by Gayle Kaye
It was part of why he loved her, part of why he wanted her, why he couldn’t let her go.
Just then court was called to order, the Honorable Judge Wilson McBain presiding. There were three or four cases to dispense with first—minor things, none of them involving the Sheriff’s Office. Cam was glad; he could keep his thoughts on Pearl’s case.
He saw Hallie fidget in her seat, anxious for the judge to work through the morning’s docket. Beside her, Pearl sat stoic and silent, too silent—at least for Granny Pearl.
Finally with the next bang of the gavel it was their turn. The judge called the key players before the bench and the proceedings began. Cam stated that the charges of the court against Granny were accurate. Yes, he’d found a still, fully operable—and mecently used—on her property. Yes, he’d taken several bottles of moonshine into evidence at the same time.
The judge requested a look at the evidence in question, took a whiff from one of the bottles, then narrowed his eyes at the defendant. “What have you got to say for yourself, Pearl?”
She didn’t wait for her lawyer to answer on her behalf. “Guilty, your honor.”
“I see. And what about the still. Was it yours, as well?”
“Yes, sir,” came the feeble, small voice.
Cam shifted, uncomfortable with this new Granny. Even Hallie looked concerned.
“And where is said still now?” McBain asked.
Hallie answered. “It’s dismantled, Your Honor, and locked away in the trunk of my car.”
The judge peered curiously at her. “And do you plan to take responsibility for disposing of it?” he asked.
Hallie nodded. “Yes, Your Honor. I’m also willing to take full responsibility for my grandmother’s well-being, if Your Honor will show leniency. I would like to take her back to Fort Worth to live with me.”
Before McBain could reply, Granny answered. “Won’t go.”
Cam wanted to cheer, he wanted to slap the old girl on the back, he wanted to give her one great big smackeroo on her wrinkled old cheek.
“I’m sorry. Hallie,” she said. “I know what you want, but I’m stickin’ right here, thank you.” She turned to the judge. “Now just give me my punishment, whatever it is.”
At that everyone began to speak at once—Hallie insisting the subject of Granny going with her had been settled, the attorney wanting a moment to talk with his client, five prim but vociferous ladies advancing toward the bench, demanding equal punishment with Pearl, and the judge banging the gavel for quiet in the courtroom.
“My two babies,” Granny said as George and Myrtle loped over to see what it was she’d brought them for their noon meal. “Hallie, give Myrtle some biscuit,” Granny ordered. “The buttermilk’s her favorite.”
The old girl seemed to be herself now that she’d escaped the courtroom. Hallie smiled as she watched her grandmother chuck the creatures under their bewhiskered chins. “Pearl’s not goin’ off to the jailhouse, after all,” she crooned to the two. “Not goin’ to Texas, neither. I’m stayin’ right here with you.”
It was true, the judge had let Granny Pearl off with the understanding that she never again engage in the distilling of spirits and a stern warning that should she, or the other town ladies, ever show up in his courtroom again he’d throw the book at them, no questions asked.
Hallie was pleased with the outcome—but not with Granny’s declaration that she wasn’t going with her. One look at the determined set of her grandmother’s shoulders, however, had told her there was little use arguing. The woman had made up her mind.
She supposed Cam had been right. She couldn’t take Granny Pearl away from her home.
Hallie fed George some biscuit too, while Granny dished leftover stew into their feeding tins. Soon the two goats were feasting greedily, and Granny wiped her hands on her old print apron.
Hallie would miss having the woman with her in Fort Worth. She also knew she’d be making frequent trips to Greens Hollow to see her and be sure she was getting along all right alone.
That would mean seeing Cam again—but she supposed that couldn’t be helped.
Cam. He’d been a real help today in the courtroom. As sheriff he’d given his testimony, then in a surprise turn had asked the judge to consider allowing Granny a second chance. If he knew Pearl Cates like he thought he did, he’d added, the judge wouldn’t be disappointed.
