“That’s not my story to tell.” She reached over to pat my hand.
I couldn’t help myself, even though she’d just politely told me to back off. “Was he living with you when he hurt his knee?”
She blinked slowly. “He told you about training for the Olympics and his accident?”
I nodded.
“He doesn’t share that story with anyone. I think only Dan and I know it. It says a lot about you that he told you.”
I decided not to share that the reason he’d told me was because he assumed I’d be too drunk to remember.
Still, her words somehow managed to make me feel both giddy and stressed. To find out that I was in possession of information that had a high level of significance to Camden, and then to fret over what exactly that meant. Was it part of his ploy? Did he really just think I’d forget? Or did it mean something more?
Something I hadn’t considered during all of this mess was just telling Camden the truth. Not about the maid-of-honor gig, but about the spy thing. The downside was that it might make him angry with Sadie and Dan for having let it slip, but if I told him I knew, that would bring a stop to everything, right? He’d stop trying to seduce me and I’d stop being seduced. Win-win.
There was a knock at the door. Camden wanting to be let back in. Although I didn’t quite feel up to facing him again after the information Irene had shared with me, I got up and answered.
“How was your telegram to the past?” I asked, trying to lighten my own mood.
“Your mom says hi,” he said with a smirk, coming into the room.
A frozen panic wrapped around my heart. Had he really talked to my mom? I followed him back to the sitting room and tried to calm my racing heart. My mother could so blow all of this for me. I’d emphasized many times that she couldn’t say a word to anyone. I probably should have clarified that it also included men she was considering as possible fathers to her grandkids.
There were many things she could have told him. Not just about my job. She had a whole lifetime of embarrassing moments to choose from. Like the Padded Bra Fiasco or the Spray Tan Incident.
Maybe Camden had some of those, too. “So, what was Camden like growing up?” I asked Irene. Even if I didn’t understand their entire situation, it was obvious that she considered him to be like another son.
He made a face, but she either didn’t see it or didn’t care. “He was pretty normal. He read comic books and played video games. He was also terrible with girls.”
“Really?” I asked, delighted.
“Untrue,” he retorted, and his denial made me giggle.
Irene smiled, as amused as I felt. “What was the name of that girl that you had the huge crush on? Lara Croft?”
“Lara Croft?” I repeated. “The video game character with the really big . . .” My eyes drifted to Irene and I shifted to, “。 . . desire to raid tombs?”
“You know that game?” he asked.
“You weren’t the only kid with a PlayStation.”
Shaking his head at me, he turned back to Irene. “The girl you’re thinking of was Laura Hoff. And she didn’t give me the time of day.”
“It sounds like she was exceptionally stupid.” The words were out of my mouth before I could even consider whether it was wise to speak.
“Why would you say that?” he asked.
Um, because she wasn’t smart enough to date you? I kept it to myself.
“I don’t like to speak badly about other women, but she was not very bright,” Irene agreed with me. At least someone else in the room got it. “He didn’t figure out he preferred smart women until he got into college. Then after he graduated he got so busy . . .” She let her voice trail off with a sigh.
Camden pointed at Irene’s lei. “She’s got a flower backward. Why aren’t you telling her she’s doing it wrong?”
“Now who’s changing the subject?” I asked him. “Irene can do whatever she wants and it is perfect.”
“Yeah, you weren’t saying that ten minutes ago,” he grumbled and I wanted to laugh again.
“Tell me more,” I invited her, and it was all I needed to get her talking. She didn’t explain their situation any further, but told me stories about Camden and Dan growing up, like how they got caught stealing gum from a store when they were twelve and how Dan’s father had marched them back to the store to apologize. He’d made them promise they’d never be dishonest again.
It made me more than a little uncomfortable.