by K. K. Allen
I had confidence in what we had—confidence that ran so deep that I didn’t care about the battles we would have to fight to make Harold, the Bells, or anyone else see it our way. When the time was right, everyone would know. Camila and I had made it so far, through numerous seasons, a secret friendship, distance, and time. We could make it through anything.
After my shower, I dressed in my farming clothes, old jeans and a flannel. I’d started to head out the kitchen door, across from the barn, when a figure stepped around the side of the house.
I froze in midstep at the sight of Thomas Bradshaw, someone who would never normally pay us a surprise visit—unless something was terribly wrong. Thomas was loyal to the Bells, which meant we were just as much his enemies as we were to his employer.
Before his appearance, nothing could have brought me down from the high I was on. But for some reason, standing in front of a man rumored around town to be as shady as a slow-moving storm cloud, I felt my sense of cool start to fade. Whatever he’d come to say wouldn’t be pleasant. We weren’t his clients. He had no schmoozing to do with us.
The timing of it all sent my nerves into a frenzy, spiking the fear that I’d buried down deep in my chest.
Thomas had a menacing calm that surrounded him like a block of ice. “Hello, Ridge. Hope I didn’t catch you at a bad time.”
I locked my stance, like I was preparing for a fight. “What do you want, Bradshaw?”
A smile curled the corners of his mouth. “I think we need to have a little chat.”
“A chat?” I challenged, meeting his stare with a cold one of my own.
“Afraid so. You see, we have a little problem regarding a certain girl we both know.”
I narrowed my eyelids while blood started to pump furiously through my veins. “If this is about me turning down your daughter’s invite to the prom, well, then I’m sorry, sir, but Raven’s just not my type. I do hope you understand.”
Thomas barely flinched, but his hands responded as they balled into fists. “We both know I’m here about Camila Bell and your all-night rendezvous last night.”
“I don’t know what you’re talking about.”
His eye caught on the tractor parked near where he was standing, the same one I’d taken out with Camila. I cringed at the sight of her heels hanging off the edge.
“I see. Well, let’s pretend you were with Camila all night long while she should have been at her prom with my son, shall we?” When I said nothing, he continued. “She’s currently getting reamed by her father, thanks to you.” He took another step forward. “She says she loves you, which must be true, considering she just suggested she skip college and stay in town to work in the vineyard. Because of you.”
“You’re lying. She’s going to California. That’s the plan.”
“Not after her daddy told her she’d lose her school funding if she carried on with you.”
Thomas must have been ten feet away, but it felt like he’d just socked me in the gut. “I don’t know why you’re having this discussion with me. Camila is a big girl, and she can make her own decisions. Whatever those are, I’ll support them.”
“I don’t think I’ve made myself clear, so let me try again. If Camila doesn’t go to college, then she forfeits the vineyard.”
I rolled my eyes and shook my head. “You honestly think I’ll believe that Patrick Bell is going to refuse passing down the family business? Nice try.”
He raised his eyebrows. “Call my bluff if you’d like, but when you’re heir to an award-winning vineyard, those decisions aren’t made alone. A family legacy is at stake, investors are involved, and those investors believe strongly in the value of a good education.”
The more I thought about Thomas’s words, the more sense they made. “Then there’s no way she’ll refuse to go to school. All she’s ever talked about is following in her father’s footsteps.”
Thomas nodded. “She loves the vineyard very much. She also loves you. Unfortunately, she can only have one. Do you really want to be responsible for tarnishing her dreams if she chooses you?” He scoffed. “Well, you are a Cross. Perhaps that’s been your plan all along—to be the undoing of your rival—and you’ll do whatever it takes to see that plan out, including using Camila’s affection for you to your advantage.”
An inferno raged in my chest, and I was two seconds away from unleashing it. “I want nothing to do with the stupid rivalry. Neither does Camila. All we want is for our families to live in peace once and for all. To carry on business without meddling in each other’s affairs. It’s simple to us. The cornfield doesn’t pose a threat to the vineyard, just like the vineyard poses no threat to our corn. Do I hate Patrick Bell for what he did to my family? Without a doubt. But it would be pointless to transfer that blame to Camila just because of where one property line ends and another begins.”
Too much silence followed, creating an eerie calm between us. Then Thomas spoke again, saying the most shocking thing of all. “What if I told you I could help you end the rivalry?”
My heart pounded. “I’d call you on your bluff.”
Thomas smiled. “Not surprising, but you should consider what I’m about to offer, because I think it could be the answer to all things.”
Swallowing, I let an internal battle ensue. Part of me wanted nothing more than to trust Thomas Bradshaw. The rest of me knew better.
“Go ahead.” My words were quiet and tentative, but the desperation woven into my tone was evident.
“Sure, I’m the one who cut your business ties and worked with the Bureau of Land Management to cut off future purchases of land. But I’m also the one who can undo it. All you have to do is agree to stay away from Camila.”
“You said this deal would be the answer to all things.” My heart was breaking with my words. I’d already lost the battle. The only thing left to do was salvage what I could.
