Julie shook her head in negation. "I'm surprised there's a doctor in a place this small."
"There is and he's a very good one," Max assured her. When she gave him a doubtful glance, he added, "I checked."
Julie didn't look forward to seeing a new doctor but this was something else over which she had no control. It would be impossible to travel all the way back to Summerville to see Doctor Barnes every two weeks for the next five months. That brought to mind another question. "How far is the nearest hospital?"
"There's a first-rate clinic right here in Burke's Crossing. Relax and stop looking for something to worry about."
It seemed Max had thought of everything. "I should call him as soon as I get to Half-Moon and make an appointment."
Max rolled down the glass and gave the attendant instructions to "Fill 'er up" before he said to Julie. "I've already made an appointment for you."
"You did," Julie was surprised and a little aggravated, "When?"
"I had Doctor Barnes call the day you were released from the hospital." Max handed a twenty-dollar bill to the attendant and then turned back to Julie. "Your appointment is next Tuesday at nine o'clock"
Julie glared at him. "I could have made the appointment myself." She amended her statement. "I should have made the appointment myself."
"It's my job to take care of you for the next few months." Max's voice carried a note of authority. "That's exactly what I intend to do so you may as well get used to the idea."
Before Julie could answer the attendant had returned with Max's change. "Hey, ain't you the guy who bought the big Half Moon spread a few months back?"
Max nodded. "That's me. The name's Max Anderson."
The attendant stuck his arm through the window and shook Max's hand. "My name's Jud Banks. I own this station. Welcome to our little community. I appreciate your business and hope to see you around again real soon."
"You will," Max assured him. "We'll be in Burke's Crossing every two weeks for the next several months." He inclined his head in Julie's direction and smiled. "For reasons that are becoming more and more obvious, Mrs. Anderson will be coming to see Doctor Weatherby on a regular basis."
The attendant smiled. "Congratulations. See you around then." He saluted as he walked away. "You and the Missus have a good day now."
"Thanks." Max rolled up the car glass and turned the key in the ignition. The car purred to life. He pulled onto the access road and headed south.
Julie managed to contain her aggravation until they had turned off the access road and were traveling down a deserted farm-to-market byway. Then, steadying her voice, she asked, "Why did you lie to that station attendant?"
Max gave her a brief but indignant look. "I didn't lie."
"You certainly left a false impression."
"Should I have tried instead to explain why I'm driving around the countryside with a pregnant woman who has the same name as me, but isn't my wife?"
"You owed him no explanation at all. You could have kept your mouth shut."
"And have the man become even more curious? This is a small community. It covers a big area, but the population is sparse and close-knit. You know about little towns, well little communities are no different."
Julie frowned. "Do you think people will talk?"
Max made a right turn onto a gravel road. "Not if we don't give them some reason to. Would it bother you if they did?"
Julie carefully evaded giving a direct answer. "I won't be here long enough for it to be a problem."
They drove in silence for another half hour. As the car rounded a bend in the road and passed a clump of mesquites the ranch house came into view. Max lifted his foot from the accelerator slowing the vehicle to a snail's pace. "We're home."
The house was a stately old two-story rock and stucco structure that had obviously been recently restored and refurbished. It stood in a grove of tall, whispering oaks. From the bottom of the wide veranda to the top of high-pitched tin roof, it exuded a sense of permanency and stability. It was picturesque and appealing and beautiful, but it wasn't Julie's home. She was set to say so. "It's not..." Something in the look Max sent her way made her change her mind. "What I expected."
Max drove across the cattle guard and onto the winding road that led to the house. "It's one of the oldest houses in this area. German settlers built it in 1862." He pulled into the horseshoe drive and stopped. "I've had it restored as nearly as possible to its original state."
Sunlight sifting through the oaks made lacy patterns that patterned the green lawn and danced up the masonry walls. Julie conceded, "It's very nice." Under her breath, she added, "and the restoration must have cost a mint."
Max was out of the car and coming around to open her door. "I beg your pardon?"
