He shook his head. “Let’s just say I’ve been in a few relationships where me not being able to talk about specifics was a huge issue, like I didn’t trust them enough.”

“Were any of these serious relationships?”

“I thought so once or twice,” he said. “But I was wrong. I know it’s hard for people to understand that it’s not about trust. Sometimes it’s literally my job not to tell.”

“I get it,” she said softly.

“That easy?”

“For me, yes.” Then it was her turn to pause. “But I’m sorry if the people in your past weren’t able to understand it and you got hurt.”

A very small smile touched his lips, but he kept his eyes on the road. “My mom used to say that the past was just building blocks to the future. That all regrets, mistakes, and miscalculations were the foundation, and as necessary as air.”

She smiled. “I’d have liked your mom.”

“She’d have liked you too.”

CAM HAD JUST turned onto their street when Piper got a page calling her back in to work. He parked and walked her to her car, though he really wanted to feed her again and tuck her into bed because he knew she was tired. But he hated being babied, and he knew she’d hate it too. So he opened her door for her and said, “Be safe.”

“I will. And thanks again.” She went up on tiptoe to kiss him, sliding a hand to the back of his neck, a touch he still felt as she drove away.

“You’re still limping,” he said to his dad, as the man came up beside him.

“Show-off. And I’m much better, thanks to that woman who just drove away.” He paused. “And you.”

“Was that an actual, almost thank-you?” Cam asked, amused, because his dad rarely bothered with niceties such as please and thank you.

“Maybe.” Emmitt’s gaze was still on the road, even though Piper was long gone. “I told you she’s had a rough go of it. But I never did tell you how or why.”

“You said it was her story to tell.”

“Yes,” Emmitt said. “And I still believe that. But I also know that she’s likely to shut you out instead of letting you in any closer. So I’m going to give you a leg up and tell you some of it. You’re welcome.”

“Dad—”

“She had to raise her siblings on her own. Well, she had her grandparents around at first, but by the time Piper was eighteen, she was on her own with them. And Gavin and Winnie did as kids do and put her through the wringer.”

“Their parents were killed overseas.”