His grandmother then went upstairs to Samantha’s bedroom. A few minutes later, she came back down with Samantha’s duffel bag. “Did you say this was the only bag she brought?” she asked.
“Yeah.”
“There’s no nightgown in her room. Just a couple of T-shirts and a spare pair of jeans.”
“I figured.”
“Well, why didn’t you say something? We could’ve gone to a store.”
Rich shook his head. “Sam’s real independent, Grandma. I’m not sure but what buying her something will upset her.”
“Mercy!” Lavinia exclaimed. She picked up the phone to call her daughter. “Janie, Samantha doesn’t have hardly anything. There’s no nightgown and Rich says buying her something will upset her. What do we do?”
After listening, Lavinia hung up the phone and started making sandwiches.
“What did Mom say?” Rich asked, frowning.
“She said she and Pete would talk to Samantha. We’re each going to buy her a nightgown, so she’ll have more than one, but we’ll keep them simple. How many sandwiches do you want?” she asked, switching the subject.
“One,” he said, absentmindedly.
“One? You usually have two at least,” Lavinia pointed out.
“I’m not getting a lot of exercise with this cast on my foot. What should I get her?”
“Well, I don’t think it would be proper for you to get her a nightie,” Lavinia assured him with a grin.
“Of course not! I didn’t mean— I wasn’t thinking of that. But if you all are taking her presents, I don’t want to show up empty-handed,” he explained in irritation.
He had no intention of getting intimate with Samantha. Unlike Russ, he wasn’t ready to marry. But Samantha was a friend. He’d brought her here. And it was normal to get a little warm thinking about a woman’s nightclothes. It didn’t mean anything.
“Maybe your mother will think of something,” Lavinia said, fixing the sandwiches.
Rich poured two glasses of iced tea. “When is she coming over?”
“As soon as your dad comes in.”
Rich frowned again. “Dad doesn’t come in until almost dark. I thought we should take Sam her things now.”
“Don’t worry. He’s coming in early.”
Rich stood there, his hands on his hips. Did his father really think of Samantha as a daughter? Rich certainly didn’t think of her as a sister. In fact, he realized now that he’d been attracted to her from the beginning. On the drive up, the more she pushed him away, the more he’d wanted to know about her. He’d visited a couple of times since she’d moved to his grandmother’s, but Sam hadn’t shown any delight upon his arrival. If anything, she’d withdrawn again.
“Sit and eat, boy. They’ll be here in half an hour,” Lavinia ordered, a smile on her lips.
THE DOCTOR HAD instructed the nurses to give Samantha painkillers after they got her in bed. As the medicine took effect and she slid into sleep, she vaguely heard voices talking by the bed.
“Who is she? Doc said she’s a friend of Rich Randall.”
“Maybe some woman’s finally caught him. She’s pretty enough. And I heard she took down a big man, so maybe she took Rich down, too. In a different way,” the voice added with a chuckle.
Samantha tried to speak, but her tongue seemed thick. She tried again, but finally gave up, losing consciousness.
When she awoke several hours later, it wasn’t just her tongue that didn’t operate. Her mind seemed blank, too.
“Samantha?”
She struggled to open her eyes and discovered Dr. Jacoby by her bed, taking her pulse. “Hi,” she whispered. “Throat dry.”
“Nurse, get her some water,” the doctor ordered and the woman came into Sam’s line of vision with a glass with a bendable straw in it.
Samantha sipped the water slowly.
“I believe you have some visitors waiting,” the doctor said cheerfully.
Samantha frowned. “No. No visitors.”
“You don’t feel up to visitors?”
“No. There’s no one to visit.”
“You’re wrong there, young lady,” he said before departing.
“Shall I raise the head of your bed a little? It will make it easier to visit.” Without waiting for an answer, the nurse pushed a button, elevating Samantha’s head.
Almost simultaneously, the door opened again and Lavinia and Rich, accompanied by Pete and Janie, came into the room.
Pete reached the bed and leaned over to kiss her cheek. “Hi, honey. Sorry you had such a hard time. How are you feeling?”
