Chapter 10
“A blast from the past. Right between the eyes.”
-Aaron
I move to catch Camellia before she hits the tile floor of the entryway. Her skin is too pale, highlighting the dark circles under her eyes. I slowly lower the both of us to the floor and stroke stray hairs out of her face. I check her pulse, which is strong.
“A little help out here!” I yell.
I have no idea where Luke or Wysdom are, but they invited me here for a freaking lunch party, and I was running late because of an issue at Engine Two.
“For the love of Oprah!” Wysdom curses as she kneels next to me. “What happened?”
“Camellia fainted,” I explain, then frown. “What is she doing here?”
Wysdom breaks out her shit-eating grin. “Oh, uh. Surprise!”
My eyes narrow. Camellia stirs in my arms.
“Can we get her some water?” I look toward Luke and his entire family, who fill the room behind him.
“Is Auntie Cam okay?” a redhead boy looks at Carmen Saber.
“She’s fine,Mijo,” Carmen kisses the top of his head. “She had a little shock. She’ll be okay.”
Deuce Ward suddenly appears with a cup of water. “Here.”
“Thanks, Deuce.”
Camellia’s eyes flutter open. “Sparky? What happened?”
“You fainted,” I tell her. “Here. Drink some water. Slowly.”
She takes a sip, then sits up on her own, eyeing me warily. I don’t blame her. We parted on terrible terms. I haven’t spoken to her in more than two decades.
Well, it had been two decades before she ran into me in Downtown Flamingo Cove and acted like we didn’t know each other.
Camellia pushes away from me and tries to stand too quickly, which causes her to sink back to the floor.
“Take it easy, Camellia,” I shove the water back at her. “You fainted. You need to get up slowly.”
“Why did you faint,Mija?” Luis Saber asks his daughter.
Camellia blushes. “Uh, I didn’t eat breakfast. I was running late to the airport.”
Her family may not notice, but the tips of her ears turn red. It’s a dead giveaway that she’s lying. I say nothing. It’s none of my business anyway.
She sips a good bit of the water. “I’m fine. I need to get up.”
I get up and offer her a hand, but she swats it away. That’s my Camellia. Always wanting to stand on her own.
Shit.My Camellia?She’s not my anything.
“What the fuck are you doing here?” Camellia hisses at me.
“Wysdom and Luke invited me for lunch,” I tilt my head at her, then turn to the rest of their family. “Although, they didn’t mention there’d be a crowd.”
Everyone is staring at us with their mouths hanging open, including the kids. So, I decide to make a joke out of it. “You’ve got so many people here. I might need to check the fire codes.”
