Betwixt Two Hearts (Crossroads Collection)

by Amanda Tru

  “Why not?” Bailey pleaded, not put off in the least by his adamant and lengthy refusal. “You’re a great guy. This whole time I’ve known you, you haven’t gone on a single date. Let me set you up on a date. Please?”

  “No,” Camden refused flatly, walking away from her as if the matter were closed.

  “Come on, Camden. Just one date. One evening. It’s not like you have to marry the girl. If you think about it, this is your greatest opportunity to win. You’re my toughest critic. If you like the date I arrange, then that will really be a win. The results of the whole contest will rest entirely in your hands.”

  Camden paused as if seriously giving her request consideration for the first time. “One date? And I don’t have to like it?”

  “Nope,” Bailey said. “Not at all.”

  “Do I still get my choice for an entry into the contest?”

  “Absolutely,” Bailey replied confidently. “I’ve attempted more contest entries than you, so if you want, you can even select two entries.”

  “No, I think I’ll just choose one last match as well. Since we’re tied, we can call it quits after this round.”

  “Okay,” Bailey said, suddenly hesitant. She wanted to make sure the contest was fair, but if Camden didn’t want to do more than one match, then she guessed that would be fine.

  Camden grinned. “I choose you.”

  “N-no,” Bailey startled. “I’m not—”

  Camden held his hand up to stop her words. “I know what you’re going to say. You already have a boyfriend. You know I don’t think he’s right for you, Bailey. Just think of it as a business arrangement, not necessarily a romantic one. If you let me make a match for you, I’ll let you make a match for me.” Camden flashed her a self-satisfied smile as if highly pleased with himself. “If you’re a ‘no,’ then I’m a ‘no.’”

  “Okay,” Bailey said slowly, returning to her computer.

  “W-What?” Camden asked, shocked. “Is that a ‘yes’? Are you sure? I mean, are you really sure?”

  Bailey smiled, amused. Obviously, he hadn’t expected her to say yes. He’d thought she would refuse, which would give him permission to also refuse and get her to leave him alone.

  “Yes, Camden,” she said firmly. “You can arrange a date for me. Just one. And I’ll arrange a date for you.”

  “What about Dekker?” Camden asked. “Will he be okay with you going on a date with someone else?”

  Bailey shrugged. “It doesn’t really matter how he feels about it. Dekker lost any right to an opinion on my life or actions.”

  Camden startled, his blue-gray eyes wide with shock. “You broke up?”

  Bailey nodded.

  “I’m sorry,” Camden said sympathetically.

  “I’m not,” Bailey said, lifting her chin up in determination. “I never should have been with him in the first place.” She paused, a thoughtful look coming into her eyes. “I can’t wish that it hadn’t happened, though. The whole experience and then breaking up with Dekker and realizing how wrong I’d been about everything is what caused me to realize how wrong I’d also been about God. It’s the direct reason why I turned my life over to God on His terms.”

  “You what?” Camden asked, turning pale and sitting down in his chair.

  Bailey hesitated. This wasn’t the elegant way she’d wanted to tell Camden. It just seemed too casual to mention something so life-changing like this. How did she explain what had happened?

  “Camden, you were right,” she said quietly. “After I broke up with Dekker, I realized how very lost I was. I went to Elise’s house, and she helped me pray. I found the one true God, and He saved me. I know I won’t be perfect, but I will try to spend my life getting to know Him and living my life in a way that serves Him.”

  “Bailey, I can’t tell you how happy that makes me,” Camden said thickly. Taking a deep breath, he continued, “Are you sure you’re okay with going on a date? I know it still must be difficult. If it’s just too soon, I understand.”

  Bailey appreciated his thoughtfulness, but she wasn’t going to wallow. “It is too soon, but that’s okay. It’s fair. Like I said, it’s not like I have to marry the guy. I don’t even need to like him. I just need to endure one date you set up.”

  “Your confidence in me is staggering,” Camden said wryly.

  Bailey challenged, “Prove me wrong. I’ll fill out the survey on the website, just like I’m a client, and you do the same. You can use your algorithm for my match, but I’ll use my methods with your profile.”

