Chapter 7

Jamie handed her the nightgown that had been laid across the foot of her bed. With the cast, off her arm she didn’t need his help dressing anymore so he waited until she was ready and then helped her into bed.

“Good night Jamie and thank you for a wonderful evening,” She said hoping for one more kiss.

“Good night Victoria and you are more than welcome for the evening.” When he turned and started toward the door, she knew he was leaving.

“Jamie.” She said almost in a whisper.

He didn’t answer her but came back to her bedside, without a word he leaned down and kissed her again. It was a different kind of kiss than they had shared earlier; it was slow, tender and lasting. She would sleep well tonight. But the opposite was true for Jamie. After the coldest shower he could stand, he crawled into bed but the whole evening just kept replaying in his head. It was all happy and good so why couldn’t he sleep. He wanted her, and she wanted him, and it was just a matter of time. Time was the whole thing he wanted it to be perfect. He had been with other women and always wanted the experience to be nice for both of them, but he wanted to make love to Victoria, he wanted it to be perfect. As the thought hit him, he knew it was because he was in love with her. That was what bothered him so much; he was in love with her. He really was. He had promised himself that this would not happen but yet here it was. And as he thought over the feelings, he was having for her, he decided it wasn’t so bad. It was actually wonderful. He wanted to take care of her, share things, be together all the time and most of all make love to her. He thought these thoughts on and off all night and finally he drifted off. It wasn’t until he felt lips on his that he opened his eyes. Victoria was standing beside his bed; she was all dressed and kissing him. It was really happening, this was not a dream.

“Good morning Jamie.” She said lifting her lips from his. “Do you know what time it is?”

“No.” He said smiling up at her.

“Six O’clock.”

“Six?”

“Yea six and your mother and I were going to let you sleep as long as you wanted but Hank needs you sometime soon.” She said.

“I’ll never hear the end of this. He thinks I’m sleeping in when I get up at five.”

“Yea I know, he mentioned something like that when he called.”

Without thinking Jamie jumped up and slipped on his jeans, grabbed a pair of socks and was just sticking his feet in his boots when he realized that he had just dressed in front of Victoria. When he looked up at her he was embarrassed but not nearly as embarrassed, as he would be when he met the look in her eyes. She had watched the whole thing and never said a word. The gleam in her eye was one of hunger. The color rose in his cheeks, this woman made him feel alive.

Handing him a t-shirt from the top of his dresser she asked, “And could I possibly get a ride down stairs when you go?”

Without warning Elizabeth appeared in the doorway. After taking in the scene all she said was that Hank was waiting. Jamie pulled the t-shirt on and scooped Victoria up in his arms.

“We’re on our way.” Was all he said.

At the bottom of the stairs Hank was indeed waiting and nearly choked when he saw Victoria in Jamie’s arms. Oh, he had known that she needed help with the stairs, hell he had even carried her down them once, but she had never put her arms around his neck like that and Jamie didn’t seem to be in any hurry to put her down.

“Morning Rip Van Winkle,” he finally managed.

“Morning, what’s up.”

“Mr. Perez called. He wants to see you.”

“Good. Let’s go have some coffee and you can tell me everything he said.”

Jamie put Victoria in a chair and went to get mugs, Elizabeth followed with the coffee pot. Paula put a coffee cake on the table and explained that she was leaving. She had asked for the rest of the day off and would be back in the morning.

“Now what did Mr. Perez say exactly?” Jamie asked.

“He apologized for calling so early but explained he was heading to El Paso for the day and wanted to know if he could stop by later this afternoon. I said yes, and he said he would call when he got close. He thought it might be about 4:00.”

“Good” Jamie said smiling, “I think we just bought the Perez place.”

Elizabeth patted his hand. “You always get what you want.” But she didn’t really mean the Perez place she meant Victoria. The girl had not taken her eyes off Jamie since he sat down. Elizabeth knew that look.

