Page 5 of Just Like This
Chapter Three
Cami
“So what did you thinkof Jackson and Garrett?” I asked Valerie on our way home.
Garrett was all I could think about. I easily pictured his messy brown hair and dark brown eyes, but after Palmer introduced us, he seemed to vanish. Occasionally, our eyes would meet across through the crowd, but those moments were fleeting. When I asked Palmer about him, he just shook his head and said, “Garrett can be a moody asshole.”
Jackson was entirely different. He was a social butterfly, mingling with all of the guests. He seemed to thrive in the crowd while Garrett hid in the corners.
“I didn’t really meet Garrett,” Valerie answered. “But Jackson was nice. You and Palmer seemed pretty cozy the entire night. Did he make a move?”
“No. There were no moves. Nothing happened between us tonight, and it never will,” I said a little too defensively.
Was I excited that Palmer was home? Absolutely. He was my best friend, and not only was I happy that he was home for good, but I was also glad he came home alive. I wanted to celebrate that with him tonight, but apparently, it looked like we were a little too cozy. If Valerie thought so, then it was certain his mother did too.
“Maybe he’ll propose over breakfast,” Valerie teased.
I groaned. “Please, stop.” But breakfast meant spending more time with Garrett, maybe getting to know him.God, I wanted to know him.
“We don’t have to stay for long, right?” Valerie asked me.
“No, we don’t. I want to spend a few hours at the hospital with Dad,” I informed her.
“You don’t have to go to the hospital every day, Cami.”
“Yes, I do,” I state firmly. After our mother left, my father became my whole world, and now, he needed me more than ever. I would go to the hospital every day because he didn’t deserve to fight alone.
When we arrived home, my body still hummed with excitement from the party and from meeting Garrett. The energy propelled me through a late-night baking session that resulted in two dozen blueberry scones.
I glanced up from my baking to see Val sitting at the kitchen table with her laptop open. I knew what she was doing; she was searching her email, hoping to hear from her fiancé, Dominic. My heart broke for my sister. Dominic was deployed, and their almost daily communication had slowly dwindled to nothing. A few times, I had caught Valerie crying, and I wondered how she could do it. She and Dominic were high school sweethearts, and he’d proposed before he left on his first deployment. Their relationship had endured deployment after deployment, but every time Dominic left, Valerie became more withdrawn.
* * *
The next morning,the exciting possibility of seeing Garrett again propelled me to speed through my usual morning routine. As I finished getting ready, I noticed Valerie was unusually quiet. Her shower wasn’t on, and I didn’t hear her telltale humming.
“Let’s go, slowpoke,” I yelled at Valerie, who still hadn’t gotten out of bed.
I searched my closet for the perfect outfit and picked a short floral sundress. I braided my wet hair and applied minimal makeup because this was just breakfast.
“You go without me,” Valerie moaned from her bedroom. From the tone of her voice, she was in a foul mood. Maybe it was our conversation from last night. “I’m going to call Dominic’s mom to see if she’s heard from him.”
“Good luck,” I told her, then headed down to the kitchen to pack the muffins before leaving.
I arrived at the Graysons’ early, but Palmer was awake and greeted me warmly when he opened the door. “Are those blueberry scones?” He eyed the pink pastry boxes I held in my hands.
“Yep. Your mom asked me to make them.”
I thrust them into his hands, and Palmer groaned appreciatively. “God, I missed these.”
“Thank God you’re here, Cami! I could use another set of hands in the kitchen.” Lucinda appeared in the doorway, wiping her hands in a dish towel that was tucked into the waistband of her apron. She looked at Palmer and me, and a familiar twinkle in her eye told me she was picturing her son in a tuxedo and me in a white dress.
Despite my silent plea for help from Palmer, his mother dragged me by the hand to the kitchen and assigned me the task of assembling Palmer’s favorite breakfast casserole. There was also a less-than-obvious wink in my direction from Lucinda, which made my stomach churn. She was totally incorrigible.
I was elbow-deep in hash browns and cheese when I heard male voices. Palmer’s was easy to distinguish, and I knew that Garrett was also one of the voices. I quickly washed and dried my hands before walking over toward the doorway.
“You’re leaving? Really?” Palmer sounded pissed, and one look around the corner into the foyer told me why. Garrett stood there, his bags at his feet, ready to leave.
“I’m sorry, Palmer. Really. Last night, I just freaked. I couldn’t handle all of the strangers,” Garrett explained. My heart ached when I saw the anguish written all over his face.
