Page 76 of Sunny Skies Ahead
The bite of eggs I swallowed felt like ash in my mouth.
“How am I feeling?” I repeated, trying to find the words. “I’m feeling like my ex-husband who abused me for years is back in town for reasons I don’t want to know. I’m feeling like my mother is also back in town because God hates me. I’m feeling like I watched the only person I’ve had a crush on in recent history punch my ex in the face, and then I had a panic attack in the bar, because I’m spiraling into thoughts about how men are violent and I was stupid for ever thinking I had a chance for a normal life and a normal relationship.”
Connor blinked a few times, and even Abbie looked taken aback.
Way to go, Imogen.
“I’m sorry,” I said, pinching the bridge of my nose. “Thank you for letting me crash at your place last night, and for breakfast. I’m going to head home.”
“You know Kameron didn’t—”
“You should talk to him,” Connor cut her off gently. Before I could stand to leave, Abbie turned to whisper something I couldn’t understand. Connor shook his head placatingly. “I know what happened last night was probably shocking. Kameron doesn’t often get mad or show that side of himself, except for when it comes to the people he loves.”
The people he loves.
My stomach lurched again. “I—”
“You don’t have to say anything,” Connor said gently. “I’m just saying you should give him the chance to talk it out. Especially with the trip to Seattle.”
I groaned in despair. I’d almost forgotten about Seattle.
This was the worst possible timing for everything to break down.
“You are still planning to go to Seattle for the grant presentation, right?” Abbie asked, casting me a wary glance.
My answer was immediate.
“Yes,” I said. “Of course I’ll go to Seattle. But I’m not talking about last night. Thank you both again for letting me stay the night and for taking care of me during my. . . episode.” I waved a hand dismissively. “But I’d prefer to just let the past be in the past. There’s no sense in rehashing it.”
Connor looked about as convinced as I felt about the whole thing.
“What about Kameron?”
My heart squeezed.
“Kameron and I are friends,” I said, even though the statement felt like I was stabbing myself in the chest.
We were friends, but we were more than that too.
Connor and Abbie looked at each other, an entire conversation shared in a single glance.
This is exactly what I had been afraid of this whole time. Things were messy and awkward, and it was my fault. And the worst part was they didn’t even know the truth. They didn’t know that Kameron and I had been exploring things. They didn’t know about the conversations we’d had.
It was my fault for entering into something with Kameron that was never defined. I couldn’t categorize my relationship with Kameron in an Excel document. I couldn’t fit what we had between us into neat little boxes. And now that those boxes were overflowing with everything I couldn’t manage, my friends were being affected.
This tension would spill over into the grant presentation.
And if Winding Road lost their chance at the Warrior’s Grant because of last night, I would never forgive myself.
Chapter twenty-five
Kameron
It had been a long time since I’d allowed myself to get that angry.
I normally kept my feelings pretty close to my chest and didn’t let other people bother me. But the sight of Imogen’s ex-husband sitting at the bar, like he didn’t have a care in the world, unraveled something in me.
I knew now why he was so fidgety. It’s because he knew people at the bar would recognize him and he was trying to keep a low enough profile that someone didn’t start something before he had the chance to talk to Imogen.
