Blood Debt (Touched Series Book 1) (8 page)

“Uh, thanks.”  I was rendered speechless.  There were so many things I should have said at that moment
,
but I couldn’t make my voice work.

Gretchen
didn’t seem to be someone to mince words
.  S
he asked,
“How long will you stay with us?”

“My return flight is Sunday.”

Gretchen turned to Will, half ignoring me, “William, it looks as though you’ve got four days.  You had better turn on the charm
. 
I don’t want Camille to leave us.  She should stay here.  We’re family.”

I knew she wasn’t talking to me, but
I
felt like I had to say something, “Gretchen, that’s really nice of you.  But I have a life and friends in California.  I really just wanted to meet Will and get to know him.  I’m not ready to uproot and move here.”

She turned to me with soft eyes and a thoughtful voice, “Exactly my reason for telling him to step it up a notch.  I know you have people
who
depend on you, but with us, you have a family
who
loves you and wants you here.  We can protect you
.”

“Protect me?  Protect me from what?”

William didn’t let Gretchen answer, “Muggers, robbers, thieves. . . lots of shady characters all over the place.”  He gave her a look, at first I wasn’t sure what to make of it – it looked like
. . .
fear.

Gretchen gave my shoulder a gentle squeeze and walked back out the way she had come in.  Will stood, too, not in an effort to trail her out of the room, but in a gentlemanly way as she walked out the door.  He took two steps in my direction after the door closed behind her
, smiled at me and said,
“She’s a force of nature.”

“I wouldn’t have believed it, if I hadn’t heard it myself.  She really is okay with my being here.
  But I don’t need protecting.
”

Will knelt down beside my chair, look
ing
directly into my eyes, “I’m not perfect, but I’ll never lie to you.  She wants you here as much as the boys and I do.”  Will cradled my face in his hand and caressed my cheek with his thumb.  “Camille, you’re a part of us.
  There are things in your mother’s past that we need to tidy up before you return.
”

“But you hardly knew her?”

“We’ll talk about it tomorrow
. 
I don’t have all the facts
,
and I don’t want to. . . it wouldn’t be fair to you for me to . . .we just need to contact your mother’s family.
 
I’d better turn in
.  G
oodnight, Camille.”

“Talk about what tomorrow?”

“Camille, I don’t have all the facts.  I promise I’ll fill you in on everything as soon as I can.” 
 

I wanted to argue with him.  I didn’t like the idea that
he felt I needed protecting.  I wasn’t some frail flower, but Will
had
said something that bothered me
-
s
omething about my mother’s family and that she had run away from them at seventeen.  Had she been abused?  Was he trying to shelter me from them
, or was I right to begin with
-
that William was a part of some manipulative cult my mother had escaped
?
  

Chapter 6

I went to my room and had a strange feeling I couldn’t shake.  Instead of staring at the ceiling after having taken a six hour nap, I thought I’d check in with Daniel.  He picked up on the first ring.

“It took you long enough!  I’ve been waiting for you to call for hours!”

“Awww, that’s so sweet.  Are you worried about me?”

“No, what’s there to worry about?  You only flew all the way across the country to meet some guy your mom had sex with once and hadn’t talked to again your whole life.
 
Then those texts you sent?  W
hat the hell?”

“Geeze, cluck or something – you’re acting like an old mother hen.”
 

His voice softened when he said, “I was worried, okay?  So
,
how is he
,
anyway?  Is he strange or something?”

“No. . .I mean, I only talked to him for a little while.  He seems okay.  I also happen to have five half
brothers.”

“
You texted me that much.  W
hat’re they like?”

“
They’re like you, but handsome. 
I wish you could meet them.
  They took me out on the ocean today.
”

“
You’re hysterical.  A
yacht
,
huh
?  Caviar
,
too?”

“Gross!  No, we just went for a bite to eat, then out on the water.”

“Cami,
be careful. 
You just met them and they want
ed
to take you out on the ocean.  Did it ever cross your mind they could toss you in the ocean and no one would ever know?”

I pulled the phone away from my ear and looked at the phone – I’m not sure why
since
there was no way he could see the expression I gave his picture staring back at me on the screen. 
I would never admit that that was why I sent him the text earlier. 
“Been watching too many serial killer shows again
,
Daniel
?
  Why don’t you switch back to the Disney
C
hannel
?
”

“I’m serious
,
Cami, something isn’t right.  I can feel it.  You shouldn’t be there by yourself
,
and you shouldn’t go anywhere without telling someone where you’re at first.”

He was right, but if I agreed with him
,
that would just make him double concerned. 
“Daniel, I’m not on spring break bar hopping
in another country
!
 
I’m meeting relatives I didn’t know I had
.
”

His voice lost any hint of humor it may have had, “Angela kept you from them for a reason, Cami.  Be smart.”

