Green Mountain Collection 1 by Marie Force (18)

Cameron drove slowly and cautiously through town to Will’s house. She’d made the drive so many times with him by now that she knew exactly where she was going, but after just getting her car out of the shop, she was on the lookout for wayward moose and other hazards.

Nolan and Skeeter had done a beautiful job on the car, which looked as good as it had the day she picked it up from the dealer. Was that only sixteen days ago? One moose, one sexy rescuer and fifteen life-changing days later, she’d be going home a different person.

Driving past the spot where their first fateful encounter had occurred, Cameron’s eyes filled once again. She’d been an absolute disaster as her last day in the office passed faster than any day before it ever had.

Will had offered to take her to a hotel in Burlington for her last night in Vermont, but she’d told him she preferred his cozy cabin to a hotel. She wanted to spend their last night—for now—in the place where so many of their best moments had taken place.

She was clinging to those two little words for now with everything she had. With the website project ongoing, she’d be back to Vermont several times in the next few months as they worked through the various stages of the design and implementation. Her first return trip would occur in about a month.

Surely she could get through one month without him. She’d gotten through more than twenty-nine years without him, so she could survive thirty days. Or so she told herself. The thought of one day without Will’s handsome face on the pillow next to hers was almost too much to bear, let alone thirty such days.

She took the right-hand turn onto his long driveway and negotiated the ruts like a seasoned pro, pulling up to the house to find he wasn’t there yet. They’d had many a conversation about the fact that he never locked his house. The city girl in her couldn’t conceive of a universe in which people didn’t lock their doors. But the city girl in her also couldn’t have conceived of a place like Butler, Vermont, until she had experienced it for herself.

According to Will, unless you knew his house was there, you’d never have any reason to come down the road that led to it, so why bother to lock the place?

She opened the door to an enthusiastic greeting from Tanner and Trevor. Cameron would miss them almost as much as she’d miss Will. “Hey, boys.” She stepped aside to let them out to romp in the snow after the long afternoon cooped up in the house. Then she went over to stoke the fire like she’d seen Will do a hundred times.

It occurred to her how very much at home she’d come to feel in the secluded cabin in the woods, more so—if she was being honest—than she’d ever felt in the apartment she called home in the city. She liked the apartment and its lower Manhattan location, close to her office and many of her favorite haunts. But it was nowhere near as warm or as cozy as Will’s bare-bones cabin.

She checked on the dogs and then curled up on the sofa, pulling the down comforter over her as she watched the fire dancing in the stone fireplace. As she finally let herself relax, she made a vow to enjoy this evening with Will and not ruin it with maudlin displays of emotion.

The door flew open a short time later in a flurry of dog paws and gruff orders from Will. Tanner and Trevor were so happy to see him that they didn’t do a single thing he told them to do, which made Cameron laugh from the sofa.

“Don’t encourage them,” he said gruffly. “Hey, nice fire.”

“Thanks. I’m rather proud of it.”

“I’m turning you into a regular country girl,” he said as he carried brown grocery bags to the kitchen.

Reminded of all the ways she’d changed made Cameron wonder how her new self would feel about city life once she returned.

“Your car looks awesome. Nolan and Skeeter to the rescue.”

“They did a great job. She’s as pretty as she was before she met Fred.”

“I think I saw some cat gut in the grill,” he said with a teasing smile and a wink.

“That’s so gross. I still don’t believe he froze his dead cat.”

“My mom would swear on a stack of Bibles that it’s true. She went to school with him, and he’s always been odd.”

“That goes beyond odd. I can’t even think about it or I’ll never eat frozen food again.”

“Speaking of food, I’m making linguine with clam sauce.”

“You know how to make clam sauce?”

He finished stashing the groceries and came over to join her on the sofa, leaning in for a kiss. “Prepare to be dazzled.”

“I’m already dazzled,” she said, wrapping her hand around his neck to prolong the kiss.

“I have two presents for you. Which one do you want first? Big one or small one?”

“More presents? This really has to stop.”

“No, it doesn’t.”

