Hope's Path

by Carrie Carr

  "Sure, honey. But when you get through with Mr. Dempsey, stop by Amanda's room first. We've got a little surprise for you."

  Lex looked down with a smirk. "Do you have something up your sleeve? Should I be nervous?"

  "Nope." The housekeeper patted Lex gently on the side. "Now go talk to that old man before he calls out a search party."

  "Yes, ma'am." Lex saluted Martha and left the room. She hurried to the nurses' station. "I'm Lexington Walters. Did you have a call for me?"

  The young nurse who had given her the message came up behind Lex and patted her on the back. "Here. Let me get that for you." She walked around the desk and picked up the phone. "Here you go." She handed the receiver to Lex and moved back. "Just holler when you're done."

  Lex nodded and smiled. "Thanks." She ran a hand over her face and spoke into the phone. "This is Lexington."

  "Young lady, you're harder to find than a five-dollar call girl on a Saturday night," the old man the other end of the line teased. "I know you're busy, but I have to notify you of a problem with one of the companies you are a major stockholder in."

  "I'm sorry, Joshua. I should have called you sooner. What's going on?" Lex nodded gratefully at the young nurse when she was handed a pen and paper. She whispered her thanks to the smiling nurse and began to doodle on the small notepad.

  The old man took a breath and then coughed. He'd smoked two packs of cigarettes a day for over fifty years, and refused to give them up. "Well, it's actually an investment that your dear mother made, rest her soul. But the company's stock is dropping drastically, and I'm afraid that if you don't get out now, it could seriously hurt the sale price of your investment."

  Lex nodded. She had always trusted the old man's business savvy--he'd never been wrong before. "Okay. What's the name of this business?" She listened for a moment and then wrote. "Cawkeen Enterprises? Did I hear that right?"

  "That's right. I don't have too many particulars about it, but something happened to it recently and it's dropping fast." Joshua could be heard shuffling papers in the background. "If you sell now, you'll still be making a profit."

  Lex thought for a moment. Never heard of it. Oh, well. "Go ahead and sell it all, Joshua. I trust your judgment."

  "Good. Good thinking. You've got business sense just like your mother."

  She scribbled down the name and put the bit of paper in her shirt pocket. "Thank you. And thanks for calling, too."

  Dempsey chuckled. "No problem, Lexington. I'm just glad I reached you in time. I'll call you back next week to go over some new investment ideas."

  She hung up the phone and waved at the two nurses. "Thanks again for the use of your phone." Lex turned and walked down the hallway to Amanda's room. She saw Charlie and Martha standing outside the door talking with Frank and Jeannie. "Hi folks. Did I miss anything interesting?"

  "Hey, Slim. My sister was asking for you." Jeannie walked up to Lex and enveloped her in a hug. "I think she wants you to break her out of here," she whispered into Lex's ear. "I heard her arguing with Gramma. She's feeling a lot better, but the doctor refuses to release her."

  "Damn." Lex pulled out of the embrace slowly. "I'll see what I can do." She reached for the doorknob and then stopped. "Maybe I should give your grandparents more time with her."

  Jeannie laughed. "Maybe you should go in and save my grandparents." She winked at the others. "We could hear Mandy from here. I guess her throat is feeling better."

  Lex looked at the faces around her. "Okay. Wish me luck." She squared her shoulders and pushed the door open.

  MICHAEL CAUBLE TOSSED the suitcase onto the bed and flipped it open. Of all the days to give the servants the day off, he thought angrily. I hate having to pack my own bag. I always forget something. The phone next to the bed rang several times before he sighed heavily and picked up the receiver. "Michael Cauble here."

  "Mr. Cauble. Thank goodness I found you." The agitated voice on the other end of the line practically yelled. "I thought you were out of town?"

  "I was. Something unexpected came up. What's the problem?" Michael cradled the receiver between his shoulder and ear as he continued to pack the bag. I really don't have time for his hysterics. Damned fool.

  The man paused for a moment. "Umm. You remember how your stock began to fall this past week?"

  Michael stopped what he was doing. "Yes? You told me it would pick back up and not to worry about it." A small knot of apprehension formed in his stomach. "Why?"

