“This is my daughter, Charlotte,” Rachel stated with a proud smile, and I bent down a little so I could look at Charlotte’s face.
“Hi, Charlotte, it’s nice to meet you,” I whispered. She smiled but did not move away from her mother. “She’s absolutely beautiful, Rachel.” I straightened up again and smiled as she pointed to the woman next to her.
“And this,” she said, moving slightly out of the way, “is my mom.”
“It’s nice to meet you Mrs. Parker,” I told her, but she moved forward and wrapped me in a hug just as Rachel was fond of doing.
“You have no idea how glad I am to meet you, Camdyn,” she whispered as she hugged me. “And you can just call me Liz. Gosh, you really are a beautiful girl.”
“Thank you,” I said self-consciously as she backed away a bit.
“You will come over to our house for lunch, I hope,” Liz suggested, taking Charlotte back from her mother.
“I don’t know, whatever Rosalie thinks…” I started, but Liz shook her head emphatically.
“Rosalie will come too, I will make sure of that. You’re going to sit with us, too, I insist.”
I nodded my head, resigned to the fact that I was probably going to sit there whether I wanted to or not, so I better just agree. I turned to see where Rosalie had gone, and came face to face with Cole. I had never seen him look better than he did right then, in a blue plaid button up with a navy sport coat and a nice pair of jeans. My heart jumped into my throat, and all I could do was stand there and stare at him. He glanced over at his mom and sister, and then he stepped in between them and me.
“I’m pretty sure this doesn’t count as not seeing each other,” he whispered.
“What do you want me to do?” I whispered back, glancing at his mom. He grabbed me by the elbow and walked out a side door and into the hallway.
“What are you doing, trying to infiltrate my family?” he asked, looking each way up and down the hall to make sure no one could hear.
“No, of course not!” I protested. “I came to church with Rosalie. That’s all.”
“If that’s true then why do you look so…incredible? I swear it’s like you’re trying to torture me.” He let out a sigh and stared down the empty hallway.
“I don’t know, why do you look so incredible?” I asked, blushing when he turned those brown eyes at me again and I fully realized what I had just said. “Look, never mind. I will find a seat at the back of the church and you won’t have to worry about it.”
“You know darn well my mom and sister aren’t going to let that happen,” he retorted, looking down at the ground. “Just go back out there, and I’ll deal with it.”
“I’m sorry,” I whispered as I turned back to the door and swung it open, heading back into the sanctuary. Rosalie had seated herself next to Liz and Rachel, so I sunk down next to her. A few seconds later, Cole lowered himself down next to me.
“Where’s Jeff?” I whispered to Cole, not seeing Rachel’s husband.
“He’s in the band,” he told me, and I looked up to see Tony and Jeff in the front of the church.
“You mean the band from last night is your worship band?” I asked Cole incredulously, at which point he merely nodded and kept looking ahead. I smiled as I mulled it over in my mind, and then I said, “That’s pretty sweet.” He laughed quietly and shook his head, and then glanced over at me.
“What happened to your chest?” he wanted to know, reaching out and pointing to my new scratches. “That wasn’t there last night.”
How do I explain this without looking stupid?
“I had a run in with a tree.”
“While you were jogging?”
“No, I was chasing a rabbit.”
“Did you fall in a hole, Alice?” he asked, laughing under his breath.
“No, I fell in the river, actually,” I told him, causing him to laugh loud enough that his mom and sister looked over. I was relieved when the music began and everyone stood up so he couldn’t ask me any more questions about my embarrassing morning escapade.
The band was just as good that morning as they had been the night before, although in noticeably different ways, and I was secretly loving listening to Cole sing beside me. I had to stop myself from smiling a few times when I realized what a great voice he had, but I didn’t dare look at him. As the music was over and the preacher stood up, we settled back into our seats. I cringed a little inside when he announced that he was going to talk about family, biting my lip and looking down at my boots. He began discussing the fact that it doesn’t matter what sort of broken family you come from, you can still be part of God’s family. Some of his examples hit really close to home, and Rosalie must have been thinking the same thing, because about halfway through she reached over and took my hand.
