Silver Thaw (34 page)

Jeb shrugged. “It’s your call. I won’t rush you into making the decision. But I know that Mandy will be happier and have more peace of mind if you’re close to her.”

“Mom,” Amanda said, “Jeb can sometimes seem impulsive and too generous for his own good. But he’s discussed this with me. We have a lot of land here. If privacy is an issue for you, Jeb can build your apartment separate from the main residence to give us all a buffer zone. But honestly, I’d prefer to have your quarters attached, giving me the ability to just open a door off one of the downstairs rooms to say hi or check on you.”

Emma smiled dreamily. “It would be wonderful to be close so I could see you often and watch Chloe grow up.”

Jeb spoke up. “Then let’s make it happen. You won’t be without friends here. My mom is a social butterfly, and I think you ladies would enjoy each other. You’re close to the same age.” He winked at his future mother-in-law. “Just be warned, she’ll convert you into being a bingo fanatic if you’re not careful.”

“Mom loves to garden,” Amanda inserted.

Emma wore an excited grin now. “Well, I used to. With my hip, I can’t do it anymore, but if I get it fixed, I’ll have my hands in the dirt again.”

The mention of gardening spurred Jeb to launch into details about his greenhouse and how he started his
vegetables and kept them protected before in-ground planting. “I can even grow corn, doing it that way, and my tomatoes—oh, man, people who buy produce out of stores don’t know what real tomatoes taste like.”

The two exchanged gardening stories, and finally Emma said, “If you’re sure you wouldn’t mind having me around, I accept the offer. Living alone in Washington isn’t how I thought it would be.”

Jeb thrust his arm across the table, offering his hand. “Let’s shake on it, then. My brothers and I will go up there, pack your stuff, and put the house on the market. Your only responsibility will be to schedule your hip surgery.”

Emma’s face glowed. “I’ve kept my insurance, which will cover most of the medical bills. I just couldn’t afford to do it and miss work while I recovered.”

Amanda clasped her mom’s hand. “Now you won’t be burdened with so many bills. You won’t have to work. When you feel like it, you can garden or sew.” She paused. “Jeb’s right. It’s going to be a lot of fun!”

*   *   *

Once snuggled close in the upstairs bedroom, Amanda nuzzled Jeb’s neck, her lips curved in a contented smile. “Thank you so much for bringing my mom here to live. I can’t begin to tell you how much it will mean to me, having her so close.”

He rolled onto his back, taking her with him so she lay partly across his chest. “Brace yourself. If anything ever happens to my dad, I’ll be asking if we can have my mom here, too.”

Amanda giggled. “I adore your mom. When she’s eighty, she’ll still be going in high gear. There’ll never be a dull moment.”

Amanda settled against him, feeling so happy that she was almost afraid to believe it was real. “It’s been a day of miracles. My daughter actually threw a fit. I still can’t credit it. By the time she was only a few months old, she’d learned that Mark had zero tolerance for crying. When she needed something, she made soft grunting sounds to let me know, but she seldom cried. I was amazed tonight when she misbehaved.”

Jeb chuckled. “I’ll do my best to keep spoiling her so she’ll be a brat more often.”

Amanda smothered a laugh against his shoulder. “Spoiling her a little bit is okay, but we mustn’t go overboard.”

“I was kidding. Chloe is too sweet to ever become a brat. Emma had it right. It was a very exciting day, and Chloe was just wired. During her bath, she told me she was sorry.”

He caught Amanda by surprise by suddenly rolling her onto her back. “Besides, I plan to be way too busy spoiling you to go overboard with Chloe.”

Looping her arms around his neck, she smiled through the moon-silvered shadows. “And how do you plan to spoil me, Mr. Jeb?”

He trailed kisses down her cheek and whispered, “Let me show you.”

*   *   *

The following day, Jeb called his brothers to recruit volunteers to help him move Emma from Washington. The suddenness of it took Amanda off guard, but after getting off the phone, Jeb explained his reason for putting the plan into action as fast as possible.

“Jonas is home from university, Barney took all this week off, and Ben isn’t on the road delivering rodeo
stock.” He tweaked the tip of Amanda’s nose. “Don’t look so worried, honey. Dad has even installed security cameras at his place now, so you’ll be as safe staying with him as you are with me. And it’s not often that I have all three of my brothers in town and off work at the same time. We can leave early in the morning, knock it out in a snap, and be back here to celebrate New Year’s Eve, no worries.”

