Page 110 of Effortless

“I don’t need time right now,” he told his father.

He’d spent a whole month waiting.

That was enough time.

“She’s not going anywhere, son,” Tommas repeated.

Her hair was a deep shade of brown mixed with gold and red highlights. A little past her shoulders, her hair sat in beachy waves.

Longer than the last time he had seen her, but not by much. For anyone else, Tom probably wouldn’t have noticed the half an inch difference in hair length, but this was Camilla.

He’d learned with her that even the slightest change was to be expected, and he needed to look for it.

The flowy, peach-colored dress was a good choice for the month of May. It fell just above her knees, and showed off the ankle boots with a four inch heel she wore.

Tom wasn’t really sure why he thought to take in the way she looked, and the things she wore. Maybe because doing so gave him a few more seconds to simply look at her while she entertained his sisters, and not bring attention to himself just yet.

What was he supposed to say?

How did he open this up now?

Tom didn’t know.

His brain decided to misfire like a fucker, and his mouth opened before he could stop it. “Cam.”

Camilla looked up from the photo album she was flipping through, and smiled at Tom. A shy smile, he thought, and not one of her usual bright, brilliant grins he was accustomed to. No, this was hesitant, like she wasn’t sure what his reaction would be when he looked at her, or something.

It still made her brown eyes light up, though.

“Hey,” she said.

“Tommaso!” his two little sisters shouted in sync.

And just like that, his momentary daze was broken while his sisters leaped from the couch to get closer to him. He took a few minutes to calm Sara and Rebeka down—or the best he could—and all the while, tried not to look at Camilla for too long.

“Camilla came to visit,” Rebeka said.

“She lives in New York,” Sara said, stressing the state like it was a big deal.

Tom grinned. “I know. Hey, why don’t you two go find Ma, and let her know that we want something special for supper.”

“Ma’s having a dinner,” Sara said seriously.

“A dinner?”

Camilla spoke up, then. “She wanted to invite some people over.”

Tom cocked a brow, and then sighed. “Not surprised.”

“Do you want us to go, so you can be alone with Camilla?” Sara asked.

He looked to the oldest of his two sisters. She was a bright girl—looked like their mother, but acted like their father. Little got past Sara at the end of the day.

“A little bit, yeah,” Tom said, smiling.

Sara nodded as though she already knew his answer. “Okay, Tommaso.”

She grabbed Rebeka’s hand just as the younger of the two girls tried to dart back to the couch where Camilla was still sitting. She pulled her little sister along, and headed for the hallway.