He didn’t say anything for a moment and when he did speak again, she was not surprised by his change in subject. “And where is Westmoreland? Did he show up today?”
She had no reason to lie. “Yes, he showed up. In fact, he’s still here, upstairs in the attic going through some things.”
“Why couldn’t he take the stuff with him and go through it back at the hotel?”
Fletcher’s tone, as well as his words, annoyed her. “I saw no reason for him to take anything back to the hotel. I regret you evidently have a problem with it.”
“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 with a new identity and then moved on.”
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.