Val nods in agreement. “Cameron shouldn’t have let Judith rejoin the group. She should have had her own tasting in her room or something, if at all.”
“I agree,” I say, but hate the feeling of speaking badly about Cameron, so I add, “Delaney could have been better at de-escalating Judith, though. She must have dealt with other difficult guests before if she’s been hosting here for five years.”
Val shrugs. “Maybe, but Cameron is definitely overstepping. Although I do understand why he insisted the tasting be held here, considering what happened to his parents.”
I blink at her declaration and wonder how she knows that bit of information. Is it possible that he disclosed that to her, too, when he picked her up from the airport? The thought makes me feel insecure in a completely irrational way, because that would mean that I wasjealousthat Cameron may have shared details about the loss of his parents with another woman, as if opening up to each other about the deaths of our parents was a special thing just between us. And that would be strange, to say the least, but before I can stop myself, I play dumb to try and get more details.
“What do you mean?”
“His parents died,” Val says, unceremoniously. “Car accident down the road during a storm.”
“Oh.” I try to act surprised. “Did he tell you that?”
“No, I found out when I did a Google search of the area and the house before coming. I ended up falling down a bit of a rabbit hole about Cameron in the process.”
I feel an embarrassing sense of relief at her answer and can’t help but press for more information. “What else did you find out?”
“About the area or Cameron?”
“Both,” I say, even though I only really care about the latter.
“Well, Charlotte is known as the Queen City because it was named after Queen Charlotte. It’s the most populated city in North Carolina.” She continues with a few more facts that sound like they are straight off the city’s Wikipedia page, and I fight to stifle a laugh. Val is both incredibly beautiful and incredibly odd.
“As for Cameron,” she continues, switching gears, “his last name is James. He is a fourth-generation lawyer and has been the managing partner of his family’s firm since his father died, although there were a few articles that suggest he’s not very good at it.”
I frown. “Not very good at being a lawyer or being a managing partner?”
“Both,” Val shrugs. “But I also found his name tied to a few small businesses in Charlotte, so maybe he’s just more focused on that.”
I nod at this information and add it to what I already know about Cameron from our interactions. He is definitely a good guy, despite Val’s clear reservations about him. Which is a relief since I have a silly crush on him. He’s a little cocky at times, and apparently not a very good lawyer, but at least the long-dormant part of me that has decided to start taking notice of the opposite sex again seems to have good judgment.
The yelling back in the kitchen dies down as the sound of angry footsteps gets louder when someone approaches the bathroom. Val and I freeze as the footsteps come within inches of the door, and we let out a collective breath as they veer left and continue up the stairs, slowly fading with each step.
“I don’t want to go back out there,” Val says, “but I don’t want to hide in here forever, either.”
“We could go up to our rooms,” I suggest.
Val shakes her head. “That was probably Judith who just stormed upstairs. Delaney was a little too wobbly on her feet to move that fast.”
“You’re probably right. Is there somewhere else we can lay low for a while?”
“We can go to the movie theater. I found it when I was exploring earlier.”
“Sounds good to me,” I say, but think back to how I abandoned Leah at the table. “Do you mind if I go grab Leah, so that she can hide out with us too?”
Val purses her lips as she considers my request. “I’d rather it just be the two of us, but you can get her if you want.”
I hesitate before reaching for the doorknob. “If you’re sure you don’t mind, I think I will grab her.”
“Okay,” Val says with that same unreadable expression.
I crack open the door to check if the coast is clear. “Where is the movie theater so that I can find you after I get her?”
“Just down this hall, past Cameron’s office.”
I balk again as I wonder how she was able to refer to Cameron’s office by name but push the thought away as I head out towards the dining room to find Leah. She sits alone at the table, pouring herself another glass of lemonade from the discarded bottle as I enter.
“Hey,” I say, and look around. “Where did everyone go?”
