by Jackie Anton
The valet showed up and one of the others on duty opened the passenger side for Lexie. She slipped in and cranked up the heater while Cutter took care of the dual tip. At the first stoplight, he shrugged out of his jacket, and by the second he’d removed his tie and opened his collar. Lexie started to laugh, like someone was tickling her. Cutter figured she’d had one to many drinks.
“What’s so funny Lex?”
“What time is it?”
“Just a couple of minutes past midnight.”
“Aha, the witching hour when all the princesses and princes turn back into their true form.”
She stroked the fox jacket, then unhooked her seat belt so she could remove it and place it in her lap. Cutter noticed that she continued to pet it. “Lex, are you warm enough now that it’s alright to turn down the heat?”
“Oh, sure.”
“Put your seatbelt back on.”
“I will as soon as I let them go.”
“Let who go?”
“The little foxes inside this jacket. They should appear any minute.”
He pulled over at the next opportunity, and took the jacket away from her, he was worried she might pitch it out the window. He put the jacket on the seat behind them with his before refastening her seat belt.
“Christ, Lex, you’re hammered.”
“Boy, don’t say that in front of my grandmother. Unless you are up to a lengthy lecture on the inappropriate use of the Lord’s name.”
He pulled the vehicle into the drive and manually doused the headlights. After releasing his safety belt, he slid across the seat and reached for hers. She smacked his hand.
“What do you think you are doing, Cutter?”
“Trying to unhook your seat belt.”
Once she was released, he drew her into his arms and kissed her with all the passion that had been building since his first taste of her Sunday night on this very spot. Again, it was he who broke things off. He wasn’t sure she was coherent enough to be consensual, and he didn’t want their first time together to be in this rental.
“Lex, I’m not much for flowery speeches, but I want you to come home with me.”
“You mean to the hotel?”
“That would be great for starters, but I was thinking of something more permanent.”
“You want me to go back to Texas?”
“Yes. I’m asking you to marry me, Lex.”
She didn’t say anything in what seemed like forever. “Cutter, that’s really nice, but this isn’t me. It’s all just make believe.”
“Damn it, Lex. I fell in love with you the first time I put my hands on you and pulled you out of the muck, soaking wet and covered from your head to your bare toes with it.”
That declaration took her by surprise, and her thought process was a bit impaired. “Just how soon were you planning to begin our wedded bliss?”
“As soon as we can get a license and work through the rest of the rigmarole.”
“Cutter, I need to sleep on this, and tackle it with a clear head.”
“Sleep on this.” He kissed her until she went limp in his arms, and then slipped a ring on the third finger of her left hand. He got out of the Yukon and opened the back door to collect her gray clutch and her mother’s little gray foxes, still in jacket form. He walked her to the door, opened it with the keys from her purse, handed them to her, and guided her inside with orders to lock it behind him. He closed it and left.
She absently patted her dog’s head and locked the door. “Come on, Skip, let’s call it a night. I drank way too much, and I think might have pissed off Prince Charming.”
15
“Morning, Cinderella!”
Eve Parker’s cheerful voice hammered around behind her eyes like a wild miner with a pickax. An equally evil being glued her ridiculously heavy eyelids shut. Blind, hampered by lead arms and legs, she made a valiant effort to navigate the once familiar route to the small bath that she knew was attached to her room. OOPS! Hopping on a now throbbing big toe, she felt her way along the slowly materializing wall until she found the opening. Washbasin located, the cold water splashed in her face melted away the remnants of the sticky substance that the pain in her toe had managed to crack. Only semi-blind now, water dripping down what she was sure was her face, she groped in the vicinity of the towel rack. The figure staring back at her from the looking glass seemed to be in as bad a shape as she was. Mirror girl must have had a long, restless night too, and not found any sleep until well past dawn. She stared with mounting dread and a queasy stomach at the hand of the reflection still holding the small towel to her face. A diamond reflected the overhead light and sparkled back at Lexie. Slowly she gazed at her own hand, and there it was!
