Dream's End by Diana Palmer Page B

she remembered unpleasantly the last time she’d heard it.
    â€œIf you run out of work, you can start updating the files, cleaning out old material,” he added gruffly. “I’ll want to start fresh when I replace you.”
    â€œYes, sir,” she said deliberately, her voice quiet, unhurried, efficient.
    She could feel the smouldering anger before she flashed a glance at his face and saw it there. Her eyes fell back to the calendar she was studying.
    â€œDo I have any appointments this afternoon?” he asked.
    â€œNo. You have an 8:30 appointment in the morning with that feed salesman from Atlanta,” she reminded him.
    â€œCancel it,” he told her. “I won’t be back. Tell him I’ve solved my feed allotment problem by trading around with some of the other ranchers, and I won’t need any extra shipments.”
    â€œWhat if I can’t find him?” she asked irritably.
    â€œThen, you have breakfast with him, honey, and explain the situation,” he said with icy patience. “Wear your glasses and one of those damned sack dresses—it’ll thrill him.”
    Her jaw set and if Amanda hadn’t been standing there, she’d have told him in no uncertain terms just where to go. He seemed to read the thought in her spitting green eyes and raised his head arrogantly, slitting his eyes down at her as if he was silently daring her to say it.
    â€œI might just do that,” she said sweetly. “I need the practice.”
    The emphasis on that last word wasn’t lost on him, and he looked strangely uncomfortable for an instant before his hard face went impassive again.
    â€œLet’s get on the road, baby,” he told Amanda, sliding a possessive arm around her tiny waist. “It’s a long drive.”
    â€œNot the way you drive.” Amanda laughed. “Bye, Eleanor.”
    â€œBye,” came the soft reply. She almost added a bitter “have fun,” but she was a little afraid to push Curry any further. His temper was suddenly unpredictable, and Jim’s words came back to her with blunt meaning. Curry was dangerous, all right, and even if she had been a little afraid of him before, it was without any substantial reason. Now, it wasn’t, and she wondered how she was going to live through the next few days.
    At least he wouldn’t be in until late tomorrow; that was something of a reprieve. But he’d be with Amanda, and the thought of them together made her wantto cry. In just a little while he’d be married, and there’d be a barrier between them that nothing could break. Tears glimmered in her pale eyes. Three years of loving him, only to lose him to a woman who could only give him passion. He’d never have the son he craved, or anyone to care about him if he got sick, or when he grew old, or…
    She wiped away the tears. It was none of her business anymore. She had a life of her own to pursue, and it was, she told herself, time to get on with it. She had to make plans. She had to map out a life for herself. And it was going to take some doing to decide if Jim Black was at the end of her path, or if she needed to put more than ten miles between herself and Curry Matherson.
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    Jim called late that afternoon and asked her out to supper at the ranch.
    â€œOh, I’d love to,” she agreed with a smile. “Curry took Amanda to Houston and they won’t be back until tomorrow.A whole night and day of blessed peace!”
    â€œAre things that bad over there?” Jim asked suddenly, and in her mind she could see the set of his square jaw and the darkness in his eyes.
    She took a deep breath. “Just about,” she admitted finally.
    â€œI’ll be over in an hour and a half,” he told her. “It’ll take that long to scrub off the mud.”
    â€œMud?” she queried.
    He chuckled softly. “Remember that sorry old Brahma bull of mine I’ve been trying to