The Price of Passion

by Maureen Child

  Beth realized that, although he was talking to her, he was looking at Cam. The two men were practically bristling as they gave each other challenging stares. Best to end this now.

  “Oh, I’m sorry. I’m too busy to take lunch today,” she said.

  “Is that right?” He was still staring at Cam.

  She sighed. “Justin, you remember Camden Guthrie, don’t you? He’s just moved back home recently.”

  “Oh,” he said quietly, “I remember him.”

  “I was going to say the same thing.” Cam’s features were grim, his voice a low rumble.

  “Aren’t you the one who ran off with Burt Wheeler’s daughter, Julie?”

  Cam’s jaw tightened and Beth breathed deeply. She had always been able to tell when Cam’s temper was beginning to spike. His eyes were narrowed and flashing out a danger sign.

  “I am,” he said. “Aren’t you the one who was kicked off the football team for cheating on your biology exam?”

  “I didn’t cheat.”

  Cam glared at the other man. “You did. In more ways than one.”

  Justin’s pale cheeks flushed with barely contained rage, and Beth wondered what Cam was talking about. Now wasn’t the time to find out, though.

  “Okay.” She spoke into the tense silence that followed. “I think that’s enough testosterone poisoning for today. Cam, maybe you should go.”

  Both eyebrows rose when he looked at her. “You want me to leave?”

  “Please.”

  Justin looked smug that she’d chosen to have him stay, but that wasn’t the reason she’d asked Cam to go instead of him. It was simply that she’d known Cam would do as she asked and had been positive that Justin wouldn’t have.

  Cam nodded, with one last, hard look at Justin. “All right. I’ll go.” He shifted a glance to Beth. “I’ll see you tomorrow?”

  “Yes,” she said, though she knew that wouldn’t make Justin happy. Not her problem.

  Once Cam was gone, Beth looked up at Justin and saw his eyes flash with irritation,

  “Justin, thanks for the lunch offer, but I really am too busy today.”

  He ignored that and groused, “I don’t think it’s appropriate for a nearly engaged woman to be alone with Guthrie’s kind of man.”

  That she hadn’t expected. Even leaving aside the nearly engaged woman thing for a moment. “Excuse me?” Beth blinked at him. “Guthrie’s ‘kind of man’?”

  “Money doesn’t buy class. He’s still the same as he was in school.”

  “All of us are, apparently,” she muttered. She clearly remembered Justin and his friends trying to bully Cam because he was half Native American, but they hadn’t succeeded because Cam had never cared what anyone had had to say about him. He just went on with his life and fought back only when he was forced into it.

  “Justin, I’ll be alone with anyone I choose. You’re not in charge of who I speak to. And, more importantly—” she paused for emphasis “—I really want you to hear me on this... We are not engaged.”

  “As good as,” he argued.

  “Not even close,” Beth said firmly. Honestly, she hadn’t wanted to hurt Justin’s feelings, so she’d dated him for far too long. She hadn’t wanted to be mean when she turned down his proposal, and he’d interpreted that as uncertainty. Now she was done. “We’re never going to be engaged, Justin. In spite of the fact that you simply won’t listen to me.”

  “Beth, I’ve been more than tolerant of your indecision, but I believe I’m running out of patience.”

  Talking to Justin was exhausting. Like beating your head against a steel wall trying to make a hole. All that happened was a headache.

  “As am I,” she said, suddenly so tired of this whole thing that all she could think of was to get rid of Justin so she could have some peace. If the man wouldn’t respond to her polite refusals, maybe it was time to be less polite. “And I haven’t been indecisive. I’ve told you repeatedly that I wasn’t interested in a relationship and nothing has changed. We’re not engaged. We’re not going to be. No one tells me who I can speak to. And I don’t want to go to lunch.”

  He gave her a sadly indulgent look. “Beth, honey, ladies don’t show their tempers.”

  “Oh, for heaven’s sake, Justin!”

  He frowned, more disappointed. He tucked both thumbs behind his oversize silver belt buckle and said gently, “Now Beth, honey, calm down.”

