Chapter 9
nine
CAMILLA
It never dawned on me I’d end up picking out a bridesmaid dress for Sofia Perez’s wedding when I came back to Willow’s Cove, but there I was, listening to her retell the story of how she and Levi met at the town’s local fair as we drove into town. He was nice enough to win the big prize she’d wasted all of her money trying to get, and they’d been inseparable ever since. I think the term she used was “love at first sight”. It was a relief to realize she was still the bright-eyed girl full of life I once knew.
Taylor rode in the backseat, and for the first time since we’d met in elementary school, she hardly spoke. The few times we did meet eyes, her face blanched, as if she’d seen a ghost. There was a time when she knew every aspect of my life, whether I wanted her to or not, but suddenly, we were nothing but familiar faces. The worst part of it was, I was to blame.
When we pulled into the parking lot of the only dress store in town, Sofia squealed with excitement. She and Taylor walked ahead into the store filled to the brim with dresses. “You’ll love the selection they have here, Cami.” I didn’t have to look at the tags to know they were out of my price range. My fingers grazed the silk dresses as we walked toward the front desk, where an older woman greeted us with a smile. “Miss Perez, I was hoping you’d come to see us today. Are you ready for your last fitting?”
“Yes. Thank you, Valorie. I’ve also added another bridesmaid, so she’ll need some styles pulled in the color we picked.” The woman peered at me through her square glasses and nodded. “We’ll be happy to. The fitting rooms are this way.” Taylor and Sofia’s giggles echoed through the store as they pranced forward with linked arms. They’d always reminded me of one another, so it wasn’t surprising they grew close over the years. I knew I couldn’t feel envious, but I did. Maybe if I had never left, our friendship would have turned out differently—along with so many other things.
When Sofia skipped away to try on her dress, we were left in awkward silence. “Are you leaving town right after the wedding?” she asked.
“Yeah. I was supposed to leave yesterday, but Sofia talked me into staying.” Taylor always had a unique shine in her green eyes, so to see them with a hint of sadness felt like I’d just kicked a puppy. “You were going to leave town without saying goodbye again?”
I winced. “I was only supposed to be here for the book signing. It wasn’t personal.”
“What about last time? Was it personal when you left without as much as a phone call?” she choked out.
There were a lot of amends to be made, starting with her, but I wasn’t ready to face the mess I left behind. “Whether you believe me or not, I missed you, Tay. I hope at least while I’m here, you can forgive me.” It was the last thing I deserved, but what she didn’t know was that while I lived in the city, I thought of her anytime I passed a store with a ridiculous colored bag, or saw long, golden hair.
She folded her arms across her chest and sighed. “Fine, but only for Sofia’s sake. Everyone needs to get along until her wedding.” It wasn’t exactly the response I was hoping for, but I took what I could get. “Okay.”
Her soft gaze found me. “How are your friends in New York? Did you make another best friend?”
I chuckled. Elena and the rest of my friends from college got me through my early twenties, but they weren’t Taylor. She held a special place in my heart; she reminded me of the girl I was before I left Willow’s Cove—the one who only read books and daydreamed of living in the big city one day. She failed at trying to hold back a bright smile. “Good.” I knew I’d have to regain her trust before she fully forgave me, but it was a start.
Our tender moment was interrupted when Sofia swung the fitting room door open and revealed her silky lace dress. I’d never seen someone so delicate and poised. The dress perfectly hugged her curves, and the lace trim that ran along the slit emphasized her long legs. She’d always been beautiful, but she was the image of perfection in a wedding dress. “I hope this doesn’t come off as cocky, but I forgot how hot I looked in this.”
“Me too,” Taylor gasped before joining her in front of the mirror. I wasn’t expecting to choke back tears, but seeing her in a gown she and Taylor gushed over together made me finally realize just how much I’d missed. While I was gone, not only had I grown up and moved on, but so had everyone else.
“What do you think, Cami?” I sucked back the waterworks before joining them at the mirror, and it was almost eerie how much she resembled Julian when I saw her reflection. “You look beautiful. You just need one final touch.” I walked over to the wall full of veils and picked one to drape seamlessly down her back. “Now you’re perfect, and you’re going to be the most beautiful bride Willow’s Cove has ever seen.” I wiped the tear that slid down her red cheek.
“Thank you, Cami. Not just for being here, but for staying. It means a lot that you did, regardless of what happened between you and Julian.” I wondered how much she knew about what happened between me and her brother, but I realized none of it mattered anymore. My phone’s ringtone saved me from the memories that tried to flood my mind.
