Part 13 (1/2)
At that moment a sharp pain settled around her heart at the thought of any other woman with Callum, sharing anything close to what they had shared this past month. To know that another woman, his soul mate, would be living with him in the house she was decorating almost made her ill.
She eased to the edge of the bed, knowing why she felt that way. She had fallen in love with him. ”Oh, no!”
She dropped back on the bed and covered her face with her hands. How did she let that happen? Although Callum wouldn't intentionally break her heart, he would break it just the same. How could she have fallen in love with him? She knew the answer without much thought. Callum was an easy man to love. But it wasn't meant for her to be the one to love him. He had told her about his soul mate.
She got out of bed and headed for the bathroom, knowing what she had to do. There was no way she would not finish the job she came here to do, but she needed to return home for at least a week or two to get her head screwed back on straight. Kathleen could handle things until she returned. And when she got back, she'd be capable of handling a relations.h.i.+p with Callum the way it should be handled. She would still love him, but at least she would have thought things through and come to the realization she couldn't ever be the number one woman in his life. She'd have to be satisfied with that.
A few hours later she had showered, dressed and packed a few of her things. She had called Kathleen and given her instructions as to what needed to be done in her absence, and a.s.sured the older woman that she would be back in a week or so.
Gemma decided not to call Callum to tell him she was leaving. He would wonder why she was taking off all of a sudden. She would think of an excuse to give him when she got home to Denver. She wiped the tears from her eyes. She had let the one thing happen to her that she'd always sworn would never happen.
She had fallen in love with a man who didn't love her.
Callum stood on the porch of the cabin and glanced all around. Nothing, he thought, was more beautiful than the Australian outback. He could recall the first time he'd come to this cabin as a child with his brothers, father and grandfather.
His thoughts drifted to Gemma. He knew for certain that she was his soul mate. The last month had been idyllic. Waking up with her in his arms every morning, making love with her each night, was as perfect as perfect could get. And he was waiting patiently for her to realize that she loved him, too.
It would be then that they would talk about it and he would tell her that he loved her as well, that he'd known for a while that she was the one, but had wanted her to come to that realization on her own.
Callum took a sip of his coffee. He had a feeling she was beginning to realize it. More than once over the past week he'd caught her staring at him with an odd look on her face, as if she was trying to figure out something. And at night when she gave herself to him, it was as if he would forever be the only man in her life. Just as, when he made love to her, he wanted her to believe that she would forever be the only woman in his.
”Callum. You got a call. It's Mom.”
Morris's voice intruded on his thoughts and he reentered the cabin and picked up the phone. ”Yes, Mom?”
”Callum, it's Gemma.”
His heart nearly stopped beating. He knew the ladies had a shopping trip planned for tomorrow. ”What's wrong with Gemma? What happened?”
”I'm not sure. She called and asked me to take her to the airport.”
”Airport?”
”Yes. She said she had to return home for a while, and I could tell she'd been crying.”
He rubbed his forehead. That didn't make any sense. He'd just spoken to her that morning and she was fine. She had two pregnant sisters-in-law and he hoped nothing had happened. ”Did she say why she was leaving, Mom? Did she mention anything about a family crisis?”
”No, in fact I asked and she said it had nothing to do with her family.”
Callum pulled in a deep breath, not understanding any of this.
”Have you told her yet that you're in love with her, Callum?”
”No. I didn't want to rush her and was giving us time to develop a relations.h.i.+p before doing that. I wanted her to see from my actions that I loved her and get her to admit to herself that she loved me, too.”
”Now I understand completely,” Le'Claire said softly.
”You do?”
”Yes.”
”Then how about explaining things to me because I'm confused.”
He heard his mother's soft chuckle. ”You're a man, so you would be. I think the reason Gemma left is because she realizes that she loves you. She's running away.”
Callum was even more confused. ”Why would she do something like that?”
”Because if she loves you and you don't love her back then-”
”But I do love her back.”
”But she doesn't know that. And if you explained about waiting for a soul mate the way you explained it to me, she's probably thinking it's not her.”
The moment his mother's words. .h.i.t home, Callum threw his head back in frustration and groaned. ”I think you're right, Mom.”
”I think I'm right, too. So what are you going to do?”
A smile cascaded across Callum's lips. ”I'm going after my woman.”
Fourteen
Ramsey Westmoreland had been in the south pasture most of the day, but when he got home he'd heard from Chloe that Gemma was back. She'd called for Megan to pick her up at the airport. And according to what Megan had shared with Chloe, Gemma looked like she'd cried during the entire eighteen-hour flight.
He was about to place a call to Callum to find out what the h.e.l.l had happened when he received a call from Colin saying Callum was on his way to Denver. The last thing Ramsey needed in his life was drama. He'd had more than enough during his affair with Chloe.
But here he was getting out of his truck to go knock on the door to make sure Gemma was all right. Callum was on his way and Ramsey would leave it to his best friend to handle Gemma from here on out because his sister could definitely be Miss Drama Queen. And seeing that she was here at Callum's cabin and not at her own place spoke volumes, whether she knew it or not. However, for now he would play the dumb-a.s.s, just to satisfy his curiosity. And Chloe's.
He knocked on the door and it was yanked open. For a moment he was taken aback. Gemma looked like a mess, but he had enough sense not to tell her that. Instead, he took off his hat, pa.s.sed by her and said in a calm tone. ”Back from Australia early, aren't you?”
”Just here for a week or two. I'm going back,” she said in a strained voice, which he pretended not to hear.
”Where's Callum? I'm surprised he let you come by yourself, knowing how afraid you are of flying. Was there a lot of turbulence?”
”I didn't notice.”
Probably because you were too busy crying your eyes out. He hadn't seen her look like this since their parents' funeral. Ramsey leaned against a table in the living room and glanced around. He then looked back at her. ”Any reason you're here and not at your own place, Gemma?” He hadn't seen her look like this since their parents' funeral. Ramsey leaned against a table in the living room and glanced around. He then looked back at her. ”Any reason you're here and not at your own place, Gemma?”
He knew it was the wrong question to ask when suddenly her mouth quivered and she started to sob. ”I love him, but he doesn't love me. I'm not his soul mate. But that's okay. I can deal with it. I just didn't want to ever cry over a man the way those girls used to do when Zane and Derringer broke up with them. I swore that would never never happen to me. I swore I would never be one of them and fall for a guy who didn't love me back.” happen to me. I swore I would never be one of them and fall for a guy who didn't love me back.”
Ramsey could only stare at her. She actually thought Callum didn't love her? He opened his mouth to tell her just how wrong she was, then suddenly closed it. It was not his place to tell her anything. He would gladly let Callum deal with this.
”Sorry, Ram, but I need to be alone for a minute.” He then watched as she quickly walked into the bedroom and closed the door behind her.