Page 13 of Only in Our Dream (Moonflower Cove #15)

Cameron

H aving known Melanie for so many years, Cameron knew just about everything there was to know about her best friend.

She knew how she preferred her coffee and what her favorite snack food was.

Cameron knew she needed another coffee halfway through her shift or she was cranky until she clocked out.

And she also knew exactly how to make Melanie’s day shift that much better.

Breakfast.

Melanie’s favorite meal of the day was breakfast. She loved all the foods served traditionally at breakfast to the point they made up her regular diet as well most days.

Although she frequented Carlson’s Cafe for breakfast most days, Cameron knew the way to her heart was a hot McDonald’s biscuit.

And with the fast-food joint near the kids’ school, Cameron had the perfect excuse to stop before dropping the kids off at school.

She had been proud of herself for getting ready and out the door with both kids before they were going to be late.

Even with the additional stop for breakfast, Cameron would still get them to school on time.

Maybe for the first time all semester. There was a definite spring in her metaphorical step as she tossed her hair playfully over her shoulder as she checked her lipstick in the rearview mirror.

Cameron could admit to herself that she looked good.

She wasn’t too vain for that. Having woken up before her alarm, a rarity in the West house, Cameron had time to shower and apply her makeup before arriving at the hospital.

The night before she’d picked out the red dress she was going to wear to work and paired it with a matching shade of lipstick.

Yes, it was a little more made up than she usually was for work. But that didn’t mean anything.

It wasn’t like she was dressing up for Melanie or anything.

No.

After all, Melanie was always in scrubs at work.

Cameron totally understood that considering birthing babies wasn’t exactly the cleanest job at the hospital.

But since Cameron mostly met with patients who were fully clothed and didn’t have bodily fluids and tiny humans coming out of them, she took advantage of the ability to dress up because she enjoyed doing it.

And, hell, she wanted to look good for Melanie too. There could be two reasons for the red dress. It was multifunctional, after all.

As she pulled the car around the drive thru, Cameron placed their orders before adding on Melanie’s at the end.

She knew her kids wouldn’t think twice about the extra items as she often grabbed extra for Melanie before heading into work.

But what she wasn’t expecting was to feel four eyes burrowing into her.

Turning toward Jonah in the front seat first, Cameron narrowed her eyes at him before turning to Dylan.

Dylan was leaning up between the front seats with the same goofy grin on her face that Jonah had.

“What?” Cameron nervously laughed.

“Why are you so happy?” Jonah’s eyes narrowed at her. “Like, really happy?”

“Yeah,” Dylan piped up. “Are you getting laid?”

“Dylan!” Cameron screeched as she whipped her head around to her youngest. “That’s a very inappropriate question to ask your mother.”

“Well, my mother never dresses this nicely this early in the morning.”

Jonah waved his hand in front of his nose. “Or bathes in that much cologne.”

“It’s perfume,” Cameron quickly retorted. “And I always dress nice for work.”

“Not this nice,” both kids said in unison.

Cameron dramatically sighed, waving them off as she paid for their order and handed the bags to Dylan and the drink carrier to Jonah.

Although they were early by Cameron’s standards, the kids would be late to the first class if they didn’t eat in the car.

Their full mouths gave Cameron a few moments of peace as she sipped on her Coke.

She wasn’t that dressed up, was she? Surely the kids were just being dramatic.

But what if they know?

What if they knew that Cameron was dressing up for their Aunt Mel? Even if she didn’t want to admit that fully to herself. Would they be upset? Freaked out? Happy? The possibilities were endless and too daunting to face before eight a.m.

However, Cameron knew she’d have to talk to the kids sooner rather than later.

She didn’t need them catching them stealing kisses again before they fully knew what was happening.

Cameron had always been upfront with her kids, and that had kept them all close over the years.

But with the new position their Aunt Mel was currently taking in Cameron’s life, she knew things were going to change for better or for worse.

Cameron had a feeling it would be for the better, though.

Arriving at the middle school, Cameron dropped Dylan off with a quick kiss as she scampered out the door.

The drive to the high school wasn’t long, thankfully.

Even if Jonah’s silence made it feel longer.

Cameron knew he didn’t like her driving him to school.

But with the old car he drove in the shop for new tires and an oil change, Jonah was stuck with her for at least the remainder of the day.

As they sat in the long drop off line, Cameron turned slightly to look at her son.

“I know it’s uncool to have your mom drop you off at school.”

Jonah shrugged. “It’s cool, Mom. Thanks for getting my car fixed.”

“You’re welcome, baby.” Putting her hand behind his head, she pulled him closer and kissed his cheek. She could see him blushing, but at least he didn’t pull away. “Text me when you’re done with practice, okay?”

“Kay.” Jonah gathered his backpack as Cameron pulled up in the front of the school. “And Mom?”

“Hmm?”

“I think you look really pretty today.” Without so much as a grin, he hopped out of the car. “Showering does wonders for you,” he added with a laugh as Cameron playfully threw an empty straw wrapper at him.

Cameron watched Jonah walk over to his friends and greet them all with some handshake his group of friends had started doing. She might not understand it, but it was cute. Like their own The Parent Trap hello.

Picking up the to-go bag that still held Melanie’s biscuit, Cameron set it on Jonah’s empty seat. She turned on the seat warmer and patted the bag with a smirk. Melanie would be thrilled with breakfast, and Cameron was already anxious to see her smile.

