Authors: RM Alexander
Chapter Eight
Vinci’s Pizza buzzed with popularity, despite being the middle of the week. Cami searched the visible tables. Feeling a hand rest gently on a shoulder, she turned.
How does he do that?
Paul smiled wide. “Thanks for coming.”
She nodded, “I was surprised by the invitation.”
“You shouldn’t be. You’re a captivating woman.”
“Bad line.”
“True line. Shall we get a table?”
“Yes, please.”
Together, they moved through the restaurant, weaving between crowded tables and noisy chatter. Settling into a booth alongside a salad bar, Cami leaned into the padded bench while Paul rested against the green trimmed table top. “What kind of pizza do you like?”
“Sausage, green pepper, onion. You?”
“What do you know? The same thing.”
Cami shook her head. “You don’t expect me to believe that.”
He shrugged. “No, you’re right, sort of. I like the whole nine yards – everything they have in the kitchen. But that also means I like sausage, green pepper and onion. So I’m not lying to you, and that sounds perfect for tonight.”
She sighed, shoulders dropping. “I’m sorry, Paul. I’m not trying to be difficult or rude. I’m just not understanding why we’re here, why you wanted a date with me, of all things, and of all people. You’re a good looking guy, so I know you aren’t desperate for attention from women. You don’t understand what I’m doing, and this is my life’s work. I’ve been planning it for a long time, and will be doing it for even longer, if I have anything to say about it. So why ask me out?”
“Because of that right there. I love your honesty. Your boldness. Not an easy thing to find in someone who I suspect has quite a heart as well. It’s an enticing combination, and one I’d like to get to know better.” He folded his arms on the table. “I could ask the same thing. You don’t trust me, clearly have reservations about being around me, yet this is the second time you’ve agreed to meet.”
She raised an eyebrow and turned to look away, scanning the restaurant for distraction. Kids sat at tables with attentive parents, couples feeding each other pizza, some singles nibbling on thick cheese topped crusts with book in hand. Slowly, Cami returned attention to her companion. “Honestly? I don’t know. You’re right. I don’t trust you, don’t trust many people, if I was going to be truthful. But you do have me curious. Most angles I can figure out pretty quickly. Yours, I thought I knew.”
“And now you’re not so sure?”
She sighed. “And now, I want to know. I’m not one for surprises.” She shook her head. “Look, I have a very close, small group of friends, people I trust.”
“You prefer the animals?”
Her lips curled at the corners. “I guess I do. Animals don’t have agendas, they have only instinct. And that, as long as you understand the animal, is fairly predictable. People, on the other hand, change with the wind, not something I have a lot of patience for.”
He harrumphed. “That’s a jaded view of the world. I’m sorry you’ve been so hurt.”
“It has nothing to do with hurt. Everyone’s been hurt. That’s the whole point.” She shook her head.
This is getting entirely too personal
. “What about you? I’m assuming you don’t have someone special in your life. Or are you the cheating kind?”
He laughed. “No, ma’am. I am not the cheating kind. There hasn’t been someone special in my life for a while. We can agree on one thing, relationships are complicated things.”
An eyebrow shot up, smile creasing her lips. “Yes, that we can agree on.”
The waitress came to the table, dressed in jeans and white t-shirt, a teenager not older than fifteen. He raised an eyebrow at her, eyes asking permission. Head tilted, she nodded, watching with curiosity as he ordered her favorite pizza without stumbling.
As the waitress turned away and Paul’s attention shifted back to her, Cami smiled. “You did that well.”
“You can’t mean to say I impressed you?”
She chuckled softly. “Maybe. Just a little.” She pinched a thumb and finger together in the air, and leaned forward. “Okay, you have my attention. So who are you, Mr. Paul Schotter?”
“You mean besides the man that tried to stop your dream from coming true?”
“Yes. Besides that.”
“No one special, really. Grew up in Kentucky. I graduated from college with a degree in Business Management. Settled here in Sevierville, and the rest is pretty much history.” A coke was settled down in front of him, lemonade before Cami, and the waitress disappeared. “What about you?”
