“Did you know the human hand has 27 bones?”
It was such a random statement, I brought my other hand up to my lips to hide my smile. “No, I had no idea.”
“And your heartbeat is triggered by electrical impulses,” he continued, placing my palm flat against his chest. I’m pretty sure my heart rate climbed to an accelerated level simply due to that action, and he never took his eyes from my face.
“Fascinating,” was all I managed to push from my lips.
“One to seven gallons of blood a minute,” he said, holding my palm captive against his T-shirt. “That’s how much your heart pumps, depending on what you’re doing.”
Even with his blue eyes focused so intently on my own, I fought the urge to giggle. “This is quite a biology lesson. Anything else you’d like to add?”
“There are 206 bones in the human body, and every single bone in my body is telling me to kiss you.” Unsure how to respond, I simply raised my eyebrows. “And I just made it weird. I was trying to recite random facts so you would be reminded of the whole ‘I’m a doctor’ vibe I was going for. Now I can’t even try to kiss you, because I ruined the moment.”
“Maybe you can get it back,” I suggested. “I can try to forget all that doctor stuff.”
“No,” he insisted, linking his fingers with mine and dragging my hand up to his lips slowly, never dropping eye contact as he kissed the back of my hand. “I’m only going to do it when it’s perfect.”
“Nothing’s ever perfect.” My words came out as a whisper, and he pressed his lips together as he nodded his head.
“True, but I have this theory.”
“A theory,” I repeated.
“Yeah, if I meet a girl I could imagine a future with, the first kiss has to be exactly right.”
My head was spinning at his words, but I managed to keep myself composed. “Why is that?”
“Because if she winds up being the right girl, there’s a chance it could be the last first kiss. I don’t want to screw that up.”
“No,” I whispered.
“No, so I think it’s probably best if I call it a night.” Leaning toward me, he touched his lips gently to my cheek. “Good night.”
“Good night,” I answered, my cheek still burning from the spot his lips had touched. Snuggling into the covers, I rested my head against the couch, closing my eyes and trying to decide if I could imagine a future with Charlie Taylor.
Chapter Seven
“Willa, do you want these over here?” I asked, pointing to a platter she had piled high with homemade dinner rolls. We had been at the church for a couple hours preparing food, and it seemed like she was just getting started.
“No, honey, just take them over to that counter and someone will bag them.” Stepping across the room, I waited as I saw Camdyn strolling toward me, nonchalantly glancing about.
“Where have you been, Cam?”
“Entertaining the kids. They always demand that I hang out with them. Grandma probably wishes they would leave me alone so she could get some more help with the food.”
I had a sneaking suspicion that Willa was the one who suggested that Camdyn watch the kids, but I didn’t voice my thoughts.
“There are a lot of guys here,” I commented, glancing to my left where three or four twenty-something males congregated, loading boxes.
“Youth group guys from back in the day who are here with their parents.” She had a twinkle in her eye as she focused on the little group. “Maybe you should go say hello, Trina. I know you didn’t expect to meet any gentlemen on this trip, but it wouldn’t hurt.”
“I’ve sworn off meeting new people this Christmas.” Ever since I met Charlie, that is. Yet another tidbit that I wasn’t about to share with my best friend. “The dark-haired guy seems really interested in you, though. He can’t keep his eyes off you, and he looks like a catch.”
She only allowed a split second of study before she let out her breath in an exasperated sigh. “Be serious, Trina. The guy’s wearing a Poison T-shirt. So lame.”
“But it was totally okay for me to meet said guy a minute ago when you suggested it.”
“I might have been a bit hasty in my suggestion. I apologize.”
The aforementioned rocker began making a gradual move in our direction, so Camdyn responded by grabbing my hand and pulling me away from the other volunteers toward the empty sanctuary. The lights were off and only the last gleams of the day’s sunlight filtered through the colored portions of the stained glass windows, illuminating our steps. She sat in the fourth pew on the left and placed her elbows on the top of the pew in front of her.