Cam’s statement had carried a lot of weight, Hallie was sure. And she owed him a debt of gratitude. He hadn’t needed to say that, hadn’t needed to do more than give his usual testimony about the arrest.
“What’s the matter, you moonin’ over that man again?” Granny had finished with her two babies and decided to divert full attention now to Hallie. “If you had a lick of sense, girl, you’d marry him. I know he done asked you to stay.”
“Granny...” Hallie glanced at her in surprise—and a little irritation. “I thought you didn’t like Cam.”
“We made our peace—and the stubborn fool’s in love with you. Anybody with two eyes can see that.”
Hallie wasn’t at all sure about that, but the possibility gave her a thrill just the same. Then reason set in. This was Cam they were talking about, a man who wanted to go it on his own in the future.
And Hallie wanted something entirely different.
“Granny, Cam did ask me to stay—but it was to reopen the school—not to marry him.”
Granny waved her hand as if that were only a minor drawback.
Her grandmother saw things so simply sometimes—and life was far from simple. “I’m afraid Cam isn’t looking for a wife,” she explained. “He doesn’t want to marry, and he...he doesn’t want children.”
“Poppycock! I seen him with the little ’uns in this town. He doesn’t look like a man who wouldn’t love a passel o’ kids.”
Granny had that wrong—dead wrong. She remembered what he’d told her, that it was fortunate he and Elise hadn’t had children. That kids deserved more than a broken marriage—and trouble in their life. Cam didn’t believe in marriage, had no intention of going that road again.
He may have been attracted to Hallie, but love, the kind that led down the aisle to the altar...? Sadly, that wasn’t Cam.
“What makes you so all-fired sure, girl? He tell you that?”
Granny wasn’t giving up this conversation easily. “Yes, Granny, as a matter of fact, he did.”
“Lately?”
How had they gotten on the subject, anyway? Granny was like a dog worrying a bone when she got on a topic that interested her, made her curious. But Hallie would just as soon drop the whole discussion.
“Granny...” She laced her voice with exasperation.
“Well, was it?”
“No, not lately, but—”
“There, see? You don’t know a thing.”
Hallie wished Granny was right. She’d even given some small thought to Cam’s suggestion she reopen the town school, be the teacher they couldn’t get, but Cam didn’t want her in the way she wanted him to.
And staying here under those circumstances would be too painful. Even knowing she’d be here for Granny didn’t alter that fact. Hallie would just plain hurt, every day of her life.
And she’d remember the child she lost, too. She’d have children in her life, under her care, but none of her own to hold in her arms, to love as only a mother loved.
“Granny, I’m going back to Fort Worth. Tonight. But I promise I’ll come to visit. I won’t stay away like I did before.”
That afternoon as Hallie packed she ran across the letters from her small pupils, the goodbye letters. She cherished each and every one of the children, but she knew they’d be going on to third grade, then fourth. They loved her, wanted her for their teacher next year, but that wasn’t the way the school system worked.
They’d have a new teacher and Hallie would have new students—always new students.
Was it so wrong to want children of her very own, marriage, a husband to share h
er life with, to grow old with?
She wanted those things. And she wanted them with Cam.
“But that part won’t happen,” she said aloud, then tossed the precious letters back in the suitcase and clicked it shut.
Chapter Twelve
Cam drove the Cherokee flat out, careening around curves and topping hills at unaccustomed speed. He’d done some tall thinking since leaving the courtroom this morning—and he was damned shaky about the decision he’d come to.
But now that his mind was made up—right or wrong—he had to talk to Hallie. And he feared she might already have packed up and headed for Fort Worth.
She hadn’t been too happy about Pearl’s decision to stick to her guns and stay; she might have lit out of here in a bit of a pique at her grandmother.
Well, if she had, he’d just have to drive all the way to Texas to tell her how he felt about her.
