Piper snorted. “I’ve been in the front row for five years, Cam.”
“Right. But… they can learn. They can change. They’re not doing it because they don’t care. They’re doing it because they don’t think they’ll be good at the love thing.”
Piper studied him. “You think that’s what’s going on with Whitney?”
He nodded, realizing it was true. “She’s not here because she doesn’t know what to do here. She doesn’t know how this works. She’s in Appleby because she does understand all of that. She can do that right.”
Piper nodded. “Doing things right is a big thing with her.”
“It is.”
“But, ironically, she’s doing it wrong.”
He nodded. “I know.” But he felt the bitterness and hurt fading as he understood what he was explaining to Piper. “She’s still figuring out the unconditional thing. It’s only been a couple weeks. She’ll get there.”
“Only been a couple of weeks of what?” Piper asked.
“Of being loved like that,” Cam said. “Didi’s the only one who’s ever done it. And I think the unconditional part just kind of takes time to learn and understand.”
Could he give her time? Could he wait while she figured out that when he said “no matter what” he meant it?
Yes. For sure.
“That’s what’s going on with Ollie too?” Piper asked, her eyes finding Ollie across the room.
“I think Ollie is very used to doing things and trusting the rest of us to tell him when he’s off track.”
She nodded.
“And he’s especially used to you telling him when he’s off track,” Cam said.
Piper looked up at him.
He nodded. “Yeah. I think you need to talk to him. Tell him how he’s screwing this up with you.”
She pulled in a deep breath and then looked back at Ollie, blowing it out. “Huh.”
Cam grinned.
The door to the waiting room opened and he turned, hoping it was the doctor.
But it wasn’t.
It was Whitney.
He actually felt a little light-headed as relief coursed through him.
He felt Piper’s hand on his back. “Well, I’ll be damned. Maybe they can learn how to do this.”
He huffed out a laugh and then headed straight for Whitney.
Her eyes were wide and she was chewing on her bottom lip.
“Hi,” she said as he came to stand in front of her.
“Hi.”
She gave him a wobbly smile. “I knew better than to bring food, and especially dessert. And I thought liquor was probably not the right call this time. So…” She shrugged. “I’m empty-handed here.”
He reached out and pulled her into his arms, hugging her close, and burying his face in her neck, breathing in her scent.
She wrapped her arms around him, holding him. “I could have brought—”
“Shh,” he said against her ear. “This is all I need.”
“But—”
“Nope,” he interrupted again. “Just this. You. Here. With me.”
Her arms tightened around him and they just stood, holding each other like that. And it really was exactly what he needed.
Long moments later—two minutes, thirty, a week, he didn’t know—the door opened again.
This time it was the doctor.
Cam unwrapped himself from Whitney as everyone stood and came to cluster in the middle of the room to hear the news. He kept her tucked tightly against his side though. He’d been getting okay with her not coming but now that she was here, he wasn’t sure he was going to be able to let her go.
Aiden and Zoe hugged each other. Dax had Jane tucked securely under his arm. Grant stood behind Josie with his arms wrapped around her. Didi and Henry stood holding hands. Even Piper and Ollie were standing together. He had a hand on the back of her neck and she was leaning into him slightly. Cam’s dad, Steve, stood at the front of the group.
The doctor focused on him. “It went well,” he said.
The room let out a collective sigh. Cam felt his knees actually weaken. Whitney’s arm tightened around him as if she sensed that.
“We got all the blockages taken care of,” the doctor went on. “Her vitals were strong throughout and are strong now. It will be another hour or so until she’s awake. She’ll be in the ICU for a day or two. She will need cardiac rehab after she goes home. But I expect she’ll do well with all of it.”
A tear slipped down Steve’s face as he let out a breath and extended his hand to the surgeon. “Thank you so much.”
“Delivering good news is my favorite thing to do.” The doctor smiled at them all. “She clearly has a wonderful support system here. But, let’s limit the visitors to just a couple tonight.”
He answered a couple of questions and then left them.
Steve turned to face everyone. “Thank you all so much for being here.”
They all nodded. There was nowhere else any of them would have been.
“I’m going to go in and see her when she’s awake,” he said. “But maybe the rest of you should head home for now. You can come back later when she’s a little stronger.”
“But I want to see Mom,” Henry protested. He looked scared.
Cam felt his chest tighten. The last time someone Henry loved had gone to the hospital, she hadn’t come home.
“Oh, you know what Whitney did for me when I was in the hospital?” Didi asked him.
He looked up at her. “You were in the hospital?”
“Oh sure, a few times,” Didi told him, waving her hand as if it was no big deal.
Cam smiled. That was perfect. She was reassuring Henry by letting him know that people did come out of the hospital.
“I had my tonsils out,” Didi said. “And my appendix out. And three babies. And, the time I was going to tell you about with Whitney, I had a broken leg that needed surgery to put it back together.”
“What?” Henry asked.
“Yep. They put metal pins and screws into my bones.”
Henry’s eyes were wide. “No way.”
“Seriously. I can show you the x-rays.”
“Yes,” Henry said emphatically. “For sure.”
Everyone laughed.
“Anyway,” Didi went on. “When I was in the hospital that