Amanda said nothing to stall Jeb’s plans, but she
was
worried. It wasn’t that long now before the divorce hearing, and knowing her husband as well as she did, she put nothing past him. What if Mark found a way to break into Jeremiah and Kate’s home? What if they weren’t as diligent about keeping the security system armed as she and Jeb were?

She wanted to throw her arms around Jeb and beg him not to leave her. He’d become her safe harbor. But when she started to talk with him about that, she felt foolish and clingy.

So instead of pleading with Jeb not to leave, she lectured herself. Mark no longer ruled her life. She was overreacting and letting herself fall back into the trap of feeling fearful. If she meant to move forward and have a wonderful future with Jeb, she had to put Mark and all the memories behind her.

That evening, Jeb moved all of them to his parents’ house. Kate and Jeremiah had plenty of spare bedrooms, allowing Jeb and Amanda to share one their last night together. Frosty had a litter box in Kate’s laundry room and another in the bedroom Chloe would share with Bozo. The Sterling house had a homey, well-used ambience that made all the guests feel relaxed—with the exception of Amanda, who felt as if invisible hands had
permanently knotted her stomach. Though she said nothing of her concerns to Jeb, he seemed to sense how upset she was.

That night when everyone trailed off to bed and the house grew quiet, Jeb pulled her into his arms and drew the blankets over them, creating a cocoon of warmth. “Talk to me,” he whispered.

She didn’t want to talk, fearing that once she started, she’d burst into tears and cling to him like a three-year-old.

“Okay, if you won’t talk, I will. You can’t understand why I’d choose to leave you now when Mark may be in a dither and at his most dangerous.”

Amanda made fists on the edge of his pillow. “It’s the worst possible time! There’s no rush to move my mom. You could at least wait until after the hearing.”

He tightened his arms around her. “Your mom reminds me a lot of you, and I think she can equal you in stubbornness if I give her half a chance.”

“Yes.” She had to admit that; her mom could be stubborn.

“And she loves that house where she raised you and has so many memories. If I dillydally around and don’t get her moved, she has a return flight out of here on January second. I’m afraid she’ll start thinking about all her precious stuff and want to spend a few days up there by herself to sort through her treasures before my brothers and I start packing.”

Amanda knew her mom. “Yes, she might want to do that. Then she could have special boxes packed and marked.”

“And she’d be up there alone without any male protection or a security system.”

The squeezing sensation moved to Amanda’s chest. “Oh, God. You think Mark may go after my mom.”

“Mark’s upset right now. Intellectually, he has to know that you’ll be granted a divorce. For him, that’s a huge blow. He sees you as a possession, and you’re about to be taken from him, so he’s walking a treacherous edge. He sees himself as always in the right, all powerful, and entitled to keep what’s his. And I’ve made it all but impossible for him to retaliate against you. So how can he hurt you, honey?”

Tears burned in Amanda’s eyes. “By hurting my mom. He knows how much I love her and that it would break my heart.”

Jeb smoothed her hair. “Your mom will be safe here with you and Chloe. My father understands that the security system must be set constantly, except for brief times while someone goes in or out. He’s installed monitors, and he knows to watch them. He has loaded guns hidden all over the house. He’ll have Bozo on duty to provide backup. Gowdy also helped him develop bulletproof passwords and installed two firewalls. Barney has asked his fellow deputies to take turns cruising the road to keep an eye on this house. If they see a car parked along the shoulder, they’ll check it out. They’ll also be patrolling adjacent roads, just in case Mark tries to slip onto this property on foot. He can’t get past our defenses this time.”

Amanda’s body relaxed. “So you’re doing this to protect my mother.”

“Yes. I know she probably wonders why I’m in such a hurry to move her, and I haven’t explained because if I mention that she may want to sort through her mementos, she may grab on to the idea. I don’t think it’s safe for her to be alone in Olympia even for one night.”

Mark knew that town like the back of his hand. He’d grown to adulthood there. If he wanted to get revenge against Amanda by hurting Emma, he knew where to find her.

“Oh, Jeb, thank you. I never stopped to think about the danger to Mom.”

He chuckled. “Am I forgiven now for haring off and leaving you with my dad?”

“Yes.”

