The Way Things Should Be

by Carrie Carr

  "Dad!" Michael shrugged his shoulders at Harrison and his wife. "Honestly, she'd never do anything like that." He turned back to Lex. "Would you?"

  "Of course not, Michael." Lex accepted a cup of coffee from Jacob, nodding her thanks. "That could be dangerous for my horses." But her smile showed she was joking, and she looked across the room to make eye contact with each of the Rivers. Lex was determined not to let Harrison get away with his obnoxious attitude, if only to put him in his place because he'd upset Amanda. "Mr. Rivers, my wife tells me that you're an attorney. What area of law do you specialize in?"

  Harrison almost spat out the bite of sandwich he had taken. "Your, ah, well, my firm handles corporate litigation, Ms. Walters. Did I understand correctly that you're a farmer?"

  "Rancher, actually. We have a modest spread outside of Austin," Lex said as she took hold of Amanda's hand and pulled it into her lap.

  Anna Leigh knew what Lex was doing. And even though she enjoyed watching the pompous man squirm, she didn't want a repeat of what had happened outside earlier. "Veronica, that's a lovely outfit you're wearing. You must tell me where you got it."

  "Oh, this?" The meek woman brushed her hands down the linen suit. "There's this quaint little shop right off Rodeo Drive, and--"

  "For God's sake, woman," Harrison complained. "No one really gives a damn where you shop. We have more important issues to discuss. Like our granddaughter."

  Michael leaned forward. He had a pretty good idea what Harrison was about to say, but was not prepared for the words that left the attorney's mouth.

  "I'm sure Jeanne will be leaving the hospital soon, since there's not much else they can do for her. Am I correct?" At Michael's nod, Harrison continued, "Have you decided which nursing home you'll have your daughter placed in?"

  "What? Why?" Michael asked, completely confused.

  "Well, you all have lives back in Texas, and I'm sure you need to get back to them. It's obvious that in her present condition, Jeanne cannot stay in this house. It'll be much easier for us to take care of our granddaughter if her mother is placed in a home nearby."

  Amanda didn't like where the conversation was going, and she really didn't care for the tone in Harrison's voice. "And what makes you think that you'll be taking care of Lorrie?"

  He looked at her as if she were an idiot. "You don't think your sister can, do you? We're the only family here that the baby has that's capable of taking care of her."

  "I hate to break this to you, Mr. Rivers, but Amanda and I are legally responsible for Lorrie's well-being, at least until Jeannie gets back on her feet." Lex released Amanda's hand and placed her arm across her lover's shoulders. "We're her guardians."

  "What? Impossible!"

  Jacob piped up and said, "It's all legal, Harrison. Lex is right."

  "Just exactly what kind of idiot would set up something like that?" Harrison yelled, his face turning red.

  "Your son," Michael explained. "He and Jeannie took care of all the paperwork months ago, once they found out she was expecting. They knew that Lex and Amanda would give their child all the love and protection she needed, should anything happen to them."

  Jacob said, "I'd like to remind you that my granddaughter is fully capable of making decisions. Just because she's physically incapacitated at this time doesn't mean she can't make decisions for her child. She's the mother, and she decides."

  Harrison stood up, pulling his wife up with him. "We'll just see about that. There's no way in hell I plan on letting a grandchild of mine be raised by the likes of them! Come along, Veronica." He practically dragged her behind as he stormed from the room.

  "Thank you for having us. I'm sorry," Veronica whispered to Anna Leigh right before the front door closed behind them.

  Michael stood and removed the towel from around his neck. "That went well, didn't it?" When he didn't get an answer from anyone else in the room, Michael tossed the towel on the chair he had vacated. "I'm sorry you had to listen to Harrison's bullshit. The man has obviously got his priorities out of whack." His in law's words haunted Michael. It wasn't that long ago that I would have been agreeing with him. Am I that much better than he is, just because I've finally had my eyes opened? "If you'll excuse me, I've got some arrangements to make so that we can bring Jeannie home."

