by Sharon Sala
“Here, press this gently against the cut. I’m going to call for an ambulance.”
Rosemary took the cloth and did as she was told while Amelia disappeared down the hall. For the first time in their lives Wilhemina was not in charge, but then she heard Amelia’s footsteps on the stairs and breathed a sigh of relief. Amelia would take care of everything. She was a very capable woman.
Wilhemina stirred beneath her hands.
“Rosemary…is that you?”
Rosemary clutched the thin hand that crept into her own as she continued to press the cloth to the cut on her sister’s forehead.
“Yes, Willy, it’s me. Now lie still, darling. Amelia’s gone to get you some help. You’re going to be just fine.”
Amelia raced to the phone, using instinct rather than good sense to find her way through the darkened rooms. She set the flashlight on the table, shining it so that she could see to dial, and picked up the receiver. The line was dead!
No electricity…no phones! How was she going to summon help?
“Oh no, oh no,” she muttered, and fought back panic. There was nothing for her to do but go for help.
She dashed back upstairs, stumbling twice in the darkness as she missed her step. By the time she got back to the bedroom, Rosemary had pulled herself together.
“Willy’s talking to me, dear. Her head doesn’t seem to be bleeding any longer, but she’s hurt her ankle. Is the ambulance on its way?”
She took a deep breath, trying not to let her panic show. “The phones are out, too. I’m going to my room and dress, and then drive to the police station downtown. They can contact help for us.”
Wilhemina reached urgently toward her niece. “No, Amelia! It’s storming. You might have a wreck.”
“I’ll be fine. Just promise me you’ll lie still.”
“She’ll do as I say,” Rosemary said quickly. “We won’t budge, dear. I trust you to do the right thing.”
“I love you both,” Amelia said. With a quick brush of her lips across their fragile cheeks, she was gone.
In a way, her life as Amber had trained her to dress and undress in the dark. It was a help now as she tore off her nightgown and then struggled into her jogging outfit. Grabbing her sneakers, she dropped to the floor to put them on, her hands shaking as she struggled with the laces. Then with flashlight in hand, she took the stairs three at a time, her long legs covering the distance as she made a dash for the front door.
But when she got outside, a streak of lightning across the sky showed her that she wouldn’t be driving anywhere. The driveway was blocked by a fallen tree. Without hesitation, she leaped from the porch into the storm and began to run.
Thunder rumbled. Tyler rolled over and sat straight up in bed, staring around his darkened room and wondering why he’d awakened in such a panic. His heart was pounding as if he’d been running, and although the air was almost chilly, sweat was pouring from his back and chest. Before he thought, he’d grabbed the phone and was dialing Amelia’s number. And then he slammed the phone down in disgust. No dial tone. The lines must be down.
He reached for the lamp and cursed softly as the switch clicked without illumination. He rolled over to the edge of the bed and then sat, ignoring the darkness and trying to mask the overwhelming fear that kept running through his mind.
“Something’s wrong, I just know it.”
He got to his feet and walked to the window. Rain peppered against the panes as he looked out into the storm. The peanuts needed a good rain. Now he wouldn’t have to irrigate for a while. If he was lucky, maybe not at all before digging started. But the good news of much needed moisture did nothing to quell his fears. He kept telling himself that it was nothing for the phones to go out when it stormed. He couldn’t figure out why he was in such a panic. Granted he couldn’t communicate with anyone, but who would he call at this time of night, anyway? He raked shaky hands through his hair, trying to talk himself out of the panic. What had he been thinking about when he’d started to dial Amelia? If the aunts had gotten a phone call in the middle of the night, it would have scared them to death.
“Well, hell,” he muttered, pulling on a pair of jeans as he headed for the kitchen. There was no way he’d be able to go back to sleep with this feeling of doom hanging over him. Maybe if he got something to drink it would take the feeling away.
Coffee was out of the question. With no power, he had to settle for a cold bottle of soda pop from the refrigerator. He unscrewed the lid and took a drink, then walked outside and stood beneath the shelter of the porch to watch the rain.
