Love in the Falls (9 page)

As the days passed, Camden became well known around the little country hospital. She slept in the pull-out chair beside Sam and became involved in all of his rehab. As each specialist came, she was there to listen in and make sure that they were taking good care of him. Preston called occasionally trying to guilt her into coming home. He got more snide and irritable with each passing call, and she pulled away more and more.

Sam was able to start sitting up more, and they took several more trips outside. As he learned to maneuver the wheelchair with only his right arm and leg, he could be more mobile. The doctors and therapists were very optimistic that Sam would regain his strength on his left side with a lot of therapy. He was able to eat on his own, which was a big concern when he first had the stroke. His voice became stronger and clearer. She loved to hear the country twang in his deep, husky voice.

About two weeks after his stroke, the doctors started talking about his release. Camden felt that familiar anxiety in the pit of her stomach as she realized that Sam would be going home, and she would need to leave. After all, she needed to make some big life decisions. Sam wouldn’t need her anymore once he was at home. Drake and Sam’s sister, Rebecca, would take care of him.

“Camden, can you do me a huge favor?” Sam asked as he sat up in the bed.

“Sure. What is it?”

“I need a shave…. Bad. I don’t feel quite strong enough to do it myself yet,” he said. His face was covered in hair now, and he surely looked the part of a mountain man.

“I have never shaved a man in my life, Sam. Let me get one of the nurses…”

“No, no, no… I trust you.”

“Why do you always do that to me? That’s how I ended up giving you a sponge bath, remember?” she asked smiling.

“Oh, yes, I most certainly remember. I might have had a stroke, but a man is a man,” he replied with a smirk.

“Ha ha, very funny. Fine. I shall take great pleasure in cutting your face with a razor, Sam Steele…” she said as she walked over to the bathroom to retrieve his razor and shaving cream that Drake had brought over.

As she returned, he was sitting up in bed grinning at her.

“What?” she asked.

“You would never hurt me, and you know it.”

Camden sat on the edge of the bed with a bowl of water and some shaving supplies. She started to wet his face with a cloth.

“How do you know me so well? I could be some kind of ax murderer,” she said with a smirk.

“Because ax murderers don’t generally take care of strangers for weeks on end,” he said.

“You aren’t a stranger anymore,” Camden replied as she looked in his eyes. At that moment, she realized that Sam was, at the very least, a close friend now. She could not longer call him a stranger as she had opened up to him more than just about anyone, apart from Natalie.

She began to shave his beard slowly, up the right side and down the left side. She climbed up onto the bed closer, and got onto her knees beside him so that she could lean in closer. He lifted his chin up so she could shave under his strong jawline. She could hear his breathing get more rapid, and she could feel his warm breath on her cheek when she got closer. Her perfume overwhelmed his senses as it lingered in the air.

“Camden?” he whispered when she was close to his face.

“Yes, Sam?” she whispered back, freezing in place.

“Thank you,” he said. She could feel his right hand sliding up the side of her body from her hips to her back to her neck. Before she could think, she was leaning in to meet his mouth with hers. She had no idea what she was doing. What about Preston? Her engagement? At that moment, she didn’t care about anything else but feeling Sam’s warm lips on hers.

She dropped the razor on the bed beside him and reached around to cup his head in her hands. They couldn’t get enough of each other as their tongues battled for first place. His mouth was soft and willing, and she had never been kissed that way before. The passion was so intense that it was hard to breathe, and Camden was well aware that she was kissing a man who had just had a stroke. Worried about his blood pressure or hurting him, she pulled back. His look was one of confusion as she wiped her mouth and stood up.

“Are you okay?” he asked reaching out with his right hand.

“Yes. I am so sorry. I should not have done that…”

“It’s okay, Camden. I was there too. I shouldn’t have pushed you… I know you’re engaged…”

“No, it’s not that. I don’t want to hurt you in some way…” she said, immediately realizing that this strong man would take offense to her remark.

“Camden, you have to stop thinking of me as disabled. Please.” His irritation could be felt in the room. There was a look of hurt in his eyes, and it pained her to think she caused it.

“I’m sorry, Sam. We’re friends, and I should not have taken advantage. I am going to get the nurse to finish your shave…” she said as she walked out of the room so quickly that he couldn’t argue.

While the nurse finished his shave, Camden went outside to get some air. She was stunned by what she had done, but she wasn’t really sorry that she had done it. She wanted to do it a lot more, but giving Sam mixed signals was not a good plan in her mind. She still had to work out what was going on with Preston now that her wedding was a little over two months away. Was she still engaged? She hadn’t heard from Preston today, and their previous conversations were never pleasant.

Her thinking was interrupted by the ring of her cell phone, and just like clockwork it was Natalie making her daily check-in phone call.

“Hi, Nat,” Camden said trying to sound chipper.

“Uh oh, what’s wrong, Cam? Is he okay?” she asked. Natalie had always read Camden like a book.

