Be My Guest (13 page)

"You carry the lantern, Aurora. I'm afraid
I'll drop it or spill the oil even with these carryall bags Aunt
Rose gave me."

"She's the one who gave you the
pajamas?"

Will smiled, "Yes, she lives in Post. She's
my mother's older sister. She never married and treats me as if I
were her son.

"Obviously, she's spoiled you," she said
with a mischievous grin. "Doesn't your sister mind?"

He paused for a moment as if the idea were
new to him. "No, she doesn't seem to mind in the least. We're a
pretty uncomplicated family."

Aurora thought of her family and grew
wistful. "That's nice, Will." Although her parents and two brothers
were very special people, she wasn't blind to the faults of her
large extended family. She tried to remain separate from the
bickering and infighting among her aunts, uncles and cousins on her
mother's side. One group seemed always mad at one or another of the
other groups. Fortunately, Aurora's parents remained adept at
maintaining neutrality among all the pettiness.

Will asked, "Is this Grandmother Aurora
alive?"

"Oh, yes, and very active. She's eight-five
and drives her car to church, bridge games, and garden club."

"And she's in Port Arthur near your
parents?"

"Yes, she's a real sweetheart. I think I'm
her favorite, too. She tries to be impartial, but I'm the only one
of her descendants named for her, you see." She paused, her head
tilted to one side. "But then, you said one Aurora was enough."

"One is perfect for me," Will said so
quietly Aurora wasn't certain she heard him correctly.

The remains of dinner were soon cleared from
the patio and the leftover food securely put away. Aurora dried her
hands on the kitchen towel. "I think I'll get ready for bed
now."

"Good idea. I'll check the generator one
more time. It'll run out of gas before morning if I leave it
running and we won't have water for breakfast. I'll stop it for
now, then restart it if I wake during the night."

Aurora hurried to get out of her slacks and
back into her nightshirt. She knew she should insist on moving to
one of the guest bedrooms, but hadn't found the will or the words
to broach the subject to Will. He seemed so nice, if only she could
trust her feelings toward him. If only she could trust his feelings
toward her.

Even though she now viewed the breakup with
Russell from a new perspective, the pain associated with that
broken engagement remained too fresh in her memory to allow her
confidence in her judgement of men. In addition, the feelings Will
harbored for his late wife were too obvious for Aurora to have any
confidence in her power to attract him permanently. She definitely
did not want to be anyone's experimental fling or merely a
substitute for another woman.

Quickly, she finished her bedtime
preparations and slid into bed, her mind filled with misgivings.
Thoughts of sharing a bed with Will increased these misgivings.
After all, she theorized to herself, this is a big bed, and we are
rational adults. Well, she tried to be rational.

Will came in and undressed. This time, she
looked the other way until the mattress sagged against his body’s
weight.

With great solemnity, she turned toward
Will. The light of the lantern revealed him propped on his elbow
gazing at her from those beautiful stone gray eyes.

He held out his hand to her, and she twined
her hand in his. "I'm trying to remember you're injured and a guest
in my home, but you're so beautiful, Aurora." He lowered his head
and kissed her softly. "How have I survived without you?"

She answered as he continued to gaze at her.
"Will, I must be crazy. You aren't in my plans at all. I seem to
lose all sense of reason when I'm near you. I've tried to remember
my rule of no personal involvement, but I keep forgetting when
you're near."

"What if I hadn't found you again? I don't
want to lose you now. I don't think I could bear it." His mouth
claimed hers and Will kissed her softly. When he raised his head to
end the kiss, his eyes glowed dark with passion.

Aurora touched his cheek gently. "Will, you
know I can't stay here."

"Yeah, but it’s not what I want to hear.
I've already called my Aunt Rose. She wants you to stay with her,
and I think the two of you will really like each other. I intend to
do the honorable thing and get you out of my clutches before I lose
total control of my libido." He captured her hand and held it to
his mouth, kissing the palm.

Fighting to concentrate as he kissed each
finger, she confessed, "You may have noticed that I seem to be
having a little trouble with my libido, too."

