Hiding Out At The Circle C

so good in an old shirt.

'You said you wouldn't lie,' he accused, almost roughly, his fingers digging in to her. 'But you keep on doing it, dammit.'

'I'm not sick now,' she said carefully. She sat back on her heels. 'I haven't taken any of those pills since I got here.'

'But your stomach has hurt.' He waited a beat. 'That's what the problem is, isn't it? You have an ulcer.'

Ulcers, she almost corrected.

'And you can't sleep. What's the insomnia from, Haley? South America?' He leaned close to see her face. 'You won't tell me,' he said softly, his eyes hard and glittering. 'Or you'll make up more lies. Won't you, Haley?'

'I don't know,' she answered as honestly as she could, with one hundred and eighty pounds of male frustration staring at her. 'It's complicated.'

His mouth tightened at that. 'Your passport is there.' He nodded toward the things she'd shifted back to her purse. 'Do I have to steal it so you won't run?'

'You promised me that first night, remember, Cam?' There was no controlling the catch in her voice. 'No questions.'

His fingers tightened on her. 'That was before I realized you were going to turn out to be a liar.'

'I can't tell you more!' she cried, wishing she could explain.

'You mean you won't.'

'It's-'

'Complicated?' he offered with mock patience.

'Yes! Damn it, yes. It's complicated. It's-' She choked it off before she added and dangerous. Deadly. Fear for him and the others made her speak harshly. 'Stay out of it, Cameron. You've got to stay out of it.'

'What if I won't?'

'I'll leave.' The thought was enough to make her heart drop slowly to the floor, but she knew she would. She'd have to.

A veil came down over his eyes. 'You know, I just realized something.' He stood. 'I'm nagging at you.' He stretched his shoulders as if his neck ached, and even Haley, who was completely inexperienced in such things, could read the hurt he barely managed to mask.

He moved toward the door. 'Use the phone, Haley. I won't bother you again.'

'You're not bothering me.'

He stopped with one hand on the door. The look he gave her didn't bear close analysis. 'You want to be real sure about that, Haley.'

'Of course I am.' Couldn't he see how difficult this was? She didn't want to keep secrets, she had to. 'I-I like being with yon, Cam.'

'How do I know I can believe that?'

'It's the truth.'

'Is it? Then promise me one thing. Don't lie to me anymore. It turns me into someone I don't like very much.' He shut the door quietly behind him before she could soothe his feelings, or even make that promise.

Which was just as well. She'd be lying again.

Without giving herself a moment to think, she dialed the USGS again, silently apologizing to Nellie's mother, who would no doubt get this bill.

She didn't use her real name, and she didn't state the purpose of her call. Since both Bob and Alda had once worked there, Haley simply asked for them, using their full names, as if she expected them to be there.

The answer she received had her sinking to the floor in shock. Dr. Bob Herntz couldn't be reached because two days ago he'd been killed in an unfortunate car bombing in South America. Then she got her answer on Alda, and a new grief mingled with her rage. Dr. Alda Jones, also known to the USGS because she was not only Bob's significant other, but because she'd written numerous textbooks on geology, could not be reached, either.

She'd disappeared.

Dear God. Could it be true? Could it be Alda?

Sometime later, when Haley had immersed herself in chores, her pager vibrated again. Without looking, still horrified, she reached for her hip and shut it off.

She didn't want to know.

* * *

Haley was attacking the upstairs with a vacuum cleaner when Cam found her the next morning. She didn't hear him coming, which gave him a minute to watch as she stared sightlessly ahead, obviously troubled.

It reminded him how little he knew about her, which bothered him. Doubt and suspicion had spread like a disease the day before, driving him crazy all night. Damn, but his past had a nasty way of keeping up with him. Firmly, he pushed the unhappy memories away. The truth was, he'd come down hard on Haley, after promising not to, and he felt badly. 'Haley?'

She just kept vacuuming, her eyes glazed with such emotion that for a moment he could only stand there, overwhelmed. What was going on inside her pretty head?

'Haley.' He touched her shoulder and she jerked back, eyes wide, until she saw him. The way she sucked in her fear both fascinated and infuriated him. He reached over and switched off the vacuum. 'You never ate breakfast,' he said inanely. Never ate? Who was he, her mother?

'I'm not hungry.' Leaning forward, she reached again for the vacuum, but he stopped her.

'It's hard to talk with that on.'

Without a sign of the smile he'd hoped for, she said, 'I know.'

'Are you all right?'

'Of course.' But she avoided his gaze as they wrestled over the vacuum. 'Why wouldn't I be?'

'I don't know, but I wish you could tell me.' She chewed her lip, silent, and he tried another tactic. 'I'm going into town. Come with me?'

'I have work.'

'It'll wait.'

'I don't think so,' she said quietly. 'Thanks.'

So polite, so distant. So hurt. He turned her toward him, aching a little at the turmoil he sensed just beneath her surface. Surprised at the surge of tenderness and protectiveness she somehow invoked, he found he couldn't let go of her. 'Haley, we need to talk.'

She'd stiffened at his touch. 'About?'

Start slow, he warned himself. Real slow. 'Your salary and hours, for one. We never discussed it.'

'It doesn't matter.'

'It should. What you're doing here is important to us, and we want to make sure you get compensated. And I don't want you working all hours of the day.'

She looked at him then. 'What I meant was, I'd work here for free.'

Touched, he reached up and caressed her jaw. 'We're that great, huh?'

She shook her head, a little noise of wordless amazement escaping her. 'You have no idea what you have here, do you?'

'What do you mean?' His hand slid to her lovely neck.

'Your family,' she said, closing her eyes when his thumb played with the sensitive spot at the base of her neck. Her pulse fluttered wildly, flattering him. 'You take them for granted,' she whispered. 'You shouldn't. They are… wonderful.'

'Yes, they are.' Because he couldn't help himself, he bent his head to the spot he'd touched and tasted her. Her hands came up to grip his shoulders hard, but she didn't push him away. He took his time, cruising his mouth over her jaw. When he looked at her again, those incredibly blue eyes had turned cloudy with confusion, and with what he hoped was arousal.

'You're a part of this family now,' he said, meaning it. 'We want you to be.'