“Shit! It really had happened. Now what the hell are you going to do?”
She was cussing at her reflection when her mother returned, all bright-eyed and cheerful. An unsolicited audible groan escaped from somewhere deep within when she caught the cheerful face of her mother reflected behind her own horrified reflection.
“That must have been some shindig, Lexie. I do believe you are hung over.”
“Would you tone down the cheer? It’s giving me a headache. If you want to be helpful, see how good you are at removing the high-priced knots in my hair. Maybe washing it in the shower will send the rest of this nightmare down the drain.”
Eve didn’t say anymore as she undid the lovely braided work. Lexie’s reaction was not what she’d expected from her newly engaged daughter.
Nearly an hour later, closer to lunch than breakfast, Lexie made what felt like a grand entrance into the kitchen to a duet of good mornings. It was so weird. She wouldn’t be totally surprised if they were to break into song. The whole scene was otherworldly, and totally out of character. She got a glass of water to down a couple of ibuprofen, found a couple of oatmeal cookies on a tray—thawed reminders of her baking binge— and popped one in her mouth. Then she put a handful on a small dish, made herself a cup of tea from the still-warm ceramic teapot, and carted her sparse breakfast back to the table. Like lasers tracking her every move, their eyes had been on her ever since she entered the room. She sat at the table, attempting to ignore the goofy grins and concentrate on feeding her jumpy stomach. Finally, she gave up, and after a fortifying gulp of warm tea, she confronted them.
“Okay, why are the two of you still sitting at the kitchen table at this time of day with goofy smirks on your faces?
“Mom and I are waiting for the news.”
A little more tea was called for, and one more cookie. Lexie wished the ibuprofen would kick in already. “What news?”
Her response snapped what patience Gram had left. “Alexandra, we want to know about last night.”
“Dinner was good. We all danced, and I drank too much. Now I’m paying for my
over-indulgence.”
“Lexie, what your grandmother meant is that we want to hear about Cutter’s proposal and your obvious acceptance.”
“What makes you think I accepted?”
“The diamond on your finger, for starters.”
She gazed down at her hand as if it an annoying bug had landed on it. She shrugged, feigning indifference. “I didn’t really accept it, he kind of shoved it on my hand. I might have dented his male ego when I told him I had to sleep on it, and tackle his proposal on a clear head.”
“What was there to think about, Lexie? The man obviously loves you, and from the stories you’ve told us about him and your time in Texas, we assumed you felt the same way.”
“Yeah. There wasn’t any point in rehashing the crap, was there? Anyway, it’s moot. We’ll probably never see him again.”
“I doubt that. He’s called twice this morning to check on you, said you weren’t answering your phone.”
“I left it on silent mode, and it is probably still in my purse.”
“Cutter also said that he got tied up with some real estate deal, and wouldn’t be here until afternoon.”
; “Great. I was kind of hoping he got mad enough at me, this time, to go home.”
She snatched her jean jacket off one of the pegs on the landing along with Skip’s leash, and stormed out the back door.
Jane shook her head at her granddaughter’s strange behavior. “She sure is on a tear, Eve. Not what you would expect.”
Lexie ran nearly double her usual two miles before backing off to an easy jog. It was making her crazy. She loved the man, but really didn’t want to spend the rest or her life on a ranch in the middle of nowhere, fighting heat, dust, drought, and Maria Rodriguez. She looked down at her dog. Mom and Gram took care of him while she was at school, but they didn’t run with him. They didn’t take him to the park, to the lake, or on car trips. If she left him home, he would be confined to the small fenced backyard. He could easily clear the four-foot fencing, but he wouldn’t unless he sensed danger to one of them. Wherever she ended up Skip would be there too.
By the time she returned, the rental was parked in the drive, and Cutter was parked at the kitchen table. Grandma jumped down her throat as soon as she opened the door, and before she had even hung up her jacket or Skip’s leash. “It’s about time you returned, Alexandra. Get cleaned up—lunch is almost ready.”
