To Get Me To You: A Small Town Southern Romance (Wishful Romance Book 1) (6 page)

“Of what?”

“That I’m not made for the kind of deep, long-term relationships that lead to marriage and family.”

“That’s horse shit.”

The invective made Norah want to hug her all over again. God it was good to be back in the South.

“Is it? I’m ambitious and talented. The child of two equally ambitious, talented people who tried to make it work and failed spectacularly. Burkes excel professionally and absolutely tank in relationships.”

“That doesn’t mean you’ll fail. Just means you haven’t found the right guy.”

“I can’t imagine the right guy. The guy who can deal with my ambition and not expect me to put it away to do the whole wife and baby thing. I’d go crazy inside a year.”

“I’m sorry, did it turn back to 1954 and I missed it? Live in the now, girl. Anyway, I think you’re selling yourself short.”

Norah jerked a shoulder. “And what about you? You’ve been doing the perpetually single dance since med school. If you made it past the third date, that was a long-term relationship.”

“I’m careful,” Miranda corrected. “Especially since I came home. Wishful is a pretty damned tiny dating pool, and it’s not getting any bigger. Not usually anyway. I fully expect Liam to have half a dozen proposals before summer.”

There was something in her friend’s too off-hand manner. “That annoys you.”

“What?”

“That all these women are going to be interested in this Liam guy. Who is he?”

Miranda waved a dismissive hand. “The Campbells and the Montgomerys have always been kind of intertwined. There are four of them and five of us in similar age ranges. Liam’s the oldest. A good friend of Mitch’s. He went straight into the Marines from high school. He just finished his third term and decided to move home to be closer to his mom. She’s widowed.”

“You like the hot ex-soldier,” Norah proclaimed, happy to shift the conversation away from the dismal state of
her
love life.

“How do you know he’s hot?”

“Goes without saying. He risked his life for our country.”

“He was hot before that.”

“I knew it! You like him!”

“I
did
like him. I had a ludicrous crush on him in high school, of the variety you can only have for your older brother’s best friend. Of course, he never actually saw me as anything other than Randa Panda because my rat bastard of a brother told him I still had the bear I carried around as a toddler.”

Norah winced in sympathy. “Have you seen him since high school?”

“Once at a Christmas party a few years back, when he was home on furlough. Where I was still Randa Panda. I freaking
hate
that nickname.”

“So I gather you didn’t have plans to show up at his welcome home party tonight in some knockout dress to make him realize you grew up?”

“Of course not.” Miranda dimpled. “I invited him to
my
party tomorrow night, where I’ll be wearing some knockout dress to make him realize I grew up. Not that I expect it to work, but it seems worth the effort to set the record straight.”

“Even though you totally still have Pammy the Panda?”

“In the name of our decade of friendship, you will take that to your grave.”

Norah nodded soberly. “Naturally.”

“On that note, I have something for you.” Miranda unfolded her long legs from the sofa and wandered into the kitchen. She returned a few minutes later with two slices of pie and a tiara.

“You got me a breakup pie?”

“Of course I did. You know the rule. ‘When they don’t stay, it’s queen for a day.’ So technically your queenship lasts through the party tomorrow.” Miranda set the pie down and tucked the tiara in Norah’s hair.

“Don’t need to be queen. Just need my best gal pal.”

“I’m always here. How long can you stay?”

There it was. Another opportunity to spill her guts. Norah tried to gather her courage as she dug into the French silk pie, but when she opened her mouth, a lie slipped out. “It’s up in the air. I took a leave of absence. I need some time to figure things out.” The last part, at least, was true.

You are an unmitigated coward.

“Good. You work too hard. Stay as long as you like. You know you’ve always got a place with me.”

And that was why she’d come. Because wherever life took her, Miranda was always home.

Norah worked up a smile. “It’s good to be back.”

Chapter 4

Cam was late to the party and well aware he was gonna hear about it. He’d considered not coming at all, but he wouldn’t put it past his cousins to come haul him bodily out of his house, and he preferred to show up under his own steam. Hush leapt down from the truck and Cam shut the door, trudging up the car-lined street toward Miranda’s place. His dog ran ahead, darting from bush to tree to car tire to sniff. He was probably gonna hear about having brought her, too, but she’d been stuck in the house all day while he helped his mom prepare for
her
party, and Cam figured it was a good escape mechanism. Win-win.

He didn’t bother knocking, just opened the front door and stepped inside. Music pumped through the lower floor, underscored by the din of conversation. People spilled into the rooms on either side of the entryway, surrounding the buffet in the dining room, trailing into the kitchen. Libation. That’s what he needed before facing the firing squad.

“This is taking fashionably late to a new extreme, don’t you think?” Tyler Edison looked amused from her post just inside the dining room.

“Yeah, well, my date took forever to get ready. All that primping.”

“If I’d known fur was an option, I’d have brought her a playmate. Speaking of, you might want to nab her before she bowls over the impromptu guest of honor.”

Cam spun just as Hush bolted into the den, making a beeline for a brunette in a little black dress. He leapt forward, but before he could get out a command, the woman was turning and crouching in her high, high heels, arms open to receive a hundred pounds of enthusiastic canine. They collided with joyful sounds on both sides. Hush trembled with excitement, tail wagging ninety to nothing, imperiling the knees of everyone around them as the woman rubbed her down. “Aren’t you just the sweetest thing? Who’s a good girl? Who’s a cute puppy?” She threw back her head in a laugh as his dog began bathing her face in kisses, her dark hair cascading in waves down her shoulders, her mouth curved in a smile that sucker punched Cam straight in the gut. His brain stuttered to a halt.

Wow.

“I don’t think anybody would call her a puppy.” Miranda turned a disapproving glare in his direction. “Cam, why in God’s name did you bring your dog?”

