Page 19 of The Fix

When she’d walked close enough that the house blocked the direct light, Cami lowered her hand, her smile fleeing as she stumbled slightly in the dirt.

She almost hadn’t recognized him.

Rex Lowe was staring at her, jaw set and eyes slightly narrowed, as she found her footing and walked the last few steps to stand at the base of the low porch.

She was very suddenly transported back in time.

She felt unsteady on her feet, a mingling of past and present slamming into her and nearly knocking her down.

It’d been eleven years since she’d seen him, and though the boy she remembered was still in the almond shape of his eyes, the high cheekbones, and the straight slash of his mouth—currently set in a scowl—just about everything else about him had changed.

Where once he’d carried himself like he wasn’t quite sure what to do with his height, now he stood tall and proud, broad shoulders back, the lines of his body muscular yet lean, every inch of him utterly solid.

He was wearing a pair of black jeans and a gray T-shirt featuring the army logo. She’d heard somewhere he’d gone into the military and did something with computers or numbers, or maybe both. But she hadn’t ever expected to see him again. She hadn’t thought much more about it than that.

Bess, who had been chattering away, finally noticed that Rex was looking at something behind her and turned, giving Cami a giddy smile.

“Hey, Cam. Mr. Lowe says we’re welcome to take any baths or feeders or stones we want.

Anything to neaten up the yard.” She looked at Rex and tilted her head flirtatiously.

“We couldn’t be any more thankful. You should come by sometime and see your plants rehomed. ”

He looked at Bess as though she’d spoken Japanese.

“Only if you’re in the area or have a butterfly need we might meet,” she said with a giggle, clearly smitten with the man.

Cami’s mouth had gone dry, and she brought her hands together, not quite knowing what to do with them.

His eyes were laser focused on her now. She looked away with an intake of breath and then tilted her head, her gaze moving over the roses that grew up the front of the house and spilled over the overhang he was standing under.

The moment felt surreal and slightly ridiculous.

She let out a small bubble of laughter, bringing her fingers to her mouth and pressing her lips together as if the sound had escaped against her will.

She met his eyes again as his frown deepened.

She sucked back the delirium. Whatever else Rex was thinking, he probably also thought she and Bess were at least a little nuts.

She hadn’t been able to help the nervous laugh.

It was just the sight of him, this tall, muscular man likely skilled with weapons and wearing a shirt with a military logo standing in front of a pink cascade of flowers.

It was like GI Joe had crashed the prom and was glaring at her from in front of the photo backdrop.

God, she felt like she’d fallen asleep and woken in some strange alternative reality.

Bess was looking back and forth between them now, clearly confused by the tension she’d finally sensed.

“Well,” Cami said. The word burst from her mouth, emerging a few octaves higher than her normal speaking voice. “Well,” she corrected, lowering the tone. “It was very kind of you. They’ll be well taken care of.” There was a beat of silence. “The plants,” she said, as though it needed clarification.

Rex leaned against the post next to him, crossing his arms and causing his impressive muscles to become ... more impressive. “Not a problem. You did the work. I appreciate them gone. Win-win.”

She cleared her throat. “Indeed. Okay, ready, Bess?”

“Um, sure. Okay then. See ya.” She gave Rex a little wave and descended the two steps to join Cami. They began walking toward the truck, which Quincy already had running. Cami could see him playing on his phone through the windshield.

When they’d walked far enough away, Bess glanced back and then leaned in and whispered, “Do you know him? What was that about?”

What was that about? Why had she pretended she hadn’t recognized him?

He’d seemed angry. And she understood why.

Perfectly. Because it’d turned out ...

well, it’d turned out in the darkest moment of her life, she’d wronged him.

Terribly. She hadn’t known it at the time.

It hadn’t been intentional. But he was obviously still angry with her.

“Go with Quincy,” she told Bess. “I’ll be right behind you.

” She heard Bess make a small questioning sound as she pivoted and began walking back to Rex.

He raised his shoulder slightly on the post, but other than that, he stayed in the same position as she returned to stand below him, where she’d been a minute before.

“I ... thank you. I should thank you personally. I’m sorry if this blindsided you.

I didn’t know either. That it’d be you. That this”—she swept her hand toward the house—“was you. Is you.”

He paused for a moment, his eyes sliding down her body quickly and then back to her face. His expression gave no indication of what he was thinking. “It’s fine.”

Fine. This felt anything but fine .

She attempted a smile, though it felt as tremulous as her emotions.

In one unexpected moment, the past—her unspeakable trauma—had shown up right in front of her.

“Okay. Then like you said, win-win.” She walked up the three steps and held her hand out to him.

He looked at it and, for a moment, she thought he wasn’t going to shake it, but then he stood straight, dropped his arms, ran a palm over his hip, and gripped her hand.

The feel of his hand enveloping hers caused a shiver to run over her skin that wasn’t entirely unpleasant nor purely born of discomfort.

What else it was, though, she was too discombobulated to identify.

“So ... I’d love it if bygones could be bygones. ”

A muscle jumped in his jaw, and he let go of her hand. “Bygones?”

She nodded, her heart pumping faster and causing a slight head rush.

This felt all wrong. She was handling this poorly, and she knew it.

She’d told him she was sorry he’d been blindsided, but she had been too.

And she was floundering. She didn’t know this man, not then, and certainly not now.

And yet there was so much between them. So much.

If she hadn’t realized it previously, she realized it now.

Rex squinted off behind her and dragged his teeth over his lower lip before meeting her eyes again. “Can I be forthright?”

She blinked as he obviously waited for her answer to the question she’d thought was rhetorical. “Uh, yes. I hope you will be.”

He squinted off to the side for a moment like he was gathering the proper words, and she drew back slightly as though those words were going to be volleyed at her.

“I don’t know exactly what bygones are when it comes to you, Cami,” he finally said, meeting her eyes.

“If you’re looking to tuck the past between us away, that’s fine by me.

” He paused, his forehead lowering. “I couldn’t be any sorrier for what happened to you.

What you survived ... it’s unthinkable.

But the fallout ruined me too. I would never compare the losses we suffered; I know mine weren’t even in the same ballpark.

I hope you’ve found a way to move forward, even if only in most ways.

But, Cami, I really don’t have anything more to say to you than that.

” And then Rex Lowe turned and walked back into his house, shutting the door firmly between them.