I didn’t want to admit that he was right, so I didn’t.  “Al
l
right.  If it’ll keep you from having a meltdown, I’ll text you whenever I go somewhere.”

“I’m serious, Cami.”
 

After I hung up with Daniel
,
I had a tough time finding sleep.  If he could just meet them
,
he
could tell me that everything would be fine.  We’d been friends for as long as I knew what a friend was.  Daniel thought like me, acted like me, most of the time we finished each other’s sentences. 
I wanted to believe my family was every bit as awesome as they appeared on the surface, but I couldn’t shake the nagging feeling that something just wasn’t right.  Daniel was thousands of miles away
,
and he was feeling the same thing
.

The next morning I showered and dressed, tiptoeing down the hallway.  I’m not sure why
;
I was still on west coast time
, so
it was after nine a.m.
on the east coast
.
The house was quiet
.  I
t reminded me of a library rather than a home filled with eight people. 

As I peered into the kitchen
,
I found Brent sitting at the table looking at some papers.  When he saw me enter, I
saw
his face light up, “Hey, I was just getting ready to write you a note.  Glad you’re up!”

“Are you going somewhere?”

“We’re supposed to go pick up your ‘Welcome to the family present’ from Mom and Dad, but I was going to go for a swim before it got too hot.”

“I don’t need a present
.  D
on’t let me hold you up.”

“Get used to it
. 
Dad likes to make money
;
Mom likes to spend it.   You wan
na
join me
for a swim
?”

“That
’s
a consi
stent theme.  Will was giving Gretchen crap
last night about her spending habits
.
”  I thought about his offer
. 
I loved swimming but
had
packed a little too quickly, “
I didn’t bring a
swim
suit.”

“Hmm, well, let’s shelf swimming for now and go pick up your gift.”

“Brent, that’s okay.  I’d really rather just hang out
.
”

“
You don’t even know what it is.”

“Seriously, I’d rather not.”

“
Uh . . . sure,
I’ll
text Dad real quick and let him know there’s been a change of plan
s
.”

Brent put his phone down and looked back my way hopefully. 
My question was out before I even realized how rude it was
,
“So
,
when money’s no object, how do you keep yourself entertained?”

“Entertained?  You mean, what do I find fulfilling?” 

I didn’t want him to think that I thought he was shallow and hoped my question hadn’t offended him.  “Yeah, are you a workaholic, a big time
philanthropist, or what?”

“I work, but it’s not that hard.  Dad could do it all himself if he wanted to.  I think he just keeps the
five
of us in the office for comic relief.  I’ve
never
met a charity I didn’t like
,
but I don’t think that qualifies me as a philanthropist.  I’m pretty simple.”

“Girlfriend?”

“Uh . . . no.  No girlfriends.”

“Now or ever?”

Brent looked like I had struck a nerve, “Ever.”

“Oh, sorry.
”  From his reaction I figured he must bat for the other team, “
Boyfriend?”

This question made him laugh, “No, Camille, I’m not gay.  I
’
m definitely heterosexual.”

That didn’t make any sense.  Brent was handsome - seriously handsome.  He could give up his day job and be a model if he wanted to.  He was really tall, deep
ly
tan
ned
, dark,
with
shaggy
but
perfectly
trimmed hair, a smile that even Colgate would be envious of
,
and a cool personality. 
“You’re a rich, good
-
looking guy.  Girls probably throw themselves at you.”

“Not exactly.  Don’t get me wrong
. 
I’ve run across a few that I thought were pretty incredible, but dating isn’t necessarily something . . . I mean, it’s not . . . you know.”

“
It’s not what?”  I could see Brent had touched on something he desperately didn’t want to talk about.

“I’ve just not found Miss Right.”

“How are you going to find Miss Right, if you aren’t
checking out
Miss Right-Now?”

“It’s just not a good idea.”

“
Uh, okay.  If you want me to set you up or something, I have tons of single friends in California.”

Brent’s face looked like he was actually contemplating my suggestion.  “That would be beyond awesome, but I wouldn’t feel right about it.  Enough about my love life, what about you?”

“I told you yesterday, I had a boyfriend I broke up with a couple months ago.  End of story.”

“Your mother didn’t mind?”

“Didn’t mind what?”

“Did she introduce you two?”

“Well, no.  That would be
weird
.”

“But, your mother was . . . I mean
. . .
you’re the same.  She wouldn’t let you just date anyone.”

“Brent, what are you talking about?  My mom
didn’t have a say in
any of my boyfriends.”

“Boyfriends?  You’ve dated more than one?”
 
I could tell from
Brent’s
expression that he
was
surprised, but I wasn’t sure what he was so offended by.  Maybe dating meant something different here? 

Gretchen stepped through the door at that moment, her voice full of volume, “Brent, I thought you were taking Camille to pick up her gift?”  She leaned down and kissed his cheek and gave my shoulder a
comforting
squeeze.