The Cowboy's Return (20 page)

She took strength from his touch then faced the people edging into the room.

Wallis and Vance stood staring at the sight. Lurleen pushed into the room and stopped short. Slim and Joe Bob pulled Cameron and Dillon inside. Something in Camila gave way. Years of being quiet, years of trying to fit in, years of trying to prove her worth came down to this moment.

“Wallis, you said Unie should be put in an institution. She was a nuisance to the town. Your son learned how to hate and get even from you and he learned it well. Just as your son did, Vance.” She spared Vance a glance. “So why the sad faces? Why isn’t everyone happy? Unie is gone. Her house can be torn down and you can rejoice because a human life means nothing to you.”

Wallis shuffled his feet. “I didn’t want this.”

“Bert.” She turned to him. “You won’t need to have Unie committed now. Why aren’t you celebrating?”

Bert looked away.

Horace stepped forward. “An ambulance is on the way. I’ll take these two ruffians to the station.”

“Daddy,” Cameron wailed. “You said she was a nuisance. You said—”

“You’re not putting my son in jail, Horace. We don’t know what happened here.”

Melvin and Thelma Boggs hurried in. “Oh, God,” Melvin said under his breath.

“Ma, do something,” Bert pleaded.

Thelma looked at her great-grandsons. “Did you boys do all this damage?”

Cameron and Dillon hung their heads.

“What did you think you were doing?” Thelma asked.

Cameron raised his head. “Daddy, Grandpa and Uncle Bert said she was a nuisance and should be put away. We were just playing, trying to scare her and—”

Thelma held up a hand. “Not one more word. Take them away, Horace.”

“Ma,” Bert begged.

Thelma turned on her son and grandsons. “I’m ashamed of all of you.” On those words, she walked out.

For once the Boggses had nothing to say. Horace took the boys by the arms and led them to his car.

“Camila,” Lurleen appealed. “Do something. Horace will listen to you. Please do something.”

Camila was numb. She brushed past Lurleen and stopped by Slim. “Please stay here until they pick up Unie’s body and take care of Lu Lu for me.” She handed him the cat.

“You can count on it.”

Camila dashed outside, hardly aware of the stares. She started to run and she kept running, past the residential section to the railroad tracks, to nowhere. She was running to nowhere, to oblivion, to block out everything she’d learned today.

Her breath locked in her throat and tears stung her face as she sank onto the railroad tracks, staring down that long expanse of rail. This wasn’t fictional. This was real.

Two strong arms lifted her to her feet. “Camila, what are you doing?” Tripp asked.

She wiped away tears with the back of her hand. “For years I’ve had this fictional train in my dreams. I can hear the whistle, but I can’t move. I can’t do anything—only wait for the pain. Then I wake up and realize it was just a dream. Tonight the train was real and I…I…how could they do that? How could…?”

“Shh.” Tripp took her in his arms and held her for a second. “Come on, my truck is over here.”

She walked with him to the truck and got in. “I have to go to Jilly.”

“You need some time.”

“Yeah.” She tucked her hair behind her ears. “I’m a mess, but I need to call Jilly.” She shrugged. “I have no idea where my purse or cell phone is.”

“Millie said to tell you she had them. She found them in the gym after the scene with Lurleen.” He handed her his phone. “You can use mine.”

Staring at the phone, she took a deep breath and poked out Benita’s number. She told Jilly she was going to be late and for her to stay with Benita, then she spoke with her mother telling her what had happened and asked her not to tell Jilly. Camila had to do that herself, when she was stronger.

She closed the phone. “I want to go somewhere I can be alone,” she said, looking at him, “with you.”

He nodded and started the truck. “I know the perfect spot.”

She leaned back against the headrest and closed her eyes, trying not to think, trying not to hear Lurleen’s words and trying not to see Unie’s body.

It was dark now and she realized they were at Lady Luck. Tripp drove to the barn and corrals. He got out and she followed, watching in a numblike state as he whistled and a horse came galloping to the fence.

He saddled the horse and led the mare to her. “This is Cayenne, but she responds to Cay. How about a ride to a secluded area?”

“Sure,” she answered, willing to go anywhere as long as he was with her.

It was a chilly moonlit night and she could see clearly as he swung into the saddle. Cay moved slightly and she heard the creak of leather. He held out his hand to her. “Put your left foot in the stirrup and swing up behind me.”

She placed her hand in his and did as he instructed. Within seconds, she was on the back of the horse holding tight to Tripp.

