“You will even stare at the back of my head,” Cole stated, lifting his eyes to mine in the rear view mirror.
“Apparently so,” I agreed. “You shouldn’t have said anything, because now I’m going to stare at you in the mirror instead.”
“Please don’t wreck my car having a staring contest,” Charlie muttered.
“Now Charlie’s going all ‘older brother’ on you, too,” I teased my husband. When he merely smirked up at me in the mirror, Charlie sighed.
“You seem different now that you’re married,” he stated, looking over at Cole. “I think she’s infected you.”
“I’m not a disease, and don’t talk about me like I’m not here,” I said to my brother, flicking him on the back of the head. He turned to me with wide eyes, presumably to chastise me for acting childish, but he didn’t have the chance because we pulled into the driveway of our destination at that precise moment. Taking a deep breath, Charlie turned and gazed out the windshield, getting his first glimpse at the house where our mother was raised. Staring at those white columns against the red brick, I wondered what was going through my brother’s mind. When Cole turned the key and let the engine come to a halt, Charlie remained seated in the passenger seat, unmoving.
“Do you need a minute?” I asked quietly.
“What?” Charlie wondered, as though he was coming out of a fog. “No, don’t be ridiculous.”
Your nervousness makes me ridiculous. Gotcha.
Even though we had just been tormenting each other a bit, I honestly felt nothing but sympathy for him at that moment, knowing exactly how he felt. Had I known this was my grandfather’s house the week before, I might have tossed my cookies in the bushes.
Okay, full disclosure, I probably would have had a full-on emotional breakdown of some sort. Charlie being a little nervous was nothing.
The car door to my right swung open, and I glanced up to see the object of my heart’s affection extending his hand to me, that familiar smile lighting his face. I might have audibly sighed as I grasped his fingers, feeling very much like Cinderella being led out of the pumpkin to a life of eternal bliss with the charming prince. (I acknowledge that this did nothing to help with my cause of proving that I was in my right mind, or even rational.) To my surprise, rather than calling me crazy, he grasped me by the elbow and held me against him.
“You are insanely beautiful,” he whispered, at which point I stared dumbfounded into his eyes. How was one supposed to respond to something like that? Besides, he used the word insane, so I knew he was thinking it.
Still, wow, was I ever completely taken with him.
“I love you,” was all I could manage to come up with. He nodded his head as he released my arm.
“I know,” he stated simply.
“Please, just stop,” Charlie begged as he stepped out of the car. “Full out stop, if you care about me at all.” Cole narrowed his eyes and was presumably going to throw a joke in Charlie’s direction, but I shook my head as I grabbed his arm, silently asking him to be quiet. I had a feeling Charlie was in a delicate emotional state, and the slight smile Cole offered before turning to walk up the sidewalk told me he agreed.
When the boys stopped just beyond the porch, I marched up the step between them, pausing to look at my brother before I knocked on the door. A quick meeting of our eyes was enough to get us back on good terms, and he reached over and gave my hand a quick squeeze before taking an enormous breath and exhaling, indicating to me that he was ready. Three raps on the door later, I stepped back a bit and waited patiently.
It took a moment before I heard fumbling with the doorknob, and somehow I heard Charlie swallow behind me, which was completely bizarre. Before I had the chance to ask if he was alright, though, the door was opened several inches, and I saw my grandfather. Wearing a red plaid short-sleeved shirt covered with navy blue suspender straps, he looked spryer than he had the last time I had seen him. In fact, he almost looked younger somehow, like he had a new spring in his step.
“Oh my, the angel has come back to me,” he stated, quickly pushing open the door and holding his arms open. Fighting tears, I walked into his embrace and held him tightly. “You make an old man’s heart happy, my dear.”
“I’m very glad to see you,” I said sincerely, inhaling woodsy pine scent and wondering what sort of cologne or aftershave it was. “Did you expect to see me again so soon?”
“I wouldn’t have dreamed it,” he told me, releasing me and smiling as we stood face to face. “I see you’ve brought that husband of yours back, too. Cole, son, it’s nice to see you.”