“Mom, would you mind throwing something together to eat when Mr. Perez gets here. If he has decided to accept my offer, then it will be a small thank you and if he is still deciding then it should be just enough to convince him. No one can resist your cooking.”

Most people would have taken that statement as a con or sucking up but not coming from Jamie. He meant what he said, and everyone knew that Elizabeth was a fantastic cook.

“I’m sure I can manage something for such a good cause.” She answered with a smile.

“Could I help?” Victoria asked.

“Well yes of course if you feel up to it.” Elizabeth answered.

“Just lean me against the counter and I’ll do what I can. Now that I have two arms again, I want to help out around here. You know, do my share.”

When a delivery truck pulled in the lane and headed to the barns, Hank and Jamie could sit no more.

“Time to get to work.” Hank said.

“Yeap, I guess so. See you ladies for lunch.” Jamie said and then without a hesitation leaned down and brushed his lips across Victoria’s. Light as a feather and too quickly for her but still; he had still just kissed her in front of Hank and his mom. What did it mean?

Elizabeth and Hank both noticed but would never say a word. This girl was really getting to him and Hank liked it. She was nice and pretty and she gentled his old friend. Elizabeth was thrilled too, Jamie was the one child that she had worried would never marry. He had never left home, he was becoming a workaholic and up till now everything was for the ranch. Elizabeth and Victoria had become friends over the past weeks and had been waiting for this. Elizabeth was not a controlling mother but when she saw signs then she could be hopeful. She had one son who had just gotten married, another one about to get married and now Jamie was in love. This was a good match.

Lunch consisted of Monte Cristo’s, Cole slaw and fresh fruit. The stack of sandwiches that went out to the bunkhouse was almost unbelievable. Victoria had no idea that the guys ate so much. But she felt good about it too because she had helped. It was a lot of work and Elizabeth could have done it without her but now she didn’t need to. When Jamie came in for lunch, he was alone. Hank was eating with the guys because they were heading over to the river right after lunch. Jamie needed to stay in case Mr. Perez came before they got back. This was an important deal to Jamie, and he was not about to mess it up. As promised at about 3:00 Mr. Perez called and said he was about half way there, would Jamie be available at 4:00.

At just a few minutes till four, Mr. Perez turned into the lane and headed for the house. Jamie greeted him with a handshake and a warm smile. The two men went into the living room and Elizabeth offered refreshments. Mr. Perez insisted that they all call him Frank and was very grateful for the snacks explaining that he had been on the road all day and had not eaten. There was some small talk and Elizabeth and Frank discovered that they had a friend in common, but then it was down to business.

“I realize that we still have a few weeks till a decision is necessary, but I see no reason to wait. I want to sell, and I think your offer is very generous. I agree to sell you my ranch.”

Jamie was delighted, and it showed.

“Thank you, Frank. This is wonderful. Perhaps we can meet tomorrow to sign the papers. We need to have them notarized and my notary is off today.” Jamie didn’t mention that his notary was also his cook. “I hate to inconvenience you, but I am willing to drive down to your place if that’s ok?”

“Oh, well yes that will be fine,” Frank said. He seemed disappointed not to be getting it over with.

“Jamie, I am sorry to interrupt but could I see you in the kitchen for just a minute?” Victoria asked.

Jamie excused himself and helped her to the kitchen.

“Jamie, if you really want to do this today, I am a notary. Since I needed to change things like my driver’s license and forwarding address of mail, I applied to get my notary here. I used it so much in Indiana. Besides what else was I supposed to do with all those long lonely days?”

“That’s wonderful.” He said pulling her into his arms tightly and kissing her like a wild man. “That kiss wasn’t because you are a notary, it was because I have wanted to do it all day and just couldn’t stand it another minute.”

“I know the feeling.” She responded.

After wiping her lipstick off his lips, they returned to the living room.

“Frank, great news, if you are still interested in doing the paperwork today, Victoria just told me that she is a notary.”

