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Chapter Ten
Cassandra and Cameron stood in silence for more than a minute, both of them waiting for the other person to speak. “You heard us talking,” Cameron finally said.
Cassandra nodded. “You weren’t being quiet. I told myself that I wouldn’t tell you I loved you until I knew your secret. I didn’t think you could love me if you didn’t trust me.”
He sighed, taking her hand, and leading her into the parlor. “I do love you, my Sassy Cassie. Of course, I do. Why would I have married you otherwise?”
“Because you wanted me to warm your bed, and you wanted a kitten sleeping on you, of course.”
He sat down on the sofa and shook his head. He was glad she was finding humor in the situation because what he had to tell her was grim. “I don’t want you to think less of me when you hear this.”
She shook her head. “How could I?”
“You don’t know what I’m about to say to you. How could you not?” He took a deep breath, fighting down the fear that was overwhelming him. Admitting this to anyone but his mother…well, it took more courage than he felt he had at times. “I killed my father.”
Her jaw dropped, and she looked into his eyes, knowing the man she had come to love so much, who was so gentle with her, would never kill anyone without reason. “I’m so sorry you had to do that.”
He blinked a few times. “How do you know I had to?” Her faith in him was astounding, and he knew he didn’t deserve one lick of it.
“Because you’re not a man who kills. Even when you and Wade were competing for my hand, neither of you were unkind to the other. It was very amicable. I cannot imagine you killing anyone without it being an accident or a very good reason.”
Reaching for her, he pulled her into his arms and just held her for a moment. “Thank you for believing in me, even after hearing that.”
“Of course,” she said. “Tell me what happened.” She was curious, but she had a feeling they would never speak of this again. It was obviously too difficult for him to talk about.
“I had just started attending King’s College right there in Manhattan where I’d grown up.” He took another deep breath. “My father had always been unkind to my mother. Her parents arranged their match with his parents, and they just didn’t get along well. He drank a lot, and he’d taken to hitting her in my last few years before I graduated school. At least that’s when I found out about it.”
She put her hand on his thigh to comfort him, and he carefully removed it. “If you want to hear the rest of this story, your hand needs to be elsewhere.”
She laughed softly. “Sorry about that.”
“Oh, trust me. I like it.” He rubbed the back of his neck. “I was just finishing up my first semester, and I’d gone home for the Christmas break. I was staying in the dorms at the university because it was easier than watching my father yell at my mother. I should never have left her there alone with just him and the servants.” He rubbed a hand over his face, seeming terribly upset to her.
“Go on.”
“When I got home, I followed the sound of his voice into the parlor, and I saw my mother standing up to him. She told him he wouldn’t ever speak to her that way again. Already her face was covered in bruises like she’d been beaten to within an inch of her life in the days before.” He closed his eyes. “I was young, and my temper ran high, especially when it came to someone mistreating my mother. I reached for a poker on the fireplace, and I raised it. I thought he’d back away, but he didn’t. Instead, he told me that if I didn’t kill him, he would kill her. There was no way he could live with her one more minute.”
“Oh dear.” She couldn’t imagine how hard that moment was for him.
“Ma pled with me to drop the poker. She said her life wasn’t as important as mine. He just stood there and laughed. I hit him once in the head. I was trying for his shoulder, but he moved at the last second. The poker was so heavy that I couldn’t change directions. I wanted to hurt him enough that Ma and I could leave, but I didn’t want to kill him. He was my father.”
“Of course, you didn’t.”
“Ma and I hurried up the stairs, and we packed everything that was necessary. All her jewelry, which we knew we’d end up selling because we would need money to start over. We went to Oregon City and filed our claims for land. Ma filed for one, and so did I. This was the land we filed for. When I looked at the map the surveyor had in his office, I saw that the name of the river running through the land was Royal River. So, I said our last name was Royal.”
“What was it before?” she asked.
“If it’s really important to you, I’ll tell you, but I’d honestly rather not say. That man is gone as far as I’m concerned. I’m Cameron Royal, and my legacy starts with me.”
Cassandra considered it for a moment, but finally she shook her head. “I don’t need to know what your name was. I just need to know who you are now.”
“You’re not angry that I hid this from you?” he asked.
“I wouldn’t say you really hid it. I heard you and your mother talking the first day I was here, and you mentioned in the conversation that you weren’t really Royals. I knew then you had a secret, and it was probably a big one. I knew you had one when I agreed to marry you, and I don’t regret it for one minute.”
“Is that so?” he asked, grinning at her.
“It is so! I’m not even ashamed of it.” She scooted toward him on the sofa and snuggled close. “I picked cherries and huckleberries today. Ma said your favorite pie is cherry, so I got a basketful.”
