Chapter 4

They sat there in silence, Lillian unsure of what to think. First of all, this boy was supposed to be extremely shy. Why was he talking to her so much? Especially since they hadn't said more than two words after the first day she had met him. She just continued to stare at her torn up hands in her lap. Cam was done disinfecting her wounds and was now bandaging them carefully. She noticed how slowly and delicately he was wrapping her up and found it rather strange. She had never seen someone apply bandages like that. Lillian decided that instead of wracking her head about why he was so open with her to instead take advantage of it.

"Cam?" She spoke softly, regretting she had said anything. Cam seemed unfazed and continued with his work of wrapping her up. After a moment he answered her with a "hmm?" and she decided to ask

"What happened to your real parents?" Cam stopped but didn't look up at her. He seemed to be thinking himself, like he had forgotten what had happened to them and was trying to remember. She knew she shouldn't have said anything when she saw the blank expression on his face. Her curiosity got the better of her though, and she knew that Georgia had been right, she had to start talking to people more. And if Cam was willing to let her into his mysterious little circle, she was going to take advantage of it.

"I'll tell you what happened to mine if you tell me what happened to yours." Was his answer. She didn't know what to say. Nobody had asked what happened to her parents for months and she still didn't like talking about it. She remembered everyone asking for an explanation and she had to repeat the story over and over again to the point where it had just become an automatic response.

"What makes you think something happened to them?" She had said it without thinking. However, it wasn't as if she hadn't been wondering that.

"Because nobody comes to run a farm all by themselves, without any help, unless something happened, especially when that person comes to a stick in the mud town like this one to do it." Lillian looked at her lap, fighting back tears. She had promised herself that she wasn't going to cry again at her parents' funeral, and she was not about to break that promise. As she was struggling against herself, she heard Cam's voice again

"Fine, I'll at least go first. Then you can tell me after if you want to. Deal?" Lillian simply nodded silently and Cam began.

"I don't really miss them. You can't miss anything you didn't really had, right? Well, my parents gave me up when I was six years old, and I although I remember a few things about them, not many of them are good. I remember how they looked, and they looked very homely I suppose. My mom was beautiful and my father once said that he was glad that I got my mother's eyes. My father had a beard I remember because I pointed out how he looked like Paul Bunion in my book that I read every night before I went to sleep. They were always fighting though. Always. I would hear dishes and other things break constantly and my parents were always yelling at each other. I don't think the yelling hardly ever stopped. I was always hiding in my room when they started fighting so I never saw anything, but now when I look back on it, I knew that the fights got physical. My father smelled like booze all the time, so my mother would fill the house with flowers to try and block out the smell of the alcohol. I guess that's why I like flowers so much, they remind me of the good intentions of my mother. She always put my best interests before herself, which is why she gave me to Howard. Howard was friends with my mother and he offered to take care of both of us, not just me. He wanted us to get away from my father. So she came here and we stayed with Howard, bot h of us, for about a year. After a year, my mother got news that my father had cancer and she quickly left to go to him, but she left me here. She told me the night before she left that she wouldn't be gone for longer than a season and she would bring me back some flowers. That was the last time I heard from my mother." Cam had finished wrapping her up and sat back, looking at the bandages to make sure that he did them right. Lillian wanted to touch him so that he knew that she was here for him, but she didn't. She didn't know if he would take offense to that or what he would interpret it as. So instead, she completed their deal instead

"My mama and papa were visiting my grandmother in the countryside because she had fallen ill. We all used to live there until we got enough money to move into the city. They said that they would be back home that night and to make sure I locked everything up. They didn't want anything to happen to me. I guess they were so paranoid because grandpa had just passed the year before and now, with grandma being sick, they didn't want to risk anything. It was storming though, and from what the driver told me, a tree fell directly on top of the carriage. It was destroyed. We were lucky to be able to have an open casket funeral for them." She knew she hadn't gotten as in depth as Cam had, but she couldn't do it. If she did, she knew the tears would start again and she didn't want that. Just then, she felt arms wrap around her and she felt her cheek press against Cam's chest. The embrace had made her feel warm, and not just from her embarrassment. It made her feel warm in the inside as well. She couldn't remember the last time she felt a hug like this, it felt so right and she suddenly didn't remember her parents' death at all. She just enjoyed the moment and wanted it to never end. Unfortunately, it ended almost as quickly as it had started and Cam pulled away from her.

"I'm sorry. I had no idea you had gone through so much pain Lillian." She damned herself quickly for feeling the way she did, and replied

"It's fine. It's not like you knew. You've been though a lot, too though." He smiled at her.

