Her heart breaking, she couldn't bear to look at him. "Thanks, but I'll go back to Melba's. I want to say goodbye to her, anyway."
"What's the story with Melba? Why were you so insistent about staying there?"
"Melba was my third grade teacher." She continued to look out the window, but her eyes lost their focus. "It was … difficult after Edmund was killed. I had a hard time. My mother wasn't…" She compressed her lips. "Anyway, it was a bad time for me. And Melba was very kind. She went out of her way to take care of me. She made sure I had lunch every day, she made sure I got help with my homework. She always asked how I was doing and if there was anything I needed. All the other kids were scared of her, because she was strict. But she was there for me when I needed her. And I've never forgotten. So when I saw that she had a boarding house, I had to stay with her."
She thought his eyes softened, but all he said was, "Does she know who you are?"
"No. She told me once that I looked familiar, but I made a joke and she never said anything else. But I'm going to tell her before I go." It was the perfect excuse to leave the Red Rock, and she grabbed at it. She was sure that Dev would be relieved. "I need to go back today. I don't want her to hear who I really am from someone else. I want to tell her myself."
She couldn't read a thing in his face. He nodded once. "Fine. I'll drive you back whenever you're ready. I'll have someone bring your car into town tomorrow."
"I'll get my things together."
She walked upstairs without looking back, afraid he'd see the tears in her eyes. A lump swelled in her throat as she passed his closed bedroom door. Forcing herself to ignore it, she walked into her own room, then shut the door. She pressed her hands to her eyes, forcing back the tears, then took a deep breath and started packing her belongings.
Dev had had his chance, and he hadn't asked her to stay. So she would go, and because she loved him, she wouldn't try and make him feel guilty. You couldn't force yourself to love a person. It wasn't something you could turn on at will.
The ride into town was filled with an uncomfortable quiet. By the time they pulled up in front of Melba's house, all Carly wanted to do was jump out of the truck and run inside. But Dev helped her carry her luggage into the house, then carried them up the stairs while she went looking for Melba.
She said goodbye to him under the watchful eye of her former teacher. "I'll see you tomorrow," he muttered, then he escaped out the door. Carly listened to the sound of his truck until it faded completely away.
She and Melba stood in the hall for a moment. Then Melba said gruffly, "I heard you had a hard time with that Phil Hilbert."
Carly smiled at her. "The grapevine was at work quickly."
"That's the way it is in small towns. We all know each other's business. A bunch of gossips, that what we all are."
"I like that about Cameron. And I wouldn't call it gossip. Everyone cares about everyone else." It was one of the things she was going to miss most about this town.
"Come in and have some dinner," Melba said abruptly, but Carly put a hand on her arm.
"There's something I want to tell you first, Melba. Something I don't want you to hear from anyone but me."
"What's that?"
Carly took a deep breath. "You know I've been looking into Edmund Whitmore's death. I'm Edmund's sister. You were my third grade teacher."
Melba looked at her sharply. "I told you I thought there was something familiar about you." She cocked her head. "So you're little Carrie Whitmore, all grown up."
Carly nodded. "You were very kind to me after my brother died."
"You needed to have someone care about you," she said gruffly. "Your mother was too torn up about your brother."
"I've always wanted to say thank you," Carly said. She put her arms around the older woman and hugged her. For just a moment, Melba hugged her back. Then she stepped away.
"Well, come on. My dinner will be ruined if we stand here jawing about old times."
Carly watched Melba stalk into the kitchen, her back rigid. But just before the door swung shut behind her, Carly saw the older woman wipe at her eyes. Blinking some sudden moisture out of her own eyes, Carly went and sat at the dining-room table.
* * *
Devlin pressed the accelerator a little harder the next morning as he headed toward Cameron, driving past the mountains without seeing them. Melba's voice still rang in his ears. She'd called him a fool, telling him to get his rear end into town immediately if he didn't want Carly to walk out and never come back.
His heart panicked at the thought and he drove a little faster, afraid she'd already be gone. He and Shea had driven her truck into Cameron after dinner the evening before, leaving it standing in front of Melba's house. He'd been reluctant to leave it for her, but Shea had been insistent. She'd claimed that Carly might need the Jeep, and it would take a while for them to find the time to drive it into Cameron the next morning.
He'd been looking for any excuse to keep Carly in Cameron for a while longer, he acknowledged. If she didn't have her car, she couldn't leave. And leave him behind.
