Page 144 of Love Unscripted
His chest tightened as if something heavy had settled there.
“No,” he said quietly.
The article was vague, carefully written in that way gossip pieces often were—suggestive without being outright defamatory. The boyfriend’s name wasn’t mentioned. But the implication was unmistakable. His mind began to race.
Simon Halden.
The name surfaced immediately.
Aaron leaned back slowly in his chair.
For several seconds he just stared at the phone.
His first instinct was anger. Not at Camille. At whoever had written the piece. At whoever had fed them the story. At the cruelty of dragging someone’s past into the light like that.
But beneath the anger something else stirred.
A quiet question. Did she tell me everything about her past relationship with Halden?
He closed his eyes briefly.
Camille’s voice echoed in his memory from months earlier, when she had told him she was sorry for defaulting to half-truths. Then she had said, “I want to be with you. But not like this. Not while you’re bracing for me to disappoint you. I want you to trust me. Fully.”
The words had seemed to be a far off goal then. But they had worked through it. He had forgiven her. He had come to trust her again. Because he loved her.
He picked up the phone again. His thumb hovered over her name. He could call her right now. Ask her directly. Part of him wanted to. Another part of him hesitated. Because if it was true…
He didn’t want to hear it through suspicion. He wanted to hear it from her heart.
He exhaled slowly and set the phone down again.
Across the hall Madison stirred in her room, murmuring softly in her sleep.
Aaron glanced toward the door. Then back at the phone. If this was true, the person probably also sent it to Camille. And she was probably terrified right now.
And alone.
He reached for the phone again.
This time he pressed her name.
The call began to ring.
~*~*~*~
He was calling her.
Camille recoiled from the phone as though it were a rattlesnake.
The device vibrated against the coffee table, the screen lighting up the darkened living room where she had stayed curled up on the couch after Simon’s call.
Aaron.
His name glowed on the screen.
A barrage of conflicting emotions descended on her.
Part of her wanted to run and hide.