“Well, I guess it’s important to put a few things into perspective. What is Camila to you without her vineyard and without her dreams? Because all of it could be stripped away if she chooses you. Or, she could go off to college as planned and come home to have everything she’s ever wanted. Without you.”
My body shook. “Either way, I lose.”
Thomas’ eyes widened, and he shook his head. “No, son. You’ll have your farm, and I can assure your profit will be extraordinary compared to the losses you and your father have suffered over the years.” Then his expression eased back into a smile that told me he knew he’d already won. “The only thing you’ll lose in all of this is Camila.” He adopted a mocking frown. “But she was never really yours to begin with, was she?”
As evil as Thomas Bradshaw was, he was right. Falling for Camila had never been the hard part. Pushing her away had always seemed to cause the problems. But I had nothing left to do. No matter what I decided, someone lost. What Thomas had offered would at least serve the people I loved.
I looked straight into the eyes of the devil and gritted my teeth. “Fine. I’ll give you what you want. I’ll end things.”
His boastful laughter made his body shake. He stepped forward, leaving only a few feet of distance between us, so close that I could see the way his dark eyes swam with an evil gleam I would never forget. “You’ll need to do more than end things. You’ll need to break her heart. It’s the only way to ensure it’s the end. If you love her as much as you say you do, then you’ll know just the thing that will break her. Whatever that thing is, I suggest you do it.”
My entire body quaked, and I couldn’t stop it. I’d done nothing to the evil men who had it out for me and my father. And the fact that Patrick Bell would treat his own daughter with such disregard was manipulative and wrong.
“She’ll never forgive her father for this.” I narrowed my eyes, feeling my entire world imploding in my chest.
Thomas took another step toward me. “Didn’t you hear what I said? Camila’s father won’t be the one to break his daughter’s heart. You will be.”
&
nbsp; We stood there for several minutes in a staring contest fit for an old Western. If a revolver were hanging from a holster around my hips, I would probably have found great use for it in that moment.
“What the hell is going on here?” Harold grumbled as he tore around the back of the house.
Thomas looked at me coldly before shifting his gaze to my father. “Just doing a little business with your son, Harold. Good to see you too.”
Harold took another few steps before lifting the shotgun from his side and aiming it over my shoulder at Thomas. “Get your sorry ass off my land before I shoot you dead right here.”
Thomas lifted his hands, smiling and seemingly not at all phased. Then he took a few steps to the side and reached out to grab Camila’s heels off my tractor. “I’ll just take these and be on my way.”
I wanted to scream and lunge for the man who’d just stolen my future. But more than anything, I wanted revenge.
“Oh,” Thomas said with one final glance at me over his shoulder. “You have until midnight tonight.”
36
Camila
After the confrontation with my parents, I locked myself in my room and stayed there for hours. I cried, I screamed, then I called Josie and told her everything. Ridge and I had plans to meet soon, and I knew I had to tell him everything. If I was going to make a decision about the rest of my life, I wanted him to be part of that conversation. If anything, he would at least bring me the calm I desperately needed.
After showering and finally putting on a fresh change of clothes, I laced up my sneakers and raced through the vineyard. My cheeks were streaked with newly dried tears, and my lungs felt as if they would burst from lack of oxygen. I could barely see straight. I had to see Ridge.
I got to the bridge early and waited, sending urgent messages to Ridge to let him know I was there early and needed to see him.
Sitting there at the center of the bridge, my feet dangling over the water, I waited and thought about how years of secrecy had ended because Trip Bradshaw had to cry to his daddy about my ditching him at the dance. At least, that was what I had assumed the moment I saw his sour face staring back at me along with my parents. How else would my father have known to wait for me? I would never forgive Trip for that betrayal.
But I couldn’t just be mad at Trip or Thomas. My parents had been just as cruel with their conditions, threatening my future as heir of the vineyard and telling me who to and who not to love. They should have known I would walk away after such ultimatums. But I didn’t know where to go. I couldn’t afford college on my own, and I wouldn’t be awarded any type of financial aid. Without the vineyard or any other experiences, I didn’t have much.
I looked desperately off into the distance of the cornfield, wishing Ridge would call or message me back. He never checked his phone and never even had it on him when he was out in the field, but it wasn’t like him to be late.
After wiping the last fallen tear, I reached for my necklace, as if it had the magical ability to steady my nerves. Last night with Ridge, when my heart started beating out of control, I latched on to the beautiful gift and felt an instant calm wash over me. The same calm washed over me whenever I was near Ridge.
The desire in his eyes when he’d pushed into me, the extraordinary strength of him as he’d rocked mercilessly into me, and the way he’d stretched me as if molding me to him while he filled me with every inch of his love—it was all so surreal, and I found my hand often brushing the space below my neck to find my way back to center.
I felt around my neck for the piece of him I would cherish forever and gasped when I realized it was no longer there.
“Oh no!” I cried and turned in a circle, hoping to spot the necklace somewhere at the bridge.
