Lover's Leap by Emily March Page A

in the hospital and went to jail because of it. End of story.”
    “It’s not the end of the story.” Celeste held Cam’s gaze. “ People should know why you hit him.”
    Meaning me , Sarah thought.
    Cam shook his head. “It would only cause people pain. I won’t do it. Frankly, my motive doesn’t matter. It’s best left in the past. All I care about is the future, and the future is Lori. I want to do the right thing for Lori.”
    “He’s right,” Sarah said. “I’ve been thinking about the whole situation myself. We can’t change what happened in the past. The only thing that matters is doing what is best for Lori going forward. Primary to that is taking her wishes into account with every decision we make. She’s an adult. She has a right to be treated as an adult in this situation, a right to be part of the process. It would be wrong of us—me and Cam and all of you—to make potentially life-changing decisions without her input.”
    Recent developments made Sarah resolute in this respect.
    Celeste responded to both Cam and Sarah with another one of her special smiles. “You are quite correct, Sarah. Lori’s well-being is paramount. That said, what Lori wants isn’t always what is best for her. As a parent, you know that.”
    Is that what her parents had thought when letters from Australia arrived? Sarah cleared the sudden lump from her throat, then repeated, “She’s an adult.”
    “Yes, she is. And so are you, and so is Cameron. It’s good that you both consider your daughter’s feelings as you go forward, but I caution you not to shortchange yourselves. You see, sometimes the best thing we can do for our children is to see to our own happiness.”
    Sarah stole a glance at Cam and found him stealing one right back at her.
    Nic asked, “Have you spoken to Lori yet?”
    “No time. We have an online date tonight.”
    “Excellent.” Celeste clapped her hands. “We’ll develop our strategy here now, and you can share it with her tonight.”
    Sarah knew Celeste well enough to know she’d be wasting her breath to argue any more, so she didn’t. After a moment of awkward silence, Ali cleared her throat. “As the mother of a daughter the same age as Lori; as your friend, Sarah; and as, like Cam, a descendent of Eternity Springs’s founder Harry Cavanaugh, I want to say that I think this project to rehabilitate the Murphy name is a wonderful idea. I also agree that a newspaper interview of some type would be beneficial, and I don’t see why you couldn’t set some ground rules about what topics you will and will not address, but I have to ask. Emily Hall grew up here, too, didn’t she? What sort of prejudice might she bring to the interview? I have some friends at The Denver Post who owe me a favor.”
    Nic glanced at Sarah. “Ali has a point. I don’t think Emily has ever forgiven you for getting the lead in the senior play. I could see the high school girl coming out in an interview with Cam.”
    Sarah shrugged. “I don’t know. She had a crush on Cam our sophomore year, and she’s single again. She might write an article that makes him sound like a saint.”
    “That would be just fine,” Celeste said. “What other ideas can you suggest? Ali, can we count on you to prevail upon Mac to befriend Cam?” To Cam, she added, “Mac retired from the federal bench in Denver before moving to Eternity Springs.”
    Cam muttered a curse, then turned away from the window to face them. “Look, Celeste, I appreciate the idea and your effort to enlist your friends on my behalf, but this just isn’t how I work. I’ll be damned if I’m going to parade around Eternity Springs like a suck-up.”
    “You’re thinking about it wrong,” Sage said, absently rubbing her tummy. “Getting along with people isn’t sucking up. Think of it like a campaign. What’s wrong with kissing a few babies if it’ll help achieve the goal?”
    “Just because I have a criminal record doesn’t mean I’m slimy like a