Falling For The Right Brother
“It’s like you don’t even want to be part of this company, the way you keep trying to change everything.” Cam could hear the frustration in his father’s voice.
His own stomach clenched at the comment.
“Of course I want to be part of the company. Why else would I be here?” Jasper replied. “I’m simply trying to bring us into this century.”
Feeling a thickness in his throat, Cam decided to save his baby brother. Giving a quick cough to announce his presence, he stepped into the room.
“There’s my handsome son.” Lilah Dumont rose and patted him on the cheek before pulling him into a hug.
“Hey,” Jasper called out. “I thought I was your handsome son.”
She turned back to him. “Oh, you are. But only when you aren’t irritating me with new proposals involving hashtags.”
Cam hoped that Jasper saw the look of adoring, unaffected love their mother shot in his direction. But by the way Jasper had turned toward the window, he suspected not.
“Hey, Pops,” Cam said to his dad.
“Why aren’t you at work?” his dad asked as a reply and a welcome.
“Why aren’t any of you?” he countered.
“We are working.” His mother poured a glass of lemonade and handed it to him. “We’re discussing your brother’s latest idea.” She used air quotes and Cam was fairly certain he could hear Jasper grind his teeth. “Then we were going to talk about the next fund-raiser.”
Cam lifted an eyebrow. “Fund-raiser?”
“Yes.”
“Ah. A party,” he stated. His mother could justify giving a party more easily than some people could drink a glass of water. Although Lilah Dumont was so much more than a party-loving socialite. She could make just as many deals as his father simply by schmoozing during a black-tie event. Where Collin Dumont was old-school business etiquette, Lilah was about face-to-face interaction. Underestimating either her intelligence or business savvy had been the web that caught more than one misjudging fly.
“Social media is an inexpensive way to throw a party,” Jasper contributed from the corner. “A virtual party. Keeps costs in check, connects you with the right people.”
“Why not be personal? Why does everything have to be over the computer or smartphone or Instagram?” his mother asked. “People like personal interactions. That still means something.”
Cam thought he would try and back his brother up. “Jasper does have a point. Perhaps we need to cut down on the amount of parties?”
His mother looked indignant. “Everyone loves our parties. You know that.”
“Isn’t less more in this situation?”
Lilah rolled her eyes. “Less is never more. I despise that saying.”
On this one topic, his mother and father were in agreement. Cam had to suppress a groan. If another Dumont party was on the horizon, that meant he would have to take out his tux—again—and put on a happy face—again. Two things he hated almost as much as his mother’s parties.
Jasper appeared to have forgotten his earlier hurt and turned to Cam. “Why aren’t you working your butt off somewhere? Aren’t you usually covered in dirt and sweat by this hour?”
“I had a meeting with a client earlier this morning.” He grabbed an apple from a large display of fruit placed in the middle of a marble table. “You’ll never guess who I picked up after that.”
“It’s bad enough that you drive that thing instead of a real car,” Jasper began.
“Hey, I like my truck. I’d like you to know that Lamborghinis are not the only car available. Anyway, I did a favor for Ted Owens this morning.”
“His doctor’s appointment,” his dad said from his chair. “I need to give him a call later and see how that went.”
There were a lot of things that could be said about Collin Dumont, but one area Cam thought his dad did right. He respected his staff, his friends and the other citizens of Bayside. He’d been friends with Ted for years, and Cam heard the note of concern in his voice.
“Right. He had an appointment, so I had to pick up his daughter.”
“Ellie?” his mother asked. “She’s back from Italy?”
“Who’s Ellie?” Jasper wondered.
Sometimes Cam didn’t know if he should be appalled by or jealous of his brother’s ignorance.
“You’ve gotta be kidding me, right?” Cam said. “Ellie Owens, the daughter of Ted, former chief of police.” At Jasper’s blank stare, he continued. “You were in the same class in school.”
“Did we date?”
Their mother let out a loud chuckle. “Oh, most certainly not.”
“She was in love with you,” Cam said loudly and slowly, to get through to Jasper.
“Didn’t she make some video about you that got played at your prom?” their father asked from behind the iPad he was now reading.