She looked around him. “Where are they?”

“Behind the sofa.”

“You’re very sneaky.”

“I prefer stealthy to sneaky. What’s it going to be?”

Cameron pretended to give it some significant thought. “Small one first.”

He reached behind the sofa and plopped a small brown bag on her lap. “I couldn’t let you leave Vermont without one of these.”

Inside the bag, Cameron found an army green T-shirt that she held up to see what was printed on the front. The giant moose crossing sign made her want to laugh and cry at the same time.

“Fred and I hope you’ll think of us every time you wear that.”

“I’ll think of you both every minute of every day.”

“Maybe you could give me a tiny bit more time than Fred gets?”

Cameron appreciated his attempt to keep things lighthearted for as long as they could. “Nope. Sorry. He brought us together, so he’ll always own a piece of my heart.”

Smiling, he said, “Ready for the other gift?”

“I didn’t get you anything.”

“Don’t say that. You’ve given me so much. I haven’t had this much fun in a really long time. If ever.” He punctuated his sweet words with an even sweeter kiss, breaking away only to reach for the other package.

Cameron eyed the giant paper bag with trepidation.

“Go ahead.”

She put the bag on the floor so she could look inside. “Oh! Oh my God! Are those my boots?” She withdrew the gorgeous suede boots that were now a shade darker but were every bit as soft and gorgeous as they’d been before they encountered Vermont mud season.

“Mrs. Jefferson said she tried to retain the original color, but when she couldn’t do that she thought you’d rather have them a tad bit darker than not at all.”

Cameron couldn’t quit touching the soft suede or thinking about the night she’d ended up ankle deep in mud and he’d come to her rescue. Then the tears she’d managed to stave off all day were slipping down her cheeks. How was she supposed to handle her looming departure stoically if he insisted on being so sweet and thoughtful?

“Thank you for this,” she said. “It means so much to me that you went to the trouble to have them cleaned.”

“It was no trouble.”

She put down the boots and turned to him. “You’re the nicest guy I’ve ever known.”

“You know … You could just stay here forever.” The moment the words were out of his mouth, his eyes widened with dismay, as if he’d said something he hadn’t meant to. And then he looked directly at her, seeming to summon the courage to speak his mind. “I’d love that.”

“If I stayed forever?”

He nodded solemnly, and he’d never been more adorable.

“You’d probably get tired of me in no time.”

“No, I wouldn’t. You really could stay. If you want to. Like you said, someone has to oversee the website when it’s done. Why couldn’t it be you?”

He’d obviously given the matter some thought. “I don’t know what to say.”

“I didn’t mean to lay it on you like that, but I didn’t want you to leave without knowing what I’m thinking—or what I want.” As he spoke, his fingers spooled through her hair.

“What do you want?” she asked, even though she suspected she already knew.

“I want you. I want us. I want this. For a lot longer than fifteen days.”

“It’s all happened so quickly.”

“But it has happened, so now we’ve got to figure out what to do about it.”

“I need some time, Will. There’s so much to consider.”

“How much time?”

“I don’t know, but I can’t decide anything tonight or tomorrow or the next day.”

“Will you keep talking to me about what you’re thinking?”

“I’m going to want to talk to you all the time.”

“Good,” he said, sounding relieved.

She ran her fingers over the pulsating muscle in his cheek. “If it’s any consolation, I’m every bit as undone over this as you are.”

“It’s a huge consolation.”

He put his arms around her and held her for a long time.

Cameron had never felt more at home anywhere than she did with him, and for someone who’d had a somewhat lonely life, letting go of that feeling wouldn’t be easy.

Her ringing cell interrupted their quiet interlude. “Do you mind if I get that? I haven’t had a signal all day, and it might be Lucy about work.”

“Sure, go ahead.”

She bent to retrieve her phone from her purse on the floor, saw Troy’s name on the caller ID and took the call because she hadn’t talked to him in more than a week.

He started talking the minute she said hello. “What the heck did you say to Lucy? She’s melting down about you leaving the business and moving to Vermont.”

