Unforgiven (Wanderers #3) (41 page)

“I know,” I said, biting my lip to keep the tears at
bay. When he finally looked at me I saw the tears that he himself
was fighting. I took a step forward and slipped my arms around his
waist. He hugged me back and let me comfort him.

“Ella?” Josie called, clearing her throat. I pulled
away wiping away the few tears that managed to escape. “I only have
about an hour left before I have to go back.”

“Right.” I turned to Gabe.

“You did a good thing here tonight. I am very proud
of you. Never forget that.”

“Thank you,” I said, hugging him again. He squeezed
me back like a father would a daughter and that was what I loved
about Gabe. He kind of reminded me of my dad. He felt like home. I
gave him a small smile before Josie and I retreated back to my
room.

We spent the remainder of the time she had left lying
on the bed and just talking. Before I knew it I was asleep and when
I woke up in the morning Josie was gone and I was all alone. But I
was okay. For the first time in a long time I felt at peace.

There was a peaceful calm amongst the students during
breakfast. I like to think last night helped bring some closure to
those who needed to let go. Dixon had let me know a lot of the
students thought how awesome it was that I had thought of the
memorial and were thankful they got a chance to say their proper
goodbyes.

The cafeteria was filled with smiles and excited
students, happy that they were finally going home for the summer.
That was the first breakfast I wasn’t tempted to run out of the
room. I enjoyed what time I had left with my friends and spent most
of the morning exchanging addresses to keep in touch while they
were away.

Despite our punishment, Aidan was being pretty
lenient with us. He let us have the weekend to settle in and get
adjusted to our new schedules. He even said we could go out in the
town, but with one speculation. Gabe and he had to be with, which
wasn’t so bad now that we all were able to coincide civilly, well
for the time being at least – that could change at any moment.

Cameron said she didn’t care where she went just as
long as we got off campus. When her dad caught wind of her leaving
school and jetting off to Ireland, he basically could have cared
less. He hadn’t even noticed she was gone even though the school
had called him to inform him. He didn’t even bother to call to see
if she was alright. When she called him to say she had to spend the
summer at school his only response was, “How much is this going to
cost me?”

She never mentioned her mom and I didn’t push to ask.
From what I learned, Cameron’s parents weren’t the parenting kind.
She said her father told her, her mom only wanted to have a kid
because she thought it would make a good accessory. In a way I felt
sorry for Cameron, but she didn’t seem to mind and despite the not
so loving childhood I’d say she turned out pretty damn well.

After I said goodbye to all my friends that were
departing for the summer, I moved back in to the student dorms.
Unfortunately I couldn’t have my old room back because it was still
being occupied by Mackenzie. Aidan set me up in a new room across
the hall. Cameron offered to let me stay with her, but when school
started back up I would have to relocate again after she got a new
roommate and frankly I didn’t want to deal with moving…again. I was
thankful for the room I got because on this side I wouldn’t have
the sun shining through my window bright and early in the
morning.

I was a little sad to leave my room in guest housing.
The room was so much bigger and had better accommodations, but at
least I still had my own room. I settled into my new room and then
showered. When I was done I met everyone downstairs. I knew Cameron
was itching to go shopping and Aidan told us he had no problem with
us doing a little light shopping while we were there. He said he
needed to get some supplies anyways. Aidan was going to learn the
hard way that to girls there was no such thing as
‘light
shopping’
.

Zane joined us for the trip into town. Aidan invited
Mackenzie to come along, but she said she rather shave with a dull
razor than spend the afternoon with us. I was willing to supply her
with the razor.

Dean decided to spend his time at the local tavern
instead of enduring what he called a
‘tedious’
day of
shopping. Instead of torturing Gabe with another one off our
shopping exploits, Zane volunteered to stay with us while Gabe went
and kept an eye on Dean at the tavern. Gabe knew all too well the
McCallisters had a history of getting into trouble at bars.