A few minutes later, I felt something tugging on the hem of my dress, and I looked down to see Charlotte smiling shyly and holding her arms out to me. I reached down and picked her up, placing her on my lap, and she leaned back against me. I looked at Cole, whose eyes were wide in disbelief, and put my arms around her and held her for the remainder of the service. When the sermon ended, I stood up and held Charlotte while we sang. When everything came to a close, Cole reached over and poked her in the chest, and she smiled and curled up against me.
“I can’t believe it!” Rachel said from the other side of Rosalie. “Charlotte won’t go to anyone – that’s why we always keep her in here with us.” I looked over at Cole, who held his hands out to Charlotte, and she reached for him. I handed her over and then smiled at the two of them.
“You like Camdyn?” Cole asked her, tickling her in the stomach. She laughed and nodded.
“Yes,” she said. “She’s pretty. She looks like my fairy.”
“Does your fairy ever fly into trees?” Cole teased, smiling at me.
“No silly,” Charlotte said. “Are you eating lunch with us?” She gazed down at me with those lovely blue eyes, and I glanced from her to Cole.
“I don’t know,” I told her. “I think Uncle Cole would be happier if I wasn’t there.”
“Unca Cole,” she said, glaring at him.
“Easy, killer,” Cole said to her, shooting me a dirty look. “You know Uncle Cole wouldn’t say that.”
Rosalie came up behind me then and asked if I was riding with Cole, at which point I stated that I would ride with her. It was settled then, and we all headed out the door to our separate vehicles. We rode in silence for a few miles, headed in the direction of the bed and breakfast. We passed it and continued on, until we turned onto gravel a couple miles down the road. Rosalie broke the silence finally, asking if Cole and I had another fight. I told her that we hadn’t, but that we were just having some differences. When she asked me what sort of differences, I told her I really didn’t know. The best guess I could come up with was that Cole didn’t like the fact that I had been proposed to in the past, or maybe the way I didn’t handle those proposals so well. She nodded her understanding as we pulled into the driveway of a nice ranch-style house. The minute I stepped out of the car, Charlotte was there tugging on my skirt again.
“Will you swing me?” she kept asking over and over again, until her grandma stepped over and told her to stop.
“Sorry, Camdyn,” Liz explained, “she has a swing in the backyard and that’s all she can think about. You don’t need to feel obligated.” I looked down at Charlotte’s hopeful face and couldn’t help but smile.
“I would love to swing you, Charlotte,” I told her. “Come on.” She reached out and grabbed my hand, and together we walked to the back of the house where there was a wooden swing hanging from a tree branch. I lifted her up and settled her in the swing, and she reached out and grabbed one of my curls.
“Your dress is pretty,” she said. “My mommy doesn’t wear dresses.”
I stayed there crouched down in front of her staring into her sweet face and wondering what to say. I wasn’t accustomed to being around small children and deal
ing with their bluntness.
“Well, there’s a good reason for that,” I finally stated, buying some time.
“What is it?” she asked expectantly. I cleared my throat and glanced around me trying to come up with some inspiration.
“Well…do you like cupcakes?” I asked. She giggled and kicked her feet.
“Yes!”
“Me, too,” I said. “Your mommy is like a cupcake. When she came out of the oven, the baker looked at her and said, ‘She’s so wonderful the way she is, I’m just going to spread a tiny bit of icing on top and she will be perfect.’ So your mommy doesn’t need to wear fancy dresses, because she’s already so great just as she is. Her smile and her happy nature, that’s her pretty dress.”
“So why do you have a pretty dress?” she asked, frowning at me. I laughed and shrugged my shoulders.
