Down London Road

Hotel across the road from us as we passed it.
    ‘I missed this place. Edinburgh wasn’t even my city and I missed it. I missed everything here.’
    ‘I can’t imagine anywhere more different from Scotland than Arizona.’
    ‘Yeah. Ain’t that the truth.’
    ‘You were happy, though?’
    I felt his eyes return to my face as we dodged the busyfoot traffic. As soon as we were side by side again he began to speak. ‘When I had Yvonne and Olivia, aye, I was happy. But there wasn’t a day that I didn’t think about you, Cole and Fiona. I have two regrets in life, Jo. One is missing out on the first thirteen years of Olivia’s life, and the second is not being there for you when you needed me. Especially now that I know what you’ve been going through.’
    ‘Did Cam tell you everything, then?’
    ‘He told me about Fiona. How hard you’ve had to work. He told me you’ve raised Cole and that he’s a good kid. Things have been tough, but I’m glad you’ve found someone who cares about you, baby girl.’
    Remembering my earlier freak-out at Cam, I felt another rainfall of guilt begin to drop on my head. I had to make it up to him.
    ‘I would like to see Fiona.’
    ‘I don’t know if that’s a good idea.’
    ‘I need to see for myself. She was never the easiest person, but she was my friend.’
    I sighed, wondering what kind of drama Mick’s appearance would kick off in my tiny flat. However, the man had flown thousands of miles to see us. I couldn’t say no. ‘All right.’
    ‘And I’d like to meet Cole.’
    ‘Okay.’
    ‘I don’t how long we’re going to be here, but I’d like to spend as much time as possible with you.’
    I threw him a wry but worried grin. ‘That shouldn’t be a problem, since I quit my job today.’
    Curled up in Cam’s lap on his couch, I stared at his television in silence.
    Uncle Mick and Olivia had left as soon as we returned to Cam’s, and not long after that Cole had arrived home and I’d had to explain everything to him.
    Cam had insisted we have dinner with him and when I’d got up to leave so Cole could shower and do his homework, Cam had insisted even harder that we stay. Since I still wasn’t happy leaving Cole alone in the flat with Mum for any length of time, I’d agreed to stay as long as Cole took his shower at Cam’s.
    ‘You’ve hardly said a word.’ Cam suddenly spoke up, his fingers trailing a lazy caress down my arm. ‘Earlier you said you were happy I contacted them. Are you still happy?’
    ‘Aye,’ I assured him. ‘I feel a kind of peace knowing that he’s okay. And Olivia seems nice.’ I twisted my neck to look into his eyes. ‘Thank you.’
    He shrugged and looked back at the telly. ‘I just want to make you happy.’
    My stomach rolled out another somersault. ‘You do.’
    ‘Really? The earlier drama was definitely just an emotional … female … thing … ?’
    I wanted to laugh, but in the end the crap I’d pulled out in the hall wasn’t funny. ‘I’m sorry for doing that. It wasn’t nice. I was pissed off at Meikle and at myself and I twisted it all in my head so I could blame someone else. Someone more accessible to my rage.’
    Cam grunted. ‘So naturally that someone is me?’
    I stroked his chest affectionately. ‘Sorry.’
    He looked down at me carefully. ‘Would this be a bad time to tell you I got a job?’
    Taken aback, I pushed up off of him. ‘In graphic design?’
    ‘Yeah.’
    Delight for him surged through me and I found myself grinning like an idiot. ‘Where?’
    ‘Here. I got my old job back. Their restructuring hasn’t gone over well and they realized they’d left themselves a man short. They can’t handle the workload without another designer. My boss put in a good word for me.’ He shrugged. ‘It’s a gamble to go back with them, but it pays well and I’d be doing what I love to do.’
    I leaned into him, placing a soft kiss on his mouth. ‘Cam, I’m so pleased for you. When do you go back?’
    ‘Monday.’ His arm tightened around me. ‘Su’s unhappy with me for not giving two weeks’ notice, but I can’t risk losing this offer.’
    ‘Su will manage. I’ll probably take on more shifts.’ My mouth turned down at the thought of working more backshifts.
    ‘You know, if you took Braden up on his offer this wouldn’t even be a problem.’
    ‘I said no. I’ll find something. Don’t worry.’
    He shifted under me, tensing. ‘You’re so bloody stubborn. You’re always all