The following is a deleted scene from The Summer I Loved You. It has not been professionally edited as it was deleted prior to finalizing the manuscript. Adrianna refers to what happened in this scene while on her date with Cam.

 

Father, not Playmate

Cam & Bronwyn

 

“This is boring. Let’s go outside and play with Frida and Diego.” Bronwyn got up.

They were sitting in the dining room working on the homework her teacher sent. Cam helped her understand what she had to do and for the last 10 minutes, Bron had been working on her writing assignment on her own. She fidgeted on and off and made small talk. She was bored and he hated that. Still, Adrianna was very clear. Bronwyn needed to do this or she would be way behind when she returned to school.

“Why don’t you finish your homework first, sweetheart? Then we can go outside.” He offered with a smile. Writing was not Cam’s forte either, but he couldn’t let that cloud his judgment.

“No. I can do it later. Come on, daddy!” She smiled and reached for his hand.

Two powerful forces began to pull Cam in opposite ways. That smile. What bastard could deny this angel anything? What harm could there be in taking a small break to go outside and play with her and the puppies? The other force was a voice inside his head, actually Adrianna’s voice, telling him he needed to be the responsible one. He couldn’t let her fall behind in school.

“We’ll do it later, Bron, I promise,” he tried. “Now let’s sit back and finish your essay. The sooner you finish, the sooner we can go out.”

He tried to entice and encourage her but her mood shifted right before his eyes. The smile disappeared from her face. Her arms crossed in front of her.

“But I just told you I don’t want to do this right now. I want to go outside with Diego and Frida.”

Cam was not prepared for the icy tone in her voice and the sharp look in her eyes. Still taken aback and unsure of how to proceed, Cam tried to reason with her one more time.

“I know you want to, but homework is your responsibility and responsibility always comes before fun. Please sit down and finish.”

She shook her head slightly before speaking again. “But I want—”

He bit back a sigh. “I know what you want, Bronwyn and I said not until you finish your homework. If you continue to fight me and try to shake off your responsibilities, then maybe you don’t need to go outside at all today.”

Her mouth fell open. Her shoulders sagged a little and her eyes welled.

It provoked a pang over his heart. Oh God. Is she going to cry? He couldn’t take it if he made her cry.

 Bron took a deep breath, straightened up and walked back to her chair. The move transported him back in time. It was uncanny the way she had her mother’s mannerisms, even down to the way Adrianna acted when her feelings got hurt. He fought against the urge to go to her.

She sat, lowered her head toward the paper, and picked up her pencil.

“Do you need my help with anything?” he asked unable to keep quiet.

“No, thank you. I can do this on my own.” Her voice was hoarse and heavy.

His chest squeezed so hard it almost hurt. He felt so rotten Cam could almost smell it. And he couldn’t stand it. “I’ll be in the living room if you need me.”

She didn’t look up, just nodded. Cam got up and left the room.

 

•••

Adrianna was in the middle of helping Luciana with a to-do list when a stricken Cam entered the room. He stood across from them and looked back to the dining room beyond the kitchen.

“What’s wrong?” she asked putting down her notepad.

He pressed his lips before answering her, “Bron wants to go outside to play with the dogs.”

Adrianna reached for a posted note. “Did she finish her homework?”

He shook his head.

“Then no, she can’t go.”

“I told her that. Now she is upset,” Cam said.

Apparently, Bron wasn’t the only one.

“You told her no?” Luciana’s eyes rounded.

Adrianna smiled. “I’m proud of you, Cam.”

“She’s so hurt. I think I was too hard on her,” he insisted.

“Did she cry?” Luciana asked as if were the worst thing that could happen.

Adrianna fought the urge to roll her eyes. They were so dramatic. “She’s not hurt. She’s angry. There is a difference. She now knows you’re her father, not her playground buddy.”

“But what’s wrong with me being her friend? You told her the two of you are like best friends,” he accused.

“I guess we now know where Bron gets her eavesdropping from.” Adrianna crossed her arms in front of her. Cam winced. “Yes, I told her that because it’s true. We are friends in the sense that she can tell me anything and I won’t lie to her but I am her mother first. As her mother, I will put what’s best for her ahead of everything. That’s what you did today. That is the reason I am proud of you. It’s not easy.”

Cam nodded. “Maybe I should apologize for being so tough and explain I am doing it for her own good?”

Luciana nodded.

Adrianna shook her head. “Don’t you dare! You did the right thing. She knows she has a responsibility to do her homework. We told her that this morning. Get used to saying no, you’ll be saying it a lot.”