The fierce winds had calmed. There was nothing left of the onslaught but a constant downpour. The earth smelled fresh; newly washed, dust-free and replenished as the thunder rumbled far to the south. The storm was gone, but the feeling he’d awakened with was not.
He leaned against the porch post as he drained the last of the cola and knew he was about to do a foolish thing. But when a man was in love, fool was his middle name.
He headed indoors. Even in the dark, the empty bottle he tossed in the trash hit with unerring aim as he headed for his room to dress. He had to see a woman about some peace of mind.
“Is she going to be all right?” Rosemary asked again.
Amelia hugged her aunt’s tiny shoulders and tried not to cry. They’d been waiting for what seemed like hours outside the emergency room where Aunt Witty had been taken.
“I’m sure she is, Aunt Rosie. It just takes time to get X-rays made and then have them read. You know how slow things like that are.”
Rosemary knew, but until she saw her sister’s face and heard her order someone about, she wasn’t going to feel good about this at all. Not at all.
“Have you called Tyler?” she asked.
Amelia shook her head. “The phones must still be out. I kept getting a busy signal and I know he’s not on the phone at this time of night.”
“He won’t know where we are,” Rosemary worried.
Amelia tried to smile. “It won’t matter. We’ll be home before he ever knows what happened. Besides, we’re not his responsibility, Aunt Rosie.”
Rosemary stared at her niece as if she’d taken leave of her senses. “But of course we are, dear. He loves you, you know. He’ll want to know what’s happening to us. That’s what people do who care for each other.”
Amelia smiled through tears. Aunt Rosie’s outlook on life was so naive. Amelia had already had a suitor who’d abandoned her for greener pastures when he’d been faced with the fact that his girlfriend had responsibilities he didn’t want to assume. Her and Tyler’s relationship was new. They’d had no time to test their feelings for each other. The word “love” had not even been mentioned, although she’d sensed it was there. And Amelia still had to face the possibility that he might not like the facts, once they were pointed out to him.
And then something made Amelia look up. It was Tyler! And he was running down the hall toward her with a look on his face that sent her flying into his arms.
“How did you know?” she cried.
He shivered as he wrapped her in his arms. “Beats the hell out of me, darlin’. All I know is, I woke up in a cold sweat and started running.”
Amelia pulled away in shock. “You what?”
“Never mind.” He cradled her face in his hands. She was here in his arms and she was safe!
“See, dear, I told you he’d care.”
Tyler turned. In spite of Rosemary’s determination to remain positive, he could see the strain the night had put on her.
“Come here,” he said, and held out his hand. She sidled into his embrace as if she’d been doing it for years. For a long moment, the two women stood, sheltering within the strength of Tyler’s arms.
“Does anyone know how Wilhemina’s doing?”
Amelia swallowed a shaky sob. “We don’t know. They’ve been working on her for such a long time and no one’s come to tell us anything.”
He frowned and then feathered a quick
kiss across her brow. “I’ll be right back,” he said. And headed toward the nurse’s station wearing a look Amelia wouldn’t have wanted to face.
Rosemary looked up and tried to smile. “Tyler will fix things, won’t he, dear?”
Amelia sighed. “I hope so, Aunt Rosie. I certainly hope so.” But she knew there were only so many things a man could fix. She couldn’t bear to think of the consequences if Aunt Witty didn’t get better. She was a third of her world.
A short time later, Tyler was back and the news he had was positive.
“She has a mild concussion and a twisted ankle, and nothing’s broken.”
“Thank the Lord,” Amelia whispered, pointing to Rosemary who’d fallen asleep on the waiting room sofa.
He hated to tell Amelia that more was needed of her this night. He could see she was nearly at the end of her rope. Her eyes were too bright. Her lips too firm. She was obviously close to a breaking point herself, but it had to be done.
“They want to keep her overnight but she’s giving them fits. I think they need your help to settle her down.”
