Piper was clearly off-balance. He attributed this to the storm, but also to him. This wasn’t ego talking; it was fact. Because he was just as off-balance.
Her name suited her. She was different. She was a quick thinker, fiercely protective of those she cared about, and—his personal favorite—also a smart-ass. “Tell me about the diabetes.”
“You really didn’t know?” Her censure was clear. She didn’t approve of him being distant enough to not know.
He didn’t approve either.
“My doing,” Emmitt said. “He lives and works on the other side of the country. I didn’t want to worry him.”
“Dad. This is something we should be worried about.”
Emmitt shook his head. “You had enough on your plate, son. With Rowan, and then getting called out to God knows where this past month. I didn’t want you out there distracted.”
Yeah, there’d been a lot going on, but this was something he should have known, no matter what, and he had to work at banking his frustration. “We can talk about it later.”
“Only if it involves alcohol.”
“No alcohol,” Piper said.
Cam nearly laughed at his dad’s expression. “You know,” the guy said, “you two are a pair of fun-suckers.”
Piper packed up her things and bent to give his dad a kiss on the cheek. “See you tomorrow.”
Emmitt grumbled, but he hugged her. “Thanks, cutie.”
Cam followed her to the door, intending to walk her out to make sure she got home safely, but she stopped him with a hand to his chest. “I’m good.”
“It’s a mess out there.”
“Nothing I haven’t dealt with before. Go deal with your family stuff.”
Yeah, she was definitely annoyed that he hadn’t known about his dad’s medical condition. “We’re on the same side in this,” he said, wanting that to be clear.
“Then take care of him. And don’t let him walk all over you.”
Cam had to laugh. “No one walks all over me.”
“Hate to break it to you, but your dad just did.”
Shit. True story, born from not knowing each other that well, something they were working on fixing. Another truth—he liked how Piper wasn’t intimidated by him in the least, and he mentally added bossy and sassy to her list of positive attributes. “His name should be Emmitt Stubborn-Do-Everything-on-My-Own Hayes.”
She snorted in agreement, and he liked that too, but he wanted to make sure she understood something about him. “Listen,” he said. “I try to call or text him daily. I specifically ask him what’s happening and how he’s doing. He’s damn good at evading when he wants to be. But he should’ve told me.”
“Hell, yeah,” she agreed. “He should have.” She cocked her head. “You’re hurt because he didn’t tell you.”
Hurt? He’d long ago closed himself off to that particular emotion. To all of them.
“I shouldn’t have broken it to you like that,” she said with genuine regret. “It hadn’t occurred to me that you wouldn’t know.”
“Apparently, I don’t know a whole hell of a lot.”
“You two aren’t close.”
“Not geographically, no. I thought we were working on emotionally.” He shook his head. “Is he going to be okay?”
“He should be. Assuming he follows the plan regarding exercise and diet.”
“Shit,” he muttered, knowing exactly how stubborn his dad could be, which was a big part of how his family had ended up broken in the first place. His parents’ divorce had been . . . tough, on everyone. But since Cam’s mom hadn’t been good at staying on her meds, he’d told the judge that he wanted to stay with her. Which was how he’d ended up on the East Coast with his bipolar mom, and his brother, Rowan, had ended up on the West Coast with their dad. There hadn’t been much interaction between the exes, at least not until Cam had been old enough to travel back and forth on his own.
And at the thought of Rowan, a sharp pain went straight through his chest and gripped his heart, making breathing all but impossible. A visceral reminder that he hadn’t managed to shut off his emotions at all.
“Hey,” Piper said softly, putting a hand on his arm. “You okay?”
Hell, no. His guard was lowered. Actually, it was completely down. And he couldn’t remember the last time that had happened outside of his unit. He met her gaze and decided he was just tired enough not to fight it. “If I say no, are we going to play doctor?”
She blinked. Paused. “You’re . . . messing with me again.”
“Am I?”
Still staring at him, she called back to the kitchen, “Emmitt? I’m leaving. Remember, I’ve got two generators and I’m right next door. Call or text me if you need anything.”
“How about me?” Cam asked, having no idea what he thought he was doing, other than being incredibly stupid. Didn’t stop him though. “What if I need anything?”
She bit her lower lip, like she was torn between panic and excitement at the thought of him needing something from her. “You’re a big boy,” she finally said. “You seem like you can handle yourself.”
“Yes, but don’t forget, I’m on your list of things to do now.”
That wrenched a laugh from her, and the air crackled with the storm—or maybe it was the tension between the two of them. Tension he hadn’t seen coming and now wanted to chase.
“I’m getting rid of that list,” she finally said.
He smiled. “That’s a big fib.”
“You don’t know me.”
“I know you break eye contact when you’re saying something that even you don’t buy. But if you don’t want to talk about your to-do list, then let’s talk about your secret secret bucket list. And that list of rules.” He leaned in a little. “It’s a naughty list, right? Tell me it’s naughty. Tell me slowly and in great detail.”
She gave him a shove, but not before he saw her shiver, as if she liked the idea. Then, shaking her head, no doubt at the both of them, she reached for the door before pausing to glance back. “Take care of him?”
He was surprised by her genuine tone, though he shouldn’t have been. She clearly truly cared about his dad, and that above anything else she could have said or done told him all he needed to know about her. “Copy that.”
She held his gaze for a beat and then she was gone, vanishing into the storm, which seemed to have doubled upon itself in the past few minutes. Crazy winds slammed sheets of rain against the roof and walls, making the house shudder.
Cam turned to the empty doorway leading to the kitchen. “You can stop eavesdropping and come out now.”
Emmitt poked his head out, looking only mildly sheepish. “Just making sure you two didn’t conspire against me.”
“You deserve no less. Stay inside. I’m going after her.”
“Is that because you’re special forces Coast Guard, Deployable Operations Group, aka DOG—”
“Dad, I told you to stop googling that shit. I’m a Reservist now, but even if I wasn’t, it’s not something any of us would say. Plus, it’s Deployable Special Forces these days, so DSF, not DOG.”