Page 54 of Just Like This
“Cami, I really need to speak with you,” Alicia insisted, moving toward us.
I stepped protectively between Cami and her mother, holding tightly to Cami’s hand. “You need to give her space,” I said firmly through clenched teeth.
I pulled her through the small crowd that had gathered and headed toward the front door. It didn’t matter that it would be a long while before I saw Palmer again or that tomorrow, Jackson and I were headed into unknown territory. All I cared about was protecting Cami.
“I’m not going to push you,” I told Cami once we were in the safety of my rental car. “But I think there’s more to the story that you need to tell me.”
“She left on my birthday,” Cami blurted. That was unexpected. “We were supposed to go to Seattle for the day while Valerie and Dad were at work. When I came downstairs that morning, she was waiting. Her bags were by the door.”
“Fuck,” I hissed, slamming my fist against the steering wheel. We were still sitting in Palmer’s driveway, and I wanted to march back in there and knock some sense into Alicia Sorenson.
“I stopped celebrating my birthday that year and haven’t celebrated it in seven years.” She paused for a moment before adding, “I guess it’s been eight years now. I just had a birthday.”
“When was your birthday?”
“It was the night of the Coldplay concert.”
“Are you kidding me? That was only a few days ago! Why didn’t you say anything?”
“I just told you; I don’t celebrate my birthday.”
“Well, we’re going to celebrate tonight then,” I told her with a wink as we left Palmer’s house.
We drove into Tacoma where I arranged for us to spend the night in a hotel. Tacoma didn’t have a lot to offer in terms of luxury hotels, so I picked the nicest hotel in the area. I tried not to think about the fact that Cami’s mother chose her birthday to leave. It didn’t sit well with me, and even though Cami no longer wanted to celebrate her birthday, I felt like her mother took away more than just their relationship. I thought about the concert and how Cami danced and twirled and sang and realized that we unknowingly celebrated her birthday.
One glance over at the beautiful woman with the sad eyes sitting in the passenger seat and I was committed to giving her the perfect birthday.
