Chapter 22

"So, what kind of mischief are you girls going to stir up today?" Martha asked. The three women were sitting around the kitchen table after breakfast, relaxing with a cup of coffee.

Lex looked at Amanda, who shrugged good-naturedly. "Well, I thought we'd spend today and tonight here…" seeing the younger woman smile in agreement, "then I have to get packed for our trip next week."

"A trip? Where are you going?" The housekeeper asked, secretly happy that they were staying at the ranch for another day. It's just too quiet when Lexie's not around…

Amanda placed her coffee mug back on the table after draining it. "That's right! We haven't had a chance to tell you yet…" She smiled as Lex refilled both hers, and Martha's coffee cups with the professionalism of a seasoned waitress. "My parents are having this big dinner party next week in Los Angeles, and I've convinced Lex to go with me. Besides, I'm going to need some help packing up my stuff and sending it to my grandparent's house - since I've decided to move to Somerville for good."

"That's wonderful news, honey!" Martha laid a small hand on the young woman's forearm. She then looked over at Lex with a surprised grin. "How are you planning on getting there?"

The young blonde looked at Martha, confusion etching her lovely features. "Fly, of course…why do you ask?" She looked over at Lex, who had paled suddenly.

Oh, shit! I didn't even think about how we were going to get there, Lex panicked. "Yeah, Martha. You didn't think we'd walk, did you?" she tried to keep her tone light.

"Riiight…I guess it was a pretty silly question, wasn't it?" Martha spared a glance at Amanda, who was looking at the rancher with a concerned look on her face.

Lex sighed. "No…it wasn't silly. I hadn't really thought about the form of transportation that we would take to get there…" she looked at Amanda with an embarrassed smile. "I…uh…have a little…trouble…on airplanes."

"What kind of trouble?" the younger woman reached over and entwined their hands. "Do you get airsick?"

Martha chuckled. "We should be so lucky." She then quieted after the dark-haired woman glowered at her.

"No…it's not that." Feeling the gentle pressure on her hand, Lex continued, "I get a little… anxious…on airplanes." She looked at the housekeeper for help.

"I'd say more than anxious, sweetheart." The older woman looked at Amanda. "We had to practically knock Lexie out with tranquilizers the last time…not the best experience, let me tell you."

Amanda leaned in closer to the rancher. "What is it about flying that bothers you so much?"

Lex looked down at the table, unable to meet those intense green eyes. "I'm not sure…it could be one of several things - the enclosed space, the fact that we're thousands of feet up in the air with nothing holding us up, or maybe it's just the sickeningly perky flight attendants. I don't know." She smiled at the younger woman.

"Maybe you just need something else to occupy your mind." The smaller woman offered.

"Such as?" a wicked grin.

Amanda blushed. "Umm…let's try another tact." She cleared her throat. "Maybe your anxiousness is due to something that happened before. Have you had any bad experiences on an airplane?"

Lex smiled at the look on Amanda's face. "Hmm…you mean other than the food?" she teased. Receiving the expected slap on the arm for that remark. "No…nothing that I can think of…I've only flown three times - each time was more of a disaster than the last."

"And yet you're willing to put yourself through all of that again?" Amanda was shocked.

The rancher shrugged her shoulders. "Yeah. I figure it's about time to face my fears… Right, Martha?" she looked at the housekeeper, who had a perplexed look on her face.

She's certainly got it bad… "If you say so, sweetheart. I know you've really been bothered by this for a long time." Martha looked at Amanda. "She swore after the last time that she'd never fly again."

"Why? What happened the last time?" the small blonde asked, looking from Lex to Martha.

Lex rolled her eyes, as the housekeeper laughed. "They say…" she looked pointedly at the older woman, "that I hit a flight attendant…but I don't remember it. The medication I had been given to help me with my jitters was really something else."

Martha interrupted. "You did! They said it took three security guards to get you off of the plane…you kept hollering that he…" laughing, she had to stop and catch her breath, "grabbed your…rear!" The housekeeper hooted. She looked over at Amanda, who had one hand over her mouth, trying to stifle her giggles. "The tranquilizers made Lexie really woozy, and she had stood up to grab something from one of the overhead compartments - they said she started to tumble back, and the flight attendant caught her."

Amanda lost it. "Oh, god…that poor man!"

Lex gave her an indignant look. "Hey! It was my butt he was groping!"

The housekeeper wiped the tears of mirth from her face and eyes. "And for that you broke his nose? I met the poor man later…believe me, honey - you weren't his type. I'm just thankful that he was so understanding, and didn't press charges against you."

