Page 64 of Just Like This
Chapter Twenty-Six
Cami
To:[emailprotected]
From:[emailprotected]
Subject: Safe & Sound
My Cami? Yes, you are. My email access is limited, so feel free to flood my inbox but know I’ll only be able to email once a week.
I miss you more than words can say and more than my fingers can type. The taste of you still lingers on my tongue, and your scent is faint, but it still covers me completely. I’m hungry for you, and I know that nothing will satisfy my craving for you until I’m back home.
I’m finally on base and safe, for now. I’ll be here for a few weeks before going out on patrol. When I have that information, I’ll try to tell you, so you don’t worry.
How is your dad? More importantly, how are you? I know this can’t be easy, and I wish more than anything that I was there to take away some of your pain.
Stay strong.
Yours, G
* * *
It took foreverto get that first email from Garrett. Almost two days after I sent my email I finally received his, and I was positively giddy. Not even a run-in with my mother could ruin my mood.
“You can’t avoid me forever,” she scolded me when we met in the driveway. I was headed out to meet Palmer and discuss selling my condo.
“I’m going to try,” I replied coldly.
“Cami,” she said, clearly frustrated. “Will you just stop and talk to me?”
“Fine. One question. Why did you have to leave on my birthday?”
She closed her eyes and sighed. “I’m sorry for leaving on your birthday. That was wrong of me. The day you turned eighteen, all I could think about was my own freedom. I was selfish.”
“Do you even realize that I haven’t been able to celebrate my birthday for almost eight years? This was the first year.”
“I don’t know what else to say, but I’m sorry.”
“Well, unfortunately, that’s not good enough for me.” She had enough of my time for now. I got in my car and left to meet Palmer.
It was hard for me not to get stuck in my own head and start to wonder if I was being too harsh, too unforgiving. Maybe I shouldn’t let eighteen years of wonderful memories be erased by one life-changing decision.
My foul mood carried over into my meeting with Palmer and the real estate agent that he found to help me sell my condo. The agent, Miranda, was a perfect fit. I liked her immediately and felt confident in my decision to have her list the condo.
Before I left the restaurant where I’d met up with them, Palmer stopped me. “Hey, what’s wrong?” he asked, his concern etched on his face.
“My mom cornered me in the driveway,” I told him, my voice filled with irritation. We were standing outside on the patio of the restaurant, but I had a feeling the conversation was going to last a bit longer, so I sat back down. “She wants me to talk to her.”
“And you don’t want to?”
“No. I want to be angry.”
“But haven’t you been angry for eight years?”
I balled up a napkin and threw it at him. “Stop being logical, Palmer! Yes, I have been angry with her for eight years, but it was easy to ignore because she was gone. Now she’s right there, in my face, asking for forgiveness.”
“You’re losing one parent, Cami. Is it really worth it to lose both of them? Wouldn’t you rather have your mother back in your life?”
