Page 28 of Cameron

Right now, she doubted most people could get down the snowy highway.

Sitting there, she collected her wits. Time to find her brother and demand he tell her what was going on.

As she rose from the chair, her mother walked into the room. “Are you all right? You’re white as that soon-to-be bride’s wedding veil.”

This was the bad part. Her mother didn’t deserve this kind of pain. She somehow had to keep this from her. But for how long? Especially if characters like that man came back. What if her mother had been behind the counter when he walked in the door?

“I’m fine. I didn’t sleep very well last night and I think it’s getting to me,” she said lying through her teeth, but to protect her mother.

“Maybe you should go lie down,” she said.

“I will just as soon as I talk to Edward about the cupola. They did such a great job installing it and I want to make certain that we paid Garrett for his help. He didn’t have to do that,” she said.

Her mother grinned. “It does add a special touch doesn’t it?”

“Yes,” she said, wanting to walk away.

“I’m going to work on the flowers for the wedding. Make certain we have everything we need,” she said.

“Good idea,” Samantha said and watched her mother walk away.

As soon as she was out the door, Samantha hurried down the hall to her brother’s office. Glancing inside, she noticed he wasn’t there.

Racing up the stairs to the family’s quarters, she knocked on his door and then slowly opened it. Nothing. Just nothing.

Quickly she dialed his cell phone and it went to voicemail. She was going to find him if she had to send the hounds searching for him.

She went out to the barn to a room where he liked to watch television. When she opened the door, he jumped.

“What are you doing?” she asked.

“Resting. I’ve got a headache,” he said.

The man did look tired. There were dark circles beneath his eyes and his skin was pale.

“Hey, thanks for going out and finding Cameron,” he said. “I told him to come back with me, but he refused. This wedding idea is not working out, Samantha. This has been a terrible idea,” he said. “It’s cost us so much money.”

The nerve. The gall. “Excuse me, but this wedding idea was mine. The money I took out of my portion of the inheritance. It’s only cost the ranch the cost of sprucing up the outside, which needed it badly.”

Turning, he faced her. “After this wedding, I’m shutting it down.”

“The hell you are,” she said suddenly angry. Why was he doing this now? “That business is mine, not yours.”

“Daddy left me in charge of the ranch and I’m telling you, we’re closing this down as soon as this wedding is over.”

Everything that had happened in the last twenty-four hours overwhelmed her and she raised her voice.

“What are you doing? You want to shut down the only business we have left that can possibly save this ranch. What have you done with the money? I just had a man walk in the front door who wanted to speak to you. He said you owe him a lot of money. Six figures. Where did you get that kind of cash, Edward? Where?”

Standing, her brother faced her, his dark brown eyes flashing with anger.

“He’s a grifter looking for a handout,” he said.

“A six-figure handout? I don’t think so,” she responded, pacing the floor. “And he had a pistol stuck down in his pants. He said you owed his boss money. He said to call him today or he would be back tomorrow to collect. We have a wedding here tomorrow, Edward.”

He shrugged and she knew he didn’t care. In fact, she honestly thought he wanted the wedding business to fail.

“Not my wedding. I didn’t want to get into this business, but you did and Mother went along with your idea.”

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