Westmoreland's Way - Brenda Jackson [40]
She hadn’t talked to him or seen him since that night. He had left a message for her on the answering machine yesterday indicating he’d decided to change hotels and had checked into one in Rosebud. Unlike Gamble, the neighboring city of Rosebud had a number of cell towers in close proximity so there was always a signal. She understood that he would want to stay connected to the outside world since he was a businessman.
He had provided the name of the hotel, which was only a ten-mile drive from Gamble. She had thought about calling him back to let him know she’d gotten the message, but had eventually talked herself out of it. She knew she would see him again, because eventually he had to return the journal. She was hoping that by then she wouldn’t be thinking so much about how his kisses had felt on her lips, or just how good he’d felt going into her body. And then, how she’d felt when he was inside of her. She tightened her thighs together at the memory.
She licked her lips and then picked up her glass to take a sip of her cold tea, needing to relieve her suddenly hot throat. She forced her thoughts to shift to what Gwyneth thought she’d overheard about Fletcher’s plan to send her sisters away. She’d ask Fletcher about the rumor when he called later that evening. She figured that he would be calling before she left for her evening class at the academy.
Halfway through dinner the phone rang and she pushed her chair from the table and crossed the room to answer it. “Yes?”
“How are things going, Pamela?”
A part of her wished she could feel some excitement, some fluttering of sensations anywhere in her body at the sound of Fletcher’s voice, but that wasn’t happening. Her heart slammed painfully in her chest at that realization. “Everything is fine, Fletcher. How are things with you? Is that problem in Bozeman getting corrected?”
“Yes, in fact, I have good news. I might be back in Gamble this weekend instead of next Tuesday.”
She swallowed deeply and tried to put a smile in her voice. “That is good news.”
“And do you know what would make me extremely happy, Pamela?”
She dared not try to guess. “No, what?”
“If you’ve decided on our wedding date by the time I return. I know you prefer waiting until February, but I want to marry this year, so a Christmas wedding is what I prefer.”
All of a sudden she felt her stomach drop. Christmas was next month. “I can’t possibly get things together by then.”
“What do you need to do other than show up at the church? Besides, I hate to bring this up, but I’d like to satisfy that mortgage on your home as soon as possible. That’s one of my wedding gifts to you.”
Pam’s eyes narrowed. In his own passive-aggressive way, Fletcher was reminding her of the reason she had agreed to marry him. “I’m sure you want that matter resolved and done with as soon as possible, right?” he added.
“Yes, of course.”
“So will you have a date for me when I get back to Gamble?” he asked.
She stole a glance at the dining room table where her sisters were chatting away. They had happy looks on their faces and she was determined to keep it that way. They were smart, all three of them, and she’d made a promise to herself at her father’s funeral to do whatever it would take to make sure they got the best life had to offer.
“Pamela?”
She breathed in deeply. “Yes. I’ll have a date for you but I won’t promise it will be this year.”
He didn’t say anything for a moment and then she heard the frustration in his tone. “Let’s start with the date and I hope it’s one we will both agree to.”
Knowing he was probably about to ask her about Dillon, she quickly jumped in to say, “Nadia is bothered about something, Fletcher, and I’m sure it’s all a misunderstanding, but I thought I’d mention it anyway.”
“What?”
“She thinks you’re sending her away when we get married. I assured her that wasn’t the case and—”
“That has crossed my mind.”
Pamela