She greeted Cutter, excused herself, and went upstairs to take a quick shower and change her sweat-soaked clothing. She prayed he wouldn’t bring up anything personal over lunch. They needed privacy to have this discussion. Mom must have gone to work, leaving only the three of them for lunch.
Upon her return to the kitchen, she refilled Cutter’s coffee and talked with him as she made herself tea and cut fresh French bread to go with the chicken vegetable soup simmering on the back burner.
“How did the land purchases go?”
“Most of it went off without a hitch; it’s just a matter of banking and escrow. But the bigger grain farm we looked at never went through probate or transfer of title when the original owner’s passed. Now, there’s a frantic search on going for their parent’s last will. In addition there’s an ongoing dispute about a boundary line with a neighbor.”
“Sounds like you had a lousy start to your day.”
He just shrugged his shoulders. Then he buttered the bread, placing it on the small plate she’d provided. Lexie carried the bowls to the table after Gram ladled the soup into them. When they sat to join him, he resumed the conversation.
“Either Benson will get it sorted out, or I’ll have to scout out another grain farm. Booker suggested Benson check into the status of the disputed neighbor as a substitute, or an add-on. How are you doing, Lex?”
“I’ve had better days. I had a monster of a hangover this morning, but I’m much better. Serves me right partying and drinking for two.”
Lexie’s reference of doing something for two brought Jane’s wandering thoughts back to the present, but she got it completely out of context. “Amanda Parker! Don’t tell me you are pregnant!”
Cutter almost choked on his soup. Lexie got up to pat him on the back, and wondered how she could perform a Heimlich on him, given their size discrepancy. She gave her grandmother a disapproving look very similar to the daggers that the matriarch was now throwing at Cutter. He seemed okay, so she didn’t have to try any heroics.
She knew that her grandmother’s mind wandered from time to time, but Lexie was aggravated at her grandmother’s assumption. “Okay, Gram, the answer is no.”
“No, what?”
“No. I’m not going to dignify your insult with an answer.”
Jane O’Rourke threw her napkin on the table, rose, and stomped out of the kitchen, muttering something about “how she never.”
“Yeah, you did, Gram! Neither Mom nor I would be here if you hadn’t.”
“Clean the kitchen, you little strumpet, before you go off on your next tryst.”
Lexie made quick work of the cleanup, and then she, Cutter, and Skip escaped in the rental, bound for a park. When they arrived at the Rocky River Reservation of the Metro Parks, she latched on to her dog’s leash attaching it to his collar. Lexie answered Cutter’s questioning expression.
“Technically, dogs are supposed to be on a leash in the park. Once in a while I risk a citation and turn him loose, but he loves to play in the river. I have a mat for him in the back of my Suburban, but he would make an unholy mess of the interior of the Yukon. The rental company would most likely charge you enough for cleanup to buy it. Anyway, I thought this was a more private setting for us to talk.”
“Does that mean you’ve thought it over and come to a decision? You are still wearing the ring I gave you last night, and haven’t thrown it at me. So I am taking that as a good sign.”
“It just means that I am giving it due consideration. Do you want Mr. Potter to draw up a pre-nup?”
“Lexie, whatever is mine will be yours.”
“You mean you no longer consider me a gold digger?”
“Are you going to hold that against me for the rest of my life? No, I do not think you are after my money. In some ways, I think I would have a better shot with you if I didn’t have a dime.”
“The thing is Cutter, it’s not something you instinctively felt. This change came about after you researched me backward and forward, like I was applying for a high-security position. Right?”
“Lex, I fell hard from the beginning, but I thought my feelings for you might obscure my common sense. So after you flew back here, I talked to a few of your friends.”
She found a park bench away from the few Wednesday afternoon senior citizens enjoying what remained of the trees and wildflowers. She decided honesty would serve them best.
“First, Cutter, I love you too."
His heart almost leaped out of his chest. He waited her out, sensing an objection coming.
