Chapter 22
Camilla
Camilla squirmed in her seat. Cheyenne smiled widely at her from across the table, sipping on the iced tea she’d ordered. Lunch had been a surprise. “I can’t believe you didn’t tell me you were coming home early,” Camilla said, praying her voice sounded more excited than nervous.
“I wanted it to be a surprise.” Cheyenne picked up her fork and stabbed at her salad. “What better way to make you feel special than to take you to lunch the day I got back?”
“You must feel jet lagged. Aren’t you tired?”
Cheyenne shrugged. “Meh. Sleep is for the weak.”
Camilla’s eyes narrowed the longer she observed her best friend.
There was something different about her.
Camilla couldn’t put her finger on what exactly; all she could tell was that Cheyenne seemed to be hiding something.
“Are you sure you don’t want to go home and take a nap?
We can totally catch up later this week. ”
With a wave of a dismissive hand, Cheyenne laughed. It wasn’t her usual laugh. It was strained. What was going on?
Then it hit her. Like a freight train.
Camilla sucked in a breath and shrank back in her chair.
Had Dallas talked to Cheyenne about them?
She hadn’t told Dallas the details of how his sister felt about their romance.
He didn’t know how much Cheyenne hated the idea of them together.
If he told her, then what would that mean for the two of them?
She couldn’t help it. Despite the air conditioning circulating in their booth, her face flushed hot and obvious. She looked down at her plate, wondering if she should bring it up.
Like ripping off a Band-Aid.
Duct tape, more like.
She winced at that visual but couldn’t deny she would have far preferred the physical discomfort that would cause than have the conversation she knew she needed to have with her friend.
Nothing would change.
It couldn’t.
Camilla needed Cheyenne in her life. In fact, she couldn’t think of a better person for her up to this time. If she were to marry Dallas, it would mean she would be her sister-in-law. They could all be a close family. She loved the new additions to her own family and this would only make that grow.
Being with Dallas felt right on so many levels.
Slowly, she lifted her head and noticed that Cheyenne was looking at her phone. There was a deep scowl marring her pretty features, but when she noticed Camilla looking at her, she flipped the phone over and plastered on that fake smile.
Camilla knew it well. Usually, Cheyenne only shared it with people she disliked or those she was going to deceive with false pretenses.
What reason did she have to be directing it toward Camilla?
“Anyway, anything exciting happen this summer? I know we talked as much as we could, but you can’t tell me that nothing happened.”
The question felt like a trap—like Cheyenne was fishing for the information that Camilla wasn’t ready to share. It felt wrong to tell Cheyenne all of a sudden—at least not without Dallas at her side to hold her hand.
Lately there had been some growing tension between them. And her thoughts immediately went to the worry that Dallas was holding something back. Maybe it was a confession that he’d told Cheyenne about them.
A twinge of pain in her chest tugged at her like ripping off a hangnail.
She picked a grape tomato from her salad and tossed it in her mouth despite her appetite having already disappeared. “No, nothing exciting. Your brother was researching the wolf issue, though. He took me out to where they were sighted. Showed me the prints. That was cool.”
Cheyenne’s eyes drilled into her, and Camilla couldn’t bear to meet them.
“What about you?”
Her best friend sighed. “Nothing. It was a lot of work and very little play. I got to do some sightseeing, but for the most part I stayed in the apartment with my roommate.”
They sat in silence as the noise of the restaurant guests floated around them. Tension like Camilla had never experienced seemed to press in on her. Talking had usually been so easy between them. She couldn’t remember a time in their friendship when words didn’t flow.
Cheyenne was a chatterbox, and Camilla was happy to listen. The roles were reversed only whenever Camilla started a new relationship. She picked at the tablecloth that hovered just above her thighs and sighed.
This couldn’t go on much longer. She needed to tell Cheyenne that she’d gone against her wishes and done the improbable.
She’d fallen in love with Dallas.
Again.
Forgiveness had come too easy, and she wanted a future with the guy who had broken her heart.
Cheyenne, while protective, would have to learn to be happy for Camilla and support her decision. That was what best friends were for.
Come to think of it, if Cheyenne had fallen in love with one of Camilla’s brothers, she would have supported them. It might have been strange at first, but Camilla would have loved to welcome Cheyenne into the Palmer fold.
Slowly, she lifted her head and dredged up the courage to tell her all of this. She could even point out that they might be sisters one day. But then she caught sight of Cheyenne sending out a text, her expression darker than death itself.
“Are you okay?”
Cheyenne’s face went from red to white as her head snapped up. Then she flushed again and let out a strangled laugh. “Of course I’m okay. Why wouldn’t I be?”
