Page 51 of Brides and Brothers
Camille took her hand off her head and tried not to glare. It took all her willpower to hold back the retort that was on the tip of her tongue. He was doing this for them, after all. It was her job to be the supportive wife, even if she didn’t feel at all supportive. “Yeah, I’m fine.”
“Good,” Aiden said after a moment, “because I can’t bear to see you cry.” He dipped down and kissed Camille long and hard. It filled up all the empty recesses of her heart until he pulled away. “I’ll miss you.”
Camille wrapped her arms around his neck and wondered if she had the strength to keep him there. “Please train them as fast as you can. I don’t want to be left alone with all your brothers for very long. I didn’t marry them. I married you.”
Aiden’s lips found hers again, but they didn’t stay long enough. “Yes, you did marry me, and hard work never hurt any couple. If we’re on the same page, this will make us stronger. Every day you can call and tell me every detail about your classes and how annoying my brothers are. I’ll be in California working hard so I can not only report back to you but hurry home again.”
“You’re right. If we’re both busy, we won’t miss each other too much.”
“That’s the spirit. When this is all over, I promise you a weekend getaway. Deal?”
Camille bit her lip. “Deal.”
The drive back to Cherish from the Bozeman airport was torturous. When it came to hormones, the body was unpredictable. Nausea wasn’t very common in hypothyroidism, but it had been known to happen. With Camille’s anxiety heightened after saying goodbye, combined with the car ride, she had to pull over to throw up on the side of the highway.Gross.She’d narrowly missed her shoes. It was definitely going to be one of those days. Once home again, she called her doctor and set an appointment for the following week. There was no use putting off the inevitable.
Still feeling under the weather, Camille commenced a sit-down activity to preserve her energy. She pulled out a pad of paper and a pencil and started brainstorming the menu for their Halloween party that weekend. She had little desire to act as hostess with Aiden out of the picture. At least Flynn’s band would take care of the music, and the rest of the brothers had agreed to hang up the decorations. That had left her with the food, which was exactly what she preferred. It was too bad she couldn’t get her meds adjusted before the party.
Instead of coming up with anything exciting for her menu, however, she doodled a score chart on her paper. The lemonade the other night had been a good idea. Easton had seen Emma—a point for each of them. Oddly enough, Easton’s aloof demeanor hadn’t deterred Emma’s hopes. Two points for Emma. According to Camille’s personal theory, sometimes a guy needed a reminder that a girl was still available.
She awarded points for Benson next. He had tossed the ball to Daisha, which had led to the two of them playing a little one-on-one while the guys chugged their lemonade. Of course, had the brothers sipped their drinks, Benson and Daisha could have played together for more than two minutes.
Camille doodled several hearts. Daisha still hadn’t realized Benson was better for her than Derek. But would she? Daisha hadn’t exactly liked the idea of Camille and Aiden, but she deserved a point for being respectful. Camille needed to be supportive of her relationship with Derek. She penciled in arrows through her hearts. She wanted everyone to be happy, whether they were happy with each other or with someone else.
Pushing her notebook aside, she flipped open her laptop and pulled up her Pinterest page. It was time to get down to business. She spent the next fifteen minutes getting her Halloween menu together.
Her phone buzzed as she finished up. She could hardly believe the name on the caller ID.Strange.She pushed the accept button and put the phone to her ear.
“Hello?” Her voice echoed in her head, her heart thumping hard.
“Camille, this is your mother. Just checking in on you.”
Camille clenched her teeth. She found it ironic her mother felt the need to introduce herself. And she never simply called to check on Camille. In fact, it was rare for her to call at all. “Oh. Thanks,” Camille said. “We’re doing fine.”
“How was the wedding?”
Annoyance flared inside Camille. The wedding was a month ago, and her mother was just now calling? She steadied her voice. “Very simple but memorable.”
Her mother fell silent, so she added, “Best day of my life.”
“How is Amy?”
Wow. Her mother had the gall to not even comment on her own daughter’s wedding. “I haven’t talked to her this week, but I plan to see her at our Halloween party.”
“I didn’t realize you were hosting a party. That doesn’t sound like you.”
Camille slammed her laptop closed. Her mother didn’t know her at all. “Actually, I like to plan social gatherings. I’m planning a menu right now for two hundred and fifty people. Desserts and appetizers only, of course.” She winced. Why was she trying to impress her mother?
“I hope you remember something from your high school catering days to pull off something of that magnitude. Do you have a crew hired?”
“Volunteers.” Camille drummed her fingers on the table.
“How quaint,” her mother replied. “Am I right to assume this is a church-related activity?”
“A lot of the guests attend our local church. Aiden is happy to host a nonalcoholic event to support good, clean fun for the college crowd.” She wasn’t going to tell her mother that Aiden wouldn’t exactly be attending.
“If you need any counsel, you can call me tomorrow evening. And if you hear from Amy, let me know. She hasn’t been answering her phone all morning.”
Unlike with Camille, her mother was diligent in communicating with Amy. “She’s probably in class. I don’t think she gets out until five tonight.”
