Love At Last (Lily's Story, Book 3) (21 page)

I nodded. “Okay.”

She left a moment later and I sank onto the couch, my mind in a whirl. Trying to stay focused on the issue at hand, I considered my options and knew I had to make two decisions. One, where to live—here or in Las Vegas. And two, should I continue renting, or should I buy a place? The idea of buying had great appeal. If I bought a house, what happened this afternoon wouldn’t happen again—no one could suddenly tell me I had to move. Now that I was no longer hiding from Trevor, I could purchase a home for Natalie and myself, and know that I could stay there as long as I wanted.
 

I smiled as the idea of buying a place grew on me. If I stuck to a budget, I could use the money I’d kept in the bank and keep my mortgage extremely low. True, I would deplete my cash reserves, but buying some security for Natalie and myself would be a good investment.

The idea of buying firmly in my mind, I started to think about where to buy. I opened my laptop and went online, pulling up a website that listed homes for sale, then did a search for houses in Las Vegas. There were many that I felt I could afford, and I browsed the options until I heard Natalie waking up.
 

By evening, I was no closer to deciding where to live than I’d been when Mary had first stopped by that afternoon, and when someone knocked on the door, I was glad to have the interruption. I peered through the peephole and smiled when I saw Marcus standing on my porch.

“Hi,” I said when I opened the door. “I’m glad you stopped by.”

“Hey, Lily.” He held out the key.

I took it from him. “Do you want to come in?”

He seemed uncomfortable, but finally nodded.

We sat on opposite ends of the couch, and Natalie played on a blanket on the floor.

“How was your trip?” he asked.

“It was good.” I thought about the intense conversation I’d had with my sisters-in-law. “I’m glad I went.”

“That’s good.”
 

He seemed quieter than usual and I wondered what was up. “I have some news,” I said, thinking about my house hunt.

His eyebrows pulled together, as if he was upset. “Oh yeah?”

Did he somehow know that I was going to have to move? His mother was friends with Mary, so it was possible. But why would that be upsetting? Trish wouldn’t know I was thinking about moving to Vegas. “Yeah. Mary, my landlady, stopped by earlier. Her son and his family need to move in here, so I have to be out by the end of September.”

Marcus looked surprised. “Oh.”

Evidently he didn’t know.

“What are you going to do?” he asked.

I smiled. “I decided that I don’t want to rent anymore, so I’m going to buy a place.”

He seemed to relax. “That’s exciting. Do you know what area you want to focus on?”

I bit my lip. “That’s what I’m trying to decide.” I gazed at him as I spoke, curious to see his reaction. “Trevor’s family really wants me to move down to Las Vegas so that Natalie can be with family.”

His brow creased for a moment, then his expression smoothed out. “What do
you
want?”

I want to stay here with you
, I thought. “I don’t know,” I said instead.

“That’s a big decision.”

Disappointed he hadn’t said something to encourage me to stay, I nodded. “I’m going to have to decide soon. I only have five weeks until I have to be out of here.”

“If you decide to stay in the area,” he said. “I know a realtor who can help you find a place.”

Was that his subtle way of telling me he wanted me to stay? I desperately hoped so, and realized I’d already made my decision. I couldn’t leave him, not as long as there was any hope of a future together. “Oh. Well, why don’t you give me his number and I’ll see what’s available around here.” I smiled. “Might as well start with a place I’m familiar with.”

He seemed to brighten. “Great.”

We were quiet for a moment and I suddenly remembered the flowers. “Hey, Marcus?”

“Yeah?”

“I was wondering about the flowers in the kitchen.”

His earlier agitation returned. “They were delivered when I was here feeding Greta, so I put them in the kitchen for you. I hope that’s okay.”

That made sense. “Yes, that’s fine. Thanks.”

His brow creased again. “Well, I’d better get going. I’ll get my friend’s number for you.” He stood and walked toward the door.

I followed him, not knowing what to do to get him to stay longer. “Thanks again for taking care of Greta.” I laughed. “I don’t have any plans to go anywhere now, so I shouldn’t have to ask you again.”

He smiled. “It’s no problem.” He opened the door, then turned to me. “Maybe the place you get will be close to where I live, then if you need me to watch her it will be easier.”