“Thank you, sir,” Cole expressed as he extended his hand and my grandpa took it with a smile.
“There’s also someone else I want you to meet,” I explained as I reached for Charlie’s hand, pulling him up beside me. “Grandpa, this is Charlie.” A moment passed between them as they silently regarded one another, Charlie standing several inches taller than our grandfather. Charlie was usually adept at hiding his emotion, so I waited to see if one of them would break.
“It’s a real honor to share my name with such a strapping young man,” Grandpa finally acknowledged calmly. A relieved smile crossed Charlie’s face as he held his hand out to Grandpa.
“The honor is all mine, sir,” he assured him.
“Charlie was so anxious to meet you that he drove us all the way here,” I informed him. “Well, he drove the two of us, anyway. Cole just couldn’t live without me, so he flew up last night.”
Grandpa must have found that funny, because he laughed heartily and stepped up to put his hand on Cole’s shoulder.
“Ah, son, I envy you, just starting out in your life together. I remember that feeling. You think you might stop breathing if she isn’t in the room.”
“That’s funny,” I interjected. “That’s exactly what you said to me last night, wasn’t it, Cole?”
And…blush times three. He’s probably going to scold me for that later, but it was totally worth it. Running my thumb down my cheek, I pointed out his embarrassment, and his eyes shot me a very clear “shut-up” look. Unable to resist, I gave him a quick wink before his eyes went down to the ground.
“Well, who could blame him, when he has such a beautiful and sweet wife as my little angel Camdyn? Come on inside, all of you.” He turned and walked into the house, and I was the first to follow him through the door. Glancing back at Charlie, I noticed that he was taking in his surroundings, sweeping his eyes over every inch of the walls, looking for something familiar. When he didn’t find what he was searching for, his eyes lit on me nervously. Giving him a slight smile, I followed Grandpa into the sitting room and waited until he found himself a chair, claiming a spot next to him while Cole and Charlie sat across from us on the couch. Silence continued for a couple of seconds as the two Charlies looked at one another, and I began to feel a little nervous for them.
“Do you want me to get you anything, Grandpa?” I piped up, earning a quizzical look from Cole.
“That’s very sweet of you,” Grandpa told me with a smile. “I made some coffee just a bit ago – maybe Charlie and Cole would like some?”
“Do you like your coffee black?” I asked him, to which he nodded.
“Don’t burn yourself,” Charlie ordered, “and try not to make a mess.” Putting my hands on my hips, I stared sullenly at my brother.
“Honestly, Charlie, I’m not five years old,” I insisted.
“Sorry,” he stated, shaking his head with a slight smile. “I’m still trying to reset myself after yesterday.” He turned to look at Grandpa then, shrugging his shoulders. “Camdyn can be a bit of a handful.”
Without waiting for a response, I turned and marched myself into the kitchen. Finding the coffee pot was no problem, but I looked through six cabinets before I managed to find the mugs, and then I poured a cup for Grandpa and carried it to him as gracefully as possible, trying very hard not to prove Charlie right. I managed to make it to his chair without any m
ishaps, and when he thanked me, I simply turned to my brother and stuck out my tongue at him.
Returning to the kitchen, I poured some black coffee for Charlie, and then I checked out a sampling of gourmet coffee flavorings next to the coffee maker. Grandpa didn’t seem the type to enjoy fruity coffees, so I presumed they were Hannah’s. Taking the one labeled “white Russian,” I dumped a little in Cole’s mug and swirled it around a bit with the end of my finger. It only dawned on me after I was already pinky-deep in the black liquid that it might have burned me as Charlie pointed out earlier, but by that time it was too late, and it was only mildly hot. No permanent damage done – just a little discomfort. Popping my finger in my mouth, I pondered whether I liked that coffee flavor, and decided that it wasn’t my thing. Emitting a sigh, I grabbed both of the mugs and walked back towards the gentlemen, carefully watching my feet.
“Thanks,” Charlie muttered, taking his coffee with both hands. I handed Cole’s mug to him as well, and he met my eyes as he took it from me. Settling back down next to Grandpa’s chair, I shot Charlie a smug look to make sure he realized that I did not do something clumsy.
