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“Let’s get packed.” He looked at his watch. “We can be on our way in ninety minutes.”
Then he’d have a ten-hour flight to work on her.
* * *
She stared at Dane. So smart, so competent, so assured. But this was her project. If Dane went along, everyone would defer to him, just as Daniel had called him instead of her even though Dane had already informed the Mavericks that she was in charge.
If he was there, she’d look to him for approval the entire time.
She had to take charge. Without Dane as backup. Otherwise, she’d always be Dane’s little assistant.
Even more than proving to everyone else that she was good enough, she needed to prove it to herself.
That made her straighten her spine. She was good enough.
As Dane headed for the door, she said, “Since I’m one hundred percent in charge of this project, I have to take charge of it completely. Which means I have to do this myself.”
He stopped dead and looked at her. “What does that mean?” His voice sounded bewildered, his brow scrunched in puzzlement, his head tipped slightly, as if he were Rex asking why Dane had stopped throwing the ball.
“Can you understand?” She paused a long moment. “I have to do this without you.”
* * *
He was doing it again. Holding her back. He hadn’t given her a promotion years ago. And now, he was rushing to do the very thing she needed to do herself.
Yet he couldn’t help asking, “You don’t even want me to fly home with you?” He sounded like a little boy begging her not to leave him behind. The way he’d so often begged his parents when he was young.
But this was different. He had to tell himself that.
“If you do, we’ll talk about it the whole way, and my plan will turn into your plan.” She put her hand to her chest. “This needs to be all me.”
“Of course it does,” he said softly, wanting so badly to touch her and knowing he couldn’t. “You’re right.” Then he picked up his phone. “I’ll make the arrangements. You go pack.”
She looked at him one long, last moment and whispered, “Thank you.”
As she walked out of the office, he shoved away the thought that if he let her go now, it would be for good.
But sometimes the only choice you had was to set a person free to do what they needed to do. And pray it led them back to you.
He had to set her free, like so many of the animals he’d nurtured when he was a kid. And pray she’d return. Even if none of the creatures or the people he’d loved before ever had.
* * *
Cammie had finished packing. She hadn’t brought much, since most of what she needed was already here. She snapped the carry-on closed and hefted it to the floor. Rex lay on the bed, looking up at her with the saddest pair of eyes she’d ever seen. Sort of like Dane had downstairs. The dog whimpered as she pulled up the bag’s handle.
She scratched him behind the ears. “I won’t be gone long. I promise.”
The dog licked her hand as if saying he understood.
“Are you going somewhere?”
She jumped at the sound of that deep, stern voice. Bracing herself, she faced Fernsby in the doorway and said, “Daniel just called. I’m heading back to California. He’s found the perfect property in Lake Tahoe, and I need to see it. Since I’m managing the project, it’s my job and my decision.”
It was funny, or odd, how Fernsby just seemed to know things without being told. He knew all about the new resort and her promotion.
He raised his hands to applaud her. “You’ll do a smashing job, Camille. I’m very proud of you.” His expression turned even more grave, if Fernsby could actually be more grave than usual. Except when he was waltzing. “I must talk to you before you go. In private,” he added ominously.
Her heart dropped all the way to her toes. A shiver ran through her bones, and she trembled like a teenager at boarding school being brought before the headmistress. Fernsby had never asked to speak with her privately before.
She wondered if she’d come out of this alive.
And she tried to forestall the dressing-down. “But the plane is waiting.”
Daniel had called back to say he’d chartered a plane for her and would meet her when she arrived in California. She couldn’t take Dane’s plane, of course. How would he, Fernsby, and Rex get home?
But Fernsby said unequivocally, “The plane will just have to wait.”
What choice did she have? When Fernsby made a demand, you had to obey.
“Is it about the baking show? You want to make sure you can have the time off? Dane’s totally behind you on this.” She prayed that was what Fernsby wanted to talk about.
