Chapter Nineteen
Mel
"What's on the schedule for today?" I asked Aunt Dorrie, expecting the same answer I'd been getting for the last week, that she didn't have anything much for me and I should go check in with Cammie. I couldn't, though. I hadn’t heard from Cammie in the past week since she’d basically told me to leave.
Sure, I'd sort of started that talk, but Cammie had agreed and told me to leave. I couldn't go back, at least not until she asked me to.
"You're being far too stubborn," Auntie Dorrie said, almost like she could read my thoughts.
"I wonder where I get that from," I mused, making her chuckle.
"Your father definitely," she joked. She was always telling stories about my father, her brother. I loved so much that she did what she could to help me keep their memories alive.
"Seriously, stubborn as a mule he was," she said. I chuckled a little at that, before she added, "But seriously, are you really going to keep acting like she doesn't exist?"
"I'm not. I'm just giving her space."
"You're being stupid, is what you're doing."
"She wanted space, so I'm giving it to her. It's definitely not stupid," I insisted.
"It is if I say it is, and that girl doesn't want space."
I was sure that wasn't true, though. She'd been the one to ask me to leave and was so dedicated to avoiding me that even the idea of a free helping hand wasn't enough to get her to want to be around me.
I was trying not to take that personally.
"What do you know about Cammie?" I asked.
"More than you, that's for sure. She needs the help."
"That might be true, but I'm the last one she'd want it from."
Aunt Dorrie let out an exasperated sigh and grabbed her purse.
"Where are you going?" I asked, surprised.
"To get some tea and some clarity," she said as she swept out the door, leaving me blinking at the closing door and wondering if it would make things better or worse if I went after her.
I decided I valued my life too much to try to stop her from doing whatever she had in mind and would have to deal with whatever consequences came my way.