“Wait, what? I never told her I was moving to Vermont. Where did that come from?”

Cameron glanced at Will, who scratched Tanner’s ears as he stared into the fire. She wished the house were bigger so she could talk to Troy without him hearing her.

“You told her you dig the guy you met there.”

“I do, but I never said I was moving.”

“So you’re not?”

The thought of Lucy panicking about the business cut Cameron to the core. They’d built that business from nothing and had worked so hard for so long. Something in her died as she took a deep breath, and said, “No, I’m not.”

“Oh, good. I gotta say, I was kinda melting down, too! What would we do without you? When will you be home?

“Tomorrow. Tell Lucy to stop panicking. Everything is fine.”

“Call me when you’re back.”

“I will.”

“I’ve missed you, kiddo. Nothing is the same without you here.”

“I’ve missed you, too. See you soon.”

“Everything all right?” Will asked when she returned to the sofa and curled up next to him.

“Yeah.” Troy’s call had started a storm of turmoil inside her as she tried to process Lucy’s reaction to their recent conversation. She’d said what she thought Cameron wanted to hear, but had apparently panicked at the possibility of her partner making some serious life changes.

Could she honestly deny that she’d entertained the secret fantasy of relocating to Vermont and working with Will and his wonderful family and continuing their relationship in the place where it had begun?

No, she couldn’t deny that the possibility had hovered at the edge of her subconscious, even more so as her departure drew closer. It pained her to realize that she’d been so caught up in her romance with Will that she’d given much less thought than she should have to how her decisions would affect the friends she loved like family—especially Lucy.

She felt sick when she thought about how she would’ve felt if Lucy had decided to leave their business to move somewhere else. Losing Lucy in her daily life would’ve been devastating, both personally and professionally. How could she think it would be any less so for Lucy if she were the one who left?

Will reached for her hand. “What’re you thinking about over there?”

With his warm hand curled around hers, Cameron was reminded of what she stood to lose if she couldn’t find a way to keep him in her life. “Work. And stuff.”

“What stuff?”

“You. Me. New York. Vermont. My company. Your company. Your family. My friends. That kind of stuff.”

“It’s a lot to consider.”

“Yeah.”

“What you said to your friend just now …”

Cameron winced, hating herself in hindsight for taking the call. But how could she have known what Troy would say about Lucy?

“If things between us were to continue, you wouldn’t consider moving here? Ever?”

“I don’t know,” Cameron said, filled with despair as she realized they could no longer postpone this conversation. “I love it here, and I love being with you. This has been such an amazing couple of weeks in so many ways.”

“But?”

“My whole life is there. My friends are so important to me, and I’m important to them. We’re a bunch of misfits who found something in each other that we’d never had before. It would be hard for me to leave them. And then there’s my dad … He is what he is, but he’s still my dad.”

“It’s okay. It would be really hard for me to pick up my whole life and move there, so I get it.”

“Where does this leave us?”

“I guess we’ll have to wait and see what happens.”

“I knew this would be tough, but I didn’t expect to feel like my heart was being ripped out of my chest.”

Like he had so many times before, Will framed her face with his hands, looking at her as if she were the most precious thing in his world. “I didn’t expect any of this.” He bent his head to kiss her. “What do you say we pretend for a little while longer that you aren’t leaving tomorrow?”

“I say that sounds like a really good idea.” She didn’t want to think about what was waiting for her at home or how she would cope without Will now that she had found him. She wanted to enjoy him and this evening to the best of her ability. “Are you absolutely starving?”

“Not absolutely. Why?”

“I was thinking we might want to take a little rest before dinner.” She stretched dramatically. “I’m exhausted.”

“Are you now?” he asked, seeming to force a lighthearted tone when nothing about this situation was lighthearted. Not anymore.

“Uh-huh.” She got up and tugged him along with her to the bedroom.

The dogs whined when they were once again closed out.

Will began to unbutton his shirt, but Cameron pushed his hands out of the way. “Let me.”