Cam tensed. He’d never understood why Elle had made that video in the first place. The whole thing was out of character. Feeling oddly protective, Cam decided to steer the conversation away from the video talk. “She’s back. I’m not sure for how long, but she’s here now for her dad. She looks amazing, by the way. All grown up.”
“No kidding?” Jasper’s tune changed quicker than he could get his Lamborghini from zero to sixty.
“Apparently Europe agreed with her.”
“Good for her,” Mrs. Dumont put in as she poured more lemonade into her glass. “I always thought she was sweet. And everyone knew how smart she was. Top of her and Jasper’s class. Or she would have been...”
“Didn’t she throw herself in the bay after that prom?” Collin asked.
Another aspect of that story that had never made sense to Cam. Supposedly, she’d been so upset after the video aired that she’d pitched herself off the dock into the bay. Some called it a last-ditch effort to get Jasper’s attention.
“Oh, yeah,” Jasper replied.
The thing about attempting to drown yourself was that people who did so usually couldn’t swim, Cam thought. Elle had been a great swimmer. He shook his head. A mystery for another time.
“Invite her to the party on Friday,” Collin contributed, still reading his iPad, no doubt having pulled up the Wall Street Journal.
“Great idea,” Lilah added.
“Um, I don’t know if that’s...”
“I’m willing to extend the olive branch to a hot girl,” Jasper said.
Cam ignored his brother’s wink. “Did you say Friday? The party is happening this Friday? It’s Wednesday.”
“Invitations went out two days ago. What is life without a little surprise and excitement?” His mother’s eyes sparkled.
“I didn’t get an invitation,” Cam said.
“That’s because I didn’t want to give you a chance to RSVP no.” Lilah beamed at him.
Cam clenched his teeth. He’d had plans to quit work early on Friday and take a couple of his employees golfing. “What’s the reason for this party?” he asked.
They all looked at each other for a split second before his mother said “April,” with a definite nod.
At the same moment his father said, “Flag Day.”
Cam rolled his eyes, not sure where to start.
“Oh, who cares why,” his mother called out. “It’s a party, not a funeral, so get that stick out of your a—”
“Ah, that’s enough,” Collin said, as Cam tucked his tongue in the side of this mouth.
“But you are expected to be there,” Lilah said, using her I-raised-two-boys-so-don’t-even-think-about-messing-with-me tone.
“Seriously, Mom.” Cam put his glass down on the table a little harder than he’d meant to and returned the uneaten apple, as well. The sound of heavy crystal hitting marble echoed throughout the room. For a moment, no one spoke. Then Collin looked up from his iPad.
“Just because you didn’t want to work for the family doesn’t mean you’re not part of it.”
Cam hated the hurt that flashed in his father’s eyes. He knew he’d put it there by one selfish decision. He began to speak to his dad, but Jasper stopped him.
“Don’t be so hard on him. I stepped up. I work for the family.”
Cam knew Jasper wasn’t saying that out of spite. He was only trying to help.
“And what an employee you turned out to be. Always wanting to change every damn little thing.”
That same painful look flashed in Jasper’s eyes now and Cam wanted to kick himself. He hadn’t planned to come in here today to upset everyone. Nor had he intended to cause so much ill will when he stopped working for his parents and started his own company.
But it didn’t take a soured afternoon to see the results of his decision. He carried around the guilt on a daily basis.
Cam used to go to every construction site of every building, shopping mall, apartment complex or whatever else his dad had been working on. Collin had proudly introduced him as the future head of Dumont Industries to anyone who would listen. That included Rick, the foreman on one of his job sites.
Rick had been the first person to really talk to Cam about construction. He’d patiently answered question after question. Walking around wearing a hard hat, looking at foundations and I beams made Cam feel excited. Not once had he ever felt that way in the office with his dad.
One summer Cam had announced that he would be working with Rick on the construction of a new multiplex. His dad still hadn’t realized that Cam liked working with his hands, enjoyed building things. Instead, Collin had bragged that his son wanted to learn the business from the ground up, and wasn’t that just great.
But even as a sixteen-year-old, Cam knew he’d found his calling. His dad never forgave him for it.
Cam pulled himself back to the present when his father let out an awkward and forced cough.
