“Because you’re leaving and I can’t leave.”
“I’ll come back.”
“Only to leave again.”
She stared at him. “Other couples work out these issues. We can too.”
“Someone has to give up something, Billie,” Cam answered. He set her away from him and took a quick turn around the small room. He stopped and ran his hands through his hair, then looked at her, his eyes full of misery. “I can’t give up the ranch. I’ve worked too long and too hard to hang onto it, to make my environmentally-friendly methods pay. It’s my family’s legacy and there are too many people depending on it. On me.”
“I know that, but . . . .”
“And I can’t ask you to give up a career you love, one that you’re good at, where you’re just getting established . . . .”
They were at an impasse and there seemed to be no way either of them, or both of them, could win.
Tears stood in her eyes. She wanted him to say something, anything that would show he understood, sympathized with the unwanted situation they were in, smooth things over, make her last days in town easier because never seeing him again was going to be so hard. When he didn’t answer, she turned away.
“Cam, I’ve got work to do.” Her voice caught and she cleared her throat. “If I can work for two more days flat out, I can have everything finished, have it approved by the city council, collect my check, and get out of here.”
“And what do I tell everyone?”
She rubbed her hand across her eyes, hiding the tears that were filling them. “Tell them whatever you want. Tell them the whole thing is off. That I ran off and left you, dumped you.”
He went dead still. Billie whirled around to look at him. His face had gone ashen and his eyes bored into hers. “And they’ll believe it, too.”
Turning, he stalked to the door.
“Cam, I’m . . . .”
He cut her off with a wave of his hand, went through the door and closed it behind him with a finality that spoke louder than if he’d slammed it.
Stricken, she stared after him as tears spilled from her eyes. She slumped into a chair and covered her face with her hands.
* * *
The next few days were the most horrible of Billie’s life. She understood the meaning of the phrase ‘broken heart’. The monsoon rains began in earnest and the streaks of lightening and crashing thunder echoed the storm going on in her heart.
“And I wasn’t even really engaged to Cam,” she murmured for the hundredth time.
No one knew what had happened between them, but everyone, from the people she was photographing, to the citizens of Lucky Break, to the residents of the Muleshoe Ranch, tiptoed around her and Cam. People she barely knew came up to her on the street and hugged her.
She’d been in tears when Kyndra had returned and the sensitive young girl had quickly gathered up all the wedding planning materials and returned them to the Finas. Somehow, she had convinced everyone who came in not to ask Billie about her broken engagement.
Billie had worked through all the photographs she needed to do, received the final approval of the council, accepted a check, and was beginning to pack her car. Before she left, though, she had to do the one thing she dreaded most, which was to say goodbye to everyone on the ranch. Not Cam, though. He’d been avoiding her since their confrontation two days before, and she was happier that way.
He’d gone to town today and she hoped he planned to stay gone until she was.
As she was carrying a suitcase out to her car, Jess appeared from nowhere and gently took it from her. He placed it in the trunk, then stood shuffling from one foot to the other. At last, he looked up and spoke.
“I’m sorry for causing this mess, Billie. I’ve got a big mouth and I should have kept it shut.”
“I forgive you,” she said, smiling at him. “It was sweet of you to care about me, about us. But no matter what we might have wanted, things don’t always work out the way we want them to.” She gave him a hug and went up to the house to see Doreen.
The older woman was lounging on a sofa in the darkened living room, looking bored to tears. She had to stay out of bright light for a few more days, and be careful of her wrist, but she was going to be fine. Her face brightened when she saw Billie in the doorway.
“Come in, honey. I was hoping you’d come by.”
Billie leaned down to give her a hug, then sat on the footstool and faced her. “I wouldn’t leave without saying goodbye.”
Doreen sat back with a weary expression. “I wish you wouldn’t leave at all. Cam told me what happened, and I want to apologize for the way I jumped the gun. You must have been so embarrassed.”
“No, not at all. I was flattered that you liked me enough to want me to join your family.”
“I would like nothing more. I was hoping that this time Cam had found someone to love who could really love him.”
Billie almost said, ‘I do’, but she swallowed it down.
“He’s had his heart broken before,” Doreen continued. “A couple of times. And he’d be furious with me for telling you this, but he was going to get married. The girl broke it off, said she just couldn’t stay in a little place like this. There was no career advancement for her here. She was in banking, but the bank here didn’t suit her. Anyway, she left and I think Cam gave up on the idea of being in love, getting married – though, heaven knows he wouldn’t have confided such a thing to his mother. I’m only speculating but I know him pretty well. And I think he’s in love with you.”
Billie answered with a weak smile, but she shook her head. “And I’m in love with him, but we can’t seem to work things out.”
Doreen stared at her. “Whose opinion is that? My stubborn son? Why should he get the last word? Things can always be worked out, Billie.”
Suddenly, it was too painful to sit and talk about this. Billie stood abruptly and gave Doreen another hug. “I have to go, but please keep in touch.”
Whirling around, she hurried back to her packing. An hour, tops, she told herself. She could finish in an hour and be out of here, away from the Muleshoe, and this crazy, wonderful town, and away from the man she loved.
* * *
Cam walked slowly down the sidewalk, looking in shop windows he’d seen a million times in his life, wasting time, putting off returning home until he was pretty sure Billie would be gone.
He’d stood by the barn like a lovesick school kid staring at the place where she’d sat every evening, thinking how nice it would be to talk to her, to wipe away all the craziness between them, to tell her how much he loved her. But he couldn’t. She was leaving. Sending her away was the best thing for both of them.
He was so deep in thought he didn’t notice Red and Zoe Franklin until they were right on top of him. He turned with a start.