It was impossible to think clearly with him
touching her. She gently pulled her hand away from him. "Will, do
you think I can find a job of some sort in Post? If I don't stay
busy, I'll never be able to keep myself from trying to seduce you,
cowboy."

"Mm, now that's a mighty pleasing thought,
ma'am. However, Aunt Rose is checking with her friends to see if
there's a temporary job nearby. I asked Lori Beth and Tommy Joe to
check with their friends tomorrow also. Aunt Rose will probably
have more luck. She has an incredible good-old-gal network."

Why did she even try? She could not keep her
hands off him. Having him in contact with her reassured her in a
way that surprised her. Her--the one who vowed no man would ever be
necessary to her security. She took his large hand in hers. "Do you
think I'll be able to go there tomorrow?"

"If the roads are open, which I believe they
will be. First, though, I'll take you to see Nick in Snyder. Unless
the x-rays show some reason to keep you in the hospital there,
we'll come back here for your things before we go to Aunt Rose's in
Post."

A frown creased the brow he grew fonder of
each moment. "I wouldn't want any gossip started about me being
here that would embarrass you or Kelly. Believe me, I know how
easily gossip spreads and how much it can hurt."

Will brushed a strand of hair from her face.
"I'll talk to Kelly. This is a small community and gossip travels
even faster than in Houston. Someone is bound to figure out we've
been alone together all weekend and make something of it in spite
of your injuries and the fact that Lily came over. I hope it won't
upset you, but you may as well prepare yourself."

"I seem to have created a lot of problems
for you and your family. I'm sorry, Will. I never meant to
complicate your life."

"I can take a lot of this kind of
complication." He lay back on the pillow and sighed. "Go to sleep
now, before I lose control and start making love to you."

No more nightmares plagued her like those of
the night before, but she slept fitfully the first few hours before
dropping into a sound sleep. When she awoke the next day, the sun
shone through the window. She turned her head and saw Will slept
soundly.

He lay on his side facing her, one arm
folded back over his head and the other reaching out toward her.
What would it be like to wake up beside him every morning, to have
him reach over for her and be able to go to him? She sighed
wistfully. What a wonderful way to start the day that would be.

She blushed at her wayward thoughts and
slipped out of the bed quietly and into the bathroom. Instead of
returning to the bedroom, she went through the door on the utility
room side of the bathroom and into the kitchen. There she found
Lily already at work.

"Ha, you should be asleep, pobrecita. Did I
wake you when I started the generator, or do you have too much pain
to sleep?"

"No, I think I'm hungry, and maybe that's
why I waked up. I'm awfully sore in places, but I slept pretty well
last night."

Lily clearly assumed charge of this kitchen.
"I made some biscuits and will cook some eggs and ham. You sit and
talk to me, but I'll do everything. Will said you've injured
yourself very badly. You must have had a terrible time. It is
fortunate that he saw your linternacita in the storm."

Aurora clearly remembered the fear and
isolation of the storm, but tried to minimize her ordeal to Lily.
"It all happened pretty fast, except for the walking along the
railroad tracks. I really believed I had walked dozens of miles,
but Will thought it more likely I came only a little over two from
my description of where I left my car."

"And you carried su maletas, your suitcases,
through the storm? Ah, Aurora, I don't know how you did it." Lily
shook her head as she busied about the kitchen.

"Well, I realize now that it was terribly
stupid of me. Part of the time I put my suitcase on one of the
rails and sort of pushed or pulled it along on the rail. I tried to
save as much as possible, you see, but that's why I fell into the
water and wound up in the tree."

When Lily eyes held question, Aurora
continued, "I set my suitcase to the side of the rails but before I
could sit on my suitcase to rest, I saw a huge water moccasin
crawling toward me. It startled me so much I fell." Even
remembering that event made Aurora uncomfortable. She realized too
well how close came to drowning.

Lily shuddered. "Ugh, un serpiente! I hate
snakes! But to fall into the water of the flood...Madre de Dios!
How did you keep from drowning?"

