Oceans Apart (Ocean Dreams Book 1) (16 page)

“Well, I’m sure there is a wonderful story as to how you two lovebirds met and how we are only just meeting you now, but we have a birthday party to finish preparing.” She took Annie by the elbow and escorted her inside through the large French doors. An impressive bright and airy dining area with an expansive table was just inside the doors with a large modern kitchen to the left of it. The table was full of covered food platters, all at the ready to be ushered outside.

“Have a seat, Annie.” Carol gestured to the stools at the kitchen counter. Cam pulled a seat out for her.

“Thank you.” She smiled up at him and he kissed her on the head.

“So, Mum, where is the little grommet? I haven’t even heard him,” said a surprised Cam as he reached over and grabbed a couple of carrot sticks from a plate his mum had just finished arranging. Carol tapped Cam’s hand away from the food.

“Chris is just getting him up and changed from his early nap. We didn’t want him to conk out halfway through his special day,” Carol explained.

“The yard looks spectacular, Carol. So bright and colorful. Are you expecting many people?” Annie was curious. It appeared there was enough to feed an entire army of friends.

“Not too many really. It’s just family and some close friends of Chris and Meg’s.” Carol looked over at Cam and said softly, “Does she know about…”

“Yeah, Mum. She knows about Meg.”

“Fine, fine,” Carol said while busying herself in the kitchen.

Annie felt slightly uncomfortable. Meg was obviously a well-loved and much missed member of the Hart family. Carol stopped at the kitchen counter, opposite where Annie was sitting, and filled a bowl with M&M’s, and then she quickly popped one in her mouth.

“I’m so sorry for your family’s loss,” Annie sincerely said to Carol.

“Thank you, dear. It has been a tough time for all of us, Chris especially, but we’ve all rallied around each other and are a stronger family for it.” Annie thought she sounded quite proud of the last fact.

The revered silence, which had fallen across the room was broken just a few moments later by an ear-piercing shriek of excitement and the running of little footsteps.



“Cam-Cam.” A gorgeous dark haired little boy came bounding into the room and running straight to Cam’s legs. He grabbed them and held them tight for a few moments before Cam picked him up and drew him into an enormous bear hug.

“How’s my little grommet, hey? I’ve missed you loads, mate,” Cam said. Annie’s heart melted at the sight before her as she watched the uncle and nephew interact with one another. The love and pure joy for his nephew was obvious in Cam’s eyes.

“Bodhi, I want you to meet a friend of mine.” Annie hopped down from her stool and stood next to Cam. “This is my friend, Annie.” She smiled at him nervously. Annie hadn’t had a lot to do with babies or kids over the years. She wasn’t experienced with them at all and this guy frightened her.

“Hi there, Bodhi. It’s so nice to meet you.”

Bodhi was clutching at Cam’s shirt while eyeing Annie up and down. She couldn’t believe she was almost sweating from the scrutiny this two year old was giving her.

“Happy Birthday.” Annie was trying to think of anything that would make this little guy warm to her.

“I’m two,” Bodhi said as he puffed out his chest and held his head up with pride.

“And what a big boy you are.”

Cam bent down and settled Bodhi on his feet, “Yep, I got twampline. Come look?”

“Just a minute, young man. You need your hat on before you go outside,” said Chris as he came into the room and stood at the counter.

“Kay. Stay there,” he instructed Annie. Bodhi ran off in search of the required item, which would enable him the freedom of the outdoors.

Annie smiled at Chris. “You have a gorgeous little boy, Chris.”

“Thanks. He’s a lot like his mother,” he said with a solemn face.

“That he is,” Cam said. “But you can tell he is gonna be a ratbag just like you when he gets older.”

Laughter filled the air and Annie relaxed again in the family banter.

“Just a moment. Have you met Annie before, Chris?” Carol questioned her son.

“I might’ve run into the lovebirds yesterday in town.”

“And you didn’t tell your own mother? Oh, you’re in trouble, mister.” Carol playfully hit Chris on his chest and gave him a knowing smile.