  Camden looked suddenly wary. “I’ll only fill out the survey if we don’t actually post it to the website. You just need the information, so you shouldn’t need the website at all.”

  “I guess that’s okay,” Bailey said. “It’s only one match. I guess I don’t need the website if you’re that shy about your info being made public.”

  “Thanks. You’re welcome to pull your profile after you go on the date, if you want,” Camden offered.

  “It’s not a big issue to me either way,” Bailey said. “The important thing is that we have a deal.”

  “Yes, I guess we do,” Camden replied.

  While Camden returned to his computer, Bailey turned back to hers, determined to finally make some progress. Even so, it was several minutes before she could halt herself from daydreaming of winning the contest by setting Camden up with someone as wonderful as him.

  “Camden, I FINALLY have your perfect match!” Bailey danced into the kitchen and made the announcement in a singsong voice.

  Camden groaned. This was exactly why he’d taken so long to fill out the survey for Bailey. He hadn’t wanted to, and he’d only completed it after weeks of enduring Bailey’s incessant pestering. He’d never wanted to do it in the first place. He thought he’d found an out when suggesting that Bailey let him set her up as well. He hadn’t counted on her actually letting him. Before he knew what was happening, she announced her breakup with Dekker the Wrecker and agreed to his deal. Lo and behold, he was trapped into going through with a date arranged by Bailey. Dragging his feet and hoping Bailey became too busy and simply forgot seemed his next best option.

  While Bailey’s past few weeks involved her deciding she liked Crossroads and wanted to move here, signing a lease on an apartment in Crossroads, becoming involved in church, and maintaining a huge workload, she hadn’t forgotten in the least bit. Just to avoid the nagging, Camden had finally filled out the form.

  Unfortunately, Bailey’s current announcement was officially worse than the nagging.

  “Ok, send me the info, and I’ll see what I can do,” Camden said noncommittally. Ignoring her, he continued calmly assembling a sandwich as if she weren’t in the room at all.

  “Oh, no! I’m not going to fall for that trick again!” Bailey laughed. “Your date is tonight. I won’t risk allowing you time to back out. You’re to meet her in Brighton Falls in an hour and a half. You’d better head home and get ready. The clock is ticking.”

  Camden sputtered indignantly, “You can’t do that!”

  “I already did,” Bailey replied nonchalantly as she snatched a potato chip off his plate. “I’ve corresponded with her already, pretending to be you, of course. Don’t worry, she’s great. You agreed to meet her for dinner tonight. You can’t back down now.”

  Frozen in shock, Camden stared at her for several seconds. Finally, he calmly responded one word. “No.”

  “You can’t say ‘no,’” Bailey protested. “You agreed to go out with a date of my choosing.”

  “Yes, I did. But I didn’t agree that you could impersonate me and schedule the date for the day and time ‘of your choosing.’” Camden calmly finished assembling the sandwich and took it to the table. Sitting down, he began eating it as if he had all the time in the world.

  Bailey crossed her arms and looked at him as if convinced he would acquiesce to her demands if she just waited.

  His crunching of potato chips put her over the edge. She came
over to the table and sat beside him. “Come on, Camden. Please? I’m sorry. I shouldn’t have scheduled anything without your approval. I was just afraid that if I didn’t spring it on you, you’d always find a way to put me off and get out of it. If you want, you can schedule my date for me in return.”

  “No, Bailey,” Camden answered, shaking his head sadly. “I’m not going to treat you badly because you treated me badly. I don’t like being manipulated. The whole point is that I wouldn’t do that to you.”

  Bailey hung her head. “You’re right. I’m sorry.”

  Her lip trembled, and she seemed to be genuinely repentant to the point that Camden felt a little sorry for her.

  “That wasn’t a very Christian thing to do, was it?” Bailey mused. “Here I am trying to do the right thing, and I screw it up.”

  “Bailey, everyone screws up. That’s kind of the whole point. Ask for forgiveness and ask for God to help you be more like Him tomorrow.”

