Page 14 of In Her Arms

“Cam.”

“I’m being serious! She was horribly rude, demanding—jeez, you said three? Three other people have walked out? I don’t blame them, honestly.”

“You saidwas?” Deborah asked after a moment.

Now it was Cameron’s turn to sit in silence. She hadn’t realized just how much that little slip would reveal. She hadn’t even thought about it. She felt likethatversion of Goldie was a relic. Deborah, evidently, didn’t know that.

“She’s grown on me. I think I’ve gotten through to her, but it took ages. I’m telling you right now if I wasn’t used to this shit by now, I would have walked off too.”

“And you would have been right,” said Deborah, her voice understanding. She had the energy of a woman who had a weight taken off her shoulders.

Cameron felt bad about getting annoyed. Deborah was her friend, too, and she wouldn’t have asked Cameron if she knew she wasn’t able to handle it.

“I’m sorry for not warning you,” Deborah said, and through the tinny line of the phone speaker, Cameron could tell she meant it.

“I’m sorry for getting annoyed,” she replied. She was relieved more than anything else. She didn’t want a falling out with Deborah—or anybody else from the Indigo Lounge for that matter. They were family.

“So you’re not going to quit before your contract is up?”

“No, I’m happy to keep at it for the last few weeks.”

Her last few weeks with Goldie. She supposed she should at least pretend to be professional about it, but the truth was she was going to miss her, there was no way around it. In between the bickering (which had lessened) and the sex (which was incredible), she found herself growing fond of her. Knowing her usual lunch order, how she liked her tea, seeing some antiques she had brought from home—it all felt very intimate. Goldie had gotten to know her as well, like the frankly ridiculous story of how she got her inheritance and her life as a free-roaming wild woman before Esme caught her and stuck her behind the bar.

She wanted to bring Goldie to the Indigo Lounge. She wanted to buy her an Old Fashioned and dance with her and take her shopping. She wanted to lie on the beach with her, foster a puppy, introduce her to Esme and the others..

Fuck.She wanted to settle down.

That was an insane thought. She had barely known the woman for a month and had spent at least half of that time bitterly hating her guts.

She was pulled out of her thought spiral by Deborah. “Cam, is something going on?”

Well, there went any hope she had of being subtle. She had to figure out how much Deborah knew first before saying anything at all.

“Deb, what do you know?.”

“I’m not sure I can tell you,” Deborah said.

So she knows.She knew she had to choose her next words carefully.

“And if I already know?” Cameron had responded.

“Shit, she actuallytold you?”Deborah sounded like she had been blindsided.

“Yeah, she did. I think she...picked up on me. It’s not hard.” Cameron responded.

“Were you in your best lesbian attire?” Deborah seemed skeptical.

“No, first day in her trailer. But are you kidding?”

“Yeah, I get you.”

“Anyway, I wasn’t gonna stroll in with my carabiner on my belt loop. When did she tell you?” Cameron asked.”

She was glad Deborah knew. She was glad it was Deborah instead of somebody else.

“An industry party a few years ago,” Deborah replied, and judging by the way her voice went quiet, Cameron could tell she was trying not to be overheard. “We were both pretty drunk, and I was out at the time;she wasn’t. She just kinda started talking, and before I knew it, we were at the bar together drinking whiskey and talking shit. That’s why I was so concerned when I got that call from Steve, her agent. I knew it was because she was in some deep shit.”

“I guess that makes sense.”

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