“What’s he in trouble for now?” a sweet feminine voice piped up.

Entering the room was the most naturally stunning woman Annie thought she had ever seen. Her legs seem to go on forever and her silky brown hair fell like a chocolate waterfall halfway down her back. The girl’s big baby blues lit up when she noticed Cam was there.

“Cam.” The leggy girl ran over and Cam wrapped her up in a hug.

“How’s it going, Sea?”

“Sea? The Sea that had been calling his house when he was away?”

Annie could feel the blood draining from her face. This woman was gorgeous, and even though she was just wearing jeans and a crocheted knit top, she looked like she could be on the cover of a magazine.

“I’ve missed you so much. Why didn’t you return any of my calls?” Sea asked him as she pulled away from Cam.

“You know what it’s like.”

“I know what you’re like.”

The teasing and banter between the two was so natural and familiar. The initial shock had worn off quickly and now Annie was feeling miffed.

“Yeah, well, I’ve been a little occupied.” Cam placed an arm around Sea and ushered her over to where Annie was standing.

“Annie, I would like you to meet Sea, my little sister. Sea, this is Annie, my girlfriend.”

A friendly smile beamed on Sea’s face. “Girlfriend? OMG! Cam! I can’t believe it. It is so nice to meet you.” Before Annie knew what was happening, Sea had grabbed her in a hug.

“Lovely to meet you, too.” The surprise was starting to wear off. Sea pulled back and sat on a stool at the counter.

“I haven’t seen Cam in forever. He tends to avoid visiting here.”

“Really?” Annie was intrigued and hoped she would elaborate on her statement.

“Uh, hello. Professional surfer. Travels the world. Ring any bells?”

Sea’s eyes rolled as she shook her head. “Excuses, excuses. Although I see you have a very good excuse for not answering my calls this past week.” Sea smirked at her brother.

“So that was you who had left the messages on Cam’s machine?” Annie asked her.

Giggles escaped from Sea’s lips. “Yeah. I find sometimes the only way for this guy to talk to me is if I hassle him long enough.”

“Whatever,” Cam said at the same time as Bodhi came bounding back, hat in hand.

“Twampline! Twampline!” He bounced up and down and around their legs. Cam grabbed him and picked him up.

“Right-o. Let’s go outside and use up some of this energy.” He turned and looked at Annie and she nodded. She knew he was checking on her to see if it was fine to leave her with his family.

“Let’s go, mate.” Cam took his nephew out into the backyard.

“We’re coming, too. Better get this meat cooking on the barbecue,” said John as Carol passed a covered tray to her husband. “Grab the beers, Chris.”

“Already got ‘em, Dad,” Chris said and he followed his father out.

“Is there anything I can do to help?” Annie offered.

“No, no. I’ve got it all under control, dear.”

Sea got up and walked to the fridge. “Would you like a drink, Annie?”

“Sure. Anything is fine.”

“I must say, I noticed you looked shocked when you saw me.” Sea busied herself with getting the ladies their drinks.

“Oh, well. I had heard the messages left on Cam’s machine while he was in Hawaii. I was staying there and didn’t want to answer the phone in case I lost a message. Let’s just say he had many messages from women.” Annie could feel her cheeks going red.

“He didn’t tell you he had a sister?” Carol questioned.

“Cam did tell me but he said her name was Chelsea.” Annie’s cheeks were burning and she was feeling a little foolish.

“Ah, that makes sense then,” chimed in Sea. “Cam’s the only one who calls me Sea. My name is Chelsea but when I was born he thought Sea was better.”

“Oh, gosh. I feel silly. I thought maybe he had another girlfriend who he’d been neglecting. I was hoping not but you never know. I’ve only known him a few weeks.”

“Well, you’re the first girl he has ever brought home.” Chelsea handed Annie a glass of white wine. “And with my brother, that is a huge thing.” She lifted her glass and clicked it with Annie’s.

