Page 18 of Brides and Brothers
He reached inside his jacket and pulled out the picture. He handed it to her, eager to see her reaction.
She took it in her hands, immediately recognizing her younger self, braces and spazzy buns on either side of her baby face. “No way. Where did you get this?” She studied the guy standing next to her in the picture—her first love, the man who’d started her on a path she couldn’t ever regret. Why did Aiden have this?
Aiden gave her a crooked smile. “That’s me standing next to you.”
Her eyes widened, and she stared from him to the picture. He was no longer a gangly kid with glasses, but sure enough, it was Aiden.
“Now you know why I look so familiar. I can hardly believe we were both in Detroit at the same time, working on the same humanitarian project. Now, all these years later, we’ve met again.”
She covered her mouth with her hand, excitement whirling with disbelief. “I should have seen it sooner. I only ever called you Peterson, but I just figured it was a common name. This is crazy.”
“I was supposed to be in Brazil, but my visa was delayed. Next thing I know, I’m spending a month volunteering in Detroit. I met you my last week there.”
She studied the image again. The red-brick exterior of the inner-city school behind them in the photo was nearly masked by their bodies, but they’d worked on the roof, interior painting, and landscaping. The streak of paint on her cheeks matched the smattering of dots on Aiden’s shirt. She glanced up at him, sure this couldn’t possibly mean the same thing to him as it did to her. “So you remember me?” Camille asked, tapping the picture with her finger.
“It’s been ten years since I’ve seen that picture, but it all came back to me when I saw it.” His voice grew nostalgic. “I was so anxious to dive into the impoverished areas of South America and serve the people, but I was also scared out of my mind. Going to Detroit helped prepare me for Brazil. It was the first time I felt, without question, that I was doing the right thing with my time.” He stared at the plaid pattern on the blanket. “I used to think about you and wonder what you were doing.”
When he brought his head up, she could barely see him through the tears swimming in her eyes. “I wouldn’t be teaching at a Christian college today if I hadn’t met you. You talked about God like He was your best friend. It blew my mind how someone as young as you could know without a doubt of His existence. Those conversations we had while we worked... they meant a lot to me.”
She blinked away the moisture in her eyes and ran a finger around the younger version of herself. “It was the best summer of my childhood. I flew there to be with my aunt, and she knew service was exactly what a teenager needed to get over herself. Of course, she couldn’t have planned for my crush on a boy who’d just graduated high school. I would have killed to have had this picture of us. Or any picture, really.” Camille’s voice caught, and she remembered his last words to her before he’d left Detroit. They seemed so ironic now. “You never said goodbye. Instead you said, ‘I’ll see you later.’”
“I remember.” Aiden put his hand softly over Camille’s. She turned her hand in his, and their fingers threaded together. Her hand was cold, and he rubbed her skin with his thumb. She marveled at the feeling the simple gesture evoked.
“I used to talk to you,” Camille said after a moment. “Praying didn’t come naturally to me, and it was easier to imagine you listening and talking to me until I got the hang of it.”
Aiden grinned, clearly amused. “What kinds of things did we talk about?”
Her eyelashes fluttered closed as she thought back to that time. “I told you about my complicated relationship with my mom, how lonely I was, my hopes for school and friends. I wasn’t comfortable sharing my problems with anyone else.”
“Did I say anything back?”
“You mostly listened. When you did talk, you always said the same thing: ‘I’ll see you later.’” A cool breeze sent goosebumps down her arms, and she shivered.
Aiden’s jaw tightened, his expression taking on his concern. “I’m sorry things were so hard for you. I wish I could have been there for you.”
She leaned toward him. “Do you think heaven had a hand in bringing us back together?”
Aiden gently brushed the stray hair behind her ear, his fingers lingering there. “I don’t know. It seems that way, doesn’t it?”
She pressed her eyes closed as Aiden played with the loose strands of her hair. Coming back to Cherish had felt like a default decision. Deep down, she’d felt abandoned, alone. But this was one of those moments when she was reminded that God put people in her life at a certain time for a reason. What had felt like a detour was actually Him aligning her path with His.
She opened her eyes, eager to understand what Aiden was feeling. Gone was his usual confident smile. He seemed especially somber.
“Didn’t you want to tell me something?” she asked, her stomach tightening. They weren’t on the same page, were they? Maybe finding the picture had altered his feelings for her, turning her back into the clumsy teenage girl who had followed him around. “It’s fine if you don’t want to date anymore,” she blurted. “I understand.”
Aiden squeezed her hand, but the intensity of his gaze only heightened. “I don’t think you do.” He moved his hand from her hair to her cheek, caressing her skin, and slid his hand to the back of her neck.
Her breathing slowed, and her heart raced. She leaned forward as his lips found hers. The warm touch filled an ache she hadn’t known she’d been carrying, and the longer they stayed connected, the farther and farther away her worries faded. He released her hand, and his arms pulled her closer, her own arms drawing up his chest and around his neck. For a quiet moment, time seemed to hold still, and it was just him and her with the whole world before them.
Aiden pulled back first, his affectionate smile melting her insides.
Camille blinked a few times, her breath a little unsteady. As her thoughts cleared, her excitement was suddenly colored by remorse. Being with Aiden would be a whole lot easier if she could stay in Cherish. He needed to know about her housing dilemma. “Listen, I like you... a lot...”
“Good, because I like you a lot.”
She bit back a grin. “I’m glad, really I am, but I’m having some housing issues. If a decent apartment doesn’t open up for rent, I’m going to have to move and teach remotely. I can only be in student housing until I turn twenty-seven in January.”
“January?” Aiden repeated. He stared at her. “Where would you go?”