“But I’m not sure that is enough to overcome the hatred I have for Texas.”
“Lex, you can’t hate the whole state!”
She laughed at his response. “That is almost word for word Mel’s reaction when I told her the same thing. But I have lived in your home, and I am not sure that I want to spend my life in that hostile environment.”
Cutter had a feeling she was going to object to his longtime friend, “You want me to fire Maria?”
He sounded appalled at the idea. That was her way out! Instead, Lexie found herself reassuring him that she hadn’t meant Maria in particular. “I know that your cook/housekeeper is more like family than just another employee.” He appeared to relax at her concession. Maria was a huge compromise on her part. The absence of the cook in Lexie’s prospective new home would have been the deal clincher. She was still uneasy about making a commitment that would drastically change her life.
“Okay, Cutter you keep Maria, and I keep Skip with me, in the house.”
“If we are negotiating terms, let’s compare apples to apples; you can’t compare Maria to Skip!”
“When you’re right, you’re right. Skip is much better mannered, loyal, and definitely not a backstabber, but I am willing to concede the point. They definitely are not equal. Do we have an agreement on this item, Cutter?”
“And if I don’t agree to your terms? Just how many are there by the way?”
“If you don’t agree to the other three, since I caved on the biggest obstacle to my return to the Rocking R, you can go home to Maria, and I will stay here.”
“Let’s hear the rest of your list.”
“First, I want my old job back with same pay scale agreement.”
“You don’t need to work.”
“Yes, I do. Besides, the books need to be kept, and I’m good at it. So, why hire someone else? You draw a salary; why shouldn’t I? I have to do something or I will go nuts.”
“Agreed. What’s next?”
“I want to buy another horse.”
“There are plenty of horses on the ranch, Lex. Take your pick.”
“No. I want my own horse not one that belongs to the Rocking R, and like Skip, it goes where I
go. So, when you decide you made a big mistake and throw me out, they go with me.”
She waited for him to agree before she moved onto the last item. His jaw was clenched, the tick was back, and he growled for her to continue. Maybe I should have left out the part about throwing me out. His whole amused attitude along with his sense of humor faded into annals of history.
“Cutter, I deferred to you on the cook/housekeeper issue, but not on this one. You have to agree to at least a one-week vacation each year somewhere green with flowers and lakes, or maybe near the ocean. If you don’t want to join me, then I need you to let me go alone. Do we have a deal?”
“Are you sure you trust me to honor the deal, if I agree to it?”
“You would have your ring back by now if I didn’t think your word could be trusted.”
“I agree to your list of demands. Let’s go. I have a lot to do yet, and daylight’s wasting.”
Daylight is wasting? She wondered if that was an expression he used often. He didn’t say another word until he dropped her at the house. “I’ll pick you up at nine in the morning. Skip will have to stay at home on this trip.”
Lexie guessed that she had ticked him off again. She just needed to have some say in her future; after all, she was the one giving up everything that was familiar.
Nine o’clock the next morning, he was in the drive, waiting with the engine running. Lexie popped into the passenger side of the warm Yukon. The first serious frost nipped at her nose and ears on the short sprint from the front stoop. He didn’t say a word. Not even the usual good morning. Maybe things were not progressing well on the grain farm deal, but she decided not to ask. If he wanted to tell her, he would.
“Where are we going?”
“Downtown.”
Great! He was back to single word answers. “Where downtown, Cutter?”
“To the county courthouse.”
“You can’t drive this downtown on a weekday! We’ll never find a place to park.”
He knew deep down that she would come up with another objection. “Do you know a better way to get down there?”
She routed him to the closest Rapid Station parking area, and they rode the commuter transit rail to the terminal tower. Thankfully, it was much warmer close to the lake, and the walk to the courthouse was pleasant exercise. She was grateful that she was in much better condition than when they first met, and had resumed running, or she wouldn’t have been able to keep up with his long, ground-eating, stride.
