With This Promise (Windswept Bay Book 7)

by Debra Clopton

  “I can see why you felt a little intimidated.”

  She laughed. In the picture, she stood at the center of her five older brothers and her dad. Being the youngest, she looked dwarfed by them.

  “Yes, that photo says it all. It was tough for anybody to get up the nerve to ask me out. You can only imagine. They might not be holding a shotgun but all the fellas knew they owned them.”

  “I figure they were holding them behind their backs.”He grinned and set the picture back down.“It might be late when this is over, so I’d rather bring you home than have you be tired and drive.”

  She shrugged.“Okay.” She could hear her dad applauding everything Cam had proposed. He’d have been pleased. She needed to give her dad a call. She might do that tomorrow.

  When Cameron realized the mare was going to give birth, he’d known Lana would want to be there. And he’d wanted to share it with her. Plus, she had offered to help if he needed it. He didn’t but he did want to see her again and this was the perfect excuse.

  The mare was still on her feet but very restless when they got back to the stables.

  “She’s a beautiful mare. I can’t wait to see what the foal looks like. My gut tells me she’s having a colt.”

  “And is your gut good at knowing?”

  They stood at the stall gate, their elbows hanging over the top of it. She glanced up at him; her shoulder brushed his and he couldn’t help but feel his blood humming at the thought of being so close to her.

  So sue him—he was attracted to her.

  He couldn’t help himself. Her clear green eyes were mesmerizing. Her intelligence and her wit were alluring. And her determination and stubbornness made him smile. Everything about her attracted him.

  “I get it right about fifty percent of the time.” She winked.

  He chuckled, not wanting to disturb the mare. “You’re that good?”

  “Oh yeah. I’m going to guess this is a colt and we will see if my fifty-fifty chance holds true.”

  She was funny.“I’m not going to bet against you, because I have a feeling that the odds are with you.”

  “You’re as smart as I thought you were. So I hear you’re going to be best man at Levi and Jessica’s wedding. I’m going to be maid of honor.”

  “I heard that. So I guess that means we might have to help make a few decisions?”

  “Maybe, but I don’t think it’s going to be a big wedding, so there may not be any decisions to make, other than helping figure out where she’s going to have a bachelorette party. And you probably help Levi to figure out where to have his bachelor party.”

  “I’m not thinking they’re going to be into that too much. Levi couldn’t care less about a bachelor party. I haven’t met Jessica yet, but from what I heard of her, I wasn’t thinking she’d be much into the bachelorette party thing.”

  “I think you’re right.”

  “Maybe they’d want to go have a party together with the wedding party, I mean, you know—combine their bachelorette and bachelor party together?”

  “You know, you are smart. I bet Jessica would love that. I will ask her about it tomorrow.”

  Cam patted himself on the back. It would mean spending more time with Lana while celebrating with Levi. He grinned. “Sounds good.”

  The horse snorted, pawed at the hay and then lay down in the hay.

  Lana’s eyes grew bright. “Oh, here we go,” she whispered in awe and placed her hand on his arm.

  Instant awareness radiated through him and he had a hard time thinking about the imminent birth as every cell in his body tuned into Lana.

  “We should go inside. She might need help.”Lana reached for the latch. He stepped back to let her open the gate and then followed her inside. She knelt at the mare’s head and spoke soothingly to the horse as she gently rubbed a hand down its neck.

  “You’re doing great, girl.”

  He watched the expression on Lana’s face, and felt like she was feeling the same great joy, giving comfort to the mare. He liked that about her. He liked everything about her.

  The birth went without a hitch. The baby colt was born within the hour and Lana was thrilled as she watched the baby try to stand.

  “Come on, sweet boy, you can do it,” she urged from the stall gate where they’d moved back to after the birth was over. “He’s beautiful.”

  “Yes, he is. And your record holds.”

  She smiled. “I’m glad.”