"I've always wondered what you told him to keep me out of jail…" Lex mumbled. To her amazement, the older woman blushed.

"Well, I…uh…appealed to his kind and generous nature…" Martha stammered, somewhat embarrassed at the length she went to protect the young woman.

Lex put her elbow up on the table, and propped her chin on her open hand. "Oh, this I gotta hear…" she grinned at Amanda, "Please…continue." She waved her other hand regally.

"Brat." Martha snorted, then took a deep breath. "Okay…well…we got you settled in the car," she grinned at the young blonde across from her, "slept like a baby for almost two days, too…Anyway, the poor man was in the airline security office, screaming about lawyers, court, and Amazon psycho women who should be locked away for the good of society." She gave Lex a knowing grin.

"So…how did you calm him down?" Now Amanda was curious as well.

"Well, for starters…I cried…Then, I told him how Lexie took care of me in my decidedly waning years," she rolled her eyes at her audience, "and that she was all I had left in this world after her daddy up and left us." She gave them a devious smile. "After all, it really wasn't a lie now, was it?"

Lex laughed. "Martha, only you could make a man feel bad for getting beat up on an airplane."

The older woman stuck her tongue out at Lex. "Yeah, well…after I also explained to him that she was heavily tranquilized and had no idea what she was doing, he understood." Then she looked at the dark-haired woman with undisguised glee. "He told me his little poodle was the same way when they had to sedate her for long trips." Both she and Amanda cracked up.

Lex sat there looking at the two near-hysterical women, a deep blush on her face. Once they calmed down, she looked at Amanda with serious eyes. "Woof." Which set both women off again. Standing up, she tried to preserve as much dignity as possible. "I'm going upstairs for a shower, if you two ladies don't mind." She got to the doorway and turned back towards them. "Try to stay out of trouble, okay?"

Amanda and Martha looked at each other, paused, then burst into laughter again.

Part 4

Chapter 23

The next few days were a whirlwind of activity for both women. They spent two days at the ranch with Martha, with Lex explaining to Amanda that she really wanted to do something special for the older woman, but was at a complete loss as to what.

"Let me see what I can do." The younger woman assured her. "Now, let's go get you packed." She drug the unwilling rancher upstairs.

"Uh…Amanda?" Lex was ashamed of her wardrobe, or more to the point, the lack thereof. "Maybe we should just buy some clothes when we get there." She mumbled as the smaller woman made her way to the closet.

Amanda stopped at the closet door, her hand reaching for the knob. "Why?" she turned and looked at the taller woman with a tender smile. "Have you suddenly outgrown all of your clothes?"

Lex snorted. "Not yet…although I'm sure I will soon if Martha keeps stuffing me three times a day." With a resigned sigh, she walked over to the closet and opened the door, causing the light inside to come on.

"Whoa…" Amanda exclaimed. The closet itself was only ten feet deep and six feet wide - but it had two wooden poles on each side that went the length of the closet. The rear wall was covered by large oak shelves, which had folded shirts and sweaters in the individual cubbyholes. But what surprised the younger woman the most was how empty it was. Only the right side of the closet had any clothes hanging in it - and even these didn't fill the space all the way to the end. Shirts were on the top pole, with jeans and apparently a few pair of khaki slacks as well found themselves on the bottom pole.

Putting her hand on Amanda's shoulder, the tall woman sighed again. "Yeah. I told you I don't have many clothes - no sense in it, really." She shrugged. "Who's gonna see me, anyway?"

"Honey, I have yet to see you dressed badly. You've got to be the best dressed rancher that I have ever seen." Amanda winked. "Besides, I don't think Martha would let you out of the house if you weren't all clean and pressed."

The older woman laughed, and pulled Amanda into an one-armed hug. "Oh, yeah…we've argued about that for years - she keeps insisting on ironing my jeans and denim shirts. I keep telling her that the cattle really don't care what I look like." She followed the young woman into the closet. "And just how many ranchers have you seen?" Lex teased.

"Well, to be honest, you're the first one I've ever really met. But," she turned and faced the older woman, "I've watched a lot of TV - and you are most certainly the best looking cowhand I've ever laid eyes on!" Amanda stood up on her tiptoes and wrapped her arms around the tall woman's neck.

Lex unconsciously put her arms around the smaller woman and bent her head to meet her halfway. "Why, thank you kindly, ma'am." She drawled, placing her lips gently on Amanda's, allowing the young woman to take the lead.

