Unspoken Words (Unspoken #1) (31 page)

My mom and I have been up since the crack of dawn preparing our Thanksgiving feast. The turkey has been in the oven since six o’clock this morning. I am responsible for making my famous broccoli casserole and Stove Top stuffing. My mom cringes and refuses to make Stove Top, so it’s left up to me.

Hours later, Jamie’s mom walks into the kitchen with a pie in her hands. Jamie’s dad, Christian and my father trail behind her each holding a dessert.

“What do you have over there?” I ask pointing to her hands.

She laughs. “You know exactly what I have. Keep your little hands off of it until after dinner.” With a pointed stare, she continues, “The top is perfectly smooth, so you can’t sneak some without me knowing.” She smiles. Michelle’s chocolate mousse pie is my favorite.

Holding my finger up to mimic scout’s honor, “I promise to keep my fingers off the pie. But I can’t make any promises as to how many pieces I will eat today.”

A smile appears on her face. “Sweetie, you can eat the entire pie, if you’d like. You know I make it special for you. Jamie was given instructions to bring the rest of the desserts over with him. I even baked double chocolate chunk-cookies and another one of your favorites, oatmeal scotchies.”

A squeal escapes from my lips and my hands flail like a little girl. “I am going to gain a hundred pounds by the end of the day with all these goodies.”

My mom leans in placing a kiss on my cheek. “It’s nice to see you smile again, sweetie.”

A smile radiates on my mom’s face. I know when I hurt, she hurts. Mom hasn’t pushed me to talk about that night. She has given me the space that I need to cope with it.

I fear leaving the house. My therapist visit was the first time I stepped outside the safety of my parents’ house—my childhood home. I feel safe here. Like no one can hurt me while I am under this roof. I have spoken to the detectives a few times, but there aren’t any leads on my case. I fear it will end up being another unsolved case on a shelf somewhere. I think, deep down, that is another reason why I haven’t left the house. That monster is out there somewhere. He could be preying on someone else. I don’t know if I will ever feel one hundred percent safe and secure knowing he could be walking right beside me.

JAMIE

IT’S A TRADITION
for my family to spend Thanksgiving with the Townsends. The women spend the day in the kitchen preparing the feast while the men watch football on the big screen. Mark and my dad offer to help, but they’re ushered out of the kitchen. The women claim they get in the way, more than they help. I ran a few errands this morning, grabbing a few bouquets of flowers on the way home.

Walking through the Townsend’s front door, my eyes ping around the room searching for Camryn. Glancing down the hallway, I spot her in the kitchen with our moms. I stand in the hallway admiring her appearance. It’s nice to see the smile plastered on her face. I haven’t seen it enough recently. Lately, when she notices me looking at her, she forces a smile, but it isn’t a true one. To see my girl smiling, makes my heart beat faster. My girl is making progress.

Camryn and her mom notice me before my mom does. Walking over to both of them, I hand them their bouquet of flowers. Leaning down, I kiss Gwen’s cheek. “Thank you for having us for dinner.”

“Oh, sweetie, you are always welcome here, this is our tradition.” She grabs the dishtowel to dry her hands. “You know my door is always open, even without an invitation,” she says, patting me on the shoulder before she walks into the dining room, removing two vases from the breakfront.

Camryn walks over to where I am standing, tilting her head at me. “Are they for me?”

I laugh. “Maybe, maybe not.”

She bites her lip to stifle a grin. “Well, if they are mine, they are beautiful. They are my favorite flowers. Whoever is on the receiving end of them is one lucky girl.” She’s barely able to hide the laughter from her voice.

I can’t help myself. I throw my head back and roar with laughter. No matter the situation, she can always make me laugh.

Leaning down I place a soft kiss on her cheek, igniting a rosy color blush to spread up her neck. I think I embarrassed her by kissing her in front of my mom. I have kissed Camryn like that a thousand times but I guess knowing that she’s my girlfriend now made her a little self-conscious.

Dinner was delicious, as usual. I lean back against the sofa, my hand rubbing my stomach that is completely full. Between all the food and desserts, my ass needs to hit the gym hard this weekend.

A few hours pass, my parents have already left, Christian is getting his stuff together to head back to the City. With platters of food in his hands, he walks out of the kitchen toward me. “Hey, you want a lift home?”

Camryn walks out of the kitchen. She has a look on her face that I can’t read. I walk over to her and place my hands on her cheeks. “What’s that look for, baby?”

Her eyes veer away, but I hold her face firm in my hands. “Tell me. What’s wrong?”

Cami’s eyes peer over my shoulder to Christian, and then back to me. “I don’t want you to leave yet. Can you stay for a little while?”

A smile appears on my face immediately and I pull her close to my chest. I’m happy she asked me to stay with her. Each day I see a little bit of the old Camryn. The Camryn that I fell in love with, my best friend. Squeezing her tightly, I whisper close to her ear, “I will stay as long as you want me to, baby.” I place a soft kiss on the top of her head.