  "Well--umm--" The voice trembled slightly.

  "Dammit, Craig. What the hell is going on?" Michael finished tossing clothes into the suitcase and zipped it shut. I just get back, and now I have to find enough clean clothes to pack. Thank God I have a spare set of luggage.

  Craig coughed to clear his throat and to stall for time. "It seems like one of your major stockholders couldn't be so patient."

  "What do you mean?"

  "They sold their stock. And a couple of others must have gotten scared because they did the same," the frightened man almost whispered.

  The executive dropped soundlessly onto the bed. "How bad is it?"

  His employee swallowed loudly. "Umm--well--They'll probably freeze all your assets to pay off the stockholders. I'm afraid you've lost it all, Mr. Cauble."

  "Everything?" Michael felt lightheaded. "Even the Swiss accounts?"

  "Uh. Those were closed out a month ago, sir. I thought you had done it."

  Michael closed his eyes. Elizabeth. That bitch said that she'd take me for everything I had. "Do you have any idea what made the stocks fall so rapidly?"

  Craig breathed a sigh of relief, glad that his boss wasn't going to shoot the messenger. "There is a rumor making the rounds that you were going to sell the company to an overseas buyer that had a bad reputation on the market. Everyone believed it, sir."

  "All right. Thanks, Craig." The beaten man leaned forward and cradled his head in his free hand. "I've got to go to Texas for a while, My daughter has taken ill. You can reach me at my parent's house." I hope. Maybe I can mend a few fences while I'm there. Dad was right: a corporate merger does not a good marriage make. He hung up the phone and stared unseeingly out of the bedroom window, remembering the previous night when he had hung up the phone, angry with his oldest daughter. He still couldn't believe she had taken so damned long to call. How did she think that makes us look? After getting last night's call, he'd grabbed a decanter of scotch and walked out into the garden, dropping down under the large tree. Even at three o'clock in the morning, the temperature was not uncomfortably cool.

  Amanda. He remembered small snippets from her childhood:

  A small, bright-eyed toddler climbing into his lap, wanting to "help Daddy work" at his desk.

  A laughing ten year old following him around, carrying an old discarded briefcase full of pencils and notepads.

  A proud young woman, who had doubled her college workload in order to graduate early and join her father's business.

  What have I done? Michael remembered the hurt look on his youngest daughter's face when he dismissed her after graduation.

  I've become exactly what I have always detested--a man who cares about nothing but status and money. He took a long pull on the bottle beside him and closed his eyes. "My God. My little girl." Michael Wayne Cauble leaned back against the tree and, for the first time in his adult life, had had cried.

  Hours later, Michael had awakened with the sun shining in his face. The hung-over executive opened his bloodshot eyes and looked around, realizing that maybe it might not be too late after all. He had struggled to his feet and hurried to the house thinking, "I'm going back to my daughter, if she'll have me." He dropped the empty scotch bottle in the kitchen trash as he walked purposefully up the stairs. And now here he was, doing all he could to pack while realizing that all the things he had--the house, the boat, the fancy cars--were in no way worth the sacrifice of his youngest daughter. He stuffed in a final item, closed the suitcase, and moved across the roo
m to look out the window at his palatial estate. What an empty place this would be if I found out something had happened to my girls. A sound at the doorway made him turn from the window.

  "Michael. I thought that I had heard the phone. Who was it?" Elizabeth Cauble stood with her arms crossed over her chest.

  He straightened and took several steps to her. "You did it. I'm ruined." Michael walked over and picked up the suitcase from the bed.

  "Where do you think you're going?" She held out an arm to stop him from passing. "And what on earth are you talking about? What do you mean, you're ruined?"

  "Several stockholders pulled out. I'm broke." He laughed humorlessly. "Don't look so innocent. I knew you were up to something while I was out of town. I just never figured you to be this vindictive."

  Elizabeth glared at her husband. "You've always been weak, Michael. I've tried to give you a backbone, but you're just like your father."

