THE COTILLION’S COMPLETION seemed to lighten Rhys’s spirits. It helped that Willow returned home with them from South Carolina. Camile spent the following week ticking off Anne’s list of activities. Most evenings were spent out at one social event or another.
The two nights Camile had dance classes they opted for a daytime outing of some sort. Saturday morning, Camile, Rhys and Willow volunteered at Lucky Cats, Mia’s cat shelter. After lunch, they headed to the kite festival and then spent the afternoon browsing for vintage treasures at an outdoor flea market. On Sunday, they spent the entire day working for Helping Homes, an organization that built houses for the needy.
That was a good day as Kyle, Jay, Levi, Eli and a few other friends and acquaintances were there as well. Rhys was in his element and enjoyed spending time with people he knew. Willow hit it off with a group of teenage volunteers that included two of Jay’s siblings.
At the end of the week, Camile and Anne met to discuss their progress.
“I think it’s going well,” Camile said, pouring coffee for herself and Anne. “He seems more comfortable all the time. And even when he’s not, he’s learning to hide it better.” They sat at the table in Camile’s kitchen.
“As long as you’re there to temper him,” Anne said with a frown. “Did you hear him tell that woman at the kite festival that she needed to pick up her trash?”
“Yes, luckily, it was windy and difficult to hear.” Camile had fudged and told the woman that Rhys said he thought she dropped some cash. “To be fair, the woman did litter on the beach.”
Anne sighed. “I know. It’s just his delivery is so off-putting. But Mayor Hobbes did talk to him at the VFW luncheon, so that’s good. Turns out, the mayor looked into Rhys’s comments, and he’s not quite as sold on seafood farming now. He told Rhys he owed him one.”
“That is good news.” Camile tapped a finger on the table. “You know what still bothers me, though, is the gossip. Yesterday, at Tabbie’s, I heard people talking about the hit man rumor again. So weird. It seems to die down for a day or two and then comes raging back.”
Anne nodded. “I know what you mean. It’s like we put out a fire and another one flares up.” She sipped her coffee. “The mediation session is in a few days. And overall, we’ve gotten Rhys into a better legal position. Bailey is pleased with his efforts. She seems to think Rhys’s past, before Willow, won’t matter quite as much as Heather and her attorney are trying to emphasize. Making an effort in the present and then showing a commitment going forward is more important, and we can show that.”
“Bailey?” Camile asked. “Is Bailey Leeds your attorney?”
“Yep. She’s your attorney, too, right?”
“Yes. How did you know that?”
Anne waved a breezy hand. “Oh, Rhys mentioned it.”
Camile thought back to the scavenger hunt when the courier had served her the papers. She’d relayed the highlights of the case to Rhys and mentioned Bailey. Since then, she’d been careful not to discuss the case with him. It was her problem; she refused to make it his, too. Especially when he had the much more important issue of Willow’s guardianship to contend with.
“It’s nice that you two are more than friends now. It makes a lot of this easier, doesn’t it?”
“That’s something else I wanted to talk to you about.” They’d gone beyond friends, farther and faster than Camile could have anticipated.
“Oh no.” Anne’s face scrunched with distress. “You’re not breaking up with him, are you?”
“No. It’s just that our relationship is causing a complication I didn’t anticipate. I don’t think I’m comfortable with Rhys not knowing anymore. It feels...deceitful.”
“Ohh... Phew! Well, it’s not.”
“Then why do I feel guilty?” Because she’d promised Rhys she’d always be honest with him. Even though, technically, she’d made the arrangement with Anne pre-promise. Somehow, she didn’t think that excuse would fly with Rhys if he found out.
“No clue. You shouldn’t. Listen, Camile—you’re not doing anything wrong. Trust me. This is what I do. My job is to improve a client’s image. I advise them on where to go, and, often more important, where not to go, who to socialize with and how to act while they’re doing all of it. I even manage their social media accounts. I pay for all kinds of things to facilitate this process—clothes, haircuts, manicures, pet grooming, tickets to events. You name it, if it’s legal, I’ve probably bought it. And let me assure you that it’s not uncommon to find, or pay for, a suitable date for a client. I’ve done that, too. With famous people, fake relationships happen all the time. When you accepted this job, you didn’t know you’d end up falling for Rhys, right?”
Not quite right, Camile thought. She’d already been falling. “But we’re not famous, and our relationship isn’t fake. I think we need to tell Rhys.” Somehow, having this discussion only made it feel worse, as if she’d jumped off a cliff without a parachute or any kind of plan on how to land. Even though Anne made some good points.
“No! You can’t tell him even if you wanted to.”
“What do you mean? Why not?”
“I won’t let you. You signed a contract.”
“You won’t let me?” Camile repeated. “I can quit, which is what I’m considering anyway. Then you can get in line and sue me.” She followed that with a harried-sounding laugh.