Straightening her hair once more in the rearview mirror, Cameron took in a deep breath before hyping herself up to go into the hospital.

She knew her coworkers would make comments about her outfit or makeup, but they’d all be in jest. And after years of working with most of them, Cameron knew they all just loved teasing each other.

It was just going to be her day to be on the receiving end.

Before heading up to her office, Cameron made a pit stop on the labor and delivery floor.

It was quiet, a rarity for that floor. Typically, either laboring moms or babies could be heard at all hours of the day.

There wasn’t even the typical bustle of nurses and doctors hustling to help their patients.

As she approached the nurses’ station, she was pleasantly surprised to find Melanie working there by herself.

She looked focused on whatever she was writing in a chart as her knee bounced up and down.

Her hair was pulled back in a ponytail and she wore the same standard issue green scrubs that all labor and delivery nurses wore.

Cameron’s eyes glanced down at Melanie’s left hand and noticed she wasn’t wearing her wedding ring.

Sure, she often kept it off because of the nature of her job.

Melanie had told Cameron multiple times before she didn’t wear it at work because she was afraid of throwing it away when taking off her gloves.

Or worse, forgetting it was on and having it puncture through her gloves.

Although she’d never had a wedding ring to worry about, Cameron understood where Melanie was coming from.

But there was just something different about seeing her without it now. It made Cameron happy and gave her an added confidence to flirt with Melanie since no one was around. Still unnoticed by Melanie, Cameron leaned onto the desk.

“It’s quiet in here,” she said just above a whisper, startling Melanie.

“Cam,” Melanie sighed, exacerbated, “what the fuck? Why would you say that?”

“Because it is,” she laughed.

“It’s going to be your fault when this place is full of laboring moms in a few hours. And then I’m going to have to stay over at work and then I’ll leave late and feed Lucy and Hank late and you know how they get when their food is late…”

“Okay, okay.” Cameron held up her hands. “I’m sorry. Please forgive me.”

Melanie’s eyes sparkled. “I’ll need bribery.”

“How does this sound?” Cameron dropped the bag onto the desk. Melanie’s eyes lit up as if Cameron had just dropped a pile of money.

“Bless you.” Melanie dug into the fast-food bag and pulled out the bacon, egg, and cheese biscuit. “You know how much I love these.”

“I do,” she chuckled, leaning onto the desk. Since Melanie was alone, Cameron felt freer to flirt with her in public. “You know what else I love?”

“Me?” Melanie smirked before she took a large bite of the sandwich. Lowering her eyes, Cameron didn’t stop the smile from spreading on her lips.

“Well, yes. But I also love that it’s almost Christmas.”

“You do love Christmas.”

“I do indeed.” Cameron tapped her fingers on the desk. “So I thought you should join me this weekend to pick out some gifts for the kids.”

Melanie leaned back in her chair, arching her eyebrow. “Yeah?”

“Yes. If you want to.”

“I’d love to.”

“Yeah?”

“Yes,” Melanie chuckled. “I mean, I go with you every year.”

“I know but,” Cameron’s voice trailed off as she looked down the empty hallway for the right words she wanted to say. “This year feels different. Or maybe it’s just me.”

“It’s not,” Melanie answered quickly. “I feel it too. And with any luck, my divorce will be final by Christmas.”

“That soon?”

“Blaire is a damn good lawyer.”

“I’ll say. So, we need to celebrate then.”

Melanie laughed, taking another bite of her biscuit. “It’s not final yet.”

“We can preemptively celebrate then.”

Slowly standing, Melanie placed her palms on the desk as she leaned toward Cameron. “What do you have in mind?”

Before Cameron could answer, the phone on the desk rang. They both jumped as Melanie answered the phone.

“L and D. Mhmm. Okay. Thank you.” Melanie hung up the phone. “Thanks to your q-word, I have a laboring mom with twins heading up for an emergency c-section.”

“Oh shit. I’m sorry.”

“It’s okay. You’ll have to answer me later, though.”

As if they had done it a million times before, Melanie leaned over the desk and kissed Cameron. It was a super quick kiss; barely lingering long enough for Cameron to really enjoy it. But the fact it had happened so casually made Cameron’s heart skip a beat.

Dammit. I got it bad.

Before heading toward the elevator, Melanie grabbed the rest of her biscuit.

The move made Cameron laugh; that girl would never let breakfast go to waste.

As she turned to take the stairs up to her office, Cameron was startled to see Palmer leaning against the wall.

She looked more than bemused as she crossed her arms and walked toward Cameron.

“Smooth.”

“I don’t know what you’re talking about,” Cameron tried to say coyly.

“Mhmm.” Winking, Palmer walked over to the elevator and pressed a button. “Looks to me like you know exactly what you’re doing.”

Cameron waited for her to continue.

“All I’m saying is if a gorgeous woman brought me breakfast, I’d be kissing her, too.”

With another wink, Palmer got into the elevator and headed to the OR.

Although she and Palmer weren’t close friends, they ran in similar circles thanks to Melanie.

Cameron had no idea if or what Melanie had told her about them yet, but it was clear they were going to have to be more discreet.

At least until Melanie’s divorce was final.

Then Cameron had a wish list of things she wanted to do with Melanie.