Chapter 17
CHAPTER 17
S amantha stirred and rolled against a hard male body. Her eyes popped open and she gasped as she realized where she was. The night before came flooding back to her senses and she bit her lip.
What the hell was she thinking? Or maybe that was the problem, she hadn’t been. Gazing at the man, she realized how much she cared for him even though he was going to buy their ranch.
Last night, he’d confessed and asked that she help him. It had been a night they both wanted each other, and yet the Mistletoe Inn and Ranch stood between them. Glancing at the clock, she realized she had to leave.
Her flight left in four hours and she had to get back to Dallas, turn the rental car, in and get on that flight back home. She didn’t know how much time she had left at the ranch, but she wanted to spend every moment she could there.
And besides, Christmas was only a few days away. Their last Christmas in their home.
Rising from the bed, she quickly dressed and found her purse.
Cameron lay sleeping looking so peaceful and yet she felt so torn. Maybe she should wake him and let him know she was leaving. He’d promised her that tomorrow they would fix everything.
But she wasn’t a charity case and he intended to purchase their family home. Feelings of rage overrode the part of her that told her she should be happy that he was getting her family’s land.
How could she live there knowing he owned it and that she loved him so very much? They’d not spoken of love or anything else and she could not continue to sleep with her new boss.
The very thought had her chest aching. If only they had met some other way. But not like this. She couldn’t confess her love to the man who would soon own her family heritage.
With a sigh, she turned to the door and then tiptoed down the hall.
“Why are you leaving, girl?”
Whirling around, she saw the apparition standing in the hallway gazing at her.
“I have a plane to catch,” she said.
The woman’s brows drew together in a frown. “A plane? I have no idea what that is. Though I do know the family owns one of those flying birds. Is that what you’re referring to?”
“Yes,” Samantha said, wondering why she was talking to this dead person.
“Does Cameron know?”
Part of her wanted to lie, but that was what her brother had done and she was not going to be like him.
“No, he’s sleeping,” she said.
“You know he loves you?” the woman said. “Don’t leave.”
Why was she discussing her romantic life with a ghost? And no, he didn’t love her. “He has a funny way of showing it.”
The woman sighed. “That boy is too focused on making his business a success. Why the Burnett men all believe they have to be successful, I have no idea. They have plenty of money. They should focus on getting married and having a family.”
“Good luck with that,” Sam said.
“Just give him a chance,” the great-grandmother said, looking wistful. “He’s a good man.”
The full force of what she was losing seemed to smack her in the chest. “He should have told me and maybe we could’ve worked through the loss of my family ranch. But he didn’t.”
The grandmother nodded.
Samantha shook her head as if to clear her mind. “I can’t believe I’m arguing with a ghost. Good-bye, Eugenia.”
Yanking open the door, she walked outside into the dark. Quickly she climbed into the car and started the engine.
As she pulled out past the guard gate, a swell of heartache engulfed her. Why had she come here? Just to make herself vulnerable to his hurts again?
The stubborn part of her had hoped he would make a deal with her on the property, but instead, he had told her he would allow her and her mother to continue living there until her mother passed.
“No,” she said, slamming her fist on the steering wheel. Just no. He might own the property, but she wasn’t going to be there to help him run it.
Right now, she didn’t know where she and her mother would go, but Cameron would be on his own. She couldn’t look at him without knowing how much he’d hurt her.