“With their dad and his bimbo.” Mindy’s lips thinned. “He’s taking them to Santa Cruz for a few days. He’ll spend a ton of money on them and they’ll come home with stomachaches from too much junk food and expectations I can’t meet.”
“Sounds great.” Marty, her soon-to-be ex, was a complete asshole. Cam opened the door wider and she walked in, the scent that wafted from the containers making his stomach grumble. “Whatcha got there?”
“Chinese. Figured you could use a real meal before you leave us for good.” She went to the kitchen, set the bag on the counter.
“I was going to have a frozen pizza for dinner.” He shut the door and started for the kitchen. “And a real meal would’ve been one you cooked for me.”
“Ha. I cook for no one at the moment, not even my kids.” She paused. “And I heard all about the pizza.”
He stilled. “How the hell did you hear about that?”
“I went in to Hillside before I came here and bought some beer. Said I was going to your place and Debi mentioned you were having frozen pizza for dinner. I think she likes you.”
He wondered how many people Debi the checker told about his pitiful dinner for one. “Well, I don’t like her. And where’s this beer you speak of?”
“Oops. Still in my car. Would you be a sweetie and go get it for us?” She batted her eyelashes at him.
He went and grabbed the beer, which sat on the passenger side floorboard of her ten-year-old minivan. A minivan that was an absolute disaster, he realized as he looked around. It looked like she hadn’t cleaned it in more than a year. If he wasn’t leaving tomorrow, he’d clean it out himself.
“Your car is disgusting,” he said as he walked back into the kitchen, the beer clutched in his hand.
“Thanks,” she said sweetly. “Blame my monsters.”
“You can’t make those monsters clean up after themselves?”
Tucking a few wayward strands of hair behind her ear, she glared at him. “My dirty car is the least of my concerns. I would think you of all people would understand that.”
Point noted. “Sorry. I’m in a bad mood.”
“Cameron, you were born in a bad mood.” She pulled the containers out of the bag and popped all the lids open. “Get some plates, will you?”
He grabbed the last of the paper plates that sat on top of the fridge and tossed them to her. They served themselves, both of them piling it on, each grabbing a beer before they sat at the kitchen table and started eating in companionable silence.
At this moment he was thankful for Mindy and her nonjudgmental acceptance. He’d beat himself up enough over what he’d done to Chloe. And instead of sticking around and trying to make it right with her, he was running.
As per his usual operating mode.
“I guess you were hungry,” Mindy said pointedly after he consumed his plate in record time and went back for another serving.
“I haven’t eaten much these last couple of days.”
“Gee, I wonder why.” The sarcasm in her voice was beyond evident.
He went back to the table and sat, his gaze meeting hers. “You think I’m a chicken shit for leaving, don’t you?”
She shrugged. “I’m not going to judge you. I don’t know exactly what happened between you and Chloe, but if you feel like you have to leave, then you need to leave.”
He stared at his overloaded plate, all of a sudden not hungry anymore. Hearing her name had a way of zapping his appetite, ruining his mood. “She hates me.”
“I think she loves you. That’s why she’s so mad,” Mindy said quietly. “The two emotions run relatively close to each other, you know.”
He stared at his big sister, feeling like a world-class jerk. “I know she loves me. She told me so.”
Mindy sighed. “And what did you tell her?”
“When she first said it, I didn’t tell her anything. But she wasn’t expecting an answer, either.” He remembered the look on her face, the tear that had slipped down her cheek when she told him. How he kissed her, made love to her after that admission. In that one single moment, he’d felt so close to Chloe. As if they understood each other, as if she really got him. He’d never felt like that before. “Hearing those words from her was like a punch in the gut. I didn’t know what to say.”
“Oh, Cam.” The look his sister gave him said it all. She thought he was an idiot.