Confessing to the Cowboy - By Carla Cassidy Page 0,26

think that sounds like a great idea,” Nick replied.

“So do I.” Adam high-fived his brother as Courtney and Melanie rolled their eyes.

“I’m glad you two have our family planning all under control, but what I really want is for the creep who’s killing women in this town behind bars,” Melanie said.

Suddenly the pleasure of the evening was sucked out of Adam as he thought of the investigation that so far lead nowhere. Who was the person killing women and doing it so successfully? What kind of a monster were they chasing and would they manage to get him or her behind bars before another waitress wound up dead?

Chapter 5

The weather remained cold with temperatures below freezing the next day. Saturday afternoon Mary dressed in a pair of jeans and a pink sweater, wondering why she’d ever indulged Matt in his birthday wish to spend the day with Cameron. She should have put her foot down and just said no.

The sound of Matt cheerfully whistling “Happy Birthday” came from his bedroom as he eagerly readied himself for the day. And that was why she’d agreed to the plan for the day. Matt had barely been able to contain his excitement at getting to spend some quality time with Cameron for his big day.

She hadn’t realized just how deep Matt’s adulation for Cameron had run until now. But Cameron had been a constant male presence in Matt’s life for the past eight years, the only constant male presence.

She should be grateful to have such a good, strong man as a role model for her son, but at the moment all she could think about were the nerves jumping around in the pit of her stomach and how often she’d fantasized about spending time away from the café with Cameron, a fantasy that she knew was dangerous.

It was just one afternoon, she reminded herself and Matt would be the center of attention, the birthday boy. There was no reason to think anything that happened today would change her relatively safe relationship with Cameron.

There was no question about the simmering tension between them each time they were together. She recognized that simmer for what it was...sexual longing. But she’d be a fool to follow through on it and so it continued to smolder but she never would allow it to boil over.

“Mom, it’s time to go,” Matt called from the living room, his excitement evident in the higher pitch of his voice.

“I’ll be ready in just a minute,” she called back. She and Cameron had agreed that she and Matt would meet him at his place to begin their day with ice skating on his pond and when they finished Cameron would drive the three of them to the nearby town of Evanston to eat dinner at the Dragon Wok.

With a final glance in the mirror and a flutter of nerves, she left the bathroom and joined Matt. “Skates, gloves, extra socks, neck scarf?”

“I’ve got it all,” Matt replied as he patted the backpack he held in his hand. His blue eyes sparkled with eagerness. “We need to go. We don’t want to keep Sheriff Evans waiting.”

Mary glanced at her wristwatch. “We’re fine, Matt. We told Cameron we’d be at his house at two and we will be. All I have to do is check in with Rusty before I leave.”

Together the two walked from the back of the café to the kitchen where Rusty manned the grill and Junior was cutting up onions. “All set to head out?” Rusty asked.

“All set,” Matt replied as he raced through the kitchen and headed for the café front door.

“Somebody’s excited, but you look like you’re facing a firing squad,” Rusty observed.

“I’m just leaving my comfort zone.”

“You should do that more often. You’re here twenty-four hours a day, seven days a week. You need a life, Mary.”

She smiled. “This is my life. You know to call me if there are any problems here,” she said.

“Number two on my cell phone is Mary,” Junior quipped and gave her his beatific smile.

“That’s right,” Mary replied. “I’ll be back sometime after the dinner rush.”

“We’ll be just fine. You go and have a good time,” Rusty replied.

Within minutes Mary and Matt were in her car and headed for Cameron’s place on the south edge of town. As she drove, Matt kept up a steady chatter about what fun it would be to skate with Cameron. Mary had already told both of the males that she had no intention of skating. She