by Carrie Carr
Amanda leaned gratefully into the touch. “Thanks.” Taking a deep breath, she knocked on the door.
“Enter,” a deep voice commanded from inside.
Pushing one of the doors partially open, Amanda poked her head tentatively inside. “Daddy?”
“Amanda,” the voice boomed. “It’s about time you arrived. Get in here.”
Starting forward, Amanda reached behind her back and gathered a handful of Lex’s shirt, tugging hard. “Hi, Daddy.”
Sitting behind a massive cherry desk, Michael Cauble was dressed as if he were in a business meeting. He was in his mid forties with reddish brown hair showing very little gray. His hazel eyes hidden behind expensive glasses studied the two young women carefully as they stepped into the room. Making no move to stand, he waved at two chairs strategically placed in front of the desk. “Have a seat.”
Lex was barely able to control her anger. The sorry bastard hasn’t seen his daughter for over six months, and he treats her like a business appointment? She waited until Amanda sat down, then took the other chair.
Michael leaned back and steepled his fingers together in front of his chest. “Did you have a good flight?” he asked, more as a matter of form than any real concern.
Amanda sat up stiffly in her chair with her hands clasped in her lap. She nodded. “Yes, sir. Very smooth.”
She looks like she’s in the principal’s office, waiting to be chewed out, Lex thought indignantly. She was about to say something when Michael turned his cold gaze on her.
“You must be Lexington Walters.” He gave her a smile that didn’t quite reach his eyes. “You’re the one who pulled my daughter from the creek.” It was a statement, not a question.
“That’s right,” Lex answered, her own smile somewhat forced. Standing up, she held her outstretched hand across the desk. “Nice to meet you, Mr. Cauble.”
Michael stood and accepted her hand, looking surprised at the strength of her grip. “Yes, well,” he said. He released her hand quickly and returned to his seat. “I suppose you’re here to collect some type of reward for your efforts?” He looked her over as though assessing her value, and Lex knew what he saw: clean, slightly faded jeans, worn cowboy boots, and a denim shirt, all of which were neatly pressed. In a ruthless, almost challenging voice, he asked, “How much do you want?”
Amanda moved to jump up, but Lex’s hand on her arm stopped her. “Actually, Mr. Cauble, I’ve already gotten my reward.” Lex stood and slipped behind Amanda’s chair, resting her hands casually on the back. “I met your daughter.”
Amanda saw her father redden, which was usually a sign his explosive temper was on the verge of erupting. A warmth flowed
through her, knowing Lex was purposely diverting his attention to her instead. I shouldn’t let her do this, but it feels so good to have someone stand up for me.
Michael rose, his ire obviously growing. “What are you trying to say?” He looked like he wanted to reach across the desk and slap the smug look off Lex’s face. “Amanda!” He turned to address his daughter. “Leave us for a few minutes. Your friend and I have some business to discuss.”
Before Amanda could say anything, Lex placed her hands gently on her shoulders. “Mr. Cauble, as far as I’m concerned, there’s nothing you have to discuss with me that Amanda can’t hear.”
He stepped around to the front of the desk, leaning casually against one edge. “Very well. I was just trying to save you some embarrassment, Ms. Walters.” He matched stares with Lex, pointedly ignoring his daughter’s sputtering. “Now,” he pulled up one knee and put both hands around it, trying to appear casual. “You look like you could use money.” Michael held up his hand to forestall Amanda’s argument. “Amanda, be quiet or I’ll ask you to leave.” Turning his attention to Lex, he went on. “I hear you work on a ranch. And from what I’ve read lately, you certainly can’t make any money doing that these days.”
Lex could feel the waves of anger rolling off Amanda through the hands she still had on her lover’s shoulders. “Well, the recent rains haven’t helped much, but we’re doing okay.” She struggled to keep the happy smile from her face when she felt Amanda’s hands cover her own.
Michael knew of his daughter’s “life’s choice,” but seeing her blatantly rub his nose in it, caused him to see red. “Look. Let’s cut to the chase, Walters. We have money. Quite a bit of it. How much do I have to give you to leave my daughter alone?”
