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Cameron shrugged. “I don’t have a claim on Paige. If Declan wants to chase after her, that’s his business.”
Boone folded his arms across his chest and rocked back on his heels. “He’s not exactly chasing after her, Cameron. They’re simply catching up on old times.”
“What part of I don’t care don’t you understand?” he spit out. Boone was buzzing around him like a gnat at the moment, serving no other purpose than to annoy him.
Boone grunted. “You can try to sell that story somewhere else, little brother—to someone who hasn’t known you your entire life.”
Cameron turned his head to look at Boone. “What do you want me to say? That I feel like walking over there and knocking his teeth out?”
Boone narrowed his gaze. “I don’t need you to say anything. Just listen for a second. I almost lost Gracie due to false pride and not wanting to take a chance at loving again.” He shook his head, a fierce expression stamped on his face. “Take a lesson from me. If you still love Paige, don’t waste another minute rehashing the past or creating problems where there aren’t any. Do it for Emma. Show her the power that exists when two people commit themselves to one another for life.”
“It’s not that simple,” Cameron said. He cast a quick glance over at Paige. Her head was thrown back in merriment as she laughed at something Declan had said to her. She looked relaxed and happy. A tight feeling settled over his chest. He couldn’t remember the last time he had been able to make her feel that way.
Boone followed the path of his gaze. “And why not?”
“I loved Paige years ago, but a lot of water has flowed under that bridge. I’m sure you remember that when she left town, it wasn’t of her own accord.”
“I remember,” Boone said with a solemn nod. “She was practically run out on a rail.”
Cameron swung his gaze back toward his brother. “I was the one who gave her the final push to leave. There were a lot of things that had me convinced she was in collusion with her father. Things I haven’t been able to forget. Big-ticket items she purchased, trips, jewelry. All of which I suspect she couldn’t have afforded on her salary.”
“None of which is concrete proof of her guilt,” Boone said. “I’ll admit I had suspicions in the past about Paige, but after seeing her desire to make things right here in town and your beautiful little girl, it’s forced me to reflect on things. God placed her right in your path again. From where I’m standing, it looks like you have another shot to get it right.”
“It’s not as if we can just pick up where we left off. Because of everything that took place two years ago, I lost fourteen months of my daughter’s life. Pushing Paige out of town had consequences. Every time I look at Paige, I’m consumed by so much guilt and regret. I need some time to process all of these feelings.”
Boone clapped him on the shoulder. “You’re a good man. Don’t beat yourself up about it. Wallowing in the past won’t move you toward your future.”
His future. He didn’t know exactly what that meant. No doubt it would be full of diapers and sippy cups and all kinds of girlie things he had no clue about. Taffeta and lace. Pink teddy bears and tiaras. Dolls and tea parties. He pressed his eyes closed as anxiety gnawed at him. Was he up for the challenges of fatherhood? He was coming at it late in the game. He wasn’t so sure it would be easy to play catch-up.
He still hadn’t discussed any specifics with Paige. Would Emma be growing up here in Love or back in Seattle? Was he going to be raising his daughter long-distance or sharing custody with Paige? His heart ached at the thought of how confusing two households in different states would be. His own parents’ divorce had shattered his childhood, and when his mother had left Alaska for greener pastures, it had left a hole inside him that nothing or no one had ever been able to fill. Throw in a father who had rambled all over the world, only returning home when it suited him, and the situation had amounted to nothing more than a fine mess.
His own life had been shaped by parental abandonment. He’d struggled for so many years with feelings of loss and unworthiness. The thought of making Emma experience those same emotions gutted him. And he knew a part of him resented Paige for creating another loss in his life.
“Truth is, everything feels like it’s crashing down on me at once. It’s not like there’s a road map pointing me in a specific direction,” he admitted.
Boone made a tutting sound. “If you don’t see the possibilities, I’m afraid you’re going to blow this opportunity to smithereens.”
“Opportunity for what? I’m a little skeptical about happily-ever-afters,” he scoffed. “Our parents didn’t exactly give us a lot of hope for one.”
Boone clucked his tongue. “If you have to ask that question, something tells me you’re not ready yet to embrace the big picture.” Boone pointed his chin in Paige’s direction. “Just don’t wait too long to decide what you want. In a town with a shortage of women, there are plenty of men here in Love who won’t hesitate to court Paige.”
After shooting him a pointed look, Boone ambled off to join Declan at his table. Cameron shook his head at his brother’s retreating figure. Since Boone was now ecstatically in love and married to his one and only, it was easy for him to dole out relationship advice. Boone was viewing things through rose-colored glasses. He wasn’t acknowledging all of the very real obstacles that stood between him and Paige. How could he forge something new with Paige when he still questioned her role in the embezzlement that had rocked his hometown? And it was no small issue that she had kept his daughter’s existence from him for all this time.
Cameron wished he still believed in things like white picket fences and dream houses with views of the mountains. He wished that things weren’t so complicated with the only woman he had ever loved. A life without Paige had already proved to be a life with less color and zest. Making it through these past two years without her had brought him to his knees.
He had emerged on the other side, but surely not a better man than the one who had loved so gloriously. And been loved in return.
He wasn’t sure that he and Paige could ever get there again. Not when their past had been littered with so much friction and lying and judgment. Sometimes it was best to accept things the way they were and move on. Maybe this was one of those occasions, he realized.
And that knowledge was all kinds of heartbreaking to him.
Chapter Six
Paige smiled at the group of women who were seated at a large table by the window. There were six of them in all, and from what she’d gathered of their conversation, they were all participants in the Operation Love program. The women had come from Maine, Louisiana, Texas and Idaho to find love and companionship with the single bachelors in Love.
Paige placed a basketful of blueberry muffins and scones down on the table, along with a pot of hot water and an assortment of teas. The ladies smiled at her and murmured a round of thank-yous.
The one named Gretchen darted a glance behind Paige. “There he is. He’s the most handsome man in this whole town.” Gretchen put her elbow on the table, then placed her jaw on her hand so she could stare moon-eyed into the distance.
