Authors: Emily March
Cam hoped the extended time away would create an irreparable break in the relationship between Dev and his friends. That was part of the reason for the open-ended tickets for their return trip, too. He had hoped that he and Dev—and, with any luck, Lori—could spend some time traveling the USA.
Well, that hadn’t exactly worked out, had it? So far their sightseeing had been confined to the bounties of nature here in Colorado, but at least the separation-from-troublemakers part of the plan appeared to be working. From what Cam had observed, Dev spent less time communicating with them via the Internet each day.
How might today’s unexpected news change things? What if this trip opened new and exciting doors for the boy? Baseball. Could that be Devin’s ticket to higher education? Could sports be the motivating factor that Dev needed?
And if it was and he had the opportunity to attend school over here, then what? As badly as Cam wanted his son to get an education, Mac Timberlake had a point. Was Cam ready to have Dev make his future in America?
Why not? No reason you couldn’t come back to the States, too
.
Cam stopped in his tracks. Where had that thought come from, and why had the voice sounded suspiciously like Celeste Blessing’s?
Once he got past the shock of the idea, he considered it.
Repatriate? Well, again, why not?
“Maybe the fact that you own a business in Australia?” he muttered to the troublemaker in his head. “A good business? One you built from the ground up?”
A business that appears to be running just fine without you. One that has lost its fun for you since the challenge of building it is gone. One that has taken a sport you loved and turned it into a job. A business you could probably sell for a pretty penny in a matter of weeks
.
“Stop it,” Cam fired back to the annoying voice. It was too early to think along those lines. The MLB scout could be blowing smoke. Lori hadn’t so much as deigned to speak to him yet. And Sarah …
Sarah
.
Possibilities tantalized, but Cam refused to give them further thought. It was way too soon to hike that particular mountain trail.
He made a conscious decision to change the direction of his thoughts as he headed for the bleachers. He should figure out something to do tomorrow while Dev was off fishing with his new friends. He could go fishing himself. Maybe rent a boat and go out on Hummingbird Lake. It’d be nice to be back on the water again.
It’d be even nicer to get into the water again. He’d finally had an answer from Jack to his email. Davenport did store scuba equipment at his mountain home, Eagle’s Way, and Cam was welcome to use it and the pool. Tomorrow might be a good day to start those lessons he’d promised Sarah.
So much for changing the direction of his thoughts. Cam sighed aloud as he arrived at the baseball diamond and looked around for a distraction. The ball field was part of Davenport Park, a nice three-block section of land donated to the city by one of Eternity Springs’s founding fathers, Lucien Davenport, a century ago. The park of Cam’s youth had been spruced up with a new design courtesy of Gabe Callahan. New playground equipment saw plenty of use by both residents and tourists. The ballpark was empty—Cam was a full half-hour early for practice—and while the sound of laughter coming from the playground attracted him, he knew better than to wander over to watch the kids. Sure as shooting, someone would call the sheriff and turn him in as a perv casing the park.
He chose to wait on the bleachers. Taking a seat behind home plate, he stretched out his legs, crossed them at the ankles, then propped his elbows on the bleacher row behind him. Lifting his face toward the warm summer sunshine, he shut his eyes and made a valiant attempt to clear his mind of Sarah Reese and concentrate on the upcoming ball game. Colt had said the visiting team would be a real challenge for their kids.
“Hey, Murphy!” a familiar voice called. “If you’re gonna sunbathe, take your shirt off and give the playground moms a thrill.”
He grinned before he ever opened his eyes and sat up. Nic Callahan pushed a double stroller along the sidewalk. Her goofy, crooked-tailed boxer trailed alongside at the end of a dog leash modified to have two small handle loops so that both of the twins could walk the dog. They presented a postcard-worthy picture—a tall blond beauty out walking her identical twins and the family dog, framed against a background of red-and-yellow flower beds with a snowcapped mountain rising into an azure sky behind them. Cam’s heart twisted at the sight. He wished he’d been around when Lori was pretty in pigtails like the Callahan girls.
Brushing the heartache aside, he called back, “I wouldn’t want to start a riot.”
Nic made a show of giving him a slow once-over. “You could do it.”
“Careful, there, Mrs. Callahan. Your husband may get jealous.”
