free and sat on the edge of the bed with his back to her. Eyes locked on his feet, he mourned the loss of her.
“I have to check on Emma. Come and have cereal with us and watch cartoons.”
She didn’t know what to say. It was like a light switch turned off in Cameron. His back to her, he stared at the floor.
They’d made love just a minute ago. She thought everything had changed between them. Now she wasn’t so sure.
He stood abruptly, pulled on a worn pair of jeans and a black T-shirt. He didn’t even turn back to her before walking out the bedroom door.
CAMERON FOUND EMMA on the couch watching TV. Engrossed in the show, she didn’t notice him come out of the bedroom and sit in the chair beside her.
“Feeling better, sweetheart?”
“Oh, hi, Dad. Lots better. Marti took care of me.”
“She always takes good care of you.”
“You look sad, Daddy. What’s wrong?”
“I want something, and I can’t have it because I was bad, and now I have to suffer the consequences.” And he was suffering. More so now he’d made love to Marti and knew exactly what he’d be missing the rest of his life.
“You always tell me I have to fix whatever I did wrong. Say I’m sorry. Otherwise, you don’t let me have ice cream for dessert.”
Marti was better than ice cream. He’d never get to have her again. Not just after dinner. Never.
All of a sudden, forever seemed like a very long time.
“Emma, I want to talk to you about something. Marti is going away. She won’t see you all the time like she does now.”
“She already told me. She has to get back to work. She told me once you get married, she won’t be able to see me, because I’ll have a mother, and you won’t need her.”
He wouldn’t need her. What a crock of shit. He’d need her the rest of his life. He needed her last night. He needed her two minutes ago. He needed her right now.
“She promised if I ever need her, she’d be there for me. She doesn’t make promises she can’t keep, so I know she means it.”
He was rubbing the back of his neck when she came out of the room. She’d pulled her hair up into a ponytail and dressed in a tight pair of dark jeans and a blue blouse that buttoned down the front. His gaze fell to the V of her shirt and the enticing swell of her breasts.
Immediately responding, he shifted in the chair to accommodate his aroused body.
He noted the small suitcase she carried and dropped in the entryway by his own bags. This was it. The end.
Marti wasn’t sure what Cameron’s mood meant. She didn’t like this wall he’d built between them. She hoped he was just worried about talking to Shelly, since their making love had changed everything.
“Sugar Bug, come here and let me check you out this morning.”
Emma presented herself to Marti and stood in front of her for inspection.
Marti leaned down and kissed the little girl’s forehead. No sign of fever. She whispered she loved her into her right ear and the left. Emma nodded each time. Her ears were clear and didn’t hurt anymore.
“Open up.”
Emma opened her mouth and Marti checked her throat. No redness. She tickled Emma and made her squeal with laughter.
“All better. No fever, no earache, no sore throat. Your lungs are in perfect working order.” She scooped Emma up and plopped her down on Cameron’s lap. “Cameron, I present one healthy daughter to you.”
Emma laughed and squealed as he continued to tickle her. He didn’t hear the knock at the door. When he looked up, Shelly stood in the entryway beside Marti. Again, that devastated look filled her face. He saw it every time he threw it in her face he and Shelly were together.
He’d just made love to one woman, and the other he didn’t want to ever touch again.
He looked at Shelly now and realized the resemblance to Caroline was just that, a resemblance. Never enough for him to mistake one for the other. His own mind overlaid Caroline’s image onto Shelly. Why he did that, he wasn’t sure anymore.
“Cameron, darling, you’re home.”
“What are you doing here, Shelly?” He hadn’t told her he was back. They had an agreement about her not coming to the penthouse until after they were married. He didn’t want to confuse Emma. That’s what he told himself. Truthfully, he’d never brought any