Westmoreland's Way - Brenda Jackson [17]
“I’m just looking out for you, Pamela,” he said after a brief pause. “I still feel you don’t know the man well enough to be there alone with him.”
“Then I guess you just need to chalk it up as bad judgment on my part. Goodbye, Fletcher.”
Without waiting for him to say anything else, she hung up the phone. He would fume for a few hours and then he would call her back later and apologize once he realized just how controlling he’d acted.
Pam eased back to the table and picked up the papers once again, determined to tuck Fletcher and his attitude away until later. She had agreed to marry him and she would marry him, since her sisters’ futures and not losing her family home meant everything to her.
Dillon closed the journal and stood to stretch his legs. He was used to being dressed in a business suit every day, instead of casual jeans and a shirt. That morning he had checked in with Ted Boston, his business manager, to see how things were going at his real estate firm and, not surprisingly, Ted had everything under control. He had made his firm into a billion-dollar company with hard work and by hiring the right people to work for him.
He glanced at his watch, finding it hard to believe that two hours had passed already. He looked down at the journal. At least part of his curiosity had been satisfied as to what had happened to Lila, the wife of the preacher from Georgia.
According to what Raphel had shared with Jay, the old preacher had been abusing his young wife. Church members had turned their heads with the mind-set that what went on behind a married couple’s closed doors was their business, especially when it involved a preacher.
Evidently, Raphel hadn’t seen it that way. He had come up with a plan to rescue Lila from the clutches of the abusive preacher—a plan his family had not supported. After taking Lila as far away as Texas, Raphel had helped her get established in the small Texas town of Copperhead, on the outskirts of Austin. Raphel had been her protector, never her lover, and before moving on he had purchased a small tract of land and given it to her to make a new beginning for herself.
Dillon smiled, thinking, at least in the case of Lila, Raphel had been a wife saver and not a wife stealer. Given the woman’s situation, Dillon figured he would have done the same thing. He’d discovered that when it came to the opposite sex, Westmoreland men had this ingrained sense of protection. He just regretted that Raphel had severed ties with his family.
At that moment Dillon’s stomach started to growl, reminding him that he hadn’t eaten anything since early that morning and it was afternoon already. It was time for him to head back over to the hotel.
Pam had been intensely involved in reading one of her students’ scripts when suddenly she felt sensations curl inside her stomach at the same time chill bumps began to form on her arms.
She glanced up and met Dillon’s gaze as he stepped into the kitchen. She wondered how her body had known of his presence before her mind. And why even now the sensations curling her stomach had intensified. She decided to speak before he had a chance to do so, not sure what havoc the sensations combined with his deep, disturbingly sexy voice would play on her senses.
“How did things go? Did you discover anything about your great-grandfather that you didn’t know before?” she asked, hoping he didn’t hear the strain in her voice.
He smiled, and the effect of that smile was just as bad as if he’d spoken. He had a dimpled smile that showed beautiful white teeth. “Yes. At least, thanks to your great-grandfather’s journal, I was able to solve the mystery of Lila, woman number one.”
“Did they eventually marry?” she asked, curiously.
“No, from what I read, Lila’s preacher husband was an abusive man and Lila sought out Raphel’s help to escape the situation. He took her as far as Copperhead, Texas, hung around while she got on her feet, established her