“What did you do to my coffee?” Cole wondered with a puzzled expression.
“Do you like it?” I asked sincerely. “I found some coffee flavoring next to the coffee pot.”
“Hannah likes those,” Grandpa inserted. “She’s always trying to put something or other in my coffee, telling me to try new things, but when she’s not here, I always sneak in the plain black version.”
“That sounds like Charlie,” I stated. “His wife won’t let him have caffeine, so he has to sneak his coffee, too.”
“We Charlies have that in common, then,” Grandpa said with a smile as he rested his mug on the coffee table. “Hannah doesn’t like me to have caffeine – she says it’s not good for me. I suppose if I’ve lived eighty-one years drinking the stuff, though, it would have gotten me by now, don’t you think?”
“I would imagine so,” Charlie agreed with a chuckle.
“Hannah’s at work?” I surmised. “What does she do?”
“She’s a paralegal at a law firm,” Grandpa said, leaning back as he rested his hands on the arms of his chair. “After high school, she helped me at the store for a couple years. I had a hardware store – did I tell you that before? Anyway, when I decided to retire and sell the place, she worked herself through college. She really wanted to go on to become a lawyer, but then the trouble started with Isabel, and she refused to leave me here alone. She’s a good girl, Hannah.”
Hannah, who might be my sister.
Stop it, Camdyn. Worry about that later.
Grandpa and Charlie began talking about life in St. Louis, and working as a pharmacist, and Trina. When Charlie brought up little Cooper, Grandpa was genuinely excited to find out that he had a great-grandson, and very interested in the pictures Charlie produced on his phone. Cole and I sat politely listening to their conversation, but I was having a difficult time concentrating. Truth be told, my mind kept wandering to Hannah.
If Hannah was my sister, which I wasn’t convinced about one way or the other decisively in my mind, we were practically opposites. Spreading my wings was all I had done for the last few years, until I very recently decided to find some roots. Hannah had her roots so firmly planted, she couldn’t spread her wings at all. When the difficult times had come for me to take responsibility, I bolted; Hannah, not so much. She gave up her own life to take on Grandpa’s troubles.
I didn’t see any resemblance physically between myself and Hannah, really. It was firmly established through a lifetime of unwanted comments that I looked like Rita, and I didn’t see that same similarity in Hannah. If I tried hard enough, I could make her look a little like Charlie, but not any more or less than a random person on the street with the same coloring.
After about an hour, Grandpa suggested we retire to the back yard, and I followed the boys outside. Immediately upon sitting down, we were introduced to Milky, a long-haired white cat who couldn’t keep its eyes off Cole. It circled his chair three times, and when it finally leapt onto his lap and settled down contentedly, I couldn’t help but laugh. He didn’t appear to think it was quite as funny, but he was hesitant to push it back to the ground in front of Grandpa. So, as Charlie and Grandpa had a conversation about Grandpa’s hardware business, Cole sat resolutely with that fat ball of fur cuddled against him. The only time my laughter got the better of me was when he held his pinky up to his mouth and told me he wanted one million dollars. It was fairly obvious that it was some sort of movie reference, although I totally did not get it, but his attempt at an accent was still hilarious, along with that cat’s insistence upon making him uncomfortable.
“Grandpa?!” I heard a voice call from the back door of the house as it was opened a crack. Hannah stepped out onto the deck, looking very polished in her cream colored blouse and black pencil skirt, hair lightly curled and hanging around her face.
“Yes, Hannah, we’re out here,” Grandpa stated the obvious. Charlie rose and stood next to Hannah, giving her a slight smile. “This is Camdyn’s brother, Charlie.”
“It’s nice to meet you,” she said haltingly, as Charlie extended his hand. She took it as Charlie continued to stare at her curiously.
“You as well,” he finally said, glancing over at me. Cole managed to take that brief focus on Hannah as the opportune moment to rid himself of the cat, shooing it off his lap and brushing at his clothes.
