"Homesick?" he asked and startled her.

"No," she answered without looking over her shoulder. "Do you always creep up on people like that?"

"Sorry," Buck apologized, and sat down beside her on a rock.

"I still think it's beautiful," Cami said after a few silent minutes.

"What is?"

"This," she said and pointed out over the prairie land beneath the cave.

"This land."

Buck say silent and contemplated. E had always loved the land here, but so far none of the women he had dated had shared that opinion. Not even Camille, he thought. She had changed, just like her husband Bill Barlow had said when they met. "People change." He inhaled a deep and heavy breath and tried to keep his feelings for Cami on a distance. But as soon as she spoke again he began to swoon.

"Don't you agree?" she asked.

"Yeah, I do." It was an honest answer and he wished he could explain all his feelings for the land he grew up in. But all the emotions were trapped on the inside.

"I wish one day I can live in a house out here. Then I would see it every day," Cami continued.

"Isn't your home in Rock Creek good enough for ya?" Buck asked with a wistful hint in his voice; when Cami turned to him he was smiling.

"Sure," she smiled back and turned back to face the rainy landscape. "But still. Living out here would be perfect. Just perfect."

Buck nodded and kept his gaze horizontal. The sun was setting behind the gray clouds and if he was to find anything for supper he had to leave now.

"Rabbit or roots?" he asked when he grabbed his still damp coat.

"Surprise me," Cami smiled awkwardly. As much as she loved talking to him, he had a way that made her scared she would say something stupid. Something really stupid.

"A little bit of both then," Buck smiled and started unbuttoning his shirt.

"Don't let it get wet, I'll need something dry when I get back in," he added.

A minute later he had disappeared from her sight.

~*~*~*~

Buck lay on his stomach in the drenched grass. He had spotted a rabbit only seven paces away, and the rock he held in his hand was both sharp and heavy enough to kill its prey. That was, if he could keep his aim steady with all the thoughts flying through his head. Not even all the hours he had spent around Cami could make him stop thinking about her. Somehow he felt braver now, though. He felt he knew her well enough to tell her he liked her. Before he had never even spoken to her, so telling her then would have sounded mighty weird. But now. Now was a completely different situation. Now he knew her, now he had spoken to her countless times, and now he had established a connection to her. He decided he would try and tell her as soon as he came back to the cave, but now he had to focus on the rabbit. Sighing angrily he rose and brushed his trousers off; which didn't make any difference. They were all wet and muddy anyway. He looked around and tried to listen through the rain. No, the rabbit was gone. "Dammit!" he cursed loud enough to scare any rabbit in the near.

He tossed the rock on the ground and picked up the roots and cattails he had located earlier. It was too dark and too wet to find any other rabbit. He had blown his one opportunity; and he didn't know who he would shoot if it turned out to be for no good - himself or the next rabbit he saw? The only way this can be justified is if you tell her! He told himself and hurried back toward the cave.