“Wonderful. The sooner the better. You see I will be moving to El Paso to live with my daughter. Her husband just passed away and she needs some help with the kids. I was planning to move near her anyway but just kept putting it off. Now she needs me, and I am ready too.”

Jamie went to his office and gathered papers. Frank had a cup of coffee and a piece of pie while he read the contract. Everything looked the same. Jamie got the land, house, out buildings and stock for a very generous figure and he had even agreed to keep the two ranch hands that Frank had working for him. They would work that area of the ranch, so they didn’t have to move. One of them was married and had expressed an interest in renting the house if they were kept on. Jamie liked that idea and would talk to the man about it later. He and Frank worked out some final details and Frank headed home.

Elizabeth had known how important this deal was to him, but Victoria had no idea.

“Let’s celebrate!” He said. “Let’s go into town and get pizza tonight.”

“Sorry honey, not tonight. I have dinner cooking already and your brother will be here soon.”

With all the excitement of last night and then buying the Perez place Jamie had completely forgotten that Sloan was finally coming.

“Before he gets here could you run into town and get some things I need at the store?” Elizabeth asked

“Sure, I’ll go right now.” Jamie said reaching for his keys.

“Maybe Victoria would like to go with you. If you help her, I know she can get around in the store and she needs to start getting out more.”

Jamie loved the idea and Victoria was quite pleased with the suggestion too. Jamie helped her up into his truck and down the road they went. The store was on the edge of town, so the trip was short. Stuffing the list in his pocket he helped Victoria get out of the truck.

“Jamie, maybe it would be better if I just waited in the truck. You don’t need me to get the groceries as a matter of fact it will only make it harder to get them while you’re holding on to me.”

Jamie stopped. “Let me think about this.” Holding out both hands with palms up. “Getting groceries or holding you.” Using his hands as scales the right one dropped when he said holding her. “Well I think that was an easy choice. Now are you coming in or not?”

She smiled, and he put his arm back around her for support. Once inside she was really glad that she had because the girl behind the counter obviously had it bad for Jamie. She was flirting with him right there in front of everyone. There were only about four people in the small store, but this girl didn’t seem to care. And the fact that he walked in with his arm around Victoria didn’t seem to bother her either.

“Hi Elli, how goes it?” He asked as he put the groceries on the counter. She didn’t respond but just stared at Victoria. “Oh, this is my friend Victoria, Victoria this is Elli.”

“Hi, it’s nice to meet you.” Victoria offered.

“Yea you too.” Elli countered. “Is this the girl Romeo got?” She asked looking back at Jamie.

“It sure is. You have to admit he has good taste.”

“Yea right.” Was all she said as she finished checking them out. Jamie paid for the groceries and asked Victoria to wait there while he carried the bags out to the truck.

“I’ll be right back to help you out so please wait here.” It was a request that he didn’t want to make because he had no idea what Elli would say to her once he was out of ear shot but he couldn’t handle her and the bags too, so he had to take the risk. He and Elli had gone out a few times before he realized that she was just a little unstable, and since then she had always acted very strange around him, almost scary.

Victoria leaned against the counter out of the way of any customers and watched Jamie carry out the bags. Elli watched her, watch Jamie. As he reached the truck and started to put the bags behind her seat Elli moved toward Victoria.

“So how long will you be staying with the Ways?” She asked.

“Oh, I’m not really sure I still have a few weeks with this leg cast. After that I will find my own place, but the Ways are wonderful and have just done everything they could to help me get through this.” Victoria answered.

“So, you’re going to live here. I thought you were just passing through?”

“No, I’m moving here. I don’t think I could have found a friendlier place either. Did you know that your very nice sheriff even put my belongings into storage for me until I can find my own place? He has been so nice. And I can’t even begin to say how wonderful Dr Riley is, he stops at the ranch for my checkups, he is the best.”