“I was just thinking about taking the kids out to lunch,” Grandpa offered. “Are you interested, Hannah?”
“I don’t know, Grandpa, I just came home to find the Blair file. I must have forgotten to put it back in my briefcase last night.”
“Maybe tonight, then? I’m sure Meg will want to meet Charlie, too.”
“Sure, Grandpa, whatever you want,” Hannah sighed. “I’ve got to get back to work. It was nice to see you all.”
With that, Hannah was back inside and Charlie was staring at me as though I had sprouted a third arm. After shooting a couple quizzical looks at him with the biggest eyes I could muster and obtaining no response, I gave up for the time being. Instead, I merely listened to Grandpa tell a story about the nice family who had purchased his hardware store.
When we finally got up to prepare for lunch, I was following Grandpa through the door when Charlie grabbed my elbow and pulled me back.
“What, Charlie?” I whispered forcefully.
“I thought you said Hannah was adopted,” he said quietly.
“Yeah, and?”
“And, if her hair was lighter and she was three inches shorter, you could pass for sisters.” My breath caught in my throat, but I shook my head at him solemnly and walked inside, intent on keeping my suspicions to myself for the time being.
-§-
Later that afternoon Bill called my husband, informing him that he would like to take Cole and Charlie to the Phillies game with Grandpa that evening. Not only did the traitor say yes, but he enticed Charlie to join him – without much arm twisting, I might add. Meg was tickled pink, because that meant she could take the girls to watch some community theater production for charity that she had planned to drag Bill to that evening. When I asked what girls she was referencing, she said Hannah and Maureen, of course.
Ah, Maureen. I can hardly contain my excitement.
Never mind the fact that I had nothing with me to wear except cutoff shorts and jogging clothes – Meg would let me borrow anything I wanted from her closet. It was a lovely offer, if you didn’t factor in the knowledge that Meg was generally wearing long, flowy skirts. Number one, whatever I wore would be dragging the ground, because height was not one of my best attributes. Number two, since I already had a propensity to trip over nonexistent objects, the thought of having fabric sucking at my ankles brought a general sense of panic to my heart. Left without a choice, though, I simply allowed the boys to drive me over to Meg’s wearing my denim cutoffs, knowing that my residence
in them would be short-lived.
Upon our arrival at Meg’s, and after I was thoroughly pawed over by Tory, I was directed to a huge walk-in closet, where I stood for a couple of moments staring emptily into space. Finally, I began thumbing through the skirts and dresses, sliding each one to the side and glancing at it before moving to the next. The only thing that looked like it would come near fitting me on the length was a shorter skirt that really looked like a crinoline petticoat of some kind, and I wasn’t going to be caught dead wearing that in public. I had all but given up when I heard my name behind me, and suddenly Hannah was there, looking very Audrey Hepburn in her black dress with her hair piled on top of her head.
“Darn it, you look cute, Hannah,” I complained. “I’m going to look like a frumpy old goat.”
“No, you won’t,” she insisted, laughing a little at my outburst. “I brought you something to wear.” She handed me a black garment bag, and I hung it on the closet door and unzipped it, taking a peek. It was cherry red, with an asymmetrical draped neckline and a corset-style waist featuring a little leather belt.
“Va-va-voom,” I muttered stupidly as I pulled it out of the bag. “Cole’s going to regret going to this Phillies game for sure.” With another laugh, Hannah left me alone in the closet, and I hastily pulled off my shorts and t-shirt to slide that dress over my head, pausing to look in the mirror as I pulled up on the zipper. Fluffing my curls a bit about my shoulders, I grabbed the shoes she brought from the bottom of the bag and balanced myself against the wall so I could place my feet inside. They were strappy black heels, and they were nearly a whole size too big, but I buckled them as tight as they would go and said a little prayer that I wouldn’t destroy myself or that dress. Satisfied that I looked pretty good, I left the closet to rejoin the others.
“You guys about ready?” I heard Uncle Bill ask as I entered the door frame, watching Charlie reach down to help Grandpa up from his chair.
A Reason to Forget (The Camdyn Series Book 3) Page 19
