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As she walked past a table, she noticed Declan sitting down with five women surrounding him. The expression on his face was one of supreme boredom. She let out a chuckle as he spotted her and waved her over to the table.
“Hey, Paige. Hi, Emma. Why don’t you come join us,” he called out. His face looked anything but relaxed. The woman seated to his right was clutching his arm.
“Morning, Declan. Ladies,” she said in a cheery voice.
Declan disentangled himself, then jumped up quickly and moved toward her. With his back to the table, Declan began making wild eye motions. He mouthed the words Help me.
Paige shook her head. “You’re on your own,” she said in a low voice.
He shook his head violently. “I know being sought after by five women might sound like every man’s dream, but trust me, it’s quickly becoming a nightmare. They won’t give me a moment’s peace.”
“Just think of how happy Jasper will be if you end up hitting it off with one of them,” she teased. “He might just throw you and your bride a fabulous Alaskan wedding.” With a wave of her hand and a grin, she walked away and toward Hazel, leaving him with a dumbfounded expression on his face.
“Hi, Hazel,” Paige said as she approached her at the coffee counter. “Is Cameron around? He told me to meet him here.”
“Hey, girls. Cameron was in the back making some sort of specialty drink last time I checked.” She let out a hearty laugh. “He loves coming up with new concoctions.”
Emma immediately squirmed in her arms to get to Hazel. If Paige hadn’t thought it was so cute, she might have been insulted by Emma wanting to ditch her for Hazel’s arms. Bless her charming daughter. She firmly believed that if not for Emma, she might not have made as many inroads with the townsfolk upon her return to Love. It seemed that no one could resist a chubby-cheeked, green-hazel-eyed baby girl.
“How is my little cutie?” Hazel asked as she came out from behind the counter. She swung Emma up, then placed her against her chest. “Cameron told me about Emma not feeling well last night. I would have been there in a flash if you guys had needed me.”
“Thanks for saying so. She’s doing really well this morning. In a strange way it’s almost as if it never happened, at least in Emma’s world.” Paige felt relieved that it was nothing more than a passing thing. She was already back to her usual self with no signs of not being well.
Hazel beamed as she looked at the little girl. “She’s blessed. We all are. Having this Little Miss Sunshine in our lives makes everything brighter.”
“Hey, would you mind watching her for a little bit? I’m going to go look for Cameron out back.”
“Take your time. Lots of single men in town are at the café this morning.” She winked at Paige. “I’m hoping Sophie finds her a fella. She deserves to find her happily-ever-after, just like you do, Paige.”
“Well, we can’t all be as fortunate as you and Jasper,” she demurred. She had the feeling that Hazel was throwing out a hint about her relationship with Cameron, but she wasn’t biting. “I promise to be quick. Give a shout if she’s too much of a handful.”
Paige walked toward the back. Along the way she took a moment to admire all that Cameron had built for himself with the café. It was such a cozy, warm place. It exuded charm. All the customers seemed happy and well taken care of by the staff. Cameron had been right. Some dreams couldn’t be denied. She walked into the kitchen and immediately saw him fiddling around with a blender. He must have heard her coming, because he swung his gaze up to her and gifted her with a gorgeous smile. He placed the blender down and walked toward her, quickly swallowing up the space be
tween them.
“Hey, Paige. Thanks for coming over.”
“Of course. It sounded important. Emma is in front with Hazel.” She ran her fingers through her hair. The way he was staring at her was making her nervous. She couldn’t help but wonder if something was wrong.
“What’s up, Cameron? Has something happened?” she asked, her nerves suddenly on edge.
He reached out and grabbed her hand. “Paige, I can’t let another day go by without saying things to you that I should have said a long time ago.”
Suddenly Paige saw a glimmer of something in his eyes that caused her to hope as she hadn’t allowed herself to hope for a very long time.
Chapter Twelve
Cameron took a few steps toward her so that no gap existed between them.
“‘Where you go I will go. Where you stay I will stay.’” The tenderness in Cameron’s voice as he recited the Bible passage from Ruth threatened every ounce of her composure.
Little did Cameron know that it was one of her favorite Bible passages. It spoke to her, for a dozen different reasons.
“If you’re determined to go back to Seattle, I’m coming with you. I wanted to bring you here to the Moose Café to tell you so that you will never doubt that you and Emma are the most important things in my world. Way more important than this place that I love.”
One look at Cameron’s expression showed her he was serious.
Paige shook her head. Disbelief roared through her. “Seattle? You’re coming with us to Seattle?”
