Betwixt Two Hearts (Crossroads Collection)
Page 16
Bailey hadn’t asked for the details of Marissa’s story, and Camden appreciated that. However, he thought she deserved to know the truth. As factually as possible, he told the story. By the time they pulled into his parents’ driveway, Bailey was brushing at tears that streamed down her face, devastated at the tragedy of it all.
Seeing her distress, Camden grabbed a tissue, leaned over, and tenderly began dabbing her tears.
“I’m sorry,” Bailey gasped softly. “I should be comforting you, not the other way around.”
Camden shook his head. “Don’t be sorry. Marissa’s tale is a sad one deserving of grief. I appreciate you tagging along tonight. I know you tried to stay out of the way, but knowing you were there was still a comfort to me.”
Bailey looked at Camden steadily. “I don’t know what to do with you,” she confessed. “You are the most aggravating and yet the kindest man I know. I didn’t hear everything you said to your brother, but I heard some of it. I also watched the way you interacted with him and tried to help. I think you’re a little bit amazing.”
“Please don’t put me on a pedestal, Bailey,” Camden said hoarsely, pretending interest in the landscape outside the window rather than meet the admiration in her gaze. “I’ll fall off. You are familiar with my faults. I honestly had no idea what I was doing tonight. I was simply trying to hold it together. It wouldn’t have helped Israel if I melted into a blubbering mess.”
Bailey reached over and touched his shoulder, asking him to look at her. “Camden, I’ve come to realize just how much you give to help others. Please make sure you take care of yourself, too. It’s okay for you to feel the grief of Marissa’s loss as well.”
Does Bailey really think so highly of me?
Reaching out, he cautiously touched her cheek, letting his fingers trail down to her chin. Her skin was just as soft as he imagined. She seemed to beckon him, and his defenses were down. The touch of her lips promised a momentary escape from the stress and grief, and the reasons why kissing Bailey would be a bad idea quickly departed. He leaned closer. The hand on her cheek tangled in the hair against her neck, and he drew her closer.
A shrill ringing echoed through the car. Camden jerked back as Bailey scrambled for her phone.
“Seriously?” Camden asked, amused that a phone call had startled them twice in one night. Then again, it was probably all for good. The ringing brought with it sanity, and within two seconds he knew that kissing Bailey would have been a horrible mistake.
“It’s Dekker,” Bailey explained, looking at the name on the screen of her phone.
“Of course,” Camden nodded. “Dekker the Wrecker at work again.”
Bailey’s eyes swung toward him, the phone in her hand still ringing. “Did you say, ‘Dekker the Wrecker’?”
Camden scowled and shrugged in answer. At the risk of making her angry, he really should keep any commentary on her boyfriend to himself.
Bailey burst out laughing, startling Camden with her response.
“Good night, Camden,” she said, opening the passenger door to step outside. “I’m off to deal with ‘Dekker the Wrecker’!”
Camden watched her make it up to the front door with the phone to her ear. Israel had already headed inside as soon as they’d arrived. Camden backed out of the driveway and drove home, mulling over, not Marissa’s death, but what had just happened with Bailey.
Guilt quickly set in as he realized that he’d almost screwed up and kissed her twice this evening. He needed to be stronger. He couldn’t let that happen again. Now that sanity prevailed, he knew that kissing her would destroy their friendship. Besides that, it would just be wrong. What kind of Christian guy would he be if he romanced someone he knew did not believe as he did? Not to mention that she had a boyfriend who she was “pretty much married to”!
Camden, you’re an idiot, he told himself. He wasn’t the kind of guy to kiss another guy’s girl, and he couldn’t risk getting involved with a non-Christian. End of story.
As hard on his pride as it was to admit, he now realized that he’d only escaped making a serious mistake because of the grace of God and Dekker the Wrecker.
As Bailey stepped off the airplane in Seattle, the past two weeks faded into the background, and suddenly, Crossroads seemed very far away. Bailey shuffled her bags around and pressed the send button on her phone, responding to Camden’s text and letting him know she’d arrived.