"Mmm…" Amanda murmured, leaning into the strong embrace. She felt the large hands slide down her back slowly then tucked themselves into the back pockets of her jeans. Breaking off the kiss to breathe, Amanda leaned her forehead into Lex's heaving chest. "Much better…" she felt the chuckle rumble through the rancher, and smiled to herself in response. After giving one last squeeze to the lanky body, Amanda regretfully stepped back a pace. "Whew…okay. Let's see about getting you packed." She looked at the row of neatly pressed pants. "Most of these jeans look brand-new… have you been shopping lately?"

"Not exactly." Lex looked at her feet, embarrassed. She felt a small hand lift her chin gently. Looking into the questioning green eyes, she let a small smile appear. "I keep wearing the same couple of pair because they're comfortable - it drives Martha crazy."

"You're so bad." Amanda chastised, then stepped back and pulled several pairs of jeans off of the pole, as well as one pair of khakis. "Here…hold these…" she started shuffling through the hanging shirts, then stopped. "Hey! Where did you get this?" she asked, running her hand across the soft material. "Doesn't look like something you'd wear chasing cattle."

"Oh…I forgot I had that shirt." Lex touched the fabric with tentative fingertips.

Amanda grinned at her. "This is perfect! It'll go great with these," she pulled a pair of pants from the rack, and handed them to the rancher. Wandering to the back of the closet, the young woman grabbed a pair of shiny boots, and as an afterthought snatched a pair of scuffed Nike's from a nearby shelf. "I didn't know you owned anything like these." she teased, holding the sneakers in the air.

The dark-haired woman scowled at her. "Smartass." Holding the items in her hands aloft, she asked, "Are all of these clothes really necessary? We're gonna be there what? Four or five days at the most?"

"Absolutely! And you should consider yourself lucky…" the young woman walked past her, "I'm really packing you up light!" She stepped back into the bedroom. "Do you have a bathing suit?"

Lex laughed as she grabbed a suitcase from one of the high shelves in the closet. "Yeah, somewhere. But I haven't worn it since high school…why?"

Amanda helped Lex carry the clothes and suitcase over to the bed. "My folks have a huge swimming pool with a attached hot tub - thought it might be fun to try it out with you."

"A hot tub, eh?" Lex stepped up behind the blonde, until her body was in complete contact with Amanda's. Moving the reddish-blonde hair to one side, Lex began placing small kisses on her lover's soft neck. "I don't think your family would approve of what I could do with you in a hot tub." She felt the petite woman tremble slightly.

Amanda felt her knees begin to weaken. "I really don't…care…mmm…" she raised an arm behind her head, taking a handful of thick dark hair in her fist and enjoying the sensation of gentle lips nibbling on her throat. "what my family thinks…ahh…" strong hands began working their way underneath the front of her shirt.

"Ahem." Martha stood at the doorway, hands on her hips and an almost stern expression on her face. "You two are never going to get packed at this rate."

Lex sighed then turned around, pulling Amanda in front of her. "And this would be a bad thing?" she could feel Amanda's giggle where her hands were still splayed on the flat abdomen.

"Don't get sassy with me, Lexie. I can still take you over my knee." Martha stepped into the room, walking towards the couple.

"Watch it, lady…or I'll sic my bodyguard on you!" Lex threatened, ducking down behind the now-blushing Amanda.

"Hey! Don't get me involved here…" Amanda laughed, feeling the strong arms around her squeeze her tightly.

Martha grinned. "Looks to me like you're already pretty much involved, honey."

"Heh…she's got ya there, sweetheart!" Lex murmured in her ear, tickling her stomach.

Amanda slapped her hands. "Stop that!" she growled good-naturedly.

Lex propped her chin on Amanda's head. "Is there something we can do for you, Martha?"

"Actually, I came up here to tell you that Dr. Anderson called in your prescription of tranquilizers for your flight…he said that you can pick them up in the morning on your way to the airport."

"Thanks, Martha…but I'm going to try and do without them…" Lex sighed.

"Are you sure you want to do that?" the housekeeper asked.

The rancher released Amanda and sat down on the bed. "Yeah…I don't want to be drugged out when I meet Amanda's family." She ran a hand through her dark hair.

"Honey…" Amanda sat down next to her and grasped her hand. "I don't want you to put yourself through hell just because of them…" she gently stroked the strong arm with her free hand, "Believe me, they're really not worth it."

Martha sat down on the other side of Lex. "Okay…what about this," she rubbed the rancher's back gently, "Why don't you take the medication with you and then you'll have it, just in case?"

Lex opened her mouth to argue.