  He laid his hand on her shoulder and brought her in to his side, giving her a tentative hug. “Thank you for sharing this with me.”

  She was startled by the move but they’d just experienced something beautiful and they’d bonded in a way. She looked up at him.“I wouldn’t have missed it. Thanks for thinking of me.”

  Their gazes held and she got the feeling he was thinking about kissing her. The thought shot her pulse flying. Everywhere their bodies were touching hummed. She almost tipped her head toward him.

  The gentle nicker of the mare pulled her attention back to the colt. He was attempting a wobbly rise to stand. “Here goes.” She grabbed Cam’s hand that was resting on her shoulder. The newborn golden-toned palomino got shakily to its feet. It stood awkwardly, its knees shaking. His mother nudged him gently along, giving him encouragement with her nose.

  “He’s beautiful,” she said softly.

  “You are too.”

  She looked up, startled by his words. But more startled by the pleasure curling through her because of his words.

  Chapter Six

  Cam couldn’t help being honest in that moment. Maybe it was the man in him or the fact that he had seen a lot of baby colts standup, but all his attention was focused on Lana.

  All he could say was her ex was a fool. And for her to have left her home and moved all the way to Windswept Bay, she must have been hurt deeply. Must have loved the guy like crazy.

  And the fool had thrown that away. Cam had known her five days and he couldn’t understand how something so precious could have been tossed like that.

  He swallowed hard and fought the tidal wave of emotions swallowing him up.

  She turned her face toward his; her eyes suddenly softened and looked vulnerable.

  “You are beautiful, you know,” he said softly. Then, unable—or not willing—to stop himself, he kissed her.

  She stilled for a second and then her hand went to his chest and she came into the kiss.

  Moments stopped. His heart pounded as he lifted his head and stared into her slightly dazed eyes. He had a feeling he looked the same way.

  “I think we have a problem,” he gritted through a clenched jaw.

  “Un-huh.” She sighed. “I don’t date cowboys.”

  “Exactly,” he muttered and then pulled her back for another kiss.

  Everything was spinning as Lana wrapped her arms around Cam’s neck and returned the kiss.

  They’d just shared a wonderful experience in helping birth the colt and she’d been so aware of him throughout the event that her defenses were weakened. She was so attracted to him, far beyond anything she had ever felt before, and watching his gentleness with the mare had only made her like him more.

  She needed to back out of his embrace, break the kiss, put distance between them—but her dusty boots seemed cemented to the floor of the stable.

  Instead, she wrapped her arms around him and gave into the joy of the kiss.

  But she didn’t date cowboys. They were just trouble where her love life was concerned.

  She had to not let herself be influenced…She mustered determination and stepped back, breaking the kiss.

  Cam immediately released her but his gaze was clouded.“I hope you reconsider your position on cowboys,” he said, huskily.

  She groaned silently. “I honestly don’t know what to say, Cam. This is all a surprise…I need some space. Clearly we are attracted to each other but that doesn’t mean it’s good for me. I’m attracted to sugar too, but I try to avoid it.”
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br />   He frowned and she didn’t blame him. “That guy really hurt you, didn’t he?”

  She nodded. “It makes me mad that he had that much power over me…and I just can’t do it again.”

  “I’m not happy about it, but I understand.”

  Why was this so hard?“So, what will you do with the foal?” she asked, needing to move on.

  His eyes were shuttered and he studied her, probably trying to decide whether she was seriously just going to move forward.

  The man had just kissed her boots off and she was pretending she was unaffected.

  “I’m going to take the mare and the colt back to my ranch in Texas. I want my trainer to look at it. I do that with all my newborns.”

  She’d struggled to ignore how much she wanted to step back into his arms. Wanted to feel his lips on hers again and the strength of his arms around her. How much she already missed the beat of his heart against hers and the roughness of his five o’clock shadow bristling against her skin.