She hurriedly weaved her way past security and pushed open the doors leading to the greeting area.
“Dekker!” Bailey squealed, seeing him standing against a column looking at his phone.
At her call, Dekker looked up and grinned, opening his arms as she came rushing in. His lips covered hers, sending Bailey’s heart fluttering. Even after all this time, the sparks between them still took her breath away.
“Your flight is late,” Dekker said, lifting his head and taking her arm to lead her toward the escalator.
“I know!” Bailey said, shaking her head in exasperation. “I’m sorry you had to wait. At least I didn’t check any baggage.” She lifted her sole carry-on bag as evidence.
“I was beginning to think you’d never come home, and I’m not just talking about your late flight.” Though he was teasing, a hint of real criticism tinged his voice.
“You could have always come to see me in Crossroads,” she pointed out.
“Why would I want to go visit the middle of nowhere?” Dekker shot her an irritated look.
“I would think you could find at least one thing worth seeing in Crossroads.” Bailey quirked her eyebrows up and own.
Dekker shook his head and scoffed, “Yah, I love you, Bailey, but even that is not enough to get me to suffer through the boredom of Hicksville, especially when you can come back to Seattle.”
They made it to Dekker’s Porsche, and Bailey hopped inside with a sigh of relief. It felt good to be back home in Seattle, especially after the last couple of weeks. With Marissa’s death, a curtain of grief had hung over the Hutchins house. Even though Bailey had never met Marissa, she deeply felt the impact. Those she cared about were grieving, and she sought to do everything she could to alleviate some of the stress. She and Camden got their work done, but it had been difficult and stressful. On the plus side, they hadn’t fought nearly as much, and Camden had shown Bailey more of the ropes of the internal workings of the website so she could take up some of the slack while he helped Israel with planning a memorial service and giving extra play time to Chloe.
They were still so far behind that Bailey probably should have canceled her trip this weekend. After all, Valentine’s Day promised huge returns for the website, and she needed to spend a large portion of the weekend on her computer anyway. But Camden insisted she keep her plans. He said she needed a break and promised that he would contribute extra hours so she could get a breath of fresh air away from the stress.
“Are you hungry?” Dekker asked, pulling out of the parking space and heading to the airport exit.
“I am,” Bailey said, putting a hand to her gurgling stomach. “I haven’t eaten anything since I left Crossroads.”
“I’ve already eaten, but if you want, we can go by a drive-thru,” Dekker said generously. “What are you in the mood for?”
“You already ate?” Bailey asked, glancing at the clock. Her flight wasn’t that late. “I thought we were going to have dinner together.”
Dekker shrugged. “My parents were going to Giovanni’s and asked if I wanted to go. I’m glad I did. The Chicken Parmesan was incredible. I had to hurry to come pick you up, so I missed dessert. Maybe I’ll grab an ice cream when we get you fast food.”
“But it’s Valentine’s Day!” Bailey protested, shocked that he’d eaten dinner without her. “I was looking forward to Giovanni’s this weekend, if not tonight. Maybe we can still go Saturday night.”
“Oh, that’s right,” Dekker said, surprised. “I forgot that Giovanni’s is your favorite. What is it you like there?”
“Well, I’m at my Italian food limit after tonight,” Dekker said, leaving no option for discussion. “It’s not the kind of thing you want to eat multiple times a week, you know? Maybe they do takeout. We can get you an order to go on Saturday night.” Dekker looked proud of his idea.
“Yeah, takeout doesn’t sound nearly as good as the real experience,” Bailey said dryly, still ticked that he’d gone without her.
“Burger? Chicken? What do you want tonight?” Dekker asked, oblivious to her attitude.
Bailey sighed. “Maybe we should just go home. If we stop somewhere, we’ll need to get back in to battle the traffic. Do we have anything to eat at home?”
Of course, it was raining, and traffic was backed up horribly. Bailey hadn’t missed the rain or the traffic of Seattle, and strangely, she found herself longing for the quaint Crossroads Main street where the biggest traffic congestion occurred when you were unfortunate enough to get behind a slow-moving tractor or a flock of sheep being herded from one location to another.
