Page 50 of Best Laid Plans (Rock Harbor #1)

CHAPTER TWENTY-SIX

CAM

C am had taken a page out of Elle’s playbook and made a plan. He’d written it up and everything, and it was tucked snugly into his back pocket, though he already had it memorized. He thought that Elle would be proud of him if she knew, his momentary cowardice on Friday aside.

And he hoped that soon, he’d have the chance to tell her all about it.

Because, as he’d stupidly tried to ignore, she was the woman of his dreams, and he wasn’t going down without a fight.

He was Cam Devers. He’d moved out at eighteen and slept in a homeless shelter in Boston until he could find his first dishwashing job and save up enough to live in an apartment.

He’d worked doubles in restaurants for months straight, only eating when he could scrounge a staff meal or leftovers at the end of the night.

He’d scraped and clawed and hustled to try and make a life for himself.

His biggest mistake was thinking that he needed to do it all on his own.

That there would never be anyone for him to depend on but himself.

But he’d been wrong. So fucking wrong.

It was early afternoon on Sunday, so Cam knew that Wyatt would be torturing his hopeful mini-me’s on the football field. An extra optional weekend practice that was the kind of discipline test he knew that Wyatt loved.

Repairing his friendship and making it clear to Wyatt that he was as serious as a good chef’s knife about Elle was his first stop.

He spotted Wyatt easily, standing on top of a push sled as players of various sizes tried to move him across the field.

“My sister hits harder than you,” Wyatt yelled at by far the largest player, who could probably have taken Wyatt and him on single-handedly.

Cam waited until the apparatus was only a few feet away, Wyatt’s back toward him. “I don’t think you’re making the point you think you’re making, since we both know that Elle’s a force to be reckoned with.”

Wyatt blew his whistle. “Take five. Good hustle guys.” He hopped down from the sled and turned around, keeping his whistle in his mouth.

Cam ran his hands across his head, squinting into the sunlight. “Thinking about calling a foul on the play?”

The whistle dropped from Wyatt’s mouth. “Still debating. How are you doing?”

“Friday was not my finest moment, but I’m hanging in there. You?”

He couldn’t see Wyatt’s eyes under his aviators, but his lips tipped into a small grin. “Friday was a shitshow of epic proportions.”

Cam laughed then, and he appreciated the small moment of normalcy, regardless of what happened next.

Wyatt cleared his throat, his posture shifting. “You didn’t answer my texts. I was worried about how we left things.” Left things was an interesting euphemism for accusing Cam of taking advantage of his little sister.

“And I was worried that you’d try to beat my ass if you saw me again. I wasn’t sure if you were trying to lure me back to throw me off a cliff. ” Cam smiled at his attempt at a joke, but the moment fell flat when Wyatt’s face grew serious.

He watched as Wyatt took his sunglasses off and tucked them into the collar of his t-shirt.

Wyatt wasn’t usually at a loss for words or slow to share his opinion, which made Cam more stressed out as the seconds ticked by.

But still, he stood casually, ready for whatever his best friend was about to level at him.

He deserved it. And it would be worth it if Elle was on the other side of it all.

“I’m sorry, man. I’m glad you’re here so that I could tell you that in person.

I was actually going to drive to Boston after practice today, so I’m glad that you beat me to it.

” Cam knew surprise flashed across his face, Wyatt giving him a broad grin then, clearly pleased with himself. “Not what you were expecting?”

“I’m just–” Cam took a beat, trying to make sense of everything. He hadn’t expected for he and Wyatt to get into an actual fist fight, but this all felt too easy.

“Elle,” Wyatt supplied. “I already got the dressing down of my life yesterday on your behalf. She’s so small but so scary.”

A strange feeling bubbled up in Cam’s chest, like he could float away. Even after Friday, Elle had still gone to bat for him. Which felt far better than her going to bat on him. God, things had really changed in his life for the better.

He realized he was lost in thought, and he cleared his throat, focusing his attention back on Wyatt. “So, you’re cool with the idea of us? I’m really sorry about how you found out. I didn’t want it to be that way.”

Wyatt furrowed his brows and put his hands in his pockets before rocking from his toes to the balls of his feet. “It has, uh, come to my attention that sometimes I’m not the easiest person to share things with. ”

Was Wyatt blushing? Elle must have really done a number on him.

