The Millionaire Myth (13 page)

Chapter 23

             
I crouched behind a tree, hoping to God that I wouldn't end up with poison oak on my ass. Why had I decided to go camping with Drew? I knew why of course. Because in the movies, when two people go camping, there's the soft glow of the campfire, skinny dipping in the lake, the intimacy of the tent, a good time in the sleeping bag.

             
What a load of crap,
I thought, as I tried to use the fast food napkins that Drew gave me. He hadn't brought any toilet paper.
That
was the reality of this camping trip. Along with other ugly realities, such as mosquitoes, dropping your hot dog into the fire, having your clothes and everything else smell like smoke. Oh, and having to crouch in the woods to go to the bathroom.

             
I brought this on myself, of course. When Drew had started heading back to the campsite, I'd had a moment of insanity, and told him that I wanted to camp where he usually camps, you know, really rough it. And unluckily for me, he'd taken me up on it.

             
When I had finished behind the tree, I made my way back to the fire where Drew and Brillo were waiting for me.

             
“Ready for some dessert?” Drew asked as he held up the bag of marshmallows.

             
“You have no idea,” I said with relief as I sat down. After this experience, I was definitely ready for some chocolate.

             
We were quiet as we prepped our marshmallows. After we'd had them over the fire for a few seconds I heard Drew chuckle.

             
“What's so funny?”

             
“You. I don't think I've ever seen someone so focused on a marshmallow before.”

             
“Do you spend a lot of time observing people and their marshmallow techniques? That's a little weird.” I laughed. “Besides, I already dropped a hot dog earlier, and I'm not about to lose the good stuff.”

             
“No pressure.” He angled his head to his right. “We've got a whole bag over there, plenty of back-ups.”

             
I'm glad to report that the rest of the night, there was no pressure. We ate our s'mores, put out the fire, then climbed into the tent. I felt a little weird about sleeping in the same tent with Drew; even after our fun day, I still didn't know him at all. As I snuggled down into my bag, I reasoned that if he had wanted to rape/torture/kill me, he'd already had plenty of opportunity.

             
I let out a long breath, relaxing into my pillow when I felt movement by my leg. I stayed still as I felt a hand firmly push up the length of my calf.

             
“Looks like you need some company, huh?”

             
I jumped a little at Drew's voice, but calmed when I realized it was on the other side of the tent. I looked down to see Brillo's head rubbing on my leg. After a minute of nudging me, he twirled around in a circle three times, then plopped down against the back of my legs with a contented moan.

             
“Traitor.”

             
I laughed, “Maybe he's being protective, since I'm the only girl here.”

             
I heard Drew's laughter in the darkness. “I think you give that mutt too much credit. I think it has more to do with the fact that you smell a lot better than I do.”

             
I completely disagreed with that, but decided to keep it to myself.

Chapter 24

             
I waved at Drew as he pulled away from my apartment. It was still early, only seven. If this was any other Saturday, I'd still be asleep. Smiling to myself, I turned and unlocked my door. As I was locking it behind me I considered climbing into my own bed. The camping had been fun, but sleeping on the hard ground didn't amount to a good night's sleep.

             
As I turned toward the bathroom, I caught a movement on the couch. Startled, I whipped my head over to see what had moved.

             
It was Kami. She was curled up on the corner of my couch, her eyes swollen and red. The movement I'd seen had been her reaching for another tissue.

             
The last time I'd seen her was weeks ago when I had stormed out of her house. Seeing her like this made me forget the anger. I rushed to her side. “Kami? What's wrong? Are you okay?” I looked her over, seeing no signs of damage, at least physically. “Is Jack okay? LBJ?” I felt myself panic more with each second she didn't respond.

             
Finally, she nodded her head. “They're fine. Everyone's fine.” Her voice was shaky and so quiet that I had to lean in to hear.

             
“Everything isn't fine. What's wrong?”

             
Kami turned to look at me, her face wrinkled up in pain as a new rush of tears came over her. “I lost it, Estelle, I lost our baby.”

             
“What?” I leaned back in shock. I hadn't even known that Kami was pregnant. I knew she and Jack wanted more kids, but she hadn't told me about the pregnancy.

             
“I was eight weeks along. Only Jack and I knew. The doctor said that...” she paused to take a breath, “That this can happen.”

             
“Kami, I am so sorry. What...what can I do?”

             
She shook her head. “Nothing. There's nothing anyone can do. Jack and I are both devastated. You know how much we wanted...” She shook her head, unable to continue.

             
I shushed her, and pulled her into a hug. I had no idea what to say, I had never been pregnant, so I couldn't imagine what she was feeling. Since I didn't know what to say, I just sat with her, hoping that would help.

             
After probably fifteen minutes, she moved to sit up. I sat still and watched her as she leaned against the couch and let out a long slow breath. “Sorry to drop this on you, we just found out yesterday. Jack and I were both so upset. This morning he wanted to take LBJ to the park, to try and cheer himself up.” She shook her head. “I know he's right, that we should focus on the good we have in our life. Little Jack is happy, healthy. But I just couldn't go with them, I wasn't ready...” She trailed off again, on the verge of tears.

             
“Hey, you stop it. I see what you're doing, I know you. Don't feel guilty about not wanting to go to the park with the boys. Everyone handles grief differently, and you know that Jack doesn't blame you in any way.”