She glanced back at Rosemary, who was still sleeping like a baby. “Would you keep an eye on Aunt Rosie? It won’t take me long. I promise I’ll…”
Tyler grasped her by the shoulders. “Darlin’! Stop it! Of course I’ll stay with her. What did you think I’d do? Walk off and leave her to wake up alone?”
Amelia stared at a point just over his shoulder and tried not to cry. She couldn’t admit that she’d feared this episode would only assure Tyler he’d bitten off more of a courtship than he wanted to swallow.
“Don’t you know how much you mean to me?” he asked.
She shrugged.
Tyler shook her gently. “When this is all over, Amelia Ann, I think we’ve got some talking to do. But for now, go calm down your Aunt Witty. I’ll wait.”
It was the single best thing he could ever have said. He’d wait! Overjoyed, Amelia threw her arms around his neck and kissed him soundly on the mouth before she hurried away.
Tyler sank down onto the sofa at Rosemary’s feet and tried not to grin. This whole mess was close to hopeless, but his love for Amelia was not.
It was almost four in the morning when they pulled into the driveway. Amelia was wide-eyed and pale with shock, and Rosemary was asleep in the seat. He leaned forward, pressing a soft, sweet kiss at the corner of Amelia’s mouth.
“I can’t park any closer to the house, but I can furnish delivery service.”
While Amelia watched, he lifted the tiny old woman into his arms, cradling her gently against his chest. “You get the door, sweetheart. I’ll carry her upstairs. There’s a flashlight in the glove box. Watch your step.”
Rosemary barely stirred. The night had been too wild and traumatic for a lady in her eighties.
As they entered the house, Amelia breathed a sigh of relief. At least the power was on! She led the way as Tyler carried Aunt Rosie upstairs.
Rosemary awoke as they entered her room, a bit confused as to how she’d gotten here, but glad that they were back. Yet uppermost in her mind was her elder sister’s welfare.
“Is Willy all right?” she asked, as Amelia put her to bed.
“Yes, darling, now let me help you with your robe. I think you should sleep in tomorrow. I’m not going to work. If we don’t deserve a day off for this, we’ll never deserve one.”
Tyler watched from the doorway as Amelia tucked the old woman beneath the covers. But when she turned out the lights and closed the door behind her, she fell into his arms.
He held her close, running his arms up and down the damp sweatshirt she was wearing as she shivered beneath his touch. “You’re so cold, sweetheart, and your hair is still damp. You need a warm bath and a bed, yourself.”
She leaned forward and wrapped her arms around his waist, too exhausted to think about consequences.
“I will after a bit,” she said. “There’s a broken window downstairs. I need to…”
“Get in the tub,” he ordered gruffly. “I’ll sweep up the damned glass and find something to cover the opening until we can get it fixed tomorrow. It’s too dark to worry about anything else tonight. Okay?”
We can get it fixed? It was the most wonderful sound in the world. Amelia had never expected to hear those words coming from a man’s lips. Suddenly she had someone to count on besides herself.
Her lower lip trembled. It was enough to send Tyler’s blood pressure rocketing.
“Sweetheart,” he groaned, and tilted her chin. They touched. Mouth to lips…heart to heart…man to woman. And it was not enough. His arms tightened.
Amelia knew this man wanted everything from her that she was willing to give and tonight was not the time.
Tyler was the first to pull away and he thought that it might kill him. He ached to make her his. He wanted this beautiful woman beneath him in his bed. He wanted to go to sleep with her cradled in his arms and wake beside her every day for the rest of his life. He wanted her in his life forever and whatever it took, he was willing to wait.
“Get in the tub, woman. If I didn’t have to sweep up your mess, I’d join you.”