“Pete,” she managed to say, suddenly fighting tears.
Janie replaced him and kissed her cheek, too. “Poor dear. I’m sorry it took us so long to bring your things to you. Did you sleep some?”
“Yes,” Sam replied. “You didn’t have to come.”
“Do you think I’m going to let my handsome husband visit a beautiful woman and me not come? Why, there’d be rumors all over town.” Janie’s big grin told Sam she didn’t mean it. At least she hoped so.
Lavinia stepped forward. “Did Doc give you some medicine?”
“Something to help me sleep. Pete, can you talk to him? He wants me to stay overnight.” Alarm had her voice rising.
“What’s the matter, Sam? You got a heavy date tomorrow?” Pete asked grinning. “I think you’d best do what Doc says.”
Almost as if he felt he was being ignored, Rich came to the other side of her bed and picked up her left hand. “Did he say why?”
“No. He said we’d talk about it later.” She looked at Rich hopefully. “I can take care of myself. I won’t cause Lavinia any trouble, I promise. I think she’ll let me stay at her house until I’m feeling better.” Her gaze shifted to Lavinia to see if she objected to that remark.
Janie and Pete exchanged a look that she couldn’t interpret. Then Pete said, “Honey, I told you, you belong with us. No one is sending you away. We’re going to take care of you. You’re one of us, now.”
“I can’t stay, Pete. I put Lavinia in danger. I can’t promise it won’t happen again. Brad is mean and vicious.”
“If anything does happen, it won’t be Brad causing trouble,” Rich assured her. “They’re charging him with the murder of his fourth wife. And maybe for the others, too. He’s going to be put away for a long time.”
“Besides, we did a good job of protecting ourselves, young lady. We’re the talk of the town.” Lavinia beamed at her, as if that were a desirable thing. “Now, open this.”
She thrust a box at Samantha that she hadn’t noticed before.
Samantha stared at the box. “I—I can’t— What is it?”
“That’s why you’re supposed to open it, silly,” Lavinia teased her.
Her gaze flashed to both Pete and Janie, then Rich. “I can’t.”
“Rich, you help her,” Janie ordered.
He put something on the floor and stepped to her bedside, lifting the lid off Lavinia’s box. Inside, nestled in tissue paper, was a pale-green short nightgown, along with a matching robe. Rich lifted the two garments out of the box, putting them across the cover so she could see them.
“No! No, I can’t. Lavinia—”
Janie stopped her. “I know you’re independent, but, Sam, we’d do the same thing for anyone else. If you don’t want them when you leave, you can just leave them behind. But we want you to have them.”
Sam looked even more alarmed. “Them? There’s more?”
“You’ll need a change, especially if you stay another night,” Janie explained. “Besides, do you know how long I’ve waited to have a daughter to shop for? You’ll be doing me a favor.”
Rich reached out for the next box and opened it, too. Inside was a white gown and robe. It, too, was simple, but it had lace edging the neckline and armholes.
Sam reached out and stroked the soft material of both gowns. She’d never had anything as nice. “You’re all so sweet. I—I don’t know how I’ll repay you.”
“We’ll tell you when our birthdays are coming up. And we’ll expect good presents,” Pete told her, grinning.
“Now, you men scoot out so we can make Sam comfortable,” Janie ordered. The men quickly departed.
“She lives with me, so I say she wears the green one first,” Lavinia insisted.
“Of course, Mom,” Janie said, “if that’s okay with Samantha.” She looked at her and Sam nodded. “Okay, lean forward just a little bit and I’ll untie the one you’re wearing. I hate those ties.”
When she pulled the hospital gown away, she immediately slipped the pale-green gown onto Sam’s head. Then, very gently, she put Samantha’s injured arm through the armhole. “We picked out gowns with big armholes, so it would be easier.”
Lavinia, on the other side of the bed, held the gown for Sam to put her uninjured arm in. Then she smoothed it down over Sam’s body and drew the cover up over her. “The green looks good. Makes those huge eyes of yours look even bigger.” Then she looked at her daughter, grinning, “Do you think it’s safe to let Rich see her like this?”