Even though he stood perfectly still, she could feel the tension coming from him as she unbuttoned his shirt and pushed it off his shoulders. A thermal T-shirt joined the pile on the floor, leaving his chest bare. She nuzzled his chest hair, leaving a trail of kisses along his collarbone.

His arms came around her, tight and fierce, and she turned her face into his desperate kiss. Everything was different tonight, more fraught with emotion, more passionate. It was just more.

Cameron broke the kiss and buried her face in his chest, breathing in his familiar scent and trembling from the onslaught of emotions that gripped her. That he seemed to be grappling with the same emotions made her feel less alone with the agony of knowing their lovely time together was coming to an end—at least for now.

“You’re trembling, sweetheart,” he said as he lowered them onto the bed and hovered above her.

“I’m hanging on to my sanity by a very fine thread.” Why pretend otherwise?

“It’s going to be okay. We’ll figure this out.”

“Promise?”

He nodded solemnly, his eyes darkening when she tugged on the button to his jeans.

She absolutely adored the rippling muscles that covered his belly, the soft dusting of golden blond hair that led into denim so faded it was nearly white. Cameron wanted to kiss him and touch him everywhere. “Turn over.”

Rather than follow her order, though, he flexed his hips and pushed his hardness against her core, drawing a sharp gasp from her.

“Don’t try to distract me from what I want,” she said sternly.

“What do you want?”

“You.”

“I’m right here.”

“My way.” She slid her hands up to cup his pectorals, intentionally dragging her fingernails over his nipples. Pressing her lips to his throat, she took a nibble that made him groan. “Turn. Over.”

He flopped onto his back and let his arms fall to his sides. “Happy now?”

“Uh-huh.” She set out to drive him mad with her lips and tongue and hands. Feeling particularly brazen, she bit down gently on his nipple.

“Christ,” he said, the word escaping in an exaggerated hiss from between clenched teeth as he tugged urgently on the zipper to his jeans.

Cameron dragged her tongue over the fine hair covering his lower belly. “Getting tight in there?”

“Getting goddamned unbearable.”

“Hmm, that sounds uncomfortable.”

“Just a little.”

Cameron cupped him through the soft cotton, stroking from root to tip. “There’s nothing little about it.”

“Cameron, you’re driving me insane.”

She’d never seen him look or sound so tense, and the realization that she was truly getting to him truly got to her. “Maybe we should get these jeans out of the way so you can be more comfortable.”

His movements were jerky and rushed as he pushed his pants and boxers over his hips.

Laughing at his urgency, Cameron helped him get them off and threw them over her shoulder to the floor. Then she took a moment to appreciate what she’d uncovered, licking her lips as she tried to decide where she wanted to begin. With her hands on his thighs, she bent forward, letting her hair fall over his straining erection.

He grasped handfuls of her hair, almost demanding she focus on the part of him that most wanted her attention.

She bit her lip and smiled when she saw his eyes were closed, his lips parted and his breath raspy. Time to truly blow his mind, she thought as she ran her tongue over his full length, loving his tortured gasp and the tightening grip on her hair. Even the slight bite of pain was pleasurable.

All at once it became critically important to show him how much he’d come to mean to her. With love on her mind and filling her heart, she wrapped her hand around him and took him into her mouth.

Judging from the subtle lift of his hips and the fingers that delved into her hair, he liked what she was doing. “Mmm,” she said, letting her lips vibrate against his hard shaft, which surged and got even harder when she stroked him with her tongue.

“Cam …”

She pretended like she hadn’t heard him or the warning in his tone as she continued to lick and stroke and suck on the very tip.

“Baby,” he gasped. “I can’t …”

“Don’t,” she whispered. “Don’t hold back.” She took him deep again, squeezing with her hand and lips at the same time, keeping it up until he exploded into her mouth, thrusting deeper than she thought she could take him.

He released his tight hold on her hair and brought his hands up to cover his face. His chest heaved and a light sheen of perspiration coated his skin.

Cameron slid her hands up over his chest, kissing her way to his lips. Under her belly, his cock continued to pulsate.