Too tired to blush, she staggered to do his bidding. With a heavy heart, she stripped off her clothes and stepped into the shower. The fact that one of her aunts was in a hospital and the other was asleep in a bed just down the hall made no difference tonight. There could be no lovemaking between them as long as Amelia’s lie remained. She had to find a way to tell him that the woman he’d been attracted to as Amber was also Amelia. He’d haunted the workplace of one woman and then come courting the other when the first had turned him down. How was he going to feel about her deceit? She turned her face into the shower spray and ignored the tears flowing with the water. If she didn’t tell the truth soon, fate might have the last laugh on them both. It would be just her luck if Tyler decided he didn’t want either woman, and Amelia and Amber lost the only man they’d ever loved.
“Did you get it all cleaned up?”
Tyler turned. The woman standing on the stairs was like something out of a dream. Her hair billowed around her face and down her back like a rich chestnut cloud. Those beautiful blue-green eyes stared at him, wide and anxious with questions he couldn’t—didn’t dare—answer. The long nightgown she was wearing drifted just above the tops of her bare feet and although she was covered from neck to ankle in the softest and finest of white fabric, she was sexier than Amber had ever been in that little bit of shiny red spandex.
He dropped the broom and dustpan and walked to meet her. She stood a step above him on the stairs and when he came within reach, she wrapped her arms around him, hugging cheek to cheek.
“I’ll never be able to thank you for tonight and all you’ve done.”
He could feel her breasts, soft and pliant as they pressed against him. His hands spanned her waist, gathering the gown and its voluminous folds around her as he enfolded her within his arms and pulled her from the stairs.
He groaned. “I can think of several ways, and all of them are impossible tonight.”
Amelia sighed. She knew he was right, but it hadn’t been what she’d wanted to hear.
“Come with me, sweetheart. You need to get in bed, too. I’ll tuck you in and lock up on my way out, okay?”
She nodded. Whatever Tyler said was good enough for her.
To her surprise, he lifted her in his arms, and although she was nearly twice her little aunt’s height, he carried her back up the stairs as if she weighed nothing at all.
The door to her room was open. He paused on the threshold, staring at the empty bed. “Oh, hell, this wasn’t such a good idea.”
Amelia had succumbed to exhaustion and barely heard what he said, but when he lay her down on her bed, she stared back up at him, watching…waiting.
Tyler’s eyes narrowed thoughtfully. He knew if he asked, she would not tell him no. But he couldn’t and wouldn’t ask.
With no small amount of determinati
on, he pulled the sheets out from under her feet and covered her up.
As she rolled over, she exhaled slowly, her eyelids drifting downward as comfort and exhaustion drew her deeper into their spell.
“Amelia…”
The tone in his voice drew her back from the edge of sleep. The word “what” was on the edge of her tongue when he finished what he’d started to say.
“I love you. Get some sleep.”
She watched him walk away and knew that what he’d asked would now be impossible. After saying that he expected her to sleep? Men were such fools.
“Tyler.”
Tyler turned. “Yes?”
“After telling me something like that, you don’t honestly expect me to sleep, do you?”
His heart skipped a beat.
“What do you mean?
“How quiet can you be and still make love to me?”
“Quiet?”
The look on Tyler Savage’s face was somewhere between stunned and starving. Amelia stifled a grin.
“Yes, you know…as in do not shout or grunt at an inopportune moment?”
Tyler swallowed nervously. He wasn’t certain but he was damn sure willing to give it a try. He glanced at the closed door across the hall, picturing the shock on the little old lady’s face should she know what they were considering.
“Absolutely not,” he whispered.
Amelia hesitated, then slowly turned back the covers and patted the pillow beside her head.
“Are you sure this is okay?” he added.
Amelia sighed. “Right now, the only thing I’m sure of is that I’ll regret it if you leave.”
A small smile tilted the right corner of his mouth as he closed and then locked her door.
“Well, now…it’s against my code of honor to cause a woman any sort of regret, so move over, darlin’ and make room for me.”
Tyler toed off his boots and then reached for his belt buckle. When he turned around, Amelia’s gown was lying at the foot of the bed. He knew there was something he should say, but before he could form another complete thought, she’d put a finger to her lips to remind him to stay quiet, then turned off the light.
