Love's Journey Read online

  "Of course, I'm sorry." Amanda stepped back into the kitchen for a moment. "I'm afraid we don't have a tea service, but I've got a nice selection, if you don't mind having it from a coffee mug."

  Elizabeth suppressed a shiver. Barbarians, the entire lot of them. "That would be fine, dear." Her eyes took in the large room. Several of the desks had photographs and knickknacks cluttering their space, making the entire office appear messy to the elegant woman.

  Amanda stepped from the kitchen area, a mug in each hand. "Here you go." She handed the one with a tag hanging over its rim to Elizabeth. "Let's go sit in my office, and catch up." She walked to the back of the building, different thoughts racing through her head. She must have been watching the building, waiting for Lex to leave. I wonder what she's thinking. She stepped into her office and motioned to one of the chairs in front of the desk. "Please, have a seat, Mother. Can I get you anything else?"

  "No, I'm fine." Elizabeth sat gingerly in the overstuffed chair, crossing her legs delicately at the ankles. She took a moment to look around the uncluttered room. The heavy oak furniture was overly masculine, but the room was clean, and only a few pictures on the bookshelves behind the desk gave it a personal air. Noticing the ring adorning her daughter's hand, Elizabeth had to bite back a nasty comment. Dear God, my sources were right. She is wearing that woman's ring.

  "How was your holiday?" Amanda asked politely, unsure as to the purpose of her mother's visit. She sat behind her desk and leaned back in the leather chair. "I wish you could have been here sooner, we had a nice family get together out at the ranch." The bell from the door jangled again, and Amanda mentally pictured Wanda bustling in. They joked about racing each other to the office every morning, taking turns in opening the business for the day.

  Wanda's curly head poked inside the office. "I see you won again." She noticed Amanda wasn't alone, and flushed. "Oh, I'm terribly sorry. I had no idea you had company." She'd started to back away from the door when Amanda waved her inside.

  "Wanda, come in and meet my mother." Amanda stood up. "Mother, I'd like for you to meet Wanda Skimmerly. Wanda, this is my mother, Elizabeth Cauble."

  Elizabeth stood and faced the woman who had stepped into the office. "How do you do." She held out her hand and almost gasped at the strong handshake she received.

  "Oh! It's my pleasure, Mrs. Cauble. It's so nice to meet you." Wanda shook the Elizabeth's hand enthusiastically. She cast a glance at her boss, who had a nervous smile on her face. "You didn't tell me your mother was in town, Amanda." She allowed Elizabeth to remove her hand, and noticed with a slight frown that the imperious woman surreptitiously wiped her hand on the back of the chair. "Well, I'll let you two get back to your visit." Wanda forced a smile to her face and started toward the door. "It was a pleasure to meet you." Under her breath she added, "Not! Snotty old hag."

  "I'm sure." Elizabeth dismissed the woman haughtily. She turned her attention back to her daughter. "I know you must be terribly busy, dear, so I won't keep you from your--work. But I do plan to be in town for a bit longer, and I'd be delighted to spend some time with you before I go back."

  Amanda frowned slightly, unsure what her mother was doing. "Umm, sure." An idea formed in her mind. Lex will probably kill me, but I think it's a good idea to have Mother where we can keep an eye on her. "Why don't you come out to the ranch for dinner tomorrow? We have plenty of room so you could even stay the night."

  "That sounds wonderful, Amanda." Elizabeth placed her half-full mug of tea on the corner of the desk. "Will she be there?"

  "If you mean Lex, of course she will." Amanda crossed her arms angrily over her chest. "Is that going to be a problem for you, Mother?"

  Elizabeth ran her hands down the front of her knee length fur coat. "Of course not, dear. I just don't want my presence to upset your friend." She walked around the desk and pulled Amanda into a hug. "I'll call you tomorrow for directions." She placed a dry kiss on her daughter's cheek and breezed from the room.

  "Oh, boy. This just made lunch with Lex much more interesting," Amanda sighed to the quiet room.

  THE CROWD IN the small café had thinned out considerably once the lunch hour was over. Bus boys worked quickly to clear the empty dishes from the hastily abandoned tables, as office workers hurried back to finish their day. Two men sat unnoticed in a corner booth, oblivious to the people around them.

