“Cameron, thank God. We’ve got a flat tire?—”
“We? Who? Where are you?”
“With Elise in the van, in Eagle Mountain.”
The silence lasted so long she thought the call dropped.
“You took her to Eagle Mountain?” he ground out the question. “To that vet school? Are you kidding me? You took her all the way there?”
“Look, it’s a long story and we’ll explain?—”
“You don’t have to, I already know her story.” She could practically hear him steadying his breath to tamp down his anger. “Send me a pin of your location. And then do not, for the love of God, move that van.”
Nicole swallowed hard. “Yes, but?—”
And then the call ended…on purpose.
Nicole stared at her phone, pulse pounding. “Well,” Nicole said softly, her throat tight. “That went…badly.”
Elise sighed. “I’ve tried and begged and failed to make him see my side. I wanted to get him out here to see the place but he wouldn’t come. I tried to get him to bring me to an interview, but…” She groaned. “Now he’s mad at me.”
“Oh, he’s mad at me, too,” Nicole said.
And she understood that. Maybe she’d gone too far, violated his trust, and taken sides in a family dispute where she had no right to be.
Then she looked up in the rearview mirror at Elise—beautiful, sparkling, clever Elise who had a dream and a chance to make it come true.
She’d fallen for Cameron, but she’d fallen for his sweet sister, too.
Closing her eyes, she dropped her head back as cold dread seeped into her heart. “I just hope,” she whispered, “our relationship can survive this.”
Nicole keptthe inside of the van warm with the engine running, but the euphoria had dropped considerably as they waited. Nicole sat in the driver’s seat, her hands gripping the steering wheel. Elise was silent behind her in the large middle space specially designed to accommodate a wheel chair, glumly looking outside at skies that threatened snow.
They’d talked for forty minutes, mostly about Cameron’s abject refusal to consider this opportunity, but even the loquacious Elise was out of words.
Nicole’s thoughts spun like the first flurries that blew past the windshield.
This morning had been filled with hope and promise, Elise glowing with excitement as they’d toured the campus. Now, that all melted away into icy dread.
She glanced at the clock on the dashboard. Cameron should be here any second. Her stomach twisted at the thought of seeing his face, of witnessing that anger she’d heard through the phone.
A minute later, Nicole’s breath caught at the sight of his slate gray Tundra pulling up behind them, crunching on the shoulder. Her pulse hammered as he cut the engine, flung open the door,and climbed out. He was still in his red and black ski patrol jacket, snow-dusted boots slamming against the frozen ground. His face…
Her heart plummeted. His face was a storm.
Before she could open the door, Cameron yanked the back door, whipping it open to come face to face with Elise.
“Seriously?” he spat the words. “Why would you do this?”
“Because I want?—”
“I know what you want, Elise,” he fired back at her, throwing his hands wide. “And I want a lot of things I can’t have, either.”
“Like what?” she demanded. “Like a job? Oh, you have two amazing jobs. Friends? Yes, you have a ton of them. A relationship?” She glanced at Nicole. “I guess I may have ruined that.”
His eyes shuttered, silent.
“No, I did that myself,” Nicole said, flipping the handle to climb out. “Can we just fix the flat? I have a dog talent show to get to.”
