Only You (2 page)

Camden finished shimmying into the barely there red dress, pulled on her highest heels (the shiny black ones Jennifer said made her ass look fabulous), and unlocked her door.
Here goes nothing
, she thought. Slowly she made her way downstairs and headed to the kitchen for fortification. After downing three tequila shots, she scanned the crowd in the living room. Shane was nowhere to be seen, so Camden headed straight towards Rob Harris, captain of the football team, class president, and the boy who had chased her all four years of high school. Rob was quite the ladies' man, so she knew he was just looking for a new conquest, but she had been saving herself for "he who shall not be named".
Screw that
, she thought, then giggled.
No, I'll screw Rob.

Camden schooled her expression to look as seductive as possible, but Rob had already noticed her, and he was definitely not looking at her face. Rob mumbled something to the group of football players and cheerleaders standing around him, and they suddenly scattered. He continued to stare at Camden, his mouth hanging open.

"Cat got your tongue?" she cooed, as she gently gripped his chin and closed his mouth.

"You look a-amazing!" he stammered. Camden ran her fingers down his muscular arm.

"Want to get out of here and celebrate?" she whispered. By now, Rob the lothario had recovered.

"Absolutely. Let me tell the guys I'm out," he smirked. "Meet you at my truck?" His eyebrows were raised in challenge. Obviously, he didn't think she would follow through, but Camden knew she would.
She would love Shane Hunt for the rest of her life, but why save something for him that he obviously didn't want?

"See you there, hot stuff," she teased. Rob grinned, and hurried to no doubt tell his buddies about his good fortune. Camden turned towards the front hallway, only to lock eyes across the room with Brody. He glared when he noticed her dress, and Camden knew it would be seconds before he started to head toward her, so she hurried towards the front door, losing sight of Brody in the crowd.

She opened the door, and the cool night breeze caused her to shiver. She heard the giggle instantly as she headed onto the porch.
Great
, she thought sarcastically. Someone was fooling around on the front porch.
Gross
. Camden tried to slip across the porch and down the steps unsuspected when she heard Heather Davis' high pitched whine.

"Please, Shane,"
the girl giggled. "This party blows, and you know I'll give you a good time."

Camden's eyes jerked up involuntarily, only to see Heather wrapped around Shane as he stood drinking a beer. His hand rested just above the curve of her ass, and she looked totally comfortable nibbling his ear. Camden felt her face heat, and anger surged within her. Not only did that bastard reject her tonight, but he had the audacity to hook up with someone on her front porch during her party. Who the hell did he think he was? Forgetting her attempts at silence, Camden stomped her way down the steps and across the driveway. She felt Shane's eyes burning the back of her, and she let herself look just once. For a moment, it looked as if he was clenching his jaw, fury filling his eyes, but just as quickly, he looked calm, drunk, and possible horny. Good for him, because Heather was easy. She could help him with that. Camden, on the other hand, was going to get lucky tonight, too.
Her heart squeezed at the thought, and she forced her sadness aside. She needed to do this. She needed to start moving on from Shane. She turned and began walking down the sidewalk towards Rob's truck at the end of the road.

***

Chapter 2

Present Day

"Shock to the heart, and you're too late. You give looove a bad name." Camden held her hairbrush in her hand as she crooned along with her iPod. Eric glared at her across the console.

"Uncle!" he yelled. "I call uncle.
And if you're going to puncture my eardrums, at least get the lyrics right." He let out a little sigh. "We can stop at the next exit, IF, and only if you promise no more stops before we get there." Eric gave Camden his best stern expression, but she broke into a fit of giggles. She would never take that look seriously. His blue-gray eyes danced with too much mischief. Not to mention his usually well styled hair was a mess. They'd woken up late, and he was sporting a serious (as in seriously sexy) case of bedhead. Camden's hand was itching to brush his dirty blonde locks off his face. Completing the picture was his devilish smirk, a secret joke hiding behind it. Nope. Camden would never take his stern look at face value.