She laughed. “Well, that was short and sweet. Didn’t tell me much either, don’t think I missed that.” She shrugged. “There’s not much to tell. My father is a prosecutor, successful, respected. My mother, a stay at home mom, aptly overbearing. They expected me to go into law, or earn a doctorate in something prominent. Instead, I majored in veterinarian studies, minored in business, gained enough to help with my dream, and I was done with school.”
“So you always knew you wanted to do this?”
“Always. I tried, for a very short time, to appease them.” She took a swallow of her drink. “It didn’t go well, and just confirmed what I really wanted.”
The pizza arrived, mozzarella cheeses melting across the golden brown deep dish crust over finely chopped onions, green peppers and Italian sausage. Savory Italian spices wafted through the air, and Cami’s stomach grumbled. She wrapped an arm across it, hoping he hadn’t heard the eager bid for consumption.
“Shall we dig in?” He reached across the table, took her plate and placed a slice against the china. “More than one?”
“Please.”
One more slice and Paul handed her the plate. Teeth sinking into the baked dinner pie, Cami savored a bite, watching as he ate nearly an entire slice in three bites. She wiped a drop of red sauce from her lips with a paper napkin. “I know you like to horseback ride, you said you’re into the outdoors. Like hiking? Camping? Fishing?”
Why was she interrogating him?
“All the above.” He swallowed the last of the first slice of pizza. “Despite my white collar position.”
She smirked, took a bite of pizza.
“You don’t believe me?”
Cami shrugged. “Why wouldn’t I? You are what you say you are, right?” She chewed through the thick cheese. “So, what, you punch out on Friday and live another life on the weekends?”
He laughed. “I feel like I’m filling out some kind of test. Am I passing or failing?”
“It’s not like that.” Cami sighed heavily.
I knew this dinner was a mistake
. “I just –“
“You’re guard is up and you don’t know how to let it down. At least not with me.” He took a sip from the cola, swallowed, rolled his lips in and out. “I know I started off on the wrong foot, attacking the very thing you are the most passionate about. But, maybe if you can see past it …”
She sat still, staring, considering. “Look, I know you’ve apologized, and I accept that. It’s not easy for me to trust people. And this,” she waved at the space between them, “This small talk, getting to know each other thing, it’s not my strong suit. I’m not sure, this doesn’t feel,” she stopped, struggling. “Let’s just finish the pizza, okay? Then, maybe we can get out of here.”
He raised an eyebrow. “Go someplace more comfortable?”
She nodded. “Maybe. Go for a ride, back at the ranch?”
“I’d like that.”
The ranch was lit in the glow of earliest twilight, faint pinks and purples growing in the fading day blue sky. The wheels of the truck bumped across uneven ground, and Cami rumbled against the seat, oblivious to the familiar joggling.
The last date, no more with Paul Schotter
. No connection. No magic. Where was the fire that was supposed to go with being in love? She’d never felt it. Didn’t stop her from looking, though. And she wasn’t going to accept anything less.
*
Alex watched the two trucks pull into the drive, the thread of straw he chewed on dropping to his feet as Paul Schotter stepped out of the truck which followed Cami’s familiar pickup.
She was seeing him again?
His jaw tightened. The man was out to destroy the sanctuary, she couldn’t possibly be interested in him. A hand tightened into a fist around the wood of the fence. He understood everything about the woman, but didn’t understand what she was looking for. He smirked. “I’ve certainly been trying to figure it out long enough.”
A leg pushed against the fence and Alex evened himself to face them, steeling the nerves sparked by seeing her with another man. She’s dated, he’s dated, never crossed the line together. He rubbed his chin. Why should this bother him now?
“Cami. How’s it going?”
“Hey, Alex. It’s going okay. How are things here on the ranch?”