Red reached out his hand. “Congratulations, Cam. This is great news!”
Zoe threw her arms around him and gave him a hug, then stepped back smiling at him. “You must be so excited after all your hard work.”
He shook his head. “I guess you haven’t heard, Billie’s leaving. The engagement was . . . .” He paused, blinked at them. “Hard work?”
“Yes, I can’t believe you’ve kept this a secret,” Red said, punching his arm lightly. “But I guess just like everything else, people would have been all up in your business about it.”
“About what?”
Red and Zoe laughed, but when they caught sight of his serious expression, their faces sobered. “The book.”
Cam stared at them blankly until Red said, “Not five minutes ago, I got off the phone with Portia Abbott, Billie’s aunt. She called to ask if I’d write a testimonial about the work Billie did so she can use it in her advertising and I said I’d be glad to. Then she told me about the professor at the university who is writing a textbook that’s going to feature your ranching methods and he’s going to use the photographs that Billie took of your work at the Muleshoe. Billie’s next assign
ment is going to be getting those photographs in order for him to use. You know what this is? It’s validation for all the eco-friendly work you’ve been doing for years.”
Cam was trying to take in what Red was saying. As the words washed over him, he realized that he’d been a bonehead. This is what Billie had been trying to tell him and he wouldn’t listen. This was why he’d been getting calls from someone at the university. His stubbornness had nearly cost him everything. He’d been so used to being the boss, the one in charge, Mr. Responsibility, that he’d forgotten what it meant to listen, to compromise. Maybe it wasn’t too late.
Reaching out his hand, he said, “Thanks, Red, Zoe. Yes that’s exactly what this is. Validation.” He glanced up, realized he was standing in front of the bank. Digging in his pocket, he pulled out his key ring and separated the one for the safe deposit box. Leaving the puzzled pair behind, he plunged into the bank.
* * *
Billie slammed the trunk shut on her Mustang, then gave one last look around the yard. She’d said goodbye to Jess and Brian and they had gone to stand on the porch to watch her drive away. There was nothing left to do.
Fighting back tears, she slid behind the wheel and fastened her seatbelt. She would never be back here. It was too painful.
She started the car and turned in a big circle, taking in the barn, the corral, and the house where she’d arrived that first day so full of hope and found an annoyed cowboy at the door.
Time to put it behind her, to move ahead.
She drove slowly out of the yard, waving to Jess and Brian who waved back. As she turned into the long drive that would take her out to the main road, she saw them turn and go back into the house. That started a fresh batch of tears flowing.
Reaching over, she tried to unzip her purse with one hand and fumble for a tissue. The recent hard rains had washed over the road, exposing rocks that made the car bounce. She hit a bump that jerked the steering wheel out of her grasp and sent the car sideways across the road. Before she could regain control, the Mustang dove nose-first into the bar ditch.
“Oh no!” she cried as she rocked forward, then back, then forward again, coming to rest with her face near the steering wheel. She immediately shifted into reverse and pressed on the gas. The motor raced but the car didn’t move. Giving up, she laid her head on the steering wheel and began crying in earnest. Huge sobs built up from her gut, racking her with sorrow.
Suddenly, the door was jerked open and Cam was beside her, his terrified voice asking, “Billie, honey, are you all right? Are you hurt? What’s wrong?” He ran his hands over her head, arms, and back looking for injuries.
She did what she’d wanted to do for days, turned into his arms and cried all over his shirt. “I’m n . . . not . . . hur . . . hurt,” she hiccupped. “But . . . the cuh . . . cuh . . . car won’t move.”
He tried to let her go so he could look at the front of the car, but she clung to him. Finally, he simply pulled her forward and craned his neck around to see the damage.
“You’re only stuck in the mud, sweetheart. It didn’t wreck the car.”
She lifted her head and looked into his gray eyes, full of compassion and humor. “So, we can pull it out and then . . . I’ll have to go?”
“Jess and Brian can help me.” Cam leaned forward and kissed her tear-drenched eyes. “But please don’t go.”
“Wha . . . what?” she gulped.
“I love you. Please don’t go. Stay here and marry me.”
Her mouth dropped open. “Are you serious? What about the ranch? My career? Everything else that . . . .”
“Compromise,” he said. “Yeah, I know it’s a new concept for me, but this can be your home base. We’re not far from Tucson. You can fly out anytime you want to as long as you come back to me and our family. And maybe sometimes I can go with you – as soon as I find someone who can be more responsible than Jess is.” He turned her gently, unbuckling her seatbelt and helping her out of the tilted vehicle, then urged her up onto the flat surface of the road.
When she was on her feet and steady, she threw her arms around his neck and stretched up onto her tiptoes to kiss him full on the mouth. “Yes, we can do that. I love you. We can make it work.”
“I’m sorry I’ve been an idiot. I’ve been in love with you practically since the first day, but I knew you were going to leave and, well, I couldn’t face that.”
“I’ll always come back.”
“I know you will.” Cam reached into his pocket and pulled out the ring.
Billie’s eyes widened as he slipped it onto her finger. The diamond seemed huge and the small sapphires that surrounded it only added to the beauty.
“My mother was right,” he said. “It’s perfect for you.”
She looked up and smiled. “No, you’re perfect for me and that’s why fate sent me here.”
Cam kissed her again and took her hand. “Come on, let’s go tell everyone our news. We’ll have to call the Finas and tell them the wedding is back on – although I refuse to get married on horseback.”
Laughing, they ran to his truck, and to their future.
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Here To Stay (Welcome to Lucky Break, Arizona!) Page 16
