Royal Trouble

by Becky McGraw

  Defeat filled her, as she admitted, "Maybe I'm not cut out for this job." Disappointing Roxanne was the last thing Leigh Ann wanted to do, and she realized she had done that in spades. She should have just told her no, when her sister suggested it.

  "Maybe you're not," Roxanne agreed sadly, using the towel to pat at the wet spot on the chair again. Her sister even agreed she was a failure. Leigh Ann had failed, but her sister couldn't say she hadn't tried. With Wes and with being his assistant.

  "I'll get my stuff, and be gone in a few minutes." Leigh Ann had no idea where she would go...except Dallas. It looked like the decision had been made for her. A knot of emotion formed in her throat and with a small squeak she said, "Thanks for trying to help me," then stumbled blindly out of Wes's office toward the front door.

  The faster she could get out of there the better. She was going back to Dallas, where she belonged. When she had some privacy, and her senses back, she would call her mother, and let her know she was on the way home. Running back to Dallas with her tail between her legs. The last place she wanted to be again, but the only place she had to go now.

  Leigh Ann drove her car to the front of the house, so it would be easier to load her stuff in the trunk. Swiping at the tears streaming down her face, she got out of the car and walked to the front door. She ran up the stairs to the room she had used in Wes's house and flung open dresser drawers, throwing her clothes onto the bed, before pulling out her suitcase to stuff them inside. After a quick trip into the hall bath to gather her toiletries, she headed back down the stairs with her arms full.

  She had more stuff now with the bags of country clothing she had purchased to work here, so Leigh Ann didn't know how she was going to fit it all in the trunk. She should just leave it behind, because she certainly wasn't going to need it in Dallas. She just couldn't make herself leave them on the ground though. Leigh Ann had started to like the comfort of her new clothes. Maybe that would be her one rebellious stand against her mother's dictates. From now on, she was adding jeans and cowboy boots to her wardrobe.

  Stuffing the bags in beside the suitcases, Leigh Ann had to bump the trunk twice, but she finally got it latched. Her entire life was in this car. Everything she owned in the world. If her sister hadn't caught up her car notes, she wouldn't have the car to fit it into. Leigh Ann wasn't even competent enough to pay her own car note. It was a sad state of affairs.

  She did need someone to take care of her, a keeper. Maybe her mother could find that person for her. Whatever she decided, Leigh Ann would go along with, because frankly, she was too tired to think, and too pathetic to make a decision for herself.

  Leigh Ann knew when to admit defeat, and this was that time. She was going back to Dallas to lick her wounds, and let her mother tell her what she needed to do.

  If that was marrying Lester Fallon, so be it.

  CHAPTER EIGHT

  Wes stood beside the goat, waiting for the anesthesia to wear off. He had finished disimpacting the animal, which turned out not to be a big deal, because evidently all the activity he had a few minutes ago had done the chore for him. Thank god.

  Roxanne called his name from the outer office, then he heard her running toward the exam room. She slid to a stop in the doorway and he looked her way. The one female in the world he could always count on to always keep her composure looked like she was about to have a melt down. Roxanne's fists opened and closed at her sides, and her chest heaved with each agitated breath she took. "You okay?"

  "Leigh Ann left," she said brusquely.

  "Where'd she go?"

  Wes figured she had gone somewhere to get her composure back. The goat incident had tickled her, and she had been pretty overcome in his office. If he hadn't been so worried about upsetting the crotchety old man who owned her, he would have probably been laughing too. Except that the goat had eaten some of his case notes. That had kind of pissed him off, but as out-of-control as the animal had been, it wasn't surprising.

  Roxanne looked over her shoulder then stepped inside to close the door behind her. Mr. Charles was still in the outer office. "I thought you were upset with her. I kind of reamed her out for letting the goat run wild in the office. She said she wasn't cut out for the job and left."

  "It wasn't her fault, and it was kinda funny," Wes replied with a snort as he jacked up the dosage on the medicine in the drip to wake the goat up.

