Page 38 of Camera Stays On

She raised her eyebrows. “What?”

“Why are you washing your underwear in the sink?”

Her cheeks brightened. “I—don’t have a whole lot of clothes right now. Everything went up with the fire, and your mom chased me from the free store, remember?”

Oh, right.

She had borrowed a few shirts from me, and I hadn’t given it a whole lot of thought. I felt a little ashamed, not realizing it until now.

“What did you want?” she asked, pulling me from my thoughts.

“I was going to tell you I think I have Sawyer on board for me to play your husband in the movie, but—do you not have clothes?”

“It’s fine. I have a fan and was able to mostly dry my underwear.” She shifted, and it was clear she wasn’t comfortable talking about it. I reached for her hand and pulled her out of the room.

“We’re going shopping,” I told her, heading back down the hall.

“What?” She laughed. “No, I can’t right now. I’m broke.”

“Did I say you were paying? I’m taking you to the mall, and we’re going to get you some actual clothes. Jesus, Andi. If I’d realized sooner...”

We hurried downstairs past everyone in the dining room and out the front door. Sawyer and Juliet were still fighting, but they turned when they saw us. We both let go of each other at the same time. Last night’s brave words forgotten.

“Where are you going?” Sawyer called across the yard as we moved past them, hurrying to my truck.

I shot Andi a smile as I opened her door and assisted her into the vehicle.

“Taking my bride-to-be shopping!” I shouted back. Sawyer’s mouth fell open, and Juliet scowled at him. I closed Andi’s door and hurried to the other side, hopping in before I could hear them pick their fight back up.

“Why are you poking the bear?” Andi clicked her tongue as I revved the engine and peeled out of the yard, heading back down the path to town.

“I don’t know what you’re talking about.” I laughed and drove us out of Collingwood, headed in the direction of the mall, past Tilly’s. The memories of that night stirred inside me, and I glanced over to see if she’d noticed the bar. Her eyes were glossed over, her face blank.

“You okay?” I asked. Her expression reminded me of when we were younger. She’d often go quiet and hide inside herself, getting lost in her thoughts. She turned at the sound of my voice and smiled.

“I’m fine. Sawyer just has a way of...stressing me out.” She sighed. “It’s fine. I’ll be fine. Where are we going exactly?

“I want to get you some nice things. New things. Not that the free store doesn’t have nice things.” I was fumbling with my words, and she rolled her eyes.

“Ash,” she scolded lightly, but I refused to hear her argument. I drove us to the large outlet mall and parked us right in front.

“I’m sorry my ma gave you trouble. Sawyer’s her baby, and she’s dramatic,” I offered as I took her hand. We then walked inside.

“It’s fine. I’ve been preparing myself for her wrath for years. It doesn’t matter that it was all a lie. Your family spent a ton on that wedding, so I don’t blame her really for being angry. I just hadn’t expected to see her the first day I’d gotten into town. I think we both needed a bit of a warning.”

“Fuck her and everyone else who wants to give you hell. Sawyer was an ass for confronting you the way he did.” We passed a few stores, and she stopped suddenly, turning to look up at me.

“You don’t think I did it? What…he accused me of that day?”

I stared down at her for a long moment, guilt tightening my stomach. Pushing it back, I shook my head.

“No, I don’t think you did, Andi. Come on, let’s get you some dresses or leggings or whatever.”

I chose the stores we went into. She politely browsed the racks, but she wouldn’t select anything outright, so I did it for her, asking her to try them on. Andi looked good in everything, but I wanted her to feel good too. She refused to tell me which stores she normally bought from.

“You’re driving me bonkers, Andi,” I sighed deeply as I gave the cashier my card to purchase the dress I’d helped her pick out. “Just get what you want. Don’t worry about the price. Today’s on me. We can buy you a hundred dresses if you want.”

“Lucky girl,” the cashier said as she handed me the bag. Andi stood behind me, her eyes glossing over. She was shutting down. With her shoulders slumped, we walked out of the store, and I led her to a bench to sit down.