by Carrie Carr
"Yes, ma’am." Lex tipped her hat with a smirk. "Do you want a ride to the house?"
Amanda looked up at Lex and then to the house, which was only about twenty yards away. An unexpected thrill raced down her spine, as Lex held an arm out to her. "Sure." She allowed herself to be pulled up onto the horse behind Lex. Wrapping her arms around the tapered waist, Amanda leaned into the strong back with a small sigh. "Now this is the way to ride horses."
Delighted, Lex kneed the stallion forward. "Really? Are you sure you don’t want a seatbelt?" She felt the arms around her waist tighten slightly.
"Nope. This is perfect." She nuzzled her face against Lex’s back.
As they rode the rest of the way to the house, the only sounds were of Thunder’s heavy hooves falling to the ground and Lex’s heartbeat pounding happily in Amanda’s ear.
Lex pulled the massive horse to a stop by the back porch and gave Amanda a hand down. "There you go, ma’am. Door to door service, as promised."
"Thank you, kind horsewoman." Amanda curtsied. "That terribly long walk would have worn me out."
Lex winked as she backed Thunder away from the porch. "Any time." She tipped her hat again before turning the big horse away.
"Be careful!" Amanda called after her, cringing as Lex sent Thunder into a full gallop.
LEX CHARGED THUNDER through the fields, joyously leaning over his neck. Feeling only a slight ache in her ribs due to the activity, she laughed out loud into the wind blowing in her face. "It’s a beautiful day, isn’t it boy?" The racing horse snorted in disagreement. Low dark clouds had begun to cover the sky, threatening to erupt at any moment, and the cool breeze blowing through the surrounding trees brought a damp chill to the air. To Lex, the day had never been more beautiful. I must be doing something right, ’cause someone up there has certainly dropped a wonderful gift right into my lap. "Yah!" She urged the horse on, absorbing the brisk air around them with glee.
Coming within sight of the Jeep, Lex reined in the large horse, walking him around to cool him off. "Doesn’t look like we’ll have much trouble here, huh big fella? Let’s take a walk down to the creek before we get started, okay?" Lex patted his neck as they made their way slowly to the source of a loud roaring sound beyond the trees.
AMANDA WALKED INTO the kitchen, her cheeks slightly flushed, looking dazed and happy. Martha turned around from the pantry. "Well, well. You must have had a good time feeding the stock. That’s an interesting look on your face, honey." She enjoyed the blush that erupted on Amanda’s face.
"Oh, yeah. I had a great time." Amanda’s words registered in her mind too late, and she lowered her head trying to control her embarrassment.
Martha walked over to her and pulled a few errant stalks of hay from her hair. "Mmm-hmm. Sure looks like it."
Amanda covered her face with her hands. "Oh, God."
The housekeeper’s heart melted and she relented. "Sweetheart, calm down. There’s nothing to be ashamed of. I’m glad you two have hit it off so well." She took Amanda’s arm and pulled her over to the table. "Sit down while I get you some coffee." Martha took a couple of mugs from the cabinet, filled the carafe, and then sat down at the table beside Amanda. "Did Lexie get off to the creek okay?" she asked, pouring them each a cup.
"Umm, yeah, she did. She told me that she would be checking the fence also, and not to expect her back before it got dark." Amanda took a small sip of her coffee.
Martha appeared surprised. "She told you she’d be late?" She gave a slight shake of her head. "She never actually tells anyone when she’ll be back. I usually just fix her a big breakfast, and plan dinner for dusk on days when I know she’ll be riding fence."
Amanda stared into her mug. "Well, maybe she just said that because she knew that we’d be worried, since she’s still injured."
"Bruised ribs and a little scrape? Honey, that’s never bothered her before." Martha patted Amanda’s hand. "Not that she’s unfeeling. It’s just that she normally doesn’t think about little things like that." Then, with an edge to her voice, she added, "Not like she can, having to run this place all alone."
Amanda looked up. "Her brother doesn’t help her at all?"