He leaned in to kiss her deeply. “Prove it. I’ll be gone for three days. I need some loving to tide me over.”

“What if someone hears us?”

“We’ll be as quiet as two mice stealing the cheese.”

Over the next three days, Amanda battled to stay calm. Jeremiah kept the security system armed, except when he had to go in or out to care for livestock, which he minimized by hiring two teenage boys to help out. Given that the kids had no school over Christmas break, they were delighted to make some extra money. While indoors, Jeremiah frequently glanced at the monitors or checked the camera views on his cell phone. Rationally, Amanda knew that her future father-in-law followed all the same safety procedures that Jeb would have, that he was physically able to take Mark on, and that he had weapons handy, which he wouldn’t hesitate to use if necessary.

But for Amanda, it wasn’t the same as having Jeb there.

Kate and Emma kept Chloe entertained. Jeb had brought the child’s dollhouse over, so the two older women spent one day making more outfits for the tiny figures that lived in Chloe’s pretend world. Another day was spent baking in preparation for New Year’s Day dinner, which was to be held at Jeb’s home because he had more space.

When Amanda fished through her pillowcase for
clothing each morning, she found notes from Jeb written on pink slips.
I love you
. Another one that made her smile was,
Don’t forget me. I’m coming home
. She laughed when she read,
If you and Chloe are bunking together, please let Bozo in bed with you. He’ll keep you safe, and he won’t be lonesome
. Amanda was tempted to tear through every stitch of her clothing to find all the notes at once, but she decided she preferred to get surprises. He’d put one message in a breast pocket, another in her jeans pocket. She cried when she read,
Thank you for loving me. You’re a miracle in my life
. And again when a note said,
If you feel lonely, imagine that my arms are around you. I’m with you, in my heart
.

By the third afternoon, Amanda had moved from nervous to anxious and paced from room to room, rubbing her arms. Jeb had called that morning to let her know everything was packed, the U-Haul was loaded, they’d hired a property management company to clean, paint, and prep the house to be placed on the market, and they planned to meet with a Realtor before noon to list the property. Jeb felt the home would sell quickly and for enough money to give Emma a sizable profit.

“I doubt we’ll head out today. We’re all bushed. A hot meal, a shower, and a comfortable motel room bed sound pretty good to us right now.”

As eager as Amanda was to have him back, she replied, “You need a good night’s sleep before making that drive. I don’t want any of you to get drowsy behind the wheel. Tell your brothers I appreciate all their work. They’re the best.”

“What am I, chopped liver?”

As tense as she felt, she couldn’t help but smile. “You are my Mr. Wonderful, you and only you.”

Now, many hours after that conversation, Amanda couldn’t have smiled if her life depended on it. Her skin crawled, and dread mounted within her. Perhaps over the years, she’d become telepathically linked to Mark.
Ridiculous
. But she couldn’t shake the feeling that he was gleefully preparing to do her great harm.

The easiest way for him to do that right now was to go after Jeb. The thought filled her with cold terror.
Oh, God, why didn’t I think of that?
Jeb had protected the one person he knew Amanda loved, but he’d forgotten how dearly she loved him.

Palms slick with sweat, Amanda dialed Jeb’s cell. Her call went straight to voice mail. Growing more panicky, she tried him again and again, all with the same result. Something had happened. She felt it in her bones.

Jeremiah found her in the living room, trying to place calls on her iPhone. When he saw that she was shaking, he grasped her by the shoulders. “Hey, hey,” he said. “What has you so upset?”

He reminded her so much of Jeb. Even his voice had that same rich timbre. “I’m afraid for Jeb. He isn’t answering his phone, Jeremiah. I’ve tried several times.”

“It’s Dad to you.” Ignoring the cell phone clutched in her hands between them, he drew her into his arms. Stroking her hair just as his eldest son often did, he soothed her with words. “My boy is strong and fast as lightning with his fists. I know you haven’t seen that side of him, but in his younger years, he was a scrapper. That puny little husband of yours doesn’t stand a chance. Jeb will break him in half.”

“You don’t know Mark. He won’t face Jeb. He’ll catch him with his back turned.”

