Lover of My Dreams (14 page)

“Rough night?” Sam asked him.

Roy took off his ranger hat and placed it on the bench seat beside him. He ran his hands through his light brown hair and smiled weakly at the man across from him. The years of friendship that he shared with Sam, and the understanding it afforded him, was a comfort that he needed right then.

“Paulette had me up half the night with her cravings,” he explained tiredly. “I think pregnancy is harder on men than it is on women,” he told his friend seriously.

Sam laughed softly. “I don’t think your wife would agree,” he told him smiling.

“Maybe not,” Roy conceded. “But I sure believe it.”

Sam smiled and took another sip of his coffee. “How’s Paulette feeling?” he asked seriously, the doctor in him surfacing. “She’s had a pretty rough time of it.”

“I never should have agreed to let her try and get pregnant,” Roy said worriedly, leaning back in his seat and facing his good friend squarely. “The doctor told her she would be risking her health to chance getting pregnant, but she locked herself in the bathroom and wouldn’t come out until I said yes to us trying to have a baby.”

“You talked to her obstetrician last week and he seemed to feel she’s doing pretty well,” Sam reminded him, knowing that he needed to assure his friend. “His only recommendation was that she should be taking more periods of bed rest. I’m sure you can convince her to stay in bed a little more for both her sake and the baby’s.”

“Keeping her in bed is what got us into this predicament in the first place,” Roy told Sam, smiling for the first time.

Sam laughed softly. He was not ashamed to admit to himself that he was a little jealous of his friend’s life. “Try to get her to rest more, Roy,” he told him quietly. “It will only help them both.”

Roy nodded and placed his cup down on the table. “I’ll lay down the law when I get home,” he told Sam seriously.

“Yeah, right,” Sam said, laughing. “I’m sure Paulette will let you lay down the law when you get home.”

“I’ll just have to convince her without letting her know I’m laying down the law,” Roy said quietly, amending his decision.

“Good idea.”

Roy looked at his friend and nodded. They drank their coffee in silence, but Roy was watching his friend carefully. He was worried about him.

“You look tired,” he said finally when he saw the circles under Sam’s eyes. “Is something wrong?”

“No,” Sam assured him honestly. “I actually had a pretty good night’s sleep. It’s just that I had a late night, too. I took a walk around the campground around midnight and had a little confrontation with a late arrival at site twenty-seven. I guess it’s true what they say about Easterners being unfriendly.”

“What do you mean?”

“Her plates say she’s from Connecticut. She sure is tough,” Sam told him, smiling as he put down his coffee mug. “You should have seen her. She told me that she could take care of herself. I know that she wanted to hit me with the mallet she was holding. Of course I have to admit I wasn’t exactly cordial to her.” He couldn’t help but smile wickedly at his admission. “She was pretty mad.” Sam looked out across the campground through the mesh window, forgetting for the moment that Roy was there. “I’m curious to get a good look at her this morning. It was pretty dark last night and I really only got a look at her eyes. And her eyes told me she was pretty pissed at me.”

Roy smiled as he put down his coffee cup and picked up his hat to place it squarely on his head. “Let’s make an official call on this woman,” he said suddenly, standing up and facing Sam. “How do I look?”

Sam’s coffee mug stopped halfway to his mouth. “You look fine,” he answered, confused. “Why?”

“Do I look impressive?” he asked seriously.

“Ranger Roy, you would impress the stripe off a skunk,” Sam joked.

“Good, let’s go,” Roy said quickly, opening the door and stepping out before Sam could question him further.

Sam barely had time to grab for his own hat and clipboard before he raced after Roy. He put his hat on and hurried to keep up with his friend. It was obvious that Roy wasn’t going to offer any more information, and Sam was a little confused. Roy had never singled out any camper before unless they were violating some law. He usually just ran a general check on the area and made sure that all campers had paid for their sites. Roy’s steps quickened even more as they approached site twenty-seven, and Sam didn’t miss the way he was straightening his already perfect uniform.

