Page 98 of Love Unscripted
“So,” he said, brightening his tone, “back to Barbados.”
Her interest sparked again, just slightly, and he seized it.
“I was thinking,” he continued, “about us packing our bags tomorrow and going down there for the weekend. Me, you, and Madison. We could leave Thursday morning and come back Monday evening. How does that sound to you?”
Her smile returned fully this time.
“That sounds glorious.”
~*~*~*~
“You’re taking Camille to Barbados?”
“Uh huh,” Aaron replied distractedly, moving back and forth across his bedroom, folding and packing shirts and swim trunks into an open suitcase.
He had already packed Madison’s little yellow case. He hadn’t told her about the trip yet. He could already picture her face when he picked her up from school and drove straight to the airport, where the private charter would be waiting on the tarmac. The look of wonder. The squeal.
“With Madison?”
“Yeah. I want my two special girls there with me.”
There was a silence on the other end of the line—long enough to make him stop folding. His mother didn’t go quiet unless something was coming.
“Aaron… isn’t this a little sudden? Not to mention risky. You have barely known Camille and yet you’re running off to Barbados, one of the most romantic destinations in the world, with her for the weekend—and with Madison too.”
He stilled completely. Slowly, he straightened and held out both hands, as though his mother were standing in front of him instead of miles away. “I thought you liked Camille.”
“I do. I think she’s a sweet girl. She has a great personality and she certainly seems to be into you…”
“But?”
“But you need to be careful, Aaron. I’m just asking you to think this through carefully. Number one, Camille is not your wife. You should not be going on romantic getaways with a woman you are not married to.”
“Nothing’s going to happen, Mom. We’ll have separate rooms in the villa and besides, Madison will be there. She will help us both stay focused.”
“You’re joking.” Her voice sharpened. “You don’t seriously think separate rooms are going to be enough to keep two warm-blooded young people apart. And you want my granddaughter to play chaperone? Which brings me to my second objection. I really don’t think you should be creating situations where Madison could get attached to Camille before you make a commitment to her. You know how badly Madison wants a mother. If things don’t work out between you and Camille, she’ll be crushed.”
“Things will work out between us. There is no doubt about that,” he said automatically. But he was sitting now. The suitcase lay open and forgotten on the bed behind him.
He couldn’t argue with his mother. Not really.
Barbados. The villa. The sea breeze through open shutters. Late nights. Privacy. Temptation.
He had deliberately ignored the warning bells because he had been too excited—too thrilled at the thought of being away with her, playing house in his family’s villa. He had brushed aside the risk, overconfident that he could withstand whatever pressure came.
1 Corinthians 10:12surfaced in his mind like a rebuke:“Therefore let anyone who thinks that he stands take heed lest he fall.”
He exhaled slowly.
It would be too much.
And he could not count on Camille to reinforce the boundary. It wasn’t that she ever threw herself at him or tried to seduce him. She didn’t. But she never resisted either. It was always him holding the line, drawing the boundary, stepping back first.
He suspected it had something to do with her upbringing. He didn’t get the sense her family had instilled certain convictions. Even though she was saved now, it felt as though she was still unlearning old patterns.
Still—he loved her. Deeply. And he was willing to guide her, lead her in righteousness. She seemed teachable. Soft-hearted. Eager.
“I understand what you’re saying, Mom. I’ll cancel the plans.”
