Free The Closer You Get by Kristi Gold Page B

leaned over and patted her hand. “You just keep telling
yourself that and you’ll be fine.”
    When her phone began to chime, Cammie fished the cell from her
purse and saw Bud’s name on the incoming text. She opened it to find a
photograph of a tiny, round-faced newborn wearing a pink knit cap, her tiny fist
balled against her chest like a miniature prizefighter. And below that, a
simple, poignant message.

    Meet Emma Jane Parker. I hope she does the name proud.

    Cammie’s hand immediately went to her mouth to cover the slight
gasp, earning her concerned looks from her companions.
    “Is something wrong?” Karen asked.
    “Not at all,” she said as she turned the phone around for the
girls to view the photo. “Bud’s got a new baby girl, and he named her after my
grandmother.”
    Both Karen and Bonnie spent a few minutes mooning over the
picture before Karen took the phone over for the guys’ inspection. And as usual,
they had to endure the male “all babies look alike” comments. Yet Brett never
even afforded the photo a passing glance before he turned his back on the
crowd.
    When Karen returned with the phone, Cammie decided to ask about
her boss’s suspect behavior. “Does Brett have an aversion to kids? He wouldn’t
even look at the baby’s picture.”
    “Should we tell her?” Bonnie asked Karen.
    “As long as she keeps it to herself,” Karen said.
    Cammie geared up for yet another major revelation. “Tell me
what?”
    “Brett has a daughter,” Bonnie said.
    Clearly she’d only scratched the surface of the star’s secrets.
“Bud and Pat mentioned he’d been married, but they didn’t say anything about a
daughter.”
    Karen sighed. “It’s been kept quiet to keep her out of the
limelight. Unfortunately, he hasn’t seen her in several years.”
    Cammie couldn’t fathom a parent not having a relationship with
their child. Not when she’d lost both her parents through a sad twist of fate.
“And he’s okay with that?”
    “His wife has full custody and she hasn’t made it easy on him,”
Bonnie said. “Or at least that’s what Doug told me.”
    When Karen cleared her throat, Cammie glanced back to see Rusty
stumbling toward the table. He came up behind his wife and leaned to kiss her
cheek. “Is my girl ready to go?”
    Karen rolled her eyes as she stood. “Three shots of tequila and
you’re out, as usual. No more liquor for you, mister.”
    “I can handle my tequila, wife.” Rusty turned around and
immediately tripped over the leg of a chair.
    “It’s been nice meeting you, Cammie,” Karen said as she
attempted to steady her husband. “I’m flying into California next month. I’ll
see you then.”
    Bonnie stood and pushed her chair under the table. “I need to
go, too. I’ll round up Doug so we can put an end to this party. I’m sure you’d
like to get some rest.”
    She wasn’t sure she would rest considering the disturbing
discovery. “It’s been great meeting you, too. I hope to see you again before I
head home.”
    After a round of goodbyes, Cammie followed Brett, Pat and
Jeremy into the awaiting limo for the somewhat silent return trip. When they
arrived back at the bus, Brett announced he was going to accompany her to the
hotel.
    “That’s not necessary,” Cammie said as the limo came to a stop.
“I can find my way there.”
    “Now, Cammie,” Pat began in a fatherly tone, “Dennis has
already gone and we’d feel a whole lot better if someone went with you,
especially after what happened with Jensen.”
    She had to admit that seemed like a good plan. “All right, if
you insist.”
    When they arrived at the bus’s entrance, Cammie immediately
spotted the folded note taped to the door. She yanked the paper down before
Brett beat her to it.

    We got off to a bad start tonight, but I’ll be back to finish it.
Mark

    Thoroughly disgusted, she crumpled the paper into a tiny ball,
stuffed it into her pocket and hurried inside the bus to take her place