I gave him a sideways look, and he threw his hands in the air.
“It wasn’t my fault, either time. I have bad luck, right? Or good luck I guess, given the compensation. Anyway, I’ve got this money and nothing to do with it. So I thought, why don’t I lease you a studio, down in the arty part of town? With your following, you should get interest right away, and you could sell online as well as in the studio. I know you’re talented, so I should make my investment back in what, a couple of months?”
He clapped his hands together excitedly, but I was speechless.
When I didn’t say anything and the joyful, excited expression started to fall from Cameron’s face Hugh looked over at me, concerned. “What he just said... it’s a good idea, isn’t it?”
“Mhm.”
“Don’t tell me you’re not interested? Because so help me God, Muriel, if you don’t—”
“No, no. It’s nothing like that. It’s just, my mom came up with the exact same idea this morning. Only I’d use the money they’d been saving for my future wedding. She and Dad figured out I was a non-traditional type of person, and I might like to spend the money on something non-traditional instead.”
The guys both stared at me, and it looked like they didn’t believe what I was saying. “I’m serious, guys. I’ve got the money to start my own business.”
“Holy shit. That means I can spend the compensation money on a BMW after all.”
Hugh and I laughed at him, and Hugh gathered me into a tight, squeezy hug. He kissed the top of my head and whispered, “I’m so happy.”
“I’m happy too. I haven’t broken the news to my agent yet, but—”
“Do it. Do it. Do it,” Cameron cheered, and in a total departure from his usual character, Hugh joined it, obviously giddy from the news.
“All right. It’s too early over there yet; I’ll call her soon. I’m hoping she won’t be too pissed off. I might need her to get contacts. Jasmine and Poppy know people in the business too, so I should be off to a good start.”
The door opened, and Cameron’s dad popped his head around the door. “Mind if I come in?”
“Get yourself in here, Fake Dad.” Hugh stood to give Butch a hearty handshake. “It’s a celebration.”
“It’s an old joke,” Butch explained when he saw my confused expression.
“Well, the celebration is both for my new business and Cameron’s big toe,” I replied.
Butch gave his son a hug and sat on the edge of the bed. “Ah, so you’re going ahead with our idea?”
“Almost. Only, my parents are putting the money in.”
“Perfect,” Butch said, clapping his hands together. “So, son. You’ve got yourself a girlfriend and a BMW. All you need is two working legs, and the world is your oyster.”
“One step at a time,” Hugh said. “No pun intended. But we’ve all got a lot of work to do over the next few months. We’re not out of the woods yet.”
“All right.” I messed with his hair to annoy him. “Let us have five minutes of celebration before you come steamrolling in with your real-life talk.”
Hugh held up his hands in surrender. “Fine. In that case, you won’t think it’s too early for me to point out that it was me who said that miracles happen all the time. And you both mocked me, and yet look at us now.”
Cameron and I both nodded solemnly.
“Yes,” Cameron said. “You are now the King of the Optimists.”
“Better than the King of the Assholes,” I said.
Hugh guffawed while Butch and Cameron looked on, confused.
“I’m not even going to ask,” Butch said, and I told him that was for the best.
“Right. We’ll let you get some quality father and son time. I think we both need a good meal and a good night’s sleep.” We both stood and gathered our things to leave.
“Not too good a sleep, I hope,” Cameron said, and then remembered his dad was sitting next to him. “Um, I mean you don’t want too much REM sleep, you—”
“We all know what you meant, boy,” Butch said good-naturedly as Cameron’s cheeks reddened. “See you kids soon.”
We walked out of Cameron’s room hand-in-hand. Life was going to be good; I knew it. I couldn’t bring myself to feel glad that the storm had happened since it had caused so much damage, but I did have to wonder whether the three of us would have got together without it. Those hours in the bungalow were truly magical, and I would never forget them.
As we reached the waiting room, we spotted Chrissy again, this time with Vic by her side in a wheelchair. A nurse was wheeling him out, and their faces were all grim.
Since Chrissy managed to style out the destruction of her wedding venue with a smile on her face, something must have been terribly wrong. We decided not to disturb them, but I couldn’t help but wave a goodbye at Chrissy, and when she saw me, she gestured for us to come over.