Carol walked over to Annie, put her arm around her, and gave her a little squeeze. “You must be special then, which makes you all the more welcome in our home.”

Annie’s heart filled with happiness in that moment. These two women had welcomed her, without question, into their home and their lives. The only thing they knew about her was that Cam was happy with her, and that was enough for them. Carol’s warm and generous welcome was unfamiliar. Annie didn’t know how to deal with the feelings confusing her. Emotion was starting to get the better of Annie as tears welled in her eyes and a lump wedged itself in her throat.

Carol noticed the change in Annie’s demeanor. She smile and picked up her glass of wine. “Right. Everything in here is ready to go. So, come ladies. Bring your drinks and let’s make sure the men aren’t burning the chicken.”

It had been a perfect day. The small gathering of people to celebrate Bodhi’s birthday was just the type of intimate family affair that rarely happened when Annie was a child. She had often thought about what it would have been like to have birthday parties with lots of friends and family around but the sad fact was her mother just couldn’t be bothered unless it furthered Tracey’s career and her father was always too busy.

The food never seemed to stop being paraded from the kitchen. Cam had mentioned to Annie that his mother was notorious for over catering parties and any leftovers would be served for dinner that evening. The few kids that attended had a wonderful time jumping on the trampoline, playing musical chairs, and eating the homemade birthday cake Carol had created. It was a simple round chocolate mud cake, which had been lovingly decorated with lime green icing and had blue polka dots covering it. A number two birthday candle stood proudly in the middle of the scrumptious creation.

It was close to six o’clock when the last of the guests left. The only people remaining were Annie and Cam, the rest of the Hart family, and Cam’s best friend and surfing coach, Matt James. He had been a friend of the family since the boys started high school. Matt was drop-dead gorgeous. His head of dark brown hair, almost black, was mostly shaved but left a little long on top. Annie couldn’t work out if he had styled it or he had just gotten out of bed. From the looks of the biceps bulging from beneath his t-shirt, he was perfectly ripped into shape. Matt was a sweetheart who had the exact opposite personality to Cam, quiet and reserved to Cam’s mischievous rowdiness.

Bodhi, who had fallen asleep on the day bed with his head resting on Matt’s lap, had quickly drifted off while Matt was stroking his forehead. Annie noticed Chelsea was keeping one eye almost permanently fixed on Matt no matter what he did that day. She didn’t know their history, but it seemed there was a certain ‘something’ between them. All the members of the Hart family were exhausted from the little guy’s big day and were now relaxing and catching up with their prodigal surfing son.

“It wasn’t a life threatening injury, Mum. I was fine.”

“Cameron John, it was a concussion. You got back to the beach and you passed out. They took you to hospital for crying out loud. I would say it was a serious injury,” Carol told her younger son sternly.

A knowing chuckle came up behind him. “Listen to your mother, Son. You won’t win this one. She took it out on all of us for days. If Matt hadn’t called us and said everything was all right, she would have been on the first plane to Portugal to make sure for herself.”

“Lucky I called then,” Matt said, raising his eyebrows at Cam.

“Bloody oath, mate,” Cam said which resulted in his mother getting up and playfully whacking him on the shoulder before quickly leaning down and planting a big smooch on his cheek. Annie was surprised at how quickly the color rose to his cheeks in embarrassment.

“Sorry, Mum,” he said as Carol went inside. She gathered her wallet and phone and placed them into her handbag. “Err…excuse me, where do you think you are going?” he yelled through the open French Doors.

“Shhhh, you’ll wake Bodhi. Your father and I are going out.” She replied as she returned to the deck outside. “We have a long-standing card night planned with some friends and figured between the five of you, you should be able to clean up without adult supervision. There isn’t much more to do anyway.”

“Yeah. That’s no worries, Mum. I might leave Bodhi here for the night, if that’s okay with you guys? I might be able to go out for a morning paddle if I can get these two wussies outta bed,” Chris joked.

“Not if you have too many more of those you won’t be, mate,” John said looking straight at Chris. Annie could feel the tension between them all of a sudden.