Page 17 of A Simple Regret

Sounds good.

I set my phone on the console as Maren frees Theo from his seat. “Cam!” he hollers, reaching out his hand.

Maren quickly replies, “No, Theo, Camden’s going to stay out here and wait for me. We have to both get to work.”

“No, Cam come too,” he insists.

My eyes are wide, my heart rattling painfully in my chest, and when I see tears fill his little blue eyes, I crack. Ripping off my seat belt, I jump out of my truck and meet him around at the front.

Theo instantly launches into my arms and smiles from ear to ear. I walk to the front entrance, where we wait to be let in by staff. “Hi, Theo,” Madison greets. She’s a young woman, a few years younger than me, and I’ve worked on her car a time or two at the shop.

“Cam!”

Madison smiles warmly. “You brought a friend with you today.”

He nods emphatically. Theo turns to me and grins. “Fend.”

My chest feels like there’s a dozen galloping horses in there, but my smile is easy as I give him a nod and agree, “Friend.”

Maren goes to the counter and writes on the sheet of paper. “It’ll probably be my dad who picks him up today.”

“Papa!” Theo proclaims as he places both mitten-covered hands on my cheeks and gets practically nose to nose. “You come.”

“Sorry, buddy. I’ll be at work.”

“No work,” he insists, resting his head on my shoulder.

I glance at Maren, who’s standing there completely shocked, her pretty little mouth catching flies.

“Oh, that’s so cute,” Madison says.

Maren clears her throat and steps forward, extending her arms to Theo. “It’s time for Miss Maddie to take you to your classroom. I bet Bryton is there, waiting to play.”

That seems to catch his attention, and he’s suddenly shimmying down my body. “Pway!”

Once his feet are safely on the ground, I take a step back. Maren drops to her knees on the floor and helps Theo out of his coat. She takes off his snow boots, gloves, and hat, and walks over to the cubbies and hooks that extend along the side wall. He helps her hang everything up in his little area before turning and darting toward Miss Maddie.

“Excuse me, sir. Don’t I get a hug?” she asks, clearly amused by his excitement to go play with his friend.

“Yep!” he belts out before running back to her and giving her a firm hug. He kisses her lips and adds, “Wove you.”

“Love you too, Theo. Papa or I will see you later.”

“’Kay.” Instead of returning to where Maddie patiently waits, he runs straight for me and throws his arms around my legs. “Bye-bye!”

“See ya later, Theo,” I reply, patting his back.

Finally, he lets go and goes to Madison. She takes his hand and they chat as they make their way to a locked door, where she uses a key card to release the lock and walks through the entryway. Once the door is closed, Theo glances back and waves, a big grin on his face.

“We can go.”

I pull my gaze away from the little boy and face his mother. With a nod, I turn to exit the building.

Before I can reach the glass doors, I hear, “Camden Miller? Is that you?”

I grin, already knowing who’s standing behind me. “Ellen,” I say, turning around and giving the little sprite of a woman a hug.

“I thought that was you standing there,” she replies, returning my hug before glancing over to Maren and adding, “and with Maren.”