are depressed about Cammie. Fix it or get over it. Those are your options.” He chuckled once more. “Oh, the recess is over. I need to get back in there. I just wanted to make sure you were okay. And believe it or not, you are. Lesson one: love hurts.”
Adam hung up the phone. This…this ache was love. This overwhelming sadness? The loneliness, the lack of interest in anything. Screw that. He would never love again. If he ever recovered this time.
A week passed. Christmas was almost here. Adam had come to embrace the routine of work. He needed it. He needed the sense of purpose. He was good at it. The people here really seemed to respond to him. He was slowly feeling better. The true test, he knew would be at the wedding. He knew they were renting a beach house. He knew they were doing the wedding on the beach, the reception on the beach, and that Sam and Haley were leaving from there to go on a honeymoon cruise. It sounded pretty perfect.
He would be flying back in the private jet with Cammie, Ryan, Ellen, and Abby. That could be a long flight, but he loved to sleep while he traveled so that was one way to avoid having to talk to her. After that, he figured there was a very slim chance they would ever cross paths again. That thought both relieved and depressed him further.
On Christmas Eve, they held the traditional family gathering before midnight mass. The entire family was at Cammie’s parents’ house. It was…exhausting. Everything was exhausting these days. She used to be able to function on nearly no sleep, but now she was just tired all the time. She rarely smiled. Worst of all, she and Cin hadn’t spoken since their confrontation a couple of weeks ago.
Cammie had quit the family dinners. Sunday ended up being her one day of rest every week since business was currently booming. She had even had to turn away some business, which was simply unheard of. Adam was amazing. He had done all of this…for her. Her chest constricted every time she thought his name. Making a mental note to stop thinking about him…yet again, she worked in the kitchen in silence while the rest of the women chatted happily.
Just before 8pm, minutes before they sat down to eat dinner, Cin walked into the house. She looked at Cammie, but this time it was the older sister doing the avoiding. They ate across from each other. At the end of the meal, Cin cornered her upstairs in the bathroom. The minute Cammie stepped out after washing her hands, Cin was there, blocking her from going down the stairs.
“Did you talk to him?” Cin asked.
“Did I talk to who?” Cammie questioned. When her sister simply stared back at her, she knew that she meant Adam. “No. No, I haven’t talked to him.” She sighed.
“Why not?” Cin had apparently decided to be relentless.
“I don’t feel like it. I have so much other stuff going on. I don’t know that I have time for him right now.” She shrugged. “This was probably all for the best.” She started toward the stairs, and then she rushed back into the bathroom and shut the door.
“Are you okay?” Cin called to her. She pressed her head against the door.
Cammie sat on the floor next to the toilet and waited for the nausea to pass. Great. Now she was going to be sick over the holidays. She stood slowly, and opened the door. Cin looked really concerned. “Feel my forehead,” she said weakly. “Do I feel hot to you?”
Cin ran a hand across her forehead, held it to the back of her neck. Finally she shared her assessment. “No. You aren’t hot, but you have pretty much broken out in a cold sweat.”
“I think I’m going to skip church. I’m going to go home and go to bed.” She headed down the stairs to say her goodbyes.
“Are you sure you can drive? And how are you going to climb up that ladder and into bed? Come back to my place. I’ll take the couch.” Cin was determined. “It will give me an excuse to skip church.”
Cammie felt too tired to fight her. She looked at her a moment and nodded. “Let’s go.”
By the time they arrived at Cin’s apartment, Cammie was struggling to stay awake. “I am worn out,” she complained. “I was going to argue with you about taking the bed,