Love, Scars, & Shooting Stars

Chapter Thirty

Cameron paused with the hammer frozen mid-swing but the pounding continued, and it took him perhaps a moment longer than it should have to realize that the sound was coming from downstairs. Tucking the hammer into his tool belt, he hustled down over the steps and pulled open the front door, wondering who would be stopping by on a Wednesday evening.

"Becca," he said, surprise evident in his voice. "Uh, hi."

"Hi, Cameron," Becca Gibb greeted him, flashing him a detached smile and handing over a plain manila envelope. "The tickets for the SBA's summer raffle came today, and I wanted to make sure that all the business owners had them before the weekend."

"Oh. Thanks, but you didn't have to come all the way—"

"Yeahyeahyeah," Becca waved him off impatiently, pushing past him to step inside while keeping one eye trained on her van in the driveway. "Look, I've got three kids in the backseat and not a lot of time, so I'm just going to get right to the point, okay? Julie is meeting with Garrett tonight."

Cameron felt like he'd just been sucker-punched in the gut, but he did his best to appear indifferent. "Oh. So she decided to call him, then. Well, that's... good."

"You don't really believe that," she said. It was a statement, not a question, and Cameron knew it would be pointless to deny it.

"I'm that transparent, am I?" he asked sheepishly.

"Generally, no; but in this case, you may as well be glass," Becca said bluntly. "The question is, what are you going to do about it?"

"Well, there doesn't seem to be much I can do at this point," he pointed out. "I mean, she's out with him right now, isn't she?"

"Oh, for Christ's sake, Cameron! She doesn't want to be with him! She just needs..." Becca paused, her hand drawing circles in the air as she searched for the right word.

"If you say closure, I'm going to kill you," Cameron warned her, and she glared at him.

"Call it whatever you want," she snapped. "The point is, he walked out on her, and she never got the chance to tell him 'goodbye', or 'go to Hell', or... anything. It's like leaving a door open just the tiniest bit, and she's never going to move on if she doesn't close it now, once and for all."

"I don't trust him," Cameron said.

"Neither do I, and I've never even laid eyes on the guy," Becca admitted. "Look, I know his type. He's probably just looking to ease his conscience or borrow money or something like that, and then he'll disappear again. But if I'm wrong... Are you willing to fight for her, Cameron?"

"If I have to fight for her, then I've already lost," he reasoned. "She's got to make that choice on her own."

"You've got to let her know that she has a choice, dammit! Stop hiding out in this old house, waiting for her to come to you!"

Before Cam could respond, an ear-piercing screech cut through the air from the direction of the van, and then the wailing began. Becca sighed heavily and rolled her eyes, inadvertently dropping her perky, oft-flirtatious persona to reveal the frazzled wife and mother underneath.

"Look, I've got to go before they kill each other," she said, stepping out onto the porch. "They're just meeting for coffee, so I don't imagine Julie will be out all that late. You know, in case you were thinking of knocking off early today..."

Cameron followed her outside, leaning with his forearms against the railing as she started down the steps.

"Hey, Becca? Thanks."

She stopped midway down and turned back. "You're welcome," she said, her faint smile offering up a hint of melancholy. "Just don't screw this up, okay?"