“I have to take this. I’ll be right back.” I scurried to an empty part of the store before accepting Greyson’s call.
“Miss me already?” I teased.
“I missed you the second you left, Cami, but I’m calling because I’m helpless in the grocery store right now.” Greyson’s family had housekeepers and handlers to do everything for them, so he never learned how to be on his own. It wasn’t until we met when he decided to let me teach him the basics of adulthood—doing his own laundry, paying bills, stocking the fridge with actual food rather than just beer. He was easily flustered by it all, but his willingness to learn was one of the reasons I fell for him.
“What do you need?”
“Remind me what flavor ice cream we get?” I stifled my laughter. “Chocolate-chip cookie dough, but remember to get it last because it’ll melt by the time you’re finished shopping.”
“Damnit, I forgot. I might need you to stay on the phone with me while I walk through the whole store.” His laughter on the other end called me home. It had only been a day, and I already wanted to get on a flight back to him.
“Do you need me to send you what we usually get?” I loved any excuse to make a list.
“No. Now I get to hear your voice for a little longer.” Even when we were thousands of miles apart, he still made me blush.
When I looked back at the girls, thankfully, they were too busy practicing their walks down the aisle of the store instead of looking for me. “How was your day?” I asked, the same question I did when he’d come home from work and drop his bag by the door.
“Well, this morning during a meeting, my dad was saying how great I’ll do as CEO. Then later that afternoon, he stormed into my office and told me how unqualified I am because I sorted papers wrong. So, I’d say the usual.”
Complicated was the friendliest way to explain his relationship with Mr. Carter. While he respected what his dad built, he hated being treated like an employee rather than a son. I saw it with my own eyes at the first Christmas I ever spent with the Carters. Greyson’s younger brother, Theo, had gotten keys to a brand new truck, his mom was gifted a private beach house off the coast of Brazil, and Greyson unwrapped a sales report highlighted with all the mistakes he made the week before. He never faltered in front of his family, but I was always around when he’d shatter afterwards.
“I’m sorry, Grey,” I muttered.
“It’s fine. I just have to stick it out for six more months until he makes the announcement that he’s stepping down.” He’d been counting down the days until he took over the company. I’d lost count of how many times I woke up to him writing in his journal because an idea came to him in his sleep and he didn’t want to forget it. He had big dreams—not only for the company, but for himself, which I always admired.
“I’m sorry I’m not there.” I knew he needed me more than he was letting on. He always called me his tether that pulled him back when he got lost.
“Speaking of, how is it in Willow’s Ocean?” I chuckled at how he never hid his disdain for small towns. “It’s Willow’s Cove, and it’s fine. I’m shopping for a bridesmaid dress right now.” I looked at the silk gowns sitting on the racks.
“When you find the one you want, just charge it to my black card.”
“I have the money from my publisher, remember?” Thanks to the six-figure book deal my agent landed me, I finally didn’t have a constant negative in front of my bank account balance.
“You worked hard for that, so it’s yours. My money is for us.” He always had a smooth way with words. “You’re such a gentleman, Mr. Greyson.” I couldn’t see him, but I pictured his cheeks turning red and a perfect smile growing on his face. “You can’t call me that when you’re in another state, Cami. It’s not fair.”
I threw my head back with laughter loud enough to catch the attention of the front desk receptionist and looked over at Sofia in time to see her exiting the fitting room. “I gotta go. Don’t forget bread. We were out when I left.”
“What would I do without you? I love you.”
The girls found me right as the call ended. “Where’d you run off to?” Taylor asked.
I hesitated to find an answer. “My agent called to discuss my second book.” Sofia and Taylor had a talent for seeing through people’s bullshit, and I saw in their eyes that neither of them believed me. Thankfully, they didn’t press for more.
“Now that my fitting is done, it’s your turn to find a dress, Cami. I didn’t like the options they pulled for you, so that means I get to choose.” Her eyes lit up before she dragged me to the racks and scoured through the dresses with a sharp eye.
“You have nice legs, so definitely something with a slit.” I remembered how passionate she was about fashion. I immediately knew she had a talent when I accidentally stumbled across the sketches she kept a secret in high school.
She paused before her mouth flew open and she pulled a mermaid-style dress from the hanger. “Even if this isn’t the one, I need to see you in this lace corset.” It wasn’t something I’d normally wear, but I trusted Sofia had a good eye. Besides, who was I to say no to the bride?
