by Carrie Carr
Amanda grasped Lex's uninjured hand, lending her silent support while Lex told her story. "It was definitely a set up; that much I know for sure. The fence was cut, and a small calf had been tied to some brush near the edge of the drop-off. When I went over to cut him free, something slammed into my head, and then everything went black." She pulled Amanda's hand up and kissed the knuckles. "Next thing I knew, I was lying at the bottom of the ravine covered by a bunch of limbs and branches."
"Have you gotten any threats lately, Lex? Something that might explain why someone would do this to you?" Charlie pulled a small notepad from his shirt pocket and busily took notes.
"No. Not that I can think of." Lex was already feeling the effects of the medication she had taken. "And if someone wanted me dead, why didn't they just shoot me?" She heard a sharp intake of breath as Amanda realized where these questions were leading.
Amanda looked up at her lover with a serious expression.
"That's not completely true now, is it? You've had two separate threats recently." She saw understanding in the blue gaze. Turning her attention to Charlie, Amanda bit her lip. "Rick Thompson threatened her at my grandmother's office last month in front of several witnesses."
The lawman nodded. "That's right. I'd forgotten all about that." He added Rick's name to his notes. The ex-manager of Sunflower Realty had been fired when it had become known that he had sent Amanda on a wild goose chase to the Rocking W Ranch. She was supposedly sent to talk to Lex about selling the large piece of property. On the way to the meeting, Amanda's car had been washed off the old bridge leading up to the ranch, and Lex jumped into the raging creek to pull her from the water. When Anna Leigh Cauble found out what had happened, she fired the manager. Rick thought Lex was involved in his dismissal and had made several threats to get even when he was arrested for assaulting Lex at the office later on that week.
"That little turd," Martha muttered. She had never liked the man and made a mental note to ask Roy to have some of the boys keep a closer eye on the ranch house until Lex was back on her feet.
"And then there's my father," Amanda uttered quietly, looking down at their linked hands. "He made some nasty threats when we were in California."
Lex struggled to keep her eyes open. "Sweetheart, I honestly don't think your father would resort to something like this. Besides, how did they know I'd be the one checking the fence? I think it's more likely vandals were afraid I'd catch them, so they did what they could to give themselves time to escape." She felt her eyelids grow too heavy to keep open.
Amanda released Lex's hand and kissed her cheek. "Rest well, love." She looked at Charlie and Martha. "Why don't we go downstairs and discuss this a little more? She'll be out for hours." She rose carefully from the bed.
Martha nodded and stood. "Good idea." She walked to the bed and placed a light kiss on the sleeping woman's forehead. "Foolish woman. She's going to drive me crazy before this year is out, that's for sure." She grabbed the discarded food tray and headed for the door. "You two coming downstairs with me, or do I have to drink that whole pot of fresh coffee all by myself?"
Charlie looked at Amanda and shrugged. "Got to love a woman like that." He offered her his arm with a bow. "Shall we?"
"Yes, I do believe we shall." Amanda accepted his arm with a curtsy. "Thank you."
Chapter Four
"YOU IDIOT. I'M paying you to keep an eye on her, not kill her. Good God. Have you no sense? What if they figured out that you did it?" The voice, electronically disguised, continued to rant.
The victim of the tirade had to pull the phone away from his ear to protect his hearing. "Look. I was keeping an eye on her. And I really had intended to just cut the fence and then leave. But when I saw that she was the one there, I couldn't resist." He chuckled. "When I saw her lying at the bottom of that ravine, I honestly thought I'd killed her. So I threw some stuff over the edge to try and hide the body."
There was a short silence from the other end of the line. "It's somewhat of a shame that you didn't succeed--it would have certainly made things a lot easier for me." Papers shuffled in the background. "Okay, here's what you're going to do. I want you to keep a high profile--make a nuisance of yourself. That should come easily for you."
"What? Are you out of your mind? They'll lock me up for sure." The underling's voice was incredulous. "You don't pay me enough to go to jail for you."