Keeping one forearm over his eyes, he wrapped an arm around her.

She nudged at the arm that covered his eyes. “Are you in there?”

“I’m here, baby. You wiped me out. That was amazing. I’ve never felt anything like what you make me feel.”

She took great pleasure in knowing she’d pleased him. “You haven’t?”

“Not even close.”

“Look at me.”

He moved his arm off his face and met her gaze.

“I wanted to see your eyes. I love your eyes. They’re the most beautiful eyes I’ve ever seen. Your license probably says they’re brown, but that’s not giving them enough credit. They’re gold, especially when you’re turned on.”

“They must be really gold right now.” He caressed his way down her back, tugging at her jeans. “Can we get rid of these?”

“Absolutely.” Cameron scooted out of her jeans and panties and returned to her position on top of him, shivering at the sweet sensation of her skin encountering his.

“Are you cold?”

“No.”

“Then why are you shivering?”

“It’s you and us and knowing this is our last night. All of it.” Cameron felt him surge and harden under her belly.

With his arms around her, he turned them so he was on top, looking down at her with such tenderness and sincerity. He took her lips with the same tenderness, and she shivered again. Wrapping her legs around his hips she lost herself in the sensual kiss, the soft strokes of his tongue, the gentle caress of his hand on her breast.

She wanted to hold on tight to him and never let go, a feeling that was so new and so powerful she could barely process it.

“Hold that thought,” he said as he disentangled himself to get a condom.

He couldn’t have known what she was thinking when he said that, but the coincidence made her smile just the same.

“What?” he asked when he returned to find her grinning like a loon.

“I was holding my thought as directed.”

“And your thought made you smile like that?”

“It was a very good thought.” She stretched her arms above her head, loosening muscles that had gone tight with tension and desire.

He watched her intently. “Leave them there,” he said, curling her hands around the slats that made up his headboard.

As she gripped the cool wood, her entire body ignited and her nipples tightened from the way he looked at her. She watched as his gaze was drawn to her nipples.

Without touching her with anything other than his tongue and lips, he hovered over her, licking and tugging and sucking until her nipples ached, and still he didn’t touch her anywhere else. His biceps and triceps bulged from the effort to hold himself aloft over her.

She wanted to touch his arms and feel the strain of his muscles, but kept her hands wrapped around the posts. However, she couldn’t resist lifting her hips to press against the erection that hung heavy and hard between them.

“No cheating.” His lips skimmed her belly, making her quiver and strain to get closer.

Cameron wasn’t sure which was a bigger turn-on—his obvious strength or the soft brush of his lips over her sensitive skin.

“Open for me,” he whispered as he settled between her legs.

She edged her knees apart hesitantly, her muscles liquid and uncooperative as he eyed her core with barely restrained lust that made her burn. Knowing he wanted her so much was the biggest turn-on of all.

He dipped his head to tease her with his tongue, his broad shoulders forcing her legs farther apart. “Mmm, so sweet. I love how you taste.”

She was never going to survive this, she thought, and that was before he settled her legs on his shoulders and delved into her sex with his tongue and fingers, stroking her to a series of orgasms that had no beginning and no end. They rolled into each other like waves on a beach, growing in strength until she was on the verge of begging him to stop because she couldn’t take any more.

Seeming to sense that she’d reached her limit, he kissed his way up her body, lingering at her nipples and firing her up all over again like she hadn’t just experienced the first multiple orgasms of her life.

“Hey,” he whispered against her breast.

She forced her heavy eyelids open and focused on his unforgettable face.

“Still with me?” he asked, his lips stretching into a sexy grin full of male satisfaction.

“Barely.”

He nudged at her slickness with his hot, hard cock. “Is this okay?”

“Only if I can touch you, too.”

“Please do.”

Her arms ached from the tight grip she’d kept on the posts as she wrapped them around his neck and fell into a deep kiss as he entered her in tiny increments. He went slowly, giving her time to accommodate him as he devastated her with sexy kisses that had her squirming under him, looking for more.

