Brides and Brothers by Anneka R. Walker

Chapter 8

Aiden

Aiden tossed his blanket off himself and grabbed his phone from his desk. It was a quarter after three in the morning. He set his phone down and rubbed his eyes. He couldn’t stop thinking about Camille. Was he crazy? They’d been dating for a week and half now, and he could already feel his priorities shifting. He was not usually so emotionally affected. When he’d decided to look for a potential relationship, he hadn’t expected Camille to show up on his doorstep with a pan of banana bread or to click so perfectly with her. Now his brain and heart were conflicting to the point that sleep eluded him.

He stumbled through the dark out of the master bedroom and into the kitchen, filled a cup with cold water, and drank it in a few gulps. Things had gone far better than he’d anticipated. Camille fed him dinner in her apartment almost every night, and they talked late into the evening afterward. It was no wonder he couldn’t stop thinking about her. Maybe working for a few hours would help clear his mind.

He trudged to his office, stopping just inside the doorway with a groan. It was already Sunday. He had committed long ago not to work on Sunday. He flipped on the light and sank into the chair by the door instead of his seat by the desk. Instantly, he pictured Camille sitting in his exact spot. He looked up at the scrapbook on the file cabinet. What had she seen in there that had made her smile?

Pulling the book down onto his lap, he flipped to the first page. He read through some of the printed emails, alternately laughing and cringing at some of the memories. He followed his transition from college to his volunteer service, which had started in Michigan—an unexpected detour while he had waited for his visa for Brazil. He turned the page, and his pulse raced as his eyes landed on a picture. Amazement flooded through him. Why hadn’t he remembered this?

He slid the cardstock page out of the slipcover and carefully peeled the five-by-seven photo from its place in the center. He held it up to the light. There was no mistaking it. It was him and Camille. He’d remembered her as Cam since that was what was written on her volunteer name tag. He had worn a name tag too, but it had only listed his last name. Camille had recognized him, but Aiden hadn’t registered anything.

They both looked like babies. His finger traced Camille’s smiling face. He had done his best to eliminate romantic thoughts toward her during their service, determined to focus on his volunteer work, and he hadn’t even asked for her information to keep in contact with her afterward. Even so, he had been attracted to her cheerful nature, her inquisitive mind, and her mind-numbing smile. All these years later, and he was falling for her all over again.

This wasn’t how it was supposed to be. Life had played him a complicated hand. He wasn’t just an older brother; he was both mom and dad to a bunch of young adults who needed him to be on his A game. He helped run a farm and had a full-time software business. Grant was in Iraq, Flynn was as sullen as an angry teenager, Easton and Benson were lonely, and Cade and Daegan were drifting without purpose. It didn’t seem possible for him to be emotionally responsible for all of them and still carve space into his heart for a woman.

By the time the sun came up, Aiden was showered and dressed in slacks and a tie for church, but there was somewhere else he needed to go first. He climbed into his jeep and drove until he reached Camille’s apartment complex. He parked and pulled his phone out of his pocket. Even though what he was about to do made sense, it still took an insane amount of guts.

Camille

Camille scrolled through a food blog, searching for the perfect homemade spice rub for the roast she planned on serving Aiden for dinner. The screen image changed to Aiden’s contact, and her ringtone blared to life. She quickly swiped to answer his call, hoping the noise hadn’t woken any of her sleeping roommates. Putting the phone to her ear, she said hello.

“I hope I didn’t wake you.”

She could get used to hearing his smooth voice first thing in the morning. “No, just getting ready to eat some breakfast. I’m planning on hitting a church service in a few hours.” Without even second-guessing herself like she normally would, she asked, “Would you like to join me?”

“Church sounds great. Actually, I’m in the parking lot of your complex. Any chance we could talk for a few minutes? You can bring your breakfast.”

Camille fell quiet for a moment, silently reviewing their time together the night before. Had she said or done something to put Aiden off? They’d laughed the whole evening, but more than that, there’d been plenty of looks—the kind two people shared when they just got each other. Or maybe it wasn’t her—maybe Paul had taken a turn for the worst. That thought didn’t make her feel any better. “Sure. I’ll be down in five.”

After a quick trip to the bathroom, where she tamed her messy bun with a few bobby pins and brushed her teeth, she hurried to the kitchen and grabbed two yogurts, two spoons, and her bag of granola.

Aiden must’ve been lost in his thoughts when Camille knocked on the passenger window. His head snapped up, and he reached over and opened the door for her to slide in. She settled herself in the passenger seat and wondered what Aiden thought of her sloppy attire—athletic pants and a sweatshirt—hoping the breakfast in her hands would sweeten her appeal. Even without makeup, though, she somehow earned one of his charming smiles.

“Good morning,” he said, his words a little hesitant.

“Is everything okay?” She tightened her hold on the cold yogurt in her hands.

Aiden forced a smile. “I wanted to discuss some things. Mind if we take a short drive? It feels weird to talk in a parking lot.”

She gave the go-ahead with a quick nod, and a few minutes later, after passing some alfalfa fields, Aiden pulled to a stop by a small grove of trees clustered at the corner of a farmer’s circle.

