Douze

 

Leona lifted both hands to her face and nodded.

"Aren't you going to say them? After all, a promise is a promise." Cameron laced his pinky finger through hers and tugged on her hand. His teasing smile twitched her stomach. "C'mon. It wasn't that bad."

She lowered her hands but held onto his. The fluttering in her stomach reminded her of that day almost twenty years ago. Her trembling heart brought her back to her first heartbreak. She looked at him and recognized the familiar twinkle in his perfect blue eyes. "I said, 'I promise, I'll love you until my dying breath, Georgie Fleming."

"And I said?"

"You said, 'René, some lucky guy will snatch you up before I have a chance to come back and get you.'"

He brought her fingers to his lips and gently kissed the tips. "I've thought about you so often since that day. Why haven't we kept in touch?"

She knew why she hadn't looked him up. He had her heart and a gnawing fear kept her from reaching out for fear he wouldn't feel the same. They'd lost touch. He'd moved away and moved on. She'd moved on. Her work had filled her heart's desires. She'd exchanged her love of Georgie Fleming for her love of cooking and the dream of owning her own restaurant.

"Work, life, moving in different circles. All those things. I'm so driven to open Leo's again that's all I think about."

His eyes widened. "That's right, Leo's was your dad's place on the lakefront. It's closed?"

"Gone. Hurricane Katrina."

"Oh. I'm sorry. You want to rebuild in the same place?"

"You bet. It's such a beautiful view of the lake. Besides, we still own the property. I've been saving and learning as much as I can. I'm hoping to start re-building within the next year."

He smiled. "I'm a little jealous. You're living our dream. Remember how we sat in that silly tree house and talked about our dreams. Everett wanted to be a firefighter. You and me, we wanted to be chefs. We said we'd get married, open our own restaurant, and call it R & G's." He shook his head in a slow methodical way as though he remembered more. "Kid dreams."

"If it makes you feel better, Everett's not a firefighter."

He looked at her with an expectant gaze. "Really. What is he?"

"A doctor."

He chuckled. "I should have known. He doctored every stray animal we came across."

"Yeah, remember when we went to our papa's ole place on the bayou, and we ran into that alligator with the cut foot that he thought about caring for?" She laughed at the memory of her brother taking a few steps toward the thing and jumping back when the alligator had hissed at him.

"He ran backward for about ten yards and then tripped on that tree branch. We had to doctor him." He snickered. "Well, at least he's doing what he wants to do, right?"

"He is. He's a natural and his patients love him." She loved recalling those days. Her…René, the little sister tag-a-long Everett and Cameron had tolerated. Although Cameron had been only two years older, to a nine-year-old he was the more mature man whom she'd adored.

Leona lifted her knee and turned toward Cameron. "Wanting to be a chef and have your own restaurant was all you talked about. Honestly, that was probably one of the reasons I think I wanted to be one. Your passion inspired me. It also helped that my family had a restaurant." She leaned forward and touched his forearm. "What happened to your dreams, Cameron?"

He cleared his throat and his eyes lost a bit of the luster from earlier. "Once we moved to California, things changed. Dad made it clear when he found out I'd been taking cooking lessons from Julian that his son was destined for a grander calling. His calling. As a young boy, I thought it was cool that my dad thought so highly of me and wanted me to follow in his footsteps. Now, as a thirty-year-old, I don't see it the same. I've traded my dreams for his." He squeezed his lips together, stood, and walked to the fireplace. He bent over to stoke the fire and add another log. "I feel like I've settled."

His heartfelt words swelled her heart. She couldn't imagine feeling so lost and trapped. "Have you talked to your dad about this?"

He returned to his seat. "No, I'm not sure he'd understand."

She placed her hand on his shoulder and looked into his eyes. "You'll never know unless you say something."

"You're right. I need to say something before he gets too far along with this New Orleans office. I want to be in New Orleans." He reached for her hand. "But in a tiny restaurant kitchen simmering up awesome dishes, not in a high-rise office building negotiating movie deals for movies I have no desire to watch."

