Page 65 of The Cowboy's Miracle Baby

She nodded again, but only half-heartedly.

As they were finishing their dinners, Sarah got to her feet and clapped a spoon on the side of her wineglass for attention.

“Thank you all for coming out on this wintery night, braving the roads and the snow to help us celebrate this evening with Will and Izzy—Isabella. It means so much to all of us that you’re here. When you throw a wedding—which we do a lot here on the Hard Eight—you just hope everything will work out. But when it’s your own son getting married and welcoming such a wonderful new daughter into our family, well, we know some of you have traveled a long way to be here and you’re here because you love Will and Izzy as much as we do. Thank you. And here’s a toast to the bride and groom. May this day be only the first of many, many happy days to come in your marriage and may you take all the love in this room with you on that journey together. And I just want to be the first to officially say, Isabella, welcome to our family!”

The guests all cheered and applauded as Will and Izzy kissed at the bride’s table. Izzy’s parents stood for a toast which was long-winded and not as backhanded as it might have been. Will’s best man and partner in the limo company, Isaiah, a still-formidable, former linebacker in the NFL, gave a brief but heartfelt toast threatening to move the limo company to Montana if Will and Izzy didn’t come back to Dallas for a visit soon.

But Cami got to her feet next and raised a glass.

“There’s something to be said for new beginnings,” she said, and he noticed there was only a slight slur to her words. “To letting go of the past and looking at the future with fresh eyes. That’s what these two have done—my dear brother and my newest sister. Because you both knew that hanging onto what once was would never make you happy. And now look at you. I love you both so much,” she said. “I love your joy together. And the way you support each other’s strengths. And I love your honesty with each other—even if it did take a little while from your pretending to love each other to that love becoming the real thing.”

The family laughed at that.

“But maybe it was all more complicated than that. Who knows? Love, and even the idea of love, is mysterious. Like Santa Claus and Christmas and even happily ever afters. You can believe in them or not. But it takes real faith to make any of them work. Either way, it all comes down to honesty with each other. Because without it, what have we got?Dishonesty. That’s what.” Her gaze flicked to Gus, but she looked quickly away. “Anyway, I digress.” She raised her glass and everyone in the room followed suit. “Here’s to the two of you. May your love last forever and may you be happy together for the rest of your lives. Here’s to Will and Izzy!”

The couple kissed a long and happy kiss to the crowd’s delight.

*

Until that moment,Gus had wondered if he was imagining that something had shifted between him and Cami. That it wasn’t just the wedding or distraction or something else that had her avoiding him now. Now, it seemed clear that it was none of those things, but more like a… direct message to him through her speech to the happy couple. And when she left the table directly after her speech and disappeared into the kitchen, he got up and followed her. Because this wasn’t going to be how it would go down.

The fault was clearly his for not sharing his feelings about… well, everything.

He was bad at it. Plain and simple. Lissa used to say so. She’d say, “I’m not a mind reader, Gus. You can’t expect me to know what you’re feeling at any given moment.”

But what she’d failed to understand was that hisfeelingsabout hard things were always buried so deep, even he couldn’t recognize them when they surfaced, so it was just easier to pretend they didn’t matter. Had he done the same to Cami? But why was she suddenly upset with him when a half hour ago, they’d been dancing? Kissing.

Animals were so much easier than humans. They didn’t ever ask hard things. Or expect anything from him. And in return, he fixed them, cared for them, and did his best to make them feel safe. Probably why he’d become a vet—because it was infinitely safer for him, too.

He pushed through the kitchen doors and saw her leaving out the back door. Weaving past the caterers, he followed her and found her leaning against the wall, standing in the snow.

“Hey,” he said as she turned to see him there.

“Hey. Oh. I’m, uh, sorry, I was just getting some air. I was going to come and find you.”

“Were you?”

She blinked. “Of course. I just—” she said, brushing a hand across her cheek. “Wedding toasts are so emotional!”

“Was it my imagination or was some of that directed at me?” he asked. “Honestly.”

She cleared her throat suspiciously. “I don’t think this is really the time to—”

“It is. It is the time. Because I can see you’re upset with me, and I want to know why.”

“Okay. Honestly?” She lifted her chin. “Why did you kiss me tonight? And the other day?”

Confused, he shook his head. “Why did I…kissyou?” He kissed her because… because—

“What is it you want from me, Gus?”

“Want from you? Nothing,” he answered defensively, unsure what the right answer was here. “I thought we were—”

“What? We were what exactly? Friends? Friends with benefits? A nice distraction until something better came along?”

He swallowed hard. “No. Where is this coming from, Cami?”

She shook off his hand. “I know I have no right to have any expectations of you, of your life or where you choose to be in your career. Except for one thing. As friends. Honesty. And so, I’ll be honest with you. I blame me for allowing myself to fall for you. Which I did.” Her eyes welled up again. “My fault. Because I knew, or I thought I knew your intentions. But you were just…what? Toying with my feelings?”

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