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CHAPTER 32

“Palmer! Palmer!”

“What the hell?”

“‘Hell’ is a bad word,” Camilla said.

Palmer opened one very tired eye and asked, “Cami, what time is it?”

“Christmas time. Santa was here. I went downstairs already.”

“Okay. Go get Mom and Dad,” Palmer replied, closing her eye.

“Don’t go back to sleep! We have to open presents!”

“They’ll still be there when I wake up, Cami.”

“What’s going on?” Elizabeth asked against Palmer’s neck.

Palmer opened both eyes then and saw Camilla staring down at her in bed with another woman.

“Cami’s here,” she said.

“Oh,” Elizabeth replied, rolling away immediately.

“You were holding Palmer,” Camilla said, pointing at them.

“Cami, can you give Elizabeth and me a minute? We’ll get dressed and then meet you downstairs, okay?” Palmer requested.

“Did you watch my show?” Camilla asked Elizabeth.

“I did,” she replied. “Palmer and I both watched it.”

“The whole thing,” Palmer grumbled.

“What was your favorite part?” Camilla asked.

“When you said the color white on the flag represented purity and innocence,” Elizabeth told her.

“Palmer, what was your favorite part?” Camilla asked with such a wide smile on her face that Palmer couldn’t deny her younger sister.

“When you said, ‘Let the thirteen stars in a circle stand as a new constellation in the heavens.’"

“George Washington said that in real life,” Camilla began. “ButourGeorge Washington got sick, and I got to say his line.”

“You did an amazing job, Cami,” Elizabeth replied. “Do you think Palmer and I could just have one minute to get dressed? Then, we’ll come downstairs and watch you open your presents.”

“Presents!”

Camilla smiled first, then laughed, and ran out of the room without closing the door behind her.

“She really is adorable,” Elizabeth said, rolling back over to snuggle against Palmer’s chest.

“And early. It’s only six,” Palmer replied.

“She’s got that wide-eyed innocence that people usually lose by the time they’re her age, Palmer. It’s so nice to see it, you know?”

Palmer wrapped an arm around Elizabeth’s shoulders and pulled her in closer.