“I need to take this.” He waved his phone and made a quick exit from the room, hurt trailing in his wake.
Cam didn’t look at his mother when she rose from her seat, nor did he say goodbye as he left the solarium and headed back through the sprawling house toward the front door. He turned only when he heard his brother’s voice.
“Cam, wait.” Jasper bounded toward him, his expression concerned.
“Don’t worry about it,” Cam said. “And don’t listen to the old man. You’re doing a great job.”
Jasper’s face fell. “Yeah, I can’t get my own father to listen to my ideas, let alone the rest of the board. Quick, someone get me on the cover of Forbes.”
Cam didn’t know what to say and he couldn’t stand seeing the frustration in his brother’s eyes. “Listen, I’ll stop by your place later and fix that balcony door.”
Jasper shook his head.
“What?” Cam asked. “It’s been hanging off the hinges for weeks. And while I’m there I can measure for those shelves you were talking about.”
“Stop,” Jasper said. “You don’t owe me anything, Cam.”
But he did. Cam was in debt to his little brother and fixing a few things around his condo didn’t even come close to making up for it.
“I’ll be by around seven,” he said, his voice offering no room for argument. With his hand on the brass doorknob of the opulent front door, he asked his baby brother, “Are you happy?”
“What?”
“Answer the damn question, Jasp.”
Jasper let out a long exhalation. “I’m fine. Stop worrying about me. Things are going fine.”
But he did worry about him. More than his brother realized. Because Jasper had stepped up for him and Cam would spend the rest of his life making it right.
“Hey, bro. Answer me this.” Cam waited for Jasper to meet his eyes. “Do you really not remember Elle Owens?”
Jasper shrugged. “Kind of. But if you say she’s gorgeous now...”
Unbelievable. Because to Cam’s way of thinking, the woman he’d picked up this morning was pretty damn unforgettable.
“I never said gorgeous.” But he very easily could have. Suddenly, Cam felt incredibly uncomfortable.
His brother grinned as Cam flipped him off and left the house, thoughts of just how gorgeous Elle had become following him out the door.
Chapter Two
“Cancer-free as of today.”
The breath she let out was full of relief. Elle had been holding her jaw so tight that her face actually ached.
“Seriously?” she asked tentatively. She knew better than anyone that her dad had a habit of downplaying. The fact that he hadn’t shared his diagnosis—even during their recent Christmas visit—until a couple weeks ago still had her seeing red.
“Cross my heart.” Her dad kissed her on the head before engulfing her in a long, hard hug. Nothing could have felt better. “I’m sorry I wasn’t there to pick you up this morning.”
“Oh, don’t worry about that.” She waved a hand in the air as she took in her father. He looked mostly the same, a little thinner maybe, and a bit pale. But that was to be expected. “Tell me everything the doctor said, and start from the beginning.”
Even though he rolled his eyes, Elle held firm. She would get the truth of the situation even if that meant calling the doctor herself.
“Our food is going to get cold,” he said, gesturing to the spread on the table.
“It won’t if you hurry up and tell me.”
“You’ve always been the most stubborn little thing,” he said with a laugh.
She returned with a chuckle of her own. “Wonder where I get that trait from.”
“Fine, fine. The treatment seemed to work. When I went back in today, doc said the scope we did last week didn’t detect any cancerous cells.”
He was beaming and Elle wanted to share in his joy, but she’d done a fair amount of research on bladder cancer. They would need to stay on top of this to ensure it didn’t return. Her dad would have to get scopes often and probably for the rest of his life.
A small concession for keeping him in her life. With her mother already passed, Elle would do anything to protect her only remaining parent. Even though she barely remembered her mom, she wanted to think that her returning from Italy would have made her proud.
But for the moment, she’d try and enjoy the victory with him. She reached for a pair of wineglasses when an invitation on the counter caught her eye.
Her father followed her gaze. “Mrs. Dumont is having another party on Friday and the theme is Printemps.” He rolled his eyes as he took the wineglasses from her hands.
“Springtime,” Elle murmured. “Well, that’s a fitting theme.” She leaned back against the counter. “Are you going to attend?”
He let out a loud chuckle. “That’ll be the day. Don’t know why they even invite me to those damn dreaded things.”
