Page 84 of This Is How It Started
“It’s a mess right now. But later I’ll take you through the garage and show you the cabinets I’m building for it.”
He leads me to the dining room where the rest of the cottage cheese is gone from the ceiling. The walls have been painted dove gray and the trim a crisp white. The tobacco stains are gone, and all I smell is fresh paint.
“It looks great. Are you planning to build a table and chairs for in here?”
“You see what I did over here?”
I turn around to find that he’s built two columns and a pair of bookcases with wavy glass doors to go back in their rightful place. “It’s as if they were always here.”
“It’s probably what was original to the house. One more coat of paint and they’ll be good to go.”
“I can’t believe how much you’ve accomplished in such a short amount of time.”
“Yep, been burning the midnight oil. That’s for sure. Hey, I’m glad you came by because I’ve been meaning to call you.”
I take a fortifying breath, knowing what’s coming. The kiss. He still wants to talk about the kiss. He still wants to talk about us, even though there is no us. Good, I say to myself. I came here to clear the air, so we could go back to being friends. Real friends. Not the kind I make small talk with at bars with my brother.
“I’ve got one chair,” he says and motions for me to take it. It’s the one he was making the day I was here.
I run my hands over the beautiful oak arms, caressing the wood. When I say Campbell is an artist, I’m not kidding. “Ah, Campbell, this is like a museum piece.”
“It’s okay.” He shrugs. Not out of modesty but because his heart isn’t in it. I know this instantly. Because I know him. “There’s a folding chair in my bedroom. Let me get it.”
No more sitting on the floor, apparently.
I test out the new chair while he’s gone. The cushions are the same color of Campbell’s eyes. Green.
“Where did you get the upholstery for the chair?” I call to him in the other room. Then it hits me like a sucker punch, and I suddenly can’t breathe. Jessica. Serena & Lily. That’s where he got the cushions. He’s preparing to tell me that he and Jessica are back together.
He returns a few minutes later with the crappy folding chair that looks like it’s seen a few too many trips to the beach. Some of the webbing is coming loose. He unfolds it and sits in it anyway.
I should insist we trade, since I’m half his size, but I’m too busy freaking out about the news he hasn’t told me yet. The news he’s about to tell me.
“How have you been?” he asks, which I know is a stall tactic. He doesn’t want to tell me, so instead we’re back to inane pleasantries.
“I’ve been fine,” I hear myself say in a tight voice. I realize I’m not making this easy for him.
He lets out a breath. “I’d like to finish the house and put it on the market.”
There’s a long silence, and I finally say, “Why? You’re making it so beautiful.” And it’s perfect for him.
Because Jessica doesn’t like it, and we’re planning to buy something else. Together. Where we can raise our babies.
“I’m going to do some traveling,” he says. “Afterward, I have a cousin in Edinburgh who owns a furniture manufacturing company. He’s asked me to work with him.”
This is out of left field. I’m still trying to digest what he didn’t say instead of what he did say. Which is much worse. Campbell is going away.
“Edinburgh as in Scotland?”
He grins. “The one and only. It’s an amazing city. I was there with my dad a few years ago, visiting family, and have been meaning to go back ever since. This is my chance.”
“This is your chance,” I repeat because I’m struggling for what else to say, even though we both know why he’s leaving.
“I’ve got about two more months of work on the house. But when it’s done, will you take the listing?”
I’m suddenly lost for words.
Finally, when I get them back, I hear myself say, “I’m not really doing much real estate these days. I’ve sort of dedicated myself to this new venture with Brooke.”