He eyed Paul up and down as he moved to stand next to Cami. “Making progress.” Taking the Stetson off, he tapped it against a leg as dust swirled outward and placed the Stetson back on his head, arms crossed. “What was your name again?”
She raised an eyebrow. “Alex, I’ve introduced you to Paul before.”
He stiffened. “Yeah, I guess you have. You were at that council meeting to shut us down, weren’t you? Heading it, if I remember right. What are you doing here?”
And why are you after her?
Alex frowned. He could guess why – anyone’d be crazy not to be after Cami.
His brows furrowed, stance tightening. “I’m doubting that’s any of your business, seeing as how you’re the hired help.”
She spun on him, stepping between the two men. “Paul, this is a friend of mine. Who’s the hired help and not the hired help is none of your business. You are on my property, don’t talk to my men like that.”
“I’m, I’m sorry. I wasn’t trying to step out of line.”
She sighed. Too much testosterone in the air, time for space. “Look, I’m tired, maybe tonight isn’t the best night for that ride. Let’s take a raincheck.”
Paul looked from Cami to Alex and back. “Okay, understood. Again, I’m sorry.”
She nodded as he glanced at Alex again and turned to the truck.
Cami turned to Alex, hands on hips. “What’s the problem?”
“I told you, I don’t like him.”
“Whether you like him or don’t like him has nothing to do with anything. You’re my best friend Alex, but I can take care of myself. Don’t do that again, okay?”
He nodded and she started for the house. Glancing downward, Alex kicked the fence and, resting both elbows against the wood, shook his head. “Straight shootin’ there, Rex.”
Chapter Nine
Cami paced up and down the living room, arms crossed, ready to pull out her hair. If not one thing, it was another. She wanted to scream.
“Cami, honey, you don’t have to get this worked up. We’re just concerned.”
“Yeah, Mom, and I’ve been hearing the same song and dance for the last year.” She stopped and turned to face her parents seated side by side on the couch. “The fact is, I’m not going to change my mind and I’m not going to give in this time. The sooner you both accept that …”
Mr. Lockhart edged in front of his wife, dressed in the typical expensive, specially tailored suit. One of them, the stuffed shirts, in every way. “Don’t take that tone with your mother, Camille. We didn’t raise you to be disrespectful, and you’re not going to start now, even if you are an adult.”
The tone in her father’s voice was one she recognized, and feared during the days of youth, but now it was cause to throw hands up in the air as her eyes searched the ceiling for an invisible reprieve. Or divine intervention. “Look, Mom, Dad, it’s a done deal. The city council has approved us, all the licensing is in place, and honestly,” she paused, certain of the firestorm about to erupt, “you can’t stop me.”
Her mother jumped to her feet, face reddening, jaw clenched. “How dare you. After all we’ve done for you, given you, you dare to speak to us like this.”
“Mom, I …”
“Thomas, I think it best we leave now.”
She rolled her eyes. “You both don’t have to go. But I do need you to respect the fact that this is what I choose to do. It’s what I want to do and I’m sorry, as much as I love you, I’m not going to simply walk away because people don’t understand.” She shrugged, and licked her lips. “Even if the people who don’t understand includes you.”
Abigail Lockhart turned her back to Cami and Thomas stood steady, facing his daughter. “I appreciate your passion, honey, as well as the level of commitment. But you need to understand where we’re coming from. Having a child of ours so close to such dangerous animals, caring for them as one would care for a dog or a housecat, it is cause for concern, despite what you might think. If you one day have children, perhaps then you will understand.”
“Perhaps I will, Dad. Until then, you are going to have to trust my judgment. A little emotional support wouldn’t be so bad either.”
He shook his head. “We can’t offer support in something we simply don’t …”
“Support. Yeah, I get it.”
Thomas nodded, “Perhaps your mother is right, and we should go. Give everyone some time to cool down.” He stepped forward, pulling his daughter into a loose embrace. “Just be careful, honey.”
“Always am, Dad. And Alex is here, so, you know …”
He chuckled. “Maybe we should speak to him.”
