by Rita Sawyer
Joey walked in and Mrs. Whiskers hopped off the sofa, ran over and started winding around her feet. That was another thing that had changed. All of a sudden, Mrs. Whiskers had decided she wanted to be friends. After a quick pat Joey headed for the office. She set up and got down to work, expecting him show up any minute, but he didn’t. When Joey caught herself checking her watch every ten minutes, she decided to give him a call. Her hour was up, and it was time to head to her real office, and he still hadn’t come home. Unable to sit around a wait for him she scribbled a note telling him to call when he got in.
When he called, she could tell him the big news. They were almost done. She’d work her miracle and wandered through his maze of financial disaster. There a few gaping holes he was going to have to fill in, but soon he’d just be maintaining his records. Cameron wouldn’t need her for that. If he followed the easy organizational plan she would set up for him, all he’d need to do is see someone once a year at tax time.
Hours later, she still hadn’t heard from him. Not the she was sitting around waiting. Joey had her other clients—some who were easier than others—but they all got her undivided attention. In the brief breaks in between her appointments, her mind drifted to him way too much. As she walked from her office to the dinner to meet Georgie for lunch, she tried calling him again. He still wasn’t answering, but this time she left a message asking him to call her.
“Well, you don’t look very happy.” Georgie’s accusation made her angry even though it was true.
Joey forced an exaggerated fake smile onto her lips as she slid into the booth opposite her. “Better?”
“No.” Georgie laughed, shaking her head. “What did Cameron say to piss you off?”
“Nothing.” Joey picked up the menu just to do something with her hands.
“Really?” Joey nodded, and Georgie looked at her quizzically. “Then what or who has got you down today?”
“Cameron.” His name came out on a sigh, but not in a good way.
“You just said it wasn’t him.”
“Nope. I said he didn’t say anything. How could he possibly say something to irritate me if I haven’t seen or heard from him all day?”
“Joey, it’s only a little after noon. Maybe you should cut the guy a little slack.” Georgie laughed.
“I know what time it is.” Oh, that sounded wicked bitchy. “I’m sorry. I guess I’m a little frustrated.”
“Yah think?” Georgie took the sarcastic bite out of her comment with a smile. “Want to tell me what’s wrong?”
“I don’t know what it is.” Joey shrugged her shoulders trying to pinpoint the moment when her day started to take a downward slide.
“When you left this morning, you were smiling,” Georgie pointed out.
“I know. Then I went to work at Cam’s place, and something changed. That’s why wanted to blame the funk I’m in on Cameron, but I think it might be more than that.”
“I thought you were making some headway with his account.” Again, Georgie was stating the obvious, which shouldn’t have been so irritating.
“We are. Actually, I’m almost done.”
“Oh, honey.” Georgie lowered her own menu. “You’re not thinking that means you and Cameron are going to be done, too.”
Joey didn’t think that’s what was bothering her. In fact, she hadn’t thought about that at all. She just assumed the not knowing where he was, and not being able to reach him might have set off the control issue Cameron claimed she had. Still, now that her sister had planted the seed in her mind it started growing. Her inner doubt turned out to be fabulous fertilizer. Would Cameron want to end things once they finished getting his records in order?
“Joey, that’s not going to happen so don’t even worry about it.” Joey wished she felt as confident as her sister sounded.
“We’ll find out soon enough, won’t we?” She stuffed the menu back into its holder as Mildred approached their table.
“Afternoon, ladies. What are you in the mood for today?” Mildred’s cheery smile normally made Joey smile back, but today she just didn’t have it in her.
“Hey, Mildred, what’s the scoop?” Georgie waggled her eyebrows playfully knowing Mildred, not one to spread gossip, wouldn’t mind bringing them up to date.
Mildred glanced toward the kitchen then motioned for Georgie to slide over and joined them. Joey sat back, content to listen to Georgie and Mildred chat. They traded rumors and stories, all of them knowing there was a good chance none of it was true. Still, it killed the time and since nothing they said would leave the table, they weren’t hurting anyone. Joey had heard worse walking through the supermarket.
“So, are you missing that handsome boyfriend of yours?” Mildred chuckled waving her hand in front of her face. “Or has the term changed in the past few weeks?”
“Why would she be missing him?” Georgie asked before Joey could.
“This is the first time in a few weeks that they’ve been separated.” Mildred looked from Georgie to her and back a few times.
“How did you know that?” Joey finally asked.
“Well, how else would I know, Cameron and Alec stopped here for coffee before they headed out this morning.” Mildred made a lot of sense, and the best coffee in town.
Joey had all sorts of questions running through her mind. Had they said where they were headed? What time did they leave? Did they mention when they were coming back? Of course, asking those questions would have meant admitting she didn’t know he’d left. That would have posed a few problems and fueled a lot more gossip about her and Cameron. Then again, it could have ended some of it, too, because not most boyfriends left town with telling their girlfriend. So maybe people would naturally assume they weren’t as serious as everyone had thought they were. Since she didn’t even know where things stood with them right now, or in the near future, Joey thought it would be best to keep her mouth shut.