Cameron was in her glory once we hit the shops. She
didn’t hesitate to charge everything and anything she could. I
didn’t know where she was going to put everything. I think she just
bought stuff because she could and to piss off her dad. The one
thing he actually did pay attention to and cared about was money.
Cameron told me once her dad’s idea of a social call was to yell at
her for how much money she was spending. “It’s not like we don’t
have it,” Cameron said.

I watched Cameron smile as the card slid through the
machine over and over again. I only bought a few items, but for the
first time in a long time I bought some nicer shirts besides my
normal t-shirt and jeans. I also got a few new lip-glosses and a
new pair of sunglasses. When I thought we were finally done, we
passed a dress shop, and Cameron pulled me inside. She said she
wanted to look for a dress for the Fall Ball while she had the
chance.

She tried to get me to try some dresses on with her
but I was too tired. I told her I would just help her pick out some
nice ones for her and wait while she tried them on. Zane and I
found seats just outside the dressing room. I practically fell down
on the chair. I didn’t think it would be possible to be shopped
out, but for the first time I think I was.

I looked over at Zane who sat quietly in the chair.
He was silent the entire trip and didn’t once complain about being
stuck with two girls who dragged him from store to store. He even
offered to help carry some of our bags. I assumed combat moves
weren’t the only thing Gabe taught him.

While we waited for Cameron to come out of the
dressing room I turned to Zane and asked, “So how did you get stuck
here for the summer?”

“In order to get my license as a guardian I have to
do a semester worth of one on one training.”

“So you chose to stay here for the summer?”

“Yeah, this way there’s less distractions and I can
focus more on school work in the fall.”

“Makes sense,” I said. “You know, you really don’t
have to stay here with us. I’m sure this isn’t fun for you.”

“I don’t mind, besides it’s good practice for the
future,” he smiled, showing off his dimples.

“Okay, so what do you think?” Cameron asked, coming
out of the dressing room.

She was wearing a green, mermaid style dress that
looked so tight I was wondering if she could actually breathe in
that thing. “You plan on doing aquatics?” I asked and Zane
laughed.

“You could have just said no,” she frowned.

“Well if I knew you wanted to try out for ‘The Little
Mermaid’ on ice,” I replied, getting another laugh from Zane, who
then tried to cover it with a cough. Cameron pouted and stomped
back into the dressing room.

“I think you hurt her feelings,” Zane said, trying to
keep the smile from his face.

“Trust me. I’m doing her a favor.”

After about the tenth dress and many insults later,
Cameron finally found the perfect dress. It was a plum colored
strapless dress that just grazed the floor. The top was heart
shaped and gathered in the middle with a diamond broach right in
the center. The material clung to her just right, accentuating her
body, but not too much that it was tight or clingy. It was perfect.
All she needed was the perfect pair of shoes and a few accessories
and she was good to go.

We finished just in time to meet the boys for dinner.
After dinner we went and saw a movie. Cameron and I were
outnumbered so we had to settle for the latest Alien flick. By the
time the movie was over I was exhausted. I crashed the moment I
laid on my bed.

When I finally woke up, it was sometime around noon.
I stretched my arms high above my head. For the first time in a
long time I had a good night’s rest. I ventured down to the
cafeteria to get some food. Sleeping through breakfast I decided to
make up for lost time by piling my plate high. I found Aidan
sitting at a table in the corner alone and I thought I’d say hello.
“Good morning,” I said, in what I hoped was a cheerful voice.

“More like good afternoon,” Aidan said smiling.
“Planning on having someone join you?” he gestured to my plate.

“Oh, um, I missed breakfast,” I said bashfully,
suddenly embarrassed about the massive amount of food on my plate.
He laughed kindheartedly and pulled out a chair for me to have a
seat. I joined him and tried not to look like a pig as I scarfed
down my food. “So, could you give me a little hint as to what we’re
in for as far as the manual labor we’ll have to do?” I asked in
between bites.

He just smiled and sipped his coffee while flipping
through his paperwork.

“So nothing. You’re just going to leave me
hanging?”

“It wouldn’t be much of a punishment if you knew what
was to be expected.”

I sighed and went back to my brunch. We sat silently
for the next few minutes. The quiet made my mind wander to Roman
and what he was doing and if he made his decision. Not wanting to
drive myself nuts I turned back to Aidan. “I wanted to say thank
you for letting us get off campus for the day.”