“Ok,” he said. “I’ll be in the sun room if she needs me.”

Adrianna shook her head. “He doesn’t even know what he’s in for. She’s not even a teenager.”

Luciana nodded, “I don’t want to laugh but can you imagine if Cameron caught Bron skinny dipping by the quarry?”

Adrianna’s eyes widened remembering the one time in High School when she, Connie, Laurel, and Luciana had gone skinny dipping at the same time the football team was having a party nearby. They were in their tiny bikinis when Adrianna’s mom caught them and took them all home. All the girls were grounded for weeks.

Adrianna bit her lip. “The girl does have yours and my genes.”

Luciana was no longer Laughing. “We’re going to have to keep an eye on her.”

Twenty minutes later, Bronwyn walked in the room with her notepad in hand. She looked around the room before her eyes settled on Adrianna.

“I’m done,” she announced. Her lips settled into an endearing pout that was so much like Cam’s.

Adrianna smiled and extended her hand. “Good. Let me look at it.”

Instead of handing over the notepad, Bronwyn fidgeted with her foot. “Where’s my dad?”

Adrianna took in Bron’s downcast eyes and hunched shoulders. “He’s in the sun room.”

Her features relaxed and her pout morphed into a smile that splintered Adrianna’s heart.

“I’ll go show him what I wrote,” Bronwyn said.

“Didn’t you want to go outside?” Luciana asked her.

Bronwyn stopped and looked at her aunt. “Yeah but I want daddy to go with me.”

After she left the room, Luciana turned to Adrianna. “She thought he left, didn’t she?”

Adrianna nodded, feeling the weight of her thoughts. “We have an appointment with the counselor when we get back to Baltimore.”

 

•••

Cam stepped back and admired his work. The symmetry of the intertwined bodies came out exactly as he’d been visualizing. The smaller hand wrapped around the bigger arm almost completely covered by a blanket of loose ringlets. Face against chest, angled to look up and even without the faces, there was comfort, devotion and love being exchanged. Then again, maybe he was seeing what he wanted. After all, he was way close to the subject.

His studio was a sunroom on the second floor. There was only one door but the L shaped wall across it was made of wide windows that let the natural sunlight in. Cam liked to paint with his easel close to the point where the two walls met. That way he could use the light that came from both angles. It helped him play with the lights and shadows. The hardwood floor gave the room a rustic outside feel. This is the place where he lost himself and shut the world out.

A small sigh echoed behind him. He turned around to something he didn’t expect. On the far side of the room sitting on the oversized gray armchair was Bronwyn. Her legs tucked under her and her electronic sketch pad on her lap. Her head was down while she moved around the stylus. Though her hair hung around her like a curtain, he could see clearly what she drew.

She was sketching Cam’s painting.

He’d been that focused on his work and trying to forget chastising her, he didn’t hear the door open. She had to have been purposefully quiet for him not to hear her.

Now, it was his turn to watch her as she worked. Her hand moved with ease, erasing and sketching again a few times before she got it the way she wanted. She nodded vigorously in approval. Bronwyn had amazing talent and he could tell the dedication that lay within deep within her. Her attention to detail proved it.

Pride took over him like a sea wave, his heart drowning in it.

She looked up. “Did I interrupt? I can leave. I just wanted to see if I could do what you’re doing. It’s beautiful.”

Cam shook his head and answered her in order. “No, you didn’t interrupt. I want you to stay. You are doing an amazing job. You are way more talented than I’ll ever be.”

Her mouth dropped open but then she closed it and looked down. “I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to make you mad at me.”

“I’m not mad at you, Bron. I just wanted to make sure you did your homework first.”

“But you called me Bronwyn.”

“That’s your name. Isn’t it?” Then Cam had another thought. “How come you didn’t go outside to play with the dogs?”

Her shoulders shrugged with delicate flair. “I didn’t want to go without you.”

Cam could not help the smile that took over his face.

“What are you smiling at?” Bronwyn asked confused.

Cam walked closer and kneeled right in front of her. “You. You make me smile, Bron.”

“Me?” She pointed to herself.

“You.” Cam pointed to her as well.

“Why?” she asked.

Cam took her face in his hands. “Because you’re beautiful, smart, kind.”

Her mouth formed into a perfect O. He kissed her cheek and smiled.

“Can we go outside now?” she asked.

He nodded, his work already forgotten.

“And we’ll watch Vampire Chronicles later?” She pushed.

He groaned but she was already pulling him by the hand and out the door.

 

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