  “Telling someone to calm down does not calm them down, just so you know.”

  He only stared at her. “What was Guthrie doing here?”

  Beth sighed and said, “Cam’s an old...friend.”

  “Yeah, I know all about that. I live here, remember?”

  “Okay, Justin, the truth is Cam dropped off a donation to the children’s wing at the hospital.”

  His mouth worked and she could see the muscle in his jaw twitch as he ground his teeth. “Fine. But I don’t think it’s appropriate for you to be alone with your ex, Beth. People know we’re a couple and—”

  “Justin, we’re not a couple.” She shook her head as she bit back on her annoyance. “I’ve explained this to you already. Multiple times. Including just two minutes ago. We are not together and we’re not going to be.”

  Sunlight sliding through the front window slanted across that hideous belt buckle and nearly blinded her. She took a step back just to keep her vision clear.

  “I’m sorry, Justin, but I think you should go now.”

  She didn’t even watch him leave.

  Five

  “You sure you want me to wait in the car?”

  Beth sighed, glanced at Gracie and looked back at Burt Wheeler’s ranch house. Truthfully, she’d rather have Gracie’s company. Heck, she’d rather not be here at all. But a deal was a deal, And since she’d be seeing Cam later today, she was here to hold up her end of their bargain.

  “Yeah, if you’re out here, I can use you as my excuse to leave quickly if I have to.” Beth smiled at her. “Keep the AC running if you want, but parking under this old oak should help with the heat.”

  “I’ll be fine,” Gracie said, reaching into her bag for her tablet. “I’ll go over the donations list while I wait.”

  “God, you’re good.” Another sigh. She really wished she could trade places with Gracie, But she climbed out of the car and walked across the yard to the Wheelers’ white Victorian ranch house.

  It was in beautiful shape, with a freshly painted, swept porch with bright blue tables and chairs sprinkled along its length. The window glass shone in the sun, and there was a summer wreath hanging on the front door. She knocked and waited and, when Burt opened the door, steeled herself for the conversation to come.

  “Beth Wingate,” he said, his voice a gravel road. “What’re you doing out here?”

  “I’ve got a favor to ask, Burt,” she answered brightly. “Can I come in?”

  “Sure.” He stepped back, a big man with a rounded belly, a full gray beard and a gleaming bald head. His brown eyes were curious as he steered her into the living room.

  Burt’s wife’s stamp was all over the house. Overstuffed pastel furniture was gathered in conversational knots. Polished tables, family photos on the walls—Beth’s gaze went directly to a shot of Julie Wheeler with her brothers. Her fun-filled smile was frozen in time, and it must tear at the Wheelers whenever they looked at it. She shifted her gaze back to Julie’s father when he started talking.

  “My Dottie’s in town at the market...”

  “I didn’t come to see your wife, Burt,” Beth said, though she had to admit this conversation would have been easier if Dottie Wheeler had been there. “It’s you I need to talk to.”

  “Sounds serious.” He crossed his arms over his broad chest, tucked his chin in and watched her warily. “What’s this about?”

  “It’s about
Cam Guthrie,” she blurted.

  His features turned instantly to stone. “I’ve got nothing to say about him.”

  “I understand, Burt, but—” She’d known it would be hard, but Beth could see both anger and pain in the older man’s eyes, and she regretted causing it.

  “You don’t understand,” he interrupted. “You can’t. Only me, Dottie and Julie’s brothers do. That man ran off with my baby girl. Took her away from her family. From her home. And then let her die out in that godless city in California.”

  Julie had died of cancer. It must have been horrible for her family—and for Cam. But it was hardly Cam’s fault. “Burt...”

  “No.” He shook his head, and if he’d had hair, it would have whipped around like a lion’s mane. “Whatever he wants from me, he doesn’t get.”

  His voice, already rough and deep, got louder, and flags of red appeared on his cheeks. Beth wasn’t afraid of him, but she was a little worried that he might have a heart attack. Burt was well-known for his temper and for his ability to cut people down to size with a sharp tongue that took no prisoners. But she wasn’t going to be intimidated, no matter how much she might be sympathizing with him.

