One
Nothing much had changed in Royal, Texas.
And Camden Guthrie was glad to see it. Sure, the town was a little bigger than he remembered and there were some new shops, but it was still the place where he’d grown up. Cam was only just beginning to realize how much he’d missed it. He’d been in self-imposed exile in Southern California for fifteen years, and now every breath of warm Texas air felt like a homecoming.
Damned if he’d ever leave again.
“Cam?”
He turned and smiled at the sheriff. Nathan Battles was older, so they hadn’t hung out much as kids, but no one was a stranger in a small town.
“Good to see you, Nate.” Cam held out a hand and Nate took it in a firm shake.
“I heard you bought the old Circle K ranch.”
“Of course you did.” Cam shook his head. Gossip was the lifeblood of small towns, and Royal was no different. And, given that Nate’s wife Amanda owned and ran the Royal Diner—basically ground zero for information exchanges—she probably kept him up-to-date on whatever she heard.
Nate grinned. “You want secrets? Don’t use Natalie Barnes as your real estate agent. She’s been telling everyone who will listen that you bought the ranch where you and your folks used to work.”
Cam nodded at the reminder. The Circle K had been a huge part of his life. His parents had both worked as horse trainers for the owner, and Cam, as a kid, had done whatever needed doing—from feeding the animals to mucking out stalls and carpentry work.
He had a lot of good memories of that place—along with some he’d worked hard to forget. Like the loss of his parents in a stable fire when he was seventeen. Bad wiring had started it, and his mother and father had been so determined to free the stalled horses that they’d been trapped inside when the roof finally collapsed.
But the ranch had remained his home. He’d continued to live and work there while he finished school. Two years ago, when he’d decided to come back to Royal, Cam had made an offer on the property, and when it was accepted he’d figured it was fate. Sort of coming full circle.
Now that he was back, he had a lot of ideas for improvements on the ranch and plenty of plans for its future. His future. A future he’d once believed would include Beth Wingate.
Damn. Even thinking her name had his blood racing. Fifteen years since he’d seen her. Fifteen years since he’d touched her. Yet, Beth was there. Always. In his mind. In a dark, locked-up corner of his heart.
“Yeah,” he finally said in response to Nate. “It’s good to be back.”
He wondered, though, if he’d feel the same once he’d seen Beth again.
Just thinking about her now could bring up so many mixed emotions. He buried them all because how the hell could he sort through them? He hadn’t come back to Royal for her. He’d come because this was his place. His home. Texas was in his blood, and Royal was his heartbeat. Over the years he’d silenced the urge to come home. He and his late wife, Julie, had built a life and a fortune in California, but always there had been the ache for Texas. Now he was back, and nothing would make him leave.
Not even the one woman who still haunted him.
Nate pulled the brim of his gray hat down lower over his eyes. “I hear you’re st
ocking some Longhorns on your ranch, along with the Black Angus.”
Cam laughed. “You hear plenty.”
“I do.” The sheriff gave him a shameless grin. “And I’m glad if it’s true. The Longhorn is pure Texas. It’s good you’re doing what you can to help the breed survive.”
He had bigger plans than just the Longhorns, but Cam wasn’t ready to let anyone else in on what he had in mind. Still, the thought of what was in the works made him smile.
“Well, it is true. I’ve got a small herd of a few hundred arriving end of the week.” Cam was finally living the dream he’d had since he was a kid. His own ranch. Run his way. “We’ll be keeping them separate from the Angus. Don’t want any crossbreeding.”
Nate laughed. “Better you than me. Riding herd on the town is enough excitement for me.”
Cam nodded and glanced around Main Street again. It was a quiet town and, he thought, a little bigger than he remembered it. The closest large city was Dallas, but here in Royal was everything anyone could need. County buildings crouched around a park with tidy flower beds, live oaks and manicured grass. Along the street were restaurants, a bank and dozens of shops—everything from hardware to hair salons.
The sidewalks were bustling but not crowded, and that was a relief. In Southern California, you practically had to lock yourself in a closet if you wanted some space for yourself.
Now, in the first week of June, summer was just a promise and the humidity hadn’t quite reached air-conditioning-or-die level yet.
“I wanted to tell you,” Nate was saying, “I was real sorry to hear about Julie.”
Pain, sharp and swift, stabbed at Cam, stole his breath and then slowly slipped away again. He’d come to grips with the death of his wife two years ago. It was losing Julie that had finally convinced him to come back to Royal. But when he was reminded of it out of the blue, it could still hit him hard.
“Thanks, Nate. I appreciate it.” Polite but cool, letting his old friend know without saying that Cam didn’t want to talk about it.
Nate got the message. Nodding, he said, “Well, I’m guessing you’ve got a lot to do here in town. I’ll let you get to it.”