Page 76 of Endlessly Yours
“I’ll be right back,” I said, pushing my hair back from my face as the wind shoved it forward.
“Be careful out there, I think the lightning is coming pretty close.”
Even as Wyatt spoke, an arc of lightning cracked over the sky, and I cursed.
“Cameron!” I called out.
But she didn’t seem to hear. Instead, she kept walking towards the field, and my pulse raced.
“Cameron!”
I ran past the gate and towards the little girl that I loved with all my heart and reached for her. She whirled away from me, and my eyes widened.
“What’s wrong, baby?”
“Everything’s wrong. Mom’s not here. She promised she would be here for this.”
I blinked at the venom in her tone, wondering where it had come from.
“For what, baby? You know she would’ve been here if she could. What’s wrong?”
“Today’s the day that Mom said I’d be a woman, and yet she’s not here. She promised she would help me. And I don’t know what I’m doing.”
It all clicked then, the mood swings, the paleness of her face earlier.
“Oh, baby. You started your period?” I asked softly.
“Yes. And I don’t know what I’m doing. I know Mom talked about it, and so did the school, but it’s stupid. Why do I have to do this?”
I shook my head even as I reached for her. “It is stupid. I hate that it’s every month. But you’re not alone in this. I’m here. Let’s talk about it.”
“Every month?” she asked, eyes wide. “I don’t want to do this every month.”
“It’s not fair that not everybody has to deal with this for sure. But we’ll handle it. Let’s get you back home and taken care of. Maybe get you something to drink and some Ibuprofen? You think that will help?”
“I don’t know. I just want it to stop. Because Mom promised she would be here, and she’s not. She had to go off and die because she and Dad wanted a weekend alone. And I hate that she’s gone. I hate her.”
“Oh, Cameron. You don’t hate her. You can hate everything that’s happened, but you don’t hate your mother.”
“You don’t know what I feel. She was supposed to be here. She was supposed to help me with this. And I love you. I know that you’re great, and I hate the fact that I keep yelling at you. But I can’t seem to stop. Every time that I want to say something right, it comes out wrong, and then I’m a bitch. And I don’t want to be a bitch. Mom would hate me being mean to you. Because you have her face. You’re just like Mom, but you’re not. And I just want my mom.” She burst out into tears then, as the wind continued to ramp up around us. I pulled her into my arms, even though she tried to tug away.
“It’s okay. No, actually, I’m wrong. Nothing’s okay. But I love you. We all love you. Your mom still loves you. I know that she’s not here, and I miss my sister every single day. But she wouldn’t want us to yell at each other or to feel bad that we miss her. So let’s get inside before it starts raining, and let me take care of you all, okay? I know I’m not your mom, but I am your aunt. So let me love you like your aunt, okay?”
“I miss my mom. But I love you too.”
My heart swelled as I held her close.
“I love you so much, kid.” Tears slid down my cheeks as Cameron cried in my arms.
Lightning cracked again and then two more times in rapid succession.
Shivering, I looked up and realized that the storm was now overhead, and the lightning was far too close. My hair stood on end again, but this time, it had nothing to do with Brooks’s in-laws.
“We need to get inside, Cameron. Now,” I said, and she must have heard the urgency in my tone.
Cameron looked up and nodded as another arc of lightning slammed into the breaker near us.
I pulled at Cameron, running before the lightning even finished its arc, the breaker bursting into flames, and then everything seemed to happen at once.
