Canyon Walls (14 page)

The shadows under his eyes made him appear worn down. “I need you to trust me.”

“Will, I—”

“No, Cassie. Please listen to what I have to say.” He reached out to her but withdrew his hand before he touched her. “I know asking you to trust me on this is a lot to ask. I know it won't be easy. But give me another chance.”

“I've given you enough chances.” Without missing a beat, she whistled. “Hey, guys. Let's head back down to camp.”

As the group gathered around her, Will stood stone-faced. When she looked behind her, Will sat on a boulder with his head in his hands.

Sixteen

That night Cassie stood at her kitchen sink, filling a pot with water. Her mom walked in behind her. “I think I'm all packed to leave in the morning.”

“I can't believe you're leaving already,” Cassie said.

Her mom and sister going home was bittersweet for Cassie. They still drove her crazy at times, but she never could have imagined she would be so sad to see them go.

Her mom took the pot of water from Cassie's hands and set it on the stove. “I took a walk this evening. The canyon was absolutely beautiful.”

Cassie was happy her mom was finally beginning to see what she saw in the camp. If only the camp's survival wasn't at stake. “That's great, Mom.”

Her mother turned the burner on high. “I met Will Overman while I was down there,” she said nonchalantly.

Cassie's shoulders tensed at the mention of his name. Will had a knack for secret meetings with the important people in Cassie's life. “You did?”

Her mom poured salt into her palm and then dusted it into the pot. “He seems like a nice young man.”

Cassie pulled a skillet from a cabinet beside the stove. “Sure. He seems nice.” Unfortunately, there were two sides to Will.

“He's obviously torn up about whatever happened between you two,” her mother said.

Cassie should have known he would try to charm her mom, too. She placed her hands on her hips. “Why? What did he say?”

“That he had been an idiot.”

Cassie dropped her arms and opened the refrigerator door. “Well, at least he knows it.”

“Cassie.” Her mother's voice softened. “I know I butt into your business more than I should and that you don't necessarily want to hear your old mom's advice.”

Cassie took a green pepper from the drawer and closed the refrigerator door. “Go ahead, Mom. What do you have to say?”

Her mother didn't answer at first. “I think you should give him another chance.”

First Beth, now her mom. Just because Cassie acted strong didn't mean she could deal with a broken heart. She shook her head. “You don't understand, Mom. It's impossible.”

Her mother hugged her and whispered, “Nothing's impossible, darling.”

Cassie blinked back the tears in her eyes. “This is. It's too messy.”

Her mom held Cassie's elbows and forced her to look into her eyes. “Listen to me. I don't want you to ever hide from something wonderful because of fear or because of the mistakes I made.”

Melissa walked in from the living room. “What are you two talking about? It's so serious in here.”

Still surprised by what her mom had said, Cassie watched her as she ignored Melissa and pulled a cutting board from the cabinet. Until then, Cassie hadn't realized her mom felt responsible for Cassie being alone.

After her mom and sister had gone to bed, Cassie sat in a rocking chair on her back porch. She couldn't hear any cars from her house, and there weren't any airports nearby. The camp below was quiet. All she could hear was the breeze rustling the leaves and the crickets chirping.

She stared out into the trees behind her house and pulled the quilt more tightly around her shoulders. She had to remind herself the Will in the camp right now wasn't the Will who had spent an evening star watching with her or the one who sent her flowers. That wasn't the real Will. It couldn't be. That Will wouldn't have gone behind her back to hurt her and the camp for a business deal.

Lord, where do I go from here?

The back door slid open, and Cassie jumped in her seat.

Melissa wore pink satin pajamas, a satin robe, and matching slippers. She looked beautiful, even in the middle of the night, and Cassie felt underdressed in her flannel pants and T-shirt. “What are you doing out here? It's two in the morning.”

“Sometimes I have trouble sleeping,” Cassie said. “You?”

“Thirsty, and I saw you were out here.”

Melissa went back into the kitchen and came back with a glass of water and a dish towel she laid in the dusty seat before sitting. They sat in silence for a moment.

“Do you miss your girls and Daniel when you're away from home?” Cassie asked.

Melissa grinned. “I miss them so much. Don't get me wrong—it has been great to have a break, but I don't feel like myself when I'm away from them.” Melissa turned to her. “Do you ever think about getting married and having kids?”

“Of course. I would love that.”

“Really?”

Cassie looked up at the sky. It was clear, and the stars were shining. “It's not like Mom makes it out to be. I can't put a billboard up for a husband. And I'm okay with being single.”

“But you also can't close yourself off to the possibility. You have to put yourself in situations to meet someone.”

Melissa and Daniel had met in high school. “I've just always assumed that when it's meant to be, God will make it happen,” Cassie said.

Melissa took a long drink. “Does it get lonely out here by yourself?”

Cassie didn't know what she meant. Lonely in Oklahoma without family? Without a man in her life? With a house in the quiet canyon? “I don't really think about it like that. I have Beth and the rest of the staff, my friends from church, and lots of rowdy kids in the camp. I don't have much time to think about being lonely,” she said. Or maybe she didn't let herself have time to be lonely.

It had been different since Will had been around. Then everything had gotten turned upside down.

Melissa crossed her arms at her waist. “Sometimes I think about how lucky you are.”

Lucky?
Cassie turned to look at her sister.

“Don't look so surprised,” Melissa said. “You got to have a career and make close friends who aren't your friends because your husbands all work at the same place. You can move, figure out what you love to do.”

“I thought you loved being a mom. You're so good at it.”

Melissa tucked her hair behind both ears. “Oh, I do love being a mom, more than anything else in the world,” she said quickly. “But sometimes there is so much pressure from other people.”

Cassie had never heard her sister talk this openly about her own struggles. It was always about how great her life was.

