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“That’s kind of sad,” she murmured. “Didn’t she go to school? Make friends?”
“My parents were extremely protective over her after—” he stopped, his voice sort of broken. “After the accident. She grew up with a tutor. When our parents were here, she would join in some of the festivities, but never for very long.” He took a breath and then smiled. “Sorry, it’s hard to speak about. She is the main reason I left the military when my parents died. I couldn’t leave her with Adrien. He’s… not a caring brother.”
Camila nodded. She knew that all too well. How his parents had managed to raise such different men, well it was beyond her understanding. She frowned into her cup of soda.
“I’m sorry. I did not mean to bring the conversation down. Would you like dessert?” He turned and pulled out individual slices of different cakes and pies from the basket. "What would you like?”
Camilla grinned. “The chocolate of course.”
“Of course.” Samuel chuckled and handed her the decadent death by chocolate cake. “Would you… would you like to meet Brianna?” he asked a few minutes later.
Camila had just taken a huge bite of the cake, so she nodded and wiped her mouth off with a napkin. “Yes, definitely.”
He nodded. “I think you’ll be good for her. I mean I think that she will like you.”
Camila blushed. “I hope she’ll like me.”
“I like you.” Samuel put his hand over hers for a moment and smiled. With a contented sigh, he began putting things away. “This has been fun. I don’t get to do this very often.”
“What? You mean to tell me you don’t do picnics in the park every day?” Camila said, a merry sparkle in her eye. “I’m crushed to find that out.”
Samuel let out a deep laugh which flowed over Camila and made her shiver at the delicious sound. Once he had everything packed back up in the basket and their trash in the paper bag, he helped her to her feet and then lifted the blanket and folded it back up. He once again offered his arm as they walked back to the car. Being the gentleman that he was, Samuel opened her door and saw her settled before climbing in the driver’s seat.
As they drove, Camila realized where they were headed and suddenly got leery. “Um, Samuel?”
“Hmmm?” He looked over at her and noticing the look of worry on her face, signaled the car to pull over to the side of the road. He put the car in park and put the hazard lights on. “What’s the matter? Do you feel sick?”
“No, it’s not that. Um, are we going to your house?”
“Well, you said you wanted to meet Brianna, so I thought—” he stopped and must have realized why she was worried. “I understand. Adrien isn’t there. He’s leased an apartment in town, I believe. At least that is what my team tells me. He hasn’t been to the house since the day you walked out.”
“Oh,” Camila murmured, blushing. “I didn’t know.”
“You couldn’t have known. I should have said,” Samuel acknowledged, smiling at her. “If you don’t want to go today, we can do it another day.”
Camila looked up at him and smiled. “No, it’s fine. I do want to meet her.”
With a nod, Samuel turned off the hazard lights, put the car in drive and signaled to get back on the road. Camila had noticed that not only was he a gentleman, he was also a very courteous driver and it made her like him even more.
They arrived at his home a few minutes later and once he helped her from the car, he escorted her into the house, his hand gentle on her back. They went into the living room and he settled her on the couch before excusing himself.
“I’ll be right back, do you need anything?” he asked.
“No, I’m fine, thank you.” Camila blushed. Her heart raced a little bit being back in his house, but this time the situation was so different. She didn’t feel as though she didn’t belong. Instead, she felt like an honored guest. So different from every time she’d been there with Adrien.
She waited patiently and a few minutes later, Samuel returned, holding hands with a fragile looking girl. She was only four years younger than Camila herself. Brianna Kane was small, pale and thin-faced, with enormous green eyes and slightly lank waist-length black hair. She looked haunted, even though it was hidden behind other emotions.
“Brianna, I’d like you to meet Camila Blake.” Samuel drew the girl forward.
She looked up at him and then back to Camila. She smiled and gave Camila a nod.
“Hi, Brianna, it’s so nice to meet you.” Camila gave her a wide smile. “Your brother said he thought we might get along well. I hope you don’t mind me asking him to introduce us.”
Brianna shook her head, but didn’t say anything, just smiled.
Camila looked up at Samuel, giving him a questioning look.
Gesturing for them all to sit, he said, “Brianna has a medical condition. She suffers from elective mutism.”