Martha scoffed. "Hubert, help? Not in this lifetime. Sometimes I think his sole purpose in life is to aggravate poor Lexie, and, of course, to mooch money off her." She took a sip of coffee. "He’s never done an honest day's work in his life. Oh, sure, Lexie lets him keep the ranch’s books, and he has that accounting office he runs in town, but he’s no good. He’s hated Lexie ever since her daddy signed the ranch over to her. And before that, he was just plain mean." She took another sip of coffee. "I normally wouldn’t be telling anyone this, but I trust you, and I want you to be aware of just how nasty that man can be." Martha paused to study the young woman across from her.
Amanda had a pretty good idea where Martha was heading with this conversation. She met the wise brown eyes. "Lex told me about Linda." She saw the housekeeper’s posture relax somewhat. "Hubert tried to blackmail Lex last night about my staying here. So she decided to tell me about his threat. Did Linda actually dump Hubert for Lex?"
Martha nodded, surprised, but relieved that Lex had been open with Amanda about the woman in her past. "Oh yes. You see, Hubert is quite handsome. Tall, dark, with blue eyes like Lexie’s. Only his are lighter and cruel. Women just seem to throw themselves at his feet, until they get to know him. Then the smart ones run like all get out." She finished her coffee and wiped the table with a damp dishcloth. "He’s also got Lexie’s temper. They both got that from their daddy, but he never learned to control it like she did. I think Linda finally got tired of Hubert taking his anger out on her, and so to get back at him she latched onto Lexie."
Amanda frowned. "She didn’t love Lex, did she Martha?"
"Oh, I think she did, in her own way. She just wanted a fancier lifestyle than what Lexie could give her." Martha remembered grimly the month-long bender that Linda’s desertion had wrought with the impressionable young woman. Lex would get up before dawn to take care of her chores, then lock herself in the office and drink until late afternoon. Her drinking buddies would arrive then, and they’d all go into town and bar hop until closing, or until they’d land in jail due to their unruliness. Martha would usually find Lex passed out on the front porch, where these so-called "friends" would leave her.
After a month of this sort of behavior, Martha had enough. She found Lex sprawled unconscious on the porch swing and doused her with a large bucket of extremely muddy water. Lex sputtered and cursed, still quite hung over. Martha shocked her by telling her to either clean herself up, or find a new housekeeper, because she wasn’t going to tolerate any more self-pity. Heeding the ultimatum, Lex begged for forgiveness and never got drunk again.
"Martha?" Amanda became concerned at the look on the older woman’s face. She patted the hand that had been absently wiping the table. "Are you all right?"
The housekeeper shook her head and smiled apologetically. "Sorry ’bout that, dear. I got a little lost in my memories." She placed her other hand on Amanda’s. "C’mon. Let’s get to work on those cabinets." But Martha hesitated for one more moment while she studied Amanda’s face. This one is no Linda. She patted Amanda’s hand, satisfied that Lex had finally found the real thing.
LEX STOOD AT the edge of the creek, hypnotized by the rapidly flowing water. She shifted her gaze slightly downstream, glad to see the Mustang was still in the same place. Its rear bumper was just barely visible above the water line. Lex looked behind her, mentally calculating the path she would use to pull the car from the water. "How to get it from there to here, that’s the sticking point. One of the chains from the Jeep should be long enough, but how in the hell do I get the chain on the car?" She looked at the water, and then down at herself. "Well, I could just tell them I fell into the creek." She smirked, imagining the looks on their faces. Deciding that wouldn’t be a very good idea, Lex shoved the problem to the back of her mind, deciding to worry more about
it when she got the Jeep out of it’s muddy nest. Turning away from the churning waters, she walked back to the patiently waiting Thunder and rode him to her first priority.
An hour later, an angry and mud-covered Lex finally drove the Jeep to the creek. Even while using the winch that was attached to the front of the vehicle, she still had to dig and push to extricate the buried vehicle. She had removed her cowboy hat and duster to save them, but she was almost solid mud from the tip of her head to the soles of her boots, and she was furious enough to spit nails.
