That Night in Texas
“It’s a very good time to talk some sense into you,” Ryder said, ignoring the open door and walking down the hallway to the sitting room.
Cam cursed, closed the front door and followed Ryder into the room. Ryder poured himself a whiskey and pointed the glass in his direction.
“I’m sick of you not answering my calls, ignoring business. It’s time to get your head on straight, McNeal, and I’m the man to do it,” Ryder said, lowering his brows in what Cam called his angry bison look.
“It’s not necessary, Ryder.”
Ryder was not in the mood to listen. “I’ve left three messages for you, a couple of emails, and you haven’t replied to one.”
He sounded like an irate teenage girl. “I didn’t think that your idea to host a Flood Relief Gala as the TCC Houston’s first fund-raiser required an immediate response,” Cam responded.
Some of the wind left Ryder’s puffed-up sails. He stared into his now empty glass and Cam noticed his concerned expression. “I’m worried about you, Camden.”
There was a lot of truth behind that statement and Cam felt his throat tighten. Ryder’s genuine concern touched him. “I’m fine, Ryder, really.”
“You might be fine in an ‘I like being alone’ way but you are not fine in an ‘I’m in love’ way,” Ryder insisted.
Well, he could be if Ryder would just let him leave.
“I know what it’s like to be in love, Cam, and I know how it feels to lose the woman you love. And I am so mad at you because I would’ve done anything to have more time with Elinah, anything at all! But it’s your stubbornness that’s standing in the way of your happiness and that just pisses me off.”
“How do you know that Viv didn’t dump me?”
“Because that woman is so in love with you she can hardly see straight. You’re the one who has stomped on the brakes because you are scared of love.”
“I know.”
“Don’t you argue with me!” Ryder retorted, obviously not hearing Cam’s reply. “You haven’t had a long-term relationship. You never even date the same girl twice! I’ve never seen you respond to anyone the way you do with Vivi. It’s like she’s switched on a light inside of you.”
Exactly. “I know, Ryder,” Cam said, trying to be patient.
“She’s your Elinah, Cam. Why can’t you see that and do something about it instead of hanging out in this god-awful house and moping?”
Okay, his house was quiet and a little cold but “god-awful” was pushing it. He needed to get Ryder to listen.
“Well, I’d really like to remedy that, Ryder, but instead I’m standing in my sitting room with an old man who seems intent on lecturing me about getting my head out of my ass. Just in case you’re having a hard time keeping up, given your age and all that, I’d really like to go and win my woman back. So if you wouldn’t mind leaving...?”
Ryder frowned, grinned as the words sank in, and frowned again. He picked up his dark brown Stetson, jammed it on his head and folded his arms. “Who are you calling old, boy?”
“You,” Cam replied, unperturbed. He placed a hand on Ryder’s back and pushed him in the direction of the front door. “And you called my house god-awful.”
“It is,” Ryder insisted, stepping into the hallway. “But maybe Vivi can sort it out for you.”
“Vivi won’t have time because she’s going back to work,” Cam told him, reaching around his friend to open the front door.
“She’s got a new job?” Ryder asked as they left the house and walked in the direction of his massive truck. “Where is she working now?”
“Nowhere, as far as I know. No, she’s going to reopen The Rollin’ Smoke because that’s what she really wants to do. I don’t care if it takes fifty years to convince her, but she will resurrect that restaurant. It’s her dream, Ryder. I want her to have it.”
Ryder nodded and gripped Cam’s shoulder. “Good man. But before you broach that subject, tell her you love her and because you love her, you’d do anything for her.”