Sam could feel his heart race and his body tighten with anticipation. He pulled Rachel back into his embrace, aware that her heart was racing just as fast as his was. When he looked down into his wife’s eyes, he saw the love and passion that she had for him. Happiness and desire filled him as he thought about making love to her all afternoon.
“I’ll help you with your tent,” he offered.
“It’s probably best that I do it myself,” she explained gently and a little embarrassed. “I’ve been missing Stan and Gwen, and I think I just might cry a little. Besides, I’m more than capable of doing things myself. Or haven’t you learned that yet?”
“I’ve learned,” he told her, smiling. “And I’ve taught some things, too.” He winked at her, making her blush deeply at the memory of the things that he had taught her.
“Yes, you have,” she whispered, her voice betraying the desire and the need she was once again feeling.
“Okay, you go on and clear your site. When you’re finished I’ll be waiting for you at the camper. After I finish ravishing your body, or you can ravish mine, we can go shopping,” he told her, winking devilishly at her.
Rachel couldn’t help but laugh. “Okay, what do we need to shop for?”
Sam reached out and pulled her into his embrace. “We need groceries,” he told her, kissing her neck. “And gas.” He kissed her cheek. “And clothes for you.” He kissed her temple.
“I don’t need any clothes,” she protested, giggling sweetly as his mouth finally claimed hers.
“Yes, you do,” he whispered against her ear. “You need some maternity clothes.” He leaned back to look down at her very seriously, smiling sweetly at the stunned expression on her face.
“Sam, you can’t possibly know that yet,” she stammered, a blush creeping up across her cheeks.
“It’s only a matter of time, honey,” he told her seriously. He watched her face as a series of emotions crossed it.
“You think so?” she nearly whispered. The tender expression on his face as he looked down at her stole her heart.
“Yes, baby, I think so,” he whispered, leaning down to kiss her lightly.
“Excuse me,” a man’s voice called to them.
Sam turned toward the voice, not letting Rachel go. “What can we do for you?”
“We were hoping you could give us some directions,” the man told him, putting his arm around his ten year old son’s shoulder.
“Sure,” Sam said, looking at Rachel and smiling softly. “Later, honey.” He kissed her temple as he whispered the words against her ear.
“It’s a date,” Rachel answered, kissing his jaw tenderly.
He kissed her lightly on her forehead and reluctantly released her from his embrace before walking toward the father and son. Rachel watched him walk toward the packed truck that the man drove, smiling at the kindness that Sam always showed.
With a sigh, she turned to head toward the farthest campsite where her things were still set up. It seemed like an eternity ago that she had camped there and had begun her vacation. So much had happened to her.
She smiled as she reached into the pocket of her jeans and pulled out her keys to unlock her car. She opened all the windows to air it out while she began to empty her tent. It took her only twenty minutes to load her things into the car. She leaned against it and looked at her tent for a moment, then reached for her hammer and walked toward it to start pulling up the stakes.
She quickly flattened the tent and began to fold it systematically. She found herself thinking about Gwen and Stan and started to cry a little at the sadness that she felt. She hoped that they would be able to keep in touch with them. Sam had promised that they would, and he said that he would always keep his promises. At least she knew that he had kept every promise that he had ever made to her.
She smiled at the thought of the way that Sam kept his promises. She loved the way he touched her. She loved the way he laughed with her. She loved the way he talked so seriously about his work. She loved the way he made love to her. She loved him so totally that her heart ached at the very thought of him.
She rolled up the tent and tied it securely to keep it from unfolding then hefted it onto her shoulder and carried it across the site to quickly place it beside the other supplies that were already packed away in the back of her car. She headed back to fold up the ground tarp, walked back to her car and placed it beside the tent. As she straightened the supplies and made sure that everything was secure, she heard the sound of a truck driving into the campground.
She turned to look and smiled when she saw that it was Roy’s truck. She looked at her watch and saw that it was after eleven. Roy usually got there before eight in the morning. She closed up her car and locked it then started to walk the distance to the camper. She hoped everything was okay. As she got closer she found herself getting a little nervous that something had happened to Paulette to make Roy so late.
She almost started to run when the doors of Roy’s truck opened and Roy stepped out on one side of the truck and a woman stepped out on the other side. It was Allison. And from the looks of it, she was dressed to kill. She wore a white silk shirt, black capri pants, and black high heels. Who the hell wore high heels at a campsite?
Rachel stopped where she was and waited until the pain in her heart lessened. She brushed her sweat-dampened hair back from her face and tried to wipe off the dirt from her hands. She suddenly felt exactly like the hick from a small town that both Richard and Allison had accused her of being.
* * * *
Sam had just finished reading a chapter in one of his medical texts when he heard the sound of Roy’s truck. He closed his book and stood, tugging on his black T-shirt that he had thrown onto the picnic table. He walked up the small incline where he had been sitting on Rachel’s lounge chair, hurrying as concern filled him. When he got to the top, his smile of greeting for his best friend disappeared when he saw the one person he had never expected to see. Allison.
“This is lovely. Very cute,” Allison said sarcastically, her voice cold as she walked toward Sam and looked into the camper. Turning, she faced Sam and smiled.
“Sorry, Sam,” Roy apologized. “She showed up at my house last night and refused to leave until I brought her here today so she could talk to you. I didn’t know what else to do. I should have called you.”
“That’s okay, Roy,” Sam told his friend sincerely. “I’m sorry she imposed. I’m sure she never thought to thank you for your hospitality.”
Allison looked at him with fire in her eyes. “I thanked them for their precious little bed and their bland food,” she told him angrily.