“She’s not two yet. Still a puppy.” He crossed to them and grabbed Hush by the collar. “And still learning her manners, I’m afraid. Sit, Hush.”

After a moment of indecision, Hush plopped her butt to the floor, tail still thumping a steady tattoo.

The woman looked up at him, peat-dark eyes ripe with amusement. “Aren’t you confusing her with multiple commands?”

She looked vaguely familiar, though Cam knew he’d never met her. No way would he have forgotten that smile. “No. Her name is Hush. It started out Sadie, but she talked so often the first few months and got told to hush, that’s what she started coming to, so it stuck.” He offered his hand and pulled her to her feet, sorry when her slim fingers released his.

“Oh Norah, your dress!”

That explained the familiarity. He’d seen pictures of Miranda’s old college roommate. Cam looked down, noted the white dog hair clinging to the fabric and winced. “Sorry. I’ve got a lint roller in my truck. I can go get it, if you like.”

“Oh smooth, Crawford,” Piper crooned with a laugh. “Great first impression.”

Norah waved a dismissive hand. “It’s just fur. A perfectly reasonable price to pay for puppy kisses from this sweet baby.” She scratched Hush under the chin, sent her back leg kicking. “You’re just a big teddy bear, aren’t you, girl?”

Delighted, Hush began to speak in her half howl, half singing voice as she slumped in a happy, boneless heap against Norah’s legs.

Norah braced herself for the extra weight and laughed again. “I stand corrected. A Wookie in a dog suit.”

“Half Alaskan malamute, half Great Pyrenees.”

“And all fur.” Miranda scowled. “Cam, she’s shedding on
everything
.”

“She’s not hurting a thing. Are you, baby?” As if to illustrate the point, Norah slipped out of her shoes and dropped back to the floor, neatly tucking her legs so Hush could sprawl across her lap.

Miranda threw up her hands. “Fine. You two dog people have fun. I’m going to see if I need to put out more sausage balls.”

“I’ll come with.” Piper followed her toward the dining room.

“Cam, if she gets into my buffet, it’s your head.”

“Yes, ma’am.” He saluted his cousin and watched her stalk toward the refreshments, where Liam was chatting with Tucker. Time to test his good fortune. “Is this floor taken?”

“Have a seat.”

He took up a position at the other end of his dog. “She’s pissed at me.”

“She’ll get over it. We’ll have to clean up the house again after the party anyway.”

“I suspect I may have just drafted myself for that job.”

“Well, you got points with
me
for bringing your dog to a people party.”

“Despite the mess to your dress?”

“Dresses can be cleaned. I don’t get to spend nearly enough time with dogs.” When Hush shifted in her lap, pawing her hand closer to the broad expanse of chest, Norah obliged, wringing a contented sigh from his pooch.

“Don’t have one yourself?”

“I live in an apartment and work long hours. It wouldn’t be fair to have a dog under those circumstances. I could have a cat but…why?”

“True enough. Did you have dogs growing up?”

“The only place we lived that would’ve been good for a dog was Hattiesburg, and we left there when I was eleven and my folks divorced. After that it was a string of big cities. Houston, Cincinnati, Philadelphia. A year in Boston before I left for school. My mom is a gifted pediatric surgeon, who’s always worked insane hours. My dad is a civil rights attorney who does the same, so a dog wasn’t really an option in either household.”

“That’s just tragic.”

“Little bit. But hard to argue when they’re both out there fighting for the greater good.”

There was something in her tone that made him wonder what else they’d done or, more likely, hadn’t done that she brushed off as being okay because they were doing good elsewhere.

“You never got one yourself?”

“I thought about it in college, but I knew I’d likely wind up back in the city for grad school. I promised myself if I ended up somewhere suitable after, then I’d get one. But I wound up staying in Chicago and—surprise, surprise—working as much as either of my parents.” She shrugged and focused hard on sussing out the rest of Hush’s favorite spots. “Sometimes I’ll stop by the dog park down from my apartment and just sit a while and watch them play. It’s relaxing.” A faint wash of color stained her cheeks as she glanced up at him, before turning back to the dog.

Christ, she was breaking his heart. Cam couldn’t imagine life without a dog. “Well, considering my dog appears to be completely besotted with you, seems like this trip should be a good opportunity for you to get your fill.”

“You don’t mind loaning her out?”

“She might come with her owner, when he can get free.”

Norah angled her head to study him, the lift of her brows indicating she’d caught his subtle flirtation. “How is it we’ve never met before this? In all the years I’ve known Miranda, all the times I’ve come home with her, I’ve met your entire family, including your mom. But never you.”

Cam leaned back against the wall, trailing his hand over Hush’s flank as he considered the question. “Well, when y’all were in school at Ole Miss, I was over at Auburn. It’s a much longer drive, so I didn’t come home as often.” A fact he now had cause to regret.

“You never visited Miranda in Chicago, while she was doing residency.”

“Hate the city.” He didn’t bother repressing the automatic shudder. “And you haven’t been back down here since she moved home. I’d have heard about it if you had. I’ve heard a great deal about you over the years. According to family reputation, you’re damn near perfect.”

Something flickered across her face at that, but her features smoothed quickly out into a self-deprecating smile. “Certifiable, type A overachiever, absolutely. But not perfect.”

“Lies!”

They both looked up as Mitch ambled over.

“Don’t listen to her, Cam. She’s just being modest.” He shifted his attention to Norah. “You’ve been hiding.”

“Not hiding. You’ve been circulating. I’m pretty sure I saw you making eyes at the woman who runs the hardware store.”

“Tyler? Nah. We’re just friends. Besides, you know I only have eyes for urbane brunettes.” Mitch held out both hands. “Come here and give me a hug.”