“Okay?” he asked.

“Yes,” she replied, resting her face against his back. Just touching him made her feel so much better.

With a nudge from Tripp, Cay set off at a trot through the woods. The easy rhythm of the horse lulled her into a better frame of mind. Cay slowed and Camila looked up to see trees all around them and a small pond glistened in the moonlight.

“Where are we?” she asked.

“This is the backwoods of Lady Luck. I mowed the weeds the other day and remembered all the times I came here to fish with Dad as a kid. I loved it and it’s very peaceful.” He helped her slide to the ground. “I brought a horse blanket.” He removed it from the front of the saddle and she hadn’t even realized it was there. “We can sit by the water and talk or just do nothing.”

She walked to the edge of the water. The wind blew her hair across her face and she didn’t bother to brush it away. Tripp spread the blanket out and she sank down. The night was all around them, deep blackness, just as it was around her heart. But the night couldn’t hurt her—not like the people of Bramble had.

She started to cry—for Unie. She didn’t care what they had done to her, but it broke her heart that Unie had to die frightened and alone. Tripp reached for her and she clung to him.

“I’m so sorry, Camila.” He stroked her hair. “So sorry you’ve been hurt again.”

“How could they do that? Be so careless with another person’s life?”

“Like you said, they learned from Wallis and Vance. Kids imitate their parents. That’s why Jilly is so wonderful. She takes after you.”

“This will be hard on her.”

“She has you and me to help her through it.”

He’d said
you and me
like they were a couple, and to Camila that sounded good. It sounded right. For years she’d tried to be the perfect mom, the perfect citizen, the perfect everything, just hoping people would see her for the good person she was. But not anymore. She was going to be herself like she’d told Benita and she wasn’t suppressing her emotions. She rested her head on Tripp’s shoulder.

Tripp watched her, hoping to ease the turmoil in her. It worried him that she hadn’t mentioned what Lurleen had said. He’d wanted answers, but the answers were nothing like he’d expected. He was trying very hard to keep his anger under control—for Camila.

“Do you want to talk about what Lurleen said?”

“You were right,” she replied. “Someone else was driving the car.”

“That’s about the only instinct that was right. Everything else I could never have imagined. It makes me so angry.”

“Me, too,” she admitted. “But when we give in to the anger and hatred that’s when bad things happen.”

“Yeah, but it’s still hard to control.”

She reached for his hand. “For years I blamed myself for Patrick’s death because I couldn’t love him the way he wanted. But I’m not to blame. I realize that now. If he could have sex with Lurleen, that means he didn’t love me all that much.”

“I think Patrick wanted the girl that no one else could have.”

She linked her fingers with his. “That’s why he wanted to turn our friendship into something more.”

“Yeah.”

“You have no reason to feel guilty either,” she told him.

“No. There were a lot of people blaming themselves for Patrick’s death, but Patrick is the only one to blame.”

The wind picked up and blew through the trees, rustling, whistling, and the guilt floated away without any hesitation. And they both let it go.

She turned to look at him in the darkness. “I’m so glad you were there that night. I don’t even want to think about what…”

“Shh.” He gently rocked her. “I will always be there for you—always.”

“Kiss me,” she begged.

His lips softly touched hers.

“The day of Jilly’s party, you asked how that made me feel and I said it reminded me of that night. But it didn’t. I lied because I was too afraid of all the emotions inside me, afraid to express them. Later I realized the fear came partly from my mother, but also from the fact that you believed the rumors.”

“Cam—”

She placed a finger over his lips, stopping him. “In a way, I believed them myself because I felt I’d driven Patrick to do what he did, especially by coming on to his brother. Maybe that’s what I had to prove to myself, to this town—that I was a good person.”

He kissed her hand. “You are a good person, inside and out. And I will never believe anything else for the rest of my life.”

“Kiss me,” she begged again and he gladly obliged, kissing her over and over. Between kisses, she murmured, “That makes me feel young, happy and very much a woman. I never realized how much I needed to feel that way—not until you touched me.”

“Camila,” he breathed against her mouth and deepened the kiss. Neither held anything back. Their lips and hands roamed freely, exploring, discovering each other. He bore her down on the blanket and the kiss went on. Finally he rested his head in the hollow of her neck.

She gulped in air. “Benita says what I feel for you is chemistry between a man and woman. But it’s so much more.”

He raised his head, his hair falling across his forehead. “What is it?”

