“No, she’s not. Lori is my daughter, Cam Murphy. Mine and mine alone. You can’t have her. It’s too late.”
Cam froze, standing with his fists clenched at his sides, all expression wiped from his face. He could have been carved from the granite on Murphy Mountain.
Sarah held her breath. For years she’d dreamed of this moment, of looking this man in the eyes and telling him that he was a sorry SOB. Well, she’d done it. He’d heard her loud and clear. He hadn’t liked it one bit, either. Good .
Sarah lifted her chin, daring him to challenge her. Instead, Cam closed his eyes and slowly lowered his chin to his chest.
Seconds ticked by like hours as she waited for his next move. The fragrance of roses from the memorial rose garden drifted on the air, and in the distance, she heard St. Stephen’s church bells ring the quarter-hour. She couldn’t have moved to save her life.
Finally, Cam lifted his head and looked her straight in the eyes. “Sarah, turning my back on you is the most shameful thing I have ever done. It’s the biggest regret of my life.”
Oh . Sarah blinked as shock overcame her anger. He’d blindsided her with that. Emotion clogged her throat. She would have thought that the assault on Andrew Cook that put the seventeen-year-old into the hospital and sixteen-year-old Cam Murphy in jail was his biggest regret.
She waited expectantly, but he remained stubbornly silent. Anger returned. Wasn’t he going to offer up an “I’m sorry”? Regrets were well and good, but she deserved an apology. She and her daughter both deserved a great big fat apology for what he’d done and said twenty years ago and for what he’d done and said today!
She folded her arms and waited.
Cam raked his fingers through his hair, sighed heavily, then showed that he wasn’t a total idiot by saying, “I’m sorry.”
Then he took a seat on the bench ringing the gazebo’s six sides. In a voice sounding tired and defeated, he said, “Maybe we should start this over. Hello, Sarah.”
The flicker of hope in his eyes caused the sting of unwelcome tears once again in hers. Furiously, she blinked them away. She wasn’t sixteen and stupid. He wasn’t going to make up for this. He couldn’t. “I wish it were that simple. Unless you can figure out a way to unsay the words you said on Aspen Street, I have a huge mess on my hands. You see, until you opened your mouth in front of my festival booth, Eternity Springs didn’t know that you were Lori’s father.”
The look he shot her was sharp but showed no sign of surprise.
“You said you didn’t want us, so I lied to everyone—even my parents,” she explained further. “I said I had had too much to drink at a party over in Crested Butte and slept with a tourist. For a while there, I was the biggest scandal to hit Eternity Springs since, well, you.”
“Better to have been with a stranger instead of me?” he drawled bitterly.
“In Eternity Springs, months after you went to juvie jail for harming one of the town’s favorite sons? Yes. Besides, I was angry at you for rejecting us. I also thought it would make life easier for Lori if she didn’t have Murphy baggage to tote around.”
“Made your life easier, too, didn’t it?” he shot back. “Am I even listed on her birth certificate?”
Sarah shrugged her answer and tried to ignore the twinge of shame. “I’m not going to apologize for it. You called my baby a mistake.”
Cam looked away. “I never imagined you would lie about her paternity. You never lied.”
“Well, I did about that.” She lifted her chin, silently telling him to stuff his complaints.
“Wait a minute.” Cam sat up straight and frowned at Sarah. “In March, Lori went pale as a ship’s sail at the sound of my name. Who does she think I am?”
“She knows. I told her the truth when she turned sixteen. A handful of my closest friends know, too, but up until you opened your mouth, everybody else in town believed that the guy
Cam froze, standing with his fists clenched at his sides, all expression wiped from his face. He could have been carved from the granite on Murphy Mountain.
Sarah held her breath. For years she’d dreamed of this moment, of looking this man in the eyes and telling him that he was a sorry SOB. Well, she’d done it. He’d heard her loud and clear. He hadn’t liked it one bit, either. Good .
Sarah lifted her chin, daring him to challenge her. Instead, Cam closed his eyes and slowly lowered his chin to his chest.
Seconds ticked by like hours as she waited for his next move. The fragrance of roses from the memorial rose garden drifted on the air, and in the distance, she heard St. Stephen’s church bells ring the quarter-hour. She couldn’t have moved to save her life.
Finally, Cam lifted his head and looked her straight in the eyes. “Sarah, turning my back on you is the most shameful thing I have ever done. It’s the biggest regret of my life.”
Oh . Sarah blinked as shock overcame her anger. He’d blindsided her with that. Emotion clogged her throat. She would have thought that the assault on Andrew Cook that put the seventeen-year-old into the hospital and sixteen-year-old Cam Murphy in jail was his biggest regret.
She waited expectantly, but he remained stubbornly silent. Anger returned. Wasn’t he going to offer up an “I’m sorry”? Regrets were well and good, but she deserved an apology. She and her daughter both deserved a great big fat apology for what he’d done and said twenty years ago and for what he’d done and said today!
She folded her arms and waited.
Cam raked his fingers through his hair, sighed heavily, then showed that he wasn’t a total idiot by saying, “I’m sorry.”
Then he took a seat on the bench ringing the gazebo’s six sides. In a voice sounding tired and defeated, he said, “Maybe we should start this over. Hello, Sarah.”
The flicker of hope in his eyes caused the sting of unwelcome tears once again in hers. Furiously, she blinked them away. She wasn’t sixteen and stupid. He wasn’t going to make up for this. He couldn’t. “I wish it were that simple. Unless you can figure out a way to unsay the words you said on Aspen Street, I have a huge mess on my hands. You see, until you opened your mouth in front of my festival booth, Eternity Springs didn’t know that you were Lori’s father.”
The look he shot her was sharp but showed no sign of surprise.
“You said you didn’t want us, so I lied to everyone—even my parents,” she explained further. “I said I had had too much to drink at a party over in Crested Butte and slept with a tourist. For a while there, I was the biggest scandal to hit Eternity Springs since, well, you.”
“Better to have been with a stranger instead of me?” he drawled bitterly.
“In Eternity Springs, months after you went to juvie jail for harming one of the town’s favorite sons? Yes. Besides, I was angry at you for rejecting us. I also thought it would make life easier for Lori if she didn’t have Murphy baggage to tote around.”
“Made your life easier, too, didn’t it?” he shot back. “Am I even listed on her birth certificate?”
Sarah shrugged her answer and tried to ignore the twinge of shame. “I’m not going to apologize for it. You called my baby a mistake.”
Cam looked away. “I never imagined you would lie about her paternity. You never lied.”
“Well, I did about that.” She lifted her chin, silently telling him to stuff his complaints.
“Wait a minute.” Cam sat up straight and frowned at Sarah. “In March, Lori went pale as a ship’s sail at the sound of my name. Who does she think I am?”
“She knows. I told her the truth when she turned sixteen. A handful of my closest friends know, too, but up until you opened your mouth, everybody else in town believed that the guy
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