by Bree Cariad
Cami laughed. “He’s wonderful, he truly is. I screwed up big time a year ago when things happened with Damian and Jerod never lets me get down on myself about it.” She grimaced and rubbed her backend. “He really doesn’t let me get down on myself.”
Sputtering a laugh, Stephanie grinned. Her father hadn’t been big on spanking, but she had heard of it often enough from her friends. “I don’t know how you handle that.” Cami and Dora had always been happier after a disciplinary action by their fathers and Stephanie had always craved that kind of peace. In fact, she now knew that was what she’d been trying in her way to achieve those last six months with her father, pushing him further and further, trying to get him to discipline her like their fathers did. It had blown up in her face.
There was a pause and the most blissful expression crossed Cami’s face. “Jerod loves me. Discipline just sets things right. I feel better after it’s done and sometimes just the act of him turning me over his knee brings everything into alignment.”
“Over the knee? Really?”
Snorting a giggle, Cami nodded. “Yeah, Dad only did it once. But Jerod prefers it. And so do I.” There was a pause and her friend reached forward and took her hand. “Steph, your father was sick. None of that was your fault.”
Gulping, Stephanie nodded. “I know. But that doesn’t make everything okay.”
“I know,” Cami sighed, nodding. “Believe me, I know.” As if Stephanie had asked, Cami opened up and told her everything that had happened with her over the last year. By the end of their talk, both of them had tears running down their eyes.
“If I ever see Damian, I’m gonna kick his butt,” Stephanie said, dabbing at her eyes with a napkin. “Though I’ll admit, I never thought he was good enough for you.”
“People say that now. I don’t ever remember anyone saying it before,” Cami said wryly. “But I’m okay with it now. I have someone so much better who loves me in a way I never could have imagined.” A small smile covered her lips. “Don’t give up, Stephanie. I still think the right guy is out there for you.”
Grimacing, she shook her head. “No. I don’t think I ever could trust someone enough.”
“Okay, but can you still be my shopping buddy? After all, I shop for a living now.”
Laughing, Stephanie nodded. “I’d love to. I don’t have a phone, but I’m here once every two weeks to meet with your fiancé. Leave a message with him and we can work something out.”
“Wait. He’s your therapist?” Cami asked, gaping at her, an expression that was so Camille it made Stephanie grin. “Oh, I hope you don’t feel strange about it. Jerod never talks about his clients. Ever. Except to say they aren’t sick, just needing someone to talk to.”
They spoke for a few more minutes before Cami had to leave to go home. “I’m looking forward to when this is my home,” she said as she and Stephanie hugged before she left.
As Stephanie walked home, she felt a little hope. Maybe things were truly looking up.
* * * * *
“You want me to what?” Stephanie stared at her friend. Camille being who she was, had stayed in touch. In fact, she had written notes to Stephanie every day, spare thoughts that were running through her head – the kinds she used to text – and put them in an envelope to have Jerod give to her at their next appointment. Those notes had led to get-togethers until a couple weeks later they met for coffee at the Lava Lamp. Stephanie was nervous about being back in Hyacinth, but figured she could handle it for some time with her friend. Until Cami brought up what she wanted. “Can’t you just order one?”
“Not what I want,” her friend said, shaking her head. “I don’t want a traditional wedding dress. It needs to be unique, scream fall and autumn, and you are the only one I know who can pull that off.”
It was true, Stephanie loved designing strange outfits, but she hadn’t done so in a long time. “It’s your wedding dress, Cami. I don’t want to screw it up.”
Cami just rolled her eyes. “It’s already going to be screwed up – it won’t even look like a wedding dress. The only way you can screw it up is if it ends up looking like a dress you could buy off the rack. What do you say? Please?” She screwed her lips into a pout and then when that didn’t seem to work, she pursed them into a fish face. “Please?”
Giggling despite the situation, Stephanie finally nodded. “Fine, but if you hate your dress, it’s your own fault.”