“I don’t know why I came in here,” she whispered. “This room always makes me uneasy.”
“Why is that?”
“This is where I was when I realized my mom was never coming back.”
A cold chill skittered over me, and as I lowered myself next to her on the cushioned seat, I hesitated. She rarely ever mentioned her mother, and when she did, it was usually followed by a shake of her head and a vow not to talk about her again.
“How old were you?” I asked.
“Six. I don’t remember the how or the why of the day, but I remember sitting in this exact spot, listening to a hushed prayer, and knowing that she was gone. It’s funny—I don’t even remember if I cared or it made me sad, I just remember the acknowledgement of the facts.”
“I’m sorry.”
“Don’t be. She wasn’t.” She sniffed slightly as she stared ahead at the steps leading to the podium. “I always feel it worse here, though.”
“Feel what?”
“Restlessness. I’m not even sure, really…a sense that I should belong somewhere. That I need to find home. But home is with Grandma, right? It’s just a crazy feeling I have sometimes that makes no sense.”
Shifting next to her, I placed my elbows on the pew by hers, resting my chin on my hands. “I think I understand. I can never go home again.”
She glanced at me with an impish grin. “Don’t be silly. I’m sure they’re disappointed not to see you for Christmas, but they’re not going to disown you or anything.”
“I can go home to my parents,” I corrected, folding my arms and laying my head on them. “Nebraska is waiting with open arms, but it’s not home. Cape Girardeau is home, and I can’t go back there. Nothing will ever be the same.”
“It’s exactly like that story I was writing in my head about the Kuomintang.”
“Except I’m not a Chinese peasant woman, and I’m pretty sure no one in this room is planning a rebellion.”
“Trina, I’m touched,” she stated, giving a sarcastic grin. “You actually listened to some of my history talk, didn’t you?”
“How could I not? You went on about it the whole drive to St. Louis.”
“Sorry about that.” She leaned back against the pew and wrapped her arms around her midsection. “Do you worry about summer at all? We’re going to be unleashed on the world. I guess I’ll come back here, but what about you? I hate the thought of you being in Nebraska alone, or wherever you decide to go.”
Staring at the pattern of green splashed across the carpet from the reflection of the glass, I reached over and took her hand. “Let’s make a promise that we’ll never let the other one be alone. Sisters at heart. We’ll always have each other.”
“And you have me,” Charlie added as he slid into the pew behind us, reaching his arms around both our shoulders.
“I’m not sure if that makes me feel better or worse,” Camdyn said with a laugh. “Right, Trina?”
But I couldn’t answer, because the truth was that it made me feel infinitely better.
“Camdyn?” A middle-aged woman stepped into the entryway, peering into the relative darkness. “Oh, there you are. The kids are looking for you.”
“Duty calls.” She rose to her feet. “Be nice to Trina, Charlie.”
“You don’t need to worry about me,” he insisted as she stepped away from us. Le
aning forward, he rested his chin on his arms next to my shoulder. “You’re a pretty good friend, you know that? She’s lucky to have you.”
“I feel a little guilty keeping secrets from her.”
“What sort of secrets?”
“Charlie secrets.” Glancing at him, I fought the urge to grin.
“Probably best not to get her worked up.” Staring at the front of the sanctuary, he let out a sigh. “What were you two talking about?”
“Your mother.”
“Oh.” He rose to stand behind me, and for a moment I worried that he would leave the room. Instead, he stepped around the side of the pew and settled beside me, weaving his fingers through mine against the velvety blue cushion beneath us. “She talk about her a lot?”
“Hardly ever.” His hand was warm against my own, but I tried not to look at him. We were alone, and I didn’t want to chance him thinking it was the perfect moment to share a first kiss. The dark church sanctuary just felt too thirteen-year-old schoolgirl to me.
“She probably doesn’t remember her. I barely do.”