An expression of horror transformed Anne’s features. “Wait, Camile, I’m so sorry. That came out wrong. But this is about way more than your feelings here, or Rhys’s for that matter. This is about Willow. And keeping her from going to live with that viper, Heather. I know my brother and he won’t... Look, you care about Rhys, right?”
“Yes, of course. I...”
“Then trust me here. What purpose would it serve to tell him now? And what if it upsets him? That’s the last thing he needs right now. Whether you tell him or not, the outcome will be the same, right? You’ll be together either way. So you can be together and keep Rhys happy, or you can be together and potentially upset him, disrupt your relationship and cause him undue stress right before the most important event of his life.”
Camile knew Anne was right. She’d have to wait and tell him after the custody hearing.
CAMILE WOULD NEVER forget the moment she received the most shockingly good news of her life. Partly because she almost sent the call to voice mail and partly because the timing was so fortuitous. She was in the middle of updating her résumé. With Rhys’s dance lessons complete and the custody hearing on the horizon, she needed to start searching for another job. A real job with, as Rhys suggested, benefits. Then, of course, there was the news itself.
“Camile, it’s Eva Slater.”
“Hi, Dr. Slater, how are you?” Dr. Eva Slater was the head of the psychology department at St. Killian’s. She oversaw the master’s in psychology program. Camile assumed she was calling to see why she hadn’t been in to speak with Dr. Youngworth, her advisor. Camile didn’t have an answer to that question. Hence the reason her finger had almost silenced the call.
“I’m pretty great. Do you have a minute to talk?”
“Yes, I do.”
“Excellent, because I have some good news for you.”
“Dr. Slater, if you’re calling to discuss a date for me to reschedule, I’m not sure I—”
“That won’t be necessary. Before I explain, I need to tell you that you passed your thesis, after all. Congratulations.”
Camile reached out a hand and gripped the edge of the table in an attempt to steady the vertigo-like sensation. “I don’t understand. How could I fail and then pass?”
“We received a tip urging us to examine the circumstances surrounding your failure. Well, you know how crushed Dr. Youngworth was when you didn’t pass—she was all over it.” That explained the recent influx of emails urging Camile to respond. “The short version is that your original sources were correct.”
“Original sources? I don’t know what that means.”
“I’m afraid it means that someone sabotaged your work. They went into the database and changed information.”
Camile tightened the phone in her hand as Dr. Slater’s words sank in. “Who would do something like that? Why?”
“We’ve got a computer forensics expert working on that first part.”
“You’re positive about it being sabotage? It’s not just some kind of error?”
“I’m afraid there’s no doubt about that. The why is a puzzle that we may have a difficult time deciphering. I can’t help but think it’s like something from a psychological thriller come to life.”
Camile felt a chill go through her. Was there really someone out there who despised her this much? If asked, she’d claim she didn’t have an enemy in the world. Except for maybe Willow’s aunt, but she hadn’t known Heather nearly long enough for her to be a suspect.
“Anyway, Camile, I’m looking at your degree right here on my desk. Would you like me to send it in the mail or do you want to pick it up here?”
“I um... Can I get back to you on that?”
“Certainly.”
“Dr. Slater, thank you so much. To say that I’m in shock doesn’t even begin to explain how I feel.”
“You don’t need to thank me, Camile. I hope there’s happiness mixed in with that shock because you did the work. Finally, it’s paid off, as it should have all along. I’m sorry you had to go through this. I can only imagine what an ordeal it’s been for you. If it’s any consolation, Dr. Youngworth says you’re one of the brightest students she’s ever had the pleasure of teaching.”
“It is. That’s been one of the most difficult aspects of all of this. I felt like I let her down. That’s why I’ve been avoiding her.”
“I understand, and so does she. Congratulations, Camile. I hope you’ll consider going on to get your PhD. You’d make an excellent psychologist.”
“Thank you, Dr. Slater. I’m not sure about my future plans yet, but it feels wonderful to know I have options.”
Hands trembling, pulse pounding, Camile texted Rhys to make sure he was home and then asked if she could come out for a visit. She wanted to see him, tell him in person. His answer took less than three seconds to arrive: Yes on all counts.
Followed immediately by a: Please hurry. Now that I know you’re coming I can’t wait to see you.
She was still staring dreamily at that message when the next one arrived: Do you like cabbage?
Chuckling, she texted an affirmative response.
Then she called Nina who, like the excellent big sister she was, screamed her congratulations and immediately started planning a dinner to celebrate. Camile convinced her to wait until their parents were back in town. A call to Laura went straight to voice mail. She left a message asking her to call as soon as possible. Laura would be thrilled. This would help cement their friendship, for sure. In case she didn’t check her messages, Camile followed it with a text: Hey, Friend! Guess what? We finally get to have that master’s celebration we dreamed about... Call me ASAP!
Finally, she messaged Harper: Turns out I passed my thesis after all. Weird story. I’ll call you later. Yay me!
Camile knew there were more people she needed to tell, but they could wait. She couldn’t wait to see Rhys.