  "Well, instead of talking, she decided to leave. I need to find her and let her know you're not mad at her. She can't afford to lose this job."

  And Wes couldn't afford to lose another assistant, as incompetent as she was, she was a body to help him in the office. And what a body she had.

  He was angry at Leigh Ann, but after he cooled off earlier he recognized it for what it was, pure jealousy. An ugly emotion he was more than familiar with after dealing with his ex-wife. Leigh Ann had spent the damned weekend with another man, and thinking about it burned a hole in his stomach.

  But it was his own damned fault, because he had pushed her away, told her that mind blowing kiss was not going to have a repeat performance. Basically told her he didn't want her. She didn't owe him a goddamned thing, so she could spend her time with whoever she pleased, unless Wes had the balls to step up to the plate and trust her.

  "Call off the appointments we have this afternoon. Tell them we have a farm call emergency, then try and call your sister. See if she'll meet us somewhere to talk...or come back here."

  The goat opened his eyes, blinked a few times then began wiggling on the table. Wes lifted him down to the ground and clipped on his leash. Baby took one wobbly step then another, before he yanked on the leash, trying to make a beeline for Mr. Charles in the waiting room.

  Rocky grabbed the leash from Wes, yanked the goat into line beside her, then walked the ornery animal out to the ornerier old man in the waiting room. Wes pulled off his latex gloves and threw them into the trash, then washed his hands.

  He cleaned up the mess he'd made, sanitized the table and his instruments, before walking into the waiting room. Pulling off his lab coat, he threw it into the hamper then went over to the reception desk where Rocky sat with the phone to her ear.

  "Yes, we can reschedule for next week, how about Tuesday at ten o'clock?"

  Rocky jotted it down on the calendar then hung up the phone and sighed. "That was the last one, now let me call Leigh Ann," she told him as she pushed the buttons on the phone. After a minute or so, she slammed the phone down. "She won't answer, let's go see if we can catch up to her."

  "She was pretty upset, and she's in a Mustang, honey, that's probably not gonna happen," Wes told her then swallowed twice to get the bad taste from his mouth, before suggesting, "Why don't you call Dylan and see if he's heard from her?"

  Roxanne looked up at him with confusion in her gray eyes. "Why the hell would she call Dylan?"

  "I thought they...I mean, she uh...stayed with him this weekend, didn't she?" Wes stuttered and felt heat crawl up his neck.

  Rocky snorted, leaned back in the chair and threaded her fingers together to study him closely. "Not to my knowledge."

  "Earlier, she mentioned she stayed at his trailer this weekend..." he reminded, and a hard knot formed in his midsection.

  "She was living at his trailer before you let her stay here," Roxanne informed.

  Knowing that made the knot in his stomach even tighter. There must be a lot more going on between Dylan and Leigh Ann than just a casual affair, if they had been living together. The fact that she had kissed Wes like she had, if that was the case, made the knot in his gut burn like a hot lead ball.

  Was she that kind of woman? He hadn't thought so, but it was sure looking that way. A new picture of Leigh Ann Baker was forming in his mind, one that wasn't so pretty or likeable. He didn't want to know, but had to ask, "They have an argument?"

  Roxanne shook her head then leaned toward him on her forearms. "I think we're having two different conversations here, Wes...what the hell is going on with
you?"

  "I don't know, I just figured if Leigh Ann was living with Dylan, they must've had an argument, or she wouldn't have needed a place to stay." He almost managed to keep the bitterness out of his tone. Almost, but not quite.

  "My sister was living at the trailer alone, because she didn't have anywhere else to go. Dylan let her use his trailer in town, until she could find an apartment," she explained slowly like he was the dunce of the class. "The air conditioner went on the fritz, and it was too hot for her to continue living there. She went to work for you, and you had room, so I asked."

  The knot unfurled and floated through him on waves of something that felt like happiness. If not happiness, it was most definitely relief that he felt. "So they're not involved?"

  "They better damned well not be involved. I warned Dylan that I'd cut his balls off if he touched my sister."