Elle smiled and they sat down at the table and toasted with a bottle of wine she’d brought back from Italy.
“To your health,” she announced, her glass held in the air.
“To my baby girl being home.”
“Cin cin.” With that, they clinked glasses.
To celebrate her return, they were enjoying a huge bowl of spaghetti and meatballs. Her father had insisted on cooking “his specialty.” Elle had to laugh. She couldn’t even begin to count the number of times they’d feasted on this exact meal when she’d been growing up.
Not to mention that she’d lived in Italy for the last six years, plus one year of study abroad in college. She’d been spoiled by the outstanding culinary pleasures of Italy. But watching her father slurp up his spaghetti, with sauce dotting his chin, seeing the pride when he announced that he’d heated up the frozen meatballs and garlic bread, made this the best pasta she’d ever tasted.
As they ate, Elle filled her dad in on her flight and he told her some of the local Bayside gossip. A nice breeze came off the bay and filled the house with the awakening scents of early spring.
“I have a friend in Florence who would go nuts over this,” Elle said, referring to the chocolate éclair her father had bought at the local bakery.
“Speaking of people you know in Italy...”
Oh, jeez. Her dad was anything but subtle.
“What about that nice fellow I met at Christmas when I was visiting?” he asked.
“Marco,” she said.
“Yeah, him. He seemed nice.”
Marco was great. Sexy and sweet. They’d dated for the last year. “I didn’t know how long I would be here and neither of us wanted a long-distance relationship.”
“You don’t have to have one. Why did you come back to Bayside, Ellie?”
His question stung. Did he not want his only child here with him? For you. Because I was worried about you, of course. “I guess I just needed a change of scenery.”
“You guess, huh? Well, I just hope somebody wasn’t worried that their aging dad needed a chaperone...”
Biting back a smile, she shook her head. “Never.”
“Ellie...”
“Elle, Dad. I go by Elle now.”
“Right, sorry.” He patted her cheek. “You know you’ll always be my little Ellie.” The uncharacteristic sentimentality came and went before she could blink. Quickly, her dad returned to his usual pragmatic ex-cop self. “I’m worried. What are you going to do here? There aren’t any galleries or museums in the area.”
She chewed on her lip before rising to close the window. The truth was she had no idea what she would do for work. She’d contacted every museum within an hour’s drive of Bayside—not many—and come up empty-handed. Italy might have the most fantastic jobs for her, but Bayside had her family. A family that she had been desperately worried about.
Financially, she would be okay for a couple months, especially with her father refusing her offer of paying rent. Still, she’d need to find some kind of job.
Returning to her seat, she looked at her father. “I’m working on it. Don’t worry.”
He pinned her with one of his cop stares. “‘Don’t worry.’ When you have a kid someday you’ll realize how stupid that little statement is.”
Elle followed her dad when he rose from the table, taking their plates into the kitchen. “Daddy...”
Dropping a plate, he spun back to face her. “I will always worry about you.”
Sighing, she did the only thing she could think of. She wrapped her arms around her dad until he relented and returned the embrace. “I know you will, and that’s why I love you.”
Finally, he let out a deep sigh. “I guess that will have to be enough for now.”
They finished clearing and cleaning the dishes. Then her dad did something she’d greatly missed while she’d been away. He turned on the radio to an oldies station, the music wafted throughout the house. Happily, she sat down with him in the living room as he perused the daily paper and she pretended to do the crossword puzzle.
“So, Cam Dumont picked me up today.” She surprised herself with the comment, unsure what made Cam spring into her mind. But now that she was thinking about him, there wasn’t any harm in remembering the way his worn jeans had fit him so perfectly. Or how the masculine, dark stubble on his face had produced butterflies in her stomach. How would it feel against her cheeks?
“Cam’s a good guy.”
“Yeah, he seemed...great.” She eyed her dad who wasn’t taking her bait for more info.
“What are your plans for tomorrow?”
Elle sat back considering. She had no idea. With no job and no friends, she didn’t have many options.
As if reading her mind, her dad said, “Why don’t you go check out The Brewside? It’s a coffee shop that opened about two years ago,” he explained. “It’s right in the town square.”