  “You make it sound so easy,” she said softly.

  “It isn’t easy at all. It’s insanely difficult,” Camden consoled. “But I think the hard part isn’t that it’s tough to do the right thing. I think it’s harder to listen and allow God to show us what that right thing is. I’m sure you were honestly trying to do something nice for me. You just went about it wrong.”

  Bailey nodded. “Unfortunately, I’ve now involved someone else. I know you’re not happy with me, but could you please consider meeting your date anyway, for her sake, not mine?”

  Camden felt bad for Bailey. He’d watched her the past few weeks and been impressed by the changes he saw in her. Her conversion couldn’t have been more genuine. Bailey now possessed a real faith and an eagerness to learn everything she could about the God who’d saved her. She attended every service offered by the church, studied her Bible, and had spiritual discussions with anyone who would listen. Camden also saw in her a heart to serve others, even in the little things like helping Lydia with the dishes or eagerly playing some imaginary game with Chloe. Instead of the selfishness he’d seen in Bailey before, her actions revealed more of a selflessness that Camden admired.

  However, even with all of the changes, Bailey was still Bailey—full of determination and spice, and willing to break a few rules in her confident plan to “help” someone else.

  “Yes, I will meet her. But not tonight.”

  Bailey’s eyes actually filled with tears. “Please, Camden. You don’t understand. Please don’t take my mistake out on her.”

  “I would meet her if I could, Bailey, but I can’t. I’m supposed to meet Israel at his office this evening. He asked if I could help him with something at work. Then Mom and Dad are bringing Chloe over to Brighton Falls, and we’re all going to a restaurant for dinner.”

  Bailey looked as if she really wanted to argue but couldn’t actually do it.

  “I’m really sorry, Bailey,” Camden said gently. “I don’t want to cancel on Israel. Things are finally good between us, and the fact that he asked for my help with something is pretty big.”

  “I understand,” Bailey said. “I didn’t realize you already had plans. Usually, your Friday nights consist of you sitting and working in front of the computer the same way you do every other minute of every day. I wouldn’t want you to cancel on Israel. He needs you, and I’m sure it will do him and Chloe good to have a special family dinner tonight.”

  “Thanks for understanding.” Camden reached over and touched her hand laying on the table. “Hey, don’t look so glum. Why don’t you come with us? You can ride over with Mom and Dad. I think Geneva is planning to meet for dinner, too.”

  Bailey smiled sadly. “I actually think I’ll pass.” She glanced up at the clock. “It’s too late for me to cancel on Shaya. She doesn’t live or work in Brighton Falls but was planning to drive into the city to meet you. I’m sure she’s already left. I’ll just go and meet her myself. I’ll explain the situation, and we’ll do a girls’ night.”

  “Oh, Bailey, I’m sorry. Isn’t there a way to contact her?”

  “All our correspondence was through the site, and I don’t want to stand her up. It will be fine. She’s super nice, and I know we’ll be great friends. It’ll be like an interview. I’ll check her out and make sure she’s a good match for you. It’ll increase my chances of winning.” Bailey smiled and winked.

  Camden knew she was trying to put on a good front, but he didn’t know how to make the situation better. Helplessness settled in as Bailey stood from her seat.

  “Let me run upstairs and get ready really quick. I need to leave right away. I’ve never been to where I’m supposed to meet her, so I’ll need to leave with extra time.”

  Camden watched her leave, feeling a nagging sensation that he really needed to do something, but he couldn’t figure out what that something was. Feeling at loose ends, Camden washed up his plate and wandered back to the office.

  Ten minutes later, he heard Bailey speaking to his mom on her way out the door. When Lydia asked where she was headed, Bailey happily explained that she was meeting a friend in Brighton Falls. Lydia eagerly let her borrow her car, happy that Bailey was going to do something fun. Then he heard the door open and close, and she was gone.

  As soon as the sound of the car’s engine melted down the street, Camden ventured out of his office. He grabbed his coat and debated if he really wanted to trade his shorts for a pair of long pants or not. Deciding that any restaurant they visited wasn’t going to be that formal, he donned his coat, told his Mom he’d see them later, and headed out to his car.