His hands were trembling by the time he turned onto Melba's street. Seeing her black Jeep sitting at the curb allowed him to take a deep breath. At least she was still here.
He pulled up behind the Jeep, but he didn't rush to get out of his truck. He waited until the trembling in his hands had lessened, until he was sure he could control himself. He wasn't sure what he was going to say to Carly, but he thought maybe he should suggest she write that article about Cameron, after all. Anything to keep her in town for a while longer.
Coward, he muttered to himself as he got out of the truck and slammed the door. He'd barely reached the front door of Melba's when she opened the door and stepped out onto the porch.
"It took you long enough, Sheriff," she said, her voice tart. "I'm going down to Heaven on Seventh for breakfast. Carly's inside."
Without saying anything else, she marched down the sidewalk and headed for the restaurant. She never looked back at him.
Taking a deep breath, he knocked on the door. After a few moments, Carly opened it. A look of surprise flashed in her eyes, then they were carefully blank again. So Melba hadn't told her he was coming.
"Good morning, Dev," she said, her voice too polite. "What can I do for you?"
"Can I come it?"
"Of course." She stepped aside and opened the door wide.
Once he was inside, they stood in the small hall, staring at one another. Tension, thick and heavy as a rope, coiled between them. Neither of them spoke, but he watched as Carly swallowed once, then again.
"What do you want?" she finally said.
"Why don't we go sit down?" he answered, gesturing toward Melba's living room.
"Do you want some coffee?" she asked, her voice filled with the impersonal tones of a stranger.
"No. Thank you. I know better than to try and drink a cup of Melba's coffee."
For a moment, a smile softened her eyes, then she shuttered them again. "Do you want to tell me what you're doing here?" she asked.
"I wanted to talk to you before you left," he answered, and her eyes became even more remote.
"Don't worry, I'll be available to testify against Phil. Just let me know when, and where I need to be."
He scowled. "That wasn't what I was going to say."
Tilting her head, she asked, "Then what were you going to say?"
This was it. Taking a breath, he said, "Maybe you should do that article about Cameron after all. Your boss at the magazine might not like it if you came back without something to show for your trip. I'm sure Melba could put you up for a while longer, and if she doesn't have room, you could stay at the Red Rock."
"Why would I want to do that?" Her voice was very low.
He scowled again. She wasn't going to make this easy on him. "I don't want you to leave yet, all right?"
For the first time since he'd walked into the house, there was a flicker of life in h
er eyes. "Why not, Dev?"
He stood up and paced around the room. "We haven't had a chance to get to know one another. I'd like to spend more time with you."
He sneaked a glance at her. Her eyes were filled with pain and a weary resignation that twisted his heart. "I think we've both had a chance to know everything we need to know about one another. It doesn't sound as if anything has changed, and there's no reason to think it'll change no matter how much time we spend together."
She stood up, and he felt panic shiver down his back. Now was when she was going to walk out the door and drive away from Cameron. Moving to stand in front of her, he said, "Don't go, Carly."
She stopped, but she didn't come any closer to him. She stared at him steadily. "Why not, Dev?"
"Because."
She didn't answer, didn't move. She just waited. And he knew this was his last chance. If he didn't find the right words, she would be gone. And she'd take his heart with him.
"Because I love you, Carly."
His hands were trembling. He shoved them into the back pockets of his jeans, curling his fingers into his palms. He didn't dare move, didn't dare touch her.
He watched her face, watched her eyes as they came to life. "What?" she whispered.
"You heard me."
"I'm not sure I did. Say it again, Dev."
"I love you, Carly. Please don't leave me."
She flew into his arms, wrapping herself around him so tightly that he could barely breathe. But he didn't care. He didn't need to breathe. All he needed was Carly, in his arms like this, forever.
"I love you, too, Dev," she whispered. "So much. And I was so afraid you didn't love me back."
He found her mouth with his, telling her with his kiss how much he loved her, how much he needed her. Pledging himself to her, now and forever. And he tasted the same promise on her lips.
He didn't want to break the kiss, but he finally leaned back and framed her face with his hands. "I wouldn't have let you leave Cameron," he said fiercely. "I would have arrested you if I had to, kept you in jail until you agreed to stay."
She smiled at him, the same cocky, self-assured smile he'd fallen in love with. "Who said I was going anywhere? I decided during the night that blasting powder and dynamite couldn't get me out of Cameron."
