Part 11 (1/2)
”Of course you will. The doctors warned us you might become agitated from time to time.”
”Yes, I get agitated. So would anyone in my situation. But I don't want to be drugged.”
”Don't be difficult, dear-”
”Mother, please. I'm not a child. I'm not being difficult. Please stop treating me as if I were six years old.”
Her mother sat the tray on a cherry wood table and wrung her hands, her dismay evident. ”I don't know where this att.i.tude has come from. Diana, talk some sense into her.”
Startled, Diana glanced up. ”She makes perfect sense to me. I can't imagine anything I'd have to say. She has some valid points if anyone cared long enough to listen.”
Mildred stiffened and clasped her hands together. ”I might have expected as much from you.”
She turned and quit the room in a huff.
Diana shrugged.
”I have something to show you.” Annie got up and walked over to her wardrobe. She withdrew the green dress and held it for her sister-in-law to see.
”That's a pretty dress.”
”Isn't it positively normal?” She held it against herself and gazed down fondly. ”I sewed most of it myself, too. Aunt Vera showed me how and helped when I made a mistake, but I pretty much did it on my own.”
”That's impressive. I've never sewn a dress for myself.”
”Really? Well then I guess I'm impressed, too.” She grinned. ”But you can do so many things. You're independent and smart and politically savvy.”
”Not exactly sterling qualities in your mother's book, are they?” Diana asked with a wry tone.
”And you have a beautiful little boy, who is bright and happy.”
”He is, isn't he?” Pride shone in her dark eyes.
”And you obviously make my brother very happy. He adores you.”
”He adores you, too, Annie. But he treats me completely different than he treats you.”
”Because he looks at you as an adult,” Annie said. ”An equal.”
”He's overprotective because he loves you.”
”I know that. But it's smothering.”
”I promised you I would talk to him, and I will.”
Annie nodded her understanding. ”I know. Thank you.”
After a few more minutes, Diana left to join her husband and son. Annie stayed in her room, pacing for a time, then lying on the bed and allowing her thoughts to roam.
She opened her eyes and discovered she'd fallen asleep. Darkness shrouded her room. She sat, finding her arms and legs achy from excessive use that day. Flexing the muscles, she brushed the wrinkles from her clothing and wheeled herself to the kitchen for water to wash and clean her teeth.
The house sat dark and silent; her parents had been upstairs for quite some time. After was.h.i.+ng, she checked the Seth Thomas clock on the mantel, then silently unlocked the back door and wheeled down the ramp and along the hard-packed path to the gate. By the time she reached the end of her street, her arms were trembling, but the pain was forgotten as soon as she saw the dark horse and the tall man beneath the glow of the silvery moon.
Chapter Seven.
”You got the note. I'm sorry I'm late,” she said. ”I fell asleep.”
”I didn't mind the wait.” The nearest house here at the edge of town was several hundred yards away, and a dozen pine trees plus a blooming hedge of spiraea prevented anyone from seeing where Luke waited.
”It's been so long,” she said, hearing the breathlessness in her own voice.
”I'm glad you sent the note.” He glanced down the lane. ”We probably shouldn't stay here.”
”Let's go somewhere, then,” she suggested, even though her suggestion was a risky idea. She really didn't worry about her parents waking and checking on her; they never did any more. But someone might see them together.
”All right.” He appeared to think for a moment. ”Stand up.”
Willing to take the risk, she did.
He pushed her chair into the spiraea bushes where it couldn't be seen. ”You up to a ride?”
She glanced at the horse. ”You brought Wrangler.”
”He wanted to see you.”
Annie laughed softly. ”Yes, I'm up to it.”
He moved the animal closer to where an abandoned cart sat at the corner of the neighbor's property. June flowers bloomed in the back. Luke dipped to sweep her up and carry her to the cart, where he placed her on the top of the wheel and held her hand for balance. ”Can you reach his back from there?”
She grabbed the saddle horn and made the transference easily. Using the stirrup, Luke swung up behind her.
He was bigger than the last time they'd done this, harder, more muscled, and she was aware of his chest and thighs against her back and hips, his breath grazing her neck.
”Can Wrangler handle this?” she asked.
”We're not going far.” Luke took the reins and with a flex of his hard thighs against hers, the horse stepped forward.
Elated, Annie clung to the saddle horn and leaned back against his solid rea.s.suring form. Her second ride was every bit as exhilarating as her first, in fact even more so. Now she was aware of Luke as a man. She had eagerly antic.i.p.ated their stolen time together.
He led the horse through the dark silent streets of town, pa.s.sed businesses with living quarters overhead. Annie glanced up at the dark windows. Luke halted the horse before the livery. The wide door that stood open during the day was closed, and the horse stopped near a door to the side.
Luke dismounted, then reached up. She leaned toward him and he took her weight easily, carrying her and leading the horse through the doorway and into the dark interior of the stable that smelled of hay and horses.
He paused and told her where to reach to locate a lamp and matches. She lit the wick and carried the lantern, letting the light guide their way as he carried her down a double row of box stalls.
Luke lowered her to her feet. ”There's a bench there, if you want to sit.”