"I tried to swim but all I could do to stay
on top of the water. When the flood slammed me into the tree, I
grabbed at a branch and held on until I could climb higher. That's
where Will found me."

Aurora sighed and shook her head before
adding, "Oh, if only I had accepted his offer to show me around the
area yesterday, this would never have happened."

Lily paused in her breakfast preparations
and stared as if not certain she heard correctly. She took a step
closer. "Por favor? What did you say, Aurora?"

Aurora shrugged with her least sore
shoulder. "Oh, well, you see, yesterday in Snyder when I met Will,
he offered to show me around the area. Had I accepted his offer
then, I would have been with him and would never have stalled my
car in the deep water."

Lily said slowly and carefully as Aurora's
words took effect. "Ah, I see. So...you met Will yesterday in
Snyder. Ha! This explains many things. And why didn't you take him
up on his offer?"

Aurora chewed her lip before answering,
"Well, uh, you see, Lily, um, he wore a wedding ring and I--I
thought he was married."

Lily raised her eyes to the ceiling and
gestured upward with both hands. "Madre de Dios, did I not tell
him? How many times did I say this to him? I knew this would
happen!" She returned her gaze to Aurora and shook her head. "That
is one stubborn hombre. We all told him to quit wearing his wedding
ring."

The housekeeper went back to work on
breakfast, interspersed with a great deal of gesturing as she
spoke. "Now I would never interfere, you know, but I told him so. I
said to him that thirty-three is too young to live like a monk.
Kelly and Lori Beth told him too. Finally, he listens. Ah, men! You
can tell them nothing."

"Oh. Maybe I shouldn't have mentioned it."
Aurora sat at the breakfast bar across the counter from Lily. You
really put your foot in it this time, she thought.

"De nada. Well, I am glad he found you--both
times. He is a good man, our Will is. One of the very best. He and
Nancy were very happy, yes, but Nancy has been dead three years.
Will deserves to be happy again."

Aurora thought it best to shift Lily's
attention away from Will's love life, or lack of it. "Will said
your family and he have been friends for a long time."

"Yes, this is true. We were amigos in school
together many years. With his Nancy, too, though she was Lori
Beth's age. When Raul needed a job, Will asked his father to hire
Raul."

As if to emphasize her explanation, she
paused to gaze at Aurora. "Even though Raul is very good at his
job, we are very grateful. That was when Will went away to college.
You see, Will always planned to go to college after high school,
but Raul had no wish to do so. He and I wanted just to get married
and live a peaceful life on a ranch."

A slight frown gathered at her brow, as if
she suddenly recalled something unpleasant. "Raul had trouble
finding a job around here that would pay enough money for us to get
married and raise a family, and we didn't want to live in
town."

Will appeared in the door. "Tell the truth,
Lily. You wanted to keep that handsome husband of yours away from
the women in town as much as he wanted you all to himself."

Dressed in his jeans and a western shirt in
gray print that complimented his eyes, Will stopped near Aurora and
flashed a heart-stopping smile. "Good morning. Are those biscuits I
smell?"

His smile brightened the room for her far
more than the sunlight shining in through the windows. Her stomach
did flip flops again but she struggled to produce a casual smile.
"Yes, and fortunately for you, Lily made them. Um, I haven't
actually cooked in a long time. I'm afraid any biscuits I cooked
wouldn't be nearly as wonderful as Lily's. Even then, I've always
used an electric range and oven, so I'd probably be lost with a gas
range."

His gaze never left her face. His voice
sounded natural, but it seemed, in spite of the words, Aurora
commanded his entire focus. "Actually, it's propane. There's a big
tank at the side of the house and a truck comes once a month to
fill it. But it works the same as gas when you're cooking." He
leaned his hips back against the counter with his hands loosely
balancing his crutches.

Lily sat plates of ham and huevos rancheros
on the table, and popped biscuits from the oven before she turned
to the others. "All right now, pronto. This food is ready, so you
two eat and then go away. I'll clean this up mañana. Right now, I
have to leave to make sure those kids get cleaned up. Raul says the
roads to Post are open now so we can go to church."