Something in what she said reminded Samantha of that conversation she’d overheard as she drifted into sleep. She frowned, trying to remember what had bothered her.
“You don’t like it?” Lavinia asked.
Samantha saw the concern on Lavinia’s face and she immediately reassured her. “I love it. It feels so silky and cool. Thank you, Lavinia. It’s wonderful of you, and you and Pete, too, Janie, to bring me these things. I was just trying to remember something that was bothering me. That’s why I frowned.”
“Rich brought you something, too,” Lavinia assured her. She turned away from the bed and picked up a small blue, woven bag with flowers. “He thought you could use a bag for your new nightgowns. And he put in all your grooming things from your duffel bag.”
Samantha turned bright red. “I—I don’t have much.”
“Don’t worry about it,” Janie assured her. Then she put the jeans and T-shirt she’d been wearing that morning into the case along with the white peignoir set. “I’d better invite the men back in before they get too antsy.”
Rich and Pete must’ve been waiting right outside the door because they entered at once.
“You look pretty,” Pete said immediately. “Feeling a little better?” he asked.
Sam dutifully answered, “Yes, of course.” In truth, the pain was coming back.
“Okay, we’re going to go have dinner, but we’ll check with you later before we head for the house,” Janie said. “Some of the others may be in to visit. Red and Mildred are definitely planning on it. But if you get tired, just shoo them away.”
She and Lavinia and Pete each kissed Samantha’s cheek and headed for the door. Pete looked over his shoulder. “You coming, Rich?”
“I’ll be right there. I need to get her signature for the sheriff,” he said. “Go ahead and get a table and I’ll be there in five minutes.”
Suddenly, Samantha was alone with Rich. She’d spent several days in the truck with him, but this was different. “What do I need to sign?” she asked hurriedly.
He pulled a folded sheet of paper out of his back pocket. “This paper is to press assault charges against Brad.”
“But I thought you said he was being charged with murder.”
“He is, but we want to be sure he doesn’t escape all the charges. Just sign on the bottom line. I filled out the rest of the information.”
He offered a pen and then realized at the same time that she did that it was going to be impossible to write her name. At least by herself. “Damn, I didn’t think of that. I’ll talk to the sheriff tomorrow and ask if your signature can be postponed.”
“Thank you. But I think I can do it if you’ll support my arm.” She wanted to be sure Brad wasn’t let out of prison any time soon.
“Are you sure? We don’t want to open up that cut.”
“I’m sure the doctor’s stitches will stay in place. Unless you don’t want— I mean, I can do it by myself, probably. Give me the pen, please, and—”
Rich stepped closer to the bed, his features stiffening.
“I don’t have rabies!” she snapped when he warily approached.
“I know that! I just don’t want to hurt you,” he added as he slid his hand under her injured arm. With his other hand, he slid the bed table over her lap and placed the form on it. “Okay, let’s try it. But if it hurts too much, I’ll talk to the sheriff about waiting.”
Sam tried to hide how much effort it took to move the pen. However, she managed to produce a wobbly signature similar to her normal one. Then she lay back against the pillows and drew a deep breath, aware that Rich still held her arm. “Thank you.”
He followed her gaze to her arm and eased his hold from her. “Good job. Did it hurt much?”
She shook her head. “Oh, and thank you for loaning me that bag. I appreciate it.”
He looked at her for a long moment. “It isn’t a loan, Sam. It’s a gift.”
“I—I—thank you.”
He bent over, she supposed to kiss her cheek as his parents and grandmother had done. But Samantha wasn’t prepared for that. She turned her head to tell him so, and his lips covered hers.
She’d been kissed before. When she was younger and wanted to know what all the excitement was about. And a few times when she wasn’t willing but couldn’t fight the man off. But none of those times had shown her the magic people talked about.
Her first thought was that Rich had made a mistake. But his lips had control of hers, and he didn’t back away. Instead, his lips softened and gently urged her closer. The tip of his tongue stroked her mouth, teasing her. Then she realized how responsive she was. The last thought she had was she’d found heaven. But she couldn’t! Panic rushed in.