Hell, he’d even consider going back to work as a big-city cop in that danged town of hers if that’s what he had to do.
Cam groaned at that thought. He liked Greens Hollow, liked being his own boss, liked not having a partner. And Hallie, whether she realized it or not, was sorely needed here. He needed her, too.
That was the conclusion he’d come to—the conclusion he would have realized had he not been so damned hardheaded.
She was there. Cam saw her car parked behind Granny’s green battlewagon and deftly pulled in behind it
As he rounded her car he couldn’t resist a check inside to see if it was packed and loaded for a trip down the highway. It wasn’t, but that didn’t mean her luggage wasn’t in the trunk.
No one came out on the porch to greet him, but he knew Hallie had to be there.
Were she and Granny discussing the outcome of the case? Talking about Hallie leaving, Granny Pearl staying, and how each felt about it? Would Pearl be trying to convince her to come back for visits?
Cam rapped on the front door, then paced nervously. There was an old board loose on the porch. Cam could fix it for Pearl. He made a mental note to do that at the first opportunity.
It seemed forever—but was actually only seconds—before Hallie drew the door open. She looked beautiful wearing a yellow sun dress that showed off her curves. So beautiful he ached inside.
“Cam?”
She seemed surprised to see him. Pleasantly? “I was hoping you hadn’t already packed up and gone,” he said.
“Did you come to see Granny, then?”
Hell, no. “I came to see you.”
Hallie felt her heart trip and stumble. It had already picked up its pace just seeing him standing there on the front porch. She’d hoped he might seek her out.
If he hadn’t she was going to stop by the sheriff’s office later today to thank him for taking up Granny’s cause with the judge. And to say goodbye.
She knew she couldn’t leave without doing so.
“Is the old girl napping?”
Not by a long shot, Hallie thought. If she knew Granny she had her ear pitched, waiting to pick up this conversation like she was equipped with radar. She’d done nothing but bend Hallie’s ear about the man all afternoon.
“She’s very much awake, I’m afraid.”
She stepped out on the porch and pulled the door closed. She didn’t know why Cam had come—but whatever they said to one another was private conversation. She’d decide later whether to tell Granny about it.
Any of it.
“That’s what I thought.” Cam hadn’t missed the way Hallie had closed the door behind her. Old pitchers had big ears... “I brought you this,” he said, handing her a small red rose. He wanted to give her more. He wanted to give her the world.
“Thank you,” she said softly. She brought it to her nose and sniffed its fragrance.
They sauntered off the porch and onto Granny’s lawn, out of the woman’s earshot. Birds chirped noisily overhead; the air was redolent with the scent of honeysuckle.
“I—I was coming by later to tell you goodbye,” she said as they walked. “And to thank you for what you did for Granny today. I appreciate it.”
Cam didn’t hear a word past goodbye. “You’re intending to leave then?”
“Cam, we...we had this discussion, remember?”
He remembered. “I remember that I didn’t finish it,” he said, pulling her to a stop beside him. “I remember there was one hell of a lot I left unsaid.”
Hallie looked up at him. He stood tall and determined, towering over her. Her heart thudded heavily in her chest at just the sight of him. The wind had tousled his hair. The afternoon sun bronzed his arms.
It seemed forever since Granny’s appearance before the judge this morning. A lot had changed since then. Or had it remained the same? Hallie was going back to teach another year. Her life would go on as before. Granny would still be here—so many miles away.
And so would Cam.
Only now she’d have memories of him to haunt her—his touch, his kisses, his delicious male scent, the heat in his eyes, the smile she loved to see form on his sexy mouth when he was amused or pleased or happy.
At the moment the smile was missing.
“Unsaid, such as...?”
A squirrel skittered up a tree. “I’ve had time to think, Hallie. After...after Chicago I’d set new rules for myself. I’d decided no entanglements—especially the kind that had to do with falling in love. I’d decided that wasn’t for me. But then...you came along, Hallie—and those rules turned fuzzy in my mind.”
