this woman. My father didn’t have the greatest judgment when it came to women, but in this one instance, he’d certainly gotten it right. “You already are.”
She immediately pressed her advantage, as any mother would. “Then listen to me. Your happiness is my happiness. And he makes you happy.” She spread her hands in an I’m sorry, but I’ve gotta say it kind of gesture. “I remember thinking that when you guys left my house that night.”
Digging up fond memories of Journey was not exactly on my list of top ten slammin’ things to do. “Thinking what?” I asked begrudgingly.
“That you’d found something special. I’ve seen you date other people over the years, Cam. You didn’t look at them that way. Not once. Not even in the beginning, when the relationship was fresh and new, and no one had gotten on anyone’s nerves just yet.”
I wanted to deny it on principle, of course, but in the end, I let it be. Rosy had always known me better than anyone else, and I wasn’t in the mood to lie. She had me dead to rights. I loved Journey more than anyone or anything, but that wasn’t enough. And now that we were all caught up on the Life Sucks Big, Hairy Balls, And Not The Good Kind files, we could all move on.
“What’s your point?”
“I thought I already made it. Several times. But perhaps I need to hire some sort of skywriter to make it clear for you.” She had the same expression that she used to get when she tried to help me with homework—like she knew she had to be patient, but she wanted to wallop me one. “Are you really going to let him go?”
“My whole world is here. Here. Not across the globe.” Why was it so hard for everyone to understand that?
She shook her head as she pulled her phone out of her pocket. I watched impatiently as she tapped on the screen for a few moments. “Your whole world,” she finally said, turning the screen around to face me. “Is right here.”
I stared at the picture she’d taken of the two of us at her kitchen table. They’d gotten to talking about those specialty dog treats he kept buying at that boutique, and how great they’d be for the Happy Paws clientele. One thing led to another, and before I knew it, they were whipping up an oatmeal batch right at the table.
He was pressing the mix into a silicone mold and the only one my mother had was shaped like roses. Now picture these in the shape of a bone, he’d said earnestly. I’ve already ordered some on Amazon. There’s one that looks like a paw that’s just the cutest thing….
The memory made my chest ache. It certainly didn’t help to look at pictures of that moment, either. I didn’t need to see how adorable it was when he bit his lip in concentration as he worked. And I certainly didn’t need to see how I looked at him. I mean, really. You should only look at people like that in a cheesy jewelry commercial.
“This is what matters, honey,” she said as the phone went dark. She put it back in her pocket. “Everything else is just longitude and latitude.”
“You really wouldn’t care if I left Coral Cove?”
She smiled. “No, as long as you come back… and you will. Come. Back. You’re mine in every way that counts, Cameron. I know you know the way home.” She paused. “And I’ll dog-sit Kona, just to make sure.”
“What about the clinic?”
“Let’s be real. I’m not really retired. I’d love to get back in there again, maybe on a part-time basis. That way, if you wanted to take off for a couple of weeks, we could work that out.”
“I think he’d be a fool to let JJ go,” a voice came from behind us. We both turned to find Glenna from the diner standing there, listening unabashedly.
“Are you serious right now?” I demanded.
This entire town was just shameless. I wasn’t about to tell them that I had no intention of letting the best thing that had ever walked through my life go. I just had to figure out what I was going to do about it, and how I was going to get him back. The fact that he was currently knee-deep in a tropical rainforest was really tying my hands.
“He should go and surprise JJ. Just hop on a plane tonight and go.” Glenna sighed, her