He nodded as if he understood, and she appreciated that he didnât try to force instant forgiveness, that he was accepting even blame he wasnât due.
There was a quiet strength in that, and she couldnât help admiring it.
Some of that same strength sheâd seen in him fourteen years ago that had set him apart. That had drawn her to him and made her like him.
And she had liked him.
So much â¦
She looked at him then and for some reason remembered the first time heâd kissed her.
She hadnât kissed many boys before him because sheâd never been in any one place long enough to have a real boyfriend. But Beau had seemed to have more experienceâwhen it came to kissing, at least.
Theyâd been at the movies. His arm had been around her shoulders. And heâd just swiveled from the waist toward her and kissed her â¦
The best kiss sheâd had up until then.
And one sheâd never forgotten. Not even when sheâd wished she could â¦
The Camdens of Colorado:
Theyâve made a fortune in business.
Can they make it in the game of love?
Prologue
Standing at the front door to his grandmotherâs Denver home on that sizzling August afternoon, Beau Camden heard a car pull up the drive behind him.
He spun around so fast he might as well have still been in the caves of Afghanistan with a rifle in his hands.
Then he recognized his older brother Cade at the wheel of a blue sedan and relaxed.
Beau watched as Cade parked behind his own black SUV, thinking that maybe Cade would have better luck getting someone to answer the door.
âBeau! Hey!â Cade called as he got out of his car and headed for the landing. âI didnât expect to see you.â
âGiGi asked me to come over. But I rang the bell and knocked, and no one seems to be here.â
Cade raised his chin knowingly. âOh, thatâs right, GiGi said youâd been doing thatâknocking and ringing the bell instead of just coming in. Acting like you donât belong hereâthatâs what she calls it. She doesnât like it. This is home, pal. Our homeâwe grew up here, remember? I know youâve been gone a long time, but nothingâs changed. We donât stand on ceremony.â
But standing on ceremony had been ingrained in him in the Marines.
And he had been gone a long time. Thirteen years. The first four of them in college at Annapolis with summers and holidays spent on the Camden ranch in Northbridge, Montana, to toughen up. The last nine years a marine.
Once a marine, always a marine...
âHard to get back to things,â he muttered.
An understatement.
Beau was having a lot of trouble fitting in again. The few occasions over the years when heâd been home on leave had been vacations from reality. Every waking hour had been filled with activities and seeing family and friends who all wanted to spoil him and show him a good time before he left again.
Being back for good was something else.
When Cade joined him at the oversize front door with its arched top and the stained glass in the upper half he reached in front of Beau, punched in the code that unlocked the door and unceremoniously turned the handle.
âFinally! Itâs about time, Beaumont Anthony Camden!â came a victorious call from inside before the door was open all the way. âI thought I was going to have to stand here till dark before you got the idea!â
Georgianna Camden, matriarch of the Camden family and the woman who had raised all ten of her grandchildrenâthe grandmother they called GiGiâstood several feet inside the entry, facing the door as if sheâd been there all along.
Spotting Cade, she deflated slightly, her shoulders drooping into her dumpling-like shape, her head shaking enough for her salt-and-pepper curls to shimmy and her frustration showing on the lined face that still bore evidence of beauty.
âOh, Cade...â she said. âI didnât know you were comingâyou opened the door, didnât you?â
âWell, itâs open, so it doesnât really matter, does it?â Cade asked.
Beau knew his older brother was covering for him.
So did GiGi, if her disapproving frown meant anything.
Cade ignored it and said, âI left my sunglasses when we were here Sunday. Just came to pick them up on my way home.â
âAh. We wondered who those belonged to. Theyâre in the kitchen on the counter.â
âBut you were waiting for Beau?â Cade asked with a glance from GiGi to Beau. âStanding here in the middle of the entry? With a bowl of marshmallows? Whatâs that, his reward if he came in without ringing the bell or knocking?â