"Listen to me, you fool. If you go into hiding, you'll be the first person they'll suspect. You're probably already on top of their list. Trust me, the best place to hide from these backwater bumpkins is right under their noses. You might even try threatening her in front of some of them. They'll never figure you to be that stupid."
The underling looked around his cluttered living room. He noticed, not for the first time, the empty food cartons lying around. I really should get someone in here to clean this place up sometime. He took another deep swallow from his beer. "Okay. But if they bust me, I'm taking you down with me."
"Don't even try to threaten me, you worthless little pissant. I can make you disappear in a heartbeat--permanently."
"Umm, yeah. Sorry about that. I wasn't really threatening you, honest. I'm just a little nervous about getting caught, you know?" He ran a trembling hand across his forehead. "I didn't mean nothing by it."
"Just remember who's in charge, and you'll be fine. I want you to make yourself very visible for the next few days, got it?"
"Yeah, I got it." Once his boss hung up the phone, the man threw his can of beer across the room. He proceeded to throw things around the living area until he wore himself out. "Damn you, Lex Walters!" He stood in the middle of the destruction, panting heavily. "I can't wait until you get what's coming to you."
THE REST OF the morning and afternoon at the ranch went by peacefully. Amanda would go upstairs every so often to check on her lover, but spent most of the day sharing stories with Martha and Charlie. The sheriff left in the late afternoon because he needed to accept and organize the reports his men would be turning in after their investigations. Martha allowed him to leave only after getting his promise to be back at the ranch early on Thursday for Thanksgiving dinner.
Amanda looked at the computer screen and sighed. She had decided to work on the ranch finances since Lex tended to get overly stressed whenever she tried to handle the paperwork. Amanda had always enjoyed working with numbers, and Lex was more than happy to hand over the bookkeeping duties to her after one especially trying night of attempting to balance the ledger. After finding out how much better Amanda was at bookkeeping than she, Lex divested herself of those duties without complaint. Not to mention the fun we had working out the "details' of my payment. I had no idea Lex could be that, creative, in the office.
"Are you okay?" Martha asked from the office doorway. "You seem a little flushed."
Amanda glanced up guiltily. "Umm, yeah. I'm great. Just going over the books for Lex." She ran a hand over her face to try and dispel the blush her remembrance brought. "Do you need my help in the kitchen?" She had told Martha earlier to come get her whenever she needed help starting dinner. When she had first moved in, they had made a pact as far as the household chores. Martha would let Amanda help with the laundry and the cooking, and Amanda wouldn't get in her way when she did the rest of the housework.
Martha shook her head. "No, nothing like that. I just came in to tell you that your grandmother called a few minutes ago."
"She did? I didn't hear the phone ring." Amanda looked at the offending item.
"That's because Lexie keeps the ringer turned off in here so it won't disturb her."
"Is everything okay?"
"Mrs. Cauble was just checking in to see how our patient is doing." Martha moved into the room and sat. "Are you real busy?"
"No, not at all. What's wrong?" Amanda could see that something was on Martha's mind.
"That business yesterday scared the living daylights out of me," Martha admitted. "Do you really think someone is out to get my
Lexie? Who would do such a thing?" She looked down at her lap, then lifted her head and met Amanda's gaze. "I've alerted the boys down at the bunkhouse, and they're going to keep a close eye on the house until she's feeling better." She leaned forward with an intense look on her face. "My little girl has finally found happiness, and I'll be damned if I'm going to let some lowlife ruin that. They'll have to go through me to get to her."
Amanda stood and edged around the desk, then knelt at the older woman's feet. "I know, Martha. I feel the same way." She gripped both of the housekeeper's hands tightly. "When I look at you, I can see where Lex got her beautiful heart. I wish I'd had half as good a mom growing up as she had."
Martha pulled Amanda to her and enveloped her in a fierce embrace. "I thank the good Lord for you each and every day." She stood and helped Amanda to her feet. "Now let's stop all the serious talk and go check on the cookies I left baking in the oven. They should be about ready."
"Oooh, cookies." Amanda followed her out of the room and down the hallway. "What kind?" she asked as she took a deep sniff of the air.
