Westmoreland's Way - Brenda Jackson [18]
Pam nodded. “That explains why he wasn’t married when he arrived here in Gamble.”
“Yes, but it doesn’t explain why he would run off with your great-grandfather’s wife. And so far nothing I’ve read explains it, but then I didn’t get through the entire journal. Not even halfway. Jay would digress and talk about the dairy business and how it was doing. But from what I’ve read so far, it seemed that he and Raphel were close, which doesn’t explain how my great-grandfather could betray him the way he did.”
Pam didn’t say anything for a moment and then she asked, “So, are you taking a break before reading some more?”
“No, it’s getting late and I think it won’t be a good idea to be here when your fiancé arrives this evening. I’ve outstayed my welcome today anyway, and I appreciate you giving me a chance to read the journal.”
“You’re welcome.” And before she could think better of her actions, she said, “And I’d like to invite you to stay for dinner. I’m sure my sisters would love hearing what you’ve discovered today. I think you piqued their interest at dinner yesterday and they see this as some sort of family mystery needing to be solved. At some time or another everyone has heard about Raphel Westmoreland and how he ran off with my great-grandfather’s first wife.”
Dillon leaned against the kitchen cabinet. “I’m surprised no one in your family has been curious enough to find out what really happened.”
Pam shrugged. “I guess you have to understand how some women think, namely my great-grandmother. I’m sure she could have cared less why her predecessor ran off with another man, and the less the family talked about Portia, the better.”
She tilted her head and looked up at him. “So will you take me up on my invitation and stay for dinner?”
Pam’s words intruded into his thoughts and he looked up and over at her, holding her gaze a moment. “And what about Fletcher? How is he going to handle me sitting at your dinner table two evenings in a row?”
He watched as she nervously bit her bottom lip and then lifted her chin. “There’s nothing wrong with me inviting someone I consider a family friend to dinner. Besides, Fletcher is out of town for a few days.”
He nodded, considered her words and decided not to read anything into them. It was an invitation to dinner, nothing more. As long as he remembered she was an engaged woman, everything would be all right.
Only problem with that was that the more he saw her, and the more he was around her, the more he was attracted to her. And the more he was attracted to her, the more he could admit, whether it was honorable or not, that he wanted her.
He swallowed and intentionally glanced out the window, needing to break eye contact with Pam. What he’d just inwardly admitted wasn’t good, but he was being honest with himself. That meant as soon as he could find out all the answers he wanted about Raphel, he hoped in the next couple of days, he would return home.
He glanced back at her, met her gaze, felt the pull, the attraction, and although she might never admit it to anyone, not even to herself, he knew it was mutual. He knew he should ask if he could take the journal back to the hotel and spend the next several days reading it, out of such close proximity to her and this unusual sexual chemistry he felt whenever they were near each other.
But for some reason he couldn’t. “If you’re sure it will be okay then, yes, I’d love to join you and your sisters for dinner.”
“And you’re sure he’s coming back for dinner, Pammie?” Nadia asked with excitement in her voice as she helped her oldest sister set the table.
Pam lifted a brow. She couldn’t remember the last time Nadia or Paige had gotten excited about someone coming for dinner, least of all a man. The first time she had invited Fletcher, they had almost boycotted dinner until she’d had a good, hard talk about being courteous and displaying Novak manners.
“Yes, he said he was going back to the hotel to change clothes and would be coming back.”
“And don’t you think he’s very handsome, Pam?” Paige