She brushed his hair back. “I’ve loved you since I was sixteen years old when Patrick introduced me to his rodeo brother.”

“Oh, Camila. I…”

“I remember it vividly.” She caressed his face. “Patrick took me out to Lady Luck and you were roping calves and Morris was timing you. You were the most handsome man I’d ever met and I felt weak in the knees and a little faint. I’d never experienced an attraction like that before.”

“I remember it, too.” He rained kisses in the V of her blouse and on her neck. “I was instantly attracted to a teenage girlfriend of my brother’s. I thought you were the most beautiful sight I’d ever seen with your dark eyes and hair and I was jealous of Patrick.”

“Through all the years, the pain, that feeling has never changed for me,” she told him, finally unafraid to open up and expose her emotions. She trusted Tripp.

“Me, neither,” he admitted. “I love you. I’m going to love you forever.”

“I love you, too,” she breathed a moment before his lips took hers. The night and the chemistry took over and Camila lost herself in his touch, his kiss and it was everything she’d ever dreamed it would be.

Tripp had dreamed of this more times than he cared to remember and this was nothing like his dreams. This was better. She was real and he felt himself exploding with incredible pleasure at her gentle caress, her scent, her softness. But there was a line he knew he wouldn’t cross.

“Camila,” he groaned, his voice hoarse. “We have to stop. I don’t have any protection and I don’t want our first time to be like this.”

She ran her hands through his hair, holding on to him, not wanting to stop. But she knew he was right. There would be a tomorrow for them.

“You’ve been through so much tonight and…”

“Just hold me,” she said, her voice shaky. “Just hold me.”

He rolled to her side and pulled her against him. They lay silently staring at the stars, their heart rate subsiding.

Her hand rested on his chest and she could feel the steady beat of his heart. They lay holding onto each other.

“When things settle down, we’ll plan a wedding and you’ll wear a white dress….”

“I have a twelve-year-old daughter.”

“Doesn’t matter.” He trailed his fingers through her long tresses. “I want everything perfect for you—the way it should it be.”

“As long as I have you, everything will be perfect.”

“Always. I promise from this day forward.”

Soon they got to their feet.

“I better go to Jilly. I can tell her now.”

He gave her a long kiss, then tore his mouth away. They mounted Cay and rode back to Lady Luck.

The night had been horrendous, but through the pain, she and Tripp had admitted their love. They’d also found a way to deal with the past. Now they had to handle the present and the people of Bramble. Camila felt no fear. She and Tripp would do it together.

The days that followed weren’t easy. Jilly was very upset about Unie’s death and her main concern now was taking care of Lu Lu. Camila and Tripp were there to help her adjust. For the first time in her life, Camila had someone to help her with Jilly—someone to lean on. She ‘d never realized how good that felt.

The medical examiner’s report said Unie had died from a heart attack, probably between eight and nine o’clock that morning—that’s why the fire was still burning. So she was dead when the boys had started throwing the rocks. That was such a relief for a lot of people, especially Camila. It gave her peace that Unie had not died frightened.

Camila went to Temple to make arrangements for Unie’s funeral. She posted her death in the paper hoping a relative would come forward. Intending to pay for the funeral herself, she was surprised when people started coming in with donations. Almost every person in Bramble stopped by, including Thelma Boggs. She gave Camila a blank check, telling her to fill in the amount. Her first instinct was to tear it up, but she could see that Unie’s death had had a profound effect on everyone in this small town. A woman they had shunned, they now embraced.

Camila, Benita, Millie, Tripp, Slim and Joe Bob went through Unie’s things. The men cleared out the old worn furniture and carried it to the dump. Camila saved a few pieces that she felt were salvageable in case a relative showed up. The ladies sorted through Unie’s personal belongings. Millie and Benita were being civil to each other and that was wonderful to see.

In a drawer, they found a faded birth certificate for a baby boy who’d lived two days. Unie had had a son. With the certificate were love letters to a married man in Waco. The baby had been born in Waco, where Unie must have lived when she’d been young and pregnant. When the man wouldn’t marry her, she’d come home to live with her parents.

The letters and birth certificate explained a lot about Unie. The loss of her child and her lover had done something to her and she’d become a recluse. Unie may have been a loner but Camila would make sure she had a proper burial.

A man wearing a suit, with a briefcase in his hand, entered the house. They all stared at the stranger.

“The lady at the diner said I could find Camila Walker here,” he said.

