That night, after Willow went to bed, I caught up with Cami in the upstairs hallway and said, "We need to talk."
From the look on her face, this wasn't what she wanted to hear. "About what?"
I gave her a look. "Guess."
"No."
This wasn't a word I was used to hearing. "What do you mean, no?"
"I meanno, I won't guess." She gave Willow's closed bedroom door a quick glance before adding in a hushed tone, "If you want to talk about something, just tell me what it is."
Cami was smart.Shehadto know what I wanted to discuss. But hey, if she wanted it spelled out, that was fine by me. "Alright," I said. "I want to talk about what happened."
"What do you mean?"
Now I, too, lowered my voice. "I mean, what happened between us."
"Oh." She frowned. "What about it?"
This should've been obvious. But I didn't want to be a dick about it, so for the first time in my adult life, I asked, "Are you mad about something?"
"You mean at you?"
I shrugged. "Sure, why not?"
With a shrug of her own, she said, "Alright. Then the answer's no."
I studied her face. "Bull."
In a low whisper, she said, "I'm not lying, so just let it go, alright?"
Let it go.
It was good advice. I knew this because I'd given this same advice to plenty of people over the years. Some had taken it. Some hadn't.
As far as those who hadn't, I never saw the point.Until now.
I replied, "I'll let it go when you tell me what's wrong."
"Why does something have to be wrong?" she asked.
"You tell me."
"Well maybe I'm just tired. Did you ever think of that?" She paused. "In fact…" She glanced toward her bedroom door. "Let's just say goodnight, alright?"
NowIwas the one frowning. It wasn't even nine o'clock. I'd been living with Cami for months now, and had become familiar with her schedule. Her normal bedtime was still a few hours away.
I told her, "We can say goodnight after we talk."
Her mouth tightened. "Are you saying that as my employer? Or as something else?"
"I'm saying it as both," I said. "If something's up, I need to know."
"Oh, really?"
"Yeah. For Willow's sake."
She crossed her arms. "Now who's full of it?"