Chapter 2

Lex had a small smile on her face as she followed the young blonde down the stairway a few hours later. It had taken all of her considerable willpower to not climb into the shower with Amanda after their pre-dawn activities, especially after the younger woman had gone into great detail as to what she would be missing. She is such a little tease, she smirked, unable to take her eyes off of the gently swaying hips in front of her. So engrossed in her perusal, Lex didn't realize when the small body stopped, and she had to grab the railing to keep them both from falling when she bumped into the lithe form.

Amanda turned around to peer into the rancher's deep blue eyes. "Hey there. Everything okay?"

Snapping back to reality, Lex nodded. "Yeah, sure." Her brows creased into a questioning gaze when the smaller woman grasped her arms and exchanged places with her, putting Lex on the step below her. "What?"

Giving her companion a mischievous smile, Amanda leaned forward, wrapping her arms around the older woman's neck. "Much better." She whispered, looking directly into Lex's eyes before she captured the rancher's lips in a sweet possessive embrace.

"Ahem."

Breaking off the kiss reluctantly, Lex slowly turned around to find the source of the interruption. "Oops." She felt Amanda giggle.

At the bottom of the stairs stood Anna Leigh, a gentle smile on her face. "Good morning, you two." Seeing her granddaughter wrap her arms around the tall woman, her smile widened. "I trust you both slept well."

Amanda propped her chin on the broad shoulder in front of her. "Oh, yeah…like a baby." She gently pulled the dark-haired woman closer. "But, then again, I had a pretty good nap on the sofa last night."

"Sorry…but you looked so peaceful, I didn't have the heart to disturb you." Lex unconsciously leaned back into the embrace.

Amanda felt large hands entwine with hers, which were splayed across Lex's flat stomach. "Yeah, but you could have made me get up, instead of carrying me up the stairs."

Anna Leigh saw the taller woman blush slightly. "C'mon. I was just on my way up to tell you two that breakfast is ready."

Giving the older woman a grateful smile, Lex started down the stairs. "Mmm…I was hoping that's what that great smell was."

"Great! I'm starving!" Amanda skipped down the stairs, stopping next to the smiling woman and capturing her hand, then dragging the grinning rancher into the kitchen.

"There's a big surprise!" Lex mumbled to Anna Leigh, who laughed as the small blonde backhanded the tall woman on the stomach.

They all entered the kitchen laughing, causing Jacob to turn around at the counter from where he was pouring a cup of coffee. "Good morning, ladies." He pulled two more mugs from the cabinet. "Coffee?" Hearing thankful groans, he smiled and filled the cups, then turned back towards the women.

"Good morning, Grandpa Jake!" Amanda wrapped her arms around his waist, squeezing tight. Snuggling her face into his chest, she released a heavy sigh. "I've really missed this."

Jacob enveloped her in his arms, returning the hug. Kissing the blonde head beneath his chin, he smiled. "Me too, sweetie. Did you sleep well, Peanut?" Looking to Lex and Anna Leigh he nodded, "Hey there…have a seat, ladies. Breakfast is ready." With a final hug and kiss to his granddaughter, Jacob turned back towards the stove. "Wanna help, Peanut?"

Lex looked at the older woman, a question on her face. Anna Leigh shook her head and smiled. "Better do as he says…sit down, or he'll never serve us!" She pointed at a chair opposite her, and watched the younger woman sit down gingerly.

While the two women got seated at the table, Jacob and Amanda brought over several platters of food. Before sitting down, the small blonde handed Lex a steaming cup of coffee, and gave her shoulder a gentle squeeze. "Here you go…hope you're hungry. Grandpa makes the best omelets I've ever tasted!" she winked at Jacob as he sat down next to his wife.

They spent the majority of the meal talking of the events at the ranch for the past week, with both of the elder Cauble's expressing their shock and concern.

"…and then, after we get back to the house, Martha and I discover that tough-stuff over there," she points at Lex with her fork, "got shot sometime during all that running, and never said a word to either one of us."

Lex sat her coffee mug down on the table. "You're getting it all out of proportion." She looked helplessly at Jacob. "I really didn't notice - it was barely a scratch."

"Yeah, right…a scratch that even now, several days later, is still bleeding." The young blonde gave her companion a dirty look. "Which is why we're going to see Doctor Anderson right after breakfast, right?"

