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Now when he looked at Paige Reynolds, all he saw were flashing warning signs.
“I’ll ask you again. What are you doing here?” He repeated the question, his tone curt. “It’s pretty foolish to come back to the scene of the crime.”
She winced. Her eyes flickered with emotion. “I have some unfinished business here in town,” she said. “Some things I need to settle up.”
Bitter laughter burst from deep inside him. His lips curved into a sneer. “Business? The last business you conducted in this town left Love on the verge of bankruptcy. Let me warn you, our coffers are empty, if you’re hoping for a repeat performance.”
She visibly bristled. Anger flared in her eyes. “That wasn’t my doing, Cameron. I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again. I had no idea what my father was up to when he was working on the cannery deal with you.”
“Right,” he snapped. “Tell me another one, only this time please realize that I’m not the same fool I was two years ago.”
“I never thought you were,” Paige said in a soft voice that brought him back to a point in time when she’d been his everything. His stomach twisted painfully. Seeing her after so long made him feel as if he’d been sucker punched in the gut. That was what it felt like to be staring into Paige’s big, expressive eyes. The pain rippling through him served as proof that he wasn’t over the past. Not by a long shot. The weight of it was sitting on his chest like a five-hundred-pound elephant.
“But I was a fool,” he said in a low tone that matched her own. “A complete and utter fool to let my heart rule my head.”
She shook her head, the long strands of her hair swirling about her face. “I want to make things right, Cameron. My father regretted what he did. Believe it or not, that’s the truth. That’s why I’m here. I want to return some of the money my father stole. And I want to do whatever I can to help get the cannery up and running.”
Paige’s words nearly knocked him off his feet. She was here to revive the project? And give back some of the money her father had stolen? That was crazy!
“You’re about two years too late to resurrect the cannery deal, although I’m not about to say no to a big fat check made out to the town of Love,” he spit out. The old resentment was rising up in him again. Try as he might, he couldn’t contain his emotions. They were bubbling over like an overflowing pot on a stove.
She took a few steps toward him, quickly swallowing up the space between them. Her nearness made him want to take a step backward. Having her so close was dangerous to his equilibrium. His fingers itched to reach out and tuck a few strands of her glossy hair behind her ear. Or run his palm against her cheek. He shook his head to rid himself of those treacherous notions. How could those thoughts have even crossed his mind?
“It’s not too late. It can’t be.” Her voice rang out stridently. “This town still desperately needs the business.”
“Those dreams died, right around the time you and your father absconded with the funds.” Paige’s eyes pooled with tears. Her chin quivered. He could tell she was trying to act brave, even though she was failing miserably. He shouldn’t care that he’d hurt her with his gibe, but he did care. Even after all this time and everything she’d done to him, he still hated to see her suffer. It caused a physical ache inside him.
“So where is he? Your father? Mr. Big Shot. Shouldn’t he be here making this speech? Or is he too afraid he’ll be put in jail and brought up on charges?”
Tears slid down Paige’s face and she choked back a sob. Her graceful fingers wiped away the evidence of her sorrow. She bowed her head for a moment, then slowly raised it, her mournful eyes meeting his gaze.
“He’s dead, Cameron. My father passed away two months ago of liver cancer.”
Cameron felt as if someone had knocked him in the teeth. Robert Reynolds was dead. His former mentor. The man who’d betrayed his trust and made him a town pariah. Paige’s beloved father. He didn’t know how to explain it, but he felt a slight ache in his soul. They had once been close friends, or so he’d believed. The feeling of loss surprised him since all he’d felt toward Robert for the past few years was a hot, burning anger.
Paige, an only child, was now alone in the world, having lost her mother when she was a teenager. Before she’d shown up here today, he’d thought he was well past caring about her hurts, but the sight of her looking so wounded and grief-stricken tugged at his heartstrings. He knew that, with no family to speak of, she must have gone through the ordeal alone, with no one to share the burden. He steadied himself against the feelings of sympathy coursing through him, knowing it wasn’t wise to make himself vulnerable to the one woman who knew how to bring him to his knees. He’d vowed to never go down that road again. He couldn’t. His very survival depended on it.
She stuck out a wobbly chin. “I know you think he’s a monster, but he had remorse for what he did. On his deathbed he made me promise to right his wrongs.” She shrugged. “So you see, I don’t have a choice. I need to fix everything he destroyed.”
“Everything?” Cameron asked with a raised eyebrow. Robert’s treachery hadn’t harmed just the town of Love. Cameron’s relationship with Paige had been a casualty of the town scandal. Nearly everyone in town had believed Paige was in on her father’s scam. Even though it had killed him to think she was capable of such duplicity, he’d grown to believe in her guilt, as well. Nothing else had made sense. As a result, everything in his life had fallen apart. He had been at rock bottom trying to claw his way out of the abyss. He had emerged on the other side, but not without an abundance of scars.
“I’m aware some damage can’t be undone, no matter how much I wish otherwise.” Her simple statement was full of meaning. Once it would have meant the world to him to hear her speak of regret and making amends. Now, with so much standing between them, her words seemed hollow.
“You’re absolutely right,” he snapped. “Some things can’t be fixed.”
She let out a sigh. “I know you’re still angry, Cameron. And you have every right to be. But if you would only hear me out, you’d realize that what I’m proposing is in the best interest of this town. You can’t let anger and bitterness cloud your judgment.”
He raised a hand and sliced it through the air. “There are no buts or what-ifs or maybe-sos in this situation. I lost everything because of what happened. When your father embezzled those funds, I was left holding the bag. All fingers were pointing at me. I lost every shred of credibility I had. You have no idea what it feels like to have an entire town turn against you.”
Paige raised an eyebrow. “Don’t I? I was run out of here because the same suspicions were leveled against me. And I was just as innocent as you were, Cameron. I know what it feels like to have everyone turn against me. Including the man I loved.”
The man I loved. She had loved him. Of that he’d always been certain. And he’d loved her in return. Madly. Devotedly. With every fiber of his being. He had dreamed of one day making Paige his wife. Because of her, he’d wanted to become a better man. And even though he still dreamed of pledging forever to a soul mate, he had a hard time imagining ever feeling that way again about anyone. So many of his dreams had been wrapped up in Paige. And her betrayal had left him wounded.
Despite the fact that dozens of women had arrived in town to participate in Operation Love, he never allowed himself to imagine getting into a relationship with any of them. The idea of being that vulnerable again terrified him. The past still loomed over him like a dark cloud.
Had he made the right decision when he’d forced Paige’s hand and told her to leave town? For so long he hadn’t even second-guessed himself, but now, after hearing her heartfelt words, a sliver of doubt crept in. Why had he been so convinced of her guilt? What had made him so willing to turn his back on the woman he had adored?
“Cameron. I can’t pull this off without you. Nobody in Love is going to want to listen to what I have to say. No one will work with me to make it happen. The dream this town once had of opening a cannery is still viable. I know we could make it work.” Paige’s cheeks were flushed and her voice vibrated enthusiasm.