“I thought you guys needed a break. You’ll definitely
be begging for one by the end of summer,” he said, smiling behind
his coffee cup again.

I groaned to myself and finished eating. “Thanks for
the company. I’m gonna head back to my room and enjoy my downtime
while I still have it.”

“Good idea,” he chuckled. I tried my hardest not to
narrow my eyes at him.

I spent the rest of the day in my room putting my
stuff away and getting settled. Then I lay on my bed and tried to
relax. My mind wandered and soon I was wondering what to expect for
when Roman returned. I had no idea, but I was sure it wouldn’t be
pleasant. After ten minutes of staring at the ceiling I was bored.
Apparently I wasn’t one who could do leisurely downtime. I got up
off the bed and looked around the room. Since I would be the only
one there for the summer I decided to do some rearranging. I
thought it would be a good distraction and keep my mind off of
Roman.

I spent the next two hours moving furniture around
and organizing my stuff. When I was done, I stared at the pile of
dirty clothes in the corner and thought it would be wise to do some
laundry. I stuffed all the clothes into bags and was just about to
head downstairs when there was a knock on the door. When I opened
the door I was startled to find Roman standing on the other side.
“H-hi,” I stuttered.

“Hey,” he said.

“I didn’t think you’d be back until tomorrow?” I
said, remembering counting down the minutes until his return.

“I caught an earlier flight. I wanted to get a good
night’s rest so I was prepared for tomorrow.”

I nodded, understanding. Not knowing what else to say
I asked, “So how was your trip?”

“Good,” he replied, agitated. I could tell he was
upset that that was what I decided to ask about. I braced myself
for bad news. He sighed and ran his fingers through his hair. His
face calmed and he asked, “Can we talk?”

“Yeah, I was about to do laundry if you want to join
me?” I pointed to pile of bags behind me.

“If you’re busy I can wait.”

“No. I insist. Besides, it’s kind of creepy down
there by yourself.” He gave me a small smile and agreed to join me.
“Let me just grab my stuff real quick and then we can go.” I
grabbed the first two bags and when I turned to grab the soap I saw
that Roman was hovering in the doorway. “You can come in?”

“I’m good here,” he said, making it clear he wasn’t
going to budge. I grabbed the soap and two large duffel bags of
dirty clothes and headed out the door. Roman offered to carry the
bags for me and I gave him a thankful smile. We walked silently
down to the laundry room which was located at the far end of the
basement. Even though it was only a few flights of stairs and a
turn here and there; the walk seemed like an eternity in the
silence.

When we reached the laundry room, he tossed my bags
on the washer and then leaned up against it. I was hoping he would
say something first, afraid I’d open my big mouth and say something
stupid or start pathetically begging him to take me back. “So, what
did you do this weekend?” I was a little surprised by his opener,
but in his defense I said the same thing when I saw him.

“Aidan, I mean Mr. Callahan,” I quickly corrected
remembering his dislike for him. “Let us go off campus for the day.
Cameron and I shopped while the boys, well I should say Dean, went
to the bar. Gabe tagged along to keep an eye on him.”

“That was nice of him,” he said. I wasn’t sure if he
was referring to Aidan or Gabe, but I didn’t care. He was talking
to me and not yelling.

Roman was blocking the only working washer and I
paused in front of him biting my lip. He just looked at me. I could
see sadness in his eyes, and I knew he had made his decision and I
wasn’t going to like it. Instead of losing my nerve I gestured to
the washer behind him, but he didn’t move. “You know it’s kind of
hard to do wash when you block the only working washer,” I said,
trying sarcasm to ease my nerves.

Roman didn’t laugh and still didn’t move. At a loss
for what to do, I just stood there, and waited for a reaction.
Slowly he took the wash basket from my hands and placed it on the
broken washer next to him. He took a hesitant step toward me. I
looked up at him, half expecting him to turn and walk away, but
instead he reached out for my wrist and pulled me closer. I held my
breath as he looked deep into my eyes.