“We constantly have to keep up with whatever his coworkers are doing—house, car, private school. His mom doesn't think much of me. She thinks I purposefully don't bring the kids over enough, but she doesn't realize it's hard work getting the kids loaded up and driving them by myself for three hours for such a short visit.” Her sister appeared so vulnerable.

“I didn't know,” Cassie said.

“And then there is Mom,” her sister said. “She's always asking me if I plan to finish college, which I tell her of course I would love to do, but it's not the easiest thing to find the time and money with two kids.”

Cassie didn't know her mom saw Melissa as anything but perfect. She squeezed her sister's arm. “You know I'm really proud of you.”

Melissa laughed.

“No, I'm serious. My baby sister has it all. She has a great husband and two girls, and she has done an amazing job raising them.”

Melissa bit her bottom lip. “Thank you. It means a lot.”

“I get so caught up with everything here, and sometimes I forget to tell you. I'm sorry for that.”

Melissa smiled with her lips pressed together. “Mom told me about Will. Do you want to talk about it?”

Cassie didn't have the energy to be angry at her mom for telling Melissa. They talked every day, and keeping secrets wasn't her mom's strong point. She cringed when she thought about how much her mom might have told Will during their talk. “I don't know.”

An owl cried in the tree above her.

“I'm sorry it didn't work out with him,” Melissa said.

Cassie felt an ache deep in her chest. She pulled her knees up against her body and leaned back in the chair. “I don't know anything about him. I can't believe anything he's ever told me. The hardest part is he's still the guy I fell for, but at the same time, he's not.”

Melissa took a long drink of water. “Love is hard. Daniel and I still have to work to keep ours strong.”

“Really?”

Melissa shrugged. “It's tough to have your heart in someone else's hands.”

A lump formed in Cassie's throat. “How do you know they won't trample on it?”

Melissa shook her head. “You don't.”

Cassie stared out into the darkness. “Then what makes love worth the risk?”

Melissa leaned on the arm of the chair, and a shadow covered her face. “You still care about him, don't you?”

“What makes you say that?”

“Because I've never seen my big sister actually calculating the cost.”

Cassie shook her head. “It's too late for us. At this point I don't even know how to fix it.”

“Sure you do,” Melissa said.

She looked at her sister. “I do?”

Melissa opened her eyes wide. “Of course. Deep down you know.”

Cassie had been thinking about Will from the moment he walked into her camp, and she still hadn't figured him out. How could she know?

Melissa leaned forward in her chair. “But usually whatever it is just seems too big or too difficult or too scary.”

Cassie's pulse raced.

Melissa smiled. “If you love him, really love him, you'll figure out how to do that big, scary thing.”

Cassie felt like God had been chiseling away at all the darkest places of her heart during the past few weeks, and it had been difficult and painful. Right now she felt like He had cracked her heart wide open, and she knew what she had to do.

Seventeen

Will and his father walked out of the small room they used as their conference room. “Do you think you could get those estimates finished by the end of the week?” Will's father asked.

Since returning from the retreat, Will operated on autopilot. His attempts to make things right with Cassie had failed, and he came back to an office full of work to close the deal on Sunset Camp. “I'll take care of it,” he told his father.

“Will.” His sister smiled at him from the receptionist's desk. She motioned her head toward the door. “Cassie is here to see you.”

The air rushed out of him.

Cassie stood at the front of the office, her hands hanging loose at her sides. “Hi, Will.”

Hope sprung up in his chest, but he pushed it away. Cassie despised him. He had hurt her, and he was paying the price. What was she doing here?

His father stepped between them. “Are you going to introduce us?”

“Sure. I'm sorry,” Will said, floundering for the right words to say. “This is Cassie Langley, director of Sunset Camp.”

His father reached a hand out to her.

“Cassie, this is my father, Leonard Overman.”

She looked pretty in jeans and a light blue top. Her face was pale, and she appeared more nervous than he had ever seen her. “It's a pleasure to meet you.”

Will's father clapped his hands together. “Well, what can we do for you, young lady?”

Please don't scare her away, Dad.

She swallowed and stared at Will. “Um. Well, actually, I came to ask Will if his offer still stood.” Her voice shook.

“Offer?” his father said. “What offer would that be?”

Will waited for her answer.

Cassie took a deep breath. “As you know, the camp is still in some financial trouble, and Will had kindly offered to help me work through some of those issues. Now I see how beneficial that could be for the camp, and I've rethought my refusal.”

Will's heartbeat pounded in his chest. Cassie was here with her guard down asking for him to come alongside her and save Sunset Camp.

His dad shook his head. “I'm sorry, but it's not quite that simple. We—”

Will walked toward Cassie. “Dad, let her finish.”

Cassie stood up straighter. “I know you've been working with Mr. Hartley to purchase the property, but if you consider the purpose of the camp and the good we could do there, you might reconsider.” Before giving them time to respond, Cassie said, “I respect that this is something you'll need to talk about. I appreciate your time. Will knows where to reach me.”

Cassie spun around and was out the door. Will followed her and caught her as she opened the door to her truck. “Wow. What just happened in there?”

Her big brown eyes stared up at him. “I know it's probably too late, but I've been pushing you away because I was afraid. It wasn't fair to you or the camp.”

He nodded, understanding how hard this was for her. “I'll need to work out a lot of things with my family and Mr. Hartley. It's not going to be easy.”

Cassie nodded. “The board meeting is on Saturday, so there isn't much time,” she said.

A hundred questions ran through Will's mind. Was it too late? Would his dad and brother agree to it? Could he get Marvin Hartley to agree to it? Would Cassie get scared and change her mind again?

Cassie, the woman who lived her life wearing a suit of armor, had come to him and dropped her defenses. If she saw that she could trust him with this, maybe she would be able to trust him with her heart.