She steered the stroller off the paved path and onto the grass, moving toward him as she said, “That’s okay. You should have heard him flirting with Sarah today at Fresh. The man has no shame when he goes begging for cookies.”
“Sarah’s cookies are worthy of supplication.”
“I guess you would know, wouldn’t you, Mr. Murphy?” Nic drawled, her tone dripping with innuendo as she sat down beside him.
He almost pretended not to follow her but decided directness was most likely better for both him and Sarah. “Not recently, no.”
“Oh.” Nic’s face fell. “I was hoping …”
When her voice trailed off, he pressed, “Hoping what? I’ve been here two weeks. Besides, I live in Australia, Nicole.”
“I know, but do you have to?”
That she would ask him that question not long after he’d asked it of himself made him itchy. He went for what he thought would be a sure distraction. “Uh, Nic? I think maybe one of your girls just ate a bug.”
She spared the stroller only a quick glance, then gave an unconcerned wave. “A little extra protein won’t hurt them. So talk to me. I’ve watched you and Sarah. You appear to be getting along very well.”
He tried again. “Could I hold one of the girls?”
She looked at him and sighed. “You are pitiful, Cam Murphy. Just pitiful.” Then she leaned over and gave him a kiss on the cheek. “Nevertheless, I think you’re a good man. I think you deserve to be happy, and you won’t find a better woman than Sarah.”
Cam’s suspicions roused. “Did she put you up to this?”
Nic burst out in laughter. “Heavens, no. She’s in bigger denial than you are.”
“She is? In what way?”
Grinning, Nic made a zipping motion over her mouth.
“Celeste, then? She strikes me as a woman with an agenda.”
“Nope. I’m speaking for myself, from my heart. Now, my group has a date with a jungle gym, so we’d best be going. Girls, say goodbye to Mr. Murphy.”
Cam tickled the Callahan twins under their chins until they giggled their goodbyes. Nic stood and prepared to leave, then Cam shot to his feet. “Nic?”
“Yes?”
His emotions were a jumble. He respected Nic. He always had. To have her call him a good man, to say in so many words that he was good enough for her best friend, well, it meant a lot to him. He grabbed her hand and squeezed it. “Thanks.”
She smiled like a cat with a saucer full of cream, then innocently asked, “For what?”
He laughed, then bent down and gave her a quick kiss. “You’re a good friend.”
“I know.” She finger-waved goodbye, then said, “C’mon, girls. C’mon, Clarence. It’s playtime.”
Cam watched them go and again thought of Sarah and Lori. He knew in his bones that until his dying day, he would regret never having seen Sarah push their toddler-aged daughter in a stroller around Davenport Park.
That’s when he heard Celeste Blessing’s voice in his head, clear as a church bell.
It could still happen. It’s not too late. All you have to do is make the leap. Close your eyes and jump, Cameron. You might just find a soft place to fall
.
Crack
. The ball hit the bat square on the sweet spot and sailed high over the head of the center fielder and beyond the fence. Home-team fans leapt to their feet and cheered Devin as he dropped the bat and loped toward first base for the walk-off home run.
In her signature style, Sarah put her two little fingers in her mouth and whistled loud and long. On the field, the Grizzlies lined up behind home plate to greet Devin with hand slaps, Coach Murphy exchanged a handshake and grin with Coach Rafferty, and then the kids lined up to do their “good game” exchange with the opposing team’s players.
Sarah watched Cam greet the opposing coaches, then turn to speak to the father of one of the Grizzlies. The father said something that made Cam laugh, then he shook Cam’s hand and slapped his back. Sarah couldn’t help but smile. Celeste’s plan appeared to be working like a charm.
Or maybe the charm was Cam himself.
He’d certainly charmed Sarah over the past couple of weeks. How could she not develop a soft spot in her heart for a man who made a special trip to her bakery to buy sugar cookies every day? More than once she’d found herself thinking about his “hello” that night at Lover’s Leap and wondering what she’d do if he returned to that particular conversation.
She suspected she might welcome him with open arms, literally.
She had loved Cam Murphy and she had hated Cam Murphy. In the past two weeks, she’d discovered that she liked Cam Murphy, too. He was interesting and witty and smart—just the sort of guy she might have set her sights on, had they not already shared a history. A part of her would have liked to forget that history completely. But then, that would require forgetting her daughter, wouldn’t it?