“What do you remember?” My voice sounded quiet in my own ears, and as I glanced at him, his gaze drifted far away.
“About my mom? I remember she was at Dad’s funeral. She didn’t cry.”
It felt as though my heart plunged a few inches in my chest, and I sensed tears pricking the corners of my eyes at his bluntness.
“That’s terrible,” I managed to breathe.
Turning toward me, he shook his head. “No, it made it easier. God blessed us by placing us with Grandma. Sure, I wish I had more time with my dad, but we had pretty stellar childhoods. I couldn’t have asked for much better.”
“Camdyn really looks up to you,” I added, squeezing his hand.
“I know.” A mischievous grin spread across his face. “That’s why I can’t believe you, instigating all this sneaking around. She’s going to be so disappointed.”
Chapter Eight
“If you’re going to be a sissy about it, you can always stay here.” Camdyn turned to look at me, mascara wand firmly in hand with what looked like a mad swarm of angry black caterpillars fighting under her eye. For a brief moment I considered telling her that Charlie might have a better method for applying under-eye black, since he loved baseball so much, but instead I chose to let her look like a complete nut.
“Nobody’s being a sissy, and there’s no need to start name-calling. I’m simply saying that I don’t understand why blessing someone who can’t repay you translates into dressing like a ninja.”
“Trust me, a disguise is necessary.” Twisting back toward the mirror, she proceeded to drag the mascara wand under her other eye until both cheeks were streaked with the black stain. “You’re welcome to stay here and take a nap. I’ve never seen you be so tired.”
A protest rose in my throat, but I swallowed it. Camdyn and I had done a bit of shopping early in the morning, and then I came home and slept on the couch for a few hours. From her vantage point it probably did seem a bit lazy on my part, but I couldn’t tell her I had been up until the wee hours of the morning two nights in a row talking to her brother.
“I’m wearing head-to-toe black, is that not enough for you?” I asked. “I feel like I’ve stepped into an episode of The Twilight Zone or something.”
“Nice, Cammie,” I heard Charlie’s voice behind me, the tone immediately causing my heart to race. “You look like a clown.”
The way she brandished that mascara wand, I believed she might use it to run him through. Her surly look only lasted a moment, though, before she gave him a smirking grin.
“You’re just not used to having to cover up angelic good looks like Trina and me, Charlie. One sight of our faces is bound to blow your cover.”
“If you blow my cover, it would be because of whatever you tripped over, not your heavenly good looks. Speaking of which, Trina, you look good in black. Dangerous, even.”
Normally I wasn’t given to blushing, but whether or not the physiological reaction was visible on my face, I felt the heat creep into my cheeks.
“You’re such a goofball,” Camdyn muttered, pulling a black stocking cap over her blonde curls, doing her best to stuff her hair inside.
“Are we ready?” Willa asked from the hallway. Turning, my eyes widened as I witnessed Camdyn’s grandmother also dressed in black, with a perky little pillbox hat atop her head, complete with black net veil draped over the front. “It never hurts to be fashionably sneaky,” she informed me with a quick wink.
Suddenly I didn’t feel quite as ridiculous in my black sweatshirt and yoga pants that Camdyn loaned me.
♥
“Positions,” Willa ordered as she brought the dark-gray sedan to a stop in front of a slim two-story house with one solitary strand of Christmas lights hanging over the window.
“What is she talking about?” I asked Camdyn, seated next to me in the backseat.
“Drop and dash,” Charlie informed me, turning around to face us from his “shotgun” position. He and Camdyn had both shouted the word as soon as Willa locked the front door of the house, but he was a split second faster. I was rather glad, because sitting in the back of the car with Charlie didn’t seem like a good idea.
“The family didn’t have money for Christmas, so we bought the kids a couple toys,” Willa explained. “The challenge is dropping the gifts by without being seen.”
“So you ring the doorbell and scatter?” Suddenly the black clothing was making some sense.
