A Reason to Run (The Camdyn Series Book 1)

by Christina Coryell

  “What are you saying, Camdyn?” he wanted to know. I reached down on the bench and picked up my atlas, holding the map of Tennessee open to him.

  “You offered once to draw a new home in here,” I told him carefully, handing him a black marker. “I was kind of hoping you might choose this page.” He took the atlas in his hands and then raised his eyebrows as he looked at the marker.

  “This particular writing utensil looks fairly permanent,” he stated with a quizzical look. I smiled and tried to ignore the heat rising in my cheeks.

  “Yeah, that was the intention,” I told him. He popped the marker open and drew a small black heart on the map, wrote the word “home” inside, and then handed the atlas back to me. I laughed as I looked down at his handiwork.

  “That’s a pretty specific area,” I stated. “I expected it to be bigger, but I have to tell you, it looks perfect.”

  “You’re staying,” he said quietly with a slight smile. “That’s what you wanted to tell me?”

  “That’s part of it, yes.”

  “I feel like I should tell you that I already knew some of that, about C.W. Oliver,” he said sheepishly. “I saw my mom this morning, and I could tell she was hiding something. When I pushed her, she showed me the letter you sent to Aunt Rosalie.”

  “You read it?” I asked, feeling the heat rise into my face and not being able to ignore it this time.

  “Yes, I did, and I was beyond flattered by the things you said about me, but there was something I didn’t quite understand,” he told me. “You said that you discovered you and Willa were heading toward the same thing. What was that?” He was looking at me so intently I couldn’t resist teasing him a little.

  “I’m afraid I can’t divulge that information,” I replied, shaking my head. “You’ll have to read the book and find out for yourself.”

  “Camdyn,” he said with a smile, “come on - don’t do that to me.”

  “Okay, okay,” I laughed, gazing up into his eyes. “You know I was looking for the reason that Willa left Virginia because I thought that, whatever it was, it must have been traumatic or terrible. Well, I was wrong. Willa wasn’t running away from anything. The reason she set out on her adventure was because she wanted to be with Robert Clark, enough that she was willing to risk everything. She was in love with him the whole time.”

  “Really?” he said, a slight smile playing about his lips. “So if you are equating you and Willa in that case, does that mean you’re in love with Robert Clark, too?” He raised his eyebrows and looked at me mischievously.

  “No, of course not,” I breathed. “I’m saying I’m ready to take a risk and admit that I’m in love with his fifth great-grandson.” I felt a mixture of relief and apprehension after the words left my lips.

  “I’m not really up on my family history. Just to clarify – are you talking about me?” I stared deeply into his brown eyes as I smiled and shook my head.

  “I think you know that I’m talking about you.” Right about then Pop decided to show himself again, jumping up and down next to Cole with a stick in his mouth.

  “Pop!” Cole stated, looking down at the dog. “The girl of my dreams just said she’s in love with me. Can you shut up for five seconds?”

  Cole took both my hands, and I’m not sure if Pop stopped at that point or not, because I don’t think I would have noticed either way. I was waiting for Cole to say something, anything, but he just stood there and smiled. After a few too many seconds passed, I started to feel uncomfortable.

  “I would feel a lot better if you said something,” I finally stated hopefully. He looked down at my hand and nodded, but all I could do was stare at him anxiously and try not to read anything into his silence.

  “First of all, just for my sanity, can you promise me that the disappearing stuff is completely out of your system? I have been a wreck all week, and I don’t know how to protect you when I can’t find you. I know you said you’re not used to people caring where you are, but I don’t want to spend all of my time worrying about you.”

  “I promise, no more disappearing,” I told him, squeezing his hand.

  “Thank you,” he breathed, rubbing his thumb against my palm. “The thing is, Camdyn, I’ve known since that very first night that I was falling in love with you. I didn’t want to scare you off, but I knew if I waited too long you might be gone. Then, when I realized I apparently wasn’t the first guy who felt this way, I don’t know… It was like I was walking a tightrope between being angry at myself for falling so hard and wanting to profess my devotion to you, and I didn’t handle it well. And really, the fact is that in the end none of it would have mattered, because I just wanted to be with you – I want to be with you.”

  He pulled me close and kissed me on the forehead, smiling as he stared into my eyes.

  “When we got back from Richmond, I knew I had to go to St. Louis to talk to your brother. Well, that and I can’t do anything around here without the whole town knowing my business. I’ve got to tell you, though, meeting Charlie kind of shook me a little, because he tried so hard to talk me out of it. He told me to give it time, and to wait and see what happened, but I told him I couldn’t do that.”

  “Wait a minute,” I interrupted, confused. “I thought you went to Charlie’s looking for me?”

  “No,” he chuckled, “I was already in St. Louis when Aunt Rosalie called. Anyway, like I said, I told Charlie I couldn’t wait, and I had this whole speech planned. Now that I know you’re staying, though, I guess that changes things, doesn’t it? I’ll wait as long as I have to.”

  “Cole, I’m not following,” I whispered, seeing the anxiety on his face and starting to get a little nervous.

  “This isn’t going the way I planned,” he apologized with a smile, looking out into the trees. “You threw me off with that bit about being in love with me. Not that I’m not immensely happy about that – I’m in a state of shock, actually, but now everything I was going to say seems almost unnecessary. I probably would have been better off to go the old stand-by ‘you’re hot and you totally get me’ route. Or, maybe I could have just told you that I knew I was going to overplay my hand all along.”

  I felt my eyes grow wide as the knowledge of what he might be saying grew within me.

  I think he’s trying to propose to me. No, he can’t be… is he?