"I can't promise that. Road trips are made for enjoying the trip." Camden made a peace sign and said in her best stoner voice, "It's about the journey, not the destination, man."

Eric rolled his eyes, and switched lanes so Camden could have her way. Before he had even rolled to a complete stop in the parking lot, Camden was out of the car and skipping (yes, skipping) into the gas station. Eric turned off the car and followed her inside.

"Ooooh, look!" she called. "They have that flavor of energy drink you like so much."

"Why exactly do I need energy drinks on this camping trip?" He smirked at Camden. She was acting like a kid on Christmas morning, complete with wavy blonde pigtails, but he knew that she was nervous. She thought she could hide it from him, but by now, he knew all her tells. For instance, overloading on junk food and acting like she was on speed.

"You need it to stay awake on the drive, silly." She quickly pressed a kiss to his cheek, and headed down the snack aisle. "They have the pizza flavored combos! The cracker kind, not the pretzel. I don't even know why they make the pretzel kind."

Eric smiled. "What are you getting to drink, babe?" Camden gave him her signature "be serious" look. "I'm on it," he replied. "Meet you at the register." Eric tugged one of her pigtails and headed straight to the Icee machine.

By the time he met Camden at the register, she had candy bars, trail mix, chips, and Combos. "Half blue raspberry, half white cherry, just as you ordered, princess." Eric was rewarded with one of Camden's true smiles. She could stop traffic with that smile. During their drive, most of her smiles seemed forced, although he would never say that to her. She would deny it for all eternity.

After paying for their snacks, Eric grabbed Camden's bag of goodies and headed to the car. Once they were settled into Eric's SUV and back on the highway, he asked gently, "Do they know we're coming?"

Camden froze. "No," she murmured.

"But you know they'll be there, right?" he questioned.

"They go this weekend every year, but I called the campground just to make sure they had reserved the campsite."

"You sure you're ready to see everybody?" Eric noticed her expression dim.

"Yeah," she replied softly.

"Three years is a long time, babe."

"I know, Eric, but it just feels like time, you know?"

He grabbed her hand, interlacing his fingers with hers, and lifted her hand to his lips. He kissed her knuckles softly. "I know, sweetie. I know."

Camden's eyes glistened for a moment, as if she was about to cry, but just as quickly, she reined in the renegade emotion.

"I love you, Eric."

"I love you, too, Camden."

Eric's thumb gently stroked the back of Camden's hand. "Wanna talk about it?" he asked mildly.

Camden sighed. "They're going to have a lot of questions."

Eric nodded. "We were already expecting that, babe. Are there specific questions you're worried about?" Camden stared out the passenger window a moment before looking back to Eric.

"All of them. They might hate me. What will Brody say?" A single tear escaped and trailed down her cheek.

"Brody will say lots of angry shit, but I'm sure after he's done freaking out, he'll tell you he loves you. And you may be scared to answer their questions, but once you do, you can make a new start with them."

"But there are things I cannot tell them this weekend. It would ruin everything," she protested.

Eric squeezed her hand encouragingly. "Even if you tell them EVERYTHING this weekend, nothing will be ruined. They will be thrilled to have you back," he insisted.

Camden smiled weakly. "How do you know? You've never met them."

"From what you've told me, Cam, your family is amazing. To be honest, I'm kind of hoping they'll adopt me." Camden smirked.

"You're kind of old for that, Eric, and it would kill our relationship if you were actually my brother."

Eric laughed and released Camden's hand. As he started a playlist on Camden's iPod, he said, "Why don't you try to sleep? We've got a couple more hours to go, and you tossed and turned all night." Camden took a long draw of her Icee before responding.

"Wake me when we're close?" She grabbed her pillow from the back seat and shifted, trying to get comfortable.

"You got it, honey." Eric began to hum softly, while Camden drifted to sleep.