  "I just don't know what I'm going to do about Janna." Ted Hotchiss lamented to his close friend. They had decided to meet here, since the eatery was conveniently situated between their two offices.

  Whereas Ted specialized in personal accounting and taxes, Hubert worked more with businesspersons, making certain his clients took advantage of all the loopholes and bottom line deductions they could to keep their businesses profitable. The older man never quite understood how his friend had stayed out of prison with all his, "creative bookkeeping". For some odd reason, they had always gotten along extremely well, and would send clients one another's way. "She spends far too much time at that damned farm, and now she's gotten into the habit of taking extra work home with her."

  Hubert leaned back in his chair and shook his head. "What's wrong with taking work home?" He took another drink from his glass of tea. "Everyone does it. I'd think you'd be proud of her for working so hard for you." He liked Ted, although he thought the older man was too honest for his own good. They had many good-natured arguments about ethics--mostly Hubert's lack thereof.

  "That's part of my problem. She's taking in work from outside my office, because she wants to develop her own client base. I can't blame her. As a matter of fact, she came in the other day and told me your sister had just hired her to work the books for the ranch." Ted noticed his friend pale considerably. "I thought you did the bookwork there. What happened?"

  That bitch! I'm going to kill her! Hubert took a moment to calm himself. "Yeah, I used to handle the books, but my dear sister got power-hungry and thought she could do a better job." He thought for a moment. "But, that's all water under the bridge. Tell me more about your daughter." There's more than one way to get my hands on those papers. All I have to do is show a little interest in a lonely girl. Piece of cake. His grin widened as he went over all the possibilities in his head.

  Ted searched his back pocket for his wallet. Pulling out a small picture, he handed it to his friend. "She's a great girl. Since Janna is very close to her mother, I was surprised when she called and asked if she could come to work with me."

  "Maybe she got tired of all the cold weather," Hubert mused aloud. He studied the photograph. Not bad to look at. A lot better looking than I expected, considering Ted's ugly face. "Is she seeing anyone here?"

  "I don't think so." The older man shook his head sadly. "Janna doesn't show interest in much of anything outside of the office. I wish she'd get out and meet more people her age."

  Hubert nodded in sympathy. "I can understand your concern, buddy." He snapped his fingers as if he just had a thought. "How about I escort your daughter to the New Year's Eve dance and introduce her to some of the people I know?" He handed back the small photo as an idea began to form in his mind.

  "I'd hate to put you to any trouble, Hubert. I know you've probably got women standing in line to go with you." Ted glanced at the picture sadly before slipping it back into his wallet.

  "Well, yeah, I do. I'm getting tired of the game, I guess. I'd much rather help you out instead." If all goes well, I'll sweet-talk her out of the ranch papers. Maybe even get her into bed, for all my trouble. Sounds like a win-win situation for me.

  "PLEASE, JANNA. DO this one little favor for me." Ted begged his daughter. "Hubert's a good friend of mine, and sends quite a bit of business my way. I'm not asking you to marry him, or anything." They were sitting in his office, arguing about the upcoming New Year's Eve dance. He knew once his daughter met a few people in the friendly little town, she'd be less likely to move back to Wisconsin. He loved his daughter dearly, and he hated the notion of her living s
o far away from him again.

  Janna ran her fingers through her short hair. "I don't know, Dad. I'm not in the mood to go to some silly dance." She stood to look out the office window. "He's not expecting this to be a date, is he? I'm certainly not interested in anything like that, especially right now." The main reason she had moved from Wisconsin was to get away from the painful memories of a disastrous love affair. Not even her father knew all the particulars, but she had made it perfectly clear she was not interested in being 'set up' on a blind date.

  He stood and put his hands on her shoulders. "Of course not, sweetheart. I just thought you might enjoy getting out for an evening, and Hubert promised me he'd be a perfect gentleman." Ted wanted his daughter to stop spending all of her time at her grandfather's farm, and more time socializing with the citizens of Somerville.

  "You can even meet him there, so you can leave whenever you want." He kissed the top of her head lightly. "This would mean a lot to me, Janna. And I honestly think you'd have a good time at the party."

  She turned around. "I'll go. But I'm not wearing some silly little dress."

  His smile reflected his happiness. Wouldn't it be wonderful if they hit it off? "Great! The theme is a barn dance, so most everyone will be wearing boots and jeans."

