And I Love You (24 page)

“Fred happened. Again. I was coming out the door, and it was like he was waiting for me or something. He sort of pinned me against the rail so I couldn’t leave, and I was too scared to turn my back on him to go inside.”

“He’s getting more audacious all the time,” Will said.

“He wasn’t at all threatening,” Hannah said.

“Easy for you to say!” Cameron replied. “He doesn’t have a bone to pick with you.”

Will put his arms around Cameron. “Come here, baby.”

The crowd around them began to disperse, leaving only Hunter, Hannah and Nolan to witness the tender moment between Will and Cameron.

Will drew back from her, kissing her forehead. “Sorry he scared you.”

“It’s okay. I’m starting to get used to him. Kinda.”

“Were you on your way to my house?” Hannah asked.

Cameron nodded. “Not sure if I can drive though. My hands are shaking like crazy.”

“I’ll drive you,” Hannah said. “Will can pick you up later, right?”

“Sure,” Will said. “Just give me a call when you’re ready.”

“Okay.” Cameron released a shaky deep breath. “I’ll do that. Sorry for the drama, everyone.”

“Don’t be sorry,” Hannah said. “Fred can be an intimidating character when he wants to be, but he would never, ever hurt you. You know that, right?”

“I think so.”

“He doesn’t believe in revenge,” Hunter added.

“How do you know that? He seems rather bent on revenge where I’m concerned.”

“Underneath his intimidating exterior, Fred’s a pacifist,” Hunter said. “He’s a make-love-not-war kind of guy.”

“And you know this how?” Cameron asked with a healthy dose of skepticism.

“My twin is a moose whisperer,” Hunter said. “I’m on the same frequency.”

That made them all laugh, as he’d hoped it would, and Cameron seemed noticeably less rattled after a good laugh. “I’m fine,” she assured Will. “Go on back to work, and I’ll call you when I’m done at Hannah’s.”

Will kissed her, lingering as he whispered something that made her eyes light up with pleasure.

Hunter looked away, giving his brother some privacy and tuning into the talking-to Hannah was getting from her husband, who was not at all pleased with her for confronting Fred.

“One wrong move, and you’re on your ass with a two-ton moose stepping on you—and the baby.”

“He’d never hurt me.” The dismissive wave of her hand further infuriated Nolan. “He’s my friend.”

“He is
not
your friend.
I
am your friend. Cameron is your friend.
Fred
is a wild animal.”

“You’re not going to be my friend much longer if you keep yelling at me.”

“I’m not yelling!”

“Hunter, is he yelling?”

“He’s speaking loudly.”

“See?” Hannah said. “Hunter agrees with me.”

“You’re impossible,” Nolan said. “I’m going back to work. Go home and stay away from that moose, do you hear me?”

Hannah gave him a warm, loving smile. “Yes, dear.”

“She’s pacifying me, isn’t she?” Nolan asked Hunter.

“I would say that’s an accurate assessment.”

“You’re no help to me whatsoever, by the way. Some best man you turned out to be.”

“Hey! I gave an awesome toast. Everyone said so.”

“For all the good that does me now. You’re always going to take her side, aren’t you?”

“I’m afraid so. That’s just how we roll.”

Hannah giggled and gave Hunter a kiss on the cheek. “Love you best of all,” she said loud enough for Nolan to hear.

“Anyone know a good lawyer?” Nolan asked as he walked away, shaking his head as he crossed the street to the garage.

“That wasn’t nice, Han.”

“Oh please. He’s always blustering at me about being careful and staying away from anything remotely dangerous. If he had his way, I’d be swaddled in bubble wrap until the baby comes.”

“I might be on his side on that one.”

“No way. You can’t change sides. Doesn’t work like that.” She curled her hand around his arm. “You’re mine.” Hannah cleared her throat loudly. “Hey, public-display-of-affection-that’s-driving-away-the-customers, are you ready to go?”