She looked at Cam now, saw him ruffle the hair of one of the Grizzlies and grin. Why did the man have to be so darned appealing? Why was it that this man, more than any other, lit her wick?
The spectators began filing out of the bleachers and folding up their lawn chairs. Glad to have the distraction from her troublesome thoughts, Sarah turned to her mother. “Mom, you ready to head home?”
“Is that what I’m supposed to do?” Ellen Reese asked.
“I think it would be good, yes. You’ve probably had enough sun for today.”
“All right.”
Sarah waved to Sage Rafferty, who waited for her husband, and called, “So are we still on for dinner on Tuesday?”
“Sure,” Sage replied. “It’s girls’ night out at Hummingbird Lake.”
“Will you promise me that it’s not another interventiontype thing? I’m really not in the mood.”
Sage laughed. “That I absolutely will promise. This is a fun-only evening. No drama allowed.”
“In that case, I’ll be there with bells on.”
Sarah gathered the lawn chairs and looped her arm through her mother’s. She veered toward the dugout and called her congratulations to the team, then waited to make eye contact with Devin. “Awesome game, Devin.”
“Thanks.” The boy’s grin stretched from ear to ear. “That’s the first three-run homer I’ve ever hit.”
“It was a thing of beauty.”
She waved a goodbye toward Cam, who was on the field with Colt, talking to the other coaches. He took two steps toward her, then stopped when one of his players called out his name. Sarah’s mother turned the wrong way on the sidewalk, asking, “Where’s your daddy?”
As always, Sarah’s heart hitched a bit when she lied, “He’s at the store, Mama.”
This was a result of Alzheimer’s that Sarah found particularly cruel. Sometimes her mom remembered that her husband was dead. Other times, she hadn’t a clue. Those times when someone informed her of her widowhood, she relived the moment of loss all over again, her grief as harsh and as fresh as it had been the moment she found her husband dying of a heart attack in their backyard.
At the advice of her mother’s doctor, Sarah had recently begun lying to her mother when Ellen asked about Frank. It was kinder, true, but Sarah didn’t think she’d ever get comfortable with it. Each time she offered an excuse for her father’s absence, she experienced a little hitch in her heart.
Sarah had parked along the street, and upon reaching her car, she helped her mom into the passenger seat. As she stacked the lawn chairs into the trunk, she heard a woman call her name. Pauline Roosevelt hurried down her front porch steps, saying, “I’ve been watching for you. I need a few moments of your time.”
Oh, great. What piece of gossip has her all in a dither now?
“Mom is tired. I need to be getting her home.”
“It’ll just take a moment. It’s very important.”
Sarah swallowed a sigh. “What can I help you with, Pauline?”
“Oh, it’s the other way around, dear. I want to help you.” She clucked her tongue and added, “It’s just such a delicate matter. When I saw that you had come to Davenport Park to watch the baseball game, I almost crossed to talk with you there. But, really, I thought it better to do this privately.”
Oh, boy
. What sort of nonsense was she going to report about Cam this time?
“I’m very concerned about our Nic.”
Sarah blinked.
Okay, that one came out of left field
. “Nic Callahan?”
“Yes. I’m very worried about her, and I think that as her friend, you should step in and do something about it.”
“About what?” Sarah asked, despite knowing she’d regret it.
“She’s flirting with danger, that’s what.” Pointing toward the baseball diamond, she declared, “I saw her kissing that horrible Cam Murphy not three hours ago. And here she is, married to such a nice young man. What is wrong with her? Why, she even cheated on her husband in front of her poor, innocent children!”
“Wait one minute, Pauline.”
Unfortunately, it was difficult to stop the woman once she got rolling. “It’s that man. He hasn’t changed. Time doesn’t change the wicked. It’s so wrong that he’s here walking around town after what he did to poor Andrew. And now he’s luring Nic into his web of wickedness. It’s that bad blood of his. That bad Murphy blood. Blood will tell, you know.”
“Stop it!” Sarah slammed the trunk lid hard. “That’s enough, Pauline. You need to get your mind out of the gutter and keep your tongue in your mouth. Talk about wicked—I cannot believe you would be so disrespectful of Nicole.”