  Michael shook his head sadly. "No. I'll never be half the man my father is." He set the suitcase down, pulled out his key-ring and removed several keys from it. "You can have this damned mausoleum, Elizabeth. For years I've listened to you, andbecame just as cold and calculating as you are." He handed her the keys and wiped his face with his sleeve. "I almost lost my daughter yesterday. I may have already lost her heart." Michael picked up the suitcase and started for the door.

  "Don't you dare walk out on me," Elizabeth yelled. "Not after all I've done for you."

  He stopped and turned around. "Done for me? What in the hell have you done for me?" Michael dropped the suitcase at the door and shook her head. "You've never done an unselfish thing in your life."

  The enraged woman crossed the room and slapped him. "You ungrateful bastard. How dare you speak to me that way!" Then Michael watched, spellbound, as Elizabeth's countenance changed from angry and imperious to soft and condescending. She took his hand and led him to the bed and sat him down. "I didn't ruin you. She did."

  "Who?" Michael rubbed his cheek where his wife had slapped him. What the hell is she talking about?

  "I tried to stop her, you know," she looked down at their linked hands, "but she has more lives than a cat."

  Her husband jerked his hand out of hers. "What are you talking about?" Understanding dawned on his face. "You're talking about that Walters woman, aren't you?" Alarmed, Michael scooted away.

  "Nothing can be proven, you know." Elizabeth smiled coldly and patted his leg. "And don't act so offended. You don't like her any more than I do. You're just too spineless to do anything."

  Michael slapped her hand away. "Just because I don't like someone doesn't mean I want any harm to come to them. What's the matter with you? Have you completely lost your mind?"

  Elizabeth tilted her head back and laughed. "You fool. That woman is the one who ruined you. She was the major stockholder that sold you out." She shook her head. "She's probably sitting in a bar drinking beer with her redneck friends and laughing her head off."

  "Do you actually believe that?" Michael asked. "As much as I dislike the woman, I can't believe that Amanda would have anything to do with someone like that."

  "Oh grow up, Michael. Our daughter--both of them, actually--have been too influenced by those simpering fools that you call parents. It's a shame mine were killed in that car wreck all those years ago. They would have been excellent role models." She stood and paced the room. "I've done everything possible to secure our future, and that country bumpkin ruined it."

  Elizabeth's behavior scared him. Michael stood and caught her arm as she walked by. "Stop it, Elizabeth. You're acting crazy." He paused as what she had said sank in. "Secure our future? Just exactly what have you done?"

  "Since you wouldn't do anything more than hire that worthless private investigator to dig up old history, someone had to take charge." She turned and gave him a disgusted look. "I sent someone to Texas to keep an eye on her."

  "You did what? Don't tell me you had anything to do with her almost getting killed." He moved away from her.

  "Not exactly. But the moron that Mark hired--"

  "I knew it. You slut! Garrett is your little plaything, isn't he?" Now furious, he rushed forward and grabbed her arm roughly

  "Let go of me." She shook off his hand. "At least he was man enough to take care of what I needed."

  "My God. What haven't you done?" Michael backed away from her. "Are you going to marry him after our divorce is final?"

  She laughed mirthlessly. "Oh please. He was a good distraction, but hardly worthy of any long-term investment on my part." She sat at the dressing table and picked up a brush from the marble top. "I sent him overseas." Elizabeth looked at her husband's pale face in the mirror as she brushed her short hair. "And as for a divorce. I'm not sure." She reached for her lipstick and applied it to her lips. "There's such a stigma attached to being a divorced woman. I don't know if I want that applied to me."

  Michael walked over and stood behind her. "I can't stay married to someone who arranged to have another person killed. How can you be so cold and calculating?"

  "Don't be such a baby, Michael. I paid someone to keep an eye on her. He hired some inbred moron who had a grudge against her. It was his idea to push her off a cliff." Elizabeth sighed. "What's the big deal? She lived. Not that I was happy about that fact," she mumbled, almost under her breath. She met Michael's eyes in the mirror. "Since when have you gotten so attached to her? Why the sudden change in you, Michael?"

