up with her. I wanted to deny it because that man was crazy about her and anyone who saw them together would know it.
He wouldn't have just ended things out of the blue.
So I drove back to Farley like a maniac, only stopping to pick up some necessary supplies.
When I walked in the door and saw Cameron's heartbroken expression and puffy, red eyes, I nearly dropped everything on the counter and went out to find Brody so I could beat on him a little. It probably wouldn't hurt him, but it would make me feel better.
"What's in the box?" she asked, sniffing.
"A head."
"How very Seven of you," she replied, smiling a little.
If she could smile, that was a good sign. I carried everything into the kitchen and took a six-pack of Dr. Pepper out of the very box she'd been asking me about. The cans were falling out of the plastic rings that held them together so the clerk at the convenience store had dug around and found me a box to put them in.
"Tell me what happened," I said as I moved around the kitchen getting cups of ice for our drinks.
By the time she was finished, Cam was crying again, which pissed me off even more.
"I can't believe he did this," I said. And I couldn't.
Cam went to the pantry and got out a couple of paper plates for our pizza. "I don't know why, but neither can I."
"He's completely into you. When you're in the room, no other woman exists." I shook my head. What on earth was going on?
"I feel like there's more to this story."
I considered it for a moment and asked, "Want me to find out?"
For a split second, I thought Cam was going to say yes, but after a long moment she closed her eyes and just shook her head.
Damn, she was definitely a better woman than me. I was sorely tempted to do it anyway but she was already hurt enough, so I let it be.
"Well, if you change your mind, let me know. We can get to the bottom of this," I said.
"What am I going to do?" she asked. "I'll have to see him. He comes to my parents' place every Sunday for lunch and he brings Jacks into the shop. I don't want him to stop doing that because I don't want to hurt Jacks. She's too young. She won't understand why I'm suddenly not there."
"Right now, you're going to eat junk food and let me cheer you up. Then, eventually, you're going to get through it. And Brody is going to realize that he's an idiot and kick himself in the ass. Repeatedly."
If he didn't come to that conclusion on his own, I would be happy to help him reach it.
"You think?"
She sounded so sad that I really, really wanted to do something about it, mainly track Brody down and tell him what a horrible person he was, but I couldn't leave her right now. She needed me.
"I know," I answered, tapping my drink against hers.
We ate our pizza, drank our Dr. Pepper, and watched Food Network until late into the night. Finally, when Cam started nodding off, I cleaned up the mess on the coffee table and in the kitchen and tucked her into bed.
I tried to go to sleep myself, but I couldn't.
That's how I found myself with my phone in my hand a little after two a.m.
I shouldn't text Ben. He was asleep and he probably wouldn't hear the message.
Even as I listed all the reasons I shouldn't do it, I found myself typing out the message.
I'm back in town. I'm ready to talk whenever you are.
I was going to leave it there, on my phone, and send it in the morning. But my thumb moved of its own accord and hit the send button.
Shit.
Well, there was no taking it back. I waited for a few minutes and when there wasn't a reply, I breathed a sigh of relief. Maybe it hadn't woken him up. He'd see it in the morning and realize how desperate I was, but it gave me a few hours to come to terms with it.
I turned off the lamp and put my phone to the side, settling into the bed for a nice long night of insomnia. I figured I'd lie here for the next hour and try to fall asleep and if that didn't work, then I would read or something.