Chapter 6

They sat and talked for what seemed like hours. He didn’t want to diminish her guilt, but he wanted it to go away. She was no more responsible for her parent’s death then he was. He changed the subject several times when he thought it was a touchy subject for her, but she never seemed to notice. All she had noticed was how easy he was to be with. Looking at his watch some time later he declared that it was late, and they should go to bed. He of course meant together but knew better. After blowing out the candles in the living room, Jamie picked her up again and carried her to her room. Elizabeth wasn’t back yet, and Victoria needed help getting into her gown but this time her dress didn’t untie at the shoulders and she couldn’t do it alone. She studied his expression as she considered her options.

“Look, I know this is not going to be easy for you, but mom may not be back any time soon and I’m all you’ve got. If you want your nightgown on, then you have to let me help.”

“Do you mind?” She asked. The dress was a knit pull over and once he pulled it up, all she had on were her bra and panties. She was not completely embarrassed at him seeing her in her underwear, but she was a little upset that they were so plain. If a man was going to remove her dress, she had always hoped that it would be in a moment of passion and that she would be wearing something unbelievably sexy under it. As it was, cotton white panties and a normal white bra was all she had on.

“I will try not to look.” He offered and then smiled.

“Ok let’s do this. I have to admit I feel pretty silly.” She said.

As he pulled the dress up over her head and one arm, he noticed her blush. But when he had to work to get the cast out through the sleeve, she noticed him blush. He had been hoping to rip it off, and drop the gown on fast, so he wouldn’t be looking at this nearly naked woman but no such luck. The armhole was small and didn’t want to go back over the cast so there she stood. Her skin looked so soft and smooth and the tops of her breasts just peeked out over the top of her bra. But what really had him going, were her legs. She had a small waist and round hips, but her legs were just perfect. He had never realized that he was a leg man before but apparently, he was. She watched as he inventoried her body and was quite pleased by his reaction. His eyes had smoked over, and he was looking at her like a man on fire. At a time that should have been embarrassing, she found it exhilarating. Her breathing was growing ragged like his, and he had stopped trying to get the dress off. She stepped closer and he folded her into his arms. His lips found hers. There were so many reasons that they should do this but the reason that they shouldn’t, kept stopping Jamie. He moved his hands down her sides to her hips and she was ripping at the buttons on his shirt but when a voice called from downstairs they had to stop. It was Elizabeth, they were back.

“Hello, hello.” She called.

“Just a minute mom, the power is out, I’ll bring you a flash light” He called.

“Never mind, Billy is just lighting candles, we’re fine.”

He turned back to Victoria. He was not going to let this go. They had come so close to being lovers that he was not going to let her be embarrassed or pull away from their feelings. He stepped back into her arms and kissed her like before. He ran his hands down her back and pulled her close. His kiss left her lips and moved down her neck. He gave her goose bumps all over her body. She had never been involved with a man like this before, a man who could make her wild with just his touch. She had always been careful not to get this far with other men, but with Jamie, she had no shame. The spot he was kissing was about to make her insane.

“Please Jamie; you are making me go wild.”

“That’s the idea.”

Somehow during all this her dress fell down over the cast and lay on the floor. Jamie stepped back at the sound of a door closing. Dr Riley must be leaving. Elizabeth would be up soon, and this madness had to stop.

“Honey, I need to get your gown on you and get you into bed” He was saying between gasps. She understood no man wants his mother to walk in on something like this. He slipped the gown over her head and helped her slide under the covers. He leaned in and claimed her lips again. When Elizabeth came in to check on her Jamie had already gone to his room.

“Did you have a nice time this evening?” Victoria asked when Elizabeth appeared with a candle.

“Yes, I did.”

“That Dr Riley sure is special, isn’t he?”

“Yes, he sure is.” Elizabeth agreed.

“I thought you might need some help tonight getting into bed, but I see you did just fine.”

“Yes, Jamie helped me.” With those words, the red rose in her cheeks and it was almost a full confession of what had just happened.

“That Jamie sure is special too, isn’t he?” Elizabeth didn’t wait for an answer she just turned and headed for the door. “Good night Victoria, sweet dreams.”

A sweet dream was something Jamie was not having. He was dreaming about quicksand. It was really strange, he was fighting to get out of the quicksand but then it all changed, and he was happy to be in it. It was warm and smooth and felt like Victoria’s skin. When his alarm went off, he was tired but glad to start a new day. It was still dark and rainy but there hadn’t been any thunder or lightening since they had come up from the cellar. Jamie couldn’t wait to go get the coffee tray and go see Victoria. She was still sleeping when he got to her doorway. She looked so sweet; it was almost hard to believe that she was the same woman who had gone wild in his arms only hours ago. He wanted her to go wild again, he needed it. Leaning down and brushing her lips with his, he whispered good morning.

She moved slightly and opened her eyes. When she smiled at him, he brushed her lips again. He was in big trouble; he just could not get enough of this woman.

“Hello” She said when his lips left hers.