  “Overplay your hand?” I asked. “Does that mean you’re…” I hesitated, a little afraid to say the words, but he sensed what I was going to ask and absently raked a hand through his dark hair.

  “That was my intention, although I am doing a terrible job of it.”

  I must be dreaming. Cole Parker wants to marry me. Me. Just keep breathing.

  “Generally,” I said with a smile, “in these kinds of interactions I think there is some sort of question involved.” He laughed and looked down at the ground, which was the perfect opportunity for Pop. He pushed his way in between us with the stick again, and Cole reached down to throw it off into the woods. When he straightened up, he stuck his hand in his pocket and pulled out a ring.

  “It’s been a few days. I nearly forgot how beautiful you are,” he said, flashing that same incredible smile I noticed the night we met. My breath caught in my chest and I could feel my heart pounding.

  “Really?” I asked with a grin. “It sounds like you’re stalling.”

  “I am a little nervous,” he admitted, twisting the ring around the end of his index finger.

  “Do you want a do-over?” I teased. “That’s served me well in the past.” He nodded as though he was thinking about that possibility.

  “Actually, yes, I think so.”

  “Okay, the slate is wiped clean,” I told him. “I’ve forgotten everything you said so far. I want to hear this speech. What were you going to say?”

  He took my hand in his and brought it up to his lips, kissing my knuckles before smiling down at me. I felt fairly certain he could hear the rhythm of my heart, it was beating so loudly.
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br />   “Well,” he said quietly, a grin playing about his lips, “there was some pleading with you to stay, and offering my house to you as a bribe. That was a big part of it, actually. The most important bit, though, was to say… Camdyn, you are the one my soul loves. You’re a part of me now, and I can’t imagine living the rest of my life without you. Please say you’ll marry me?”

  He loves me. I feel like I just hit the reset button on my entire life. Nothing is ever going to be the same, is it?

  “Wow, so that’s what it feels like,” I whispered, staring up at him.

  “What?” I smiled as I looked up at the sky for a moment, finally returning my gaze to his face.

  “When you get a proposal and your heart screams yes.” I watched as he looked confused for a minute, and then his mouth turned into a smile.

  “I must be imagining things,” he stated, pushing a stray hair out of my face. “I came home tonight fully prepared to throw all my cards on the table and have you shoot me down, or at best tell me I’m moving too fast. But I could have sworn you just said yes.”

  “I can’t think of anything that would make me happier, Cole,” I sighed. “Absolutely, I said yes.” I threw my arms around his neck and he wrapped his around my waist, lifting me off the ground. Clinging to his neck, I couldn’t quite believe that what just happened was real. I could feel his strong arms around me, and so many words went tumbling through my mind. More than anything, I felt safe, and I felt like I was home.

  When he set me down, he took my hand in his and gently slid the ring onto my finger.

  “I love you,” he whispered. I closed my eyes as he gently touched my face.

  “I love you, too,” I breathed, right before being caught up in an amazing kiss. I leaned against him, not wanting the moment to end. Finally, he stepped back, looked into my eyes, and pulled me onto the bench next to him, wrapping his arm around me. I placed my head against his chest and smiled, soaking up his warmth and looking down at the ring on my finger.

  “You do know I only said yes to your proposal so I would have a place to put all my books,” I teased.

  “I’m okay with that, as long as you know that I only asked so I could kiss you anytime I wanted.”

  “That is perfectly acceptable to me,” I sighed, looking out onto the land. What had once been Willa’s was now going to be mine. It almost didn’t seem real. Tears sprung to my eyes when I thought about how far the last couple of weeks had taken me.

  “I have to say, you certainly set the bar high,” I remarked. “If you had told me three weeks ago that the proposal I would finally say yes to would be from my cousin’s cousin in a backyard cemetery, I would have thought you were crazy.” He laughed and hugged me closer.

  “Well, if you had told me that I would be buying a ring in two weeks, I would have thought the same thing. But then I met this beautiful girl in a thunderstorm, and she asked if I was going to kill her.”

  “I did ask you that, didn’t I?”

  “Yes, and it was adorable. I knew I was a goner at that point.”

  “And then the lights came on, and you smiled, and I forgot how to talk,” I laughed.

  “Is that what happened?” he asked. “I fell for you so hard, Camdyn. You made me feel incredibly nervous and yet so comfortable at the same time, and I just knew you were the one I had been waiting for.”

  “Wow,” I whispered, pulling back and looking up at him. “Are you sure about all this? You’re inviting a mess into your life, with me. You realize things might never be the same?”

  “Yeah,” he laughed, gazing down at me with that fantastic smile. “I’m counting on it.”

  About the Author

  Christina Coryell is the Amazon bestselling author of The Camdyn Series and the Girls of Wonder Lane series, and does most of her writing in unorthodox places and with lots of noise in the background. She is accustomed to a certain amount of chaos in small town Missouri, where she lives with her husband and two children. Although she’s already found her reason to run, she still trips occasionally.

  She loves to hear from her readers and welcomes interaction on Facebook, Twitter, and by email. Find all the links or sign up for newsletter updates at her website, www.christinacoryell.com.

  Independent authors rely on your support. If you enjoyed A Reason to Run, please consider telling a friend and writing a review.

  Other Books by Christina Coryell

  The Camdyn Series:

  Volume 1, A Reason to Run

  Volume 2, A Reason to Be Alone

  Volume 3, A Reason to Forget

  Volume 4, For No Reason

  Girls of Wonder Lane

  Volume 1, Simply Mad

  Volume 2, Crowned