RHYS WAS BUSY mixing coleslaw when Camile buzzed in at the gate. Anne, who was sitting next to the control panel, tapped the unlock button. He could tell from the happiness on Camile’s face when she came through the door that she’d heard the news. Jane had called an hour ago to tell him that the matter he’d asked her to inquire into at the psychology department had resulted in the best possible outcome. For Camile anyway, not so much for her non-friend, Laura. At least, Rhys felt confident they’d find the proof she was behind it.
“You guys! You’re not going to believe this... The head of the psychology department at St. Killian’s just called. I passed my thesis! There was a mistake. Well, not a mistake exactly, but...something.”
“Are you kidding me?” Anne jumped out of her chair, rushed to Camile and hugged her tight. “Congratulations!” Anne’s reaction was perfect and genuine because Rhys hadn’t told his sister what he’d done. When he’d asked Jane to explore the matter, it had only been a suspicion.
Anne let her go and said, “I wish I could stay and celebrate with you guys, but I’m on my way to Portland for a meeting with a potential client. I am thrilled for you, Camile.” Anne gathered her bag and her keys, said goodbye, and headed for the front door.
Rhys took his turn. Wrapping his arms around her, he kissed the top of her head and tucked her in close. “Congratulations, sweetness. I knew it couldn’t be true. You’re way, way too smart to fail like that.”
“You are so nice.” Cheek pressed against his chest, she added, “You haven’t heard the weird part yet.”
“Let me guess, someone hacked into the university’s cloud where your thesis was stored and altered your sources?”
“Rhys, how could you possibly...?” She took a small step back so she could see his face. She followed that with a little gasp. “You did this?”
“Well, no. I mean, I facilitated an inquiry, yes.”
“How? Why...?”
“When we were bowling that day your...” Rhys hesitated, not wanting to call the woman a friend. “Laura said some things that made me wonder exactly what happened.”
“Laura?” Camile’s face twisted with confusion and Rhys realized that she hadn’t even considered her as the perpetrator.
“She talked to you about my thesis?”
“Yes. That’s why I asked you about it.”
“Oh. I can’t believe this... Someone did this to me, sabotaged me. Dr. Slater said they have computer forensics people working on it and they feel confident they’ll figure out who did it. Why would someone do this to me?”
“Camile.” With gentle hands, Rhys took her by the shoulders. “Have you considered the possibility that Laura did this?”
“Laura?” Camile reached out and gripped his biceps as if to keep herself steady. “What are you talking about?”
“Let’s sit.” Rhys looped an arm across her shoulders and led her across the room to the sofa. He left to fetch a glass of water. He returned and placed it on the coffee table before sitting beside her.
Camile took a sip and then asked, “What else did she say to you that day at the bowling alley?”
“Comments that told me she was jealous of you. She seemed almost pleased about your failure.”
“And that was enough to prompt you to... What did you do, exactly?”
“Not that much, really. I got lucky. My friends Brandon and Jane Sawyer live in Portland. Jane is an English professor at St. Killian’s. I explained what I knew and asked her if she could find out why you hadn’t passed. She had a conversation with Dr. Youngworth, who offered to let her read your thesis. Jane noticed some inconsistencies in your references. Apparently, you cited the same source several times. In most instances, it was cited incorrectly, but in one place, it was correct. When read in conjunction with the content, which was excellent, according to Jane, it struck her as odd. It reminded her of a similar issue she faced in the English department where a student hacked into the university’s cloud and corrected his own sources. She followed up on her suspicion and discovered that indeed someone went in and changed yours, incorrectly, though.”
“But you don’t have any proof that Laura did this?”
“No.”
“I agree it’s an interesting coincidence, but just because she told you about my...failure doesn’t mean she’s responsible. Laura wouldn’t do this. I know she can be a little much at times, but she’s my friend.”
“Camile, if you peel away that sugarcoated delivery, all that’s left is insults. That woman is hostile and bitter. She is no friend of yours.”
CAMILE STARED AT RHYS, a mix of anxiety and consternation forming inside of her.
“Rhys, I don’t mean to sound ungrateful about what you did because I’m not. I’m thrilled. But...” How did she say it? This felt extremely uncomfortable because how could she be upset with him when the result of what he’d done had such a positive outcome? And yet, he’d inserted himself into her life in a way that she’d specifically asked that he not. She’d been clear about declining his offer of “help.”
“But you asked me not to help, and I did anyway?”
“Yes.”
“I understand if that distresses you. I know how difficult it can be to accept help.”
“It is very difficult for me.”
Rhys put his arms around her and hugged her to him. “I’m sorry that you’re upset. That’s not what I intended. But I’m not sorry I did it. I’m hoping that you can understand that helping you with this is my way of showing you how much I care. I really care about you, Camile. I know how much this was bothering you, and I don’t want there to be anything standing in the way of your happiness. Sometimes it’s okay to accept help from people who care about you.”
Camile nodded against his chest because what could she say when she and Anne were doing the very same thing for him?