Love, Scars, & Shooting Stars

Chapter Fifteen

Cameron knocked off early on Saturday, rounding the final turn for home just after four o'clock in the afternoon. The day had been a hot one, with temperatures peaking in the mid-nineties, and while he was looking forward to a cool shower followed by an even cooler beer, he thought maybe he should mow the lawn first, since Sunday's forecast held the promise of even higher temperatures. But as he made the sweeping turn into his driveway, he saw that somebody had already beaten him to it.

Cam climbed out of his truck as Julie Callahan guided his old push mower in the opposite direction, her hair pulled up high in a tousled, bobbling knot that exposed the smooth, ivory column of her neck. He hadn't seen her wear shorts before, and his gaze traveled appreciatively up the length of her legs, admiring the stretch and contraction of lean muscle beneath creamy-white skin, before coming to rest on the seductive curve of her backside, round and firm and hugged in faded denim cut-offs. Cameron tore his eyes away and walked to the mailbox to avoid any further study of Julie Callahan's anatomy—she was his employee, for God's sake, not to mention his tenant!

He flipped absently through the mail as he ambled slowly back up the driveway. A postcard from his mother in Florida, a couple of utility bills, a grocery sales flyer... Nothing out of the ordinar—

The oversized envelope caught Cameron's eye, a red stamp on the front indicating that it had initially been misdirected to his prior address. He felt the color drain from his face as he stared down at his own name and address emblazoned in lavish script across the plush ivory paper. An invitation, obviously, but to whose wedding? Nearly three years having passed since the divorce, it wouldn't be unthinkable for Jessica to be ready to marry someone else, but that didn't mean Cameron was ready to watch her do it. And she would invite him, of that he was certain. Jessica would see it as a way for him to finally get that 'closure' she had told him he needed to find, whatever that was supposed to mean. Hadn't she given him all the 'closure' he could handle the day she'd walked out on him? From Cameron's vantage point, their relationship seemed about as closed as it could get! Reluctantly, he tore open the envelope, and found that it wasn't Jess who was getting married, but Matt, an old buddy of his from trade school. Cam felt more relief than he cared to admit, although he knew that Jessica would likely be a guest at the wedding, since she and Cameron had been the ones to introduce the future bride and groom to each other in the first place. He checked the date of the ceremony, noting that he only had one week to come up with a plausible excuse for not—

"Bad news?"

Cam's head snapped up to find Julie Callahan just a few feet away, eyeing him with concern from behind the now-silent mower. He hadn't even heard her approach.

"Sorry, what?"

"You just looked kind of—" she said, motioning to the letter still clutched in his hand. "Like maybe it was bad news or something. I'm sorry; it's none of my business..."

"No, that's okay," Cam assured her, a bit unnerved that he was so easy to read. "No, not bad news, just... bills."

"Say no more, I feel your pain," Julie empathized, apparently satisfied with his response as she stooped to brush some grass clippings from the side of her calf.

Cam tucked the mail under his arm and leaned back against his truck.

"I was planning to mow when I got home, you know," he said, tipping his head toward the lawn beneath her feet.

"Well, now you don't have to," she shrugged, coming to stand at the edge of the pavement. "The Shack actually sold out of rolls today, so I was out early."

"And you decided to celebrate by mowing the lawn?" Cam concluded doubtfully.

"Well, no. I just... figured I'd help out, that's all."

A light came on in Cam's head as he realized what was going on.

"So you like to mow?"

Her eyes shot up, locking defiantly on his.

"I do, actually," she said.

Her left eye did that little twitch-like thing, and Cam grinned.

"You lie!" he blurted out, swatting her upper arm with the stack of mail. "You hate it!"

Julie crossed her arms and looked away, but he could see that she was trying not to smile.

"Okay, fine! It's not my favorite thing in the world," she conceded, and then confessed her true intent. "Look, I just feel like I need to—"

"Need to what?" Cameron interrupted. "Earn your keep?"

She shrugged. "Something like that, I guess."

"You don't have to do that," he insisted. "You're paying rent, remember?"

"Oh, please," she scoffed. "Fifty dollars isn't rent, it's charity! And we both know you're paying me more than you should be for working at The Sub Shack, so... Just let me do this, okay?"

Her brown eyes regarded him with unwavering determination, and he could see in their depths a stubbornness that wasn't about to take no for an answer. But there was something else there as well, a raw vulnerability that Cameron suspected she didn't reveal often, if at all. To deny her request in that moment would be an abuse of the trust she was chancing in him, and for reasons he couldn't quite fathom, he wanted her to trust him.

"Fine," he sighed heavily as he started back toward the house, but then turned back before he could stop himself. "But only if you'll have dinner with me."

"What?!" Julie said, her eyes flying open wide.

"You and Finn," he said, diffusing her alarm with a casual shrug. "Nothing fancy. I was planning on throwing some burgers on the grill anyhow, and... well, I wouldn't mind having some company."

Julie eyed him warily before finally letting her guard down.

"Okay," she agreed.

"Okay," Cam echoed, unable to stop the wide grin that broke across his face.

He turned and headed for his house to get ready, just scaling the top step when Julie called out to him. He liked the sound of his name on her lips, the consonants all soft around the edges and the 'a' floating out on a little breath of air. He turned back to see her still standing in the same spot, shielding her eyes from the late-afternoon sun that glinted in her hair like liquid gold.

"What time?"

Time? Oh, time! Cam did a quick calculation in his head, gauging how long it would take him to shower and get everything ready.

"Umm... Let's say around six?" he suggested.

"Six it is," she agreed. "Can we bring anything?"

"Just yourselves," he said, pulling open his screen door as she started back to where the lawnmower stood silently waiting. "And do a good job on that lawn!"

She threw her head back and laughed,and although she was walking away from him, the sound floated back to Cameronlike soft music on a cool summer breeze. He smiled to himself as he turned stepped inside, suddenly glad that hehad come home early.