I nodded, not sure what to make of his comment. I watched him get into his car, then drive away, and wondered what to make of the mixed messages I seemed to be getting from him.

As I fed Natalie some baby food for dinner, I glanced at the flowers Cameron had sent and thought about Marcus’s strange reaction to them. He’d seemed a little unsettled when he’d told me about them being delivered, and I wondered if he’d read the card, or if his mother had told him about me meeting Cameron on the cruise. But I didn’t understand why my dating someone would bother him. He’d made it clear enough that we were only friends. Not only that,
he
was dating Chelsea.

I shook my head, confused by his behavior, then finished feeding Natalie.

The next day Marcus texted me the name and phone number of the realtor he knew, and I immediately called him.

“I’d like a place with two to three bedrooms, and two bathrooms would be nice,” I said.

“I’m sure I can find lots of places to show you,” Russell said. “Let me look through the listings and I’ll get back to you.”

After I ended the call, I smiled, excited now to move forward with this new plan. Later that day, Russell called me back, and we scheduled time to look at several houses the next day, Saturday. A few minutes later my phone rang again, and I wondered if he needed to change the appointment. I looked at the caller ID and didn’t recognize the number.

“Hello?”

“Hey, Lily,” a male voice I didn’t recognize said.

“Who is this?”

He laughed. “It’s Cameron.”

“Oh! Hi, Cameron.” I smiled, my spirits rising. Here was a man who was really interested in me—as more than a friend.

“I can’t believe you’ve forgotten me so quickly. And after I sent flowers too.” He paused. “You did get the flowers, didn’t you?”

“Yes, and they’re beautiful.” I paused, wondering again how he’d gotten my address, and knowing there wasn’t a subtle way to ask. “How did you know where to send them?”

“I asked Alyssa.” He hesitated. “I just realized that you might think I’m some sort of stalker. Honestly, I’m not.”

I trusted Alyssa’s judgement. “I don’t think Alyssa would have given you my address if she had any worry about you being like that.”

“Good. I’m glad we cleared that up.”

“Well anyway,” I said, “It’s been a crazy few days.”

“What’s going on?”

I told him about having to move and that I was going to look at houses the next day.

“Do you want some company?”

“Really? You’d come all the way here to help me look?”

“Sure. Why not?”

“I’d love it,” I said, the idea making me happy. “I could use a second opinion.”

“Great. What time should I come?”

“We’re supposed to start at ten in the morning.”

He laughed. “No sleeping in for me.”

I smiled into the phone. “Hey, it was your idea to come.”

“Yes, and I’m willing to give up a little sleep to spend time with you.”

“Good.” I gave him my address and we hung up a moment later. When I went to bed that night, I was excited not only to house hunt, but to have Cameron there with me. As much as I wanted Marcus to be in my life, he just didn’t seem interested, and I didn’t know how to change that. In the meantime, I would spend time with Cameron. Maybe
he
was the one I should be focusing on. Ty and Alyssa thought he was a great guy, and from all accounts, they were right. I’d made the mistake of not listening to Alyssa before, and I didn’t want to make the same mistake twice.

Chapter Twenty-Two

“Good morning, beautiful,” Cameron said as I let him into my house.

“Good morning.” My smile widened as my eyes met his, and I felt my body react to his presence, the memory of the few kisses we shared filling me with desire.

“It’s great to see you,” he said.

“I’m glad you suggested coming down.” I wondered if he would kiss me before the day was through. “It will be fun to have you along on my house hunt. I can use a second opinion.”

“I’m here to help.”

I handed him a stack of papers. “Russell sent me the listings for the houses we’re going to look at.” I tapped the one on top. “We’re supposed to meet him at this place first.”

He hefted the small stack of papers. “Wow, there’s a lot here.”

“I don’t have a lot of time to find a place, so I have to get busy.”

“Hopefully they don’t all start looking alike.”

I frowned. “I know.” I turned to Natalie, who was watching us from her swing. “Let me just grab Natalie and we’ll get going.”

“Okay.”

A few minutes later we were driving to the first place, using the GPS on my phone to guide us. We pulled up to the house a short time later. Russell showed us around, but the place didn’t feel like home to me. We went to several more places, but nothing jumped out at me. Either there wasn’t enough of a yard for Greta, or the bedrooms were too small, or the location didn’t feel safe.

