Confessing to the Cowboy - By Carla Cassidy Page 0,43

strained eyes, but he’d wanted to be thorough.

And what he’d discovered didn’t jibe in any way with the story Mary had told him earlier in the day. Something wasn’t right and he was determined to get to the bottom of it. But it was too late tonight to contact Mary.

He powered down his computer, a deep weariness stabbing his back between his shoulder blades. He stood and stretched, working out the kinks that were a result of sitting too long in front of the monitor.

Once fully stretched out, he walked over to the printer and grabbed the pile of items he’d printed off throughout the evening in his research. He’d not only spent the afternoon and evening on the computer but had also made dozens of phone calls to California in an attempt to confirm Mary’s story.

He hadn’t told any of his other deputies what Mary had confided in him. He’d wanted to have all his ducks in a row before executing an old arrest warrant or instructing his men to investigate further, but his research had only made things muddier.

Crazy. Either she was crazy or there had been a cover-up of massive proportions. In any case, none of it made any sense.

With it being too late to confront Mary on everything he’d learned, he headed home. As he drove he found himself replaying the kiss he and Mary had shared. There was no question that it had stirred up a wild desire inside him, but he wasn’t sure whether she had kissed him with her own desire or with a form of unconscious manipulation in mind.

She’d been desperate not to be arrested, half-hysterical with the need for him to agree to take care of Matt should things go bad and she be sent away. It was possible all of that had combined to allow her to not only eagerly accept but also reciprocate his kiss.

When he reached home, still too wound up to go to bed, he made himself a ham-and-cheese sandwich and sat at the large kitchen table, remembering when the kitchen had been filled with Mary’s and Matt’s laughter. He almost wished Twinkie were here to break the empty silence of the house that surrounded him.

While he’d always had more than a little bit of a crush on Mary, he’d never really followed through with it by asking her out or attempting to create a real relationship with her. And he knew that for a long time part of the reason had been Bobby.

Bobby’s untimely death had nearly broken Cameron. He’d loved his brother like he’d never loved another human being. He’d always known he’d been a disappointment to his parents, but Bobby had made him feel like he was the greatest, like Cameron could do or be anything he wanted.

They had been best friends as children and had remained so until Bobby’s death. That death had made Cameron leery of relationships, fearful of loving and losing.

As much as he’d fantasized about having Mary and Matt here permanently, about having them in his life forever, the idea scared him just a little bit. Forever hadn’t lasted with Bobby. Forever hadn’t lasted for Candy, Shirley or Dorothy. Bad things happened and people disappeared.

Yet he couldn’t deny that Mary pulled him in, made him wish for things that both excited and frightened him. It had been her strength that had become his own after Bobby’s death when he’d plunged into a depression that had nearly overwhelmed him. She’d helped him through it and he’d come out whole on the other side, even more drawn to Mary than he’d been before.

He finished his sandwich, took a fast shower and then headed to bed, knowing that sleep would be a long time coming.

Surprisingly sleep must have come immediately for the next time he opened his eyes, it was to the early-morning light just beginning to streak bright pinks and oranges across the eastern horizon.

He didn’t linger in bed, but instead dressed quickly and headed out to his parents’ place. It was too early to do much of anything else but he knew his mother and father would be up. Despite their advanced age, they were ranchers, up before dawn and in bed just after dusk.

It was time for him to stop by for a quick visit even though the visits were rarely happy ones. Cameron always had the feeling that his parents believed the wrong son had died, that if given the opportunity they would easily sacrifice Cameron to have their