Second chances Book 5/6

Chapter 24

The whole evening is one huge discussion that invariably comes back to Cameron.

Abigail offers to show her around Los Angeles and Hollywood, when she broaches the idea of taking her to the seaside, Cameron tenses up, Kate reassures her by putting a hand on hers. Abigail thinks Cameron can't swim and downplays taking her to see the ocean.

"Don't worry, just watch the waves, listen to the sea, you'll see, it's magic. There are times when it's much more beautiful, at dawn for example, when at sunset, the water shimmers with a thousand shards of diamonds.

"Excuse me, I'll be right back," Cameron said as he left the table, running upstairs to rummage through his bag and coming down again wearing shorts. Showing her scar to her new family.

— I was hiding in a freight wagon, but I was going the wrong way. When I got to a train station in Kansas, I jumped off the train. I don't know how I got hurt, I didn't feel anything at the time. I stopped for a moment to breathe, when I wanted to leave a pain went through my body and I found myself in a kind of infirmary where a woman looked after me. When she said she was going to call the police, seeing my age, I fled to arrive in Dallas.

— You have a war wound," Bethany smiled at her, hugging her. "You are strong Cameron.

— You don't have to swim, Cameron, but there are wetsuits that are long or knee-length. If you want to swim or surf, no one will see your scar.

— I'm going to see the ocean!" laughs Cameron.

At the end of the meal, Abigail walks Bethany and Kara home, Kate begins to clean up when Cameron tells her she will. After the dishes are done, she turns around and sees Abigail smiling at her. Looking for her sister, Abigail asks her to follow her in the garden to a building, where she slides the door. The decor of the room surprises her, because it is completely different from that of the house.

"Hey, little sister. You are here in a memory of my old house in Beverly Hills. It's a reproduction of the studio I had at home."

Abigail makes room on the couch and Cameron sits next to her, listening to Kate play music. She doesn't understand what's going on. Tilly gestures in the air, noises with her mouth, air guitar and Kate listens to her, reproducing what she does, then Tilly corrects her.

"Abby?" she whispers, "why is Tilly telling my sister what to do?

— Tilly is special, Cameron. We worked with your sister on her latest album. It's me in his music videos, on ideas from Tilly and me, mainly. All texts are about us and Bethany too. Our friendship was sealed like that with Kate.

— Yes, that's what she explained to me this morning when I asked her who you were.

— I've waited for you, that's our story, Tilly and me.

— This song is so beautiful," cries Cameron. "So beautiful and so sad. I didn't understand your bond with my sister, it's much deeper than I imagined.

— Kate is a very close friend, yes."

Exhausted by her day, her emotions, Cameron falls asleep, despite the music, Kate and Tilly talking. When Kate turns her head, she sees her sister asleep, her head on Abigail's shoulder. Looking at the clock, everyone decides it's enough. Turning everything off, Kate closes the door, following Abigail who carries her sister, making Tilly giggle. But she manages to climb the stairs and put Cameron to bed before placing a kiss on her forehead.

"It makes me very strange, I confess, Kate," she whispers. "You were her age when I started watching you playing in your barn. Physically, it's disturbing, it brings back memories.