Love in the Falls (2 page)

“Rise and shine!” Natalie yelled as she knocked on Camden’s door at eight o’clock the next morning. Preston was already having his coffee while Camden continued getting ready in the bedroom.

Preston swung open the door to see Natalie standing there all decked out in her best fall hiking clothes.

“Oh. Good morning, Pres,” she said, calling him by her own favorite nickname - which he despised.

“Preston.”

“Yeah, I know. Preston…” she said in her snootiest voice as she bowed like he was royalty. Something about Natalie had always rubbed him the wrong way. Perhaps it was her zest for life, her sarcastic sense of humor or maybe it was her complete lack of interest in him marrying her best friend.

“Camden will be out in a moment. Listen, can you please try to have her home by mid afternoon? I would like for her to have time this evening to plan a charity event…” he said.

“Well, Pres, I will do my best.” She smiled as she smacked him on the shoulder and slid past him to join Camden in the bedroom.

Camden was brushing her long, brown hair and pulling it back into a ponytail when Natalie entered the room.

“Nice outfit, Nat,” Camden said smiling as she saw Natalie approaching from behind her.

“Thanks. I ordered it just for this occasion,” she said smiling at herself in the mirror as she tilted and turned to check out every angle.

“Are you expecting some eligible bachelor to appear from behind a tree?”

“Hey, nothing is outside of the realm of possibility, right? Maybe I will meet a nice mountain man,” Natalie said grinning.

“What about Bruce? Aren’t you still dating him?”

“Actually, yes. We’re getting kind of hot and heavy. Meeting his parents this weekend!” Natalie squealed with delight. She had been looking for the right man for years, and Bruce Harrington just might be the one.

“Ready to go?” Camden asked as she checked the mirror one last time. Wearing an emerald green sweater, jeans and pair of hiking boots, she felt sure that she would stay warm enough in the cool mountain air.

She was excited to spend some time in the north Georgia mountains. She hadn’t been up there in years as it wasn’t really her family’s “thing”. They preferred the city life with its country clubs and cocktail parties.

Camden had wondered over the years why she stuck so close to them when her interests weren’t always the same. Sure, she loved a good cocktail party, but at her core she wasn’t sure she wanted this new life she had signed on for.

Now, she was feeling a bit of pressure to keep up the appearance of being the excited bride-to-be. Natalie knew she was having second thoughts, but she also knew that Camden was a woman of her word. And, if she said she would marry Preston, then she would do it no matter what.

Camden gave Preston a quick kiss on the cheek as the women headed out the door to jump into Natalie’s Volkswagen Bug. The two hour drive to the mountains would likely be filled with loud music and lots of laughter, which were two things that Camden needed most of all right now.

***

The little town of Norton’s Crossing didn’t offer a lot in the way of nightlife. Sam Steele was finding it harder and harder to meet the woman of his dreams in such a rural little town.

But, he'd had to run his family’s farm and store for the last three years, so he had no plans to leave. Truthfully, he loved the small town life. He just wanted a good woman to share it with that loved it like he did.

Life had been more stressful recently with the death of Sam’s beloved father, Hampton Steele. A noted man of the town, his father was the center of their family. His sudden passing six months ago had placed even more responsibility on 33 year old Sam’s shoulders.

Now, Sam was basically left alone to tend to things and make sure that the family legacy wasn’t in vain. His Dad had asked him to carry on and continue running the farm that had been in the family for four generations.

Of course, Sam loved running the farm. He adored having a store where people came from miles around to buy their fruits and vegetables. The corn maze that they had this time of year was fun for kids from all over the area. It was pumpkin time, and hordes of people were coming from several counties just to get one of the Steele Farm pumpkins.

When his best pal and co-worker, Drake Higgins, fixed him up with a girl named Jenny Dillon, he was happy to give it a shot.

Jenny was a friend of Drake’s cousin from two counties over. He had seen a picture of her online, and she was cute with her blond hair and bright blue eyes. A little young for his taste at only twenty five, Sam was still willing to go out on a date with her.

Since he had a rare Saturday off from the farm - mainly because Drake agreed to run things - Sam had invited Jenny to take a hike up to the falls. He loved living so close to the falls because he could go there anytime he wanted. Of course, he hadn’t been in months since he was so busy taking care of his father’s estate, the farm and the store.

“Ready for your big date?” Drake asked with a smile as he popped his head around the door of Sam’s office.

“I reckon so. It’s been awhile since I went on an official date,” Sam said with a smirk.

“You better be a gentleman, or my ass is grass, man,” Drake said punching him in the arm.

“I am ALWAYS a gentleman, Drake. You know my momma raised me right.” Sam smiled at the thought of his late mother, Amelia, who had passed away when he was only nineteen years old.

“Sam? A young lady is here to see you,” said Elda Pierce, the cashier at the store, as she poked her head around the corner.

Moments later, Jenny appeared in his office. She was shorter than he imagined. At almost six foot three inches tall, he towered over most women, but she couldn’t have been more than five foot one.

