Page 8 of Meeting Me, Loving You (Hearts of Maple Lake #1)

JULIET

T he day I’m planning to meet Cam for lunch, I stand in front of my closet staring at my clothing options.

Nothing feels right, and at this point, I’m questioning my style choices.

Really, picking a shirt and pants shouldn’t be this difficult.

But, then again, when you’re getting lunch with a guy you haven’t seen in several years—who popped up out of the blue to find you laid out in the snow—you want to make a better second impression.

I debate calling Ali for fashion advice, but decide against it.

Since she witnessed my snow debacle last weekend, we’ve had difficulty finding a free moment to get together.

We’ve texted—as we always do—but I wanted to talk to her about Cameron in person, so I haven’t brought him up in our text thread.

As I flip through the hangers, I absentmindedly click on Ty’s number. He hasn’t called me this week, and I have yet to tell him about Cam being back in town.

“Hey, it’s my sister!” Ty says after a few rings. “How are you?”

“Hey, I’m good! I hadn’t gotten my big brother check-in yet, so I thought I’d call you.”

Ty laughs, and the sound comforts me. “Sorry, I’ve been distracted lately. I um… I started seeing someone.”

“What? Really? That’s awesome! Who is she?” I smile, and my shoulders relax as the stress over my outfit fades.

“Her name is Sandra. It’s really new, but we’ve gone out twice now. She’s really cool and super smart. She’s a therapist who specializes in marriage and family counseling, which I thought was kind of ironic given our family history.”

I hum in agreement. “Yeah, that is interesting. I’m excited for you, though. You sound happy just talking about her.”

“I am happy,” he says. I can hear the smile in his voice. “Anyway, we’ll keep seeing each other and see where it leads. What’s new with you?”

Sitting on the edge of my bed, I glare at the closet, reminded of my need to pick an outfit. I rest my hand on Dax’s back, and he lays down on the blankets to cuddle into the side of my leg. “I’ve been really good. I actually have some fun news that I thought you’d be interested in hearing.”

“Oh yeah? What’s up?”

“Cam Dunne is back in Maple Lake.” I pause to give him the chance to soak in that nugget of information.

“What’s he doing back?” is the only response I get.

Oookay, I thought he’d be happier to hear this.

“He moved back,” I hedge. “He’s teaching math at Maple Lake High.”

“Cam was always good at math.” There’s an unexpected silence before Ty continues. “Have you seen him?”

“We ran into each other last week. Twice, actually. And he asked me to get lunch with him today.” Again, Ty doesn’t say anything. “I thought you’d be happier to know he’s back. I’m sure you could get together when you visit.”

“I am happy he’s back. It’s just—well, we lost contact and I’ve always felt bad about that. But we’re not kids anymore, and I don’t know if things will be weird, or if we’ll be able to pick up where we left off.”

“I understand…” Images of Natalie flash across my mind, and I wonder if our relationship will ever be the same if I see her again. “He was asking about you and he sounded really interested in reconnecting.”

“Really?” Ty questions, his voice taking on a tone of interest. “Then, next time I’m in town, we’ll have to get together. It’s pretty cool he moved back. I thought for sure I’d never see him again.”

We continue to talk about Cam’s return, and I ask a few more questions about Ty’s work and new, budding relationship before I have to hustle to get ready for lunch. We say our goodbyes and Ty promises he’ll call me next week.

I’ve been eyeing a black knit sweater from my perch on the bed, so I stride across the room and pull it from the closet.

I throw it on and pair it with straight, light-washed jeans that are cut off right before hitting the ankle, and cute white sneakers.

Before I second-guess myself, I call for Dax to follow so I can walk him before meeting Cam at the diner across the street.

“And that’s when he realized what we’d done—his entire body was dyed yellow.”

“Are you serious?” I’ve been laughing at Cam’s story for the past five minutes, and my mouth is beginning to feel the effects of my wide grin.

“Oh yeah, he looked crazy. He couldn’t get the dye off his skin for three days and he swore he wouldn’t go to school looking like that. So he didn’t. He stayed home the rest of the week.”

His smile is devilish as he relives his high school days, telling me all about the friends he made and the trouble he got into in Washington.

We’ve finished our burgers and are slowly making our way through our second helping of fries.