Turning to Christian in the foyer who is saying goodbye to his parents, I say, “Hey, I’m gonna hang here with Cami for a bit. I’ll meet ya at the gym in the morning. Eight or so?”

“Sure. That works for me. Good night, sis. Your broccoli casserole kicked ass, as usual.”

“With the pound of butter I used to coat the croutons and the four bags of Swiss cheese, you’ll definitely need the gym in the morning.” Camryn laughs, and grabs my hand pulling me toward the stairs.

I follow her to her room with her hand securely in mine. I rub circles with my thumb on the outside of her hand. She turns, giving me a genuine smile. When we reach her bedroom door, she turns, then leans up on her toes to place a soft kiss on my lips. I wait to see if she will take this kiss further. Camryn has been navigating this ship for the past month. I will not push her to do something she isn’t comfortable with. Being in the same room with her is good enough for me. She kisses my lips slowly again, then feathers soft kisses along my jawline, to my ear. She whispers, “Thank you for staying.”

Cami pulls back to look at me. A smile appears on my face the moment I see how happy she is. I would stay everyday if it would guarantee me that smile on her face at this very moment.

Hearing footsteps, I turn and see Camryn’s parents coming upstairs. Mark walks toward his bedroom opening the door. He turns to look over at us, smiling at me before he enters his room. Camryn walks into the room with her flowers, then heads to the bathroom, closing the door behind her. Gwen takes my hands in hers. “You know that I love you like a son and you mean the world to Camryn. I want to thank you for always being there for our girl.”

“You’re welcome.”

“You know as well as I do, she is a fighter and she’ll make it through this, I know she will. We just need to be patient with her, but with you, it’s always been different. You know exactly what she needs. You always have. I need to thank you for helping bring my daughter back to me. You did something that I couldn’t do.”

“I don’t know what I did different from anyone else.”

“Whatever you did, it worked. I know it will take time, but it was a blessing to see her smile today. I’ve missed her smile, Jamie. You make her smile, you bring that joy out of her. You always have. The relationship the two of you have is special. I want the two of you to hold on to that feeling. It is rare and when it comes along you have to seize the moment, hold on to it and fight for it. Thank you for not letting her push you away like she has the rest of us. I know in time, she will let the rest of us back in, but knowing that she has you eases the ache in my heart.” She squeezes my hand.

I pull Cami’s mom in for a hug and rest my chin on her head. “You know I love your daughter, I’m not letting her go. She can push, but she will never push me away. She’s stuck with me.”

She pulls back to look at me. “Cami is one lucky girl to have you.” We hear the bathroom door open and Cami emerges in a pair of yoga pants, a tank top, her face is clean of any makeup, and her hair is piled on top of her head in a messy bun.

“Good night, sweetie,” her mom says, as she walks down the hall to her room, closing the door behind her.

I turn and walk into Cami’s bedroom, closing the door behind me. Cami is moving pillows around on her bed, piling them up by the headboard. “So, what shall we do? Are you in the mood for a movie or do you want to just hang out and talk?” I ask as I walk over and sit on the edge of her bed.

She turns toward me, a mischievous grin on her face. “I was thinking we could just cuddle and talk. If that’s okay with you?”

I jump eagerly on the bed and position my back against the pillows. I open my arms to her. “Come here, I am totally up for cuddling and talking.”

“Can you take off your shirt, so I can feel your skin?” she asks quietly. With one quick movement, I pull the shirt from behind my neck, tossing it at the foot of the bed. Cami crawls up the bed, settling next to me. She lays her left leg over mine, cuddling into my side laying her head over my heart.

“Did you know that hearing your heartbeat soothes me?” she says in soft whisper.

The tenderness in her voice makes me smile. “I had no idea.”

Her fingertips slowly move over the intricate lines of my tattoo on my chest. With every move of her fingers, my skin sears with the intensity of her touch. Her soft breath against my skin. She takes a deep breath. “Can I tell you something and you promise not to ever look at me differently?” Her finger continues circling along my chest.

My left hand caresses her soft, silky skin. “Cami, there is nothing that you can say that will make my feelings change for you.”

Cami looks up at me, her eyes are gentle and contemplative. “After talking to Gayle the other day, I feel like a weight has been lifted. That I can finally talk about what I’m feeling, what I’m struggling with. I’ve never been one to be afraid of anything. I’ve never been one to keep anything from you, so I don’t want to start now. I want to tell you what happened that night.”

My fingers stroke her arm soothingly. “Cami, you don’t have to tell me.”

“No, it’s time. I’m ready,” she says firmly.

She lays her head back down on my chest. I don’t say a word, I don’t want to stop her from talking. “I fought back. The more I fought, the rougher he was with me. While he had the knife against my neck and was raping me, I wished he would have pressed it harder against my throat and killed me. I didn’t want to live through it. I wanted to die, Jamie. For the first time in my life, I couldn’t bear the thought of taking one more breath.” There was a faint tremor in her voice.

“I prayed he’d press the blade harder, wishing he would pierce my throat. I would have rather have died than be coherent while he stripped me of everything I’ve known as a woman,” she says in a choked voice.