Dekker scratched his head as if she’d just asked him a difficult, thought-provoking question. “Well, didn’t you buy some cans of soup before you left in December? I think we still have those.”
“Fine,” Bailey resigned herself. “Let’s just get home.”
She told herself that it really was fine. It didn’t matter that it was Valentine’s Day and her boyfriend had chosen to have dinner with his parents rather than her. The important thing was that she and Dekker get to spend quality time together. It shouldn’t matter that he ate without her. He hadn’t purposely done it to hurt her. He just hadn’t considered that she might want to have a special dinner with him. Getting home would be best, and she wouldn’t mind eating soup if they snuggled up on the couch with a movie or just got caught up on each other’s lives. They would have other opportunities for actual dates this weekend.
“Come on!” Dekker yelled suddenly, laying on his horn as another car changed lanes in front of him. The traffic stood at a standstill with a long line of brake lights glaring through the multitude of water droplets covering the window.
Still grumbling colorful terms for other drivers, Dekker reached over, took her hand, and squeezed it. “I have big plans for us this weekend.”
“Oh, really?” Bailey said, smiling, touched that he’d made the effort of planning something special for her visit. She rubbed his hand in hers affectionately. She really was lucky to have him. Looking over at him, she admired the way his dark hair fell across his forehead at just the right angle. The strands bounced as he spoke, almost adding their own cocky expressions to whatever he said. He was more sophisticated than rugged, and what he lacked in muscle mass, he made up for in sheer charisma. All he’d ever had to do is flash his perfectly white, rakish grin her way to set her heart to leaping.
Changing lanes to maneuver into one that seemed to be moving slightly faster, he flashed that grin her way and continued. “Tomorrow we have a date with a few other friends at that new rock climbing venue. It’s supposed to be awesome. Then in the evening, we’ll head over to my parents’ party. Don’t worry, I already told them you were in town, and they gave their okay for you to join me. Saturday we’ll take my new boat out on the water, and then we’ll take the plane to Portland for a night on the town with a few of my college friends. We’ll stay the night there, then we’ll head out for a quick skiing trip Sunday and be back in time for your flight. What time did you say you were leaving?”
Bailey’s mouth dropped open in shock, and she couldn’t find the words to respond. He had the weekend completely booked, and not a single thing sounded like something she wanted to do. “Dekker, I’m not sure that’s going to work for me. It sounds like you have every moment planned, and I have a lot of work to do. I was looking forward to spending some down time together.”
“We will be spending time together, but we’ll be doing fun things and making memories,” he said, seeming flabbergasted and a little hurt that she didn’t act excited.
“Really? I’m not sure those are the kind of memories I want. You had mentioned take-out Italian food on Saturday, but even that isn’t an option with your schedule. It sounds like we’ll be doing a bunch of things with other people, but not so much just you and me.”
“Are you really going to be like that, Bailey?” Dekker snorted in derision. “Since when did you get boring? I made the effort to plan a phenomenal weekend for us, and you’re turning your nose up at it?”
“Come on, Dekker! I’m not an idiot. You didn’t plan the weekend for me. None of it is for me. You’re doing what you want to do, and I’m just tagging along.” Even as the words bubbled out, Bailey realized their shocking truth. Nothing was ever for her. Dekker only ever concerned himself with Dekker, and she was only an accessory that suited him when she complimented his wants.
Had she ever enjoyed doing those things? Or was the thrill of being with him what she enjoyed?
“Bailey, what’s wrong?” Dekker asked, soothingly, suddenly changing tactics. “I thought you would enjoy seeing everyone again and doing some fun things. Your life in Crossroads sounds terribly boring, and I wanted us to have some fun together.”
Bailey felt herself softening just a little. Maybe he really wasn’t as selfish as she’d feared. With his personality, maybe he simply didn’t know any better and was loving her in the way he knew best.
“Look, if you don’t want to do everything that’s fine,” Dekker offered agreeably. “You are more than welcome to stay home, and I’ll go by myself. I’d really like you to come to my parents’ party, though, and I want to take you out on Saturday to see my new boat.”
