Chapter Twelve

Cam

E very bump and sway had me cringing as we made our way to the big house. I’d done the journey on Bonnie a thousand times—but never with a baby strapped to my chest.

Not just any baby, but the best, most special little girl in the world. Not that I’d known any other babies, but… Yes, she was clearly the best baby. Was it possible to fall in love in three days? Because the tenderness I felt for Cora was unlike anything I’d ever known.

Not to mention what I felt for her daddy.

The teenage crush I’d had on Jake felt feather-light and insignificant. As powerful as it had been back then, compared to now? Now, when Jake pressed against me, his hands hooked around my hips, head nudging my Stetson. Trusting me to carry his baby.

Now, when I wanted to keep riding to the horizon with Jake and Cora and not let them go.

As we climbed over a rise and the big house appeared in the distance, I reminded myself that it had been three damn days . Sure, this was day four, but that didn’t exactly help my case. I needed to screw my head on straight. I had a ton of work to do, and Jake and Cora couldn’t just stay with me forever.

I’d never even really had a boyfriend, and now I was chewing over the idea of forever?

Fool.

“Where’s your new house?” Jake asked.

“To the east. Built a new road on the property.” I’d spotted the roof earlier but hadn’t said anything. It was best to get Jake and Cora to Lonely Creek. I didn’t want her to be outside for too long.

My truck was parked in a secondary freestanding garage near the stable at the big house, and I hoped we could drop off Bonnie and scoot away unnoticed. ’Course we weren’t even to the stable yet when the familiar shape of Hal Jr. appeared on the porch.

The big house was a sprawling wood, stone, and glass mansion. Not a fancy design, but huge with seven bedrooms and even more bathrooms. The porch was covered and wide with a line of rocking chairs.

A few years older than me, Hal was on the short side like his dad, wearing his cowboy hat and boots like he had something to prove. A face only a mother could love, though I supposed I was being unfair. It was his personality that ruined his average looks.

I had no clue how he’d landed his wife Shelby—blond, bubbly, and deserved far better. She joined him outside, zipping her puffy, goose down coat as they approached.

“Merry Christmas!” Shelby called. “And happy Boxing Day. I just spent way too much saving twenty-five percent on a European blender.” Her eyes lit up. “That is a baby! Who’s this?”

“Since when do you have a baby?” Hal asked—demanded.

Jake dismounted before I carefully hopped down from Bonnie, keeping a hand on Cora. He said, “This is my daughter, Cora. Cam rescued us from Coyote Trail just before the storm arrived. Saved our lives.”

Shelby gasped. “Oh, my goodness. How did you even know that old road was there?”

“I grew up in Lonely Creek.”

Hal’s eyes narrowed. “You were that baseball player. I didn’t know you two were…friends.”

He watched us, hands shoved in his pockets, Stetson pulled low. All he needed was chewing tobacco. He’d grown up on the ranch fair and square, but after years away, he had the air of a city slicker playing dress-up.

Shelby’s smile turned brittle as she glared at her husband. “Why shouldn’t they be?” She stuck out her gloved hand to Jake. “Shelby Pinter. Lovely to meet you. And this is Cora, you said? Oh, I miss having a baby around. Our youngest is five now.”

Standing close, Jake took her out of the carrier, raising his eyebrows at me in silent question, undoubtedly sensing the tension between me and Hal.

As Shelby cooed over Cora in Jake’s arms, I told Hal, “I’m going to borrow the hitch to tow Jake’s car into town.”

“Does my father know about this?”

I kept my tone steady and tried not to clench my jaw. “He’s still out of the country as far as I know.”

Before Hal could go into full jackass mode, Shelby said, “Of course your dad wouldn’t mind lending the hitch. Cam, you know where it is?”

“Yes, ma’am,” I drawled, tipping my hat to her. “I’ll grab it and we’ll be out of your hair.”

It was easy for me to get under Hal’s skin just by talking to Shelby, which made no sense since he knew I was gay. I looped Bonnie’s reins over my wrist and turned to the stable.

Shelby asked, “Have you been to your house? The foreman couldn’t get a hold of you. He said to tell you they only need a couple more days. You’ll have the keys by New Year’s Eve for sure.”

“Dunno why you built it so small,” Hal said. “But I guess that’s how you grew up. Not to mention the shack you’ve been living in out there.” He laughed heartily, like we were all in on the joke.

I said, “Thanks, Shel,” and turned on my heel, gravel crunching under my boots beneath the thin layer of snow left by the plow. Jake followed, carrying Cora, who babbled happily in his arms.

