Forty
Camille
I wasnervous when Inessa ushered me deeper into The Plaza, directing me to The Palm Court, a pre-foyer lobby with tables where people were drinking coffee and eating brunch.
It wasn’t my first time here—Mama had brought me for my thirteenth birthday for afternoon tea. Because of it, I’d never had any desire to come again. I could still remember her pouring us coffee from antique coffee pots, decorated with the tiniest of flowers, telling me that I was growing up now and that such an adult treat was something I would appreciate.
I hadn’t, not really. I’d have preferred to go for ramen, but I hadn’t had the heart to tell her. She’d been so excited, so full of life. That was her though. She was always like that. Always so bubbly and vivacious. I hated that I didn’t really remember her that way, just that mental image I had of finding her dead.
“Cammie!”
Jerked from my memories when Inessa grabbed my arm, I grimaced in apology when I saw Aoife and Aela smiling up at me. “Sorry, lost to my thoughts.”
Distress freezing her in place, her fingers tightening to the point of pain around my arm, Inessa gasped. “Oh my God, how could I forget?”
I shot her an embarrassed look. “It’s okay, Innie.”
“What is it? What’s wrong?” Aoife queried, her concern clear.
“Our Mama brought Cammie here the birthday before she died.” She winced. “I’m so sorry, Cammie.”
“Don’t be,” I told her calmly, slipping into one of the spare seats and wishing I hadn’t let the past tug away at me. “It’s okay.”
“Hardly,” Aela denied. “We can move to another part of the hotel—”
I shook my head. “Please, no. It’s a nice memory. It made me think good things to remember her this way.”
Innie bit her lip and I knew what she was thinking too.
Aoife did as well, apparently. “I remember the news… You found her, didn’t you?”
I cleared my throat. “Yes.” Then, because I desperately needed to change the subject, brightly, I declared, “Thank you so much for letting me tag along with Inessa. I really appreciate it.”
Aoife laughed. “You’re not tagging along. This is the O’Donnelly sisterhood! We have to have some place where we can bitch about our men.” Her nose crinkled when Jake started wailing. It was only then I saw he was sitting in a car seat, rocking away like he was trying to burst out of jail. “Speaking of... this one is driving me crazy at the minute.”
Shyly, I asked, “Would you mind if I held him?”
“Be my guest. He might not like it though,” she said wryly. “He’s like his dad. Possessive.
“Don’t be offended if he tries to come to me. He’s like a monkey when he wants to be.”
“I won’t.” I watched as she unfastened him from the car seat then squatted down to pick him up before hefting him over to my lap. He immediately started wailing for Aoife, but when she went to grab him, I hushed him and sang, “Kalinka, kalinka, kalinka moya! V sadhu yagoda malinka, malinka moya. Sosenushka ty zelyonaya—”
He calmed.
Almost instantly.
I laughed a little, carrying on singing until he turned to look at me, big eyes peering at me before he grabbed a lock of my hair and started tugging. I patted his fingers and bobbed him on my knee, as Inessa murmured, “Cammie always was good with kids.”
Aela’s brows rose. “What’s she singing?”
“It’s a really famous song in Russia.” She grinned as my pace increased. “Every time you finish the chorus, you repeat it and get faster each time.”
When Jacob started cackling as I bobbed him in time to the beat, I let the song come to an end.
“Kid, you can’t be serious. You want me to learn Russian to keep you quiet now?” Aoife complained but she was chuckling as she watched us.
I grinned at her. “I can send you the lyrics if you want.”