  “Whether we like it or not, Cam’s back in Royal now,” she said in spite of his anger. “He wants to join the TCC and you’re the membership chair.”

  “I am and I’ll vote no on letting him in,” he assured her. “He got my little girl pregnant! High school kids is all they were and she was pregnant!”

  Beth swayed under that blow. Julie was pregnant? How had she never heard a whisper of that rumor? And how could Cam insist he hadn’t cheated on Beth, if he had married Julie because she was pregnant? And if she had been pregnant, where was the child? How many lies were flying around Royal these days? Oh, she really was almost as furious as Burt, yet the hurt she felt dwarfed the rage.

  “Didn’t know about that, did you?” His voice dropped as if he was sympathizing with her now. “Well, we didn’t spread it around. Only her mother and me and Camden Guthrie knew the truth. We didn’t even tell her brothers.”

  Beth swallowed past the knot of humiliation lodged in her throat and wondered how many more times Cam was going to slice at her heart. Why hadn’t he at least told her the truth before asking her to speak to his father-in-law? Why hadn’t he given her all the information she needed so she wouldn’t be caught like this? She breathed deeply and said the only thing she could. “It was fifteen years ago, Burt.”

  “You think our pain ends?”

  “Of course not.” Hers hadn’t. Why would Burt and Dottie’s? “But Julie and Cam made their decision a long time ago.”

  “So it was my girl’s fault?” His eyes were wide with astonishment.

  “I didn’t say that. But Cam didn’t force her to run. She went with him, as hard as that is to accept. She was with Cam. She ran away with him and stayed with him willingly.” Beth wanted to blame Cam alone and so did Burt. But the truth was Julie had been a part of it all from the beginning. It took two to make a baby. And that thought twisted her heart until it was nothing more than a painful lump in her chest. He’d made a baby with Julie while making plans with Beth. How had she missed it?

  Now is not the time, she told herself. “Burt, all Cam wants is a fair shot at joining the TCC.”

  “He’ll have that,” Burt said hotly, and ran his palm across the top of his head. “He has the right to apply for membership. Like I said, he won’t have my vote, but it’s not my place to block him from the club.”

  Cam would have to accept that, Beth told herself, because it was the best he was going to get from Burt Wheeler. Burt was well-known about town as a bully...loud and aggressive, but he was also a father still in pain at the tragic loss of his daughter. Beth reached out and laid one hand on his forearm.

  “Thank you, Burt.”

  He jerked a nod.

  “And I’m really sorry about everything. About dredging this up.”

  “You’re a nice girl, Beth.” He blew out a pent-up breath and gave her hand an awkward pat. Gruffly he said, “Your daddy was a pain in the ass, but you’re a nice girl. And you didn’t dredge up anything. Julie is always with me.”

  She couldn’t blame him for not liking her father. Many people hadn’t, including his own kids most of the time. As for the rest, she understood what he meant in saying that Julie was always with him. Cam had always been with her, too. Did that make her a fool?

  As she left the Wheeler house, she was already planning just what she would have to say to Camden Guthrie.

  * * *

  Camden worked through the morning, hoping to ease his mind by concentrating on a single task—making sure the Longhorn cattle arrived safely to take their place on the Circle K rangeland. A couple of days ago, his ranch hands had temporarily fenced in a two-acre plot where the Longhorns could rest up for a day or two. Cam wanted to make sure they were all healthy and strong enough to be turned out to graze.

  In spite of his mind twisting with thoughts of Beth—and the shock of seeing her with Justin McCoy of all damn people—he smiled as he watched the most quintessential Texas breed of cattle stepping down the ramps of the cattle truck. The Longhorns were wildly diverse in color: no two were alike, and the spread of their horns ranged from four feet to nearly nine.

  The rattle of their hooves on metal and the clack of their horns slapping together filled the air. He caught more than a couple of the cowboys grinning like children just watching the legendary cattle slowly claim their new home.