Lex backed the Jeep to a large tree several yards from the creek bank, until it was almost touching the heavy oak. She wound a length of chain around the trunk of the tree and the other end around the back axle. Then she pulled a longer stretch of chain from the Jeep and attached it to the steel cable that she unwound from the winch. Lex tied one end of rope to the chain and the other around her waist, muttering, "That’s it. I’ve got to be certifiable, jumping into this damned creek not once, but twice in one week. Martha is going to have me committed." She looked down at her clothes, barely distinguishable under the mud. "At least I can use the excuse that I needed to get the mud off me, so I rinsed off my clothes. I don’t have to tell them it was in the creek."
She waded into the creek, thankful that the current had slowed down since Friday. "Damn, but that’s cold," she grumbled, as the water slowly made its way to her shoulders. Once again, she let the current do most of the work of moving her downstream. When she got near the partially submerged car, she took over, her strong stroke cutting through the water easily.
She cringed when she bumped into the car. The last thing she wanted to do was put more dents in the vehicle than it all ready had. She lifted herself up on the trunk and pulled the rope across the creek until she had the chain in her hands. Taking a deep breath, Lex slid off the rear of the car and slipped under water. It only took her a minute to wrap the chain around the axle of the Mustang and return to the surface. She pulled herself back across the creek with a sense of déjà vu.
It took Lex over two hours to pull the small car from the creek. At times she feared the old oak would fall and crush both vehicles and her, as well. And though the massive tree creaked and complained, in the end it stood strong. Once the Mustang was safely ashore, she patted the mud-encrusted Jeep on the hood and promised it a nice cleaning. The old vehicle was Lex’s pride and joy, since she rebuilt it herself when she was in high school.
After securing the waterlogged car to the Jeep, Lex walked over to the patiently waiting Thunder to remove his saddle and bridle. "Okay, old buddy, I’ll race you home." He snorted and started for the trees, content to take the shortcut back to the barn. Lex returned to the Jeep and fished her cell phone out of the pocket of her coat. She dialed the number for the ranch hoping that Martha, and not Amanda, would answer.
On the third ring, her wish came true as the housekeeper picked up the phone. "Walters’ residence."
"Martha, it’s me."
"Lexie? Honey, is everything okay?" Martha sounded a little nervous. Lex rarely used the device, complaining that she’d rather speak to someone face to face. The fact that she was calling only worried Martha more.
"Everything’s wonderful, Martha. I got the Jeep, and I’ll be making a stop at the maintenance shed before I get back to the house."
Martha sighed heavily. "Good Lord, sweetheart. Don’t scare me like that. I thought for sure something was wrong when you called."
"Sorry. I wasn’t trying to scare you. It’s just that I sent Thunder on ahead, and I didn’t want you to worry when you saw him and not me. The road’s still pretty muddy, and I thought it would be too dangerous for him to be led beside the Jeep." Using one hand, Lex tossed the saddle, blanket, and bridle in the back of the Jeep. "I should be in sight of the house in about an hour or so." She hoped that Martha could take a hint and keep Amanda away from the windows.
"That sounds great, Lexie. I thought Amanda and I would go over to my place for a while. I’ve got some pictures she might be interested in seeing." Martha visualized her face, knowing that Lex knew exactly which pictures she had in mind. Martha also knew that the road to the maintenance shed was not viewable from her house. "We’ll be back in a couple of hours, so that should give you time to take care of your horse and get yourself cleaned up, too."
Lex laughed a bit nervously. "Uh, well, I was pretty muddy, but it’s mostly cleaned off now." She climbed into the Jeep. "I’ll see you at the house later, then. Bye, Martha." She disconnected the call before the housekeeper figured out what she had said. "I’m gonna be in so much trouble for that." It was one of her favorite pastimes, teasing Martha to keep her on her toes. "But she gives as good as she gets, that’s for damn sure."
Chapter Eight
"OH, MARTHA, THESE are priceless!" Amanda was seated in the den, with several photo albums strewn on the coffee table in front of her. They had spent the last hour or so talking about their families and enjoying each other’s companionship.
Amanda picked up a photo of a teenaged boy who looked like a younger, male version of Lex. He was standing alongside his sister. "Is this Louis?"
Martha nodded as she lovingly ran her finger down the picture and said, "This was taken about a month before he died."
"Look at the way he and Lex are sticking their tongues out at each other. I assume that Louis got along with Lex much better than Hubert did."