Jeremiah passed a work-hardened palm over her hair
again. “Maybe he’ll try, but Jeb is with his three younger brothers. Ben works the rodeo circuits. He’s dealt with some rough buckaroos, and when he throws a punch, the guy he hits is lucky to have any teeth left. Barney is a police officer. Just because he’s a small-town deputy, don’t think for a minute he’s small-town caliber. For a while, he was a state boy, and he loved the work, but in the end, he missed Mystic Creek and decided to kiss big-city crime good-bye. Jonas, our college boy, may look like a preppy, but he competes in wrestling, and in his weight class he placed third in the state last year. He also boxes. That punk Mark Banning won’t get to Jeb when his brothers are with him.”

“Mark carries guns!”

“And so do my boys. With the exception of Barney, they don’t normally, but they’re packing now. Jeb is fine, mark my words. He’s probably in a dead zone right now. No reception. He’ll call when he notices that you tried to reach him.”

Amanda didn’t know what the cell reception was like in her hometown of Olympia. At seventeen, when she got pregnant with Chloe, she’d just gotten her first cell phone, and she couldn’t remember now if there had been dead zones in certain parts of town. “I can’t live without him,” she whispered. “I never told him that. Why didn’t I think to say those words?”

Jeremiah chuckled and set her away from him. “Judging by the way he looks at you, I think he knows and the feeling is mutual. Trust in God, Mandy.”

“I trusted in God for over six years,” she blurted out.

Jeremiah bent to kiss her forehead. “Yep, and over time, as you came to a point where you could help him
out a little by running, where did you land?” He grinned and shook his head. “In Mystic Creek of all places, with Jeb living one road over from you. Give God some credit. He not only helped you get out of there, but he guided you straight to the one man on earth who’d love you so much he’d die for you.” He turned toward the back of the house. “Think about that.”

“I am,” she cried after him, “and I don’t
want
him to die for me.”

Jeremiah stopped, turned, and peered out the front window. “He looks pretty alive to me, honey.”

Amanda whirled to follow his gaze and saw Jeb climbing out of his pickup. She shrieked and ran for the front door. Jeremiah trotted after her to disarm the security system just before she threw open the front door. She forgot about the icy surfaces. All she could see was Jeb striding toward her with that well-oiled shift of his hips that she’d come to love so much.

“Be careful!” he called. “It’s slicker than greased owl—”

Amanda gained the front yard, sheeted with ice, and slipped, plummeting forward into a belly-first sprawl. Jeb cursed, ran forward, and reached down to help her up. The next instant, he let loose with “Son of a
bitch
!” as he went down beside her.

Amanda’s cheek hurt, but she was so excited to see him that she didn’t care. She tried to sit up and her hands went out from under her, sending her back to the ground. Jeb tried to help her, but he had no better luck. So instead of standing, they scooted toward each other, grabbed hold, and Amanda
finally
felt his arms around her again. They kissed like starving people who’d just stumbled upon a buffet.

Barney, wearing street clothes and a gun on his hip, moved gingerly toward them. He tipped back the bill of his off-duty ball cap to peer down at this display of undying devotion. “For heaven’s sake, rent a room.” He extended a hand to Jeb, who’d come up for air. Jeb clasped palms with his brother, Barney leaned back to lift, and his slick-soled boots went out from under him. He landed next to Jeb and grimaced as the blow to his hindquarters registered in his brain.

“Well, shit,” he said. “If this is any example of how crazy people act when they fall in love, I want no part of it.” He studied Amanda’s face. “Double shit, bro. She’s gonna have a shiner.”

Just then, Jeremiah, who’d donned shoe chains, trudged out to stand near them, feet spread, arms akimbo. Kate had appeared on the porch, Emma, Chloe, and Bozo crowding behind her. “I raised idiots,” he said. “In Mystic, after a plain old snowstorm, any fool knows to wear shoe chains.”

“There wasn’t any snow up north,” Barney informed his dad. “Bust my ass and call me a three-year-old, but once you’re finished, can you help us up?”

From the steps, Kate chortled with laughter. Jeremiah glanced over his shoulder. “Kate, get Emma and that child back in the house and set the damned security system.
Now
. I’ll knock when I’ve got this crew on their feet and safe on the porch.”

Kate, belatedly realizing that she’d left the entire house unprotected, hurried Chloe, Emma, and Bozo back inside and slammed the front door.

*   *   *

An hour later, Amanda sat at the Sterling kitchen bar with half of a raw potato, with shaved pulp at the center, pressed
to her cheekbone. It was Jeremiah’s cure for a black eye. Each time she got tired of holding the spud against her skin, someone ordered her to get back to business.