Cam is sitting back against the booth, his green ribbed Henley looking very Christmas-y against the shiny red leather of the booth.

His shirt is pulled tight across his chest and biceps, the sleeves pulled up to his forearms, revealing a hint of that tattoo I saw last week at the gym.

It might be a pine tree? But I can’t tell without staring, so I’ll have to take a peek another time.

He’s wearing a green baseball cap backward, allowing a tuft of light brown hair to come through the snapback on his forehead. He looks more like a mountain man than a high school teacher, and I have to say the look is definitely working in his favor; I can’t seem to take my eyes off him.

Without the beanie that he wore on the day he helped me out of the snow, I can finally get the full picture of his face and hair.

And I mean, the full picture.

This man is ripped. At the gym, he wore a cut off T-shirt that exposed his arms and the sides of his abdomen.

Every part of his body that wasn’t covered by clothing was covered in thick, corded muscle, yet he didn’t look bulky or over-the-top jacked.

It’s as if he cuts down trees all day, or free-climbs the sides of cliffs for a living.

It’s a wonder all the women in the gym weren’t openly gawking at him in the tank and shorts he was sporting during his workout.

Although I could see that some of the women were definitely checking him out, I think he was oblivious to all the attention.

I was hesitant to start up a conversation that day because I didn’t want to interrupt his workout after I had already thrown a wrench in his morning coffee run. But something inside of me felt drawn to him, and I acted out of fear that I wouldn’t see him again after that day.

And then, surprise , I already knew the man.

“Did he know it was you who put the dye in his body wash?” I ask, eager for every detail of Cam’s prank story.

“I don’t think James ever found out who did it, only that it was the team as a whole who pranked him. And I’m taking that to my grave, so you’re sworn to secrecy, Jules.” He points a finger at me across the table, a playful smile on his lips.

“Your secret is safe with me,” I say with a smile, drawing an X over my heart, “cross my heart and hope to die.”

“You seem trustworthy. I believe you.”

We laugh together before our smiles die down, each of us taking a sip of our waters. I sit back against the booth and look around, the water glass in my hand dripping condensation on my jeans.

Maple Lake Diner is a mix of retro and contemporary, if that was ever a style.

Shirley, the owner, has made updates over the years that’s made this small town staple a comfortable second home to everyone in the area.

Although she’s left the red booths and stools at the counter the same, she’s changed out the black and white checkered flooring for black slate herringbone tile and added shelves that house lots of green plants and hanging vines.

It’s a place to congregate and gossip, to discuss life over a homestyle meal.

And it’s one of my favorite places to get fries because Shirley makes them extra crispy.

Placing my water glass back on the table, I think of what to say next. I have so many questions about Cam’s life—where he’s been, why he came back. But I don’t want to overwhelm him, so I opt for the first one that came to mind when I found out who he was.

“I can’t believe you moved back here. No one who leaves this place ever comes back,” I say between taking bites of fries.

I don’t say it as a question, but rather a statement because that’s just the truth, no one comes back.

My eyes are slightly teary from all our laughter, and I use the back of my sweater sleeve to dry them.

Cam is just like I remember him. He doesn’t hold back when he teases, and it’s oddly reassuring. His personality is warm and comforting, like a mug of hot chocolate on a really cold night.

Although I haven’t seen him in years, I feel like I know him.

Not his likes and dislikes, because those things change, but the Cam deep down that would come over after school and play video games with my brother.

The kid who would offer to help me with my math homework and explain things so easily that I thought he was a genius.

Teaching came effortlessly to him when it was just the two of us sitting at the kitchen table while my mom would cook dinner with my sister.

Life was special in those days, the smell of dinner in the oven, my mom quietly humming and occasionally making a comment to me or Cam.

Tyler coming in and out of the kitchen sneaking snacks while mom’s back was turned, smirking at us as he passed.

Dad would get home from work and head straight upstairs to shower, but he always stopped on the way to kiss mom and say hi to us kids.

He’d even shake Cam’s hand or give him a pat on the back.

In my mind, Cam was always a part of our family. I never felt particularly close to him at that time because he was older than me. But his presence now floods me with memories from when life was simple, and the joy of having a full family was taken for granted .