Page 17 of Brides and Brothers
Chapter 8
Aiden
Aiden tossed his blanket offhimself and grabbed his phone from his desk. It was a quarter after three in the morning. He set his phone down and rubbed his eyes. He couldn’t stop thinking about Camille. Was he crazy? They’d been dating for a week and half now, and he could already feel his priorities shifting. He was not usually so emotionally affected. When he’d decided to look for a potential relationship, he hadn’t expected Camille to show up on his doorstep with a pan of banana bread or to click so perfectly with her. Now his brain and heart were conflicting to the point that sleep eluded him.
He stumbled through the dark out of the master bedroom and into the kitchen, filled a cup with cold water, and drank it in a few gulps. Things had gone far better than he’d anticipated. Camille fed him dinner in her apartment almost every night, and they talked late into the evening afterward. It was no wonder he couldn’t stop thinking about her. Maybe working for a few hours would help clear his mind.
He trudged to his office, stopping just inside the doorway with a groan. It was already Sunday. He had committed long ago not to work on Sunday. He flipped on the light and sank into the chair by the door instead of his seat by the desk. Instantly, he pictured Camille sitting in his exact spot. He looked up at the scrapbook on the file cabinet. What had she seen in there that had made her smile?
Pulling the book down onto his lap, he flipped to the first page. He read through some of the printed emails, alternately laughing and cringing at some of the memories. He followed his transition from college to his volunteer service, which had started in Michigan—an unexpected detour while he had waited for his visa for Brazil. He turned the page, and his pulse raced as his eyes landed on a picture. Amazement flooded through him. Why hadn’t he remembered this?
He slid the cardstock page out of the slipcover and carefully peeled the five-by-seven photo from its place in the center. He held it up to the light. There was no mistaking it. It was him and Camille. He’d remembered her as Cam since that was what was written on her volunteer name tag. He had worn a name tag too, but it had only listed his last name. Camille had recognized him, but Aiden hadn’t registered anything.
They both looked like babies. His finger traced Camille’s smiling face. He had done his best to eliminate romantic thoughts toward her during their service, determined to focus on his volunteer work, and he hadn’t even asked for her information to keep in contact with her afterward. Even so, he had been attracted to her cheerful nature, her inquisitive mind, and her mind-numbing smile. All these years later, and he was falling for her all over again.
This wasn’t how it was supposed to be. Life had played him a complicated hand. He wasn’t just an older brother; he was both mom and dad to a bunch of young adults who needed him to be on his A game. He helped run a farm and had a full-time software business. Grant was in Iraq, Flynn was as sullen as an angry teenager, Easton and Benson were lonely, and Cade and Daegan were drifting without purpose. It didn’t seem possible for him to be emotionally responsible for all of them and still carve space into his heart for a woman.
By the time the sun came up, Aiden was showered and dressed in slacks and a tie for church, but there was somewhere else he needed to go first. He climbed into his jeep and drove until he reached Camille’s apartment complex. He parked and pulled his phone out of his pocket. Even though what he was about to do made sense, it still took an insane amount of guts.
Camille
Camille scrolled through a food blog, searching for the perfect homemade spice rub for the roast she planned on serving Aiden for dinner. The screen image changed to Aiden’s contact, and her ringtone blared to life. She quickly swiped to answer his call, hoping the noise hadn’t woken any of her sleeping roommates. Putting the phone to her ear, she said hello.
“I hope I didn’t wake you.”
She could get used to hearing his smooth voice first thing in the morning. “No, just getting ready to eat some breakfast. I’m planning on hitting a church service in a few hours.” Without even second-guessing herself like she normally would, she asked, “Would you like to join me?”
“Church sounds great. Actually, I’m in the parking lot of your complex. Any chance we could talk for a few minutes? You can bring your breakfast.”
Camille fell quiet for a moment, silently reviewing their time together the night before. Had she said or done something to put Aiden off? They’d laughed the whole evening, but more than that, there’d been plenty of looks—the kind two people shared when they justgoteach other. Or maybe it wasn’t her—maybe Paul had taken a turn for the worst. That thought didn’t make her feel any better. “Sure. I’ll be down in five.”
After a quick trip to the bathroom, where she tamed her messy bun with a few bobby pins and brushed her teeth, she hurried to the kitchen and grabbed two yogurts, two spoons, and her bag of granola.
Aiden must’ve been lost in his thoughts when Camille knocked on the passenger window. His head snapped up, and he reached over and opened the door for her to slide in. She settled herself in the passenger seat and wondered what Aiden thought of her sloppy attire—athletic pants and a sweatshirt—hoping the breakfast in her hands would sweeten her appeal. Even without makeup, though, she somehow earned one of his charming smiles.
“Good morning,” he said, his words a little hesitant.
“Is everything okay?” She tightened her hold on the cold yogurt in her hands.
Aiden forced a smile. “I wanted to discuss some things. Mind if we take a short drive? It feels weird to talk in a parking lot.”
She gave the go-ahead with a quick nod, and a few minutes later, after passing some alfalfa fields, Aiden pulled to a stop by a small grove of trees clustered at the corner of a farmer’s circle.
“This is a cool place,” Camille said. The view of the open fields and the Rocky Mountains cutting across the horizon was surreal and peaceful.
“My dad’s friend owns this farm. I want to plant some trees on a corner of one of our fields just like this, but since I haven’t done it yet, we’re going to borrow this spot for a few minutes. Jerry won’t mind.” He put his hands out to her. “May I?”
“Oh, sure.” She handed the breakfast supplies to him. Why wasn’t he meeting her eyes? She couldn’t read the situation.
Aiden grabbed a blanket from the back seat to add to the pile in his hands, then climbed out of the car. Camille was silent as she followed him from the car to a spot just beyond the trees, where they would be hidden from the road.
Once the blanket was spread out at the edge of the trees on the other side of a dirt road that trucks and tractors had paved, Camille sat with her legs crisscrossed on one side of the blanket. Aiden sat opposite her, pulling one knee up and draping his arm over it while he ate the yogurt Camille had brought for him.
“Thanks for breakfast. I hadn’t eaten yet this morning.”
Camille tilted her head. “Are you going to tell me what’s bothering you?”
Aiden licked his lips, clearly mulling over his words, then shifted his position so he was sitting parallel to Camille, with only a foot between them. “First, I need to show you something I discovered last night.”
