Authors: Emily March
Watching them, Sarah was pulled between heartache and frustration. Celeste had been right on the money when she referred to these two as two halves of her heart.
“Okay, fair enough,” Cam replied. “What if I don’t ask to be your dad? What if I say simply that I want us to get to know each other. What if we gave friendship a try?”
Lori folded her arms, stubborn as ever. “Why? I have friends. Plenty of them.”
Clearly frustrated, Cam tried again. “Okay, then. Don’t you at least want my medical history?”
That got Lori’s attention. “Why? Do I need it?”
“You have your grandmother’s eyes. Maybe you have her high blood pressure?”
“Did she have high blood pressure?”
Cam simply shrugged.
“Now, that’s low,” Lori snapped.
His grin came slow and sad. “I’ll do whatever it takes, Lori Elizabeth. Please give me a chance. Would you spend some time this holiday weekend with me? No demands, no conditions, no attempts to be a father or your family. Let me talk to you about diving. I’d love to hear about your course work at A and M. Biomedical science major, right? I’d love to hear about your internship. I’d love to get your insight into animals and listen to any and all suggestions you might have where that demon dog is concerned. He’s about to drive me crazy. He’ll only sleep if I let him sleep at the foot of my bed.”
“You let that dog sleep with you?”
“It’s either that or listen to him scream all night. You heard his scream, right?”
“It’s the most horrible thing I’ve ever heard.”
“Do you have any suggestions for me?”
“Well, of course. You cannot allow your pet to be the leader of the pack. You must assert your authority.”
“I don’t know about that. He’s been independent for a very long time. I don’t want to break him. I’d like him to stop running away from me. I want us to get along together.”
Lori eyed him warily. “Tell me you are not trying to equate me and Mortimer.”
“Absolutely not.” Cam drew back, but Sarah spied the glimmer of amusement in his eyes. “Mort is half blind, four-legged, ugly as sin, and he squeals like a bird. You are a beautiful young woman who has a way of holding your chin that reminds me of my mother.”
Lori glanced at Cassie Cavanaugh Murphy’s grave. “Back before Mom told me the truth about you—when I thought the Y-chromosome part of my genetics was unknown—I used to study myself and try to figure out what I got from Mom and what was wild card.”
Wild card
, Sarah silently repeated. That described Cam Murphy at sixteen very well.
Lori crossed over to the Cavanaugh family graves. She slipped her hands into her jeans pockets and rocked on her heels. “I haven’t been up here since my senior year in high school when I came with you, Mom, to put flowers on Granddad’s grave on his birthday. It does help put life into perspective, doesn’t it? No matter where I go or how long I stay away, this hilltop is part of me, isn’t it?”
Cam’s gaze rested briefly on his father’s small, plain marker. “Your friend Celeste owns the house I’m renting here in town. She has sayings and quotations all over the place. A wall plaque has a quote that made an impression on me. It says, ‘There are only two lasting bequests we can give our children—one is roots, and the other, wings.’ ”
“Celeste is all about wings,” Lori said. “Mom has done an excellent job giving me both wings and roots.”
“Your mom is a special woman.”
That earned him a frown from Lori and an exasperated scowl from Sarah. It would do Cam’s campaign no good at all to have Lori figure out that her mother and father were … friendly again.
Lori drifted back toward the Murphy plots, where she stared down at Cam’s mother’s grave for a full minute before she said, “You grew up with only one parent, too.”
“Lucky for you that you got to be with the good parent.”
Lori glanced at Sarah and nodded. “Lucky me.”
Cam cleared his throat. “I understand there’s a big picnic at Hummingbird Lake tomorrow before the fireworks show. Would you and your mother like to go with Devin and me?”
Lori shook her head. “No. Tomorrow is Nana’s birthday. Mom and I and Nana always spend the day together. It’s a family tradition.”
With that, Sarah had enough.
“And there is no reason you and Devin can’t join us,” she said, stepping forward. “Lori, I told you about Celeste’s Redemption Plan. She and our other friends have gone to quite some effort to make it easier for us around town with the old-timers who still hold being a Murphy against Cam … and now against you.”
“Well, people who want to believe that are stupid, and I don’t care.”
“I agree that it’s nonsense. Nevertheless, I do care. My friends have gone out of their way for me, and now it’s time for us to do our share. This is my home. These are my neighbors. We will attend the picnic together tomorrow.”
