Love, Scars, & Shooting Stars

Chapter Twenty-Three

Cam moaned in near-ecstasy as he finished his second slice of banana cream pie and slumped back against the sofa cushion. Julie giggled, and he opened his eyes to find her smiling back at him over the rim of her coffee cup.

"Should I take that as a compliment?" she asked.

"Most definitely," Cam responded, placing the empty plate on the end table and shifting his body sideways to better face her. "You know, you could go into business for yourself."

"Doing what, making banana cream pies?" Julie cast him a doubtful look.

"Among others," he said. "You do know how to make other kinds, I'm assuming?"

"Well, yes, but..." she stammered. "Pie is easy, though. It's not like making a wedding cake or something. Who's going to pay for pie when they could just as easily make it themselves?"

"Umm, the same people who pay six dollars for a cold-cut sandwich at The Sub Shack," Cam volleyed. "The same people who buy bread, or cookies, or Stouffer's frozen lasagna..."

Julie smiled and shook her head, but he could see that he'd started the wheels in her head turning.

"I wouldn't know the first thing about running a business."

"You're practically doing it now with The Shack," he reminded her.

"That's different," she dodged. "Besides, I can't afford the space for that sort of thing..."

"So you start small," Cam countered, growing more and more excited by the possibilities involved. "You could use the commercial oven down at The Shack if you wanted to—come to think of it, you could sell your pies there, and maybe supply some of the bigger restaurants in town, too!"

She didn't respond, keeping her gaze pinned to her lap as she nibbled on her bottom lip, a nervous habit of hers that he'd only recently picked up on.

"Julie!" he said eagerly, and she finally raised her eyes to his. "You could do this!"

She gave him a wan smile. "Doubtful, but it's something to think about," she allowed, and then shifted the subject as she turned her attention to the photos that lay fanned out over the coffee table. "You, on the other hand, should definitely have your own carpentry business—these houses are incredible!"

"Aesthetics," Cam shrugged. "It's amazing what a coat of paint and a little TLC can do for a place."

"I see a lot more than some fresh paint in these pictures," Julie insisted, leaning forward to pore over the photographs yet again. "Don't sell yourself short."

"You either, Pie Queen," he said.

She narrowed her eyes and pointed a warning finger playfully in his direction.

"No using my own words against me!"

Cam laughed and began gathering up the pictures.

"Do you suppose Finn is okay?" he asked. "He seemed kind of... off."

"Yeah, he's fine," Julie said, setting a stack of photos on the table. "He said he was tired, that's all."

"I hope I didn't wear him out shooting hoops before dinner," Cam worried. "Maybe I should have taken it easy on him..."

Julie shifted her position, curling her legs up onto the couch as she grinned back at him. Damn, if she didn't have a great smile!

"Are you kidding? He loved it!" she enthused, and then her smile faded away. "Finn's never really had a lot of... guy time, I guess you could say. So thank you, for giving him that. It's been good for him, and even though he'd never say so, I can tell that it means a lot to him."