  "Speaking of arrangements," Lex said, "I think we need to talk about where Jeannie will be staying." Lex had her own ideas, but she wanted to give Jeannie's family a chance to talk about all the options. "I don't think she should be put into a nursing home, just because of her condition."

  Jacob traded glances with his wife. "We talked about that in the kitchen, and we agree with you, Lex. We think that she'd be better off with family. I suppose we could have the downstairs living room at our home renovated into a bedroom."

  "You could, or we could have the office cleared out in the ranch house and turn it into a bedroom. It wouldn't take as much work, and--"

  Amanda cut in, "And I could take a leave of absence from the real estate office and take care of her." Her guilt over being jealous of Jeannie's new baby made her want to do something to help.

  Lex turned to look at her wife. "We can also hire a nurse and a physical therapist. Jeannie's going to need more than what we can give her, you know."

  "Maybe. But I think she'd feel a lot better with her family taking care of her than some stranger." Amanda didn't know why her partner was being so stubborn about this. Didn't she understand why Amanda had to take care of her sister? It was as if Lex was determined to undermine her efforts to do penance.

  Standing up, Lex dusted off her slacks, even though there was nothing on them. She knew there was no sense in arguing with Amanda over this. They'd have plenty of time later to do that. "If it's okay with you, I'll call Martha and have her start clearing out the ranch office. Unless you'd like me to have her organize the revamping of your living room?"

  "No, Lex," Jacob said. "I think that the ranch would be a better place for Jeannie. She seems to have bonded with you during this time, and being closer to you might be just the thing she needs. That is, if you don't mind," Jacob admitted. "It would take longer to change our living room into a bedroom for her than we have time for, I'm afraid."

  "All right, then. I'll just go upstairs and get my cell phone and let you know what Martha says." Hurt by her partner's attitude, Lex left the room, leaving a quizzical Amanda behind.

  "Is it just me, or did she just practically ignore my offer to take care of Jeannie?" Amanda asked her grandparents, who sat across from her on the loveseat. For some reason, she thought about what Ellie had said about Lex. "She lords it over you like some kind of--" No, she doesn't. She's just concerned about Jeannie, and is trying to help the family out any way she can. I should be grateful that Lex is so caring.

  The distraught look on Amanda's face caused Anna Leigh to clear her throat. "Mandy? Is everything all right?"

  "What? Oh, right." Amanda straightened up in her seat and brushed the hair out of her eyes. "I'm sorry. I guess I was just thinking about what Lex said. I don't know why she seemed so dead set against me taking care of my own sister. I guess she's afraid that if I do, I won't have enough time for her."

  "I don't think that's the case at all." Jacob took both of Anna Leigh's hands in his and held them close. "Being a nurse for someone full-time, even if you love them dearly, can take a lot out of a person. I wasn't as incapacitated after my auto accident as Jeannie is now, yet your poor grandmother nearly killed herself by taking care of me. I believe that Lex is just afraid that you'll do the same thing and is trying to prevent that."

  "Oh." Amanda had the decency to be embarrassed by her uncharitable thoughts. "I didn't think of it that way, Grandpa." Guess I have an apology to make. She was about to get up and go find Lex when she heard the baby's cries. "Sounds like someone is ready for a meal." She stood and started out of the room. "I'll take care of Lorrie, if you two want to sit and relax for a bit."

  Anna Leigh snuggled closer to he
r husband. "We have the room to ourselves for a change, handsome. Got any ideas?"

  "I've got several, but most of them would embarrass the kids," Jacob murmured, leaning over and covering her lips with his.

  Chapter Fourteen

  TIRED OF SWINGING the mop over the impeccably clean floors, Terence locked it away in the janitorial closet. He knew that Liz wanted him to keep an eye on her daughter's hospital room, but he was afraid that someone would start to notice if he kept cleaning the floor nearby. On his way back from the closet, he thought he heard a sound, and stopped outside of her door. He heard the sound again, and opened the door and peered inside.

  The woman lying on the bed was trying to write. There was a notepad on the rollaway table in front of her, but it kept sliding away every time she put her pen on the page. She cried out in frustration, then threw the pen to the corner of the room.