  She hugged him and kissed his bearded cheek. "Super. At least I don't have to go shopping for this little shindig."

  "Oh, I don't know, honey. Why don't you let me buy you something? Sort of a thank you for helping out a friend?"

  If there was one thing Janna hated more than wearing a dress, it had to be shopping. "Aw, Dad. You don't have to, you know." She shook her head in defeat. "But I guess I'll let you, just this once."

  "Excellent! While we pick up something for you to wear, I'll tell you a bit about him. Hubert is a nice guy. We've known each other for years." He wrapped his arm around Janna and began to lead her from the office.

  "Sure, Dad. Whatever you say." She didn't have the heart to burst his small bubble of happiness, and it wasn't until much later that she realized she never found out Hubert's last name.

  Chapter Twelve

  "YOU WHAT?" LEX jumped to her feet and slammed her hands on the table, rattling the place settings and causing the water to slosh from the glasses.

  Amanda covered the rancher's fingertips with her own. "Please, Lex, sit. You're making a scene." Amanda met the curious stares around the room with a determined look of her own. "Please?"

  "I can't believe you invited her to dinner, at our house. Have you completely lost your mind? Or maybe you've forgotten what she almost did to you. I don't want that lunatic anywhere near you!" Lex's tirade was interrupted by a fit of coughing, and she picked up her water to wet her dry throat. Damn.

  "Are you about finished?" Amanda asked quietly. "Because if you are, I'd appreciate it if you would listen to the rest of what I have to say."

  Another brilliant move, Lexington. Looks like you're batting a thousand today. "Umm, yeah. I'm sorry, sweetheart," Lex apologized quietly. "I guess I've managed to put both feet in my mouth today." She studied the salad she had barely touched. A tender squeeze of her fingers told her she was forgiven, again.

  "First off, you've got an appointment at Dr. Anderson's office this afternoon." When Lex opened her mouth to speak, Amanda raised her hand to silence her. "No arguments. Secondly, I thought we'd be better off having Mother at the house, where we can keep an eye on her, than out running around God knows where. Thirdly, I thought we could go visit my grandparents this evening, that way you won't be out in this weather any more than necessary." Contrite eyes almost made her lose her composure. "Now you can talk."

  "Gee, thanks," Lex muttered. "But I guess I deserved that." She blinked several times and tried to swallow, but her throat hurt too badly. "You're right. Having your mother in sight is a very smart thing to do. I guess I overreacted, huh?" She sniffed and pulled out her handkerchief and wiped at her nose. "Guess I can't talk you out of the doctor's visit, huh?"

  Amanda shook her head. "Nope." She raised her hand to place it against her lover's brow. "You're burning up, Lex. I think we should go on to the doctor right now. Forget about lunch."

  Lex batted her hand away gently. "It's hot in here. I'd like to remind you that you didn't eat any breakfast. So we're staying for lunch." She stuck out her lower lip slightly. "Besides, I'm hungry. Dr. A's office always closes for lunch, so no one would be there, anyway."

  "God. You can be such a brat, sometimes," Amanda muttered almost to herself, and shook her head. "You win. First lunch and the doctor. But I'm driving."

  "Okay." Lex smiled at the waitress, who had placed a steaming plate in front of her. "Thank you." She examined the food with near reverence in her eyes. A large, deep-fried steak, smothered in white gravy covered the oval-shaped plate. Fluffy mashed potatoes accompanied the meat, and a separate bowl was filled nearly to overflowing with green beans.

  "You're welcome, sugar." The bottle blond winked at Lex. "Y'all just let me know if you need anything else, you hear?" She placed a similarly laden plate in front of Amanda with another sweet smile.

  "Thanks." Amanda picked up her fork and poked at the drowned steak. "Good Lord. This is their lunch plate?"

  Lex nodded, her mouth already full. "Mmm-hmm." She chewed for a few more seconds and swallowed. "I'll have to bring you in for dinner, sometime. We could almost share a plate."

  "Oh, boy." Amanda shook her head. "This is liable to take a while." She dug in with gusto. "Mmm--" She sampled a bite. "This is good."

  "Yup." Lex grinned, and continued to eat happily. Maybe she'll be so full from lunch, she won't remember the doctor's appointment.