“Yay!” Cami threw her arms above her head as though she had just made a touchdown and pounded her feet on the floor. It was a testament to everyone knowing Camille that barely anyone even looked over. Most people were used to her antics.
“So how does it feel to be back in Hyacinth?” Cami asked once her buoyancy was temporarily abated.
“Strange. I keep expecting dirty looks,” Stephanie admitted.
“Why? You aren’t at fault here. And don’t look at me like that. You aren’t. And if it takes us the rest of our lives, I’ll nag it into you somehow. I’m right.” Cami paused and then grinned. “And if it’s Marjorie Farthing? Just laugh in her face.”
“Why? You know she’ll be the first to make a comment.”
“True. But I know something about her,” she said with an evil glint in her eyes. “She and James had to get married.”
“Well, it was the end of their courting year.” Everyone had to either get engaged, married, or get out within a year. The whole community knew that.
Cami snickered and looked around to make sure nobody was listening. “Dad and Jerod would tan my hide if they caught me gossiping, but you need the ammunition. Her mother caught the two in a less than honest position in Marjorie’s bedroom. That’s why their engagement happened literally one week before their wedding.”
Grinning as while Stephanie didn’t wish anybody harm, there was a certain pleasure in knowing that Miss Perfect Marjorie who had made fun of the three of them, picking on Dora something fierce because of her weight, messed up. “Did she get pregnant?”
“What they were doing can’t get you pregnant,” her friend said with a snicker. “But it would make all the tongues wag in this town, let me tell you.”
Laughing, Stephanie relaxed into her chair. Sitting with Cami like this made her almost feel like they were still in high school. The only thing missing was Dora. “I need to go find Dora and see how she’s doing.”
Cami pulled out her phone as it beeped. “Drat. I have a meeting with a client in thirty minutes so I have to go. If you find her, let her know I want to see her, too. Maybe we could have a girl’s night in. Get some movies and just chat.”
“Sounds fun.”
Camille gave her a tight hug and then jogged out of the café, the phone to her ear.
Stephanie couldn’t stop the smile that spread across her lips. Cami wanted her to design her wedding dress. While it terrified her, it was also exciting. She hadn’t done that in far too long. It was such a pleasure to think about that she lost herself in the daydream of it as she doodled on a spare napkin. Townsfolk came into the café and left and she barely noticed, so engrossed in the design taking shape on the thin piece of paper.
Picking up her coffee, Stephanie looked up into a pair of deep green eyes. Sitting at the table next to hers was a man with shaggy brown hair, a strong, square jaw, and a very nice smile. His smile spread as she kept looking at him and turning pink as she realized what she was doing, she looked back down at her coffee. Staring at a guy was childish and something she had no right to do anyway. It wasn’t like she had a happily ever after in her future. Sighing softly as her joy from spending time with Cami evaporated at the thought, she tried to go back to sketching on the napkin. It was something she had done all her life and as a seamstress it came in handy. Now that she had agreed to design and make Cami’s wedding dress, she would be doing it a lot.
“Excuse me.” Even without looking up, Stephanie knew it was the green-eyed man. Slowly she raised her head and once again looked into his eyes. “I don’t think I’ve
seen you here before. But then I’ve only lived here for two months. Name’s Christopher Triton.”
She gulped on a suddenly dry mouth. There was a time when she would have flirted back shamelessly, but not anymore.
“Shy?” he said quietly. “That’s okay. I’m just beginning to know the ins and outs of Hyacinth. I’m sure my aunt and uncle can fill me in.” His tone was teasing but her throat closed up and panic struck her chest.
“Excuse me,” she gasped, grasping her stuff and running out of the café. Even once she was outside, she kept running, all the way to the bus stop, thrilled the bus got there just as she did. Once she made it to her seat, she curled up by the window, trying to get her breathing under control. It took the entire twenty-five minute ride for her heart to stop beating so quickly. The bus stopped just outside Hins Creek and the twenty-minute walk home helped her calm even more. It was just a guy trying to get to know her. What’s so bad about that? Any normal girl would have flirted a little and then left leaving him wanting more. She had run away like the scared rabbit she was.