“What?” Lori said, petulance in her tone. “Like a
family
? Mom, that’s not fair. You said that I had to talk to him. Now I’ve done that.”
“You can do it some more.”
Her daughter’s eyes flashed as she rolled them in that exaggerated way that only teens and young adults can do. “Fine. In the meantime, I have things to do. I told the Timberlakes I’d stop by and show them the pictures I took of Chase when he came to visit.”
Sarah didn’t know if she’d ever seen anyone flounce out of a graveyard before. She saw it now. When she and Cam were alone—well, alone with Mortimer—he exhaled a heavy breath. “That went well—or not.”
“I think it did go well.” When the dog lifted his head, Sarah took the precaution of fastening the expandable leash to his collar before taking a seat beside Cam. “It was a start.”
He rubbed the back of his neck. “I’m beat. Between Devin’s nonsense and this … I’m toast.”
“You should go over to Angel’s Rest and soak in the hot springs.”
“I can’t.” He linked his hand with hers. “I have to go back to the sheriff’s office and see where that whole thing stands. I have to tell you, sugar, this is not how I hoped today would go.”
“Some days are bigger challenges than others, that’s for sure.”
“What do you expect from tomorrow? Will she cooperate?”
“Yes. Lori talks tough in private, but in public …” Sarah shrugged. “She’s proud. This is her first trip home since everyone found out that you are her father. She won’t pretend that we’re all a happy family, but she won’t snub you, either. Honestly, Cam, this went better than I expected, especially after this afternoon.”
“I guess you’re right. I could have ended the day at the local cemetery under different circumstances.”
“Different circumstances?”
“She was angry …” Cam pointed toward the dirt. “But not that angry.”
Sarah’s laugh settled over him like a song, and for the first time in hours, Cam looked toward the following day with hope.
* * *
Cam had been told that the Fourth of July in Eternity Springs signaled the start of the busy, busy season, as tourists arrived in droves, fleeing the summertime heat for the cool, unspoiled beauty of the Colorado Rockies. As a rule, merchants chose to forgo the holiday and open for business in order to score the holiday sales, but at four o’clock, the shops shut down for the traditional town picnic now being held in the public park on the shores of Hummingbird Lake. Sarah had instructed Cam to meet her at the parking lot where Angel Creek flowed into the lake at four-thirty. She was providing the food. He was in charge of bringing a cooler filled with drinks.
Anxious, he arrived ten minutes early—driving the car he’d bought for Lori. He cooled his heels by striking up a conversation with a tourist who watched his preschoolaged children having a glorious time throwing rocks into the lake. Turned out the man was one of Gabe Callahan’s brothers—Matt—and the boys he watched were his nephews. “The whole clan came up for the Fourth this year,” he explained. “Ordinarily, we spend the holiday together at our lake place in Texas, but we’ve already had ten days above one hundred degrees this summer, and the Colorado climate called us.”
“Gabe told me y’all are putting together a regular family compound along the western shore of Hummingbird.”
Matt Callahan nodded. “We started out with one place, but the kids like being here with their cousins, and we had the land, so we figured we’d spread out.”
Just then one of the boys picked up a rock that was almost bigger than he was and dropped it on his cousin’s toes. Callahan sputtered a curse, excused himself, then hurried to deal with the children as Cam spied Sarah’s car pulling into the lot. Lori drove, and Ellen Reese occupied the passenger seat. Sarah sat in back. He saw the moment Lori spied him. Rather than pull toward the empty parking spot beside him, she turned down another row.
“Hard head,” he murmured. He hadn’t necessarily planned to give his daughter the new car right off the bat, but it had been a possibility. After Lori parked, Sarah opened the trunk and removed folding lawn chairs, a quilt, a picnic basket, and a canvas tote bag.
“Showtime,” Cam said beneath his breath. He hefted his cooler and walked toward the three women who had altered the course of his life. “Hey there. Can I help carry something?”
Sarah’s carefree grin relaxed him just a little. “Happy Fourth of July, Cam. We’ve got everything. It looks like you already have your hands full.”
Shifting his gaze to Ellen Reese, he said, “Happy birthday, Mrs. Reese.”
“Thank you.” Ellen Reese gave him an absent look.
“Hello, Lori.” He nodded toward his daughter. She nodded back.
“Where’s Devin?” Sarah asked, a note of concern in her eyes.