“Sam?” she said timidly as she looked up at his chiseled, rugged face with just a hint of sexy stubble.

“That would be me. Nice to finally meet you, Jenny,” he said reaching out to shake her hand. Her small hand was dwarfed by his massive grip. She didn’t look appropriately dressed for their hike either as she was wearing a denim miniskirt with dark gray leggings and a tight long sleeve navy shirt.

“Are you gonna be warm enough?” Sam asked looking her up and down. Their age difference was becoming more and more apparent to him, but he was in no position to ditch his new date now.

“Oh, sure. I’ll be fine. I was a cheerleader in high school, and we were outside in less than this all the time at games,” she said smiling as she looked down at her mini skirt.

“Alrighty then… I guess we’d better get going,” Sam said pointing to his truck just outside of the window.

“Have a good time!” Elda said as she and Drake waved at them.

Sam had no idea how his entire world was about to change in an instant.

The mountain air was crisp and cool as Natalie and Camden got out of her car. Camden was happy to be able to stretch her legs after the long car ride. She loved Natalie’s car in the city, but it wasn’t a great vehicle to take on such a long trip. At five foot six inches, Camden wasn’t exactly a tall person, but she had felt folded up inside of the Volkswagen for two hours.

The foliage in the mountains had already changed to shades of yellow, orange and gold which were breathtaking in their beauty. Camden remembered driving up to see the fall foliage with one of her high school boyfriends years ago. The mixture of colors was unlike anything she had ever seen.

Camden took in a deep breath of the mountain air as she closed her eyes.

“The city never smells this good,” she said to Natalie with a smile.

“I know. It’s invigorating, isn’t it?” Natalie said looking up at the trees in front of them. “Ready to hike?” she asked shutting the car door.

“Yep. Let’s do it,” Camden said as the pair started walking toward the paved pathway. Just then, the women heard a large truck pull into the parking lot. Out of it came a tiny blond woman with a miniskirt and a handsome and very tall man.

“Wow. Look at him. He’s very good looking,” Natalie said with a grin. “A little stubble, tousled hair, cowboy boots, tight jeans…”

“Nat! Think of Bruce!” Camden said giggling as she softly punched Natalie’s arm.

“Hey, I’m not the one who’s engaged!” Natalie said with a belly laugh. Her laugh was so loud that the man noticed them, and his eyes connected with Camden’s. For a split second, she felt an electric shock rock through her body.

“Mornin’, ladies,” he said tipping his well-worn baseball cap. His gray-blue eyes cut right through the cold Georgia air.

“Good morning,” Camden said quickly as she turned and walked toward the pathway. Natalie struggled to keep up with her.

“What was that about?” Natalie asked as she caught up to Camden.

“Nothing. Just ready to hike.” Camden wasn’t sure what that strange feeling was in the pit of her stomach, but she knew if she looked at the handsome stranger for one more moment, she might be tempted to find out.

***

“You’re pretty fast for someone who has never hiked before,” Natalie shouted at Camden as she jogged to keep up. “This is supposed to be a leisurely walk, Cam.”

“I thought you were in good shape. Weren’t you a high school track star?” Camden asked with a chuckle.

“First of all, I was only on the track team for one semester because Billy Colton was there and he was super cute. Secondly, that was over ten years ago,” Natalie protested.

Camden finally slowed down as they reached the summit of the mountain. Before her were three waterfalls that all merged into one raging rapid coming down the hill. Yellow and orange trees flanked both sides of the pathway which made it look as if the woods were on fire.

The water falling from the steep mountain cliffs offered up a pounding noise that was perfect for drowning out anything fluttering around in Camden’s head. Natalie sat down on a bench made out of rock and looked up at the falls.

“It’s hard to believe something like this exists. It’s an amazing sight, isn’t it?” Natalie said, suddenly serious.

“Yes, it is. It’s nice to get away from city life for a few hours.”

“Cam, I know we’ve been over this a lot lately…”

“Natalie, if this is about my marriage to Preston, please don’t. I want to enjoy the peace here. I don’t want to talk about that or think about that right now. Can’t we just have fun?” she pleaded looking Natalie right in the eyes.

“You’re right. I’m sorry,” Natalie said, and that was that. She didn’t bring it up again.

The women spent about half an hour staring at the falls before deciding to make their way back down the path. It was almost lunch time which meant they were going to head into the small town of Norton’s Crossing for lunch at the country buffet.

Just as they came to the bottom of the paved pathway, Natalie pointed up ahead. Camden was having a hard time hearing her due to the water raging down the mountain beside them, so she leaned in closer.

“That girl is motioning to us,” she said loudly into Camden’s ear. Up ahead, she could see the small blond woman with a distraught look on her face. She was waving one arm wildly while she leaned into the handsome man.

As a doctor, Camden knew that look. The girl was obviously scared and needed help. She ran up ahead of Natalie.

“What’s wrong?” she asked the girl.

“I think something is wrong with him,” she yelled, terrified. “He was walking up with me and started stumbling. I put my arm around him, but I can barely keep him upright.”