  Terence felt sorry for her. Given the way she moved, she was obviously partially paralyzed. Looking around to make sure no one was watching, he stepped into the room. "Excuse me, miss?"

  Jeannie turned her head and glared at the interruption. "Go 'way," she slurred.

  "I'm sorry, it's just that I heard you and wanted to make sure you were okay." Terence took a few more steps into the room, but stayed far enough away that he wouldn't frighten the woman. Liz never told me her daughter was so beautiful. I can't believe the way she spoke about her, like she didn't matter anymore just because she was ill. "Is there something I can do to help you?"

  "No." Feeling bad because of her inability to speak clearly, Jeannie didn't want to talk any more than was necessary, especially to someone she didn't know.

  With a few more steps, Terence moved around the bed and picked up the pen. "Are you sure? I mean, if you need something written, I'll be glad to help you."

  Jeannie shook her head the best she could. She watched as he carefully placed the pen on top of the paper. His kindness to a virtual stranger surprised her, but she was unable to articulate her appreciation.

  "Well, if there's nothing I can do for you, I guess I'll be going." Terence picked up the call button and placed it in the hand he had seen throw the pen. "If you need anything, just buzz the nurse. That's what they get paid for." With a wink, he slipped out of the room, closing the door behind him.

  Outside the door, Terence heard voices coming down the hall. He hurried the other direction until he was safely in the emergency stairwell. "I can't do this." He sank to the top step and buried his head in his hands. "Liz is a lunatic, and I've been helping her ruin the lives of good people. Lord knows what she's going to do to that lovely woman in there, just because she doesn't fit into her plans." The more he learned of Liz's dementia, the more he wanted as far away from her as possible. When he first met her at the asylum, he thought that the older woman was just a pawn in someone else's game, and would be easy to control. As soon as she was out, Liz proved to be a lot smarter, and scarier, than he ever considered. The lure of money no longer held any interest for him. He lifted his head and took a deep breath. It was bad enough that the young woman he'd seen was partially paralyzed, but knowing that she'd just lost her husband and her own mother didn't care made Terence realize that he'd been on the wrong side all along. "I've got to get away from her, and I have to try to make things right."

  MOVING JEANNIE AND Lorrie back to the ranch in Texas wasn't quite as difficult as Lex had thought it would be. The only problem had been a vicious argument between Michael and Frank's parents, who accused them all of trying to steal their only grandchild. Showing more diplomacy than anyone expected, Lex promised the Rivers that they would have ample opportunity to visit the infant, and she extended an open invitation for them to come out to the ranch any time they wanted. That seemed to appease them, and the rest of the transfer went off uneventfully.

  When they reached Somerville, the family learned that Martha had done her usual flawless planning. Lex's office was now a small bedroom, complete with an electric hospital bed, a recliner to be used as a visitor's chair, and a remote-controlled television on a rack hanging from the ceiling in one corner of the room. The office desk had been relegated to the front corner of the den near the windows, and the computer and telephone jacks had been professionally moved.

  After speaking to Lex before she left California, Martha also removed some of the furnishings from the sitting area of the master bedroom, put the extra furniture in storage, and made the space into a miniature nursery. She had left one of the chairs and a table with a lamp so that when Lorrie needed feeding in the middle of the night there would be a comfortable place to take care of her. Martha and Lex had agreed that Amanda would most likely balk at putting the baby in a separate room since she rarely relinquished control of Lorrie's care.

  That's something that we're going to have to talk about. Lex stood on the front porch next to Martha while the ambulance attendants wheeled Jeannie into the ranch house. Amanda was already upstairs, ostensibly to put Lorrie down for a nap, but Lex thought that she just wanted to be alone with the baby. Michael was in Jeannie's room, and Jacob and Anna Leigh had just arrived and were getting out of their vehicle.

  Martha couldn't help but notice the distance between Lex and Amanda since they'd returned, not to mention the dark circles underneath the eyes of the woman next to her. "You look like you have the world's troubles on your shoulders, Lexie. Is there something you'd like to talk about?"