With Rich, of all people, she found the magic of a kiss.
Chapter Nine
Pete kept an eye on the restaurant door, waiting for Rich’s arrival. They’d left him at the hospital over a quarter hour ago and Pete couldn’t help wonder what was taking him so long. But he wasn’t into matchmaking, in spite of what Janie said.
He would like it if Rich fell for Samantha however, and brought her legally into the family. But only if Rich loved her. Pete knew his son’s reputation as a love-’em-and-leave-’em kind of guy. After cautioning him to use condoms and be kind, he didn’t figure there was much else he could do.
Rich came in, a scowl on his face.
Pete raised his hand. “Rich! Over here.”
His son joined them at a table for six, barely greeting them as he sat. Then he buried his face in the menu.
Pete waited him out. When he finally came out from behind the menu, Pete asked, “Everything all right?”
“Yeah.”
“I wondered because you took longer than we expected.”
“Sorry, I ran into some friends and they wanted me to tell them about Samantha. Why are we at such a big table?”
Janie smiled. “Russ and Abby are joining us here. They hadn’t heard about Sam’s rough day.”
“Oh.”
The waitress arrived to take their orders. Janie also ordered for Rich’s twin and his fiancée. After the waitress left, Rich asked, “How do you know what they want?”
“They told me what they wanted on the phone. This way their food will arrive about the time they do. I think this new situation is working very well for Russ. He enjoys working with Bill Johnson in town and still doing some work at the ranch part-time,” Janie enthused.
“More to the point, Dad and the uncles are behind him.” Rich folded his arms across his chest and stared at his dad. He couldn’t believe his twin enjoyed being a bean counter part-time. But, according to everyone, Russ was happy. He’d started working for the only accountant in town last fall, about the time Rich went off to the rodeo.
“It’s working out all right,” Pete replied. “We hired an extra hand.”
Just then, several young men wandered b
y their table, stopping when they recognized Rich. “Hey, Rich! Congratulations!”
“For what?” Rich frowned.
“We heard you’re getting married soon. To the new lady in town.”
Rich glared at the two men.
“That’s what my girlfriend Beth said. She was working reception at the clinic when you brought that woman in. The news sure took us by surprise. We thought you wouldn’t get caught so easily.”
“I’m not marrying anyone!” Rich snapped. “The lady’s a friend and nothing else.”
Their eyebrows raised. One of them said, “I heard she’s good-looking. Green eyes and long, dark hair.” He looked at Rich as if to confirm the rumor.
Rich stared at the table, ignoring them.
“’Fraid you got your facts wrong, boys. Rich is recovering from a broken ankle. That’s why he’s home right now. Not because of some lady,” Pete said, nodding at the two young men. “He’s had a long day. He gets tired with that cast on his leg.”
After they moved on, Russ and Abby arrived.
“How’s the leg doing?” Russ asked at once.
“Fine. Hi, Abby. Good to see you.”
“Hi, Rich, Mrs. Dawson, Mr. and Mrs. Randall.”
Janie leaned forward. “Make it Pete and Janie, Abby, like I told you. There are too many Randalls around who’ll answer to those names.”
“I guess you’re right. Even Toby and Elizabeth,” Abby pointed out. She and Elizabeth both taught at the elementary school. “I’m looking forward to meeting the future Mrs. Randall,” she said, a big smile on her face as she stared at Rich.
“But that would be you,” Rich said.
“No, silly, not me!” Abby exclaimed with a chuckle. “The rumor around town is that you’re settling down.” She beamed at Rich as if that were a happy thing.
“What are you talking about?” Rich demanded harshly.
Russ leaned closer. “Are we rushing things, bro?” he asked.
“No, you didn’t rush things. You just drove off a cliff. Of course I’m not getting married! Don’t believe the blasted rumors!”
RESTING IN HER hospital bed, Samantha was still getting over the shock of Rich’s kiss. She was replaying the scene in her mind. The look in Rich’s eyes as he’d backed away, a stunned expression on his face even as he had pulled her arms from around his neck.
Randall Riches Page 9