Rolling her eyes, Lex let out a heavy sigh. "Amanda."

Anna Leigh looked across the table at the dark-haired woman. "Is that true?" not waiting for an answer, she expelled a long breath. "Lexington, you run the risk of infection with a wound like that…if it's not already."

"That's what I've been trying to tell her, but she's just so darn stubborn!" Amanda added, sensing another ally in this ongoing battle. "She wouldn't even let me change the dressing on it this morning!" her voice sounded strained.

The tall woman looked over at Jacob, begging with her eyes for some help. Seeing that he was keeping silent, she decided to try and change the subject. "Mr…ah, Jacob - do you know of a good detail shop around here?"

"Sure, Lex…Shuman's on Fourth does excellent work, why?" he had finished his breakfast and was leaning back in his seat, one arm casually draped across the back of his wife's chair.

Amanda leaned forward a bit. "Oh, that's right…you can't see the driveway from here." She smiled broadly. "C'mon, let's go out front and I'll show you!" she jumped to her feet and stepped away from the table. Pulling the equally smiling rancher with her, Amanda almost skipped through the house.

As soon as they reached the door, she turned around to face her grandparents. "Since you can't see the driveway from here, how did you know we were here yesterday? You opened the door before we could even get to it."

Anna Leigh laughed. "You did call and say you were on your way, so we were expecting you. And when we heard the slamming of car doors, we figured it had to be you!" Hand in hand, she and Jacob followed the young women outside, stopping in shock when they saw the little Mustang sitting in the driveway - muddy, but whole. "Oh, my…." She stopped, her free hand over her heart. "How…"

Jacob turned to look at his granddaughter. "But I thought you said…" he noticed that Lex was turning a very unusual shade of pink.

"Lex pulled it out of the creek and then got it running again…she gave it to me the night all the excitement happened." Amanda wrapped an arm around the embarrassed rancher.

"Didn't do that much, really…just let it dry out." She mumbled, not enjoying all the attention.

Jacob came up on her other side, giving her a hug. "Uh-huh…and just how did you get the car out of the creek? Whistle, and it followed?" he enjoyed the look on both young women's faces - Lex's, which was one of pure embarrassment, and Amanda's, who looked as if the idea had never crossed her mind.

"He's right." Amanda looked up at the rancher, who wouldn't meet her gaze. "The car was on the far side of the creek…how did…"she paused, understanding dawning on her features. "You didn't." she whispered, the closing of Lex's eyes telling her everything. "You went back into that cold, heavily running stream, afteryou had your ribs broken? Are you nuts?" She spun around to get face-to-face with the taller woman, her voice quivering.

Jacob moved back over to where Anna Leigh was standing. "I think we should go in and take care of the breakfast dishes, don't you, sweetheart?" Seeing her nod, he gently grasped her hand and limped into the house.

Lex opened her eyes, hearing the upset in the younger woman's voice. "I…um…you were just so sad about losing that car, and I wanted to do something to cheer you up. Especially after the story you told me on how you got it…" looking into the shining green eyes that took her breath away.

"But, God, Lex…you could have asked me to help you, anyway." Amanda felt her control slipping, then the callused hands cradled her face gently. "When did you…?"

"The day I went to get the jeep. I used the wench on it to pull the Mustang out of the water." She kissed Amanda on the nose. "Piece of cake."

Amanda moved her arms up until they were wrapped around the dark-haired woman's neck. "Yeah, right. And just how did you attach the wench to the Mustang?" she saw Lex trying to think up a good answer. "Magic?"

"How'd you guess?" Lex smirked. She felt her head being pulled downwards. "Not buying that, huh?" the tall woman asked, as she leaned down to meet Amanda halfway. Their lips touched, and to Lex time ceased to matter - it was as if all the sounds around them stopped, and all she could hear was the rapid beating of her own heart. A motorcycle suddenly roared by, causing the dark woman to realize where they were standing, so she slowly broke off the kiss.

Amanda brought her arms down and placed one around the tapered waist. "Don't think for a minute that I've been distracted from our little discussion - we'll finish it later." She began to lead the older woman back inside. "But right now, we've got a doctor's appointment to keep."