Chapter 18
CHAPTER 18
C ameron woke to the overpowering scent of lavender. As his eyes came open, his arm reached out to the side of the bed where he hoped Sam would be.
“She’s gone, sleepyhead,” his great-great-great-great-grandmother said.
“When?” he asked, glancing around the room. His grandmother sat in a chair by the old trunk his mother had used.
“Before dawn,” she said.
“Why didn’t you wake me up?”
“I tried, but you were tired,” she said.
Last night after they made love, he’d spent several hours just watching Sam sleep and thinking about how he could help her. How he could show her that he didn’t want her land, but he did want her.
Finally in the wee hours this morning, he’d made the decision. This afternoon he was going to arrange a meeting with his lawyers. He’d hoped she would be here to help with the decision-making progress, but now she was gone.
“Did she leave me a note anything?”
“Nope, she hightailed it out of here as fast as she could,” the ghost told him.
With a sigh, he rolled over on his stomach.
“Don’t turn your back on me. Get up and fix this.”
“She left me,” he said. “Did you set us up?”
The woman cackled. “All I knew was that she was going to face some troubles and that you were involved. Now you need to get up and go after her.”
After last night, he thought she would stay. They would talk this morning and then meet with the lawyer. Guess she had other plans.
“What did she say?”
“She said she had a plane to catch,” the ghost replied. “Are you going after her?”
“She left me, I didn’t leave her,” he replied, frustration filling him.
“You weren’t raised to be deceitful. Fix this,” the ghost said.
“I thought I had last night,” he replied, wishing the ghost would leave so he could get out of bed and head toward the shower.
The ghost shook her head. “Go after her. Tell her the truth and how you feel about her.”
Throwing his hands into the air, answered, “I did that last night.”
“Did you tell her you loved her?”
For a moment, he was silent as he ran his hand through his hair.
“No, but I told her we would talk this morning and get everything resolved.”
His grandmother raised her brows. “The woman needed to hear about your feelings. Not your business decisions.”
Why did he get the feeling he was not going to win this argument?
“If you’ll let me take a shower, I’ll get on the phone and try to take care of this now.”
“What’s stopping you?”
“You,” he said. “I’m naked beneath these covers.”
“I saw you naked the day you were born. When did the Burnett boys become a bunch of pussies that I have to do everything for.”
Slowly she dissipated.
“I heard that,” he called to the empty room “I’m not a pussy.”
An hour later, he hurried out the door ready to meet with his lawyer. Plus, he wanted to go to a jeweler. If he was going to ask her to marry him, he needed to be prepared.
Finally, when everything was ready, he called the pilot of the Burnett family jet.
“Al, can you have the plane ready to go in an hour?”
“Where are we going?”
“Bozeman, Montana,” he said.
There was a moment of silence. “Sir, I’m sorry, but there is a big system that has that entire area socked in. They closed down airports up there about an hour ago. We would’ve had to leave early this morning to get there in time.”
With a sigh, Cameron knew it would do no good to try to persuade him to take the chance.
“Let me know as soon as the weather clears. I want to get there as soon as possible.”
Maybe he should try calling her.
Hanging up with the pilot, he dialed the Mistletoe Inn. A fast busy signal sounded and then a voice came on. “We’re sorry the number you are dialing is not working.”
A curse sprang from his lips. Why had he never gotten her cell phone number? He dialed Edward and received the same message.