The Stubborn Suitor, Book 3 (The Stubborn Suitor #3)(2)
He would win the heart of Cami Hendricks.
2
Cami
It had been a rough weekend for Cami. In truth, it had been a rough few months for Cami, but this particular weekend had been particularly hard. Since her ex-husband had petitioned for primary and then full custody of their three-year-old-daughter Madison, Cami’s life had been in upheaval.
The fact was, Ken wasn’t even capable of taking care of Madison for two weekends a month, but now that he was engaged again, he seemed to have it in his head that he needed a trophy child to go with his new trophy wife. And, although Ken was a completely unfit parent, he had the money and resources to get what he wanted, which is why Cami was worried.
To make matters worse, last time Cami had shown up to pick her daughter up from Ken’s house, she had been clinging to Ken’s fiancée Natalie, not wanting to go home with Cami. It had been the first time Madison had ever behaved in such a manner and it broke Cami’s heart.
When Natalie had invited Cami in under the pretense of needing to finish packing Madison’s bag, Cami had realized exactly why her daughter wanted to stay with her father. Natalie and Ken had spent top dollar to build Madison a nursery that looked like something out of a Disney movie.
Of course, at that moment, it hurt to see Ken and Natalie giving Madison all of the things that Cami herself would never be able to afford. But Cami had quickly reminded herself that Ken and Natalie would never be able to give Madison the things she really needed—the things Cami was able to provide. Cami was able to give her daughter the love, support, and stability that Madison couldn’t get from them, no matter how many toys they could buy her. Ken was immature and irresponsible and—Cami didn’t care how much Ken’ lawyer argued the opposite—her ex-husband was a roaring alcoholic.
That didn’t mean that Cami was happy with letting her daughter go over there and get spoiled. She knew Madison wasn’t old enough to think about what was really important in parents. And so Cami had spent the weekend worrying.
Her best friend Maggie was busy with a mysterious new relationship, and Cami didn’t want to burden her mom any more by unloading on her. Her mother had already sold some of Cami’s grandmother’s precious jewelry to help pay for a lawyer. Cami spent the weekend lounging around and feeling sorry for herself, burying her sorrows in long bubble baths, counting down the hours until she could finally pick up her daughter.
Before dropping Madison off at Ken’s house, Cami had promised her daughter that, after picking her up on Sunday, they would go do something fun together. Cami had to admit that she was probably looking forward to spending a fun night with her daughter as much as Madison was.
When it was finally time to head across town, Cami was so excited that she practically skipped to her car with a big smile on her face. The smile quickly fell, however, when she went to start her car, and it would barely turn over. She spent a few minutes trying again and again, each time praying frantically for it to work, before finally dropping her head to the steering wheel.
“Dammit!” she said, trying not to cry. “Could things get any worse?”
Because, of course, this would happen right at the moment when she was supposed to go pick up her daughter. Now, no matter what she did, she would be late. Not only would that disappoint Madison, it would also be giving Ken and Natalie even more “proof” that she was unfit to care for Madison. God knows how they would twist it to their advantage in court. They could say she was flakey and unreliable, or they could claim that she was so poor that she couldn’t even afford a working car.
She could call her mom, who would come pick her up and take her to Ken’s place, but it would take her mom twenty minutes to get here at least, so she’d still be late in picking up her daughter.
Cami was debating her options and trying not to panic when, out of the corner of her eye, she saw another car pull up in her driveway next to hers. She turned to that side and immediately recognized the sleek, black BMW.
“Why did I have to question whether or not things could get worse?” she said out loud, cursing herself, because things definitely had just gotten out of control.
With one last surge of hope, Cami tried to start her car again, praying that it would work and she could drive away before Drew had a chance to get out and try to talk to her.
But, as her luck would have it, her car just made a pathetic puttering sound and shut down again. Cami closed her eyes and once more tried to bury her head in her steering wheel.
She hadn’t talked to Drew since the last time they’d slept together, nearly two weeks prior. Before she awoke he’d already gone, leaving her with a vague, ambiguous note. They’d slept together three times now, and each time he’d fled before the crack of dawn. The third strike was it for Cami. She realized that she wasn’t a priority for him and, with everything else going on, didn’t really want to deal with his games.
He’d called several times the first week, but she hadn’t answered or called him back. He’d even shown up at the house once, and she’d refused to open the door. She’d told herself it was because Madison was home and awake and she never let the men she dated around her daughter. But the truth was, if she faced him, it would be near impossible to keep her resolve. And so she’d ignored him. He’d obviously gotten the message as, after the first week, he’d left her alone.