“It works,” Kate informed her. “Having raised four boys, I know that for certain.”

Kate served coffee and fresh cinnamon rolls to everyone. Over the refreshments, Barney said, “Remember that time, Jeb, when that senior kicked the snot out of you? You were only a freshman, I think, and half his size. He’d flunked senior year three times.”

Jeb bristled. “I wasn’t
that
little.”

Amanda didn’t care how big Jeb had been at the beginning of his high school career. All she cared about was that he stood well over six feet tall now, and every ounce of him adored her.

“Well, he did kick your ass,” Barney insisted. “When you came home, you looked like you’d tangled with double-strand barbed wire and lost.”

Kate interjected, “Watch your language.”

Barney gave his mother a wondering look. “Hello,
ass
isn’t a curse word. The Virgin Mary rode an ass into Bethlehem to give birth to Jesus in a manger.”

Kate popped back, “She rode a donkey, poor darling, and if you read the word ‘ass’ in the Bible, fine. But in conversation, referring to the anatomy of humans, that is an inappropriate word.” Barney cursed under his breath, and his mother said, “I heard that. If you’d like to trade out your cinnamon roll for a bar of soap, I’m ready at any moment.”

Amanda had known from the start that she loved Jeb’s family, but now, after a spill on the ice, she was seeing them without a polite veneer. She still loved all of them. When she glanced toward her mom, she saw Emma’s glowing smile and knew she was equally impressed.

“So when are Ben and Jonas heading home?” Jeremiah asked.

“In the morning,” Jeb replied. “On steep grades, that huge, loaded van will lug down.” He glanced at Amanda. “I figured we could make better time in my truck and I could grab a good night’s sleep here just as well as there.”

A few minutes later, Jeb drove everyone home, along with their luggage and Chloe’s dollhouse. Barney, who’d left his pickup behind at his parents’ house while in Washington, followed them over to make sure all was clear at Jeb’s place and that his brother got everyone inside safely.

After Barney left and Amanda had unpacked all their bags, she and Jeb started dinner. Working beside him, Amanda anticipated the coming night, when they’d be alone together in bed. Judging by the lingering looks he gave her, he was thinking along the same lines.

“Miss me?” he asked. “Did you find my messages?”

“More than you’ll ever know, and yes, I found your notes. They kept me going. I only wish I’d sneaked some into your duffel.” She paused. “I got scared when I couldn’t reach you on the cell phone right before you got here.”

“Just outside of town, on the old Mystic Highway, the road is really curvy and lined with rock cliffs. I had no reception.”

“Why didn’t you tell me you were coming home today?”

“We were tired. I wasn’t sure we could make it the whole way without stopping, and I didn’t want you to be expecting us only to be disappointed.”

“Well, it was a nice surprise,” she told him.

*   *   *

When the after-dinner routine had run its course, with both Chloe and Emma tucked in for the night, Amanda
grabbed Jeb’s hand and led him up the stairs to their room. She wanted—no,
needed
—to make love with him. She’d missed the pleasures of physical closeness that she could have only with him.

“I need a shower,” he told her as he stripped off his shirt. At her look of disappointment, he grinned. “Join me?”

“In the shower? I’ve never done it in the shower.”

“Then it’s high time you experience it.”

Moments later, standing with him under a hot spray of water, Amanda discovered the delight of soap-slick bodies while making love. By the time they’d toweled off and slipped into bed, she felt drained but happy in a way she’d never imagined possible.

Before drifting off, she whispered, “I can’t live without you. I forgot to tell you that.”

*   *   *

On New Year’s Day, Amanda enjoyed entertaining Jeb’s family again. The meal, bountiful and nearly perfect, was made even better by laughter and stimulating conversation. Emma and Kate seemed to have forged a fast friendship and sat next to each other. Jonas, seated to Amanda’s right, celebrated getting high marks on his quarterly finals. Adriel, to Amanda’s left, told funny stories about being a receptionist for Dr. Hamilton and Dr. Payne, an internist and a general practitioner, respectively. Ben, sitting next to Adriel, added spice to the volleys by tossing in tidbits about rodeo debacles, the most hilarious one about a notorious, much-feared bull that suddenly decided not to buck.