  After they devoured their lunch, Lex discovered to her chagrin Amanda hadn't forgotten a thing, and found herself sitting in the doctor's office after all. She leaned her head back against the colorful wall and closed her eyes. I hate to admit it, but maybe Amanda was right. I feel rotten.

  The receptionist had told them Dr. Anderson was out on an emergency, but the young doctor he had brought into the practice as a partner would see them shortly. It took all of Amanda's skills of persuasion to keep Lex from bolting from the office, since she didn't know the new doctor at all. Amanda watched her partner, who appeared to be dozing against the painted corral scene. She smiled at the woman behind the counter and took a seat next to Lex. "Honey?"

  "Hmm?" Lex turned her head and opened her eyes slightly. "What's up?"

  "Dr. Connors will be ready for you in just a minute." Amanda leaned forward and placed her hand gently on her lover's pale face. She was worried about how quickly Lex's symptoms had worsened, and how fast it had drained the normally strong woman. "You look miserable. Is there anything I can do?"

  Lex leaned into the touch and closed her eyes. The hand that stroked her face was cool, and the action relaxed her. "You're doing it." She forced her eyes open. "Just having you here with me makes being in this place bearable."

  Amanda leaned forward and gently kissed the fevered brow. She was interrupted from saying anything as the door across the room opened, and Laura cleared her throat.

  "If you two can behave yourselves for a few minutes, Dr. Connors will see you now." The redheaded nurse smiled as Amanda helped her lover to her feet. "Lex, as much as I enjoy seeing you, I wish you'd stay out of this office."

  "You're just jealous," Lex rasped, as her sore throat made talking difficult. She gratefully accepted Amanda's guiding arm around her waist. This is ridiculous. I've become as weak as a newborn calf.

  Laura laughed as she opened the door to an examination room. "Right. Just don't tell my husband I've got a secret crush on you." She winked at Amanda and helped her direct Lex to the paper-covered table. "Now sit your cute little self on the table so I can get all the boring stuff out of the way."

  After taking the grumpy woman's vital signs, Laura shook her head. "It's probably a good thing Dr. Anderson is delivering a baby," she admitted, as she gently patted Lex on the arm, "because he'd proba
bly chew you out for being out in this weather with your fever." Before she could say any more, the door opened and a short, bearded man stepped into the room.

  "Oh." The smile faded from his face as he noted Amanda's hand on Lex's arm. "Excuse me. I'm Dr. Connors." He took the clipboard in Laura's hand and studied it quickly. "Lexington?"

  "That's me," Lex rasped and cleared her throat. She held out her right hand. "Nice to meet you, Doctor."

  He accepted her hand, but released it quickly. "Yes, well." Dr. Connors glared at Amanda with barely disguised distaste. "And you are?"

  "I'm--"

  Lex cut off Amanda's answer. "This is my fiancée, Amanda Cauble."

  "Umm." He blinked several times and extended his hand. "Nice to meet you, Miss Cauble. If you'll excuse us, I'd like to examine my patient."

  Amanda felt the hairs on the back of her neck rise. What a complete jerk! No way am I going to leave Lex alone in here with him. "I think I'll stay here, thank you." She crossed her arms over her chest and backed against the wall. "I'll keep out of your way."

  Dr. Connors sighed. "Right." He pulled on a pair of latex gloves and took a penlight from his pocket. "Open up so I can take a look at your throat," he directed Lex. He continued his examination for several minutes in silence, only speaking enough to get information from his patient. With a final heavy sigh, he peeled the gloves from his hands and tossed them into the waste bin. "I'm going to give you a shot, and you'll be ready to go. Drink plenty of fluids, and don't call back unless something drastic happens."

  "I assume I'm going to live?" Lex asked sardonically, as she buttoned her shirt. "What do I have?" She sneezed several times, which triggered a bout of coughing. Amanda rushed over and rubbed her back.

  "Nothing more than a cold, Lexington. Quite a few folks have come in with the same symptoms." He handed her a tissue. "Take a few aspirin for the fever, and you should be fine in a few days." Dr. Connors had cut the examination short, since he'd seen many of the same symptoms from other patients that morning. "You could have survived with over the counter remedies without coming to me. I'll leave your paperwork up front." He turned on his heel and left the room quickly.