The sun had only been up for a few hours when Ian caught sight of Wes trudging over the sand toward where he sat sprawled in a weatherworn Adirondack chair. The other man was cleanly shaven and bright-eyed—the complete opposite of Ian.
He didn’t bother standing as his friend neared. Besides, he didn’t know that he’d have the energy to climb to his feet. He hadn’t slept in over twenty-four hours. Lack of sleep wasn’t unusual for him, but a man needed rest when navigating the emotional tsunami of Cameron Crawford.
“Rough night?” Wes didn’t bother with greetings or pleasantries. “Everything still okay with the Hunte lady and her baby?”
“She had him last night.” He doubted Wes had checked in at the clinic after arriving from the big island. And since Cameron was MIA, she probably hadn’t filled him in.
“I know. An emergency cesarean. How are the mom and baby?”
“Good.” Esme had been awake, feeding the baby when he checked on her earlier. The little guy had taken to nursing like a champ. “How did you hear?”
Wes lifted a shoulder. “A doctor on the big island. He and Cam are close. She called this morning.”
The doctor she trusted. Unlike Ian, whom she specifically said she couldn’t trust. A kernel of jealousy sprouted in his gut. Something on his face must have given away his emotion, because his friend chuckled.
“Down boy. The man’s seventy, if he’s a day.”
Didn’t matter. Okay, maybe his nerves settled slightly with the knowledge Cameron probably didn’t want to sleep with the man. But the fact she trusted him when she said she couldn’t trust Ian ate at him, making his stomach churn.
Wes’s gaze burned into the side of Ian’s face. He lifted his head, watching as his friend’s innocent perusal transformed into a glare.
Fucking great.Now Wes was mad at him too? “What?”
“What happened? Between you and Cam. What happened?”
Ian hurled a piece of driftwood into the ocean, watching as it bobbed on the waves. “Why did something have to happen?”
“Because you look like shit.” Wes crossed his arms over his chest. “You fucked her.”
Ian sprang to his feet, pushing his face close to Wes’s. “Don’t talk like that. Not about Cam.”
The other man smirked. “Why not? You’re the asshole in this situation, not her. So, what’s wrong? Was it not as good as you remember? Has she had better since you?”
“I swear to God, if you like your nose, you’ll shut the fuck up.” Fury pumped through Ian, but he had nowhere to direct his anger. True, Wes was being an ass, but Ian had been pissed off before he arrived. Most of his anger was directed at himself… and Cam.
How could she just walk away after what they’d shared last night? No. Not walk away. She walked away five years ago. Last night, she literally ran.
Wes didn’t back down. Not that Ian would expect him to.
“I told you not to let your dick get you in trouble.”
That’s right. His friend had said that, but Cameron had interrupted before Ian could demand clarification. He wouldn’t let the opportunity slip away again.
“What did you mean? You said my dick’s cost me everything. What the hell were you talking about? Cameron’s the only thing I’ve ever lost.”
Something flared in Wes’s eyes, but he didn’t answer.
“Wes, what the fuck? Do you know something about why she left?”
A muscle tightened in his friend’s jaw, but he remained silent. Realization struck Ian like a fist. His lungs ceased to work. If Wes knew why Cam left, had he always known? Could he have helped Ian make her stay?
“How do you know?”
Wes’s nostrils flared as he looked everywhere but at Ian.
“Fucking tell me, man. Have you always known? Did she confide in you before she left?”
He shook his head. “I wish she had. I spent five years worried about you, angry at her for you. You played the wounded lover beautifully.”
Ian opened his mouth to reply but had nothing to say. He hadn’t played anything. When Cameron walked, she fucking crushed him. He hadn’t had to fake his wounds.
“You keep tip-toeing around her reasons. Why not be a man and just tell me?”
“The way you were a man and told her you were fucking Mallory?”
Ian’s vision turned red. Fucking Mallory? He’d never touched Mallory. Well except…
Oh shit!
“Where did you hear that?”
“Does it matter? You had everything a man could want, and you threw it—”
Ian wrapped his head around his friend’s neck. “I didn’t sleep with that woman. Who told you that?”
Please let it be anyone but —
Wes twisted Ian’s wrist until his hold broke. “Cameron. She saw you with her in the woods before…”
Ian didn’t hear anything else. He didn’t need to. Mallory had kissed him mere moments before gunshots rang out in the jungle. The gunshots that had killed his child, injured his woman, and demolished his entire world. Turning away from Wes, he sprinted away from the beach, down the worn path he’d learned lead to Cameron’s cottage.
* * *