Julie unfastened her seat belt and let him help her from the car. She was hungry and tired and in no mood to engage in verbal skirmishes with an adversary who always came out the winner. "Can we go inside? I'm tired."
"And a little on the grumpy side." Max took her arm. "Come on little mother, let's get you off your feet."
His condescending attitude set Julie's teeth on edge. She yanked her arm from his grasp. "I don't need your help."
"And you never have." Max stepped back and let her precede him around the car.
As they came up the walk the front door burst open. An olive skinned young woman with a wealth of long black hair and enormous brown eyes stood on the other side of the entranceway. "Max! Welcome home. We've been expecting you." She swung the door open. "Mrs. O'Brien and Jose are in the living room."
Julie had expected to be alone here with Max. Expected? She had anticipated, even looked forward to being alone here with Max and she hadn't even realized it until now.
Max guided her up the steps and through the door. Once inside he made introductions. "Lupe, this is Mrs. Anderson. Julie, meet Lupe Gonzales."
The young woman extended her arm in Julie's direction. "I've been looking forward to meeting you, Mrs. Anderson. Did you have a nice trip?"
Lupe's warm hand closed around Julie's cold fingers. What should she say to this beautiful woman who seemed so at home in Max's house? I'm glad to meet you? She wasn't; how-do-you-do? She didn't really care. What are you doing here? She was afraid to ask. "The drive was pleasant."
Lupe gestured. "Let's go into the living room. Mrs. O'Brien and Jose are anxious to meet you, too."
As Julie moved her reluctant feet in that direction she gave Max a questioning glance and was rewarded with a blank stare. She carefully negotiated the two steps down. The room she entered was nothing short of spectacular. Her eyes took in the pegged wall paneling, the low windows that lined the south wall and then came to rest at last, on an immense rock fireplace and the tall, very handsome, dark skinned man who leaned against the mantle.
Max took her arm and cautioned, "Be careful."
"Mrs. Anderson." The tall man came across the room with his hand extended. "I'm Jose Gonzales, foreman of The Half Moon. Welcome." He shook Julie's hand and then turned toward the middle-aged woman who had risen from the oak and leather couch and was making her way across the floor. "This is Mrs. O'Brien, Max's housekeeper."
"Mrs. Anderson, how nice to meet you." Dispensing with the formality of a handshake, the woman gave Julie a cursory hug. "Mr. Max has told us so much about you." She pointed toward an overstuffed chair near the windows. Mr. Max, help your wife sit down. She shouldn't be on her feet."
Julie had it on the tip of her tongue to tell this pushy woman that she was no one's wife. She couldn't quite bring herself to say the words. Sitting down she silently reprimand herself for not having the foresight to ask some specific questions before she came here. Instead she had once more been foolish enough to assume and hope. It was no one's fault but her own that she had been disappointed again.
Seemingly oblivious to the strained silence that had settled over the group Mrs. O'Brien stood and announced, "I have coffee in the kitchen. I'll bring it in."
As the
housekeeper disappeared through the door Max said, "I asked Lupe and Jose to come over and help Mrs. O'Brien and me welcome you to Half Moon."
"That was thoughtful of you and of them." By now Julie was totally confused. "Over from where?"
Jose said, "My wife and I live another half mile down the road in the foreman's quarters."
Mrs. O'Brien's heavy tread announced her arrival before she reappeared carrying a large silver tray laden with a coffee urn, cups, saucers, silverware, and a plate of cookies. She set the tray on the coffee table and straightened. "I'll tell Slim to bring Mrs. Anderson's things to her room. I'll unpack for her while you're having coffee."
Julie didn't want someone else unpacking for her. "Never mind Mrs. O'Brien; I can take care of it myself, later."
Mrs. O'Brien was pouring coffee into cups. "You'll do no such thing. You have to stay off your feet." As if that settled the matter she set the coffee urn down and hurried toward the kitchen. "I'll fetch Slim. Lupe, pour the coffee, please."