That sounded more realistic, though Bailey still wasn’t sure about the “going by myself” part or his parents’ party. The fact that they said it was “okay” for her to come wasn’t exactly putting out the welcome mat. His parents didn’t like her, and she didn’t look forward to the thinly-veiled insults and awkwardness of feeling like she didn’t belong.
Realistically, she didn’t belong at all. Dekker came from a wealthy family who didn’t appreciate their son’s interest in a poor librarian hailing from a broken and quite colorful family.
“You have a new boat?” she asked, trying to be supportive. Of the things he’d mentioned, tolerating a boat ride in February seemed the most preferable.
“Yes!” Dekker said, his eyes lighting with excitement. “I got a fantastic deal on it. Even my dad was impressed. When I was at the marina a couple weeks ago, I started talking to this old man. He showed me his boat, and it was a beauty. He mentioned that he’d just admitted his wife to a memory care facility, and he wouldn’t be taking it out much on the water anymore. He said he was thinking about selling it, and I asked how much he wanted. He wasn’t sure but said he’d talk to his son. In a moment of genius, I threw out a number and told him I’d give him that much if he wanted to sell it to me. He had no idea what he had or what it was worth, so the number I tossed at him sounded good. He agreed and signed the papers right there! I’ve never known of a craft like that to go for so very little!”
Bailey looked at him in shock, feeling like she was missing something important in his story. From his description, it sounded like he’d just taken advantage of an old man and was now bragging about it!
“It doesn’t bother you that he was elderly and didn’t know any better?” Bailey asked.
“Why should it?” Dekker asked with a shrug. “His loss is my gain. I will tell you, though, that his son wasn’t happy at all! When I showed up to take possession of the boat, his son was with him. He knew what it was worth, and was ticked off that his dad had sold it for so little, but no way I was going to let him out of the deal. It was done. End of story. At least for them! Maybe his son will keep a better eye on him next time!”
Dekker’s cackle sent chills down Bailey’s spine. Was this for real? Was her boyfriend really
that horrible of a person to take advantage of another person like that?
“But he could have used the money for his wife’s care!” Bailey protested.
Dekker cocked his head to one side, thinking. “I’m sure he did. When you put it like that, I probably did him a favor by buying the boat.”
Had she ever admired or even liked this man?
Bailey kept her silence as Dekker finally turned off onto one of the side streets leading to their apartment. She thought about protesting, labeling his actions as unethical and claiming that they took advantage of someone weaker than him. But she knew it would do no good. Dekker was proud of his actions and carried not a trace of guilt or regret. His dad had even given his stamp of approval, showing pride that Dekker had used another’s weakness to great financial advantage.
Now that she thought about it, she realized this wasn’t atypical behavior. This wasn’t the first time he’d taken advantage of someone. After all, it was a trait glorified in the business world. With a sickening feeling, she realized it wouldn’t be the last time either.
Her mind wandered back to the night she went shopping with Camden, and she remembered the snowflake wreath. He didn’t need to give that snowflake wreath to that elderly woman. He’d gotten it first, and there wasn’t anything unethical about him keeping it. But he’d given it to her anyway. Then he’d gone above and beyond and paid for it just to be kind and bless her. When faced with a choice that would either benefit him or benefit a stranger at great personal cost, he put someone else before him. He’d done it so nonchalantly, without a hint of pride or desire to be recognized in any way.
Unfortunately, Bailey had also been privy to Israel’s reaction to the fact that Camden had not secured the wreath. Camden had walked out with him to his car the next day, and Bailey had unashamedly watched the private conversation. Israel had been very angry, while Camden stood and simply took the full force of his wrath. Of course, this was prior to Marissa’s passing, and Bailey held hope that through this tragedy, the brothers could find a measure of peace between them. But at that time, tears streamed down her face at seeing such undeserved anger directed at Camden and his beautiful act of generosity. Her only consolation had been in privately telling Lydia what Camden had done. Because of it, Lydia had loved the wreath even more when Brooke had finally delivered the back-ordered treasure two days late for her birthday.