Camila pushed to her feet from the floor, boxes strewn around her. “I’m Camila.”

The man shook her hand. “I’m Joel Benson from the Nation Bank in Temple.”

“Oh.” Camila had no idea who the man was.

Tripp and Benita walked over to see what the man wanted.

“I took care of Eunice Gimble’s account.”

Camila frowned. “What account?”

“Her savings account—the money she was saving for her son.”

Camila was dumbfounded. “She talked about saving money for her son, but I had no idea she’d set up a savings account.”

“She had an account for many years.” Mr. Benson laid his briefcase on the coffee table. “She wanted the money to go to her son, but I learned that he had died as a baby. The address she gave is her own.” He pulled out some papers. “Miss Gimble added a stipulation that if her son was no longer living, the money was to go to Camila Walker.”

“What?”

“Isn’t that sweet,” Millie said. “After all the times you helped Unie, she remembered.”

“I don’t want anything.” Camila was in shock. She didn’t want money for helping Unie.

“Come on, chick, you can take us all out to dinner,” Benita said.

Mr. Benson handed Camila an envelope. “You can buy a lot of dinners with that.”

She stared at the envelope. Tripp put his arm around her. “Take it. It’s what Unie wanted.”

Her hand trembled as she withdrew a check. She stared at the amount then glanced at Mr. Benson. “There must be some mistake.”

“No, ma’am.” Mr. Benson shook his head. “Four hundred sixty-seven thousand dollars and some odd cents.”

Everyone gasped and looked over Camila’s shoulder.

“Where…where did Unie get this kind of money?” was all she could say.

Mr. Benson shrugged. “She’s had an account at the bank for sixty years and her small social security check was on direct deposit and the interest added up.”

“But she had nothing,” Camila said. “She lived in poverty. She needed this money to live on. For God’s sake why didn’t you do something?” Anger bolted through her. Unie had been eating cat food and the money had been just sitting there.

“I barely knew the woman,” Mr. Benson said in his defense. “Mr. Cravey handled her account then he died about ten years ago. That’s when I got the account. I only met with her a couple of times, and now I’m just carrying out her instructions. She said Camila would know what to do with the money.” He closed his briefcase and walked out.

Tears rolled down Camila’s cheeks and Tripp took her in his arms. “Don’t,” he said, stroking her hair.

“This isn’t right,” she sniffled into his shoulder. “She needed so many things and…” She stopped and wiped at her eyes, remembering what Mr. Benson had said. “Ten years ago I was twenty and struggling to make a living for Jilly and me.”

“But I bet you had time for Unie.”

Camila thought back to when she started helping Unie. When she’d been a teenager, she’d helped Unie unload the cans from her truck. When her grandmother had had leftovers, Camila would sneak out of the house and take them to Unie. “Yes. I always tried to help her because she had nothing and people were mean to her.”

“Unie appreciated all the love you gave her and this is her way of showing it.”

Camila gave him a quick kiss, an idea forming in her head. “Yes. Unie said I’d know what to do with the money and I do.”

Tripp glanced at Benita and Benita glanced at Millie. They didn’t know what she had in mind, but they knew it would be selfless.

♦ ♦ ♦

T
HE NEWS OF THE MONEY
soon spread through Bramble and Camila tried to return the donations for Unie’s funeral, but no one would take their money back—not even Thelma Boggs. Camila postponed the funeral as long as she could, hoping a relative would come forward to claim Unie’s body. But Unie belonged to the town of Bramble.

The day of the funeral, the whole town shut down and the schools closed. The hearing for the boys had been earlier in the week and they were put on probation for a year. The judge also ordered the boys to do community service. One of the jobs they had to do was pick up all the aluminum cans around Bramble once a week. Wallis and Vance had to pay for the receptacle to store the cans then see that they were sold and the proceeds donated to the school gymnasium fund. Camila thought that was a great idea.

Unie’s body had been brought from Temple and Camila and Tripp stood at the back of the church greeting people along with Jilly, Benita, the Danielses and Morris. The church was packed with the citizens of Bramble.

Camila hugged Betty Sue and Jolene, and they took their seats with their kids.

“Are we gonna stand here all day?” Grif grumbled.

“Be nice, Grandpa,” Jilly warned.

“You’re getting as bossy as your grandma.”

Jilly grinned. “That’s, like, real good, huh, Grandma?”

Leona hugged Jilly. “Yes. It takes more than one strong woman to keep Griffin in line.”