  Wes's balls twitched in his jeans and he shifted his weight holding back the grin that wanted to spread over his face. "I misunderstood some things."

  "Evidently," Roxanne agreed, then huffed out a breath and ordered, "Now sit your ass down and let me call my mother to see if she's heard from Leigh Ann."

  After a brief and heated conversation with her mother, Roxanne hung up the phone and heaved a sigh. "She hasn't heard from her, but I think I might have disturbed a hornet's nest. The queen is upset that my sister hasn't called her back, and she's threatening to come up here and drag her home."

  "You and your mother don't get along?" he asked the obvious.

  Roxanne snorted then shoved up to her feet. "Never have gotten along. She's a control freak and uses my sister like a puppet. It pisses me off."

  Wes replayed several things in his mind, the foremost being the morning Leigh Ann almost burned his house down because she'd been arguing with Lester Fallon on her cell phone. "How is Leigh Ann connected to Lester Fallon?"

  "She was engaged to the old bastard. He was number four on my mother's list."

  "Number four?" Wes repeated dumbly.

  "Fiancé number four. My mother has a habit of trying to marry her off to the highest bidder, and Leigh Ann is so nice, she just agrees. Before the 'I dos' happen though, she runs off. Leigh Ann would rather run than confront our mother. She'd rather run than face any kind of confrontation, which is why she ran today instead of standing up for herself," Roxanne explained then her eyes clouded. "If we don't find her, she'll probably do something stupid like going back to Dallas and marrying the old bastard. Their wedding hasn't been cancelled to my knowledge, and it's not too far off."

  "Where do you think she might be?" Wes asked wondering why Leigh Ann didn't stand up to her mother. He was damned sure Roxanne didn't let her mother control her, and she didn't run from anything. How could the two sisters be so different?

  "Headed back to Dallas, and my mother, I suspect," she told him with a grunt. "We have to catch her before she hits the interstate, let's go." Rocky headed for the front door, and Wes followed.

  A strange rattle, preceded by a nasty hiss, sounded from under the hood of Leigh Ann's Mustang. That was her first clue that something was wrong with her car. It bucked a couple of times, before making a sound that resembled someone taking their last breath.

  Slowing the car, Leigh Ann pulled over to the grassy shoulder of the winding country road and stopped. White smoke billowed from under the hood, and she glanced at the temperature gauge and cringed. The needle was firmly in the red zone.

  Through swollen eyes, Leigh Ann took notice of her surroundings. Pasture and endless strands of barbed wire fencing meant she was out in the country somewhere. She should have long ago been on the interstate headed south, but she was in the boondocks.

  Lost and broken down with no one to help her.

  As upset as she had been when she left Wes's office, it wasn't any wonder. It was a miracle she hadn't wrecked somewhere between here and there. Realizing even your sister thought you were a screw up was pretty depressing. The emotional roller coaster ride she'd been on for the last few months, hell all her life, had finally taken its last downward plunge, and she had a meltdown.

  All the emotion she had repressed for so many years joined with her present problems and rioted inside of her, until she let it all out. The result had been like a spring storm, it was horrible while it lasted, but afterward the rain helped the flowers bloom. A little hope was blooming inside of her now. Things didn't look quite so desperate, she didn't feel quite so desperate.

  Leigh Ann was glad she hadn't called her mother yet.

  Before she resorted to that she needed to think. There had to be something else she could do, other than run back to Dallas. Maybe she could go to Houston to her Grandma Nell's place to start over there. Her grandmother would let her stay, and wouldn't tell her mother where she was. Grandma Nell was her daddy's mother and hated Trudy Baker with a purple passion. It was a good plan, but getting there was going to be impossible if she couldn't get her car fixed.

  Calling Wes Jepson wasn't an option, and neither was calling her sister. She knew where she stood with both of them. What their opinion of her was. This would make them think she was even more of an incompetent idiot. Even if she did call either of them, she had no idea where she was.