“Roy, what’re you up to?” Sam asked him suspiciously.

Roy raised his hand to stop him from questioning him further. They were already at the site. The woman had her back to them and was bending over a big pan of water that was on her portable stove. She was bundled up against the brisk morning air, her hooded thermal jacket zipped tightly and the hood pulled up to shield her face from the coolness.

“Excuse me, miss,” Roy broke the silence.

Rachel spun around quickly and faced the two men calmly, her face partially concealed by the hood. She resisted the urge to go to Roy and hug the stuffing out of him.

Sam looked to Roy for an explanation of his actions and had to hold back the smile that threatened to burst forth when he saw the official stance that Roy had taken. He had never seen Roy act so formally in his job before.

“I’m Ranger Monroe and I’m investigating a complaint that I’ve received concerning your late arrival at this campground,” he told her in his most authoritative voice.

“Really?” Rachel questioned slowly.

“Yes, ma’am,” Roy said formally.

“Well, my arrival was late, I’ll admit that, but I was quiet and set up my things as quickly as I could. No one would have even noticed me if it hadn’t been for the nosiness of this man,” she told him angrily, pointing accusingly at Sam. “I would suggest that you have a talk with him about the way he’s harassing campers. You should arrest him or at least throw him out of the campground. Do you have that authority, Mr. Smoky the Bear?” she challenged him.

“What did you call me?” Roy asked quietly, stepping toward her menacingly.

“You heard me, you poor excuse for a policeman,” she flashed back at him angrily.

“Now wait a minute, this is getting a little out of hand,” Sam finally spoke up, stepping in and putting his hands out between them. He couldn’t believe the hostility between them. He had never seen Roy act this way in all the years he had known him.

“You’re right, it is,” Rachel agreed, her eyes never leaving the ranger’s face. “Do you treat all your campers this way, Roy Monroe? I’m going to have to speak to Paulette about keeping you happier so you won’t be so grouchy on the job. I thought you two were going to make love after I hung up with you the other night. That should have helped with your grumpiness.”

Sam turned to Roy and saw the smile of tenderness on his friend’s face and had to step back as the two reached out to embrace each other. Roy was lifting the woman off the ground and hugging her so hard she could barely speak.

“You two obviously know one another,” Sam said dryly, watching the disgustingly sentimental scene before him. There was something oddly familiar about this woman that he couldn’t quite put his finger on.

Roy planted a big kiss on Rachel’s cheek and carefully lowered her to the ground to stand before him. “I’ve missed you, Rachel,” he told her sincerely. He hugged her gently, not wanting to let her go.

“I’ve missed you, too, Roy,” Rachel answered happily, unshed tears making her soft brown eyes sparkle brightly.

“Rachel?” Sam whispered, confused, before the full realization of who was standing before him hit him.

“You okay?” Roy whispered to her against her face so that only she could hear him.

“I am now,” she told him honestly, feeling better to be in the safety of the mountains with her family and friends.

“Rachel, Sam is this campground’s host for the summer.”

“I figured that out last night,” Rachel said sarcastically, stepping out of Roy’s arms and giving him a look that made him cringe.

She turned to face Sam and looked at him with interest. He had matured, but he still looked like the Sam who had constantly haunted her thoughts.

“Are you always so pleasant to people or did you reserve your special brand of welcome just for me?” Rachel asked Sam, looking him square in the eyes, a little angry at the way her heart flipped as she looked into the crystal blueness.

“You look a little different without a mallet in your hand,” Sam told her, smiling. “Sorry about that.”

“Yeah right,” Rachel retorted, not letting him off the hook just yet.

She faced him stonily. As much as she wanted to hug him and return to the comfortable friendship that they once had, she cautioned herself to keep her distance. A lot of years had passed. She had changed, and he probably had, too. Her eyes lost the sparkle that had been there moments before as she had greeted her cousin.