Lex stalked around the chair and stepped right up into Michael’s face. “Do you think so little of you daughter that I have to be after her money?” She looked him straight in the eye. “All the gold in Fort Knox couldn’t replace Amanda in my heart. I love her, and no amount of money can run me off.” She stepped back and quietly added, “Only her word could do that.” She heard the rustle of fabric as Amanda got up and stepped behind her, and felt a calming touch on her back. “I know I don’t look like much, but you gotta believe that I would do anything for Amanda. I’ll sign any damn papers you want to disclaim any designs on your precious money.” Lex let out a tired breath and sat down, and Amanda moved back to perch on the arm of her own chair.
Appearing shocked by her speech, Michael said, “Ms. Walters…” He said the words as though speaking to someone far beneath his station. “You must understand my position. I love my daughter. And I would do whatever it takes to protect her from people willing to take advantage of her for her money."
Livid at how her father jumped to conclusions without even speaking to her, Amanda stood up. “Hello? I’m sitting right here, Father. I’m a grown woman, and I’m more than capable of making my own choices about my life. Why can’t you see that?” She rose and stepped up in front of her father to place a hand on his arm. “Do you honestly still think of me as this young girl with absolutely no clue about what’s going on?” In hopes of swaying him, she lowered her voice. “Daddy, I know we don’t see eye to eye very much any more, but can’t you trust my judgment on something this important? Please?” She turned to the woman beside her. “Lex?”
Lex nodded and then stood. “I’ll just go get our bags out of the car.” She held out her hand for the keys. “See you in a bit.” Lex looked at Michael and nodded once. “Mr. Cauble.” She turned and left the room.
Amanda watched Lex leave, noticing her slow movements. I don’t think she’s quite recovered from the past couple of weeks. Maybe I’d better give her a thorough “checkup” later tonight. She felt her father's eyes upon her, and turned to face him.
He said, “She’s not just some fling you brought to toss in our faces, is she?”
“No, Daddy, she’s not. And I can guarantee that she’s not after your money. Just ask Gramma or Grandpa Jake.”
“That’s what Dad told me this morning on the phone. They seem quite taken with your farmer.”
“She’s a rancher. And she’s not some dumb cowpuncher who doesn’t have any feelings.” Taking a deep breath, she walked over to a side table, picking up a paperweight to study it. “I know you don’t approve of what I’ve done with my life.”
Michael walked toward her, unsure. “Amanda, it’s not that. Your mother and I just think you could do so much more than sell real estate in a backwards little town in Texas.” He looked like he was afraid of being rebuffed, but to his credit, he put a hand on her shoulder. “You were always the smart one, and Lord knows you’re certainly headstrong enough to accomplish whatever you put your mind to.” He lightly stroked her hair. “I just don’t want you to waste your talents. You’ve got such a good head for business. I was hoping you’d come to work for me.”
Amanda spun around. She had waited most of her life to hear those words from him. “What?” She looked up into her father’s face in an attempt to see if he was telling the truth or not. “Why the sudden change? You didn’t want to have anything to do with me after I graduated from college.”
And that had hurt. She had studied every waking moment during her college years, taking more than a full l
oad to graduate over a year early. She majored in business, foolishly thinking her father would finally take notice of her and welcome his youngest daughter into his consulting firm. But when she proudly showed him her diploma, Michael had patted Amanda condescendingly on the shoulder and told her to take a year or two off to “travel, enjoy life, find a good man, and settle down.” The ache and disbelief she’d felt back then at her father’s words even now freshly wounded her.
“Amanda, please.” Michael guided her over to a chair to sit, then took the chair next to her. “To tell you the truth, I really didn’t expect you would want to work after you got out of school. Your sister only used college as a place to keep up with her friends, and I just assumed you were doing the same.”
Doing her best to fight her anger, Amanda willed herself not to cry. “Is that why you thought I took such a full load of classes? So that I could party with all of my friends?”
He looked away. “Uh, well, I really didn’t notice your class load. I just assumed you were doing a lot of extracurricular activities.”