"That’s the truth, dear. Louis always looked up to his sister. But still, he was fourteen, and he was starting to get a little headstrong. Lexie adored him anyway." Martha paused to reflect for a moment and then added, "I think that’s what hurt so much when he died. I swear that girl was as much a mother to her younger brother as I am to her."
"He died the same year Lex’s father left the ranch to her?" Amanda’s heart started to break for the woman who’d had so much to deal with in her young life. As the puzzle pieces started to fall into place, Amanda came to see a more complete picture of the woman she was falling in love with. She was caught up in her own thoughts until she noticed the dour look that came over the housekeeper’s face.
"That’s one thing that I’ll never forgive Rawson Walters for: the way he just left after young Louis died."
Amanda took the housekeeper’s hand and squeezed it. Martha reached for a tissue with the other hand and wiped the tears from her eyes. Then she handed one to Amanda. Amanda sniffled and accepted the tissue. She nodded, and Martha continued her story.
"Rawson had gone off for a week to a rodeo up north. He was on his way back here the day Louis disobeyed his sister and went boating on the lake with some of his friends. Lex had forbidden him to go, but, as I said, Louis was a bit headstrong, and he went anyway. Rawson arrived home right after the sheriff told Lexie about her brother’s accident. He never said a word. To Lexie. To anyone. A few days after the funeral, Lex came home after checking the fences to find a note from her father, giving her control of the ranch."
Amanda leaned into Martha’s side. Tears ran freely down her face as she felt the heartache that must have been Lex’s during that awful time. Martha put her arm around Amanda to console her before continuing on with the tragic memory. "Lexie stood there in the hallway, clutching the letter to her chest and looking like she might shatter at any moment. When she noticed I was close by, watching her, she turned to me and silently gave me the letter to read. Lexie sank down onto the stairs and waited while I read the letter. I’ll never forget the part where Rawson told her that he was going back to the rodeo circuit and how there was nothing holding him to the ranch anymore now that Victoria and Louis were gone. He wrote that he couldn’t live here day-to-day with Lex’s likeness of her mother reminding him of what he had lost."
Amanda felt anger burning inside of her. "How dare he! How could he leave her when she needed him most?"
Martha shook her head. "Rawson wasn’t one to worry about what others needed. Not after Victoria died. He didn’t need to be a father anymore, that is, in h
is own eyes once Lex turned 18, so he left the ranch, Lexie, and his memories behind."
Amanda dabbed uselessly at her tears. In a voice thick with emotion she said, "Thank God you were here for her, Martha. What would she have done without you?" She had already felt that her attraction to Lex was something deep and lasting. Learning about this tragedy fueled her feelings for Lex even more.
"My Lexie isn’t the one to go about wanting other folks’ pity, child. Even though the man who she wanted to please more than anyone in the world treated her as if she didn’t matter a bit to him, she lived right up to her new responsibilities. Lex turned into a very capable woman, and she’s done her daddy proud. Too bad he’ll never know it. In my book, he’s the one to be pitied. He’ll never know the woman my Lexie turned out to be, despite the way he treated her."
"My heart does hurt for Lex, Martha," Amanda confessed, "And this isn’t pity, Martha. It’s…it’s…" Amanda was sobbing openly now.
"I know, dear child. I know." Martha patted Amanda’s shoulder. "I’m glad you came along, Amanda. I can already tell that you’re going to be good for Lexie." And I can tell by the fire in her eyes that she’ll never abandon my girl. No, I think this one’s a keeper. I sure hope Lexie figures that out.
Martha looked at the clock on the mantle. It had been almost two hours since she had heard from Lex, and she figured it was safe to go back to the main house. "Amanda? Do you want to help me with dinner tonight? Lexie should be back any time now."
Amanda jumped to her feet, scooping up several of the albums while wiping at her eyes. "I’d love to. What do you need me to do?" She practically beat Martha to the door. Realizing she was still holding the photo albums, she asked, "Oh! Where do you want me to put these?"
Martha relieved Amanda of her burden. "I’ll take those, dear." She put the items on a nearby desk. "Come on. I put a roast on earlier today, so let’s see what we can find to go with it."