“That’s an excellent question! I’m like a cupcake too, but when I came out of the oven, the baker accidentally dropped me on the floor.” She laughed at that, and I stood up and started gesturing. “While I was on the floor, somebody came along and kicked me, and little pieces of cake went flying everywhere. Pretty soon, the entire cupcake was just crumbled up and yucky. So, the baker picked up all the pieces, stuffed them back into the cupcake liner, and said, ‘This one is going to take a ton of icing to make it look okay. And sprinkles, and gold dust, and anything else you can imagine.’ So that is why I have a pretty dress – it’s to cover up the fact that underneath, I’m a complete mess.”
“You’re funny!” she shouted, followed by a little tinkling laugh. Content that I had escaped saying something I would regret, I stood up to move behind her on the swing, and when I turned around, I realized that Cole had been standing behind me. He had taken off his coat and had rolled the sleeves up on his shirt, but he still looked as good as he had earlier. He raised his eyebrows and tried not to smile.
“My mom wants to know if you want something to drink,” he said, leaning against the tree. I pulled Charlotte back and let her go, sending the swing into the air while she giggled.
“Maybe some water,” I told him, reaching out to push Charlotte again. He nodded and began to walk toward the house, but then he turned and came back.
“That was nice, what you said about my sister,” he stated, “but you don’t really think that about yourself, do you?”
“Umm…yeah. How could I not?” I continued to push the swing while he stood there and pondered what I said, and finally turned around and walked into the house. I remained outside pushing Charlotte for quite a while, until eventually Rachel popped out to tell me that lunch was ready, and together we headed into the house to wash up. When we made our way to the table, everyone else was seated and my place was set in between Charlotte and Rosalie, and directly across from Cole. Everyone bowed their heads while Ted said a prayer, and then the food started going around the table. Charlotte insisted that I help her with her food, although there was a lot of back and forth between her mom and me about what she liked and what she didn’t. Finally, Charlotte was set and my plate was ready, and we began to eat. Liz started asking me all types of questions about my family, work, and things I liked to do, and I answered the best I could all the while realizing that Cole was silently judging me with his eyes. I tried not to look at him, but every once in a while I could feel his eyes resting on me, and I would glance up just long enough to catch his disappointed gaze. I was almost finished with my lunch when suddenly Rachel dropped her fork on her plate and looked over at me.
“Honestly, what is wrong with you two?” she asked. “You were not acting like this last night.” I looked over at Cole and decided it best not to say anything, just shrugging at her as though I didn’t know.
“They’re having some differences,” Rosalie stated matter-of-factly. I suddenly wished I could sink under the table.
“What sort of differences?” Liz asked me from across the table. I felt myself growing a shade of red under her intense gaze.
“I’m not sure, really,” I offered.
“What sort of differences?” Liz repeated, this time toward Rosalie, who paused a moment as she pressed her napkin to her lips.
“Maybe the whole proposal issue is just hitting too close to home,” Rosalie suggested nonchalantly, taking another bite of her potatoes.
“What the heck does that mean?” Cole fired off at me. Wide-eyed and embarrassed, I fought the urge to leave the table.
“Honestly, Cole, it’s nothing. Just forget it,” I said quietly, staring down at the last of my peas.
“This is definitely not what I wanted to do today,” he stated. I looked over at him, and he suddenly looked angry with me again like he had at the cemetery.
“So let’s not do this right now,” I suggested, hoping he would relent and Rosalie and I could make a hasty exit.
“I think it’s too late for that,” he said, looking over at his mom and then to Rachel. “Let’s just get it out there, shall we?”
“Get what out there?” I wanted to know, glancing down at little Charlotte who was happily eating her peas one by one and didn’t seem to realize what was going on.
“Dad, are you going to sit here and let Cole act like that?” Rachel complained, increasing the level of my horror. I stared wide-eyed at Ted, who just chuckled.
“Don’t ask me to get into the middle of a lovers’ quarrel!” he exclaimed, pushing himself away from the table so he could lean back in his chair.
