Love, Scars, & Shooting Stars

Chapter Forty-Seven

"Julie!" Cameron said as he pulled open his door, unable to stop the smile that spread across his face. "This is a nice surprise. I assumed that you'd be... out."

With Garrett, he brooded silently.

"Yeah, I thought so, too, but... my plans changed." She smiled, but her demeanor was edgy and anxious as she stood fidgeting on his doorstep. "Can we talk?"

"Yeah... sure," Cam assured her, his own smile faltering as he stepped back and motioned for her to enter. "C'mon in."

Julie stepped inside and followed him into the kitchen, leaning on the counter as he reached into the fridge and snagged a beer. It wasn't beer that he wanted, but rather a reason to avoid what he fully expected to be a less-than-pleasant conversation. He'd seen that look on a woman's face before, and it was never a good thing...

"Can I get you anything?" he stalled. "Water? Coffee? Leftover spaghetti?"

"No thanks," she declined.

Silence.

Nope, this definitely doesn't look good, Cam thought.

"Is Finn at the Gibb's house?" he ventured.

"Actually, he's at the movies," Julie said. "With his father."

"Alone?" Cameron asked, not bothering to hide his surprise. "You didn't go with them?"

She shook her head. "No, I was going to, but... well, that's sort of what I wanted to talk to you about."

"Oh. Okay, well... have a seat, then," Cameron hedged, reluctantly directing her toward the kitchen table. He pulled out a chair for her, and then seated himself in his usual spot. "So... what's up?"

Julie chewed her bottom lip and traced her finger over the wood grain in the table, apparently unsure of where to start. Finally, she spoke.

"Well, you know that I've been accompanying Finn on his visits with Garrett," she started, and Cam nodded. He felt fairly certain he knew where this was going. "And I thought that things were going pretty well, but it turns out that I wasn't entirely right on that score..."

"Oh?" Cameron asked, sounding more pleased than he had intended. He cleared his throat and tried again, more subdued this time. "How so?"

"Well, I think that my tagging along with them was giving Finn the wrong idea, if you know what I mean," she admitted. "Actually, he asked if Garrett and I were going to get married..."

"He did?" Cam blurted out before he could stop himself.

"Yeah, he did," she confirmed, her tone edged in melancholy sadness before droll disdain took over. "Believe me, I didn't waste any time in correcting that little misunderstanding!"

"Well... he's had a lot to take in recently," Cameron shrugged. "I guess it's understandable that he'd be a little confused right now."

"Oh, absolutely!" Julie agreed, sitting back in her chair and meeting his eyes for the first time that evening. "But I've been thinking about it all day, and it occurred to me that if Finn was confused by the way things were going, well then... maybe it was confusing for a certain other person, as well."

Cam nodded knowingly. "Garrett was getting his own ideas, huh?"

Julie's chin drew back, and her eyebrows shot up in surprise.