"I guess that's why I'm so open with you. We have more in common than I thought." She smiled back and just then, the door to Cam's room creaked open. She saw Howard standing there, taking up the entire doorway and noticed how he had to slightly bend down to get through it.

"Oh my harvest goddess! What happened Lillian?" She smiled at him reassuringly and told him

"I just fell. Cam here took care of me." He looked at Cam, appalled, and then back to Lillian. His face slowly changed from one of shock to one of mischief.

"You two are just so cute! Lillian, let me talk to you for a second dear." Howard came and sat next to Lillian on Cam's bed, making the springs squeal in horror at all of the newly added weight. Cam looked at the two of them in confusion, and Lillian gave her an apologetic smile, also clueless as to what Howard was doing. Howard shot Cam a glare.

"Uh dear. This is an A – B conversation so please C your way out." Cam looked at him in disbelief.

"You've got to be kidding. Howard this is my room!" Howard folded his arms across his chest and stuck his bottom lip out.

"Oh boo hoo you big baby. This is my house. My house, my rules." Cam grunted in disgust and stormed out of the room, slamming the door behind him. Howard's face changed from stern to ecstatic and a matter of seconds.

"So dear, what did Cam say to you?" Lillian looked at her newly bandaged hands and twisted her fingers around. She didn't know whether she should say anything since it was obviously something very personal to Cam. She didn't want everyone in town knowing what happened to her parents, so she figured Cam would want the same. However, she remembered him saying that Howard knew his mother, so she figured he knew everything. She decided to try and say it as nonchalantly as she possibly could.

"We just talked about our parents." Howard's face changed once again, only this time it was a slow and gradual alteration. His smile faded and changed to one of both worry and amazement. His mouth slightly opened and his eyes got big while his eyebrows furrowed in puzzlement.

"Did he tell you about them or did you just talk about yours?" Howard asked. He didn't know about Lillian's parents, but she could tell by the look on his face he definitely knew about Cam's.

"Yes he did. Why?" Howard's face relaxed a bit and put his arm around Lillian's shoulders delicately, being careful to not hurt her. He pulled her into her, just as her father had done to her.

"Cam hasn't told anyone about his parents. Even Laney doesn't know the complete story, and she lives with him. That boy must really like you if he decided to tell you about them. I know he can be difficult at times, but he also needs a friend. He has Ash and Laney, but he doesn't seem to connect with them as much as he seems to have done with you." Lillian looked at Howard and he smiled at her.

"I just want him to be happy, and he seems to be whenever he's around you. I can tell he likes you and from the looks of things, you like him too. So please put up with him would you dear?" She returned his smile this time and said yes. He stood up and helped her get up from the bed. She heard the springs sigh with relief when they both got up from the bed. He hugged her and thanked her again for being so kind to Cam.

Lillian was walking home slowly and carefully, making sure to try and not undo the bandages at all. Cam had wound them up delicately but they were stiff and she could hardly move her joints at all. Ash saw her walking like she was on stilts and ran over to her. She heard him coming over so she stopped and waited for him. He was slightly out of breath when he was next to her.

"Hey Lillian! Feeling better I take it?" He smiled at her and she smiled back.

"Yes, thank you Ash." They started walking again and he started frowning. She looked at him, confused.

"What is it?" They stopped and looked at each other. Ash was concerned, but Lillian didn't know why. Was he worried that she would trip and fall again? Just then, his face lit up and he snapped his fingers.

"Ah! That's it!" Suddenly, she felt one forearm go behind her knees and the other one behind her back and before she knew it, he was carrying her. She squealed in surprise and he laughed at her, holding her bridal style.

"Ash stop it! Put me down!" He continued laughing and began walking again to her farm, still holding her.

"Oh stop. You need to stop moving and let your wounds heal and you can't do that if you're walking. I'm doing you a favor." She made a pouting face and he laughed at her again. Lillian hadn't noticed how strong Ash was before, but now that he was carrying her all the way home without a problem, she was impressed. He started talking to her about his sister Cheryl and how she bothers him all the time. He loves her, he said, but she needs someone besides him to play with. Lillian said she would try to play with her if she had time and he thanked her with a beautiful smile. Once they got to her house, he opened the door and put her down on her bed. She was about to get back up when he put his hand in front of her, stopping her. She looked at him in disbelief.

"Ash I have to put the animals away I can't just-" He put a finger to her lips and grinned.

"I'll take care of them for you, don't worry. You just need to get better alright?" She scowled at him again, but knew that she wouldn't be able to win this one. Besides, now that the adrenaline from the fall had left, now she was exhausted. She took off her shoes and Ash gave her one last beaming grin before walking out the door.