“We haven’t been caught yet,” Camdyn added beside me.
Glancing again at the house, I couldn’t stop a puzzled expression from showing on my face. “Won’t they see the car in front of the house?”
Willa nodded with a smile as she glanced in the rearview mirror. “They would, which is why we’re parked three houses away.”
“Got the goods?” Camdyn said.
“Right here,” Charlie answered. “Number 14. You ready?”
Just like that, it was almost like I was watching a break-in on television. Willa was waiting in the car while three people clad in black were slinking down the street, stealing across the yard, and standing in front of a run-down replica of the house we had parked near a moment before. The fact that I was involved in the trio of sneaks left me feeling liberatingly excited.
“Escape plan,” Camdyn whispered to her brother.
“What do you mean, escape plan?” I interrupted. “Don’t you just run?”
“You trust Camdyn to simply run back to the car?” Charlie’s face had the appearance of raising his eyebrows, although I couldn’t see them under his stocking cap. “Here’s the plan. You girls wait by the side of the house. As soon as I ring the doorbell, make your way behind that brown van in the driveway. Got it?”
“Got it.” Taking me by the hand, Camdyn pulled me toward the edge of the house. Listening intently, I waited for the sound of the bell, but knew it was too muffled to hear when Charlie began sprinting toward us. Jerking Camdyn backward, I half-dragged her toward that van. We stopped next to the mirror on the driver’s side right as Charlie drew up beside us, placing a finger to his lips to keep us quiet. Turning, I peered through the windows in the van to the other side, where I could see the front porch.
A light came on, and then a young man stepped outside, looking from one side of the yard to the other before he stooped to lift the bag. Had he not flipped on the light, he might have seen us, but the glow around him allowed us to blend into the dark.
As he reentered the house, we slowly backed away, careful to remain out of view as we crossed two more yards in our return to Willa’s car.
“Success?” Willa asked as we pulled open the car doors, still sitting at her post as the getaway driver.
“Yep,” Charlie said. “Trina’s a pro. I have to wonder if she does this sort of thing all the time.”
I shook my head as he turned to look at me. Camdyn and I had admittedly done some ridiculous things on campu
s, but never sneaking onto someone’s property. Unless you counted those sorority girls who thought they would beat us in a scavenger hunt. Or the time we were avoiding that guy from her American History class. Or that one episode when I thought Mike Adams was cheating on me.
But we never wore black in those instances, so they were totally different.
The car crept back onto the street, and I noticed that it took Willa a few seconds to turn on the headlights. She was taking this incognito thing very seriously.
“How long have you been doing this?” I wanted to know.
Willa glanced up at me in the rearview mirror again. “We started all the Christmas traditions the first year the kids and I were together on Christmas, but the stealthy gift giving we’ve only been doing for a little while. How long do you think it’s been, Camdyn?”
“I was probably fourteen, because you let Charlie drive. It was one of the most horrifying nights of my life.”
“Charlie wasn’t the best driver,” Willa admitted with a quiet laugh.
“We’re lucky to be alive,” Camdyn added. “They’ve never let me drive, strangely enough.”
“You’re lucky we let you come at all.” Charlie glanced back at her to add emphasis to his snarky comment.
While we drove the few miles to the next stop, Willa told me that she began the traditions on each day as a way to bring their small family together that first year. She lost her husband and son very close together, and they all needed some brightening in their lives that holiday season. Willa’s words made my silly complaints about seafood and weird step-cousin Todd feel immature, unwarranted, and selfish. Staring out the window, I suddenly felt guilty about not being with my parents.
♥
Willa pulled the car to the end of a long driveway and killed the headlights, adjusting her pillbox hat as though she were channeling the charm and grace of Audrey Hepburn. I had to smile to myself at Camdyn’s quirky grandmother. Making her acquaintance had given me a lot of clarity regarding Camdyn and many different facets of her personality.
Unwrapped (The Camdyn Series Book 5) Page 5