“I come baring coffee.” He said nodding to the tray, which he quickly put beside her. “Let me help you sit up.” Anything to touch her. He had felt this way for weeks but had fought it and now he wondered why.

When Elizabeth came in it was to find Jamie lying on the bed drinking coffee and laughing.

“Morning mom.” Was all he said when she entered the room. After a few strange looks he excused himself so Victoria could get dressed.

The rest of the day Elizabeth noticed that Jamie hung around the house all day and used whatever excuse he could to be with Victoria and when he told Hank to ask Bo to go fishing with him Saturday morning, Elizabeth knew it was bad. Jamie had never willingly given up his weekend fishing before. Monday turned in to a busy day with things going wrong, and repairs from the storms, Jamie worked out till after dark. When he and Hank hit the kitchen for dinner it was late. He stopped only long enough to wash up and say hello to Victoria. She even followed him out to the kitchen to sit with them while they ate. Elizabeth joined them and poured herself and Victoria both a cup of coffee.

“We waited dessert on you so eat up because I can’t wait much longer for that pecan pie. Paula made it special because tomorrow Victoria gets the cast off her arm.”

Victoria was definitely excited about tomorrow, but not necessarily about the cast, but because Jamie was taking her to dinner after.

Elizabeth announced that Sloan had called and was in El Paso and would be home Wednesday afternoon. Jamie and Hank talked about all the repairs that they had made and a few that still needed done. There would be a feed delivery tomorrow morning and Jamie planned to mow after lunch. Elizabeth would work in her garden then too and Victoria always liked to sit out there with her for the company. Elizabeth loved the company and Victoria loved the fresh air and sunshine. And unbeknownst to anyone, Jamie liked mowing when they were out at the garden because he could watch Victoria sunning herself. Lately she had started wearing shorts and a bikini top. Hank had noticed that several of the hands enjoyed it when she sat out by the garden too and he had to tell them to back off. It was apparent to Hank, Elizabeth, Dr Riley and even Bo that Jamie and Victoria had a thing going on, but the other hands did not have a clue. Finally, one day after overhearing a comment or two about how pretty Victoria was, he decided to make a general statement to the men. He had gathered them all around one morning before Jamie came out and simply said ‘want to keep your job, eyes and hands-off Victoria’. That was enough information for all of them. Jamie was a great boss. Never asked you to do anything he wouldn’t, always paid a good salary and was all in all just a nice guy. Hank was happy that he didn’t hear any more about Victoria from the guys.

Tuesday morning was like any other. After lunch, everyone had their own chores. The feed truck arrived and was unloaded. Henry and Hank went out to the West pasture to fix fences and Jamie started to mow. He had put a lounge chair out by the garden and would help Victoria get to it whenever she came out. Everything went in to fast motion after lunch. Elizabeth and Victoria didn’t spend much time in the garden today because they both needed to get ready for their big dates. Dr Riley had called Elizabeth twice already today and she was almost giddy. They were having dinner in tonight, and Elizabeth was really going all out. She was making prime rib for two, twice baked potatoes, asparagus, a Caesar salad and panna cotta for dessert. The way to a man’s heart she had said more than once.

Victoria was wearing the pretty little dress with the tie straps, just in case. When Jamie came downstairs, he was perfect. He had on black jeans and cowboy boots with a pink dress shirt. Victoria had always known that most men had trouble wearing pink, but not this man. It was almost time to go and Elizabeth was practically throwing them out. She still had half an hour till Dr Riley arrived and she wanted them out. Jamie was really giving her a bad time about it too because he suggested that they could hang around until Billy showed up.

“No, you can’t. If you do, then you’ll be late and just think about how long Victoria has been waiting to get that cast off.” Elizabeth countered.

“Oh, I don’t mind if we’re late, I’m sure they will take it off any time.” Victoria couldn’t continue without laughing. “Ok Jamie let’s go.”

“Bye kids have a nice time. Enjoy your evening.”

“Don’t hurry back.” They both said together and had to laugh.

The drive to town was a little quiet but once they got to the hospital everything was ok. They x-rayed the arm again and then removed the cast.

“One down, one to go.” She said as they headed for dinner. “Where are we going?” She asked.

“Well I thought we would eat downtown tonight, if you feel up to it.”

“You bet I do. If you don’t mind being seen with old hop a long.”

Jamie laughed. “That’s cute, old hop along. I’ll tell you what ‘hop’ if you get tired or want to go home, just say the word.”

“Are you crazy? I have been looking forward to this for so long, lets party.” Her smile was so beautiful, she was just so beautiful, he just wanted to stop the car in the middle of the street and kiss her. But not now, tonight they were having a date and he wanted to see how that went before they got physical again. After a few more turns he pulled into a parking space by a building that looked old. Really old. It was stucco or adobe and the windows were all blacked out.

“Here we are,” He said.

“Ok” She responded quite cautiously.

“Here let me help you.”

“Is it far?” She asked looking at her crutch.

“Far enough that you will need that.” He responded.