“This is a cool place,” Camille said. The view of the open fields and the Rocky Mountains cutting across the horizon was surreal and peaceful.

“My dad’s friend owns this farm. I want to plant some trees on a corner of one of our fields just like this, but since I haven’t done it yet, we’re going to borrow this spot for a few minutes. Jerry won’t mind.” He put his hands out to her. “May I?”

“Oh, sure.” She handed the breakfast supplies to him. Why wasn’t he meeting her eyes? She couldn’t read the situation.

Aiden grabbed a blanket from the back seat to add to the pile in his hands, then climbed out of the car. Camille was silent as she followed him from the car to a spot just beyond the trees, where they would be hidden from the road.

Once the blanket was spread out at the edge of the trees on the other side of a dirt road that trucks and tractors had paved, Camille sat with her legs crisscrossed on one side of the blanket. Aiden sat opposite her, pulling one knee up and draping his arm over it while he ate the yogurt Camille had brought for him.

“Thanks for breakfast. I hadn’t eaten yet this morning.”

Camille tilted her head. “Are you going to tell me what’s bothering you?”

Aiden licked his lips, clearly mulling over his words, then shifted his position so he was sitting parallel to Camille, with only a foot between them. “First, I need to show you something I discovered last night.”

He reached inside his jacket and pulled out the picture. He handed it to her, eager to see her reaction.

She took it in her hands, immediately recognizing her younger self, braces and spazzy buns on either side of her baby face. “No way. Where did you get this?” She studied the guy standing next to her in the picture—her first love, the man who’d started her on a path she couldn’t ever regret. Why did Aiden have this?

Aiden gave her a crooked smile. “That’s me standing next to you.”

Her eyes widened, and she stared from him to the picture. He was no longer a gangly kid with glasses, but sure enough, it was Aiden.

“Now you know why I look so familiar. I can hardly believe we were both in Detroit at the same time, working on the same humanitarian project. Now, all these years later, we’ve met again.”

She covered her mouth with her hand, excitement whirling with disbelief. “I should have seen it sooner. I only ever called you Peterson, but I just figured it was a common name. This is crazy.”

“I was supposed to be in Brazil, but my visa was delayed. Next thing I know, I’m spending a month volunteering in Detroit. I met you my last week there.”

She studied the image again. The red-brick exterior of the inner-city school behind them in the photo was nearly masked by their bodies, but they’d worked on the roof, interior painting, and landscaping. The streak of paint on her cheeks matched the smattering of dots on Aiden’s shirt. She glanced up at him, sure this couldn’t possibly mean the same thing to him as it did to her. “So you remember me?” Camille asked, tapping the picture with her finger.

“It’s been ten years since I’ve seen that picture, but it all came back to me when I saw it.” His voice grew nostalgic. “I was so anxious to dive into the impoverished areas of South America and serve the people, but I was also scared out of my mind. Going to Detroit helped prepare me for Brazil. It was the first time I felt, without question, that I was doing the right thing with my time.” He stared at the plaid pattern on the blanket. “I used to think about you and wonder what you were doing.”

When he brought his head up, she could barely see him through the tears swimming in her eyes. “I wouldn’t be teaching at a Christian college today if I hadn’t met you. You talked about God like He was your best friend. It blew my mind how someone as young as you could know without a doubt of His existence. Those conversations we had while we worked . . . they meant a lot to me.”

She blinked away the moisture in her eyes and ran a finger around the younger version of herself. “It was the best summer of my childhood. I flew there to be with my aunt, and she knew service was exactly what a teenager needed to get over herself. Of course, she couldn’t have planned for my crush on a boy who’d just graduated high school. I would have killed to have had this picture of us. Or any picture, really.” Camille’s voice caught, and she remembered his last words to her before he’d left Detroit. They seemed so ironic now. “You never said goodbye. Instead you said, ‘I’ll see you later.’”

“I remember.” Aiden put his hand softly over Camille’s. She turned her hand in his, and their fingers threaded together. Her hand was cold, and he rubbed her skin with his thumb. She marveled at the feeling the simple gesture evoked.

“I used to talk to you,” Camille said after a moment. “Praying didn’t come naturally to me, and it was easier to imagine you listening and talking to me until I got the hang of it.”

Aiden grinned, clearly amused. “What kinds of things did we talk about?”

Her eyelashes fluttered closed as she thought back to that time. “I told you about my complicated relationship with my mom, how lonely I was, my hopes for school and friends. I wasn’t comfortable sharing my problems with anyone else.”

“Did I say anything back?”

“You mostly listened. When you did talk, you always said the same thing: ‘I’ll see you later.’” A cool breeze sent goosebumps down her arms, and she shivered.

Aiden’s jaw tightened, his expression taking on his concern. “I’m sorry things were so hard for you. I wish I could have been there for you.”

She leaned toward him. “Do you think heaven had a hand in bringing us back together?”

Aiden gently brushed the stray hair behind her ear, his fingers lingering there. “I don’t know. It seems that way, doesn’t it?”

She pressed her eyes closed as Aiden played with the loose strands of her hair. Coming back to Cherish had felt like a default decision. Deep down, she’d felt abandoned, alone. But this was one of those moments when she was reminded that God put people in her life at a certain time for a reason. What had felt like a detour was actually Him aligning her path with His.