She wouldn’t have thought she could come again, but when he reached down to where they were joined he proved her wrong with only the hard press of two fingers against her most sensitive place.

Riding the wave of her climax, he surged into her, hard and fast, exploding with a growl that vibrated against her neck when he collapsed into her waiting embrace.

Depleted, she dozed with him still inside her, her arms wrapped tight around him to ensure he couldn’t escape. After the most intense lovemaking she’d ever experienced, one thing was absolutely clear to her—this was it. He was it. The connection they shared was that thing people looked for their whole lives and often never found.

And if they had any prayer of making it work long-term, one of them would have to give up everything.

Long after Cameron drifted off, Will remained awake, watching her sleep and wishing things were different—or at the very least, less complicated. At some point during the last two weeks, he’d fallen in love and the idea of her leaving and maybe never coming back was flat-out unbearable.

He thought about the garment bag full of clothes Hunter had lent him and was glad now he’d left it in his truck. After hearing her side of the conversation with Troy, he’d decided it had been a foolhardy plan to think another week together would make some sort of difference. What it would’ve done was make everything worse. Why put off the inevitable? Why make what was already painful even more excruciating a week from now?

As much as he’d come to love her, he couldn’t imagine ditching his life in Vermont, his job, his family, his home to move to a place he’d never even seen. Sure, she would be there, and it would be awesome to be with her without a time limit looming over their heads. But he knew himself well enough to be certain he’d also yearn for all the things he’d left behind in the only home he’d ever known.

She stirred in her sleep, her lips moving in that adorable pucker he’d become so fond of. He’d miss sleeping with her, waking with her, working with her, laughing with her, making love with her. He’d miss everything about her sweet vulnerability and the way she craved the kind of family he’d taken for granted most of his life.

She’d shown him how lucky he’d been to grow up in the midst of Abbott madness and to work with his family as an adult. What would it have been like to be as alone in the world as she had been? She was living proof that money couldn’t buy happiness.

He wanted to fill all those gaps for her, but there was no escaping the simple fact that they led separate lives in vastly different places. He tucked a strand of her hair behind her ear and pressed a kiss to her forehead, torn and bleeding inside from the thought of her leaving in a few short hours.

She turned into his chest, sliding her arm around him like they’d been sleeping together for years rather than days. When she sighed, her breath made his chest hair flutter.

Moved by her very presence in a way he’d never been moved by any other woman, he was forced to admit that losing her was going to hurt like hell for a very long time. Sure, she’d be back in a month or so to report on website updates, but he couldn’t escape the overwhelming fact that after tonight, their personal fling might be over.

Unless … Was it possible that maybe she loved him, too? Did he dare risk telling her how he felt or would that only make the parting worse for both of them?

He wished he knew how best to play this. They ended up skipping dinner entirely, and as the hours ticked toward a dawn he’d been dreading for days, he was no closer to a plan. Will never slept that night. Rather, he spent the time enjoying the press of her warm skin against his. He breathed in her familiar scent and combed his fingers through her long hair.

When she awoke sometime after dawn, he got to see the exact moment when she recalled that today was the day she had to leave. And then he held her while she cried and made sweet love to her one last time, knowing all the while that he’d let her go because it was what she needed, but he’d never get over her.

A new dusting of snow overnight made everything look fresh and clean and more breathtakingly beautiful, if that was possible. Not that long ago, Vermont had been like a foreign country to Cameron, and now it was a place she was sad to be leaving.

“Have you got everything?” Will asked as he emerged from the cabin to see her off.

She rose from the crouch she’d been in to give hugs and kisses to Tanner and Trevor. “I think so.”

“If you forgot anything, I can always mail it to you.”

“That’s true.” Eyeing the car with a growing sense of trepidation, Cameron hoped that she could get herself home without messing it up again.

“You’ll be fine,” he said, seeming to read her mind. “Just take it nice and slow in the mountains.”

“Will the roads be slippery because of the snow?” she asked, expressing her greatest fear since she first spotted the new snowfall.

“Shouldn’t be too bad. The sun is much warmer this time of year, so it’ll melt pretty quickly.”

