I’d like to get to know him, and I want him to know me.

A fresh start.

Decision made, I sip the last of my tea and place the mug on my nightstand before flipping off the light and cozying down into my covers. Tomorrow we begin again. And this time, I’m determined to go in with my eyes and heart wide open.

11

CAMERON

TIMBER

Monday morning comes early and sharp as nails. Demo day on Caroline Street.

I arrive at the site before everyone else and unlock the front door. In the stark light of day, everything looks worse, which suits my mood just fine. No ghosts here; only dusty sunbeams and rejection. My empty beer bottle from the other night is still on the counter, so I collect it to throw in the giant trash receptacle out back. I wish I could blame the kiss on the two beers. That would be a minor redemption for my pride.

Unfortunately, I wasn’t under the influence of anything other than Shelby.

I spent most of yesterday ignoring phone calls from my agent about my future with National Geographic and trying to reformulate all the plans to fit the bathroom addition on the second story instead. I don’t completely know what I’m doing, but I’m learning. I wanted to have something to show Daniel, at least; some prices and a modified timeline for the build. I also binge-watched an entire season of This Old House and three episodes of The Pioneer Woman.

The Pioneer Woman doesn’t really touch on home renovations, but her meals remind me of the good parts of my dad. I ended up so inspired that I ran out and bought the ingredients to make myself an elaborate dinner of chicken-fried steaks and green-bean casserole and then brought the leftovers down to a grateful Beth and skeptical Kevin.

Turns out Shelby isn’t the only one who stress bakes.

Maybe we should host a spin-off cooking show if this is successful.

I mean, maybe Shelby should. I won’t be here, obviously. Probably. According to my agent, Peter, my sort-of rival Dominick Rivera is sniffing around my next project focusing on coral reefs, set to film in Fiji in the fall. Initially, I claimed the project, knowing I would be done filming the pilot of HomeMade. But just because I’ll technically be done filming, doesn’t mean I’ll be ready to head up a new documentary. Projects take months of research, planning, scheduling, and interviews. You need to scout sites in advance and make face-to-face contact with the locals.

None of which I can do while filming a reality-show pilot in Michigan.