Reclaim - Aly Martinez Page 0,110
end of the water. “And on the weekends, we can have Joe and Misty over for cookouts and go swimming. I know we’ve talked about taking things slow and getting to know each other again, but maybe one day we could raise our kids here—happy kids, kids who will never have to deal with the hell we went through. We can make new memories until this becomes their creek too.” He hurried back over in front of me. “I get it. It’s going to take compromise from both of us, and it’s not always going to be easy. But, for the right price, Sam said he’d be willing to sell us this place. And I don’t give a damn what the right price is. I want this, Nora. I want it with you.”
He finally stopped talking and stared at me expectantly, but I couldn’t breathe much less string together a complete sentence.
Me. Camden. Kids. Our creek. A lifetime of laughter and happiness. I’d never even dreamed that big before.
Sweet Jesus, Freaking Camden Cole was still the genius of all geniuses from all those years ago.
“Say something,” he whispered.
I nodded a dozen times.
His smile grew with each one.
“I’m in, Cam. All in. Just tell me what you need me to do,” I choked out, fighting an onslaught of emotion back.
He rested his hands on my hips and playfully rocked me from side to side. “I need help paying the down payment.”
“Uh, I’m not sure the rainy-day-slash-Louboutin fund is big enough for it, but I could save up or take out a loan.”
He laughed and shook his head. “No, crazy. I need the ten in your back pocket. I think it’s time we put the original Stewart and Cole Worm Farm money to good use.”
Our ten-dollar bill had not been in my back pocket when I’d gotten dressed that morning, but based solely on the pride in his eyes, I was positive it was there now.
Dipping low, he brushed his nose with mine. “That ten has always been a safety net for us. A way we could find each other and a reason to come back. It was what bound us to one another when we couldn’t be together in reality. We don’t need it anymore, Nora. This is real now. It’s you and me forever. From here on out. Every day. No searching for just-in-case moments. No fallback plans or fail-safes. If I need you, you’ll only be in the other room. When you need me, I’ll be just outside. What better way to use that money than to put it down as the first building block on our future together?”
I dove into his arms, tears spilling from my eyes. “I love you so much, and I love every single thing about the words you just said too. I will happily give you ten dollars as soon as we get back to the car. But you have lost your mind if you think I am ever getting rid of our ten-dollar bill. That is mine. Do you hear me? You gave it to me, and I’m finally ready to accept it.”
“Well, it took you long enough.” He laughed deep and rich, cocooning me in his strong arms, which had been holding me up even from a distance for the majority of my life. Arms that I had no doubt would hold me close, through good times and bad, every day for the rest of my life.
God, I loved this man.
I didn’t deserve Camden Cole, and I never would, but I wasn’t entirely sure anyone on the planet was good enough for a soul like his.
Choices. Everyone makes them.
And by some miracle I would never understand, Camden chose me.
Ten years later…
“Nora!” I called, using my foot to shove the front door open, my hands—and face—filled with Fraser fir needles. “Where do you want this?”
“Do not ask her that. She’ll have us toting it all over the house,” Ramsey grunted, supporting the back end of the biggest Christmas tree I had ever seen.
Nora and Thea had tagged it with a sold ticket earlier in the day while volunteering at the tree sale to benefit the ever-growing bag lunch program. It was a good-looking tree, but they had failed to mention its enormity when they’d sent Ramsey and me in a damn sedan to go pick it up. Joe had come to our rescue with his buddy’s truck then promptly disappeared when it had come time to load it up.
“In the living room,” Nora