It was really happening. The house had taken so long to build that there’d been times I hadn’t believed it actually would be. Always one delay after another, but now it was almost mine.

I should have been thrilled, but the task of dropping off Jake and Cora in town felt like a storm cloud hanging heavy and low.

In the barn, I got Bonnie settled while Cora cooed at all the new sights and smells.

Jake’s voice rose and took on that sweet, singsong quality as he pointed. “There’s another horsey like Bonnie. That’s a horseshoe. Over there is hay and a rake. Oh, and a big pile of poop.” He snorted, his octave returning to normal. “You’ll be quite familiar with that.”

I chuckled as I fed Bonnie an apple, my shoulders relaxing. When she was finished chomping, I couldn’t resist going over to Jake and giving Cora a smile and making a funny face, which had her kicking and squealing. I could have spent hours sticking out my tongue and watching her reactions. Were babies always this…addictive?

“What’s the deal with that dude?” Jake asked. “I don’t remember him.”

“Doesn’t like me much.” I gasped and made wide eyes at Cora, wiggling my fingers. My chest tightened. It was so easy to make her happy.

Jake laughed. “Yeah, I picked up on that.”

“He spent his childhood wishing he was somewhere else. But when his father took me on and took a liking to me, Hal Jr. got jealous, I guess.” I tore myself away from Cora and petted Bonnie’s muzzle, making sure she got her fair share of attention. “Dunno how the Pinters raised such a turd of a man.”

“At least his wife is nice.” Jake bounced Cora, making her giggle so sweetly. “Hey, can we see the new house? You said they built a road?”

Why did it make me nervous? That didn’t make a lick of sense. But it would delay taking them back to Lonely Creek, so I said, “Sure.”

Shelby appeared in the doorway. “Do you need a car seat? Lori and Hal Sr. had one for when they babysat the kids.” She held it up. “Should go on the passenger side just fine, Cam. Be sure to deactivate the air bag, and Jake’ll have to squish into the middle.”

It hadn’t occurred to me, and Jake exhaled in a rush and said, “Shh— oot , I didn’t even think about it! Thank you so much. Wow. I need to engage my brain.”

Shelby gave him a kind smile. “It’s okay. That’s what mommas are for.”

Jake’s smile stretched too thin, but he took the car seat with more thanks. “I’m still new to this. I guess I was focusing on getting into town, not the logistics.”

Is he eager to get into town?

With a mental headshake, I told myself I was being even more of a fool reading too much into every word out of Jake’s mouth.

To her credit, Shelby didn’t ask any nosy questions about where Cora’s mother might be. In the garage, Jake installed the seat on the passenger side of my truck while I held Cora against my chest, swaying slightly. She was so very small , and I tried not to think about how many ways the world could hurt her.

As Jake struggled with a twisted seat belt, tension creasing his face and lifting his shoulders, I said, “It’s okay.”

He sighed, sagging against the door. “It’s hard not to feel guilty that it didn’t even cross my mind. Of course we need a car seat to take her in the truck!”

“This isn’t a normal situation. You did your best. You’re doing your best. You’re a great dad. A great parent.”

Jake sighed again, this time with a soft smile. “Thank you.” He watched me, and seemed about to say something else. Finally, he said, “Let’s see this house of yours.”

It wasn’t sprawling like the big house, but my two-story home was built of the same timber, stone, and glass. There was a separate garage and a stable and paddock behind. The house faced the snow-capped Rockies, with a soaring great room window that took up most of the wall.

There were four bedrooms, which seemed like three too many, but the Pinters had convinced me it was a good idea to have guest rooms for my mom and… Well, that was about it. Wasn’t like the yaks were going to bunk in.

“Oh, wow!” Jake exclaimed as we neared, pressed against my side in the middle seat. “ Wow. Cam, this is incredible!”

My chest was tight with pride, which was foolish since it wasn’t like I built the place myself. There were several pickups parked outside, and drilling and hammering echoed from inside.

“I guess it’s really happening,” I said. “I’m going to live here.”

“ Yeah , you are. I mean, the cabin has its charms, but this is gorgeous.” Jake craned his head around. “That view!”

I shrugged and stopped the truck, feeling strangely bashful.

“I’m so happy for you.” Jake took my bare hand and squeezed it. “You deserve it.” Beside us, Cora grunted and gurgled, and Jake said, “Cora agrees, obviously.”

I gripped his fingers, not wanting to let go.

“So, we can come over when you’re all moved in?”

All I said was, “Yeah,” when I wanted to beg them to stay. I put the truck in park and hurried in to talk to the foreman, who gave me the keys and told me it would be all mine December thirty-first.