"You mean all the suffering I did since you left the Red Rock yesterday was for nothing?" he said, mock-frowning at her.
She grinned at him. "You deserved to suffer, I was convinced you didn't love me and would never be able to love me."
He brushed her dark red hair off her face, then smoothed his fingers down her cheeks, lingering at the corners of her mouth. "How could I not love you, Carly?" he whispered. "Your courage and honor would put most people to shame. You came back here after twenty years to find justice for your brother. I was angry at you at first, angry that you hadn't told me the truth, but I realized before long that you'd done the only thing you could do. From your point of view, my father was the most likely suspect. And you did tell me the truth, in the end."
The smile had disappeared from her face. "I should have told you much sooner," she said, her voice low and full of emotion. "It didn't take me long to see that your family wasn't capable of covering up for a murderer. I'll always regret that it took me so long to tell you who I was. Do you think you can ever forgive me for that?"
"It's already forgotten, love." He bent down and kissed her again, a lingering caress that brought desire leaping to life. "I should be the one asking you to forgive me. What we have together, what we shared yesterday in the cave was … unbelievable. And I ran away from it."
She touched his face. "You weren't ready to accept it. I understand that."
"I was scared to death," he said bluntly. "I had always sworn I wouldn't ever fall in love. And when I realized that was exactly what had happened, I wanted to run. Far and fast."
She smiled up at him, a slow smile that was full of love. "As long as you ran in my direction."
Spearing his fingers through her hair, he pulled her close again. "I knew as soon as I brought you back here yesterday that I'd made a mistake. But I was too damn stubborn to turn around and admit it then." He grasped her shoulders and held her away from him. "Carly, I don't want to be afraid that I'll lose you, ever again. Will you marry me?"
"Yes," she whispered. "I want to marry you, Dev. I love you."
He closed his eyes and pulled her close again. His heart was pounding against his chest. "I'll move to New York with you, if you like. They probably could use another police officer there."
She tore herself away and stared up at him. He thought he saw tears glittering in her eyes.
"What about Cameron? What about the Red Rock? You told me that this place meant everything to you, that you never wanted to leave it."
"That was before I met you. It's just a place, Carly. I love Cameron, but I love you more. You don't find happiness in a place. Happiness is the people you love. And I love you."
"You would be willing to leave Cameron for me?" she whispered.
"I'd do anything for you."
"Oh, Dev."
She threw herself into his arms, and he felt the wetness of her tears on his shirt. He bent his head to kiss her again, but she looped her arms around his neck and gave him a watery smile.
"Are you really set on leaving Cameron?" she said.
"What do you mean?" he asked, but his heart began to pound. "I hope I can talk you out of it, because I'm going to miss you if you're determined to be a New York cop. I talked to Ralph and June Hanson yesterday evening. I'm going to buy the Cameron Weekly Sentinel from them, and start turning it into the kind of paper that Cameron deserves to have."
"You never intended to go anywhere," he said, his voice full of wonder.
Her smile was pure love. "Of course not. I was going to chase you shamelessly until you finally gave in and admitted that you loved me." Her smile faded. "I love you, Dev. You changed my life. You showed me what I could be with you, and what we could be together. I found everything I've been looking for here in Cameron. I wasn't about to walk away from that."
"But what about your life in New York? What about your job, your friends?"
"Focus will survive perfectly well without me," she said. "But the Cameron Weekly Sentinel won't. I love Cameron, Dev. I love the town, and I love the people. And I've already made more friends in Cameron than I have in New York. I have a lot of acquaintances, a lot of business associates, but here in Cameron, I have friends. Don't think that I'm making any sacrifices. This is exactly where I want to spend the rest of my life. And this is where I want to raise our children."
He reached for her again, and she melted into him. Desire and passion spiraled together inside him, mixed with a love that left no part of him untouched. Carly murmured his name and sighed against his mouth.
Lifting his head, he looked down into her face. Her eyes were closed, and her face was flushed with passion. Slowly she opened her eyes. Her smile held a lifetime of promises.
"I love you," he said, bending to kiss her again.
"I love you, too," she murmured. "What are we doing here? Take me back to the Red Rock, Dev. I want to go home."
Home. He tightened his arms around her. "I can't think of anything I want more. Today, tomorrow, and for the rest of our lives."
* * * *
COWBOY WITH A BADGE Page 24