  She could call a tow truck, but a tow truck cost money she didn't have. Before she left, if she had been in her right mind, she would have at least gotten Wes to write her a last paycheck. But she had been so upset, she had just flown out of there without thinking. But even if she had the money, she couldn't give a tow truck driver her location either, because Leigh Ann had no idea where in the heck she was.

  Grabbing her purse off of the seat, Leigh Ann opened her car door. Out here in the boonies, it was unlikely anyone would pass to help her either. The only one she had to rely on to get back to civilization was going to be herself. Being in control of the situation, or somewhat in control of her destination, sent a little thrill through Leigh Ann. This situation represented something in her life that she had to handle on her own. And that is exactly what she was going to do.

  A farmer around here would know the area. If she could find one, he could tell her exactly where she was so she could get help. Scanning the horizon, she saw a huge house set way back off of the road a mile or so in the distance, and decided to walk there.

  With a sigh, Leigh Ann started walking. It took over an hour for Leigh Ann to reach the gravel road leading up to what she realized when she got closer was a massive mansion. The gravel drive that led up to it was at least another half-mile long.

  At the car, she had thought the house was only a mile away, but her feet told her differently now. The new cowboy boots, which were comfortable walking around the office, were not so good for walking two miles in the hot sun. The blisters on her heels were having babies, and she could barely walk. Limping over to a large rock at the other side of the driveway, she sat down and tugged on her left boot, which felt like it was glued to her foot. The suction released and she almost toppled over backward as the boot came off.

  Wiggling her swollen toes to get some feeling back, Leigh Ann sighed. Sweat trickled down between her breasts. She pressed her tank top to her skin to soak it up, before she tugged her other boot off and sat it down beside the rock.

  She lifted one of her throbbing feet to prop it on her knee to massage it, and noticed someone on horseback in the field to her left. The man rode through a herd of expensive looking horses, and didn't seem to notice her. Shading her eyes she estimated he was probably at least a quarter mile away. Considering the tall grass and heat, hopping the fence to go over to his location would probably take her just as long as it had taken her to get to the driveway from her car. She needed help faster than that.

  Leigh Ann stood to walk carefully over to the fence, then waved her arms frantically to get the man's attention. When he didn't stop, or even seem to notice her, she walked a little closer to the fence and waved her arms again. His horse stutter-stepped, then stopped and he raised his hand to shade his eye
s to look in her direction. Shortly after, he nudged the horse to move lazily toward her.

  She was relieved that he noticed her, but the man certainly didn't seem to be in a hurry to get there. She wished he would hurry, because the sun was practically baking her now. After what seemed like an hour, but was only ten minutes or so, the cowboy pulled his horse to a stop at the fence. Pushing his hat back with his wrist, he leaned forward to rest his forearm on the saddle horn and stare at her.

  His dark eyes moved down her body to her toes then swung back upward. The ruggedly handsome, thirty-something cowboy didn't appear to be impressed with her. He also didn't appear to be happy to be interrupted from his work. "What are you doing out here, ma'am?" he asked flatly, his deep rich voice vibrating through her.

  Leigh Ann shaded her eyes again to look up at him, way up. Not only was he tall, the black horse he was riding was huge, so he towered over her. A little dose of unease shot through her. He looked dangerous and edgy.

  Adding to the effect was a thin white scar on the left side of his face, which stood in stark contrast to his dark tan. It ran from his cheek, over his jaw and stopped right past the bottom of his ear. It wasn't grossly unattractive or anything, the scar gave his nearly pretty face character, made him look rough, mysterious. It told her that this ruggedly handsome man wasn't a man to be messed with.

  "Well?" he asked impatiently, adjusting the brim of his hat down so it covered his eyes again. It shaded the scar she had been rudely staring at, which told her he obviously realized she had been doing that. The leather of the saddle groaned as he sat back up looking like he was going to leave.

  Leigh Ann figured if she wanted his help, she'd better tell him quickly what her problem was. "M-my car br-broke down," she said nervously, flicking a thumb over her shoulder in the direction of her Mustang.

  "And that's my problem, how?" he asked gruffly.

  "It's not your problem...but I would appreciate some help, if you have a minute."