Beth swallowed past the knot of humiliation lodged in her throat and wondered how many more times Cam was going to slice at her heart. Why hadn’t he at least told her the truth before asking her to speak to his father-in-law? Why hadn’t he given her all the information she needed so she wouldn’t be caught like this? She breathed deeply and said the only thing she could. “It was fifteen years ago, Burt.”
“You think our pain ends?”
“Of course not.” Hers hadn’t. Why would Burt and Dottie’s? “But Julie and Cam made their decision a long time ago.”
“So it was my girl’s fault?” His eyes were wide with astonishment.
“I didn’t say that. But Cam didn’t force her to run. She went with him, as hard as that is to accept. She was with Cam. She ran away with him and stayed with him willingly.” Beth wanted to blame Cam alone and so did Burt. But the truth was Julie had been a part of it all from the beginning. It took two to make a baby. And that thought twisted her heart until it was nothing more than a painful lump in her chest. He’d made a baby with Julie while making plans with Beth. How had she missed it?
Now is not the time, she told herself. “Burt, all Cam wants is a fair shot at joining the TCC.”
“He’ll have that,” Burt said hotly, and ran his palm across the top of his head. “He has the right to apply for membership. Like I said, he won’t have my vote, but it’s not my place to block him from the club.”
Cam would have to accept that, Beth told herself, because it was the best he was going to get from Burt Wheeler. Burt was well-known about town as a bully...loud and aggressive, but he was also a father still in pain at the tragic loss of his daughter. Beth reached out and laid one hand on his forearm.
“Thank you, Burt.”
He jerked a nod.
“And I’m really sorry about everything. About dredging this up.”
“You’re a nice girl, Beth.” He blew out a pent-up breath and gave her hand an awkward pat. Gruffly he said, “Your daddy was a pain in the ass, but you’re a nice girl. And you didn’t dredge up anything. Julie is always with me.”
She couldn’t blame him for not liking her father. Many people hadn’t, including his own kids most of the time. As for the rest, she understood what he meant in saying that Julie was always with him. Cam had always been with her, too. Did that make her a fool?
As she left the Wheeler house, she was already planning just what she would have to say to Camden Guthrie.
* * *
Camden worked through the morning, hoping to ease his mind by concentrating on a single task—making sure the Longhorn cattle arrived safely to take their place on the Circle K rangeland. A couple of days ago, his ranch hands had temporarily fenced in a two-acre plot where the Longhorns could rest up for a day or two. Cam wanted to make sure they were all healthy and strong enough to be turned out to graze.
In spite of his mind twisting with thoughts of Beth—and the shock of seeing her with Justin McCoy of all damn people—he smiled as he watched the most quintessential Texas breed of cattle stepping down the ramps of the cattle truck. The Longhorns were wildly diverse in color: no two were alike, and the spread of their horns ranged from four feet to nearly nine.
The rattle of their hooves on metal and the clack of their horns slapping together filled the air. He caught more than a couple of the cowboys grinning like children just watching the legendary cattle slowly claim their new home.
“They’re really something, aren’t they, boss?” Henry Jordan sat his horse right beside Cam, and both men stared out at the cattle.
“They really are.” It was a damn miracle the breed had been saved back in the 1920s. People had been smart enough to realize that crossbreeding with imported cattle was going to destroy the one breed that had evolved on their own to survive and thrive on the range without any help from humans.
“My boys are loving this. They’ve never seen a Longhorn up close,” Henry said, pointing to where his three teenage sons were working the herd with the other cowboys.
“A lot of people haven’t, Henry,” Cam replied, leaning both hands on the pommel of his saddle. “But we’re going to fix that with the dude ranch. Our tourists are going to get a glimpse of the real Texas.”
His starting herd was small—two hundred head, with a lot of females and yearlings. It wouldn’t take long for the herd to expand, and Cam welcomed it. He had plenty of open land for them to graze. All the ranch hands had to do was make sure they didn’t drift onto the land reserved for the Black Angus cattle. Damned if he’d allow crossbreeding on his own ranch.
“The vet suggested we leave the herd penned in for at least a couple of days. Quarantine to make sure they’re all healthy and give them time to eat and get their strength back after the travel.” Even a two-day trip was hard on cattle. “You guys keep an eye on the herd, and by early next week, we’ll move them down to the south pasture.”
“You got it.” Henry tipped the brim of his hat, then rode off to join the others.
Cam watched it all for a few more minutes, then headed back to the house to get his truck. He had one more appointment before meeting Beth that afternoon.
Seeing her at her office had cost him nearly every damn ounce of his self-control. It had taken all he had to keep from reaching for her. And what the hell was she doing with Justin McCoy hanging around? Scowling to himself, he kicked his horse into a gallop, hoping to drive that image out of his head.
McCoy was a snake and Cam had more reason than most to know it. Was Beth really foolish enough to hook herself up with that bastard? Because if she was, he’d be happy to step in and tell her the cold, hard truth about Justin McCoy.
Beth. It all came down to Beth. She was the same and yet so different. She wasn’t the open, laughing girl he’d once known. She’d grown,
as he had. They’d changed and maybe that was best. It forced them both to get to know the people they were now—not just to depend on what had once been.