“I could do that. Maybe I could bring my sketch pad, too.”
Before she’d moved over to the administrative side of the art world, she’d dreamed of becoming an artist in her own right. Then she’d become so immersed in her career, not to mention all the other amazing opportunities afforded her living in Italy, that her favorite hobby had been pushed to the back burner.
Energized by the idea of taking time for her own art, she grinned.
“You look more and more beautiful every time I see you.” The compliment, not to mention the change in conversation, took her by surprise, but the soft tone of her dad’s voice almost undid her.
“Oh, Daddy. You saw me three months ago. I haven’t changed since then.”
He picked up a silver-framed picture from the end table. Without seeing it, Elle knew it was a shot of her at fifteen, after she’d climbed a tree. She was wearing cutoff jeans and an unfortunate maroon sweatshirt, her hair in pigtails displaying her makeup-free face, which had been going through an adolescent breakout phase. She’d been so clueless.
Her dad turned the photo around. “You’ve changed a lot since this. The time goes so fast,” he said, more to himself than to her.
“I think it’s time for you to go to bed. A weepy daddy is a tired daddy.”
“You might be right about that. It’s been a long day, but a good one. Welcome home, princess.” He kissed her forehead and made his way toward his bedroom.
Feeling antsy, Elle put down the crossword puzzle, grabbed an afghan from the couch and made her way out onto the deck. The water was calm tonight, and as usual for this time of year, the temperature was dropping rapidly. She wrapped the blanket around herself as the sounds of the water lapping soothed her.
Looking up, she gazed at the sky, full of glittery stars. It was strange to think that last night she’d seen the same stars from across the ocean. Now she was back in her hometown, not quite sure how that fact made her feel.
For the second time that night, Cam entered her mind. She wasn’t sure how she felt about that either.
Why in the world was she thinking about a man she hadn’t seen in a decade and spent a whopping thirty minutes with? It didn’t make sense. And yet, she couldn’t seem to stop.
She shook her head. Most likely, she was overly tired from a long day of travel and an emotional reunion with her father. That had to be the only reason she couldn’t stop thinking about Cam’s enticing smile, his mysterious eyes, his amazing body.
Obviously, being with her dad was her number one priority. Just eating dinner with him and seeing with her own two eyes that he was okay made her feel better. But her dad and this tiny house were only a small part of Bayside. Tomorrow she had to face the rest of the town.
Elle knew she’d come a long way since that picture her father had looked at earlier. Undoubtedly, she’d changed. Now she just had to figure out to how convince everyone else.
* * *
After seeing her dad off to work the next morning, Elle set off to check out The Brewside, sketch pad in tow.
As she walked along the path next to the bay, the cool morning air hit her face. It felt great after a restless night’s sleep. She’d finally fallen to sleep in the wee hours only to wake up around four thirty. Stupid jet lag.
And perhaps Cam Dumont kept her tossing and turning, too.
But she was not going to dwell on that little detail. Even if she was wondering where he lived. And where he’d set up his business. And what he did for fun.
She stopped in her tracks. “Stop thinking about Cameron Dumont,” she whispered. With a nod, she continued on her way.
She found The Brewside Café easily enough. Nestled between a shoe store that had been in the square forever and a newer, expensive-looking clothing shop, it was painted the same crisp white, accented with blue shutters, as the other establishments. Pots of flowers flanked the entrance. She pushed open the door to the sound of bells chiming and was hit with the welcoming aroma of rich coffee beans.
Inhaling, Elle stood there for a moment, soaking in the caffeine goodness. Once she had her fill, she stepped inside and took in the quaint decor. The raised ceiling was supported by exposed beams, and the dark wood floors gave the place a rustic feel. The tables were made up of wooden barrels with either glass plates or old doors on top. Copper pots and old kitchen utensils adorned the walls, as did a variety of vinyl records and framed black-and-white photographs. A display case with pastries dominated one wall and a large bar with coffee machines and an antique brass cash register stretched along the back.
After studying the menu, Elle stepped forward and ordered an espresso and a wheat bagel. As one of the workers began filling her order, a tall man with a beard and friendly blue eyes stopped wiping the counter and studied her.