The Texan's Contract Marriage - By Sara Orwig Page 0,65
go perform somewhere.”
“This shouldn’t interfere with you and it may actually give you more time with Noah. Besides, at this point it is sheer speculation. I have a long way to go to become that kind of star.”
“I have a feeling it will come much faster than you think.”
“I think you’re biased, but I hope you’re right. I’m overjoyed you liked the opera.”
*
Camille’s La Traviata performance had been a triumph and the time had flown. Now as she sat on a Rangel jet bound for Santa Fe, she glanced next to her at Marek, who was poring over Noah’s baby book.
Marek’s thick black lashes were dark shadows above his cheeks. A stray lock of hair curled on his forehead. He had withdrawn into a shell the past few days, and she had wondered what had triggered it. Was it something in his life or had it been the interference of her performance and the intense practice beforehand?
“What? You have the intense look of a cat ready to pounce on prey.”
“How’d you know that?” she asked.
“I can tell,” he answered casually, closing the baby book to hand it back to her. “Nice. You need a picture of Kern. I’ll get you one.”
“I’d like that.”
“Now, why the intense examination?” he repeated.
She could feel heat fill her cheeks. “You’ve changed and I was trying to figure why. You’re preoccupied.”
“Business,” he said. In the time she had known Marek, she had never seen him concerned about business problems or ranch problems. Jess bore the brunt of those. Marek had a shuttered look and she couldn’t glean anything from his expression.
“I don’t think that’s really the answer,” she said, letting it drop for now until they were alone. They were flying to Santa Fe to get a place to live and then she would leave Dallas. Was it the move that had him on edge?
She was amazed how fast and efficient Marek was when they arrived in Santa Fe and later when she went through the move. She had another opera performance to prepare for, and they agreed he would leave Noah with her in Santa Fe and he would return to the ranch until opening night.
When she told him goodbye at the airport in New Mexico, he held her tightly and kissed her until she was breathless, her heart racing, and she didn’t want him to stop.
He released her abruptly. “Better go,” he said gruffly, his gaze trailing over her features as if memorizing them. When he turned away to board the jet and she left to go back to a waiting limo Marek had arranged for her while she was in Santa Fe, she had a distinct feeling something was amiss.
*
Getting up before sunrise, working until dark at any physical labor he could find, Marek threw himself into work at the ranch. He hated being alone in the house, trying to keep books, because his mind would wander constantly to Camille. He missed her and he missed Noah. He talked to Camille each day and saw them on Skype and tried to keep a fragile contact, but she was busy getting ready to perform Pamina in The Magic Flute, and Noah couldn’t converse with him. When he saw them on Skype, he hurt badly, wanting her, loving her, but hating the separation. He missed Noah’s happy little face.
Instead of growing accustomed to being away from her, to seeing her on opening night and when the performance was over, he hurt more with Camille and Noah out of his life and getting only tiny glimpses and contacts with them.
The last week in August he had to be in Dallas for a Rangel Foundation meeting, and Ginny had asked him to lunch beforehand. He listened to her chatter about the girls and saw their latest pictures.
“I haven’t seen them for too long, Ginny. Bring them to the ranch this weekend so they can ride.”
“I will accept that invitation,” she said over a crisp green salad while Marek ate only a few bites of his onion burger. “You miss Camille, don’t you?”
“Camille and Noah. Yes,” he said, giving her a steady look. “Want to hear you were right?”
“No, I don’t. I don’t want you hurt, and you’ve lost weight and look like you haven’t slept for weeks. Maybe you should go see her more.”
Marek shook his head. “I’m in the way when she practices or has lessons. She’s busy when she’s getting ready to perform and when she’s performing.”
“I can imagine, but you can’t keep on