“As you wish.” I let out a huff before getting dragged to the fitting room, where I squeezed into the form-fitting dress. The satin hugged my skin perfectly and emphasized curves I didn’t even know I had; not to mention, the corset made my B cups look actually existent. I snapped a photo for Greyson to get his opinion, and his call came in seconds later.
“Do you like the dress?” I whispered so the girls wouldn’t overhear me outside the door. I told myself I wasn’t telling them about Greyson because the less they knew about my new life, the easier it’d be when I left again.
“I want you wearing that when I pick you up from the airport.” My laughter echoed in the tight-fit dressing room. “I’ll take that as a yes.”
“Goddamn, Cami. You’re so beautiful. How many days until I see you again?”
“Seven.”
He groaned. “I can’t make it that long.” His pining reminded me of our early days. He once showed up at my dorm room at midnight just to tell me goodnight.
“How’s it going in there, Cami?” Sofia startled me when she knocked on the door. “I’ll be right out.”
I stumbled with the price tag as I adjusted the dress and audibly gasped. “Holy shit, this dress is six hundred dollars.” I was all for splurging, but spending six hundred dollars on something I only planned to wear once was unheard of for me, considering most of my wardrobe was thrifted.
“What’s the problem?” I sighed at Greyson’s dismissal. Between getting access to his trust fund when he turned eighteen and working for his dad’s company, Greyson never saw money as an issue. Sometimes, it irked me how careless he was, but I knew old habits of coming from a wealthy family were hard to break.
“That’s a lot on just a dress, don’t you think?” Watching my parents count every dime just to pay the bills made me cautious about money, and even though Greyson never made me feel like I had to be, sometimes, I felt embarrassed.
“Even if it was six thousand dollars, I’d still tell you to get it. That’s how amazing you look, Cami.” My cheeks flushed at his compliment. I looked at my reflection in the mirror again, and I’d never felt more beautiful. I saw a confident, sophisticated version of myself I wanted to embody every day—though some days were harder than others to pull her out.
Sofia knocked on the door. “Come on out, Camilla Vega. I’ll pull you out if I have to.” I knew she wasn’t kidding, so I scrambled. “I gotta go, Grey. I’ll let you know if I end up getting the dress. I love you.”
I threw my phone down and swung the door open to reveal myself to the girls, who shot out of their seats with mouths gaping. “No, you can’t wear that. I can’t have you looking better than me at my own wedding,” Sofia said while holding her chest with a wide smile of approval.
Taylor rested her hands on my shoulders. “You look hot, Cami. This has to be the dress.” Six hundred dollars repeated in my head, but as I ran my hands along the satin, I knew no other dress would compare. “Okay. This is it.”
Before I could dodge it, they sandwiched me into a group hug. As their heads burrowed into my neck, I was overwhelmed with emotions I wasn’t ready to unpack. They both had reasons to be upset at me, Taylor especially, yet they welcomed me back as if nothing happened. Though I didn’t deserve their grace, I welcomed it like a familiar friend.
* * *
When I came back from the dress shop, I planned to only shut my eyes for a few minutes, but it turned into two hours. Who knew spending the afternoon shopping could wear you out?
The aroma of food flooded my nostrils and woke me. I followed the smell to the kitchen, where Julian stood at the stove, managing three pans at once with headphones in his ears.
A part of me wished he’d stayed in the depths of my mind where I kept our memories, but instead, there he was, reminding me he was once the reason for my heartbeat. I watched as he plated the food and tried not to think of the nights we stayed up talking about the future—quiet dinners, walks on the beach, sunrises on the cove. We were just two teenagers with no grasp of how the world actually worked, but we didn’t care.
His eyes widened with surprise when he looked up and saw me spying. “How long have you been standing there?” I walked up to the counter and grabbed the half-full wine glass. From the look of it, it was just us for dinner, so I knew I was going to need it. “Long enough,” I said.
“I hope you’re hungry. I made steak, potatoes, and asparagus.” My mouth watered at the plate he slid in front of me. If I hadn’t seen him make it, I would have thought it was takeout from a five-star restaurant.
“I’m starving. Thank you.” I took the first bite and savored the layered flavors that coated my tongue. “Where’d you learn to be such a good cook?” It wasn’t until then that I realized, while I knew everything about the boy I fell in love with, I knew nothing of the man in front of me.
A lazy smile ruffled his stubble mustache. “I live alone, Mila. It was either learn how to cook or live off frozen dinners.” I didn’t hear much after I live alone and tried to bury the strange sense of satisfaction that settled in my stomach.
“I still can’t cook,” I admitted. The restaurant around the corner from Greyson and me knew us on a first-name basis from how often we dined there. He opted for a professional chef who had been in his family for years, but I was already overwhelmed with two housekeepers, his private security, and the on-call chauffeur.