Leona loved sitting next to her old flame, Georgie. It was as though the years had made them older in age, but their hearts were still back in that Lakeshore tree house all those years ago. Talking with him tonight was as comfortable and familiar as wearing her favorite pair of tennis shoes.

"You're the only one who can make a change. You have to decide what you want to do and go for it. But usually before I decide anything, I pray. Ask God's direction for my life. Many times, my choices and His don't align. But after prayerful consideration, I usually have some clue. Sometime just waiting is enough. The right answer presents itself."

Although the wind howled and the light fluffy snow swirled in circles outside the window under the porch, Leona didn't care. Inside the cabin was warm and comfortable. Being with Cameron warmed her soul.

He met her gaze and tilted his head. His soft gaze glistened in the firelight. "You always knew the right thing to say. I can't believe I let you slip completely out of my life. What a fool I've been." His failure to acknowledge her comment about God ambushed her.

A flutter in Leona's stomach jerked and her heart shrank. She suspected that she hadn't been the only thing he'd loved that he’d let slip out of his life. She guessed his lifestyle in Los Angeles would have been far different than hers in Louisiana. Had he given up on God completely? Lost his true values? The image of the kiss Cameron and Marissa shared flashed through her mind. He hadn't seemed like a man fighting off unwanted advances.

The man she dreamed of marrying one day would be a Christian who would lead their family in Christian values. Could Cameron be considered that man if they were unevenly yoked?

 

****

 

Cameron rested his arm on the loveseat behind Leona. Being with her like this was a Christmas present. One that was far more than he had hoped for or imagined. He'd been drawn to her personality from that first day he'd almost run into her in the lodge, and now he knew why. She was his little René.

"Why don't you go by René anymore?" He crossed his foot over his knee and turned more toward her.

She ran her hand through her hair to push the flattened strands away from her face. "When I graduated from culinary school, I dreamed of opening Leo's again. So I started using my middle name—my grandmother's name. She made the restaurant famous, and I wanted to follow in her footsteps. And Dad's. He kept the restaurant going after she died. But it's what I want, not what they've expected me to do."

"I'm happy for you. You look as if you love what you do, and I'm starting to realize how important that is."

She cocked her head to the side. "I don't make a ton of money like you do."

"And look where that's gotten me. Full bank account, empty heart." He'd kept busy working deals and acquiring possessions. He'd never considered how lonely he'd been until tonight.

Her smile faded. "I'll pray for you." She glanced downward where she thumbed the hem of her jeans.

Max, with slow deliberate movements, stood and ambled to Cameron. He placed his paw on Cameron's leg. "What is it, boy? You need to go outdoors?"

Leona smirked and shrugged. "He picked you. His leash is in the duffel bag."

Cameron put Max's leash on and took him to the edge of the porch. The whipping wind and frigid snow iced his face and neck. The temperatures had continued to drop and Cameron's stomach plummeted. The wood stack covered in snow had too few logs left to last through the night. He couldn't imagine his dad finding them up here in this blizzard. If the storm passed tonight, they'd see the smoke from the fireplace in the morning provided they still had wood. Cameron would have to find an ax and a log to chop. But how? Everything was covered in snow, and he could barely see his hand in front of his face.

Finished, Max jumped onto the porch. "Shake, boy."

Max shook all the snow off his coat before Cameron let him back into the cabin. "I'll bring in the last of this firewood." He stuck his head partly in the door.

"OK. I'll see if I can scrounge up something for us to eat." Leona stood in the tiny kitchen hunting through the cupboards.

He hadn't even thought about food. He'd thrown in a couple of beef jerky sticks when he'd packed the duffel, but not enough for three to last through the night and into the morning.

With each log he lifted, the burden of their situation weighed on his shoulders. How could he have put Leona in this predicament? He knew the dangers out here. Why did he leave the house without getting all they needed in the event something like this would happen?

He stacked the logs next to the door. Would there be enough? He remembered how easy the words had come for his earlier prayer. Cameron closed his eyes against the assaulting wind. Lord, let them find us before the wood runs out, or at least let the wood last until it's light, and I can run down the mountain to get help.

The load on his shoulders seemed to lighten a bit after the prayer.