Free Healing A Hero (The Camerons of Tide’s Way #4) by Skye Taylor Page B

from asking.
    “I’m almost thirteen. I will be in May, anyway.” Her eyes flashed another warning.
    Again, Philip ran numbers through his head. Elena must have returned to school and gone right back to Eli’s bed the week after she left his. Was that why she stopped writing? She got pregnant and had to get married? And couldn’t face telling me?
    The bastard! Of course it was Eli’s fault. Elena had been so careful when she’d hooked up with him, making sure he had condoms before things went too far.
    Philip forced his jaw to relax. It was old news. At least she hadn’t lied to him like Holly had.
    “I must be hard, leaving your friends behind and starting fresh.”
    “You should know.” The words were clipped and accusing.
    “I’ve moved a lot. As an adult.” Philip tipped his head to the side to catch her eye. “But not back when I was still in high school. And it was my choice.”
    She studied him with that penetrating blue gaze. Then her shoulders sagged slightly.
    “This wasn’t my choice.” The words were accompanied by a sigh. When Philip didn’t offer a response, she swallowed, dipped her head, then went on.
    “Mom didn’t think she had much chance of landing this job, but she really wanted it. For the money and the prestige, I guess. But I think she wanted to get away from Dad, too. Or maybe just away from San Diego. She kept talking about going home. But this isn’t Tide’s Way either. So, now we both have to get used to a whole new place.”
    One of the things Philip had always been good at was drawing young men out, helping them to become comfortable in new surroundings. He was a good listener and, after she got started, Julie seemed to forget her bitterness. She shared bits and pieces about her life before and after the divorce, her friends, tennis, surfing, and her home in San Diego.
    Her intelligence and sense of humor grew on him now that she’d stopped acting like he was part of her problems. As he listened to her, the enormity of everything he’d lost came back to haunt him.
    Eli Tischler had had it all, and he’d screwed it up.

Chapter 14
    February 2015
    Camp Lejeune, North Carolina
    “I LIKE YOUR friend,” Julie said as she plopped into the passenger seat.
    “You mean Terry?” Elena glanced over at her daughter, then put her key in the ignition and started the car.
    “I mean Philip Cameron. The guy who sent you the flowers.”
    “When did you meet him?” Elena’s heart raced at the thought of Philip and her daughter meeting without her there to make the introductions.
    “While he was waiting for his appointment.”
    Elena felt a little faint. It was a meeting she’d feared would happen sooner or later, but she’d hoped later. Later, after she’d figured out how to handle it.
    “Was Mr. Cameron ever your boyfriend? Before you met Dad?”
    Elena’s heart jolted at the question. Did a passion-filled, one-month affair count as a boyfriend? Probably not. At least, not in Philip’s mind. They’d parted with all kinds of promises to stay in touch, but those promises had gotten broken pretty quickly. Out of sight, out of mind.
    “It’s Sergeant Cameron,” she corrected, then answered her daughter’s question carefully. “Not really. We hung out together for a few weeks when he was home on leave one summer. Then he left for the other side of the world and I went back to school.”
    “He didn’t mind that you were late for the appointment, either.”
    “He was early.”
    “Maybe, but don’t kid yourself, Mom. You were late. Like almost a half hour late. You were supposed to be done by five. Right? Then we were going shopping. But you didn’t even start his appointment until four-thirty.”
    “He’s a patient man.”
    “Good thing he’s not like Dad, I guess.”
    Definitely not like Eli. Her perpetual tardiness was just one of the many sins Eli had complained about as their marriage began to unravel.
    Julie went silent for a while. Then, “I didn’t think I