Amanda stood up and threw her hands in the air. She paced away from the desk, too upset to even look at her father. “I can’t believe this!” She spun around, finally looking Michael in the eye. “And now you want me to come and work for you?” Walking back over and sitting down, she asked, “Why now?”
AFTER A SHORT argument with Beverly and the chauffeur, whose name was Paul, Lex was finally allowed to carry their bags into the house.
“At least let Paul help you, Miss Lex. Mrs. Cauble will throw a fit if she finds out we let a guest carry their own luggage.” The maid stood in front of the denim-clad woman, wringing her hands nervously.
Even though she hadn’t met the formidable Mrs. Cauble, Lex had a pretty good idea what the maid was talking about. In order to keep the peace, she handed Paul half of the bags. “This better?”
“Thanks, Miss Lex.” Relief showed on Paul’s face. Short and burly, even he was a little afraid of the woman of the house.
Lex gave him a disgusted look. “Could you please drop the ‘Miss’? At least when the bosses aren’t around?”
Paul looked around carefully, then gave her a shy smile. “Uh, sure, Lex.”
Beverly slapped him on the shoulder. “Paul, quit flirting and show…Lex,” she gave their guest a wry look, “the guest room across from Miss Amanda's.”
Lex hefted her suitcase, while the chauffeur gathered up the rest of the luggage. “Lead on, Paul. Thanks again, Beverly.” She gave the slender maid a friendly salute as she followed Paul up the large staircase. Shaking her head as they moved down the opulent corridor, Lex noticed an antique settee. “Hell, I could sleep comfortably out here.”
“I know what you mean,” Paul said. “My garage apartment doesn’t have as much furniture as one of these hallways. But you get used to it, I guess.” He stopped in front of a door. “Here’s Miss Amanda’s room.” Then he pointed to the door Lex was standing next to. “And you’re welcome to use that guestroom. I think Beverly likes you.”
Setting her bag down, Lex opened the door a bit and peeked inside. “Good God Almighty,” she muttered, then turned her attention back to the chauffeur. “Why do you think Beverly likes me?”
Paul opened Amanda’s door and took the rest of the luggage inside, then placed them next to the bed. “Well, she normally assigns one of the guestrooms down the way. But that’s the biggest one, and the sun won’t wake you in the mornings.”
Glancing around Amanda’s room, Lex found it hard to believe her vivacious lover had ever lived here. It looks so..so impersonal.
The large room was furnished with only the essentials: a bed, desk, dresser, and two high-backed armchairs. The room was professionally decorated with a flowery bright bedspread and matching curtains. If Lex didn’t know any better, she would have sworn this was a room at an expensive hotel, not the room a young woman lived in.
Lex shook her head and made her way back across the hallway, opening the guestroom door and stepping inside.
Similarly furnished, this room had darker furniture set off with navy blue and maroon plaid covering the bed and adorning the windows. Damn room is almost as big as the entire upstairs at home. Opening a door on the near side of the bed, she was pleasantly surprised to find a huge walk-in closet, complete with oak hangers. Better than the Holiday Inn, I suppose. Closing the door, Lex noticed another door on the other side of the bed. “Well, what do we have here?” The door opened into a nice sized bathroom, with a large platform bathtub taking up an entire corner. “Oh yeah. That’ll hit the spot.” She closed the door, walked over to the bed, and then opened up a suitcase. Think I’ll get cleaned up. Might as well try out that tub.
Chapter Nine
TRUDGING UP THE stairs, Amanda replayed her conversation with her father over and over in her mind. Why now, Daddy? Why do you suddenly want me to come to work for you? Michael had deftly skirted around that very question, until she finally decided to give up and go find Lex. Would I be happy working for him? At one time, I would have sold my soul to do that. She bit her lip as she thought seriously about the repercussions of that action. And isn’t that what I would be doing now? Giving up my soul? Amanda knew that even if Lex would leave the ranch to live in Los Angeles, the move would slowly kill her emotionally. It would be like trying to cage a mountain lion. She would die in “captivity.” She needs her freedom.