“Yeah, yeah.” Cameron patted Will on the chest as she left him with one last kiss. “See you later.”

“Yes, you will.”

After the two women walked away, arm in arm, chatting like old friends, Will came down the stairs to join Hunter. “I think I’m going to have a talk with Dude about Fred.” Gertrude “Dude” Danforth, known in town as Snow White, was widely believed to be responsible for the relative taming of Fred the moose. “He really scared her this time. I don’t like that.”

“What do you suppose Dude can do about it?”

“How the hell do I know? But someone’s got to do something. He can’t keep confronting Cameron the way he has been since the night she got here.”

“He does have good reason to keep an eye on her,” Hunter reminded Will.

“What good reason does he have? He was standing in the middle of the road where he didn’t belong when she hit him in the dark. How is that her fault?”

“Have you tried telling him that?”

“Now you’re just mocking me.”

“Do ya think?”

“If you want to play that way, tell me how your first date with Megan turned into an all-nighter.”

“That’s all right. I’m good. In fact, I need to get to work. Talk to you later?”

“Yeah, yeah. You’ll talk to me later all right.”

Hunter went up the stairs and into the store before Will could dig in on his quest for information about Megan. Let him wonder.

F
or a long time after Hunter walked—or ran—away, Will stood on the front porch of the store, thinking about Fred and Cameron and the phone call he needed to make. Now was a good time to get that taken care of. Cam was out of the office for the next few hours and wouldn’t be back until she called him to come get her.

So why were his feet all but cemented to the front porch when he should’ve been upstairs in his office with the door closed taking care of something he’d been putting off for days now?

Because he was a yellow-bellied coward. That’s why. Patrick Murphy had already given Will his blessing. Months ago, in fact, back when Will first met him and professed his intentions to marry Cameron, eventually. That was before she moved to Vermont to live with him. It was before he knew the complete and utter bliss of everyday life with her. It was before he knew what it was like to wake up with her each morning and go to bed with her every night. After a few months of the kind of happiness he’d never dared to dream about, he was ready to make a lifetime commitment to her.

Because she was Patrick’s only child and beloved daughter, he owed him the courtesy of a heads-up that a proposal was imminent. Didn’t he? Yes, of course he did. So why did the idea of calling Cameron’s father intimidate the living hell out of Will?
And we’re right back to that yellow-bellied-coward thing again
, he thought, as he took a seat in one of the rockers on the porch.

The gorgeous fall day had people out and about in town, tourists venturing into the store and Elm Street jammed with cars. Autumn in Vermont was second only to ski season in terms of activity. People came from all over to see the foliage that would peak later in the month and into early October. They were far enough north that the color exploded earlier here, and from now until mid-October, the store and the town would be busy.

Thinking about leaves and seasons and tourists was just another way of putting off the dreaded phone call. He was still sitting there ten minutes later when George and Ringo came up the stairs ahead of his dad, who stopped at the sight of Will in one of the rockers.

The dogs came over to greet him, and his dad took the chair next to his. “What brings you out here, son?”

He scratched both dogs behind the ears. “Fred the moose and another confrontation with Cameron.”

“Is that right? He’s not letting up on her, huh?”

“Nope. Tell me this, Dad. Truthfully, do you think I need to be worried he’s going to hurt her?”

“Not for one second. He’s not that kind of guy.”

“That’s what everyone says, but he’s freaking her out. And who’s to say he won’t suddenly turn on her? Just because he’s always been a sweet guy doesn’t mean he always will be.”

“True, but has it occurred to you that he might have a crush on her?”

“A crush.”

“Sure. Why not? Moose have feelings, too, and old Fred knows a pretty girl when he sees one. Maybe he’s carrying a torch for her.”

“That’s so far beyond weird I don’t even know what to do with it.”

“It’s better than thinking he’s out to hurt her, isn’t it?”

“Yeah, I guess so.” The thought of Fred having an actual crush on Cameron was preposterous enough to be funny. He couldn’t wait to share his dad’s theory with her. “Could I ask you something else?”