By the time we made it into Lonely Creek hauling Jake’s broken Ford behind us, the afternoon was getting long in the tooth. I’d have to ride Bonnie to the cabin in the dark, but that was nothing new.

“Left here,” Jake said, directing me to the house he’d grown up in.

Cora was asleep, and he’d gone quiet beside me, looking around as we passed through town, surely cataloging all the differences. There weren’t many to my eye, but I probably hadn’t noticed the slow changes over the years.

“Stackers is still here,” he murmured. “Pancakes still good?”

“Dunno. Haven’t been there in years.”

“Bet they have blueberry. We should go.” He quickly added, “I mean, if you want.”

“That’d be good.”

“Cool.”

A strange tension filled the cab, my mouth dry as I pulled up to the curb where Jake pointed. He gazed at the house, which was a one-story ranch style. Made of brown brick, its roof was snow-covered and lights blazed from the windows in the fading afternoon.

Adam’s apple bobbing, Jake stared at the house he’d known so many years ago. I could imagine his memories of his parents and the life he’d had as a kid. I snaked my arm behind and squeezed his shoulders.

“The door used to be just brown,” he said roughly. “Red is good. Looks good. I’m sure the basement reno will be great.”

I could hear thumping, and as a young man exited from the side door, music spilled out. The guy grabbed a case of beer from the snow and returned inside.

Jake smiled thinly. “Guess we should expect noise with a vacation rental. People come to ski and party. It’s fine.”

My gut twisted. Words tangled in my head.

He said, “Anyway, we should get inside. Unpack.” He turned to me, still trying to smile. “Thank you. You really made our Christmas incredible. It wasn’t my first like Cora’s, but I’ll never forget it.”

“I miss you already,” I blurted.

Jake blinked at me, then licked his lips. “Okay,” he said tentatively.

“I don’t want you to leave. Don’t want to see you once in a while, and maybe more will come of it and maybe not. I want more now . I want you.”

Jake’s breath was shallow. “And Cora?” He glanced at her.

She was still sleeping, the sweep of her thick eyelashes fanned over her pink cheeks.

I didn’t have to think about it. “Yes.”

“Are you sure?” He smiled tentatively.

“I’ve never been more sure of anything.”

“After only a few days?”

“Don’t know how to explain it, but yes.”

Jake gripped my thigh. “We’ll be fine here. I don’t want you to feel guilty or something.”

“I don’t. But I also don’t want either of you staying here.” As punctuation, the thudding bass of a new song practically shook the truck. “Even if this was a perfect mansion, I’d still want you to come back to the cabin with me.”

Jake opened and closed his mouth. I could see the hope shining in his beautiful brown eyes. “But… You’ll change your mind. You can’t really want us to move in . You’ll get home tonight and be glad for the peace and quiet.”

“I’ll get home tonight and miss you both.”

Jake’s exhale gusted out. He bit his lip, and I wanted to kiss him senseless more than anything in the whole world.

He said, “There’s not enough room. You’ll—”

“My house will be ready this week. There’ll be more room than I know what to do with. Move in with me.”

“We just re-met! It’s been less than a week. We can’t.”

“Says who?” The godawful music hammered my skull.

“Uh, everyone? What if it doesn’t work out? If… we don’t?”

I shrugged. “Then move out.”

Jake laughed. “I mean, it sounds logical when you put it like that, but—holy shit, how is that music this loud ?” He looked at Cora, who was somehow still asleep. “I… I don’t want to do the wrong thing.”

“You don’t have to stay with me. You can leave whenever you want.”

“Right.” I could practically see the gears turning in his head. “And if you decide it’s not working, just tell me, and we’ll leave. We have to promise to be honest with each other.”

I nodded.

Jake exhaled a shaky breath, looking between me and Cora before gazing at me seriously. “You really want to be with me? With us? Your peaceful life won’t be the same.”

I imagined returning to the cabin alone. Seeing the Christmas tree by the hearth and the duct-taped lights around the ceiling. My chair waiting for me. I could stoke the fire and read my book with Toby at my feet. Have an early night before I returned to long days on the land with my yaks and Mr. Pinter’s cattle.

Go back to my “peaceful life.”

“It’ll be so damn lonely without you and Cora.”

Jake exhaled a sort of whimper and kissed me, holding my face. “Oh, Cam. Maybe we’re kidding ourselves.”

I nuzzled his cheek. “Peaceful doesn’t have to mean quiet. It would be a new kind of peace.” Lungs tight, I asked, “What do you think?”

Jake’s lips tugged up into a small, perfect smile. “Tell me what to do.”