Chapter 21

Half an hour later, Martha peeked into the den discreetly, finding them after hearing the sounds of The Corrs floating down the hallway. Seeing the two women snuggled up on the large sofa, she smiled to herself. They look so darn cute, all snuggled up together like that. She crept quietly into the room, trying not to startle them. "Lexie?"

The rancher opened her eyes slowly. "Hey, Martha." She whispered, trying to keep from disturbing her sleeping companion. "I guess breakfast is ready?"

"It sure is…think you can tear yourself away?" Martha teased.

Lex grinned. "Well, if I have to, I guess…" she looked at the older woman with a wry smile. "'course, after breakfast I'm gonna need to wash my hair, for some strange reason."

Martha crossed her arms across her chest. "Not my fault. You shouldn't sneak up on an old woman like that…"

"You're not an old woman," Lex snorted, causing the bundle in her arms to moan, and snuggle closer. But the comment made her pause for a moment. Lex studied the older woman seriously, seeing for the first time the wrinkles on the once-smooth skin, and the hair that was becoming more gray than brown. When did that happen? Have I been so self-absorbed that I never noticed?

"Honey? Is everything okay?" the housekeeper noticed the far away look in the younger woman's eyes.

"Damn, Martha…it's been twenty-five years, hasn't it?" she asked, still a little shocked at the amount of time that had passed.

Martha perched on the other end of the sofa and chuckled. "Hard to believe, isn't it? I told you I was getting old."

"No, not old…but you've spent half of your life babysitting me…a little more than you bargained for, I'll bet." Lex gave her a sardonic smile.

"And well worth every single minute of it," the housekeeper replied. "Although, I could do with less excitement, if you don't mind. This past week or so had been a little bit too much, even for you." Martha stood up. "Now why don't you wake up Sleeping Beauty there, and come and get some breakfast?" she chuckled and left the room.

Lex let her eyes follow the older woman from the room, a fond smile on her face. Gotta do something special for her…maybe Amanda will have some ideas.She looked down at the young woman securely attached to her. Leaning close to Amanda's ear, Lex whispered, "Amanda?"

"Mmm…no…" the small woman mumbled, burying her face deeper into Lex's chest.

The older woman grinned. "Sweetheart, you need to wake up…" she kissed the blonde head.

"Don't wanna…" Amanda growled, squeezing her arms tighter around her captive.

"Breakfast is ready."

"What?" Amanda's eyes popped open, and her head lifted away from Lex's body.

The rancher laughed, pulling the small woman close. "You are absolutely priceless, Amanda."

"What's that supposed to mean?" She looked at Lex crossly.

"That means," the older woman placed a gentle kiss on Amanda's lips, "I don't know," another kiss, "what I would do," a longer, more passionate kiss, "without you."

"Mmm…" the younger woman curled up against her. She was about to continue when her stomach growled. Ignoring the loud rumble, Amanda threaded her hands through the dark hair, forcing the older woman's back against the sofa.

Lex sat back and enjoyed the gentle assault, until Amanda's stomach rumbled again. Seeing that the young woman had no intention of stopping, the rancher decided to take matters into her own hands, in a manner of speaking. She dropped her hands from the young blonde's shoulders, moving them down slowly until they came to rest on Amanda's hips. Leaning forward slightly, Lex stood up, carrying the small body with her.

"Whoa! The couch is moving!" Amanda exclaimed, opening her eyes and looking around. She had unconsciously wrapped her legs around the rancher's lean waist, and looked down at their entangled bodies with a flush of embarrassment. "Umm…guess I should let you go, huh?"

"Well…I could just carry you into the kitchen like this, if you want." The older woman told her with a sexy smile. "Or, I could carry you up the stairs, and give you a different kind of breakfast - although I would leave it to you to explain that one to Martha…" she smirked.

Amanda unwrapped her legs from the tall woman's body reluctantly. "As much as I would love to go back upstairs with you, I don't think either one of us wants to face Martha's wrath if we don't have breakfast." She pouted slightly. "But, we may need some way to work off such a wonderful feast, don't you agree?"