"Sshhh…she's right." Amanda stopped her. "And," she linked her arm with the dark haired woman's, "we both might need sedatives around my family - they tend to be a little high strung."

"Oh…so that's where you get it, huh?" Lex teased. "Ow!" she rubbed her arm where Amanda had slapped her.

"Serves you right, Lexie." Martha chuckled, standing up. "You girls going to be ready for lunch soon?"

"I can always eat!" Amanda confessed gleefully, getting to her feet.

"Ha! Big surprise." Lex mumbled, then found herself pushed back onto the bed. "What?" she asked the two retreating figures.

***************

After lunch, Lex packed up the truck and then she and Amanda prepared to leave the ranch. Standing on the front porch, Martha tearfully hugged each woman.

"Now you girls try and stay out of trouble." She had just embraced Amanda, and stepped back to look into the shining green eyes of the younger woman. "Take care of yourself, okay sweetheart?"

Amanda pulled the housekeeper into another strong hug. "I'll take good care of her, I promise." She whispered into the older woman's ear, then kissed her on the cheek. Pulling back slightly, she smiled.

Lex rolled her eyes and grinned at Martha. "I'll call you as soon as our plane lands…don't worry." Seeing the tears on the round wrinkled face, she pulled the older woman into a fierce embrace of her own. "Hey…are you gonna be okay out here by yourself while I'm gone?"

"Heavens yes…thought I'd get those new curtains made for my house while you were away." She stepped back and gave them both a devilish smile. "And I thought it would be nice to have Charlie out for dinner a few nights this week - I know he must get tired of the food at the boarding house."

Lex winked at Amanda, then gave Martha a no-nonsense stare. "Maybe I should stop by the boarding house later tonight and find out what his intentions are."

"You wouldn't dare!" Martha yelped, not seeing Amanda quickly cover her mouth to hide a grin. "Lexington Marie! How could you even think about…" the housekeeper paused, hearing the slight giggle behind her. Seeing Amanda trying to control her laughter, she turned back in time to catch Lex grinning widely. "Oh, you!"

Laughing, the tall rancher pulled Martha back into a hug. "Sorry, Martha…I just couldn't resist." She placed a gentle kiss on the older woman's forehead. "Charlie is like a second father to me…I hope you two will have some wonderful dinners while I'm gone." She leaned down and whispered into Martha's ear, "I love you, you know…but try and behave yourself until I get back, okay?" She left another kiss, this one on a weathered cheek, and then stood up straight. "This isn't getting us any closer to town," Lex sighed, releasing Martha regretfully. "I'll also carry the cell phone…it'll be long distance, but call me if you need anything."

Martha practically pushed her off of the porch. "Stop worrying…I'm a grown woman, Lexie. Now go on, and have a good time."

Amanda followed Lex down the steps. "Well, I can't guarantee fun, but I know for a fact it won't be boring!" she chuckled.

Lex opened the passenger's side door for Amanda, then helped her into the truck. "Guess I'll have to invest in one of those little steps for the truck." She teased, closing the door before Amanda could reply. "See ya in a few days, Martha!" she yelled, waving at the housekeeper as she crossed to the driver's side of the large vehicle.

The rancher watched through the rearview mirror as Martha waved at them, until they were out of sight of the house. Releasing a heavy sigh, she turned her attention back to the road.

"Lex?" Amanda placed a small hand on her arm. "Honey? Are you okay?"

Blinking, the rancher turned back towards her companion. "Yeah, I'm okay…" she gave Amanda a small smile.

Not to be deterred, Amanda let her hand drift down the strong forearm until she was able to intertwine their fingers. "Sure you are…now tell me what's bothering you."

Lex pulled their joined hands to her lips, and kissed the delicate knuckles. "I don't like the idea of Martha staying out at the ranch for so long all alone…especially with Hubert acting like such an ass."

Amanda chuckled. "Hmm…from what I've seen, I don't think she'll be alone, sweetheart."

"You think so?" Lex turned slightly, and gave Amanda a more genuine smile. "I sure hope so…he's been trying to get her to marry him for almost as long as I can remember." Turning her eyes back to the road, she sobered. "I know she loves him, but she seems determined to stay with me."

"Why don't we call Charlie tonight and talk to him? Maybe he'll keep an eye on things while you're gone." Amanda was concerned at the look on Lex's face. She's going to make herself sick worrying about all of this. "I think she's just worried about you being alone…" she gave the hand in hers a sturdy squeeze. "and I don't think that's going to be a problem anymore."

Lex smiled again. "Yeah?"

"Oh, yeah…most definitely." Amanda replied, love shining from her eyes.