Chapter 19
Dallas
Dallas stared at his phone reading the same line over and over, wishing he was dreaming.
He’d put out some feelers with Mack about finding a permanent job in this area, but his supervisor had shot him down.
The folks working up at the Canadian site were interested in him due to the past work he’d done with the species up north.
True, Dallas hadn’t told Mack his reasonings for wanting to stay in Colorado.
He doubted that his boss would be thrilled to know he wanted to risk his career for a woman.
People didn’t get into this job because they wanted stability.
Most of the people who worked in his department thrived on the constant moving and going to new places.
Once upon a time, he’d thought he would too.
That had been after Camilla refused to reach out to him. After he’d waited for weeks for one letter or one email or even one call that indicated she wanted to keep the lines of communication open between them.
He blamed himself and rightfully so. He’d dug the grave he’d been standing in when he realized that he’d lost the most important thing in his life.
Camilla.
He rubbed at the back of his neck. Deep down, he’d known what Camilla’s answer would be.
She was big into her family. It had taken a lot of courage for her to leave her parents and move to Copper Creek, but she’d had her siblings.
There was no way she’d want to spend her life traveling, jumping from one town to the next.
He let out a frustrated breath as he shoved his phone into his pocket.
He’d had so many hopes. He’d wanted his supervisor to tell him there was a way to keep him in Colorado.
He’d wanted Camilla to be interested in the adventure that his career would offer.
He’d wanted so much to not have to broach this subject at all with her, but it appeared that wasn’t going to happen.
The door to the training building opened and Camilla stepped out. That smile on her face… what he wouldn’t give to see it every single day from this point forward.
“Ready?’ she asked.
His focus trailed down her curvaceous form, and he brought his fist to his mouth to bite his knuckle. “You look amazing.”
She laughed, giving him a little shove. “I’m covered in dog hair.”
Dallas wasted no time reaching to hold her hands, then tucking a strand of hair behind her ear. “I said what I said,” he whispered huskily.
Her plump lip was pulled between her teeth as she grinned wider at him. “You’re incorrigible.”
“I’m honest,” he corrected her and once again, she laughed. Oh, how he loved that sound. “Come on, let’s grab your camera. The place we’re going is beautiful.”
“Are we going back—”
“Different place. This one has more flowers.” He winked at her before placing a hand on the small of her back to lead her toward the house. “I’ll be at the ATV.”
It wasn’t long before they were both hiking between the aspens that reached toward the sky.
The terrain was more rugged than when they’d gone on their picnic, but when they got to their destination, Dallas had no doubt that Camilla would be thrilled.
He would have brought her out here at sunset if he wasn’t worried about the wolves or getting back to the ATV without getting hurt.
Dallas kept his hand tightly in Camilla’s as they hiked the trail he’d mapped out the other day. A breeze tugged at their clothes, and the quiet that surrounded them was peaceful.
No, not peaceful.
This felt suspiciously like the calm before the storm.
Dallas tightened his hold on Camilla, pushing aside the anxiety that threatened to crawl up from his gut and settle in his chest, refusing to allow him to breathe.
“You okay?” Camilla asked.
He frowned. “Of course, why?”
She arched a brow and lifted their clasped hands. “You’re holding me in a death grip.”
Immediately, he released her and then regretted it. Shoot! That wasn’t obvious at all. That behavior wasn’t normal boyfriend antics. He’d promised to be honest with her, for Pete’s sake. And already he was failing at it.
He could feel Camilla’s eyes burn into the back of his head as they continued to trudge higher in elevation. If he was lucky, she’d think nothing of it.
Lucky.
Ha.
Since when had he ever had luck on his side?
The whole point of bringing her out here was to convince her that there was more to see than just the town she was living in. If he could convince her of that, then maybe he had a chance to make this job thing work.
“It’s just up here,” Dallas said over his shoulder. “Have you ever been out this way?”
When she didn’t respond, he paused and looked back at her. Then he frowned. “Everything okay?”
An echo of her own question. He was a hypocrite. He could see it written in her eyes. Those beautiful eyes that held so much adoration for him were hazy with concern. She’d definitely noticed that he’d been acting strange. What was he going to do?