Sam looked at Roy and was about to apologize when Roy lifted his hands and shook his head. He knew how Allison could be. There was no need for Sam to feel responsible for her actions.
“I’ve come to bring you this,” Allison said, drawing his attention back to her. She reached forward to hand him the folded papers that she had carried with her all the way from Denver.
Sam took them slowly from her. “Well now you’ve delivered them, so you can leave,” he said, the papers dangling, unheeded in his right hand.
“I’m not leaving until you’ve read them,” she told him defiantly.
“Always changing the terms, right Allison?” he asked her quietly, blissfully aware that she no longer held any emotional power over him. “One vacation changed to two vacations. One diamond ring changed to two ruby rings. One child changed to no children. You just can’t seem to figure out what you want, and you think it’s just fine to change the terms at your discretion.” He watched her silently, seeing that she was getting angry and glad that he didn’t really care. “All right, one last concession then you get back in that truck and get the hell out of here.”
He unfolded the papers and read them quickly. They were legal documents from his father’s lawyer. The documents changed the stipulations of Edwin McCoy’s will to include a clause that would remove Sam from his will if he continued to remain married to Rachel. It went on further to say that any and all children resulting from their marriage would not be recognized as heirs to his estate when he died. The legality of the brief droned on but basically kept the same tone. If Sam remained married to Rachel, he would not receive a penny from his father nor would he be privilege to the elite social circle of influence that he was a part of. His career in Denver would be finished. No one would go against the wishes of Edwin McCoy and help or hire Sam. The legal document was dated the day after the banquet that he and Rachel had attended.
Sam looked up at Allison and folded the papers. She was looking at him smugly, sure that she had won and he would be coming back with her to Denver.
“You’ve wasted your time and Roy’s time by coming here, Allison. This doesn’t change one thing,” Sam told her finally, lifting the papers in his hand.
“You can’t mean that you would actually throw away all that money and prestige for some mountain girl!” she sputtered, laughing cruelly. “Does having a child mean that much to you?”
“Having children
is
very important to me,” he admitted, folding his arms across his chest.
“How will you live with no money?” she sneered.
“Rachel can support us. She’s an accomplished writer and has already published several novels,” he said, shrugging. “She’s got plenty of money to take care of us.”
“She’ll never be able to give you this,” Allison said seductively, walking toward him and reaching out to unfold his arms. She wrapped her body around his and kissed him. She kissed him deeply, passionately, with her mouth open and her tongue probing his mouth, demanding that he open his to accept her. She pressed her hips against his and moved them seductively against him, waiting for the arousal that would prove that he still wanted her.
Rachel gasped and covered her mouth. Roy looked behind him and saw her standing only an arm’s length away from him. He saw the horror in her eyes and knew that she had heard every word. This was going to be one hell of a situation for Sam to explain. He wondered if his friend would be able to fix this problem. The hurt in Rachel’s eyes spoke volumes. She had been hurt before, and Roy knew that Sam’s actions were destroying what little confidence she had in herself or in their marriage. Roy knew that she was not going to accept any explanation.
“Rachel,” Roy called to her, reaching out to take hold of her arm.
Rachel pulled back from him. She didn’t want anyone to touch her. She knew what she had heard and what she had seen. Nothing was going to change that.
Sam heard Roy call Rachel’s name and reached up to pull Allison’s hands from around his neck. He looked at her angrily then turned to face his wife.
“Oh, it’s the mountain wife,” Allison said, her voice dripping with sarcasm, bored with the situation already. “I have something for you, too.” She reached out to extend the envelope that she held. It had Rachel’s name written across it.
“You have nothing for my wife,” Sam said angrily, pulling the envelope from her hand.
Allison pulled it back from Sam. “Yes, I do,” she insisted, throwing it in Rachel’s direction. The envelope fell to the ground. Rachel made no attempt to get it, and Sam was too angry to deal with anything except getting Allison away from his campground.
“Rachel, I’m going to take Allison back to Roy’s and then to the nearest bus terminal and make sure that she’s on her way back to Denver,” Sam told her quietly. “I’ll be back before dinner. We’ll talk about this when I get home.”
Without waiting for Rachel to reply, Sam pulled Allison by the wrist and walked angrily to his truck. Opening the passenger door, he pushed Allison into the seat and slammed the door shut. He walked around the other side, reached into his front pocket for his keys and opened the door to climb inside.
Rachel watched them silently, not moving as the vehicle was started and pulled away. She watched it leave the campground then turned and faced her cousin.
“Sam didn’t mean it the way it sounded,” Roy tried to defend his friend’s actions.
“It doesn’t matter,” Rachel stopped him.
She looked across the campsite to the rushing stream that glistened in the sunlight. She felt as if someone was sitting on her chest. She could barely breathe and she couldn’t swallow.
“It does matter,” Roy insisted angrily, stepping forward and taking hold of her arm in a tight grip.
Rachel looked up at him silently, not even aware of the pressure his hand had on her elbow. She was numb. She could barely think. Pain engulfed her and it was all she could do to take one breath after another.
“Rachel, please don’t do anything until Sam comes back and talks with you,” Roy told her quietly, seeing the way that Rachel’s body seemed to crumble.
“Roy, no matter what, you have to promise me that you won’t give Sam my phone number or address,” she told him finally, turning to face him. Her eyes were dull and lifeless as she looked up at him. “When I work this through in my head, I’ll get in touch with him at his apartment in Denver.”
“Rachel, don’t jump to conclusions. Allison is manipulating the situation. You should listen to what Sam has to say,” Roy told her firmly.
“I already did listen. I already heard what he had to say. Now you listen to what
I
say. I don’t want Sam to contact me. Don’t give him my phone number or my address.”