  What was wrong with her? She shivered, thinking about his touch and the passion of his kiss. And the promise of it. But she knew promises could be empty, and touches and kisses could be deceptive.

  She did not need a cowboy. She nodded at him. She turned to face the colt again. “When will you travel?”

  “Probably this weekend. My new stable manager is coming tomorrow. I’ll show her what needs to be done and then I’ll head out.”

  Lana took a deep breath.“When will you be back?”

  “Not sure. Is it going to bother you?”

  Her fingers gripped the gate. She closed her eyes for a moment before she looked back at him.“No. You have to do what you have to do. You’re only here temporarily.”

  He nodded. “I’ll be back. We have a wedding to plan.”

  “Right. I probably need to be getting home.”

  He nodded. His jaw was tight and she figured he was probably reevaluating why he’d kissed her.

  “Lead the way to the truck,” he said.

  The atmosphere was strained as he drove and she sat in the passenger side, contemplating her options. She was passing on something she shouldn’t and yet memories of a year ago jumped vividly to her mind.

  Relationships with cowboys had just never worked for her, even before the jerk. None of those relationships had worked out—sure, common sense would say they weren’t the right one for her, but still, if you kept going down the same road over and over again, refusing to make a change, then how could you ever change the course of bad decisions?

  To get a different result meant she needed to make a major change, which she had done by moving to Windswept Bay and making the decision not to date cowboys any more.

  And she would stick to her guns on this. So why did it feel so lousy?

  As soon as they got to her house, she got out of the truck.

  He followed her and walked her to her door. She wished he’d stayed in the truck so as not to tempt her with wanting another kiss.“I’ll see you when I get back. And we’ll plan the party,” he said.“I’ll talk to Levi about that in the morning.”

  She’d forgotten about the party. “Right—the party, yes. I’ll mention it to Jessica.”

  He nodded and then, as her chest ached, he surprised her with a quick kiss to the cheek. Just a barely there brush of his lips to her skin and then he was striding away, back to his truck, one long-legged stride at a time. Leaving her wanting more. Drat the man.

  Lana couldn’t move as she watched him stride away. Was she watching the best thing ever in her life walk away?

  Cam forced himself to keep walking, to not look back, to not storm back and sweep Lana into his arms and kiss her like he wanted to. But he felt as though he were gentling a skittish horse when he was around her. She definitely wasn’t a horse, but she wasn’t trusting at all. And she was always ready to run.

  He’d messed up when he’d kissed her.

  Now, he was going to pull back, try to give her time to forgive him for acting so impulsively and ruining a great evening and possibly ruining any chance at all that he might have had with Lana. His mood wasn’t improved by the time he got back to the stable. Stalking straight inside, he saddled the black gelding. The horse studied him as he set the saddle blanket on its back and then the saddle.

  “Yes, we are going for a ride in the dark,” Cam grunted as he cinched the saddle and secured it.

  Moments later, the moonlight cast a golden spotlight on the dark waters as he let his horse lope along the shoreline. With the cool night’s breeze and the hum of the surf shimmering with moonlight, he knew it was going to be the perfect night for a romantic ride…only he was alone and thinking of Lana.

  How had his feelings for her moved so quickly? He was normally a very methodical thinker. A man who didn’t make snap decisions, who looked at all aspects of a big move and then proceeded. He was not a man who made rash decisions or fell easily for anything. What he felt for Lana might be sudden but it wasn’t rash. Something about her spoke to him. And he wasn’t giving up on her.

  He brought his horse to a halt. No, he would just step back and then he’d move with caution. He’d win her over slowly, giving her wounded heart time to open up.

  The next day came slowly. Lana had spent most of the night up and down pacing, trying to read, trying to paint…basically fighting the urge to call Cam and say she hadn’t meant what she’d said.

  But she had meant it.