She opened her eyes, eager to understand what Aiden was feeling. Gone was his usual confident smile. He seemed especially somber.

“Didn’t you want to tell me something?” she asked, her stomach tightening. They weren’t on the same page, were they? Maybe finding the picture had altered his feelings for her, turning her back into the clumsy teenage girl who had followed him around. “It’s fine if you don’t want to date anymore,” she blurted. “I understand.”

Aiden squeezed her hand, but the intensity of his gaze only heightened. “I don’t think you do.” He moved his hand from her hair to her cheek, caressing her skin, and slid his hand to the back of her neck.

Her breathing slowed, and her heart raced. She leaned forward as his lips found hers. The warm touch filled an ache she hadn’t known she’d been carrying, and the longer they stayed connected, the farther and farther away her worries faded. He released her hand, and his arms pulled her closer, her own arms drawing up his chest and around his neck. For a quiet moment, time seemed to hold still, and it was just him and her with the whole world before them.

Aiden pulled back first, his affectionate smile melting her insides.

Camille blinked a few times, her breath a little unsteady. As her thoughts cleared, her excitement was suddenly colored by remorse. Being with Aiden would be a whole lot easier if she could stay in Cherish. He needed to know about her housing dilemma. “Listen, I like you . . . a lot . . .”

“Good, because I like you a lot.”

She bit back a grin. “I’m glad, really I am, but I’m having some housing issues. If a decent apartment doesn’t open up for rent, I’m going to have to move and teach remotely. I can only be in student housing until I turn twenty-seven in January.”

“January?” Aiden repeated. He stared at her. “Where would you go?”

“I’m not sure. I wanted to be close to Amy and my best friend, Daisha, but even if I move to a neighboring city, I don’t want to feel isolated. I’m thinking about moving in with my aunt in Michigan.”

“Michigan?” Aiden blew out a breath and looked everywhere but at her. Finally, he met her gaze, his green eyes earnest. “I have a better idea. Let’s get married.”

In a million years, she wouldn’t have predicted those words would come out of his mouth. “What?”

“We both know there’s something special between us. You need a place to live, and I don’t want to keep saying ‘I’ll see you later.’”

She pushed down the thrill of his words. “We can’t get married just to fix my housing problems. I know we share similar values, but there’s so much we don’t about each other.”

“I’m not proposing a temporary, fake marriage. This would be the real deal. With your birthday in January, your housing contract will end with the semester right before Christmas. I know it doesn’t seem like a lot of time to get to know each other, but we’ll date as much as we can and make sure we’re on the same page.”

“A Christmas wedding?” Her thoughts whirled. “Why would you do this for me?”

He frowned. “For selfish reasons. I haven’t wanted anything for myself for as long as I can remember.”

It took time for words to form in her current state of shock. “Are you going to ask me how many kids I want next?” she joked.

He gave her a sheepish smile. “How many do you want?”

She laughed, more from awkwardness than anything. They had a lot of ground to cover in the next three months. “I don’t know. Don’t people normally have a similar number to what they were used to having while growing up?”

“You want seven kids?” Aiden smiled and winked.

“Seven?” Confused, she raised her brow.

“Yeah.” He shrugged. “Like me and my six brothers.”

Camille’s eyes widened. Apparently, today was a day for surprises. “You have six brothers?”

Aiden blinked. “You’re joking, right?”

“No.” Camille’s laugh was weak. “Every time you told a story about a brother, I assumed it was Grant.”

Taking her hand in his, he asked, “Amy hasn’t told you a bunch of wild stories about us?”

“She mentioned you and that’s it.” Big families were a novelty to Camille, but it wasn’t like she was marrying them.

“I’m clearly the only one worth mentioning.” His smile was forced. “Nah, my brothers are great. You’ve actually met two of them. Remember the blond guys from the diner?”

“The one with the dating card and his lookalike?” Camille covered her laugh. “No way.”

“Yeah, Daegan’s sense of humor is a little lacking. Once you get to know them, they’ll grow on you. Let me know when you’re ready to meet the rest. We’re all about two years apart and pretty close.” He scratched his neck. “I’m sure there will be lots of surprises we’ll have to weather together. But together, we can figure it out.”

There were no flowers, no ring, no bended knee, and yet the idea of marrying Aiden brought her real joy. “Yes,” she breathed.

Aiden’s smile was curious. “As in yes, you’ll marry me?”

Camille nodded and said more firmly, “Yes.”

The tenderness in his gaze was as powerful as his touch. “I’ve never proposed before, and I’m realizing how unromantic I made this. You won’t even have a good story for your friends.”

“I don’t need a good story. But I do need someone committed to me.”

“That I can promise.” Aiden pulled her close, wrapping his arms around her and tucking her under his chin.

She curled up against his chest, and a happy sigh escaped. “I think I’ll go home and make a countdown on my calendar with hearts all over it.”

He chuckled and pulled her closer. “Sounds cute.”

Finally, she would have the home and the family she had longed for. “Good, because I want you to hang it in your office.”