This was his chance to win her back and change their story, and he was messing everything up. Maybe Cheyenne was right. Maybe he should have left her alone to begin with.
No. He refused to accept that. Not yet.
Camilla swallowed hard and looked away. “Yep. Just dandy.” With that, she moved past him. He didn’t get a good look at her expression as she passed. She was lying. He could tell even without looking at her. The question was, why? Why not confront him over his reaction?
Maybe she knew he wasn’t ready to talk. Or she didn’t trust him enough to be honest with him.
Camilla entered the small clearing by the ridge before he did. She froze immediately as her eyes swept over the sprawling landscape. From this vantage point it felt like they could see the whole world. And her reaction was exactly what he’d been hoping for.
She’d gone speechless.
He knew that feeling. He’d experienced it many times before. This was what she could experience if she opened her mind to the possibilities. And he prayed she’d see it that way.
Dallas grasped her hand, then tugged so she had no other choice but to lean into him.
She remained quiet as she melted against him.
For a long moment, he let the sound of nature permeate the air.
There was a calming quality, being up here and seeing the beauty that the world had to offer.
Resting his chin atop her head, he whispered, “Pretty amazing, isn’t it? ”
“Yeah,” she crooned. “I don’t think I’ve seen anything like it.”
He was quiet for a long moment. Now. He could tell her about his job and what his supervisor had said. He could tell her it wasn’t planned, but he would like nothing more than to have her come along with him or at least visit him while he was working.
But something stopped him.
Tension coated the air between them, sizzling until he could hardly stand it.
He needed to break it. Taking in a deep breath, he said, “You know, there are views like this all over the country. Especially in places where I do research in the mountains.” He’d go a different route.
Her whole body went taut. Great. He’d said the wrong thing. There was no way she’d be open to this conversation, and he could tell now that he’d jumped the gun. Shoot! Was there any way to backtrack?
Would she even understand what he was trying to say? Or would she assume he was making excuses for how he’d just up and left? There was only one way to find out.
“I want to take you to some of those places one day, Camilla.” His words were soft, pleading, and he didn’t even care.
“I have regrets in my life, but my job isn’t one of them.
I’ve been able to experience so much—seen so many amazing things.
I wish…” He swallowed audibly. “I wish I could have taken you with me.” There.
He’d laid it all out. It was the closest he could come to confessing what he was dealing with right now.
She pulled away enough to stare up at him. “Can I be honest, Dallas?”
His arms remained tight around her, terrified of what she might say. “Of course.”
“I don’t know that I would have liked that.”
Well, shoot.
What could he say to that? She was being honest with him. He couldn’t even fault her for it.
“Maybe it was for the best that you got a lot of that out of your system, right?”
Those words hurt more than he wanted to admit.
Out of his system? Traveling wasn’t something that someone could just grow tired of doing.
How could she say something like that? Even if he settled down somewhere, he’d still want to travel the world and see what he could see.
He’d want to take in views like this one—but with her by his side.
Dallas cleared his throat, and a sad smile tugged at his lips. “Yeah, I guess so.” What was one more lie?
The silence between them weighed heavy with what she’d said, with how he really felt but was unwilling to voice.
Camilla must have been more antsy than he was because she changed the subject. “Marcus was asking me about your job.”
He grunted, hating how disinterested he was in this change of topic. He had bigger issues to deal with.
“He was curious about the wolves.”
Oh, so not the traveling. Of course she didn’t want to talk about relocation. “What about the wolves?”
She scrunched her nose in the most adorable way. “Honestly? I started to tune him out. Something about what would happen if the wolves became more of a problem and what that would mean.”
“We’d notify the proper channels, and they’d likely relocate the pack somewhere they won’t be a problem.”
“Hmm,” she mused. “Maybe if you get a chance, you could sit down and chat. I’m sure he’d love to hear about the process.”
“Yeah, maybe.” Well, this plan had blown up in his face. Camilla wasn’t interested in moving around or relocating, even if it meant they could stay together. He didn’t know what he was going to do now.
What could he do?
Just enjoy her for as long as he could.