“He and Mike have been helping the mayor since seven o’clock this morning. Apparently, most of Eternity Springs’s maintenance workers are down with a virus, and Mayor Townsend is shorthanded. The boys, uh, volunteered their services, and Zach suggested Hank put them to work. He sent them out here to set up extra Porta Pottis to accommodate the holiday crowd. After that, they were going to empty trash cans in all the parks. He’s going to meet us as soon as Hank cuts him loose.”
Last night, after leaving the cemetery, Cam had dropped off Mortimer at his house, then hurried to the sheriff’s office, where he found Colt, Zach, and Mike Hamilton’s grim-faced father finishing up their discussion. The relief on Devin’s face had been easy to read. Mike looked miserable but not devastated.
The boys were lucky. Zach had sent them home with a warning: “I’m a believer in second chances. Not so much thirds. Consider yourselves on notice.”
Cam relayed the details to Sarah as she led the way to a shady spot with a great view of the lake. There, they discovered Celeste spreading a red, white, and blue quilt on the ground.
“Doesn’t that look festive,” Sarah said as Celeste added a red plastic pail with mums and mini American flags to its center. Lori helped her mother spread a quilt done in shades of yellow and green close to Celeste’s.
Lori spoke to her grandmother: “Nana, here’s our happy home quilt. We used the old curtains from the kitchen. See?”
Ellen Reese studied the quilt. “I remember.”
Cam suspected she didn’t remember at all, but then she added, “Butterflies. We had butterflies in our kitchen.”
“We sure did, Mom.” Sarah turned to Cam. “Would you set up a lawn chair for the birthday girl?”
“Sure will.”
Once Ellen was settled, two other women joined their group. Sarah introduced them as Cora Jenkins and Linda Moore, members of the women’s group at her church and contemporaries of Ellen’s. Cam didn’t miss the subtle tension in both Lori’s and Sarah’s expressions. He braced himself. He didn’t recognize the ladies or their names, but he surmised they must be part of his Eternity Springs fan club.
Sure enough, after they’d shared birthday best wishes with Ellen, Cora Jenkins said, “Pauline Roosevelt is in our book club.”
Of course she is
.
“Pauline talks about you fairly often, Cam,” Linda Moore added.
Of course she does
.
To his utter shock and surprise, Lori spoke up. “It’s a holiday weekend and my grandmother’s birthday. Could we please save the Murphy bashing until another time?”
“Oh, we don’t mean to bash, Lori,” Cora Jenkins said. “That’s just it. We wanted to apologize. Cam, I went to school with your mother. I knew your father before he lost his way. I have always felt badly about the way this town treated you after your mother’s death. I’m sorry for my part in it.”
“As am I,” added Linda Moore. “I was a friend of Maribeth Cook’s. My son Dennis was Andrew’s best friend. I’m afraid I let the Cooks’ … intensity … drown out the fact that Andrew’s own actions brought most of his trouble to his door.”
Now it was time for Cam to go tense. He remembered Dennis Moore. He’d been at the Bear Cave that night. Cam darted a quick glance toward Sarah. Had word gotten out about the reason behind the punch he’d thrown? “Look, that was a long time ago. It’s all water under the bridge.”
“Not exactly.” Linda’s expression turned rueful. “More like the water ran into Hummingbird Lake and settled on the bottom until you returned to town and stirred up the silt.”
Silt wasn’t the particular S-word he would have used.
“I didn’t know the truth until I mentioned to my Dennis that you’d returned to Eternity Springs,” Linda continued. “He lives in Boston now. He’s an attorney. Doing so well, he made partner last year. He has a lovely wife, and his two sons are the apples of my eyes—but I digress. Dennis never shared details about that night before now. He told me he’s always felt bad about keeping quiet. What Andrew did was wrong, and you did right by Sarah and Nicole by stepping in.”
She knew about the picture.
Cam felt Sarah’s curious gaze, but before she asked a question, Linda reached over and patted her hand. “You were smarter than the rest of us all those years ago, weren’t you? You saw a hero in Cam Murphy when the rest of us saw a James Dean wannabe rebel, didn’t you?”
Ellen Reese spoke as if by rote. “That Cam Murphy is trouble.”
Cora Jenkins placed a hand on Ellen’s shoulder and gave it a reassuring pat. “No, Ellen. He’s not. That Cam Murphy is a treasure.”