  "Do you realize that I yelled at Jeannie last night for waiting so long to call about Amanda?" He dropped his gaze. "I didn't even ask how my daughter was doing." He looked back up at his wife with tears of anguish in his eyes. "My little girl was lying unconscious in a hospital halfway across the country, and I was more concerned with appearances. Dear God. I've become your father." He turned away and walked to the door.

  Elizabeth swiveled on the dressing table chair and glared at his back. "Just where do you think you are going?"

  He bent and picked up the suitcase again. "I'm going home, Elizabeth. And I'm going to beg my children for forgiveness and pray that it's not too late." He walked out the door without another word.

  "We'll just see how welcome you'll be when your children find out that you were behind this whole mess," she said aloud with a smile. "At least all the evidence will point to you."

  Chapter Twenty

  LEX OPENED THE door and poked her head inside. Amanda was sitting up in the bed, her arms crossed stubbornly over her chest. She looks a lot better and she's so cute when she's trying to get her way. I can never tell her no.

  Anna Leigh sat on the edge of the bed. "Just stay one more night, Mandy. The doctor wouldn't ask if he didn't have a good reason. For goodness sake. You were in Intensive Care last night, and on a respirator. Give your body a chance to get over this, please?" Where on earth does this child get her stubborn streak? She glanced over at her husband's smiling face. Oh, yes. Now I remember.

  "But I feel fine, Gramma. I just want to go home." And snuggle up with a certain rancher. Amanda sighed in defeat. She heard the door squeak and looked up. "Hi, stranger."

  "Hey, sweetheart." Lex walked into the room slowly. I feel like I went ten rounds with the heavyweight champ, and lost. Every bone in my body aches. "What seems to be the problem here?" She saw an empty bed near Amanda's. Another bed? I bet that's Martha's surprise. Sneaky. She grinned inwardly.

  Jacob met her halfway across the room and escorted Lex over to the spare bed. "Have a seat, honey. You look exhausted." He put his arm around Lex and she leaned into him.

  Amanda studied Lex carefully. She appears worse than I feel. Maybe a good night's rest wouldn't hurt either of us. She glanced up at her grandmother's understanding face. "Guess one more night can't hurt." You win this one, Gramma. But only because I think that Lex needs the rest more than I do.

  Anna Leigh smiled at her granddaughter. "Thank you." She watched her husband as he gently helped Lex to the other bed. "Why don't we let these two girls
get a little rest and come back after lunch?"

  "Good idea." Jacob bent down and picked up Lex's feet and swung them up onto the bed. He started to pull off her boots when Lex stopped him.

  "Jake. Umm, Grandpa? You don't have to do that. There's nothing wrong with me." She felt embarrassed that the older man continued to work with her feet.

  He removed the boots and set them quietly under the bed. "Nothing other than you're still recovering from a major injury. Now just lie back and get some rest. You both could use it." He covered Lex with a blanket and patted her leg. "Stubborn kid." He walked to the door shaking his head.

  Lex heard Amanda giggle. She turned her head. "Don't encourage him." She glanced to Anna Leigh. "Could you make sure that Charlie and Martha get a little rest today? I'm really worried about them."

  "I'll be glad to." Anna Leigh joined her husband on the other side of the room. "You two girls take it easy, and we'll see you this evening, okay?"

  "Okay," Amanda said. "Thank Martha and Jeannie for me, will you? They've been really great."

  Anna Leigh nodded. "I will. Please rest." She winked at Lex, who sat up in her bed with her arms crossed and a disgusted look on her face. "Take care, Lexington." She walked out of the room, and Jacob quietly closed the door behind them.

  "You are so adorable when you pout," Amanda giggled, "but I think that you lost this round." She frowned as Lex climbed out of bed. "What are you doing?"

  "This isn't going to work." Lex crawled under the bed. She struggled for a moment, then stood with a triumphant grin on her face. "There." Amanda's eyes widened as Lex slowly rolled the bed close to hers. When they were side by side, Lex crawled back under the bed to re-lock the wheels. "Much better." She climbed back up on the mattress and opened her covers to her lover. "Care to join me?"

  "Sure." Amanda pulled her sheet and blanket loose on that side and scooted closer. She curled up next to her lover and sighed happily. "Mmm. Perfect."