I was about to say that we’d already met when Brandy interjected, “I haven’t. Pleasure to meet you.” I didn’t know if it was intentional, or if she’d just been so drunk she didn’t remember.
“You too,” I said.
Then Brandy asked, “Rachel, was it? You’re the friend Sadie’s never mentioned before.”
Camden straightened up next to me and my heart froze. Brandy could easily upset everything. She knew that Sadie had never gone to summer camp.
I was at a loss here. Mothers of the bride weren’t usually this hostile. I mean, sometimes they were but never toward me, because I devoted my time to keeping their daughters happy.
When I didn’t answer, Brandy pressed on. “Are you enjoying your free vacation?”
Her words were angry, menacing. And a bit hypocritical. As if she herself were not enjoying the same free vacation while simultaneously drinking all of the alcohol contained in the state of Hawaii.
But it was not my place to say anything critical. “I’m having a wonderful time, thank you.”
She compressed her lips into a flat line, as if she’d been itching for a fight and I’d just denied her.
“Rachel is sacrificing to be here with me,” Sadie said and it was easy to see that she wasn’t very good at lying.
“How is she doing that?” Camden asked and I wanted to tell him to be quiet and mind his own business, but right now Brandy and Sadie were pouring all of our business into his lap.
Sadie floundered for a second and I was no help. I had no idea what to say. The cameras were pointed at us and I ducked my head down slightly, willing them to not zero in on my face. Hopefully they remembered that Sadie was the main attraction here.
While I was worrying over how this might show up on video, Sadie’s eyes flashed brightly, like the proverbial light bulb had gone off over her head. “Because it’s her birthday tomorrow. And she came out here to be my maid of honor.”
“Birthday, huh?” Camden asked. “We should celebrate.”
“Yes!” Sadie glommed on to his suggestion. “We should! We don’t have anything scheduled tonight and we can just invite the entire wedding party and celebrate a day early. I’ll find you later, Rachel, and we can go over the details. Come on, Mom. We’ve got lots of people to talk to.”
When they walked away Camden immediately said, “Now I know why you couldn’t tell me how old you are. Because it’s changing tomorrow.”
“Yep.” I wanted to add, That must be the reason why. You figured it all out with your brilliant sleuthing, but I refrained.
“Is there anything you want for your birthday?”
You.
My pulse was frantic, my head buzzing, all staticky, because I did not know if I’d said that word out loud or in my head. When his expression didn’t change, I sighed, relieved that I’d managed to at least hold on to my dignity. “How about a break from your interrogations?”
“I’m not interrogating you.”
I let out a smothered sound of disbelief. “Yes, you are. There’s been a couple of times where I felt like I should be asking you to adhere to the Geneva Conventions.”
He laughed and it was just as thrilling the second time. “I think I can do that.”
Out of the corner of my eye I saw that Brandy had ditched Sadie and was headed for the bar. Time to intervene.
“It was great talking to you”—not—“but I have some stuff I need to do.” I stood up.
“Of course.” He stood up, too, and took a step forward so that he was totally encroaching on my personal space, but my body did not care. It was far too delighted at our proximity.
I swayed toward him but then forced myself to turn and walk away. This was getting to be too much. None of my plans where Camden was concerned seemed to be working out. I was getting sucked in even though I knew better.
You have a job to do, I reminded myself.
Brandy was getting angry at the bartender, who was offering her one of their many soft drinks. “That’s not what I want!”
“He’s been told not to serve you,” I said, keeping my voice low and calm.
She sneered at me. “By who?”
“Me. I’m here to make sure you don’t ruin Sadie’s wedding.”
There was a fleeting expression, one that almost looked like guilt or regret, but then the anger returned. “You can’t tell me what to do.”
“Right. But I’m still going to keep an eye on you.” Sadie would have her perfect day.