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And she’d seen the betrayal in his eyes. Pain twisted inside her. She couldn’t think about that moment—about him and all they’d lost—or she wouldn’t be able to keep moving.
Scanning the room to see what else she might have forgotten, Josie’s gaze fell on a framed family photograph from a long-ago Peach Festival. The three Ramsey brothers stood in the background while that year’s Peach Queen—their younger sister—received her crown. Hailey Decker stood on one side of her sons, all her attention on her daughter’s moment in the spotlight. But Clint Ramsey flanked the boys on the opposite end, and his attention was on Cal, who seemed to be the recipient of a lecture since Clint’s mouth was open and he was gesturing with his hands.
All three of Clint’s sons looked at their father.
What a telling family moment. A tiny piece of visual evidence for the kind of childhood Josie had only heard about in small doses. The expectations for the Ramsey sons were high, and the importance of their achievements overshadowed the teenaged daughter’s. Worse, the boys had been dialed in to their father’s world so thoroughly they didn’t have time for anything else. Not even celebrating their sister’s moment in the spotlight.
Was it any wonder Cal couldn’t forgive Josie when her secrets threatened the only thing that mattered to this family? Cal had been on a path of his father’s choosing since he was a child, and now she’d cost him his dream.
Defeat sighed over her.
Shouldering her backpack, she zipped her suitcase and headed downstairs. She didn’t see Cal in the kitchen anymore, although the remains of their breakfast were gone, the dishes washed and dried. There was no trace of their time together. Out the window, she saw him in the backyard, on the phone near his car. Was he going to try and escort her to the town line? Boot her out as soon as they crossed it?
The resentful thoughts dissipated as her gaze lingered on his face. His brows were drawn together, his shoulders taut as he rubbed one hand along the back of his neck. The distress in his expression was clear, and she was responsible for causing it. Knowing she’d hurt him stabbed right through her, causing a far worse pain than any fear she felt for her future. Her regret was even deeper than the pain she felt in losing him—and that was saying a whole lot, because walking away from Calvin Ramsey was going to be far more painful than the hurt and humiliation she’d felt over finding out Tom Belvedere had pulled the wool over her eyes.
With Cal, it was so much different. Tom scraped her pride but not her heart. Whereas the feelings she had for Cal were going to break her in two if she didn’t leave fast. Not caring if she was ten times a coward, she would make her escape out the front door where he wouldn’t see her. She couldn’t bear to witness the cold distance in his eyes again.
Besides, there was nothing left to say.
Swallowing the lump in her throat, she gave one last head scratch to each of the dogs and kissed all their furry heads, then headed outdoors into the hot Texas day. She hadn’t checked the bus schedule, but she had plenty of time to figure out her next move on the long walk to the nearest stop for public transportation. First and foremost, she planned to phone the sheriff’s department in her hometown and find out what kind of mess she was facing legally.
As much as she didn’t want to return to Florida, she must need to appear in court. She only hoped she hadn’t missed a date already.
Withdrawing her phone from her pocket, she noticed her fingers were shaking as she pulled up the screen to dial. Then she remembered she didn’t know the number. She paused on the gravel road to search for the number online, knowing she might not have Wi-Fi again for a while and she hadn’t paid the extra money for data on her cheap cell. She was still close enough to the house to get a search result. Tapping the number for the sheriff’s department, Josie took a deep breath when someone answered.
“Hello.” Her voice wavered more than her trembling hands. “I think I need to turn myself in.”
Chapter Eleven
Cal wandered aroundthe backyard while he waited for Josie to emerge from the house, knowing he at least owed her a ride to wherever she wanted to go next. He tried not to think about that, knowing he was leaving her in a difficult position since she hadn’t made plans beyond this job. Then again, maybe she had. It had become glaringly apparent today that he didn’t know everything about Josie Vance.
And that hurt so much more than it should have based on how long they’d known one another. He’d fallen hard and fast for her, in a relationship far different from any in his past. Finding out he’d fallen for a lie made every moment painful since he’d read that photo caption.
The sun beat down with a relentless heat, so he kept to the shade as much as possible, weaving from one hickory tree to another until he reached the beehives. He should check them to make sure he knew how to care for them until his mother returned from her trip, but once he stood near the simple wood-frame structures, he realized there was a lot he didn’t understand. Bees worked tirelessly, flying in and out of their home base, while Cal tried to remember what Josie had told him about them. Should he check on the colonies that she’d brought over to Rough Hollow Orchards for his grandfather?
Withdrawing his phone, he texted his mother to call him the next time she had phone service. He owed her a personal heads-up about Josie. About the past she’d hidden. He jabbed the send button on the message. When his mother got back to him, he’d ask her about the bees. That done, he tried to quell his emotions by losing himself in taking care of business. He sent a message to his agent to ask for help navigating the inevitable P.R. fallout that would come from being photographed with Josie. It was hardly a crime for him to socialize with a woman who was being criminally investigated. But it was exactly the kind of publicity that Dusty Reed didn’t want near his team.
And even that didn’t matter to Cal as much as being taken for a fool by someone he’d thought he cared about.
His phone rang as he hit send on the message to his agent, and Cal was surprised to see his mother’s number.
“Mom?” He moved away from the bees toward the converted pole barn where an overhead fan spun lazily above a small patio table.
“Hello, Cal,” his mother greeted him, the warmth and happiness in her voice sounding close enough to be in the next town and not a half of a world away. “I just happened to see your text while I’m in town doing some shopping. Is everything okay there?”
They hadn’t spoken on the phone in months, but they’d messaged since he’d returned to Last Stand. She knew he was checking on Everett and making some repairs around the farm while he stayed in the garage apartment, but she didn’t know he’d fallen for Josie.
Of course, he’d only just realized that at the game the night before when he’d kissed Josie. The ache of how fast things had fallen apart still threatened to level him.
“Gramp is doing well enough,” he assured her. “I just wanted to warn you that things didn’t work out with…the caretaker.” Saying her name aloud wasn’t an option, not when he needed to keep his emotions out of the conversation. “I had to let her go.”
A beat of silence passed before his mother spoke.
“Do you meanmycaretaker? Josie?” She sounded alarmed.
“It’s okay, Mom. I’m going to watch over things here,” he rushed to reassure her. “I’ll take care of everything until you return.”
In the background of the call, he could hear a high-pitched horn sounding, and animal noises that might have been goats or sheep.
