Tyler up.”
“Oh.” Cam lit up like a new headlight. “Perfect. Mom said she was going to make more cookies. I should swing by before she gives them all away again. She does that to torture me, you know? Claims to have made my favorite cookie, then gives them to anyone just walking by. I’m pretty sure it’s her way of forcing me to stop in as if I’m not there enough.”
When they got to the top of the hill, they both turned right instead of left.
Cam’s solid steps matched hers perfectly without either of them having to adjust their stride. In high school, they’d walk together, his arm slung over her shoulders, with matching gaits. If they were out of step, she’d do a little hop-skip so they were on the same foot and everything just ran like a combustible engine with its pistons all in sync.
It had always felt so natural, something that had seemed in her teen heart to say, “Yes, see? This is right.”
Now it felt like every red flag she had: Run! Don’t trust! Look for an escape hatch! Don’t lean in. You can only depend on yourself!
It took her a block to realize Cam was actually talking.
“And so, I was thinking,” he continued, and hopefully, she’d tuned back in at just the right time, “that with us working together, on the same project, it’s a good time for Tyler to get to see some of the other side of woodworking. But, you know, with your guidance there.”
When he paused, she said, “Oh,” because she was trying to catch up.
“Right,” Cam went on as if that had been some type of agreement. “There’s a lot that goes into both our jobs besides the fun, physical stuff. This is an opportunity for Tyler to do some of the boring stuff. I havehoursof reviewing old photos and sketches and comparison work with what we’re left with now. Also, we’ll probably want to look at doing some restoration and things like that. Take care of the entire situation at once.”
He looked at her expectantly, so she nodded as if she knew exactly what he was thinking.
“He’d be like a junior intern, doing a lot of crap work, and honestly, I’d probably give him some busy work to get his art skills moving. I was about his age when I picked up my first sketchbook.”
“Right,” she put in because she didn’t think she was agreeing with anything important yet.
“Great.” Cam looked too pleased with himself.
Darn. She’d obviously misjudged the conversation.
“Wait, what did I just agree to?”
Cam stopped walking, his head tilted to the side as if he were trying to figure her out. Again.
“To Tyler being my apprentice for the at least research part for the sleigh.”