  “They’re really something, aren’t they, boss?” Henry Jordan sat his horse right beside Cam, and both men stared out at the cattle.

  “They really are.” It was a damn miracle the breed had been saved back in the 1920s. People had been smart enough to realize that crossbreeding with imported cattle was going to destroy the one breed that had evolved on their own to survive and thrive on the range without any help from humans.

  “My boys are loving this. They’ve never seen a Longhorn up close,” Henry said, pointing to where his three teenage sons were working the herd with the other cowboys.

  “A lot of people haven’t, Henry,” Cam replied, leaning both hands on the pommel of his saddle. “But we’re going to fix that with the dude ranch. Our tourists are going to get a glimpse of the real Texas.”

  His starting herd was small—two hundred head, with a lot of females and yearlings. It wouldn’t take long for the herd to expand, and Cam welcomed it. He had plenty of open land for them to graze. All the ranch hands had to do was make sure they didn’t drift onto the land reserved for the Black Angus cattle. Damned if he’d allow crossbreeding on his own ranch.

  “The vet suggested we leave the herd penned in for at least a couple of days. Quarantine to make sure they’re all healthy and give them time to eat and get their strength back after the travel.” Even a two-day trip was hard on cattle. “You guys keep an eye on the herd, and by early next week, we’ll move them down to the south pasture.”

  “You got it.” Henry tipped the brim of his hat, then rode off to join the others.

  Cam watched it all for a few more minutes, then headed back to the house to get his truck. He had one more appointment before meeting Beth that afternoon.

  Seeing her at her office had cost him nearly every damn ounce of his self-control. It had taken all he had to keep from reaching for her. And what the hell was she doing with Justin McCoy hanging around? Scowling to himself, he kicked his horse into a gallop, hoping to drive that image out of his head.

  McCoy was a snake and Cam had more reason than most to know it. Was Beth really foolish enough to hook herself up with that bastard? Because if she was, he’d be happy to step in and tell her the cold, hard truth about Justin McCoy.

  Beth. It all came down to Beth. She was the same and yet so different. She wasn’t the open, laughing girl he’d once known. She’d grown,
as he had. They’d changed and maybe that was best. It forced them both to get to know the people they were now—not just to depend on what had once been.

  Beth had built herself a good life here and he admired that. He’d done well, too, so in that regard, they were on equal footing. Not like back in the day when she’d been a Wingate princess and he was a working cowboy.

  Today she was so much more. Hell, he hadn’t been able to think about anything but her for days. Her smile. Her scent. The taste of her. The way her eyes snapped with indignation when her temper was up. He’d missed her. In spite of his marriage to Julie, he’d never forgotten Beth.

  The guilt of that had nibbled on him for years. And now thinking about Beth the way he was had that same guilt growing and snapping at him with razor-sharp teeth.

  He’d known coming home to Royal wouldn’t be a walk in the park, but damned if he’d figured that Beth would once again tangle him up in knots.

  * * *

  Naturally, the Royal Diner was crowded, and that was fine with Cam. He noticed people watching him, heard the whispers as he passed, and he paid them all no attention. Cam could put up with the staring and whispering. For a while.

  Tony Alvarez was sitting at a booth overlooking Main Street, and Cam slid onto the bench seat opposite him. Tony’s black hair was cut short, his brown eyes were sharp and his quick grin was the best welcome home Cam had had so far.

  Sticking his right hand out, Tony said, “Damn, it’s good to see you.”

  “You, too.” Cam shook hands with his old friend, then eased back into the booth. “Been too long.”

  “Well, that’s what happens when you move to California and get rich and famous.”

  “Look who’s talking,” Cam said, laughing. His old friend had played Major League Baseball and had made a hell of a name for himself before retiring.

  Tony waved that off. “I played a game and got paid for it. You got on TV for knowing how to build things.”

  “I wasn’t really famous,” he said. His and Julie’s show had done well for two years, but it was one of a dozen remodel shows. Then Julie had gotten sick, and everything ended.