It wasn’t until about an hour into this beautiful flight that I finally relaxed. Cam joked and played tour guide while flying over the farmland beneath us, and of course, with his usual sense of humor, it cracked me up and loosened me up some.
The plane flew smoothly, and when Cam wasn’t teasing me, I could sense he was lost in the soothing feeling of gliding over everything. It also helped when I heard him do all his pilot talking with air traffic control, proving even more that he knew what he was doing and took it very seriously.
I felt a deep love for him after I allowed him back in again and a sense of safety in knowing everything would be okay. One of the things I loved about Cameron was that regardless of how stressful the situation was, he always found a way not to let it get to him. He was so positive about everything, and when things became overwhelming, he got out of his head about it. The man never dwelled on anything; he thought about it, gave it some airtime, then moved on.
It’s also probably why the guy would never go gray, either. Shit like this was par for the course with Cam, flying to God knows where on a whim to face a fear and have a little fun while doing it. I had to give him credit, though. Getting off your butt and doing something was better than sitting around all day thinking and worrying. And, of course, when you did something, it had to be out of your comfort zone, or what was the point? That’s how Cameron Brandt saw the world, and it’s why I was falling harder and harder for him while doing the one thing that’d made me angry earlier.
He got me out of my comfort zone and out of my head. It was insane how much lighter and brighter the world seemed when you took your challenges head-on.
We landed smoothly on what seemed like a runway in a residential neighborhood, and I was confused.
“Where are we?” I questioned, trying to figure out how an airport could fit into a neighborhood.
“My buddy’s hangar is just up here,” he said, turning the plane to drive up some street.
“No, where the hell are we? This makes no sense,” I said with a laugh as we passed by homes with driveways with planes.
“Fresno,” he said. “Remember we always wanted to go hike Yosemite? Where the rock climbers climb up—”
“No,” I said flatly. “I know the place you’re talking about. I’ve already watched that Free Solo movie, and my ass is not scaling the face of a giant granite rock. I’ve faced enough fears for a lifetime by flying up here, and there’s no goddamn way I’m doing something like that.”
“Good because I, too, have no plans to plummet to my death from the face of El Capitan,” he said, his voice reflecting that he was focused more on driving this plane up a driveway than convincing me to go rock climbing.
“I never know with you. So, I’m just making that clear.”
“Nah,” he said with a laugh. “I think the hiking trails up to the waterfalls would be incredible. Leisure shit like that is a healthy way to shake off stress. I mean, I’m not in the mood to kick my own ass over the next couple of days.”
I rolled my eyes. This was life with Cameron—no one ever knew what this guy was up to. He could be tricking my ass into believing he’s serious about not scaling the faces of rocks until we got there, and then the next thing I know, I’d be in a harness.
Cam and I were always balanced like this. I was the reasonable one who had to keep his feet on the ground, and he was the wild one who had to get me to try new things now and then.
After Jacks had surgery, I was sure that having Cam around would be good for our son.
“I need to call Jacks,” I said as Cam helped me out of the plane. “Are we leaving right now?”
“Yeah. We’re just here to get my buddy’s H2. It’s in his garage. So let me get the plane strapped down and squared away, and we’ll head out. It’s about a two-hour drive from here.”
“Ah,” I smiled at him, “looks like you’re not getting laid after being a sexy little pilot after all, eh?”
“We’re not at the hotel yet, gorgeous,” he teased. “I’m ensuring that you make the phone call to Jacks now, so you can sleep for the two-hour drive because you’ll need your rest when we get to the hotel I reserved.”
“Ah, now I know why we’re not hiking tomorrow.”
“Duh,” Cameron said in a goofy voice, with a wink. “All right, be back in a sec. My buddy left the keys over here. He’s in New York now, so if they’re not here, I need to call him.”
“Got it,” I said.
I turned to check out the lovely neighborhood we were in. What an interesting way for people who loved aviation to live. There was always something for somebody; you just had to pick your flavor.
Three hours later, Cameron and I walked under a canopy of stars in the inky black sky above us. I clenched his hand tighter, losing myself in the scent of pine and fresh air.
“Wow,” I said. “It feels like a planetarium with all these stars. I don’t think I’ve ever felt this close to heaven before.”
Cam’s arm came up around me, and then he kissed my temple. “I’m insulted,” he said, his lips at my ear and his warm breath sending a shiver down my spine. “And here I thought I took you to heaven more than once last night and this morning before I left for work.”
“Yeah, well, the stars,” I trailed off, ignoring Cam’s sexual references.
“Exactly, the stars,” he said as we rounded the corner and walked under large round wooden beams toward the entrance of this beautiful hotel. “You were definitely seeing stars on every round.”
“Would you stop?” I teased, playfully running my hands over the hard ridges of his abdomen.
“Okay. I will handle the reservations and get our bags up to the room. I hope you brought that sexy lingerie I sent to your beach house this afternoon?”
“When you told me to pack for colder weather, I didn’t assume that piece of lace was what you meant?”
He arched an eyebrow at me as we reached the front desk. “Good,” he flashed a sexy look, “because I’d prefer you wear nothing at all.” He looked proudly at the hotel attendant taking his card.