             
She nodded. “I know. It's just really hard. I keep telling myself that there's a reason for everything. I think it'll just take some time to feel better.”

             
“I think you're right. The most important thing right now is to take care of yourself.”

             
Kami let out another long breath and rubbed her eyes. She sat up straight and tilted her head from side to side, stretching her neck. I tried not to smile as I watched her; I knew these movements; this was Kami's way of getting herself ready for battle. Whether it was time to convince LBJ that it was time for bed, or when she was in line for Black Friday sales. Or when she needed her strength the most; when her mother-in-law was visiting. I knew it meant that Kami was stronger than she even realized. She would get through this.

             
I feel like an idiot coming here, Estelle. I know we aren't talking, but I didn't have anyone else-”

             
I cut her off. “You don't have to explain it to me, Kami. Even though we haven't been talking, you're still the only person I want to talk to, you know?”

             
She nodded and grinned. “That made no sense at all, but I completely got it.” She met my eyes. “Does this mean you finally believe me, that I didn't tell Charlie?”

             
I took a deep breath and considered how to answer her. “Kami, I don't think we need to worry about that now, okay? What you're going through now is bigger than anything else.”

             
“No, it's not!” She insisted, “This whole thing about Charlie is huge! You know me Estelle! I would
never
screw you over like that. And even if by some freak accident, I lost my mind and did screw you over, I would own up to it. Don't you know that?”

             
I watched her watch me as I thought about her words. I knew she was being honest. I knew she wouldn't ever hurt me like that on purpose. I reached out and hugged her again. “I am an ass, Kami. I'm so sorry. I know you'd never do anything like that. I think I was just so shocked to see him, and I was so confused. Really, I'm still confused. Besides you, I don't know anyone that we have in common. But I know that you're not the one who told him.” I grabbed a tissue to wipe my eyes. I was so ashamed that I'd accused her like that. “I'm so sorry that I acted like an idiot.”

             
She bumped my shoulder with her own. “It's okay, I'm used to you acting like an idiot.”

             
We grinned at each other, both relieved to have the tension that had been between us disappear.

             
“I'm so glad we made up.” But my relief washed away when I remembered what brought her to my apartment. “Can I do anything to help you? I mean, I can't imagine how you must be feeling. Do you want me to take LBJ for a couple nights? Let you and Jack have some time alone?”

             
She shook her head. “Thanks, but no. I think it really helps Jack to hang out with LBJ.” She paused to take a deep breath. She let it out and looked around the room. “I'll be okay too, I just have to distract myself with other things.” Clearing her throat and zeroing in on me, she said, “For example, you. Where were you last night?”

             
“Uh, I was just...I was just out for the night.” I stood up and walked toward the kitchen. “You want something to drink?”

             
I opened the fridge as I heard her voice from the other room. “No, I want you to get your little stalling ass back in here and answer my question.”

             
“Please, my ass is nowhere near little.”

             
“Estelle! Get back in here. Distract me with the dirt.”

             
I came back from the kitchen with two Pepsi's. “How do you even know there's any dirt to share?”

             
She took a soda and popped it open. “Because you wouldn't have bothered to leave the room otherwise. Spill.”

             
I dropped down onto the couch beside her and sighed as I opened my soda. “Sorry to disappoint you, but it really wasn't a big deal. You remember that couple I told you about? Slick took me along to show them houses? The boyfriend was picky and annoyed the hell out of Slick?”

             
She nodded. “Yep, I liked him immediately.”

             
I rolled my eyes. “Well, I ran into him at the grocery store yesterday. We ended up leaving at the same time and as we drove home we realized that we live across the street from each other.” I paused and took another drink of my soda, hoping to make it seem like my next sentence was no big deal. “So yesterday he invited me to go camping with him, I didn't have anything else going on, so I went.”

             
She sat up straight, her head whipping around to look at me. “You did what? You don't even know this guy!”

             
“I know him fine. I met him when we were looking at houses. Besides, he's really nice, and has the most adorable puppy that he dotes on. How evil could he be?”

             
“Please tell me you're joking! I know you're not stupid enough to think it's just fine to go off with a stranger. Estelle, what if something had happened?”

             
“Nothing happened!” I threw my hands up, annoyed by her overreaction. “I'm fine. It was a nice drive, he even showed me his house, he's fixing it up. I guess that's why he's been so picky about houses, he really doesn't want to buy anything, he wants to live in his house near the lake...” I stopped talking when I noticed Kami's dumfounded expression. “What?”

             
She shook her head. “I just can't believe you. What's gotten into you lately? I mean, besides the whole possible danger issue, you aren't the type to do something like this.” I started to argue, but she help up her hand and continued, “I'm not judging. I  just mean that you would usually never do something so spontaneous. You are usually more cautious.” She looked at me and a slow grin spread across her face. “This guy must really be something, huh?”

             
I shook my head, insulted. “No! Well, I mean, he's cute or whatever, but he's got a girlfriend, remember? Honestly Kami, it was just nice to be away from Slick and out with someone I didn't have to impress, you know?”

             
She nodded. “I know. But please do me a favor, if you're going to hop into some random car and go off for the weekend, call me first so that I can be prepared to identify your body.”

             
“There you go overreacting again, besides, I hopped in a truck, not a car.”

             
It was Kami's turn to roll her eyes. “Oh, well never mind then.”