“Remember when you almost burned your house down when you forgot you left water boiling?”
The memory of him rushing to my house to clear the smoke out before my mom got home flooded my mind. “Cut me some slack. I was a kid.”
“You were seventeen, Mila.” Our undiluted laughter echoed through the kitchen, slowly dying off when his gaze trickled to my lips and made heat bloom on my neck.
“I hope you hold your alcohol better than you did back then.” He gestured to the almost empty glass in my hand when I took a sip.
How could I forget junior year homecoming? It was so cliché—someone spiked the punch at the dance. Unfortunately, I didn’t find out until my third cup, and the room had already started to spin. The rest of the night was a blur, but I distinctly remember Julian coming to the rescue, pulling over so I could puke on the side of the road. “I still haven’t had vodka since high school.”
His face perked up. “Oh, speaking of high school, you’re speaking at Willow High tomorrow.”
Wine nearly went up my nose from the shock. “What?”
“You said you wanted inspiration, and what better way than to talk about how you started writing?” I thought he was bluffing when he said he’d help me, but I should’ve known he wasn’t. I always had a habit of underestimating him.
My head cowered. “I’m not so good at public speaking.” I nearly passed out while giving my high school valedictorian speech, and I dropped out of debate in college because I couldn’t stomach standing in front of the entire class.
With the gentlest touch of his fingertips, he traced my face and tipped my chin up so I could stare into his soft brown eyes. It took everything in me not to reach out and touch where hair had grown on his cheeks. We were practically strangers again, but there was nothing unfamiliar about the way his touch felt on my skin.
“I know you can do it. Maybe there’s a kid with unrealized potential waiting for someone like you to pull it out of them.” He still had a talent for saying exactly what I needed to hear.
“Are you coming with me?” The question spewed out before I could stop it from leaving my lips.
He soft gaze clung to my face. “Do you want me to?”
I let out the next words as if I was in a trance. “I do.” I said we needed distance, to make sure no lines got blurred, and we still did, but if I was going to speak in front of a crowd of high school kids who scrutinized just about everything, I needed all the moral support I could get.
He tried to hide a satisfied grin behind his glass. “I wouldn’t miss it.”
I took another bite of the perfectly cooked steak before he broke the silence again. “It’ll be a little weird going back to where it all started, though.”
“Where what started?” I watched the lump in his throat go down before he spoke. “Us.”
The conversation of us was one I was actively trying to avoid, especially when I didn’t even know where to begin. “That was so long ago.” It had only been six years, but sometimes, it felt like it was another lifetime.
His expression turned somber. “We were just kids. We bickered a lot, but goddamn, we loved each other, didn’t we, Mila?”
Don’t say it was all that repeated in my head, yet the words sitting on my tongue were hard to hold back. “Yeah, we did.” Quick images of a moment that changed everything flashed without warning— my tears . His tears. Screaming and fighting. The You are Leaving Willow’s Cove sign getting smaller and smaller in my rearview mirror.
I jolted out of my seat when he reached over and dragged his fingertips along my arm, leaving my skin tingling. “Okay, new rule while I’m here: no touching.”
He flashed a teasing smile. “How set in stone is that rule?” There was no denying he was the same Julian. Damn him for being so charming.
“Practically carved into it. Also, no flirting. I dated you for two years, so I know all your lines anyway.”
He quirked a brow with amusement. “Anything else?”
It had been eating at me to tell him, and since we were setting boundaries, that moment felt as good as any. “Yeah, actually. I don’t want any lines to blur while I’m here, so you should know I have a boyfriend.”
The air grew stiff, and guilt washed over me as I watched his smile fade into a deep frown. As much as I didn’t want to hurt Julian, I couldn’t keep Greyson a secret. It was a double-edged sword, and someone was bound to get wounded.
“What’s his name?” he asked with a broken voice.
“Greyson.” He didn’t need to say a word for me to know what he was thinking. I could read him like my favorite book. “Are you happy?”
I nodded. “I am.” I’d meant it with every fiber of my being, but I wished he’d never asked. I didn’t want to have to watch his eyes threaten with tears.
“Then I’m happy for you, Mila. Really. I promise to follow the rules from now on.” He extended his hand for me to shake but immediately brought it back to his side. “Sorry, I forgot. No touching.”
I smiled and offered my hand. “We’ll make an exception this one time.” After only one day, he’d already begun clouding my judgment; I couldn’t wrap my head around how I was going to survive another seven.