“I wanted to come here in person to apologize for how you found out, but I won’t apologize for what happened between me and Elle.

So I came here to tell you that, too. I didn’t go looking for her, but what do you do when the most perfect woman you’ve ever met thinks that you’re in her league?

That you’re someone worth fighting for?” Cam added, his voice dropping into a sincere tone that he couldn’t even be embarrassed about.

“She’s persistent when she wants something,” Wyatt agreed, shaking his head. Understatement of the fucking year, but he didn’t need to get into that with Elle’s brother. “And it seems like she’s set her sights on you, so who am I to stand in the way of that?”

Cam smiled then, like a kid who’d just been offered a free trip to Disney World.

Because he was going to go into battle against the world to make things right with Elle, but it meant so fucking much that there would be one more person on his side when he did.

Except… “Any pointers on what I’m going to be walking into?

She was not my biggest fan when I left the apartment on Friday. ”

Wyatt held his hands up and shook his head. “I’m staying out of it, man. Consider me the NPC who’s given you the next directions on the quest. I know nothing else, and that’s my story.”

Cam nodded. That seemed more than fair. “I can’t say I blame you. Plausible deniability if Elle throws me out.”

“None of us would ever throw you out,” Wyatt said, suddenly serious again.

He took a step closer and clasped his hand on Cam’s shoulder, squeezing.

“You’re a Pierce. You always have been, and you always will.

Regardless of what happens with Elle, you always have a place in this family, and you’ll always be my best friend. So let’s get that clear.”

Throat full, Cam nodded his head, emotion battling inside of him that was threatening to burst out.

He hadn’t known that he’d been waiting to hear those words, the jagged lines of his childhood being stitched together with all the memories he’d shared with the Pierces.

At the heart of it all was love. So much fucking love that it was hard to believe he’d ignored it for so long, like it would disappear like a mirage if he got too close.

“All right.” Wyatt punched lightly into his shoulder. “Go get your girl.”

Cam grinned, energy threading through his veins as he readied himself for what came next. He had another stop before he laid it all on the line with Elle.

Cam walked into Pierce’s Lobster Co. and ignored the sensation bubbling up in his throat.

The one that made him feel like he could throw up at any second.

After all, it wasn’t every day that he had to approach the father of someone he’d been caught in a compromising position with.

Who also happened to be the man whose business he wanted to invest in.

Add that he looked at Jim Pierce as both a father figure and a mentor, and Cam’s hands were so clammy that he hoped he didn’t need to hold anything.

But he was done running. He was here, ready to stand in the face of whatever Mr. and Mrs. Pierce needed to level at him. If they thought he wasn’t good enough for their daughter, he’d prove them wrong. If they didn’t like his proposal, he’d make them a better offer.

Elle had done the hardest part. She’d put herself on the line. For him. For them . So–up to and including–walking through literal fire seemed like a cakewalk compared to what she’d already done.

He was determined as he reached the counter, Mrs. Pierce looking up in surprise. “Cam, you’re here.” But the way she said his name, like he was a son returning home from war, made warmth spread through his chest.

“Is Mr. Pierce around?” Cam asked, rocking his weight from one foot to the other, willing himself not to lose his nerve. “I have something I want to talk to both of you about.”

Cam hadn’t realized how spry she was until she’d already reached across the counter and pulled him into a surprisingly strong hug. Her arms wrapped around him, holding him close. Softness and support enveloped him, like she’d already given him at so many points throughout his life.

He relaxed into the sensation, refusing to give into the reflex to run away from it.

“I need to watch the counter, but you go on back,” she said, pulling back so that she could gesture past him to the line that had already formed. And then she winked before adding, “Can’t be slacking when Pierce’s is in its revival period.”

Confused and a little bit dazed, Cam made his way to the end of the counter before approaching the swinging door that led into the kitchen. He pushed it open and took a deep breath.

Mr. Pierce stood at one of the large boilers, tongs ready to pluck out a lobster when it was perfectly done by sight.

He’d taught Cam the same way, and they must have spent hundreds of hours staring over those boilers together until he and Mr. Pierce would go for the lobster at the same time when it was the perfect shade of red.

He smiled at the memory, even as the anxious, buzzy feeling in his body returned.