"Brown sugar." Martha moved into the kitchen and made her way to the oven.
Amanda rubbed her hands together gleefully. "Mmm, my favorite."
"Be about another minute. Why don't you go ahead and get yourself a glass of milk?"
"I think I'll run upstairs real quick and check on Sleeping Beauty. Maybe she'll be awake, and I can take her some cookies, too." She walked out into the hallway and screamed.
Martha rushed out of the kitchen in a panic. She found Amanda back against the wall with one hand over her heart. Lex stood a few feet away dressed in gray boxer shorts and an unbuttoned black nightshirt. "What are you doing out of bed?" Martha demanded.
"You scared me half to death," Amanda chastised as she willed her heart to stop pounding. "Martha's right. What are you doing out of bed?"
Lex was propped against the banister with her injured arm held closely against her body. "I was bored and tired of lying in bed." She inhaled deeply. "Cookies? Smells like brown sugar." She pushed away from where she reclined against the stair post and slowly limped into the kitchen.
Amanda looked over at Martha and shrugged. "You raised her."
"Good lord. Just had to toss that one in my face, didn't you?" Martha joked as they followed Lex into the kitchen.
Lex stood at the refrigerator holding a clear container of milk. "I hate to break up your little gabfest, but could one of you come over here and help me with the milk? I can't get the damned lid off."
Amanda shook her head. "Poor baby." She walked over and grabbed another glass. "You want one, too, Martha?"
"No, thank you, dear." Martha pulled the tray of cookies out of the oven. "I bake them. I don't usually eat them."
"Really?" Amanda was intrigued. "Are they safe?" she teased as she poured two glasses of milk. After she returned the bottle to the refrigerator, she gently buttoned Lex's shirt before looking up into Lex's eyes with a tender smile. "Looks like I get to pamper you a lot for the next few days, huh?"
Lex returned the smile. "I guess so. Thanks," she whispered and kissed Amanda on the forehead.
Amanda grabbed both glasses and ushered Lex to the table. "Sit, tough stuff." She watched with concern as her lover moved slowly to a chair and sat. "You look like you're completely miserable."
"It's not that bad. I'm just stiff from lying still for so long." Lex shifted uncomfortably in her chair as she picked up her glass with her left hand. "I think I'm sorer today than I was yesterday."
Martha walked up beside her and touched the top of Lex's head. "There was a good reason the doctor told you to stay in bed for a few days. You have to give your body time to heal." She waited until Lex looked up into her eyes. "After you eat I want you to go back to bed, okay?"
Lex wanted to argue, but she relented when she saw the concern reflected on Martha's face. Besides, she thought, I really do feel like hell. "Yes, ma'am." Maybe I can talk Amanda into joining me. This might not be so bad after all.
"Thank you." Martha leaned down and kissed her charge on the cheek and then moved away from the table with purpose. "Don't fill up on cookies. I'll heat you up some stew."
Amanda chuckled. "She's got you pegged." She reached for another cookie. "But don't worry, the stew is really good."
The housekeeper cleared her throat from across the room. "That goes for you, too, young lady. You barely touched your lunch today."
"Ha!" Then Lex realized what Martha had said and she looked closely at Amanda. "Are you feeling all right?" She covered Amanda's hand with her own. "You're not coming down with something, are you?"
"I'm fine. Guess I'm just a little tired." Amanda squeezed her lover's hand. Of course, I spent the entire night awake watching her. No wonder I'm a little tired. Amanda hadn't even lain down for most of the night, for fear that she would try to snuggle up against the injured woman and bump her injuries in her sleep.
Lex sighed. "Amanda. What am I going to do with you?" She looked down at the bowl of stew Martha had set in front of her. "Mmm. You're right. This smells fantastic." She began to eat, then paused to yawn. Damn. Hope I don't fall asleep in my bowl.
Martha settled into another chair. "That settles it then. After you finish your dinner, it's off to bed for you both. You'll need your rest since you have to be up early in the morning."
Amanda looked at her quizzically. "We do? What's going on?" She ate her stew hungrily.