  Being raised by her dad and her brothers, she’d had to be tough like all the guys. And when she’d suffered the worst hurt and betrayal of her life, she’d held it in as much as possible. But that had only made it worse…it had festered and now no matter how wonderful and amazing she’d felt in Cam’s arms, the pain of last year surged up and tore the goodness away. She just didn’t know whether she could ever trust anyone with her heart again. His kiss had been heaven on earth. Just the thought of it right now sent chills and thrills racing through her. And that was scary because…why?

  She thought about that for a moment. Because she didn’t trust herself anymore.

  Exactly. She’d fallen for similar feelings of passion before—how could she know this was different?

  She couldn’t.

  “You look glum this morning,” Jessica said in greeting as she joined her for morning drop-off duty.

  “Thanks, it’s called a sleepless night,” she grunted and held up a paper cup of coffee. “I just need a little more of this and all this nice fresh air and I’ll be fine in a few minutes.” She yawned. “Just starting off slow.”

  They moved to help kids out of cars. A few minutes later, as they headed back inside toward their room, Lana decided now was the best time to ask, despite the fact that when she asked the question Jessica would know she’d spent time with Cam and that might get her friend asking questions again.

  “Are you planning on having a bachelorette party?”

  A bubble of laughter erupted from Jessica instantly. “No, I certainly am not. I’m too settled for that, and I had one when Adam and I got married—we girls had an evening at a spa, getting pampered.”

  “That sounds fun. Cam and I talked, and he said Levi wouldn’t want a bachelor party so he suggested combining the bachelorette party with the bachelor party at a local gathering place for an enjoyable evening.”

  “I think that would be a really good idea,” Jessica said. “I’m still shocked that we are actually talking about my wedding.”

  “Have you set a date yet?”

  “Three weeks. My family is coming. And that gives them time to get here.” Jessica blushed.

  “That’s wonderful! Three weeks, wow.” Lana was a little shocked at the speed. “So they’re okay with how fast it’s happened?”

  “They are so excited but yes, a bit worried about how quickly it’s happened. But they don’t really have a say and I think they get that now. I think the most shock is realizing I’ll be settling here in Windswept Bay. They can’t believe it. Deep down they hop
ed I would be coming home.”

  Jessica knew that was what her dad hoped. “I think that’s normal. I know my dad thinks I’ll come back to Texas. And my brothers—they’re all in denial that I even moved.”

  Jessica studied her. “Are you sure you want to stay here? I mean, you said you enjoyed going out to ride…maybe you’re starting to miss home.”

  “I had a great time and will admit that I have started lately to think about home more. But I love paradise too. Windswept Bay is wonderful. I have a place to go and ride now, so all is good.”

  “I want to go out there. Maybe you could teach Kevin how to ride at the stable?”

  “I’d love to give him some lessons. We’d have to talk to Cam about it. I was actually out there last night. Cam invited me to witness a mare giving birth. I love watching new babies.”

  “I bet that was amazing. You’re a cowgirl, Lana—there is no getting away from who you are.”

  Lana told her about the baby but she didn’t tell her about the kiss. Jessica would urge her to go for it—after all, that’s what she’d told Jessica to do.

  “Oh, Kevin would love seeing the new colt. Take us out there this afternoon!”

  Lana wanted to say no, but Cam was taking the baby back to Texas on the weekend so she knew the window of opportunity for Kevin to see the pretty newborn was short. “You don’t need me to go out there. The two of you can go or get Levi to take you.”

  Jessica pulled out her phone and held up a hand. “I’ll call Levi right now. I think he’s off this afternoon but you need to come too and we can discuss the party together. Perfect idea.”

  Lana cringed. Shoot. She watched as Jessica smiled as the phone was obviously answered on the other end. She blushed slightly.

  Lana loved watching her friend look happy. But she did not love the idea of having to go out there to the stable and seeing Cam so soon after they’d parted on strained terms.

  “Okay, we’re all set. We will go right after school. Levi thinks it’s a great idea. He’ll meet us here at the school and drive us all out there.”