“Hmmph,” Grif replied. “I’m finding me a seat. Come on, Jilly, you can sit with me.”

“Grif, Jilly…” Leona spluttered to a stop. “Let’s go, Jilly. He’s as stubborn as an ox.”

“Guess I better go, too,” Morris said. “Might need a referee and I left my whistle at home.”

Camila leaned against Tripp. “Jilly’s very diplomatic and handles her grandparents with class.”

“Hmm. Just like her mama.”

They stared into each other’s eyes and for a moment they were lost in the wonderful feelings they’d discovered.

“Cowboy, when are you going to marry my daughter?” Benita asked bluntly.

Tripp didn’t even pause. “Just as soon as I can.”

“We’ll have the biggest wedding this town has ever seen and all the Walker women will dance for you.”

Tripp held a hand to his chest. “Aw shucks, Benita. Don’t know if my heart can take that.”

“Cowboy, it will be a prelude to the honeymoon.”

Benita was back to her old self, laughing and joking, and it didn’t embarrass Camila. Those shackles from the past were gone, and she and her mother now understood and accepted each other for whom they were. And they still loved each other. That’s what true love was all about.

Earl, his wife and his mother walked in. Earl shook Tripp’s hand.

“How you doing?” Tripp asked Earl.

“Not too good,” Earl answered. “It’s an eye-opener to see my grandson’s behavior reflecting my own.”

“But something good has come out of this,” Thelma said. “The town is pulling together as a whole and I have great hopes for this community and my family.”

“Me, too,” Camila said.

“Thank you, Camila,” Thelma replied, and walked into the church.

“See you around, rodeo man.” Earl followed his mother.

Melvin, Bert and their wives were behind them. “I don’t know what to say to you, Camila,” Bert said. “I thought I had Bramble’s best interest in mind, but I was pandering to my own selfish, biased ideas. When my grandson starts to mimic my bad attitude, it’s time to take a hard look at my life.”

“A lot of us are doing that,” Camila replied.

Bert looked at Tripp. “You had every right to hit me. Surprised someone hadn’t done it before then.”

Tripp nodded and Bert and the others moved on.

Change wasn’t so bad, Camila thought. Mrs. Boggs was right—something good had come out of Unie’s death. It had brought all the hatred and bigotry to the surface and the people of Bramble had a good look at themselves. That brought change—in attitudes and behavior—something she’d thought she would never see.

She froze as Wallis, Lurleen, Vance, Debbie, Cameron and Dillon walked in. She’d seen them, but she hadn’t spoken to them since that awful day. Wyatt had questioned Lurleen about Patrick’s wreck and it was ruled an accident like it had been years ago. Everyone accepted that decision without any guilt—even the Danielses.

Wallis, Vance, Cameron and Dillon had been ordered by the judge to be pallbearers, so they had to be here. Slim and Joe Bob shared that duty.

Wallis walked up to Camila. Tripp stiffened beside her and Benita stepped closer. She would never have to face anything alone again.

“Camila, I…I’m sorry for everything that’s happened.” Wallis shoved his hands into his trouser pockets. “Now and…you know.”

She swallowed, not able to speak.

“Me, too,” Vance added.

“Thank you, Camila,” Cameron and Dillon chorused without prompting from their parents.

Before she could respond, Cameron said, “Daddy ordered some barrels and we’re going to paint them red and Mama’s going to write Unie’s Cans on them. We’ll place the barrels around town and people can throw their cans into them. Maybe soon we’ll have enough money to build a new gym. Jilly’ll be happy about that.”

“Yes, she would,” Camila said, hardly able to believe the change in these people.

The group moved into the church.

“If that don’t beat all,” Millie said, grinning at Camila as she followed them.

“Come on, chick,” Benita said. “We can’t start this without you.”

“Be right there.” She turned to look at Tripp and he smiled.

“You’re wonderful,” he whispered, giving her a long kiss. “The next time we’re in this church, we’re getting married and it can’t be soon enough for me.”

“Me, neither.” They had agreed to wait to make love until they were married and now Camila was wondering if that was a wise decision. The restraint was getting to both of them, but Tripp wanted her to have a perfect wedding, everything a girl dreamed about. The only thing she dreamed about these days was him. She didn’t think it would be too hard to change his mind. Later, she would do just that. She took his hand and she and the cowboy walked into the church to pay their last respects to Unie.

And the future awaited them.

In Bramble, Texas.