***

Molly Shepherd finished sweeping the last of the dirt out of the camper, then yelled to her husband, Jack. "How's the fire pit coming?"

"All set up and ready to go." Jack looked around the campsite. "Wish Brody wasn't running late. I was hoping to get some fishing or hiking in before dinner."

Molly's faced softened as she looked at her cherished husband. When Camden left home, they thought it was a phase. Maybe she was stretching her wings and trying to be independent. It seemed as if one week, she was their sweet, outgoing girl, and the next she was moody and sullen. The change was sudden, immediately following graduation. Molly thought Camden was feeling a little lost, as she was no longer in school with her friends. With the transition to college looming, maybe Camden was just scared of the unknown. Within a week, though, Camden left home, and Molly never figured out what triggered the change....or the escape from home.

As the months had passed without hearing from her, they began to fear the worst, but they received a Christmas card that first year, and they knew she was okay. Molly looked forward to each birthday and holiday, knowing she would get a card from Camden, proving she was out there somewhere. Never a phone call. Never a letter. Only holiday cards, signed simply, with no additional note. Oddly, the cards had postmarks from all over the U.S. Molly and Jack had wondered if Camden travelled a lot. Maybe for work? Molly wondered a lot about Camden really. Molly imagined wonderful and terrible scenarios. It seemed to her that the absence of Camden was as physically dominating as the presence of her. Molly carried her everywhere she went.

The annual camping trip was doubly difficult for her. While Jack had Brody for companionship, Molly spent the weekend left to her own devices. She reminisced about the many years she and Camden spent the weekend getting meals together, talking about school and boys and the future. While Jack and Brody were in the woods doing "manly things", Camden had shadowed her mother, forging a bond Molly thought would never break. She never imagined she would go a month without speaking to her only daughter, let alone three years.

When they finally accepted that Camden wasn't coming home, Jack had become even more attached to Brody. It was as if, because he had lost one child, he was going to do everything within his power to spend time with the other one. That was a little difficult the first two years, as Brody had been overseas in the military. This last year, though, Molly's boys had done some serious bonding. It didn't ease the loss of Camden, but having Brody home filled a special hole in their lives.

"I'm sure you guys can fish first thing tomorrow, Jack. You know he would have come earlier if he could have."

Just as Molly finished speaking, she and Jack heard the rumble of an engine. Their campsite was pretty secluded, so Molly thought the car must be headed their way.

"See, Jackie. He couldn't wait, either. I bet he got someone to cover for him at the bar."

Jack
lifted his hand, shielding his eyes from the sun. "I don't think that's Brody's Jeep, Molly."

Molly's eyebrows drew together in confusion. Sure enough, a red SUV pulled into the campsite and parked next to the trailer. Molly's confusion turned to shock as the doors to the SUV opened. The driver was an attractive, blonde young man, about six feet in height. An air of confidence exuded from him as he headed around the front of the car. He was dressed casually in khaki cargo shorts and a slate gray fitted tee. The sight that stopped Molly's heart, however, was the beautiful golden haired girl that stepped out of the passenger side.

Before she could register what was happening, Molly had dropped the broom and was running across the campsite. Apparently Jack had the same idea, because they arrived at Camden almost simultaneously. Eric stood to the side as Camden and her parents hugged and cried. He knew Camden had needed this for a long time. He had been encouraging her for more than two years to get in touch with her parents and brother. He was thrilled that she finally had decided to visit them.

He'd seen pictures of them, of course, but seeing Molly in person, Eric
realized that she was the future version of Camden, if Camden had dark brown hair. She even had Camden's striking green eyes. Camden had obviously gotten her dad's blonde hair, but thankfully not his height. Her five foot six inch stature was a perfect fit. Jack Shepherd was over six feet tall and in terrific shape. Camden had mentioned on more than one occasion that her dad had been a firefighter, and the physical work showed in his muscular physique.