Once upstairs, Amanda opened her bedroom door. When she saw that it was empty except for the bags that were by the bed, she momentarily panicked. “Lex?” she called out quietly, looking around. The room, once decorated according to her personal tastes, was now as sterile as a hotel room. Mother strikes again. All of her personal possessions were gone. The pictures of friends and family that once adorned her walls were missing, along with all the small knickknacks she had collected over the years. They were probably packed away the day I called her. The bookcase and dresser her grandfather had built for her were also nowhere to be seen.
Beverly, who had heard Amanda’s footsteps on the stairs, came up to check on her. She stood in the doorway and saw the dejected set to the other woman’s shoulders. “Are you all right, Miss Amanda?” I should have warned her that Mrs. Cauble had her room packed up and put everything away into storage. “Is there anything I can get for you?”
“I guess Mother couldn’t wait to get rid of me, huh?”
“Actually, she said that since you wouldn’t be here for very long, she didn’t want you to spend all of your time packing when you should be visiting your family.” She walked over and placed a hand on Amanda’s arm. “If it helps, I supervised the packing, not your mother.”
Amanda let out a relieved breath. The thought of Mother digging through all of my personal things makes me sick. I could just imagine the comments she would have made. “You have no idea how much that helps.” Now that the mystery of her room was solved, she had other things to think about. “Have you seen Lex? I just finished talking to my father, and I thought she’d be up here.”
“We put her in the guestroom across from you. Paul said Lex nearly fainted when she saw the size of the room.”
“I’ll bet.” Amanda raised an eyebrow at the maid’s familiarity with her lover. Lex, huh? She must really like her. That’s the nicest room on this floor. “I think I’ll go over and check on her. She’s had a pretty rough day.” Amanda gave the older woman a hug. “Thanks for everything, Beverly. I’m really going to miss you.” Even though she hadn't given her father an answer to his “offer”, she had no intentions of ever living in this house again.
“You’ve certainly been missed around here, Miss Amanda. But I think you’ll be much happier in Texas.” The maid pulled back. The house had been a lot more quiet, and less interesting, without the youngest member of the Cauble family around. She knew that she’d continue to miss her more than she wanted to let on. “Now, I’m going to leave you alone so you can rest up from your trip. Dinner will be in a few hours. I’ll send
Sophia up to get you when it’s ready.”
Once Beverly left the room, Amanda counted to ten, then peeked out into the hallway. She looked both ways and saw that the coast was clear. Feeling like a teenager again, she sneaked over and knocked lightly on the door. When there was no answer, she knocked more firmly.
Maybe she’s asleep. Not wanting to disturb Lex if she was actually getting some rest, Amanda slowly opened the door. “Lex?” she whispered, stepping into the room. Looking over to the bed, she saw that it was empty except for a set of clean clothes laid out neatly at the foot.
The bathroom door was closed, but Amanda could see a sliver of light leaking out from under the door. Knocking softly, she called out to her partner. “Lex?” When there wasn’t a sound, she opened the door slowly, and poked her head into the steamy room. A quick glance around brought her upon the woman she had been looking for. Aw, she looks so cute.
Lex was sound asleep in the bathtub, with a damp washcloth covering her eyes.
Amanda closed the door and then locked it behind her. “Lex?” She moved forward carefully, so as not to startle the sleeping woman.
“Mmm.” Lex rolled her head to one side, still not awake. She slipped a little lower in the water, until it came almost to her chin.
Kneeling down next to the tub, Amanda removed the washcloth from Lex’s face. “Lex? Honey?” She pushed the damp bangs away from the still woman’s face. “Hey.”
Sleepy eyes partially opened. “Hmm?” Lex moaned, then blinked. “Amanda?” She struggled to sit up a little. “Wha…damn.” She pulled one hand out of the water and rubbed her face. “Sorry. I must have dozed off there.”
“Do you always fall asleep in the tub?” It seemed like every time she saw Lex in the bath, the poor woman was out like a light. She ran her hand down Lex’s face. “Who woke you before I came along?”
“That’s why I normally don’t take baths. They take up too much time. But Martha would usually—” Her words were stopped by insistent lips. “Mmm.” Arms worked their way around her neck, and Lex lifted both of her arms out of the water and wrapped them snugly around the sturdy body next to the tub.