With a shrug and a self-conscious smile, Lupe obeyed, explaining as she poured coffee into cups, "Mrs. O'Brien has been at Half Moon for thirty years. Sometimes she forgets her place."
Max laughed good-naturedly. "If she can bully Julie into taking care of herself we can overlook that small shortcoming."
Julie thought that Mrs. O'Brien had been a little high handed but she had broken the ice. Conversation began to flow more smoothly; after several minutes of exchanging pleasantries and sipping coffee Jose and Lupe left.
The front door had scarcely closed behind them when Mrs. O'Brien reappeared. "Everything's unpacked, Mrs. Anderson should lie down; Mr. Max, why don't you show her to her room?"
Julie welcomed that suggestion. She was tired and needed some time alone to pull her scattered thoughts together. Adjusting to living in new surroundings might not be as easy as she had first thought.
Max offered Julie his hand and pulled her to her feet. "I'll show to our quarters."
Julie's heart beat a little faster. "Our quarters?"
Max' nodded as he took her arm. "Yes. Come on, you shouldn't be on your feet."
They passed through the foyer and walked down a down a long hall before Max came to a halt before an ornately hand crafted wooden door. "You should be comfortable here." He swung the door open and stepped back.
Julie walked into the room and exclaimed, "Wow!" A couch stood along one wall. Across the room was a sliding glass door that opened onto a large expanse of lawn and late blooming flowers. In the far corner to her left were an antique roll top desk and a rolling office chair. She gasped, "This is lovely."
"I'm glad you approve. Your bedroom and bath are to your right." Max caught her hand in his. "Let's have a look."
The bedroom was spacious and airy and done in shades of soft greens and pale yellows. "The bathroom's that way." Max pointed toward a door near the other end of the room. "My bedroom is on the other side of the bath. We can leave the doors open and any time you need me, you can call."
"You have your own bedroom?" Julie was surprised and that other emotion was--she refused to call it what it was, disappointment. Obviously Max would rather not share a bed with her. Julie started for the bathroom. "I have to go."
Max followed her inside and shut the door. "This is all new. There were no bathrooms in the original house." He pointed. "Through that door there's a bathtub, a shower and a dressing room."
Max was not behaving as she had expected and she wasn't sure how to cope. Gesturing toward the commode, she said, "I really do have to go to the bathroom. Do you mind?"
Max leaned against the lavatory. "I don't mind, go ahead."
"I need some privacy."
Without protest he left and shut the door behind him.
When Julie came back into her bedroom Max was sitting in a chair near the window. She settled herself on the side of the bed. "Thank you for helping me to settle in."
"You're welcome." There were rare moments when she could read Max Anderson like a book. This was one of them. He was irritated and trying not to show it. "I don't want to upset you. Doctor Barnes says stress is bad for you and the baby."
Julie was not a child and she resented being treated like one. "I think the stress would be worse if there was unresolved conflict between us." How could she make such a foolhardy statement? There had always been unresolved conflict between the two of them. Sometimes she though there always would be. "Tell me what's bothering you."
Max clasped his hands together and rubbed his thumb across his palm. "I let everyone here think you're my wife because that seemed the best way to handle a somewhat sticky situation."
Julie stretched out on the bed and pushed a pillow under her shoulders. "Why didn't you tell me that before you brought me here?"
"Because I knew you'd do just what you're doing, read all the wrong meanings into what was intended as a..." He hesitated before raising one eyebrow. "Noble gesture?"
"How very admirable of you to lie about being married to the woman you knocked up." Before the words were out of her mouth, Julie was sorry for having spoken them. "I'm sorry, I didn't mean that. I'm not questioning your integrity."
Anger flashed in the blue depths of Max's eyes as he struggled for control. "Are you questioning my motives?"
Julie didn't and she said so. She studied his haggard expression. This couldn't be easy for him, being stuck out here in the middle of nowhere with a testy ex-wife who was growing more misshapen and ungainly by the moment when he could be in the big city he loved, sleeping with the trim and lovely Andrea Mayfield. "I appreciate what you're doing. I'm sorry if I sounded ungrateful."