Hallie’s breath hitched. “What are you saying, Cam?”
“I’m saying, I broke those rules. Maybe it was from that first kiss, maybe it was from the first time I saw you—I don’t know. All I know was I fell in love with you when I’d promised myself I wouldn’t.”
It was what Hallie had most wanted to hear from Cam. That he loved her. It was what she felt for him, too. But she knew how he felt about marriage, about children. Had those rules changed as well?
She didn’t think she could stand to hear him say he loved her only to find out the rules that mattered most to her hadn’t been a part of it.
She put her hands to her ears, as if she could shut out his words. “Don’t say any more, Cam.”
He studied her face, that face he wanted to stroke, caress, the mouth he wanted to plunder, then drew her hands down, holding them captive with his own. “Are you telling me you don’t feel the same way, Hallie—because if you are, then I’ve just made a major fool of myself here.”
She shook her head. “I’m not saying that.” She’d never say that. She loved Cam with her very soul. “I—I’m saying it wouldn’t work between us.”
She pulled free from Cam and took a few steps away. He followed and grasped her shoulders, spinning her to face him. His face looked stricken, as stricken as she felt on the inside. Why did love have to hurt so much? Why did love have to be so complicated?
“It’s the town—isn’t it? This town—there’s not enough here for you. No... advantages.”
“No, Cam. It isn’t that.”
“What, then?” He saw the pain in Hallie’s green eyes, then he remembered what she’d told him the other night, about how she’d fallen in love here once—with that jerk who didn’t appreciate what he had. The baby. The baby she’d lost. Oh, Lord. that’s what it was. “It is the town—but not for that reason. It’s what happened here before. Hallie, if that’s it, I can move to Fort Worth. I want you—I don’t know how much clearer I can make it.”
“You belong here, Cam.”
“And you belong in Texas? Hell, Hallie—that’s not at all what I had in mind.”
She had to say it. She had to make him understand, even if the tears came and she looked all bloaty-faced and red-eyed and he’d forever remember how she looked the last time he saw her. “Cam, ever since I lost the baby I’ve wanted nothing more than to have another, lots of babies. I wanted marriage and kids and a live-happily-ever-after life. I realize now that I don’t care where that is—For
t Worth or...or the moon, but it’s what I want.”
“Hell, woman, that’s what I’m offering you—unless I’m not the man you want that happily ever after and all those kids with.”
Hallie wasn’t sure she’d heard him right. Maybe it was a trick of her wishful imagination, maybe she’d just plain heard him wrong. “But you’d said... Elise...your marriage... You...you didn’t want kids of your own, you’d been glad there hadn’t been any. They’d have been... complications—”
“I was glad Elise and I hadn’t had kids, but that doesn’t go for how I feel now—about you.”
“Now? You mean that’s one of the rules you’re willing to bend?”
“More than bend. Hallie, if you’ll have me, I’ll snap that rule right in two.”
He looked so expectant, waiting for her to say the words, she had to tamp down the laugh that threatened to erupt and destroy this moment. “Cam, I love you.”
He went down on one knee before her.
“Then marry me, Hallie. Be my wife, have those babies you want with me.”
“Cam, what are you saying?”
“I’m saying I want you in my life, Hallie. Anyway that we can be together.”
Tears misted her eyes. She vaguely saw him remove a tiny box from his pocket. One delicate diamond ring nestled inside. Hallie knew he meant every word. He’d come here expecting her to say yes, to marry him.
She brushed aside a tear. “Oh, yes, Cam. Yes, I’ll marry you—and we can live right here. I’ve done some thinking about that. This town needs a school—and I have a lot of ideas I can bring here.”
He stood up. “And I’d love to hear all about them, too, woman—but first I want to kiss you.”
She went into his arms, arms that felt so right, so wonderful, and when his lips met hers, she knew there was nothing more she wanted from life.