I expressed my concerns to Russell.

“Have you considered getting a fixer?” he asked. “That way you get more for your money, the location you want, and the space you need. But you’ll have to put some work into it.”

I turned to Cameron.

“Don’t look at me,” he said, grimacing. “I’m no Mr. Fix-It.”

“I can do some basic stuff, like paint,” I said, turning back to Russell. “But beyond that, I don’t know if I can afford to hire someone.”

“Think about it,” Russell said. “And if you want, I can take you to look at some places that might fit your needs better. At least they would have the potential of fitting your needs better.”

“Okay.”

Cameron, Natalie, and I headed back to my house, with me feeling discouraged. “I really thought I’d find something promising today,” I said.

“You just barely started looking. I’m sure you’ll find something.”

“It’s just that I don’t have a lot of time. Mary’s son needs to move in by October first, so I have to be moved in to a new place by then.” My stomach knotted up as the stress of being homeless came to mind. “I have to find a place for Natalie’s sake.”

“What’s the worse that can happen if you don’t find a place?” Cameron asked as we pulled into my driveway. “You have to live in a hotel for a few weeks? Put your stuff in storage?”

I felt the tension seeping away. “You’re right. We’ll be okay.” I turned off the car and smiled at him. “Thanks for keeping a level head.”

He grinned. “It’s easy when I’m not the one who has to move.”

We went inside, and I fed Natalie some baby food.

“She looks like she’s ready for a nap,” Cameron said.

I looked at him and nodded, realizing that he’d never held her the whole time we’d been house-hunting. I couldn’t fault him for that—not everyone was like Marcus. I frowned at the thought, but quickly pushed a smile onto my face and laughed. “I know how she feels. This house-hunting is exhausting.” I turned back to Natalie, who was rubbing her eyes, and finished feeding her the jar of baby food.

A moment later Cameron said, “I should probably head back to Sacramento.”

I set the empty jar of baby food on the counter and turned to him. “Already?”

He smiled. “I’ve really enjoyed spending the morning with you, Lily, but I have some other commitments this afternoon.”

I felt my heart sink.
He’s bored with me already, or he has another date.
Both thoughts added to the discouragement I was already feeling. I nodded. “Sure. Okay.”
 

He moved to stand close to me, then put his arms around me. “When can we get together again?” he murmured in my hair.

I smiled, thinking maybe he wasn’t bored with me after all. “My schedule is wide open.”

He pulled back and looked at me. “What about next Saturday?”

I nodded, feeling better about him. “Yes. Let’s plan on that.”

He grinned. “Great. I’ll come down next Saturday morning. You know this area better than I do. Do you want to see if you can think of some things to do?”

“Besides house hunting?”

He frowned. “Yeah. There is that.”

“There’s a good chance I’ll still be looking next Saturday. I doubt I’ll be lucky enough to find something this week.”

“Well, if that’s what you need to do, then that’s what we’ll do.”

“Are you sure?”

He nodded. “I admit, it’s not my favorite activity, but I’m here for you, Lily.”

His words echoed what Marcus had been telling me, and for a moment I paused, thinking of the man who I
really
wanted to be with. Then I focused back on the man who was standing in front of me. “I appreciate that. But I can manage to house hunt on my own. I’d rather reserve our time for something that we would both enjoy.”

“Okay. We can play it by ear then. We’ll see where your house hunt stands at the end of the week.”

“Sounds fair.”

He smiled and pulled me against him.

The heat of his body wrapped around me and I felt my heart rate escalate, and again wondered if he would kiss me before he left. But then Marcus’s face filled my mind and I thought about kissing him. Was Cameron just a stand-in?

Natalie started fussing and Cameron released me. I turned back to my baby girl and wiped her face, then lifted her from her high chair.

“Well, I’ll call you later in the week to see how things are going,” Cameron said.

I nodded, knowing he wasn’t going to make the first move to kiss me, and not certain I wanted to kiss him just then. Conflicting feelings washed over me—if it was really Marcus I wanted, it wouldn’t be fair to Cameron for me to lead him on. But if Marcus had no interest in that kind of relationship with me, I didn’t want to lose Cameron.