Страница 20 из 71
That made A
Laurie’s parents, who had catered to their beautiful daughter’s whims all of her life-had moved to Wichita following the wedding, as if they were turning the care and feeding of their high-maintenance daughter over to the larger, wealthier Linder family. A
“Well, how about taking a weekend off, honey?”
“What?”
“A weekend vacation.” This was her big idea. “Just the two of you, you and Hugh-Jay.”
Laurie sat up. “A whole weekend! But who would-”
“We will, of course.” A
“The what?”
“The Broadmoor. It’s a hotel in Colorado Springs.”
“The one with the spas and the golf, and the-” Laurie began to look excited. “Really? You mean it?”
“Yes, really.”
“Oh, my gosh! That’s incredible, A
A
But then Laurie leaned forward and said, “Hugh-Jay will never go.”
A
“He just won’t,” Laurie said, in a tone that sounded both dismissive and a little bitter. “He won’t leave the ranch for pleasure, you know that, A
“We’ll talk him into it.”
“What if I went by myself?”
A
Laurie nodded, looking suddenly overjoyed, the weariness vanishing from her eyes. In that instant, she looked stu
A
“How would it be good for Hugh-Jay?” she asked, with a bite to her tone.
“I’d come back rested and happy to see him!”
“Lucky him.”
“Exactly.”
A
Stalling, furiously thinking, she took another nibble of pie.
She was worried that Laurie had been flirting with Chase that very morning. The business with the barbed wire had shocked her. She hadn’t told Belle about that. She could hardly believe Hugh-Jay had done it, or that the expression on his face said he didn’t regret it. Chase could have been badly hurt. Hugh-Jay was apparently at some kind of breaking point. Even if nothing had happened between Laurie and Chase-yet-it had already reached the point where it set Hugh-Jay off, which meant it had gone too far.
It was Hugh-Jay and Laurie together to whom she wanted to give some time alone to rediscover each other, to work on their marriage, to have fun and pleasure without responsibilities for once.
The phone rang, and A
Listening hard, she heard Laurie’s end of the conversation from the phone in the front hallway. “Hello.” That sounded normal, but the next words had a fu
“That was Belle,” Laurie said with a breezy air as she came back into the kitchen. “We’re meeting at Bailey’s for supper tonight.”
A
Laurie leaned forward, looking as if she had mysteriously gained more self-confidence. “May I go for three days?”
“Go?” A
“Maybe I’ll take a friend if Hugh-Jay won’t go.”
“A friend?” A
A
Who was that on the phone, was that her “friend?”
Of course Laurie meant a girlfriend, of course she did, but if Chase suddenly came up with an excuse to visit the ranch in Colorado on the very weekend that Laurie was gone, she would send him off on errands a thousand miles in the opposite direction. She was also going to suggest to his father that a horse-whipping might be in order.
Laurie wasn’t finished asking for things.
“Could you take Jody back to the ranch with you tonight? She’d love to spend the night, wouldn’t you, sweetheart?”
The child, made joyful by the warmth in her mother’s voice and by the suggestion to go to her favorite place, flung her arms around her grandmother’s neck and whispered, “Please.” She adored her grandparents and delighted in the ranch, where there were uncles to take her for horsey rides and there was endless space in which to run around and play.
When A
Laurie didn’t seem to notice the distinction, and as grandmother and granddaughter were leaving, she prattled about the massages and facials she was going to get and the clothes she was going to need. “I think I’ve heard of the Broadmoor! It’s really famous and really nice.”
She appeared to consider it settled, with no requirement to say thank you.
Beaming, the beautiful young mother escorted them rapidly to the front door and closed it as soon as they were standing on the front porch. A
“New kitties!” Jody jumped up and down with glee.
A
AN HOUR LATER, on her way out of Rose with Jody in the backseat, A
But when he appeared at her car window, he just smiled and said, “Hi, Mom.” Then he reached in a long arm so he could gently squeeze his daughter’s left knee. “Hey, pumpkin.”
Jody giggled at his touch. “We’re going to the ranch, Daddy.”
“Well, don’t ride any cows, okay?”
“Daddy, you don’t ride cows!”