“It’s not just the guys, either,” Beth said. “Mom’s putting her two cents in and driving Sebastian a little nuts with it. And Piper and I spend most of our time telling them all to calm down.” Which was funny, considering what she herself had said to Justin not too long ago. Telling someone to calm down never makes them calm down.
“And we’re bringing Miles into this.” Beth’s younger brother, Miles Wingate, had his own company, Steel Security, based out of Chicago. It was already one of the most acclaimed security companies in the world, and since Miles was family, he would know better than anyone how important it was to solve the mystery of the fire and the safety inspections.
“That’s a really good idea.”
Piper nodded at Gracie. “Sebastian’s idea.”
“Well,” Gracie acknowledged, “he’s brilliant, so I’m not surprised.”
“Don’t ever tell Baz he’s brilliant, it’ll go to his head.” Beth picked up her iced tea and took a sip. She watched Gracie stand, get the newspaper the older couple had left on their table and then sit down again. “Oh, please don’t show me any Wingates Are Evil headlines.”
Gracie laughed and shook her head. “Promise. I’m just checking my lottery numbers.”
“Well, if ever there was a day for some good news,” Beth said, “today is it. So win enough to pay for lunch, okay?”
“I’ll try.” Gracie opened the paper and pulled her ticket from her black leather bag.
Beth was watching her compare her ticket to the numbers in the paper, and she actually saw Gracie go pale. “What is it?” she demanded, reaching for her friend’s arm. “Gracie, what happened?”
Gracie lifted her gaze to Beth’s and opened and closed her mouth for a couple of seconds, but no sound escaped. Finally she took a deep, shuddering breath and managed to say, “I...uh. Here.” She handed over the paper and her ticket. Swallowing hard, she said, “You look. Double-check me.”
“Double-check?” Beth repeated. “You either won something or you didn’t.”
But she dutifully compared the numbers on Gracie’s ticket to the winning combination in the paper. Then she checked it again. And a third time. Excitement exploded inside her. Stunned, she stared at Gracie.
“What is it?” Piper’s voice broke into the taut silence. “Will somebody please tell me what’s going on?”
Beth laughed, shocked and happy and starting to really worry about Gracie. “Oh, I can tell you, but you might not believe me.” Laughter rang in her voice as she said, “Gracie’s buying lunch. She just won sixty million dollars.”
“What?” Piper grabbed the ticket and the paper.
Delighted, Beth, still laughing, grabbed her best friend’s hand and squeezed.
Gracie doubled over and said, “I think I’m going to be sick.”
* * *
Cam thought it was for the best that he and Beth hadn’t seen each other in a week. It forced them both to evaluate what was happening between them and decide where to go with it. The day of the fire she’d been shocked and worried, and she’d needed him. But since then, he hadn’t heard from her, and Cam figured there was a reason for that.
Bottom line, no matter what he felt when he was around her, he wasn’t going to set himself up for another princess betrayal.
Beth was still royalty here in Royal, Texas. And in spite of his wealth, Camden was still a half–Native American cowboy. Things hadn’t changed, not really. Society in Royal would always be two separate tiers, and climbing that particular ladder never went well—not that he was interested in their damn ladder anyway.
New money would never be looked at with the same reverence and respect as old money, and he didn’t care to try to change things. Actually he didn’t give a shit what anyone thought of him. He was exactly who he had always been. He just had more cash on hand now. And rich was definitely better than poor, he could admit.
But building his own life here—on his own—made more sense than revisiting the past with Beth and trying to remodel it. Loving her and yes, he had to admit that he loved her even more now than he once had, didn’t change anything. Hard to acknowledge, but dangerous to ignore.
“What are you thinking about that’s putting that scowl on your face?”
He looked at Tony and scowled deeper. “I’m not scowling.”
“Right.” Tony chuckled. He picked up the drawings of his ideas for the baseball camp that he’d spread out on Cam’s dining room table and said, “It’s Beth.”
“It’s none of your business.”
“Sure.” He chuckled again. “I saw you two dancing at the party last week. Just like old times.”
If he scowled any harder, Cam was pretty sure his face would just crack. “Beth isn’t on my mind.” Lies.