“Nothing’s wrong…”

“Liar. What is it?” Natalie said.

Camden walked away from the front door of the hospital to make sure that she was safely out of earshot.

“I kissed Sam.”

“What? Seriously?” Natalie was shocked and giddy at the same time. “Score! He is hot, Camden,” she said with a giggle.

“He’s a stroke patient, Nat. That was not the right thing for me to do.”

“He’s a red-blooded American man, right? And they are releasing him soon, aren’t they? What’s wrong with a man and a woman kissing if they feel that desire?”

“Well, I am engaged to be married…”

“Camden, you and I both know that ship has sailed. End it. Preston is the wrong guy for you,” Natalie said.

“You’ve never liked Preston, so you aren’t exactly objective…”

“No, I haven’t liked him. But, I would tell you the truth anyway. I think you are falling for Sam, but you won’t admit it.”

Camden sat quietly. She could never fake out Natalie. She always knew what Camden was thinking and feeling. And, even more importantly, she always called Camden out when she was lying to herself.

“Cam? Are you there?” Natalie asked, worried that she had hung up.

“Yes, I am here.”

“Let me ask you something… and you have to be honest, okay?”

“Okay…”

“When you think of Preston, what is the first word that comes into your head? Quick!”

“Narcissist,” Camden said, shocking herself in the process. Preston had always been more focused on himself than on her or anyone else.

“And when you think of Sam, what is the word that pops up?”

“Warm.”

“I think I’ve made my point. Don’t be afraid, girl. This could be the true love of your life. Otherwise, why are you still there?”

Natalie’s words tore through Camden. It would have been so much easier to have gone home that day instead of coming to the hospital with Sam. It would have been so much simpler for everyone if she had gone on to plan her wedding like a normal woman. Why was she still there? There couldn’t be any other reason except that she was falling in love.

      As Camden walked down the hall, she noticed Rebecca standing in a side room talking on her cell phone. She didn't want to interrupt the conversation so she stood beside the doorway until Rebecca finished her phone call.
     "I can't believe this. I can't even imagine leaving Sam right now. He's going to need me when he gets back home. Drake cannot run the whole farm by himself plus the retail store. On top of that, Sam's got all of his rehab to do," Rebecca said. Camden could hear the stress in her voice.
     A few minutes later, Rebecca ended her phone call and walked into the hallway to find Camden standing there.
     "Hi, Rebecca. I didn't want to interrupt your phone call. Is everything okay?" Camden asked.
     "No, everything is not okay. My husband just found out that his job is transferring him to Colorado. I need to go home and take care of our kids because we don't have anyone else locally who can do that. I wasn't planning on leaving Sam for a few more weeks until he could get back on his feet, so now I don't know what I'm going to do.” Rebecca’s face was flushed and her eyes were filled with tears.
     "How can I help, Rebecca?" Camden asked.
     "I don't know. It seems like this is a hopeless situation. Maybe I need to bring Sam back to New Orleans with me. Although, I don't know how well he's going to get rehab in my house with my kids running around. I wish we had more family, but we don't."
     "Rebecca, I have an idea. How about I move in at the farm and help out? I realize I don't have any farm experience, but I'm sure that they could teach me how to help out in the store or handle the books or something. Plus, I can help to oversee Sam's rehab," Camden said.
    "You would really do that for Sam?" Rebecca asked.
    "Sure I would. He's become a great friend to me."

    “Are you sure he's only a friend?" Rebecca asked with sly smile.
    Camden really had to think about her question as her feelings for Sam were growing more and more each day. She didn't know what to do about Preston, but she was quite sure that the thought of marrying him was in the back recesses of her mind. She actually hadn't thought any about the wedding planning or living her life with Preston since the whole event with Sam had happened. All she could think about was getting Sam well and figuring out what their relationship would be after that. Natalie’s comments had her thinking even more, but she wasn’t ready to admit anything to herself or anyone else.
    "Right now he's just my friend, Rebecca. That's about all I can say," Camden said smiling as she looked down at her shoes.
    "Well, I'm not going to push you any further on that question. I’m just appreciative that you're willing to help my brother like this."

    “No appreciation necessary. It will give me some much needed time away from my regular life,” Camden said with a laugh.

    “Oh, honey, I don’t think you realize how much work farm life is…” Rebecca said laughing.

    “It can’t be that bad…” Camden said as she pursed her lips and rolled her eyes.

    “Um… okay… I guess you will have to be the judge of that. Just remember that the stress of running that place was probably a big contributing factor to Sam having a stroke at such a young age,” she said.

    “True. Well, maybe he just needs a female touch around there,” said Camden with a smile.

    “He definitely needs a good woman in his life. He hasn’t had such good luck with them in the past,” Rebecca said shaking her head.

    “Really? Jenny said he was pretty popular.”

    “Oh, the ladies love him. He’s a handsome devil… always has been. But, he seems to attract needy women who have problems.”