Page 90 of Love Unscripted
“My stomach.”
Another pause. Suspicion threaded his tone. “Go see the nurse. Maybe she can prescribe something. Rest a bit. Then continue.”
She inhaled slowly. How things had changed. Once, everything revolved around her. He would have shut down production at the slightest discomfort.
“No,” she said evenly. “It’s not something that can be fixed like that.”
“Why not? How would you know? Are you a RN?”
“I’ve felt this way before. I know the symptoms. I need rest. That’s the only way it passes.”
Silence.
A full minute.
Finally, reluctantly: “Alright. Go ahead. But whatever you need to do, you do it. I expect you on set bright and early tomorrow. If you’re not, our deal is off.”
Her grip tightened on the phone.
“I’ll be there.”
She hung up.
One deception layered upon another. She told herself it was temporary. Necessary. Just a couple more days. For now, she would drive across town, smile beside Aaron, sit at his parents’ table, and pretend she had nothing to hide.
~*~*~*~
“Welcome,” Dana Cortelli greeted Camille at her home, wrapping her in a warm hug.
Camille handed over the gift she had rushed to the mall to pick up. Unsure what to buy the couple who had everything, she’d called Aaron for advice. He’d told her Dana’s favorite perfume and Robert’s favorite cologne, so she’d bought them.
“Oh, thank you, Camille. That’s so nice of you.”
“My pleasure.”
Tiny running feet sounded against polished floors and Madison appeared.
“Miss Camille!” she exclaimed, launching herself into Camille’s open arms. “I thought you’d have come to church with us.”
Camille pasted on a smile, but she was spared from answering when Aaron appeared.
And he looked good enough to eat.
That longish hair brushing his shoulders. Those sexy eyes. The trim beard. The black jeans topped by a soft grey jersey shirt that fit him just right.
When he leaned in and hugged her, it was all she could do not to collapse into his arms. The fact that his mother was standing there watching was the only thing that kept her upright.
Throwing his arm around her, he said, “The gang’s here. Now that you are, we can eat.”
“Sorry about the delay,” Camille muttered. “I was caught up in something else that was occupying my time.”
“What was it?”
She shrugged. “Just stuff.”
He gave her a reassuring squeeze. “That’s fine. Alex only got here ten minutes ago anyway.”
She followed him into the living area where the family were engrossed in a game of dominoes while Sunday football blared from the television.