  Camden felt restless the entire drive to Israel’s office. Try as he might, he couldn’t get his mind off Bailey. He only found a little relief when he got the idea to swing by Bailey’s date in between meeting Israel at his office and dinner. Bailey had said they’d contacted through the website, so it should be easy enough to look up their messages. Camden could at least show up and say hi to Bailey’s date for five minutes before meeting his family.

  When he arrived at the office, Israel was speaking to someone in one of the other offices. The receptionist looked ready to leave but welcomed Camden to wait in Israel’s office.

  Not one to be content twiddling his thumbs, Camden helped himself to Israel’s chair, desk, and computer. Logging in on his brother’s machine wasn’t too difficult, and Camden quickly brought up the Betwixt site. Once there, he suddenly paused, unsure of where Bailey’s messages were located. He could log into her account, but she’d admitted to impersonating him. How exactly did she do that? He didn’t have a Betwixt account, so how could she impersonate him and communicate with another Betwixt client?

  “Hey. Camden.” Israel said, hurrying into the office. “Thanks for coming. Sorry I had to finish up with Doug.”

  “No problem,” Camden said, turning to his brother. “I hope you don’t mind, I helped myself to your computer.”

  “No, not at all.” Israel came around the desk and stopped still. “Wait… How did you? Camden, you don’t have my login info. How did you log on to my machine?”

  Camden looked up at him and lifted one corner of his mouth in a knowing grin.

  “Seriously, Camden? You hacked my computer in the two minutes since you got here?”

  “No,” Camden assured. “It didn’t take two minutes.”

  Israel groaned. “And that’s why I need your help! I need you to look at some of our company security. I’m not entirely convinced that everything is adequate to keep all our information secure, and the fact that you just hacked my computer confirms it. We’re working on some big deals right now, and I need to limit as much corporate espionage as possible. I’ve already talked to the board, and they agreed to admit you access to take a look. I can show you the basics tonight, and we can set you up with an office if needed. We’ll reimburse you for your time, of course.”

  At Camden’s scowl, Israel rushed to explain. “I’m not trying to manipulate you into working here, Camden. I promise. You’d just be a cont
ractor. You don’t even need to fix everything, just take a look and identify the problems. We can take it from there, and you’ll be done. I really could use some help with this, and you’re honestly the best computer guy I know.”

  “Okay, Israel,” Camden nodded. “I’m happy to help.” If his brother needed his help, he’d do it, no matter if he didn’t have time and didn’t really want to.

  Israel grabbed another chair and scooted it close to Camden. “Let me show you the basics, and I’m sure you can take it from there.”

  Israel started to click on an icon when a strange beep sounded.

  “What was that?”

  “That sounded like a message for the online chat option on my website,” Camden said, his tone puzzled. “Since I was logged on the site, it would have shown the help option as available. Just give me a sec to look what it’s about and log off.”

  “Sure,” Israel said, handing over the computer controls.

  Camden brought up the chat screen and read.

  Shaya Yanzik: Hi! I got an email with a Security alert that said there was a login to my Betwixt account using a different device. It was wanting to make sure it was me. The problem is that I haven’t logged in using a different device, and when I tried to log in just now, it said I didn’t have the right password. I’m wondering if I was hacked. Can you help me access my account?

  All the blood in Camden's body suddenly turned to ice.

  Shaya.

  “What’s wrong?” Israel asked, suddenly concerned.

  Not bothering to respond either to Israel or the chat message, Camden hurriedly used his administrator controls to bring up Shaya’s account. He went straight to the messages. Several entries came up to and from Shaya to another Betwixt account. The account was labeled with the name “Camden Hutchins.”

  Camden felt ill. “No, no, no. That isn’t possible. I never created an account.”

  But Bailey had.

  A few more clicks and Camden confirmed his worst nightmare. Bailey had found his survey and submitted it to the website, creating a public profile bearing his name. And his picture.