Without thinking twice about it, I raced toward the cornfield, not caring whether Harold tried to run me over with that damn tractor of his again. Nothing could make the day any worse than it already was.
I continued down the field, through the tall grass, over muddy land, and quickened my pace when I saw the hilltop up ahead. My necklace had to be there. I must have dropped it in the midst of all the excitement. But the moment I reached the top and noticed that Ridge had cleaned up all the evidence from our special night, my heart sank.
Ignoring the steadily brewing clouds, I got down on my hands and knees and started to crawl over the sparse grass. I tried hard not to panic when, after one false alarm after another, I came up empty.
Not ready to give up, I decided to retrace my steps back to the bridge and moved down the side of the hill we’d hiked down earlier that day, not stopping until I reached the foot of the mine. My eyes were on the red rocks at my feet when I finally spotted something that gave me hope. One of the roses that I’d been holding when I jumped was lying on the ground.
I reached down to pick it up, hoping to find my necklace beside it. No luck, but when I got closer to the rose, I noticed that the petals had been crushed. It wasn’t the end of the world, but the disappointment weighed heavily. The previous night had been everything and more, and I hated that a piece of the night was ruined.
I stood and spun in a slow circle, noticing all too well the eerie silence that surrounded me. The sky was still darkening, and the gray clouds loomed, but the breeze that had shaken the trees minutes earlier was gone. Even the birds had stopped chirping. Everything was eerily still, like the calm before the storm.
A sudden flash of a memory of the night I’d gotten spooked in the woods entered my mind. I felt that same sense of unease that had crawled through me then, but I didn’t know why. I took a slow, sweeping gaze at my surroundings but didn’t see a single thing out of place.
My eyes landed on the steel bars of the mine. The door was closed, just as I remembered it from earlier that day, the padlock still hanging locked on the door, I swallowed over the quickly growing lump in my throat.
With my curiosity awakened at my discovery, I wrapped my fingers around the bars and peered inside. I’d expected to see nothing but a dark sea of nothingness, just like the first day Ridge and I had discovered the mysterious mine. Instead, an old ore-mining cart sat positioned on the rail tracks near the entrance. How had I missed that before?
Confusion and chills swept over me, causing all the hair on my body to stand on end. Fear shook through me as I swiveled around. It felt as if someone were watching my back but one thousand times stronger than before.
Nothing was out there save for an empty clearing before the section of tall grass and woods that met up with the creek. Taking a small step forward, I breathed in slowly and frantically tried to regain my wits. I had absolutely nothing to fear. But when my entire body locked up and I held my breath, I heard it—the squish of soft soil beneath heavy feet, tall brush swaying like it was being pushed aside, then stillness.
I looked in the direction of the noises with my senses on high alert. I had nowhere to run. Forward was my only choice unless I wanted to climb back up the mountain, which I could do, but I couldn’t outrun whatever was out there.
Then I saw the tip of an arrow aimed straight for my head. Behind it, there was a man holding onto a bow. He wore gray camo from head to toe, and a skull mask covered his entire face.
I didn’t have time to react.
He released his grip, letting the arrow fly, and my life flashed before my eyes.
37
The Hunter
The shot was too easy. At the precise moment the hunter released his grip on the arrow, he switched his aim, and the arrow pinned the old wood structure around the opening of the mine rather than Camila’s head.
The arrow served its purpose. Camila took off running, moving so quickly that even he missed her first step. A thrill rushed through him. The chase was what he lived for. And Camila Bell had just become his next target.
He had no choice now that she’d gotten a good look at the mine. She’d seen too much, and the risk was too great. If there was ever a sound excuse to kill the girl, then that was it.
She would tell someone what she’d seen, and they would investigate and find his mine tunnel and the private land it led to. They would see the years’ worth of trophies from the game he’d illegally hunted, then they would arrest him and find out that he hadn’t committed all that crime alone.
He’d come to the woods tonight to let off some steam. Maybe it was fate that put Camila in his path. Now that plan A had clearly failed him, killing the girl seemed like a great plan B. After all, hunting accidents happened all the time. Camila’s long dark hair could easily be mistaken for an animal.
The hunter slid another arrow from the suede quiver that rested over his shoulders. And as the girl rushed by him, not more than one hundred feet away, he watched her go. He tried to stay calm, though adrenaline—which he craved more than venison—rushed through his veins.
Ten, nine, eight, seven… he counted silently, giving the girl enough time to gain somewhat of an advantage. Then the hunt began.
38
Camila
Running had always been a form of meditation for me. I’d never done it for the exercise or for the conditioning, and I’d never once competed in a school sport. I didn’t have any desire to do so. But I had energy.
Over the years, I’d noticed that all the energy I dispersed thanks to my runs had been exactly what I needed. By the time I reached the hilltop, I would be so relaxed that despite whatever had sent me there in the first place, like a bad day or a fight with my parents, I had a clear mind to deal with my emotions. And without even trying, I’d earned the endurance of a lion.