My mouth dropped open, and hers pulled up into a grin. I’d love to think that the poor young woman would have been used to men like Cam blurting out shit like this all the time, but this wasn’t your average hotel. This place was elegant and beautiful, like the fancy part of the Titanic, and it also looked to fit that era. Circular chandeliers held candles that flickered all around. The wall to our left was lined with glass paneling, and I could only imagine what the beauty of the scenery would look like when the sun rose in this park.
“Thank you, Mr. Brandt,” the woman said, handing Cam two old-fashioned skeleton keys that seemed to fit our surroundings.
Cam snatched my hand while I continued to stare in awe at the lodge-like atmosphere of this hotel. We walked by a stone fireplace you could practically fit a car in, the flames dancing and climbing up around the pile of logs placed neatly into it.
The smell of the fireplace suddenly made me feel as though we were in some grand lodge in the middle of Montana, and while I thought the plane ride felt like an escape from the stresses of the world, this was what took me away from it all completely.
“I could wrap up in a blanket and sit in one of those huge chairs in front of that fireplace all day,” I told Cam.
He looked back at me and smiled as we stepped out of the elevator onto the second floor. “Thank God I ensured we had a room with a fireplace in it, then, because I don’t plan on you sitting alone in a chair. You’ll be in my arms tonight,” he said, his voice lower.
“Perfect. At least that stops me from getting weird looks from other hotel guests,” I said as I nudged his side.
When we reached our room, Cam plugged in the old-fashioned key and opened the door, moving to the side and motioning for me to enter before he did.
“Just so you know, this is not called the presidential suite because the name sounds fancy,” Cam said as he watched me look around. “JFK and Queen Elizabeth have even stayed in this exact room.”
“Not at the same time, I’m assuming,” I said, soaking up the grandeur of the suite.
“When it comes to JFK, I guess you can never be too sure,” Cam laughed. “Hopefully, you approve. I wanted to ensure my lady stayed in a room fit for a queen.”
When I walked in, I felt like I’d been swept away into a Jane Austen novel. Cameron could’ve passed for my literary hero, Fitzwilliam Darcy, and I felt like Elizabeth Bennet.
“Well?” Cam questioned.
I turned around, finding the man dreamier than before. His coal black hair gave a beautiful depth to the sharp features of his face, and his piercing blue eyes were so deep that a warm sensation swarmed deep inside of me, knowing that I wanted and needed more.
“You’re so handsome,” I said, honestly and completely caught up in this fairytale moment I’d been transported into. “Thank you. Thank you for all of this.”
He crossed the room to where I stood with tears in my eyes, “You are very welcome indeed.”
I reached up to his face, “This all feels like a dream, you know?”
“Oh, do I ever know,” he said with a smile and a kiss on my nose. “I have no idea how we managed to find our way back to each other, but I know this was meant to be. It’s not a coincidence.”
“You believe there was a reason aside from Jacks for us finding our way back together?”
“I know there was a reason,” he answered. “We were never meant to be apart.”
“I’m proud of you, though, for everything that you’ve accomplished in your life while we weren’t together.”
“Thank you, baby,” he said, kissing me and laying me back on the bed as he began removing my clothes.
I didn’t expect us to move this fast and for me to forgive him so easily. In fact, I never saw myself back in Cam’s arms like this again. I guess it was all part of the fairytale, though. Everything was so perfect and so right. My anger and resentment had faded entirely, and I felt complete.
Would everyone I knew and loved call me insane for taking Cameron back so quickly? Absolutely. My parents hated him for walking out of my life the way he did, and they’d never agreed with how I handled things on my side, either. They thought Cam needed to know he was a father and he needed to help. Instead of heeding their advice, I gave up the opportunities I’d worked so hard to get, allowing him to pursue his goals. Needless to say, that didn’t sit right with Mom and Dad.
My decisions were my own, though, and I didn’t give a shit what anyone thought about how I handled things.
What mattered now was that we were together again, and I felt fulfilled. It felt so right that I couldn’t help but become overwhelmed with emotion.
Naturally, I started crying at the exact moment Cameron was kissing along my inner thigh, his lips massaging toward my entrance where his fingers had just slid into me.
Why now?
I covered my face with my hands as the sob erupted through me. Tears that had been bottled up broke free and feeling stupid for crying made the tears fall that much harder.
“Hey?” Cam said, rightfully confused by my sudden turn in emotion. “Baby?”
I couldn’t respond, but I felt Cameron at my side, pulling my naked body against his bare chest.
It took a bit for me to control the sobbing and settle into the warmth of his side before I could start taking some cleansing breaths.
“You don’t have to talk about it, sweetheart,” he said, his hands running through my hair as I clung to his side.
I sniffed and stared into the fireplace across the room from where we lay on the bed. Everything was quiet, relaxing, and comforting now. I needed this peace and didn’t feel bad I was taking it.
I’d been strong for so long, living in this nightmare of uncertainty with Jackson’s medical condition. I’d tried to navigate everything correctly, making the smart decisions—the right ones—for myself and my son.
The hardest and most troublesome decision was coming up, but strangely, I wasn’t so fearful of that right now. Instead, I knew the right answer was to trust the man holding me with our son’s life. I knew the mountain we would climb for Jackson’s recovery was steep, but at least I finally felt like we could climb it.