“We’ll spend some quality time together when he gets back.” Joey saw Georgie’s slight nod and smile of approval.
“I bet you will.” Mildred laughed getting to her feet and pulled her order pad from her apron. “Now let me guess. Georgie wants a bacon cheeseburger and a double order of onion rings. Joey, you’ll have a chicken Caesar salad and share Georgie’s rings.”
“One of these days we’re going to surprise you and pick something different.” Georgie had a point. Maybe they were in a rut.
“But not today.” Mildred’s laughter filled the diner as she walked into the kitchen.
“Feel better now?” Georgie asked once they were alone.
Joey shook her head. “No. He could have left me some kind of message.”
“True, but maybe he hadn’t planned on being gone so long.” Georgie’s tendency to always look at the whole situation wasn’t really appreciated at this moment.
“Stop making excuses for him.” She should be helping her think of a way to get back at him instead.
“I’m sorry, but I don’t want you writing him off after one slip up.” Georgie’s soft tone, the one she used when she was afraid of making someone mad made Joey inwardly cringe.
“Do you really think I’m looking for an excuse to end things?” Joey hoped she took her sister’s comment the wrong way.
“I didn’t say that, but you have been known to hold a grudge and exact revenge for silly things. I just didn’t want you to start plotting until you give him a chance to explain, that’s all.”
“I think you have me confused with Bobbie.” Joey would be giving her a call later to get her take on the situation.
“She learned everything she knows from you.” Joey knew her sister meant it as an admonishment, but she took the comment as a compliment. “Bobbie had just brought it to a new level.”
Joey decided it was time to switch the subject so she could try to enjoy her lunch. “Did she tell you about what she did to Jake last week?”
“What did she do now?” Georgie asked, but from her tone Joey wasn’t sure she really wa
nted to know.
She decided to tell her anyway. “Jake saw her talking to his deputy and told them to get off the sidewalk or he’d arrest them for loitering. Bobbie didn’t like that he made the comment in front of a bunch of people. So she got one of those plastic zipper bags and filled it with ice. She waited until no one was looking and stuffed it under his seat cover. A few hours later, after the sun had been beating down on the car, Jake climbed in and sat down.”
“Oh, my God.” Georgie covered her mouth with her hand.
“Yup, the bag burst and his ass got soaked.” They both laughed loud enough to turn a few heads. “Needless to say, he thinks he knows who the culprit is, but he can’t prove it.”
“Once he can, she’s going to be in trouble.” Georgie knew just as well as the rest of the town that Jake would never really punish Bobbie. “That girl is crazy.”
“He doesn’t mean to, but he drives her there.” Everyone knew they were going to end up together. The more Jake fought it, the harder Bobbie pushed him. “Sooner or later one of them is going to go too far.”
“Are you going to try and stop them?” Georgie asked.
“Hell no!” Joey knew getting involved would only make things worse. “Do I look crazy to you?”
“Well, now that you ask.” Georgie tilted her head from side to side examining her.
“Shut up.” Joey leaned back so the waitress could place her salad in front of her.
* * * *
Cameron knew he screwed up, but it was too late to do anything about it now. Not leaving Joey a message had been a stupid move. In his defense, he hadn’t thought he was going to be gone this long. He’d been with Alec and his cousins playing cards last night when he got a call from his publisher asking him for a favor. An associate of his publisher needed his professional opinion.
He’d agreed and Alec even volunteered to come along, and neither of them had thought to charge their cell phones. Not that it mattered since the reception in the middle of nowhere was spotty at best. At first, he hadn’t been concerned because he assumed the meeting would be quick. Now, though, he was starting to wonder if they were ever going to be finished.
It turn out the associate had the idea of making a film nearby and wanted his input on the landscape. The group of people she’d brought with her had dozens of questions. Most of which he answered with ease, but there were a few that they were going to have to research. What he hadn’t planned on was being offered a job as location scout. Knowing all the travel involved, he hadn’t had a second thought about turning them down flat. Still, it was nice to know he had options out there.
But he really wanted to go home. Where he would no doubt be spending some time apologizing for not keeping in touch, if Joey turned out to be anything like his sisters. Even when he’d been halfway around the globe, his family required him to give them a call every other day. Funny enough, it was something he still did now though he was just a few states away. His best bet would be to show Joey he was sorry before she even had a chance to get a good mad going.
Finally, after Pamela, his publisher’s associate, was done asking him dozens of questions and flirting with Alec, they were able to get going. They were about two hours out of town when he came around a bend in the road and spotted a huge moose about eight feet up ahead of them. Cameron slammed both feet on the brake pedal. There was a sudden loud noise and the truck swerved right and left sending up a cloud of dust.
The moose seemed unsure of which way to run and pranced back and forth before finally running off into the woods. Cameron did his best to keep the truck on the road, but even his best wasn’t good enough. The truck came to a sudden stop in a ditch, narrowly avoiding a huge tree.
“Fuck, Cam, were you trying to kill us or what?” Alec undid his seatbelt and opened his door as far as he could, which was only about a foot or so thanks to the tree beside it.