“I need to get out more,” she whispered as she unlocked her door and walked inside, expecting the serenity it usually gave her. Instead, the room felt hollow, as though it was missing everything she had put behind her. Life, happiness, and love.
Going into the bathroom, she looked at herself in the mirror. Her hair was pulled up in a bun as she hadn’t really taken care of it in months and it was a pain. Pulling out the pins, it cascaded over her shoulders and down her back in limp strands. Pulling her blouse and jeans off, she looked at her body. Whereas she used to be tall and rather statuesque, she had lost weight and now appeared underfed. There was a time she had been pretty and guys had gone out of their way to get her to notice them. In truth, that was only fourteen months ago. As she looked into her light brown eyes, she wondered if that girl still existed. For the first time in a long time, she wanted her back.
Chapter 2
Pacing back and forth, Stephanie gnawed on her lower lip as she watched her friend. It had taken seven days to finalize her first wedding dress drawing. A frenzy tended to overtake her when she was inspired and she knew the design was really out there, but at least this way Cami could tell her what she did and didn’t like about it and she could redesign.
The image was of a strapless dress of silk in shades of red, gold, and amber, made to appear like leaves cascading down the bride’s body. Stephanie knew it was bizarre and fully expected Cami to not like it.
Instead her friend burst into tears. “This is it,” she blubbered. “This is my dress.”
Afraid Camille thought she had to take the design, Stephanie rushed forward. “You don’t have to like it,” she said in a rush. “I can redesign it. I know it’s out there and weird and—” Her words cut off as Cami leapt to her feet and pulled her into a crushing hug.
“Stephanie, I love it. It’s perfect. Better than perfect. Not only is it different which I wanted, it speaks perfectly of my future husband. He’s all the wonderful shades of fall. Oh, thank you!” She hugged Stephanie tighter and then let her go. “I knew you could do it!” After a pause, she added, “Do you think you can make a cummerbund to look just like it?”
Relieved, Stephanie nodded. “Oh, definitely. And this will look so lovely with your hair.” Her fingers reached up reflexively to pat her own hair into place.
Cami followed her movements but didn’t say anything. “Hey, Mom and Dad told me to invite you to dinner tonight. Jerod can drive you over and back. Or Dad doesn’t mind coming to pick you up. Xan and Kathy are back from Nashville so it’s kind of a celebration.”
“Oh, I don’t want to crash that,” Stephanie said quickly, smiling at her design and imagining how wonderful it would look in real life.
“Crash it? Mom and Kathy are both looking forward to seeing you. You have to come. Please?” Cami’s voice took on a defined wheedling tone whenever she said please. With her added pout, Stephanie wondered how Jerod ever said no to her.
“Um, okay, but first,” she said before Cami could celebrate. Her friend waited. “I need your help.”
“Sure, what do you need?”
Grimacing, Stephanie pulled the pins out of her hair and let it drop. “How can I look good again?”
Camille’s eyes lit up. “You want a makeover?” Knowing that to her friend that meant a total makeover, Stephanie nodded.
“But remember I can’t afford a lot.”
“Okay, there’s lots of stuff we can do for little to no money. And you are so good with design, I think you should design a whole new wardrobe for yourself. Your fashion sense has always been a little crazy and it fits you. I say go with it.” Cami clapped her hands together. “And I think you would look amazing with shorter hair.” And just like that, Camille was off. “You’ve always had long, straight hair. We could cut it to your shoulder blades, and get you a curling iron, the kind that gives you large curls. Maybe add in some highlights. What do you think?”
Cutting her hair was scary as it had been waist-long for as long as she could remember. Stephanie nodded slowly. “What kind of highlights?”
“Whatever you want. If you want to go conservative, we could add a strawberry blonde or if you wanted to be more daring, maybe a blue or a green?”
Grinning at Cami’s infectious excitement, Stephanie took a deep breath, knowing her eyes were twinkling. “I like green.”
