Page 68 of The Sweetest Mistake

“She needs to be burped,” Cam said, darting across the room with a burp cloth in hand.

After wiping off Ava’s face, he flung the cloth over his shoulder, hoisted her up, and gently patted her back until she emitted a puff of air. After a few more pats, she emitted a much louder burp, which made him and Cam laugh.

“Yep. She definitely takes after me,” he said.

“I won’t argue there,” Cam said, smiling for the first time in the last several minutes.

See, he wanted to say. We’ll get along fine if we just keep it about Ava.

“So, we were talking about Tyler.”

“No, you were talking about Tyler,” she corrected.

“Is there any chance for you two?”

“Not unless he divorces his wife, which I don’t see happening anytime soon.”

“Well, is there someone else you’re interested in? Someone from work maybe?”

Cam laughed, but it wasn’t joyful. “I see what you’re trying to do, Connor, but there’s no one else right now. There aren’t too many men out there who want to be saddled down with a single mom and child.”

Connor immediately thought about Julia, who’d agreed to stick by him even though he was a single dad. Everyone deserved someone like that in their life, even Cam.

“What do you see in her, anyway? She doesn’t seem like your type,” Cam said, breaking into his thoughts.

Ignoring her tone, he twisted his neck to peek at Ava, who had fallen asleep on his shoulder. While he was enjoying her soft, warm body next to his, he decided it was time to set her down and focus on Cam. He wanted to get this conversation over with and get on to more important things—like Julia.

Careful not to jostle her too much, he walked across the room and laid Ava in the bouncy seat. He was already beginning to understand the importance of naptime, and he hoped that she would stay sleeping long enough for him to accomplish what he’d set out to do.

Instead of returning to the chair, he sat next to Cam on the couch, leaving ample space between them. Maybe if he could convince her that they were a team in raising their child, she would loosen up about Julia. It was his only hope.

“Julia’s warm, and funny, and kind. I care about her—a lot. But that doesn’t mean that I don’t have room in my life for Ava, and for you too as Ava’s mother. I only want what’s best for both of you.” There. Maybe he was getting better with words, after all.

“What if you’re what’s best for me?” Cam said. Her voice had softened, and he thought he saw a tear in her eye.

He shook his head. “I don’t think you really believe that. I think you’re just scared to be alone, even though you’re not. Besides me, there are a lot of other people who are willing to help with Ava.” Including Julia, he thought but didn’t say.

She didn’t argue with him that time, but she averted her eyes and picked at a loose thread on her skirt. “I really screwed up, didn’t I?’ she said, her voice sounding small and very far away.

“You can’t think like that,” Connor said, placing his hand over hers.

“I’ve made so many mistakes.” A tear dripped down her cheek, but he resisted the urge to wipe it away.

“We all make mistakes,” he said quietly, “but Ava isn’t one of them.”

Looking across the room, he saw that Ava was still sleeping, her head cocked to one side and her lips moving as if she were still sucking on the bottle. She was so darn adorable that it made his heart squeeze.

“I’m so sorry, Connor. I never got a chance to tell you that. I’ve always regretted hurting you, but I’ll never regret loving you.”

He nodded, his throat tight with emotion. What’s happening to me? Why am I becoming a wuss?

Their conversation having come to a natural end, Cam got ready to leave. Connor helped transfer Ava into the car seat, and then he went back inside to a house that suddenly felt very empty. He could still detect the lingering scent of Ava in the air—a combination of sweet baby skin and formula.

Flopping down on the chair, he accidentally sat on her teething ring, and he pulled the soggy toy out from under him. Twisting it around in his hand, he smiled, remembering what Julia had said at the lake house about Ava being the sweetest mistake.

He’d tried to get that point across to Cam and hoped that he’d succeeded. And then he flicked on the television because all this emotional stuff was exhausting! As he was channel surfing, he decided that he needed a night out with the guys—his brothers in particular. He needed to feel like a man again instead of a wuss. Having made the decision to call them and set something up, he relaxed into the recliner and let his mind drift.

He thought about Ava, his conversation with Cam, and Julia. He would have called her right after Cam left, but she was with her parents. They’d decided to tackle their two biggest obstacles right after they’d returned from Up North. He still couldn’t quite believe all that had happened to him in such a short amount of time.