“Anything.”

“It’s kind of personal and not to be repeated.”

“All right.”

“Could I maybe get you to sign a waiver that would ensure your silence?”

“William,” Lincoln said, laughing, “I understand my well-earned reputation for being a gossip, but I
am
capable of keeping important secrets when the need arises.”

“Can you provide references to prove this? Because I’m unable to remember a single instance in the history of my life when you sat on something juicy—and this is as juicy as it gets.”

“Now you have to tell me.”

“Swear to God you won’t repeat it?”

“Swear to God, hope to die, stick a needle in my eye.”

Knowing that was the best he could hope to get, he took a deep breath and released it. “I’m going to propose to Cameron.”

“Ahh, buddy, that’s fantastic news.” Lincoln’s smile stretched across his face and lit his blue eyes with unrestrained glee. “I adore her. We all do.”

“As do I.” When he thought about how his life had changed since that memorable night in the mud last spring, Will realized that before he met her, he’d lacked the imagination to dream up the reality that was his life today. He hadn’t known it was possible to love anyone the way he loved her. He planned to tell her so when he asked the most important question he’d ever ask anyone.

He’d asked the question once before and had been rebuffed, in what he now viewed as a near miss. He’d be forever grateful that Lisa had said no to his proposal because her rejection had led him to the love of his life. This time he had no doubt whatsoever he’d get the answer he wanted.

“So what do you want to ask me?”

“Earlier this year, when I was in New York, I had a moment alone with Patrick. I told him then I planned to propose to Cam when the time was right and asked for his blessing, which he gave me.”

Lincoln nodded in approval. “That’s the right thing to do.”

“Now that it’s actually about to happen though, I’m thinking I should let him know. Do you agree?”

Rocking back and forth, Lincoln pondered that. “It would be a nice gesture, one I’m sure he’d appreciate.”

“That’s what I’m thinking, too, so why then do I keep putting it off?”

Lincoln laughed. “Because you want to marry the man’s only child, his
daughter
, and it’s a scary thing to call him up and say, hey, I’m going to take her away from you forever, and I need you to be okay with that.”

“I’m not taking her away from him.”

“Aren’t you? Haven’t you already?”

“That wasn’t my intention.”

“Of course it wasn’t, but it’s the circle of life. I felt the same way asking Elmer for permission to marry his precious Molly. Like Patrick with you, he barely knew me. She’d gone away for a summer to help build houses for the poor in the South and came home with a flatlander who had lofty ideas about living overseas and getting out to see the world. And I wanted to take his daughter with me.”

“What did he say when you asked him?” Will asked, fascinated to hear this for the first time.

“He told me that despite what Molly said to the contrary, she’d never be happy anywhere but here, and that I ought to think long and hard if I felt the need to take her somewhere else in order to be happy myself.”

“So wait, you went to him planning to take her somewhere else? Away from here?”

Lincoln nodded. “I’d talked her into going to London for a couple of years, and she was on board with that. At least that’s what she told me. But then I talked to Elmer, and he made me see that she was sacrificing her own happiness to serve mine. After that conversation, I changed my mind about wanting to go to England.”

“But wait,” Will said, “what about what
you
wanted? Didn’t that matter?”

“Of course it did. Turns out I wanted her more than I wanted anything else, and it didn’t matter to me where we were. But it mattered to her.” Lincoln shrugged. “It was a no-brainer to change the plan to make her happy.”

“Did I ask too much of Cam by moving her up here?”

“Not at all. She loves it here. Anyone can see that. And it’s not just because you’re here, although that’s the number one reason. The place agrees with her. I know I speak for your mother as well when I tell you we couldn’t be happier to have Cameron joining our family. She’s an absolute gem, and knowing she loves you so fiercely is a tremendous comfort to us. That kind of love is all we’ve ever wanted for you—for all of you.”