Squealing, Cami hopped up and down on the balls of her feet. “We should do it at Jerod’s or my parents’ house. There’s more room.” It was true, there wasn’t a lot of room in Stephanie’s cabin, though Cami had been nothing but complimentary about it since she arrived. “How’s tomorrow?”
Startled at it being so soon and yet relieved at the same time, Stephanie nodded. “That would be perfect.”
“Then why don’t you spend the night tonight? Come for the dinner and stick around. Tomorrow we can start on your hair.”
* * * * *
Sitting in Jerod’s car, Stephanie stayed quiet on the short drive from Hins Creek to Hyacinth. She felt a little jumpy to be going over to the Covingtons, though she wasn’t sure if it was because she hadn’t seen them in a while, or because of how nice Mr. Covington had been to her. Stephanie owed him her life many times over and she knew it.
“Are you all right?” Jerod asked as he pulled in front of the house.
“Okay,” she admitted. “It’s been awhile since I’ve been here.” They got out of his car and headed up to the front door, which opened before they got there by Drake, Camille’s younger brother.
“Stephie!” he hollered, running down the steps and picking her up, swinging her around. “It’s been forever.”
“Hey, Drake,” she laughed as he put her down. “Whoa, you’re growing up.”
Drake had grown at least a foot in the last year. Now taller than her, he grinned. “Yep. I’m gonna be taller than Xan when I grow up.”
“Dream on,” Xander said, stepping forward to give her a hug as she entered the house. “Hey, Stephie. It’s good to see you.”
“You, too.” The warmth from the Covingtons always enfolded her whenever she entered their house and she waved as she spotted Kathy who was lying on the sofa.
“Hey,” Kathy said with a smile. “I’d come over and hug you, but my husband won’t let me get up off the sofa.”
“Congratulations,” Stephanie said, walking over and giving her a hug. “I hear you’re expecting.”
“Yep. Late December some time. I hear my sister-in-law’s giving you a make-over. Brave woman.”
“I heard that,” Cami sang as she danced into the room. “Stephie!” She hugged her tightly. “Come on, Mom’s in the kitchen and is dying to see you.”
It was easy to forget that she had ever been gone. The family treated her just like they always had. Mr. Covington gave her a warm hug when he saw her. He was the only one, besides Cami, who knew what happened and as he was the one who saved her, he knew it at a very real level.
“It’s good to see you,” he said in his deep voice. “But putting yourself into my daughter’s hands? Are you sure you’re ready for that? She’s a dynamo who’ll run you over.”
“Don’t scare her,” Cami said, pulling her away. “You’ll talk her out of it.”
Charlotte, Camille’s mother, looked over as they walked into the kitchen and her eyes lit up. “Stephanie, honey, it’s been too long.” She wiped her hands off and pulled Stephanie into a hug, squeezing tight. “You look tired but healthy,” she observed, pulling back and looking. “Can you two set the table, please?”
Anywhere else, that kind of request might bring a raised eyebrow. After all, Stephanie was technically a guest. However it was a relief to her. As though they still thought of her as family. There was tons of laughter and teasing at the table. Xan stayed out in the living room with his wife for the most part as just the scent of food made her ill, but it was nice knowing they were there. When the food was gone and Xan and Kathy left for her parents’ house, Stephanie followed Camille to her bedroom where she found Jerod had already delivered her overnight case.
“You can stay in here, or the guest room. Whichever works for you,” her friend offered.
Stephanie felt that instinctive fear that had been with her for over a year. It yelled for her to hide away. But the desire to be with people again which had begun with the day Cami found her in that meadow could not be denied. “I’d rather stay, if you don’t mind.”
Cami grinned. “Good. We can talk all night long.”
“No,” Jerod said from the doorway and both girls looked up. “You’ll get a full night’s sleep.” Cami tried her pout and it didn’t seem to faze him at all. Stephanie was kind of impressed. She had never been able to say no to the Cami-pout. “Have a good night, Stephanie,” he said, taking Camille’s hand and pulling her from the room. “Come say good night to me, love.”