  The smile that Lex forced onto her face never reached those eyes. "To tell you the truth, I'm not too sure where to start." Lex nodded a greeting at Jacob and Anna Leigh, who passed them on the porch and went into the house. "I'm worried about Jeannie. She won't let the urn with Frank's ashes out of her sight. Do you think that's normal?"

  Martha put her arm around Lex's waist, and the two of them looked off into the distance. The winter rye was already up, and the blanket of green in the wide field was a beautiful sight to behold. "Normal? No. Understandable, yes." She paused for a moment to gather the words that she thought Lex needed to hear. "Grief does strange things to folks, Lexie. You probably don't remember, but after your mama passed away, your father wouldn't let me change their bed linens. In the mornings, when I would come in to make the bed, I could tell by the way it was mussed that he'd slept on her side, hugging her pillow. Then, over a month later, he made me box up anything and everything that had to do with Mrs. Walters and store it away."

  "Really?" Lex tried to remember, but her memories were vague. "The only thing I can remember is being angry at her for leaving, and then thinking that Dad put all her pictures and other things away to punish me for thinking like that." The old familiar hurt was coming back, something that she still couldn't fight. Lex rubbed her tired eyes with one hand. Enough of that. Dredging up the past isn't going to help things now. "Were you able to hire a nurse? I know Amanda said that she wanted to take of Jeannie herself, but I think she's going to have her hands full with the baby."

  Understanding the non sequitur, Martha said, "I sure did. I talked to Doc Anderson, and he suggested that I call the hospital. They gave me the name and number of a nurse who had recently retired, although she's only about my age."

  Lex turned to face the housekeeper. "Are you hinting that you'd like to retire? Because if you are, I've--ow!" She rubbed her arm where Martha pinched her. "What?"

  "For such a smart woman, you can be as dense as a forest sometimes. No, I'm not about to retire and let this beautiful house fall down. I have all the respect in the world for Amanda, but I also know that you wouldn't know what to do without me," Martha huffed. "What I meant was she was a little young to have retired. I've had her out to the house, and she'll gladly take the guest room and live out here full-time until Jeannie's condition has improved. Then she'll move back to town."

  "That is good news. When does she start?"

  "I told her next week. With all that's happened, I thought Jeannie would need a little time to get settled before meeting someone new."

  Lex pulled Ma
rtha into a hug. "Thank you for taking care of all of this for us." She kissed the older woman on the cheek. "You're right, you know."

  "About what?"

  "We'd definitely not know what to do without you."

  THERE WAS A knock on her hotel room door, and Liz looked up from her magazine. She was reclining on the bed, her legs daintily crossed and with nary a wrinkle in the expensive slacks suit she was wearing. When the knock sounded a second time, she took off her reading glasses and set them on the nightstand. With a final grumble about hotel security, she stood and crossed the room to answer the door. "Terence. What do you mean by disturbing me at this time of night?"

  He checked his watch. Two o'clock in the afternoon? What's up with her? "I'm sorry, Liz, but I thought you might want to know--"

  "You fool." She grabbed him by the front of his shirt and yanked him into her room, slamming the door behind them. "What have I told you about being discreet?"

  Terence struggled out of her grasp. "Like you've been? Spending God knows how much a day on this room and all its perks?" The slap on his face wasn't expected, but he wasn't surprised, either. He backed away from Liz. "That wasn't necessary."

  "Perhaps." Liz ignored his outraged look as she crossed the room to the bar and poured herself a drink from a crystal decanter. "Now that you've disturbed me, what is it that you want?" She sipped the caramel-colored liquid, enjoying how it burned its way down her throat.

  "It's about your daughter."

  "Amanda? What has that worthless clod Lexington Walters done with my baby this time?" Her calm demeanor broken, Liz's face turned red. "If she's hurt her in any way, I'll--"

  "No!" Afraid that she might throw the glass in her hand, Terence hurried over and took the drink from Liz. He placed it back on the bar and attempted to lead her to a chair. "No, not her. Your other daughter. They've taken her from the hospital."