Chapter fifty-seven
CAMILA
A month and a half later...
“Are you really going to be okay, Evy?”
Evelyn sighed at my question. No wonder, since I had asked it about fifty times over the past week.
She was currently helping me pack my suitcase, as a car would pick us up in two hours and take us to the airport.
The clothes I had planned to take were spread out on my old single bed in my room at my grandmother's house. Since I had been spending most of my time with Michael, that had been Evy 's bed for the past two weeks. And it would remain that way, for as long as she needed it.
She and Peter had had a big fight, and they had separated. Since the apartment was his, Evelyn had two options: either she would go back to her parents' house, in the apartment across from my grandmother's, or she would accept our invitation to take my room.
She didn't have any other options than that at the moment, since, just a few days before the fight with Peter, she had been fired from the school where she taught Spanish.
She was now working at my grandmother's bookstore, and the salary wasn't that different from what she'd been making as a teacher. But apparently that damn Peter had run up debt on her credit cards, and she needed to get her finances in order before she could start looking for a place to stay.
I hated that guy, with all the strength I had inside me.
Evelyn was going through what you could call a bad phase in her life. And even though I was in the best of times, it was painful to see my childhood friend go through that.
“Of course I'll be fine, Cami. I’m going to be even better than fine with the way your grandmother takes care of me. If I had gone back to my parents' house, I would have been forced to hear about how incompetent I am at 'keeping a man'.”
“I'm sorry you have such a toxic mother, girl. And such an absent father. And such an idiot ex. And such idiotic ex-bosses.”
It was quite a combo...
“I'll be fine, Cami, I’ve already told you.
Despite all the bad things, I'm lucky that you and your grandmother gave me shelter and a job.
I'll soon be able to organize myself so I can rent a place for myself.
I'm getting some jobs as a Spanish translator on the weekends, that will help me earn some money faster.”
“Why don't you let me help you, you stubborn girl?”
“You’re already helping a lot. And it's not fair, you know.”
“It's not fair that you 're in this situation. You should sue that jerk so he pays you every penny he owes you.”
She shrugged her shoulders, showing that she didn't want to talk about it. She quickly changed the subject, “So... Tomorrow, at this time, you will be getting married.”
I smiled, anxious about that.
“Can you believe it?”
“Of course I can. Wow, Cami, you're going to be the most beautiful bride in the whole world!”
“I wouldn’t go that far! You'll look really hot in that bridesmaid dress too.”
My bridesmaids were Evelyn and Layla. They hadn't even met yet, and I was excited to introduce them that day since my friend from the office was flying to Aspen with us. I really hoped they would get along since they were my two best friends.
Michael's best men were his two brothers. Sebastian's wife was also supposed to be one of my bridesmaids, but she apologized profusely and declined. Her heart problems always made her very tired after even the slightest effort, and standing for the entire ceremony would have been tiring for her.
But all of this would be resolved as soon as she had the surgery that was scheduled for a few days later.
Michael and his entire family were already in Aspen, taking care of the final preparations for the wedding. With the exception of Logan, who would only leave the next day, for the ceremony.
We finished packing my suitcase. And since Evelyn's was already packed, we would have some time to rest until the car that would pick us up arrived.
“There's time to watch something,” she suggested.
“Enough for a couple of episodes of Grey's Anatomy,” I suggested, already knowing that it was the series she loved the most, and all I wanted at that moment was to cheer her up.
And it seemed to work, because she broke into a huge smile and announced, “I'll make the popcorn and meet you in the living room.”
When she opened the door to leave the room, she ran into my grandmother. The two smiled at each other and my friend left.
“She seems happier,” Grandma commented, entering the room.
“Yes, but it's just a facade. I know my friend well. She's devastated by all this.”
“Evy is a great girl, she didn't deserve to go through this.
But I believe that bad times come into our lives to bring better things later on.
I'm sure that Evy will find a better job in her field, that she will find someone who loves and values her as she deserves, and that she will still achieve many things in her life.”
“I believe it too, grandma.”
And how could I not believe it? Months before, when I lost a promotion at the office where I worked and found myself involved in a huge lie, I thought everything in my life was going wrong.
And it was exactly from that point on that everything really started to work out.
My grandmother came over, sitting on the bed and slapping her hand on the mattress beside her, signaling for me to sit down too. As I did so, I noticed that she was carrying a small box in her hands.
“I waited to gift you your wedding present today,” she announced.
“Oh, grandma... You know you didn't need to worry about that. My greatest gift was the love with which you took care of me for all these years.”
She shook her head, the way I knew she always did when she was trying to hold back tears. And she pushed the little box toward me.
I picked it up and opened it, finding a beautiful, delicate bracelet that looked familiar.
My grandmother then said, “It’s not an expensive piece of jewelry, but it’s quite old.
My mother gave it to me as a gift so that I could wear it at my wedding to your grandfather.
And almost thirty years ago, I gave it to my beloved daughter.
Your mother also got married wearing it, but it went much further.
Since the wedding day, she’s barely taken it off her arm.
She said it was her lucky charm, her favorite piece of jewelry. ”
This time, it was my eyes that filled with tears. I could picture my mother wearing that bracelet in my mind, although I couldn't tell if it was a memory or a figment of my imagination, since I was so young when my parents died.
My grandmother spoke again, “Like I said, it’s not a very expensive piece of jewelry, you don’t have to wear it to your wedding, it might not even match your dress. But after I lost my daughter, I kept this bracelet for all these years to give it to you when you got married.”
“Thank you, Grandma. This means so much to me. Of course I’ll wear it. It’ll be like having my mom with me at this special moment.”
“Oh, my dear... Your parents will always be with you. I will always be with you, even when I'm no longer physically here.”
I shook my head in distress.
“Don't say that, grandma. Promise me you'll be here forever.”
She laughed, through her tears.
“Well... I'll try, but I can't guarantee it.”
She brought her hand to my face in a gesture full of affection.
“I love you so much, grandma,” I declared.
“Ah, my child... I love you more than anything in this life.”
I hugged her, giving in to tears. And, as I had done as a child, I slid down until I lay with my head on her lap, while she lovingly ran her hands through my hair.
“Be happy, my child...” she wished.
I couldn't answer through my tears, but I thought I was already the happiest person in the world.