Chapter 10 #2
His voice gentle, he asked, “You up for a cup of coffee, or is it bad timing?”
She snorted. “Of course it’s bad timing, but, yes, I would love a cup of coffee.”
She hung up and walked over to the front door, calling upstairs, saying she was stepping out to the neighbor’s for a few minutes. As she walked over to him, Camden studied her, and she quickly scrubbed at her face, then excused herself, went to his guest bathroom, and washed her face.
When she came back out, he asked, “Tough day, huh?”
She shrugged. “It’s the kids’ birthday,” she began, “their first without their mom. Unfortunately, I didn’t quite know how to handle it, and apparently, it’s now become a day they want to get past very quickly.
” She explained a little bit about what had happened.
“I followed along with what they wanted, but, of course, they didn’t really know what they wanted. ”
“And when you do that,” he noted, “it seems as if you probably didn’t care.”
“Maybe. … I don’t know. I’m just at a loss for what I’m supposed to do,” she admitted. “For the first time, I found myself thinking that I really don’t know that I can do this,” she shared, looking over at him.
Just then came a huge bang on her side of the property.
She bolted to the fence and looked out to see that her barbecue had been tossed to the side.
Nobody was there, but it was on its back.
She hopped the fence easily with Camden at her side, as they quickly put it upright again.
As they were doing that, the kids came running, Toby yelling at her.
“What did you do? Why would you dump our barbecue? That’s just stupid.”
Camden stepped in and corrected him. “She didn’t dump the barbecue. We’re not sure what happened, but she was talking to me over there in my yard”—he pointed off to the side—“and obviously she wouldn’t do something so stupid.”
Toby snorted at that.
“Toby, that’s enough,” Devon declared. “The one thing I will not tolerate is a lack of respect.”
Toby just glared at her, then turned and marched away, with Tabby on his heels.
Devon just closed her eyes.
Camden noted, “You have to set boundaries, and that one needed to be set.”
“I’ve never had a problem with them on this before,” she whispered. “Honest to God, they have generally treated me really well. That’s one of the reasons why I thought that maybe I could do this, but now?” She shook her head. “I just don’t know anymore.”
“Don’t make any decisions right now,” Camden suggested. “Give yourself a chance. Give them a chance. It’s been a rough time for all of you, and this is one of the hardest days after a loss.”
“I know. I know,” she muttered, “and we’ll limp along for a while and go to therapy and hope things improve.
” She realized her tone must have been pretty despondent when he snagged her up and folded her into a very gentle embrace.
Against her better judgment, she just buried her head against his shoulder, and, in spite of her efforts to avoid it, she broke down crying.
He held her for a long moment. “It’s okay, you know?” he whispered. “You’re allowed to miss her too.”
She sniffled. “That’s one thing that everybody forgets.
She was my best friend. She was the one person whom I had to talk to, the one to whom I could say anything.
We were always there for each other,” she explained, “and now? Not only have I lost her, somehow I’ve gained two people who don’t want to be around me anymore. ”
She stared out at the world around them. “I don’t know what to do. They’ve just gotten very difficult all of a sudden. And maybe it’s just the fact that the reality is setting in now that this really is their life and that their mother really isn’t coming back.”
He nodded. “Come on inside. Let’s get you some coffee.” Instead of hopping the fence for a second time, he added, “I might have to put a gate in here.”
She snorted. “And then I’ll end up selling the house, and you’ll hate your new neighbors.”
“That’s the easy part. I’ll just take it right back out again,” he told her, with a smile, as they walked around to the front of the house. He looked over at her and asked, “Did you have birthday plans for the kids?”
She nodded and explained the little bit they had planned. “I haven’t given them their gifts yet,” she shared. “Now I’m not even sure how to do it because everybody’s so angry and upset.”
Camden quipped, “Kids are great in that way.”
“Yeah, says you,” she muttered, “the guy who doesn’t have any.”
He laughed, and, as he poured her a cup of the coffee that had just stopped dripping, he pointed. “Let’s sit outside in case anything is walking in your backyard.”
She smiled at him. “You do realize just how blasé we’re being about that barbecue, don’t you?”
“I do,” he confirmed, “and it’s not that we’re blasé, but you didn’t want to get the kids involved.” He turned to her. “Unless you think Toby did it?”
She shrugged. “I wouldn’t have thought so, but what do I know anymore? … I don’t really understand why things are getting worse on a day-to-day basis. Ever since we moved here, everything is going to shit.”
“I doubt the move had anything to do with the changes in Toby’s behavior. It doesn’t seem as if Tabby’s reactions are as severe, does it?”
“No, but only because she’s suffering but not lashing out. And, while I’m thankful for that, it might be better if she did just let it all out.”