Her smart watch vibrated, indicating a text. Melanie checked and couldn’t contain her smile when she saw it was Cameron.
Just thinking about you. I miss you and can’t wait to see you Monday.
“Ooh, is thatCameron?” Isla teased as she looked at Melanie’s watch. “Aww, she can’t wait to see you Monday. That’s so sweet.”
“Says the woman who writes the best damn love letters to her wife for every holiday.”
“She does write the best letters,” Vera dreamily sighed as she looped her arm around Isla’s and kissed her.
God, I want that, she thought to herself.
Her watch vibrated again.
I love you.
Melanie showed the text to them before they all squealed in unison. They were like teenage girls, not the nearly fifty-year-olds they were. The only thing that would make the moment better would be if Cameron were there.
“Whenever the divorce is final, we all need a girls’ night.” Isla smiled at them.
“You know I’m in.”
“It’s a date,” Vera said with a wink.
Melanie smiled as she glanced down at her phone and replied to Cameron’s text.
I love you too. PS we’re having a girls’ night when the divorce is final. Isla’s orders.
Cameron responded right back.
Hell yeah! I have some ways to celebrate that already planned in my head.
The accompanying winking emoji made Melanie blush and she felt the heat rise in her cheeks at the thought of what Cameron had planned. Melanie herself had been thinking about what would happen once the divorce was legal. She had plenty of thoughts, but now she desperately wanted to know what Cameron was thinking.
And apparently Isla and Vera did, too. Isla grabbed her phone as she giggled.
“Ooh, did Cam send a spicy text?”
“Let me see,” Vera joined in. They looked at each other, saying more with a glance than they could with a hundred words. “Maybe we’ll give you two a few days tocelebratebefore we all hang out.”
Chapter 15
Cameron
Waking up in her childhood bedroom always made Cameron nostalgic. She had many fond memories from her childhood in that room. The walls and shelves were adorned with medals and trophies from her years in pageants. Framed photos of memories a lifetime ago made Cameron smile as she studied each one of them. Cameron wanted to go back and tell the young blonde in the photos that things were going to work out even better than she hoped. That not only would she get into her top school, but that she’d become a mother and a doctor.
And fall in love with her best friend.
A part of Cameron still couldn’t believe that she wasfinallyable to admit her feelings for Melanie. For years she felt trapped, unable to say anything about the feelings that lurked dangerously close to the surface. They were like a shark just waiting for the opportunity to crest above the waves and pull her down under.
But now, Cameron no longer had to hide those feelings. Not to her kids, her friends, or, most importantly, Melanie.
Mel.
God, Cameron was down bad for her in ways she’d never expected. She’d spent years being resigned to the fact she would never be able to act on her feelings for Melanie. So instead, Cameron had stuffed them as far down as she could and focused instead on being Melanie’s best friend.
There was no better friend than Melanie Wright. She had been by Cameron’s side for both of her babies’ births; held her hand at her father’s funeral. When Cameron first came home from the hospital with Jonah, it had been Melanie that had stayed over every night the first two weeks to help her get into a routine. Melanie loved Cameron’s kids as if they were her own, and maybe that was what kept pushing Cameron to fall in love with her more.
Watching Melanie with her kids felt like the most natural thing in the world. Sure, Melanie was great with babies. It was her job, after all. But nothing prepared Cameron for watching her kids grow up with Melanie. Jonah and Dylan adored their Aunt Mel and the three of them had a connection that went beyond Melanie being their surrogate aunt. In fact, Jonah had even asked Melanie to adopt them when he was only five years old.