“Like you could’ve done better.” Cameron leaned putting his weight against his door as he shoved it open, but it didn’t go much farther than Alec’s.
“I would’ve kept us on the road.” Alec’s tone held a teasing note, and as Cameron unrolled his window he shot him the bird.
Cameron hadn’t done this in ages, and the way the car was tilted it made climbing out trickier. He hefted himself through the opening and sat on the door surveying the terrain. There weren’t many choices, but before he could pick one, Alec made his. The sliders opened on the back window and the idiot shimmied through and landed in the bed of the truck with a loud thud. Cameron could only hope he hit his head and knocked a little sense into himself. The crazy man smile Alec had on his face when he turned to look at him dashed those hopes.
“At least now you have a legitimate reason to trade in this bucket of bolts.” That would make Alec happy since he’d hated the truck on sight.
He had a point though. If Cameron wanted Joey’s family to really accept their relationship, they needed to get to know the real him. Cameron was actually shocked that his mother or sister hadn’t let it slip when they were here. They usually loved bragging about how well known he was. Besides, now that he decided to stick around for good and teach at the university, the need for secrecy wasn’t there anymore. Hell, it never had been except for in his own mind. Alec had been right about that, too.
Cameron finished climbing through the window and stood on the frame. He carefully stepped onto the back fender and into the bed. He joined Alec, who had lowered himself and was now sitting on the tailgate.
“I guess you’re right, but getting a new truck isn’t what I’m thinking about right now.” There’d be plenty of time to worry about that tomorrow.
“Hey, you’re not the only one who’s in trouble here. My cousins are going to go ape shit.” True, but for much different reasons.
“I’m sure the fact that you not only got a smoking hot movie producer’s phone number but scored a date with her next week will impress them enough to let you off the hook.” If not, Cam would step up and take the blame for him being out of contact so long.
The Mitchell cousins had rules about being in contact. If for some reason they were going to be out of touch, they at least had to let someone else know where they were going to be. They had too many business ventures going for one of them to be unreachable for an undetermined amount of time. Not to mention, they lived in an area where wild animals could be frequently spotted, which is why it wasn’t unusual to find them standing in the middle of the road, like the moose they’d just encountered. Granted, that had been a really big moose. The normal thing to do was just stop and wait for it to move along giving it plenty of space so you didn’t spook it. It’s what he would’ve done if something hadn’t broken when he jammed on the brakes.
“Sitting here isn’t going to get us anywhere.” Cameron figured they had about a three hour walk just to get to a road where they’d have a chance of running into someone.
That was a big problem with driving the back roads, which were quicker than taking the main roads, not as many people traveled them. The main roads tended to twist and turn and go on forever, but they got you there. Most of the back roads were bumpy dirt roads, and if you weren’t watching carefully you could end up at a sudden dead end. His first few weeks there he’d tried to use a map book, but whoever drew the maps obviously hadn’t driven the roads to make sure they were really there.
“This sucks.” Alec almost sounded like a whiny kid.
“Be a good boy. Just keep walking and maybe you can have an ice cream when you get home,” Cameron teased as they headed down the road.
“Screw that. I’m gonna want a nice cold beer and a bucket of ice for my aching feet.” Cam nodded in agreement.
They were going to be sore after this even though they were both wearing hiking boots.
Chapter Fourteen
Joey hadn’t slept well, which was no surprise. Cameron hadn’t called at all last night. It hadn’t been easy not to drive over to his place last night. She told herself he was fin
e or someone would have called her. After all, he was with Alec and his cousins who all knew, along with the rest of town, they were dating. So someone would have called. Then there was Jake. Any accidents would be reported to him, and he would have definitely called her.
She poured coffee into her travel mug, careful not to waste a drop knowing she was going to every bit of caffeine to make through the day. It would serve him right if she just skipped their meeting this morning and went back to bed, but that had its own consequences. First and most important, it would give her sisters reason to believe they were all right last night when they said she was mad. Of course she was, and they would’ve been too in her shoes, but she wasn’t about to prove them right. Second, she wanted to hear what so important that he couldn’t have taken two minutes to call her.
“Whoa.” A deep voice rumble from behind her.
Joey didn’t bother to hide her smile. This morning she’d decided to forgo her normal business attire today for a more casual look. She chose a very short khaki skirt and a teal spaghetti strap camisole with a matching shear blouse. And for the first time in as long as she could remember she was wearing sandals instead of her more traditional and staid low-heeled pumps. After all, she needed to show her toes off since Georgie had insisted on giving her a pedicure last night. She’d claimed it would help her to relax, but Joey figured it was to keep her from walking the floor between their rooms.
Subconsciously, she must have had this outfit in mind last night, because she’d chosen a polish with the same bluish tone for her toenails. Or maybe that was why this outfit had snagged her attention. Either way, she was enjoying the rebellious feeling she had at breaking her own dress code.
“Morning, Trent.” As she turned to face him, her hair swung like a curtain in the wind.
“Morning.” The wide-eyed, deer caught in the headlights look was too much not to laugh at.
“Stop giggling at my husband’s expense.” Sam patted Trent’s back and pressed a quick kiss to his cheek as she walked past him.
