Page 34 of Holding On

“Why didn’t you come to us or contact our dad?” Liam presses.

She shakes her head. “It wasn’t that easy. He was never on my birth certificate, and I didn’t know where you lived. I was just a kid.”

A sigh escapes me. She just turned twenty-one the other month, so to me, she’s still a kid. “When did you find out where we were?”

“About a year and a half ago I had saved up enough to hire a private investigator to find your dad and see if I really did have siblings out there. I’ve always thought it would be neat to have a brother or a sister.”

“Neat … and that's why you moved to Forrest Falls,” I say softly as she nods.

“Yeah, I was curious what you were all like, but it all became too hard and too much. I kept telling myself that next week I’ll speak up. Or tomorrow I’ll say something to one of you. But I never found the courage.” She looks ashamed but she has no reason to be. She’s been alone for almost a decade. Cami is strong and resilient—but she no longer needs to face life alone.

Liam hums. “Have you met our father?”

She softly shakes her head again. “No, that’s one interaction I’ve been able to avoid. Word on the street is he only likes the coffee from The Forrest Falls Diner,” she adds with a tight smile.

“He is a creature of habit, that’s for sure,” Liam chimes in but keeps his face as neutral as possible.

I need to know everything—and what she is hoping for here. “What was your goal in coming to Forrest Falls, Cami?” I ask, trying not to sound like an asshole. It’s public knowledge that I’m a billionaire and not a huge secret around here that the entire Callahan family is more than financially secure.

One eyebrow slightly raises and she rears her head back just enough. Did I insult her by asking that?

She shakes her head softly. “I know this looks suspicious because I didn’t tell you right away, but I don’t want anything from anyone. I just wanted to meet you guys and see … what you were like. For all I knew, you’d all be assholes, and I would drive out of town glad I dodged the bullet of having to deal with a family like that.”

Liam nods. “But you haven’t left town.”

“Even though some of us are clearly assholes.” I tilt my head to Liam and Cami laughs as I break the tension.

“I mean, he’s not wrong. I can be, and I’m trying really hard to process all of this, but I keep coming up with more questions than answers.”

“Like what?”

“Like why didn’t our dad know about you? Where have you been all this time? Who took care of you? Did anyone take care of you? Were you hurt in those homes? Why were you alone, and how the fuck did you end up in foster care? Have you been okay? Have you been safe?”

“I’m sorry, I don’t have all of those answers, but I can say I’m okay now.” She reaches out and squeezes his hand before quickly snatching her hand back.

“No, sweetheart, I’m sorry. I’m so fucking sorry we failed you. I promise if we knew about you, we never would have allowed you to be all on your own.” Liam cringes at his own words.

“He’s right. We are a lot of things—opinionated, overbearing at times, and even occasional assholes, but we would never turn our back on our family,” I say as my jaw clenches tightly.

“You guys didn’t know. I mean, I barely knew anything, so you didn’t fail me. You didn’t have the chance to fail me. And I’ve learned that family can be a choice, it’s not an automatic thing just because of some shared DNA.” She’s graciously giving us an out here.

“Yeah, well, now we have a choice because that was before and this is now,” I say as another gust of wind howls through the night and Cherry sways a bit. “And this,” I swirl my hand in the air, “isn’t going to work. We have a lot of things to figure out, but we can start with the basics. Pack what you need, but you aren’t freezing without heat on my watch.”

She looks around her RV in confusion. “Where am I going?”

“That’s up to you, Cami. I’ll give you the option of either putting you up in a hotel room or you can come stay in one of my guest rooms. I’m only in town a few more days this week, and then I’ll be back on Christmas Eve, but you’re welcome to stay.”

She eyes me, unfiltered suspicion at my offer. “For how long?”

I can understand that she’s used to short term things, but I’m not just inviting her home for a warm place for her to sleep. Liam and I are inviting her into our family, but she doesn’t get that yet. She doesn’t understand what it means to be a part of The Cavalry, but she will.

I softly shake my head. “For as long as you need to, Cami. You’re not alone anymore.”

Liam adds, “And I’m so sorry you have been. But if you’ll have us, I promise The Cavalry always shows up for its own, without question or hesitation.”

She starts to dismiss Liam’s statement, but he cuts her off before she can voice an argument. “Don’t deny it, Cami. I’m extremely thorough in my research, and I may have already confirmed the shared DNA,” Liam confesses. It’s true, he confirmed that less than twelve hours after he found out her mother’s work history and the fact that she was a traveling nurse working in Forrest Falls prior to the summer when Dad’s affairs exploded in our lives.

And there are her eyes.