“Any idea where Fred hangs out on Saturday mornings?”

“Not really,” he said with a smile.

When there was nothing left to do but leave, she rested her hands on his flannel-covered chest and looked up at him, hoping he could see everything she felt for him on her face. “I had the best time. The very best time.”

“So did I. You know where I am if you ever get a hankering to live in the woods.”

“I won’t forget where you are, Will Abbott.”

He withdrew his business card from his back pocket. “Call me? I put my home number on the back.”

Cameron took the card from him and curled her hand around it. “Definitely.”

“Cam—”

She reached up to rest her fingers on his lips. “Don’t. Please don’t say anything that’ll make it worse than it already is.”

“Okay, I won’t make it worse. I’ll just tell you I’m here, and I want you. I want us. And I’m not going anywhere.”

Tears that she’d vowed to avoid filled her eyes and overflowed, spilling down her cheeks as she gently beat on his chest with closed fists. “You weren’t supposed to say anything to make it worse.”

He put his arms around her and held her close. “Sorry, but I couldn’t let you leave without knowing that.”

Cameron clung to him for a long time and then forced herself to let him go, since clinging to his sexy, muscular body certainly wasn’t making anything easier.

With the pads of his thumbs, he brushed the tears from her cheeks. “Will you be okay to drive?”

“Sure thing,” she said with bravado she didn’t feel. “Not to worry.”

“I will worry. Let me know that you got home safely, okay?”

“I will.” She went up on tiptoes to kiss him one last time. “Thank you for sharing your world with me. It’s an incredibly beautiful world.”

“It was my very great pleasure.”

She forced herself to step back, to let him go, to walk to her car on legs gone stiff and wooden. She felt like she was slogging through quicksand as she walked away from him when everything inside her craved more of him. In the car, she had to focus her thoughts to start the engine, to take the wheel, to actually leave him standing in the driveway with the dogs at his feet watching her go.

Half-blinded by tears, she drove down the rutted driveway that led to the main road, the same road where she’d encountered Fred. That night seemed like a long time ago, and it also seemed like just yesterday.

Mindful of the light coating of snow, her emotional state and Will’s advice to take it slow in the mountains, Cameron crept along, keeping her speed under twenty miles per hour. She navigated the last turn before the Butler town line and had to slam on the brakes when a huge obstruction appeared out of nowhere, blocking the road.

There was just enough moisture on the road to spin her tiny car around in a full circle that put her back where she started, her car nose-to-nose with Fred the moose. That’s when she completely lost her composure and broke down.

With her fingers gripping the wheel, she rested her forehead on the back of her hands, her shoulders heaving from deep, anguished sobs.

“Moooo.”

Cameron laughed through her tears as the absurdity of leaving the same way she’d come wasn’t lost on her, even in the midst of heartbreak. She tooted the horn, hoping to get Fred’s attention and get him moving into the woods.

“Moooo.”

Still timid enough around the supposedly “trained” moose to decide she was better off staying in the car than getting out to chat with him, she put the window down. “How about you cut me a break, Fred?”

He made a sound that could only be called a whimper.

Cameron knitted her brows as she stared into the moose’s dark eyes. “It was nice to meet you, too, Fred. I’ll be back. In a month or so. I’m sure we’ll see each other again. And I’m really sorry if I hurt you with my car. I didn’t mean to. I couldn’t see you in the dark. You should be careful about where you walk in the dark.” And you, Cameron Murphy, should be committed for having a conversation with a moose!

He stared at her for another long moment—long enough that Cameron wondered if she’d be stuck here all day with Fred blocking her way out of town. “Please, Fred? I need to go before I forget all the reasons I need to get home and go running back to him. Please?”

“Moooo.” He took a step forward and then another, sticks crunching under his hooves as he strolled into the woods as if he had not a care in the world.

Cameron had never imagined she’d actually be envious of a moose and his carefree existence. Releasing a deep sigh, she shifted the car into drive and continued on, all the while resisting the overpowering urge to make a U-turn and go back to him.