She shook her head and pushed out of her father’s arms. “You won’t get any further than you do with me. He’s just as passionate about this project as I am.”
“Because he’s so passionate about you. Cami, if you aren’t blind to the ways of life.”
She didn’t answer her mother as Mr. Lockhart turned and draped an arm around his wife’s back, leading her out of the house. Why was getting along with them so difficult? Chasing after them – sure to encourage the argument, and behavior. She picked up a throw pillow, slapped it against the back of the couch and growled. Standing, she walked out the door.
She stepped onto the porch, brows knitting to see her father talking to Tank by the side of their SUV. Pointing at the ranch hand, Mr. Lockhart gestured at the width of the sanctuary, Tank backing against the SUV. “What in the world?” Cami jogged down the steps and across the yard. “Everything okay here?”
Tank faced her, muttered something and walked away.
She turned to Mr. Lockhart as he brushed at the suit coat. “Is there a problem? Something you want to tell me?”
He cleared his throat. “None at all, Camille.” He glanced towards her mother. “I better get your mom home. We’ll talk soon.”
Not waiting for her parents to pull away, jaw tightened, she shook her head and marched off in the direction she’d seen Tank go. He was too big of a man to get intimidated by a smaller, older man like her dad. Her steps hurried. If her dad wouldn’t tell her, Tank sure would. She’d see to that.
She caught up with him behind the house and stopped short. He fidgeted with something on the back of the house, and Cami cricked her neck. No reason for him to be there.
“What’s going on Tank? What are you doing back here?”
He turned with a wide grin. “Just getting the hose, ma’am. Need to spray some mud off the F150.”
She watched quietly for a moment as he gathered the hose, nodded. “Okay.” A few more steps. “What was that between you and my father a minute ago?”
Tank shook his head, tossed the hose over a shoulder. “Aw, it was nothing. I was standing too close to the man’s vehicle and he chewed me out.” He shrugged. “No big deal.”
She threw both hands in the air. “So now he’s harassing my help. Nice. Listen, Tank, I’m sorry about that. I don’t know what their problem is.”
“Like I said, no big deal.” He reached down for the sprayer and turned back to Cami. “They’re uptight. He’s a lawyer. I should have come up here another way.”
“No, you shouldn’t have. This is my land. You work for me and were doing your job. I’m sorry.”
He repeated, “No big thing. I better get back with this hose before Alex reams me out next. Between you and me, I’m more worried about him than I am your father.”
She chuckled and Tank marched into the sanctuary. She rolled her neck. Overstepping. Her parents were seriously overstepping. Chewing on a thumbnail, Cami thought for a moment, considering a call of warning. She pushed a hand through her hair. Waste of time that wouldn’t be listened to anyway. She breathed in a heaving sigh.
Cami returned to the house and walked into the small office, thinking to close the door and then changing her mind. Her parents wouldn’t come back, and the only other person to walk in would be Alex. That was never a problem.
Pushing the button on the laptop, she dropped into the ragged office chair and leaned back, eyes closed.
Not going to gain their approval, no sense in arguing.
Her jaw tightened and loosened, tightened and loosened.
Shouldn’t have to defend myself either, not to them
. Another heavy sigh and eyes blinking open, she leaned forward and keyed in the password. Clicking into the browser, she opened the email tab to five new emails. Opening one after another, her stomach turned, words mingling in a hateful red.
“Hi there, Cam. I was going to come in earlier, but saw your parents …”
Alex’s footsteps stopped short behind her, the lightness in his voice fading. “Everything all right?”
Thick cotton filled her mouth, words lost in the dryness, she couldn’t tear her eyes away from the screen.
“Cami?”
Alex walked to her side, and though internal alarms beckoned Cami to switch screens, the fingers wouldn’t obey. The weight of hands strong with years of ranching labor fell against the desk, and Cami didn’t need to lift her head to know he was reading the bold, red words.
SHUT DOWN NOW OR I WILL KILL YOU.