Page 72 of Camilla & Dallas
“Really?”
He nodded, then slowed so he could face her. “In high school, I…” He grimaced. “I may have dated more than one of her friends.”
She gasped, her eyes flying wide. “Dallas! Isn’t that against some sort of code?”
“Probably,” he said dismally. “I wasn’t exactly the upstanding man I am today. I think that’s when our relationship with each other started to crumble. Cheyenne is very protective of what she thinks belongs to her. So, I should probably apologize for my hand in what she did.”
Camilla reached forward and took his hand, sending shocks of electricity through his body. Besides the way she’d clung to him on the ATV, she hadn’t touched him since that night at the country club. He stared down in awe of how easy it was for her to affect him, but then her words ripped him to the present. “It’s not your fault. Cheyenne is responsible for her own choices, just like you are.” She gave him a wan smile. “Just like me.”
He didn’t want to assume that this was another breakthrough. Patience. He needed to have patience to earn her trust. Patience to hear back about that job. And to tell her that he’d bought them a little house when she was ready.
Dallas squeezed her hand and nodded.
“When do you leave?”
He frowned. “What do you mean?”
“Your job. I know you’re leaving any day now.”
Tilting his head, he stepped toward her. “I got an extended stay.”
He hated how much he adored the flicker of hope in her eyes—because he’d been the one to snuff it out in the first place.
“Really?”
Dallas nodded. “Really,” he said. “Right now, I’m not sure when or if I’ll have to leave.” He kissed the tip of her nose, purposefully ignoring the question in her eyes. He wasn’t ready to elaborate.
Or perhaps she wasn’t ready to hear it. Not until he had something concrete to give her.
“Come on. Let’s go. I found some fresh tracks before…” His voice trailed off. Before the fragile walls of their life had fallen. Before the truths had been released from their cages. Before he’d started the arduous process of making amends.
30
Camilla
“You’ve been spending a lot more time with Dallas lately,” Isabelle said.
Camilla lifted her head from where it had been resting in her hands as Isabelle breezed into the room. “So?”
Her sister plopped down on the table across from her, an apple she’d swiped from the fruit bowl in her hand. She took a bite and chewed thoughtfully. “I always liked him more than Cheyenne.”
Eyes narrowing on her sister, Camilla reminded herself that Isabelle had always been nosy when it came to relationships. This wasn’t anything new. But the fact that she was privy to not only the drama with Dallas but also to the issues with Cheyenne seemed to eat at her anyway.
Isabelle snickered. “Come on, you know I never got along well with Cheyenne. Whenever she hung out with you, it had tobe just the two of you. I was never allowed to tag along unless you invited me before she voiced her objection.”
Was that true? Sheesh, how had she never noticed that before?
Her sister sighed and settled back in her chair.
“Why didn’t you say anything?” Camilla finally asked. “Why not tell me that Cheyenne was being a brat?”
A shrug was all she got in response.
“You can tell me. It’s not like I’m going to go tell her or anything.”
Isabelle leaned forward. “Because she was your best friend. I might not have liked the way she monopolized you, but I could empathize with her. She was a twin. A half of a whole. And her twin left. I wasn’t going to try to insert myself into a friendship she probably desperately needed.”
After everything Camilla was dealing with, she hadn’t expected Isabelle’s sweet perspective to affect her so deeply. She made a good point, all the while staying objective. Isabelle was one of the good ones. She was levelheaded enough to see things for what they were.