Martha gave Lex a no nonsense look. "You're going into town first thing tomorrow so Lexie can get a complete checkup." She raised a hand when Lex opened her mouth to speak. "No arguments. You can barely walk, and you're hurting so badly that you're not even trying to hide it."
Lex decided to concentrate on not spilling her stew. She was still shaky and her vision had not completely cleared up. Probably a good idea. Then an evil idea presented itself. Oooh. Martha won't expect me to agree with her. This will be good for the shock value alone. "I think you may be right, Martha," she murmured quietly while she kept her attention on her bowl.
"What?" Martha dropped her spoon in shock. "If you're feeling that bad, maybe we should go this evening." She started to get up and clear the table. "I knew we should have taken you to the hospital yesterday."
Lex looked up with a sneaky grin and then tried to look innocent. "Maybe I'd feel better if you would let me have more cookies."
Amanda almost choked on a mouthful of stew. "Oh, God. That's funny." She coughed a couple of times and took a large drink of milk. "She got you that time, Martha."
The housekeeper sat back down with a sigh. "I swear you're going to be the death of me one of these days, Lexie." She shook her head and continued her meal.
"Sorry Martha, I just wanted you to relax a bit. You worry too much. But if it would make you feel better, you can tuck me in tonight and read me a story."
"Just wait until you get better, young lady. I'll find a way to get back at you," Martha threatened, but she couldn't keep the smile from her face.
Lex was stopped from making another sarcastic remark by the ringing of the phone.
"I'll get it." Amanda practically leapt from the table and raced across the kitchen. Thank God. I think Lex was about to get herself into more trouble. "Walters' residence, Amanda speaking." She saw Lex's scowl out of the corner of her eye. Lex had asked her several times not to answer the phone that way. She had stressed that it was just as much Amanda's home as it was hers, but the blonde stubbornly refused. We're going to have to come up with a compromise before Martha ends up being a referee. The voice on the other end of the line made her face scrunch into a frown. "Hold on just a minute, I'll see if she's available." She held the receiver to her chest.
"Who is it, Amanda?" Lex tried to turn around in her chair, but a sharp pain in her back stopped her. "Dammit."
"It's your brother," Amanda whispered. "Do you want me to just take a message?" She didn't want to see Lex get upset, which was always a good possibility whene
ver Hubert was involved.
Lex slowly climbed to her feet, barely able to hold back a pained groan. "No. He'll just keep calling until I talk to him." She held her hand out for the phone. "Let's see what he wants now." Lex allowed Amanda to drag a chair from the table and help her sit near the telephone. "Thanks," she whispered. "Hello, Hubert. What can I do for you this time?"
"For one thing, you can tell your little--girlfriend--to drop the damn attitude. I'm not amused," Hubert's nasal tone whined. "She thinks she's better than me, and I'm tired of it."
Lex sighed. "Hubert, you're imagining things. And, for the record," she looked over at her lover, "she is better than you. Now what do you want?"
Hubert was livid. "Now you listen to me, you perverted bitch. Don't you dare talk to me that way. I'll--"
"Shut up!" Lex instantly regretted yelling. She fought back a wave of dizziness as her head pounded. "You've got exactly one minute to tell me what you want before I hang up." She closed her eyes and leaned back in the chair.
"Fine. I got some papers in the mail Friday that require your signature. I left a message on your damned machine yesterday, but you didn't bother to return my call." He sounded like a petulant child. "Do you want me to bring them out to the ranch, or will you be in town sometime this next week? I need to send them back as soon as possible."
Lex opened her eyes and caught Amanda's worried look. "I'll be in town tomorrow, Hubert. We'll drop by the office then, okay?"
Hubert laughed humorlessly. "My, oh my. Miss High and Mighty is actually going to sully herself and grace the little people with her presence. Why I ought to--"
"Goodbye, Hubert." Lex hung up the phone in the middle of his sarcastic speech. "Asshole," she muttered and glanced over at Martha. "Sorry. At least he won't be bothering you any more tonight."
Martha stood and walked over to where Lex was sitting. "Let's get you back upstairs and into bed. You're looking a bit pale."