The anger Max had so far managed to suppress surfaced suddenly. "I don't want your gratitude." His mouth tightened. "Will you for God sake relax? I'm not going to try to seduce you either."
Well, of course he wasn't. Why would he even want to try? She was practically an invalid and a bloated, misshapen invalid at that, with the promise of becoming more gross and cumbersome with each passing day.
Max leveled a hard stare in her direction. "I don't want to have sex with you. Is that clear?"
It was perfectly clear. Any response Julie gave to that statement would make her sound like some kind of fool. She looked down at her bulging stomach and enlarged breasts. "You don't have to feel guilty. I understand."
Max shifted in his chair. She wondered if he'd heard a word she'd said. "I'm here to protect and care for you. Do I make myself clear?"
"Perfectly." How quickly his desire had turned to indifference. "I'm sorry if I offended you."
Max's caustic reply grated across her raw nerve edges. "That's very decent of you."
Julie didn't feel decent. What she did feel was defeat and a vague sense of utter failure. She needed to unburden herself to someone who would understand. She asked, "Where's the telephone?"
"There's no telephone in here." Max pushed himself to a standing position. "But there's a phone jack in the sitting room and one beside the bed."
Julie hated him for making her ask. "Do you think you might arrange to have at least one telephone brought in?"
Max moved around to stand behind his chair. "Do you need to make a call?"
"Would I ask for a telephone if I didn't?"
Max eased his elegantly lean body back into his chair. "Shannon isn't home yet. We can call her after dinner."
Julie had no desire to talk to her daughter. Brett had convinced Shannon that her parents should remarry. She had become most vocal on the subject. "Shannon's busy. I don't want to disturb her."
"I think she'd be more disturbed if she didn't hear from us." If she hadn't known him so well, Julie would have thought Max was completely relaxed. A muscle twitching along his jaw line and the tightness of his posture were enough to tell her that he was as tense as an over-wound eight day clock and just about as apt to suddenly unwind.
"I'll call her later." Julie took a deep breath and tried to relax. "I'd like a telephone in here." Her voice so
ftened as she added a guarded, "Please."
Max stood and strode toward the door like a prowling animal. "Tomorrow is soon enough to start calling Summerville." With his hand on the doorknob he turned to face her. "I'll come for you when dinner's ready."
Julie studied his troubled expression and decided to give him the benefit of the doubt. Maybe if she explained. "I am perfectly capable of deciding what's best for me. I don't need help from you or anyone else."
Max shook his head in negation. "That's not true. What you want to do now is call Royce and have him assure you that you've done the right thing and then let him tell you what to do next."
With contemplation came a galling realization. Max's statement carried an element of truth. It was a truth she felt compelled to deny. "That's not so." Max's keen observation had left her shaken and unsure.
"I'll come for you when dinner's ready." Max opened the door and with a nod of dismissal was gone.
Julie lay back on her pillow and stared at the ceiling. After wrestling with thoughts that ran from divided to rebellious she decided that she'd sort thorough all this later. Considering what lay ahead, she would have plenty of time to do nothing but think.
Chapter Thirteen
Max returned to escort Julie to dinner as the clock in the corner of her sitting room was striking seven PM. He came quietly through the door and then paused and let his eyes sweep over her. "You look very nice." How cool and detached he sounded.
"Thank you." Julie met his gaze and was crushed by the guarded impersonal look she saw there. "Your flattery's not necessary. I know how I look."
Max's features hardened and then that sensuous mouth curved into an icy smile. "Are you so unsure of yourself that you can't accept a compliment in the spirit it's given?"
What Julie was having trouble accepting was Max's cold formality and his studied indifference. She would have preferred his caustic remarks and sudden bursts of anger. Perhaps she should take her cue from him and be a little more unconcerned herself. "I wasn't being unkind, just honest."
Max helped Julie to her feet. His touch was as impersonal, so were his words. "Mrs. O'Brien has dinner waiting."
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