“You look like you’re ready to strangle your phone or whoever is on the receiving end of those text messages.”
Cheyenne laughed again. “It’s nothing.”
Camilla eyed the phone for a long moment, then lifted her eyes to meet Cheyenne’s. “Are you sure?”
“Just some last-minute stuff I have to deal with since I came back early. You know the drill.”
“Anything I can help with?”
“No, of course not.” Cheyenne leaned forward, her expression softening as she placed a hand on Camilla’s. “You know I love you, right?”
“Of course.”
Her smile turned more saccharine than before. “Good. Just remember that. I’m always going to be here for you no matter how hard things get.”
“Why would they get hard?” Alarm bells rang in Camilla’s head. She didn’t like the sound of this at all. What was Cheyenne alluding to? Had she spoken to Dallas? That was the only reasonable explanation for the shift in demeanor.
“Oh, I’m not saying it’s going to get hard. But honestly, can you think of a time in your life when good things are a constant? How many times are we knocked on our backsides when we least expect it?” Her eyes bore into Camilla’s, making her more antsy than before.
She had a point. There was a reason people pointed out that everyone needed to enjoy the highs because the lows were around the corner. And those highs were all the more enjoyable when one had rock bottom to compare it to.
Her stomach twisted uncomfortably.
“You know what I think we should do today?”
“What?” Camilla asked weakly.
“Shopping spree. Let’s get some fun clothes, then go back to your place and do a fashion show. Just like old times?” Her tone was pleading. She really wanted this.
And who was Camilla to deny her best friend?
They spent about two hours going to and from the boutiques that were around Copper Creek before they finally headed back to Camilla’s house.
It had been almost too easy to want to forget that there was a storm cloud hanging over their heads, but the second Camilla pulled up to the house, there was no denying it.
Dallas rose from where he sat perched on the steps leading to her front door. He looked utterly haggard, but what did she expect? When she’d called him this morning, he’d sounded off. The things he’d said had scared her.
Carefully, she climbed out of the truck. She stood beside the open door as if she could use it as a shield against whatever Dallas planned on saying. She had no reason to be on edge, and yet she was.
“It’s not dinnertime yet.”
Cheyenne had rounded the truck and stood at her side. The heat of her fury came off her body in waves. Camilla could practically taste the poison in the air between the twins. She glanced from one to the other and her stomach soured further.
Cheyenne knew.
Of course she did.
“I couldn’t wait until dinner,” Dallas said, striding toward them. His narrowed gaze remained locked on his sister. “I knew if I didn’t come talk to you now, that…”
Camilla gripped the truck door tighter until her fingertips turned white. “That what, Dallas?”
He shoved his hand into his pocket like he needed to retrieve something, but Cheyenne’s jerking movements seemed to distract them all.
She faced Camilla, her cheeks red. “He’s leaving.
Again. Like last time, Camilla. He’s going to choose his job over you.
I heard him talking on the phone to his boss. He’ll never prioritize you.”
The world felt like it was falling away beneath Camilla’s feet. A wave of dizziness swept around her like a tornado. She wasn’t in the eye of the storm. She was every last piece of debris and shattered branch that Cheyenne’s windstorm announcement flung haphazardly around.
She didn’t even look like she cared.
There wasn’t a smidge of worry in her eyes, and that was the first thing that Camilla noticed.
The second was the look of utter guilt that she read on Dallas’s face.
Cheyenne was right.
Camilla opened her mouth, then closed it. No words were willing to come to her mind. How could they when her heart was in shambles? Dallas was planning on leaving, and he hadn’t even told her. “When?” she finally rasped.
“Camilla—” Dallas stepped forward.
“When?” she demanded harder this time. “When are you going to leave?”
He was glowering at Cheyenne. His dark gaze would have killed a lesser person.
Camilla could feel the heat of it from where she stood.
But the second he turned his attention to her, remorse and pain filled his eyes and she knew.
She knew that he wasn’t going to be sticking around, just like he hadn’t the last time.
“Can we talk about this privately?”
“Absolutely not,” Cheyenne snapped.
Another glare in her direction.
“Camilla,” Dallas pleaded. “It’s more complicated than that.”
“Is it? Because I seem to recall that we made a promise to each other—”
“Camilla,” Dallas bit out. His eyes flashed with a warning—the only indication that he wasn’t willing to talk this over in front of his sister. And could she blame him? Still, she didn’t think she’d be capable of walking anywhere at this point. She couldn’t even feel her legs.
“Tell me this much. How long have you known?”