“Really, Dad, that isn’t helpful,” Cole stated with exasperation, looking from his dad back to me. “You want to know what’s wrong? I don’t like being lied to, that’s what’s wrong.”
What? Talk about coming from left field.
“Lied to?” I asked doubtfully. “Cole, I have never lied to you.”
“You’ve never lied to me?” he said with intensity from across the table. “What about when you told me you hadn’t been in a relationship since college?”
My heart sank as I realized what he was insinuating. I closed my eyes and took a deep breath.
“I completely understand why you think that’s a lie,” I told him carefully, “but that’s the honest truth.”
“That doesn’t make sense, Camdyn,” he started, leaning back and folding his arms across his chest. “What about the fact that you just came here to do some historical research? Then I find out the next day that your neighbors consider you a missing person, and your suitcases are all stuffed completely full?”
Yikes, he has really thought this out thoroughly.
“I am here to do historical research,” I explained. “Did I leave suddenly? Yes, I admit that part of it, but my suitcases are full because my lease was almost up and I wanted to save myself some trouble packing. I never expected anyone but me to have to carry them.”
“And the writing?” he asked.
“What about the writing?” I repeated defiantly.
“You told me you wrote historical novels,” he stated, staring into my eyes. “I looked you up, Camdyn. I found a few magazine articles from about five years ago. No novels. No books at all.”
Wow, so that is what he thinks of me – that I am a conniving, lying jerk who tried to manipulate him by creating a fake persona the night we met. It’s a wonder that he’s ever been nice to me at all.
The entire table was silent, and I looked down at my plate. I could easily vindicate myself, but was it worth it? Years of careful planning and not telling a soul, and it would be insanity to just let it fly out there now, merely because it was Cole.
No, not worth it, not now, Camdyn.
But it’s Cole.
“You won’t find my name on any historical novels,” I said, looking across the table at him through glassy eyes, “because I use a pen name. I always have.”
“A pen name, like a fake name you made up when you started writing?” Rachel asked innocently, and I tried to smile as I sniffed quietly.
“Not really a fake name, just not my name,” I explained. “I used my i
nitials and my grandmother’s maiden name.”
“What was your grandmother’s maiden name?” Rachel prodded.
This is it, and there is no turning back once I breathe it. Is it worth it?
Is Cole worth it?
“C.W. Oliver,” I told her quietly. “That’s my pen name.”
Liz eased herself up from the table and left the room, and everyone else sat in hushed silence. I felt like absolute dirt. I couldn’t even look up. I sat there looking at the table until Liz finally broke into the quiet.
“You wrote this?” she asked, holding a book out in front of me. I glanced at it and took a deep breath.
“Yes, ma’am,” I stated. “I wrote that.” I dared to glance up at Cole, who pushed his chair back and walked away from the table.
“Oh my goodness!” Liz exclaimed. “I loved, loved, loved this book. I can’t wait for the next one. Is that what you’re writing now? The one you’re researching right here?”
“Yes,” I replied with a smile, heartened a little by her excitement.
“How exciting!” she exclaimed. “Who are you writing about, if you don’t mind my asking?”
“I’m writing about my fifth great-grandmother, Wilhelmina Lawrence Clark.”
“Oh dear!” she said loudly, jumping up and leaving the room again. Rachel looked over at me and laughed.
“Meemaw’s acting funny!” Charlotte stated. Rachel and I both nodded in agreement. Just a minute later, I heard Liz call to me from the other room, and Rachel and I stood up and went to meet her. She was sitting on the floor of the living room holding a Bible while Cole sat on the couch watching a baseball game. I settled down next to her to see what she wanted to show me.
“Look here,” she said, running her finger across the page. “Wilhelmina Lawrence Clark. She’s right here in my family Bible.”
“Does this mean Camdyn is my cousin?” Rachel asked her mom.
“Ewww!” I blurted out, glancing at Cole. His eyes got wide, and we both looked away.
A Reason to Run (The Camdyn Series Book 1) Page 16