“I suppose I have to be nice to you since you’re a friend of Roy’s,” she told him seriously, irritation evident in her voice.

“I thought I was your friend, too,” Sam told her quietly, a little confused by her distance.

Rachel took a calming breath and stepped away from the two of them. Keeping herself apart from Sam might be the only way she could get through the hurt of seeing him once again.

“That was a long time ago,” she began tiredly. She looked up at the man who still held her heart even after all these years of separation, and felt a sense of panic. She had to keep her distance to protect herself and her heart. “Look, it’s probably best if you just stay on your side of the campground, and I’ll stay on mine.”

“Hold it!” Roy stopped them. “Let’s just start over, shall we?”

He looked at both of them for a moment and then smiled. He refused to give up on the plan that he and Paulette had devised. He was going to get these two together if it killed him. And it just might.

“I have to get going but I’ll be back tomorrow. I’ll let Paulette know you’re here, and we’ll set up a day for you to come for dinner and visit. Just let me know what will be good for you and I’ll make sure Paulette is up to it before we set the day.”

Rachel turned to face him and smiled at the mention of his wife. “I’d love to come by anytime. I can’t wait to see Paulette.”

“Good, then it’s settled,” Roy said happily, turning to leave. “Paulette will be glad to see you again, too, Sam. See you tomorrow.” He called those final words over his shoulder, walking quickly to his truck before Rachel could protest. He quickly climbed into his truck and drove away.

Rachel stared after her cousin but didn’t trust herself to answer him. He had trapped her good and he knew it. She turned and was about to walk back to her tent when she nearly collided with Sam. His hands came up quickly to hold on to her arms to steady her. She brushed them off her and stepped back as if she had been burned by his touch.

“Don’t you have anything to do?” she asked him angrily, her eyes flashing.

Sam looked down at her silently for a moment then a small smile began to tug on his mouth. He tipped his hat to her slightly then turned and walked back toward his camper.

Rachel watched him leave and found that she was breathing heavily. He had an unbelievable ability to make her so incredibly angry. She turned and walked to the pot of water heating on her portable stove. She stuck her finger in it to see if it was warm yet and pulled back immediately as the water scalded her.

“Just great!” she muttered, putting her finger in the bucket of cold water that sat beside the stove. She reached up with her good hand and turned off the flame under the pan.

She nursed her finger for a few minutes then got to work. She cleaned up the dishes and utensils from breakfast then carried the cooled pan of water to the picnic table that was set off to the left of her tent. She went into her tent and brought out a bottle of shampoo, a brush and a towel, and proceeded to wash her hair with the warmed water. Using a big cup to pour the water over her head to wet and rinse her hair, she sighed with satisfaction as the warmth of the water soothed her. When she was finished, she wrapped her head in the towel and sat down on the top of the picnic table.

She rubbed her head vigorously with the towel then placed it beside her on the table, picked up the brush, and began to brush her hair. When she was finished, she looked up at the sky and breathed in deeply. It was a beautiful day.

She had a lot to do. First she would take the warmed water into the tent and take a sponge bath. Afterward, she would drive into town for supplies and ice. When she returned she would finally get to work on the edits for her novel. She knew she would be able to get a lot done once she was settled and able to focus on her work. Once she immersed herself in her writing, she knew that nothing would be able to invade her thoughts.

As long as Sam stays on his side of the campground,
her mind added silently.

Rachel closed the lid on the chest cooler and surveyed her tent. All the food and supplies had been put away and the tent was clean and orderly. Satisfied that all of her chores were done, she grabbed a white silk scarf and tied her long hair back into a ponytail. The day had become warmer and she had changed into a pair of jeans shorts and a white and blue checked cotton blouse with three-quarter sleeves. She wanted to take a walk along the rushing stream that she had seen on the other side of the campground and just take some time to daydream.