Under the Open Sky (Montana Heritage Series) (32 page)

             
“Will it be awkward seeing Cade?”

             
Amanda shook her head, “No, Cade and I seem to be able to smile at each other and somehow understand what that means. My only concern is my brother picking up on any tension between us.”

             
“Oooohhh yeah that would not go over so well,” Jenny winced.

             
“It’s none of his business; I’m eighteen but he seems to think I’m still a child.”

             
“He loves you, Mandy; he just wants to look out for you.”

             
“I know, but sometimes he crosses a line.”

             
“Well I have to tell you that as soon as I saw you two together today I knew something had happened; I thought maybe a lot. Oh, and you have whisker burn all down your neck and collar,” Jenny supplied with a smile.               Amanda groaned. “Is it too warm for a turtle neck?” she joked.

             
“Yes,” Jenny laughed.

             
Amanda sat up and rubbed at her collar bone. “Will it fade?”

             
“At some point.”

             
“But how long?” Amanda, her eyes wide, demanded.

             
“How am I supposed to know? I don’t bring drunk cowboys home and make out with them.”

             
“I’m serious, Jenny. Do you think it will fade soon?”

             
“Aren’t we funny, two virgins trying to hide our illicit behavior. Or yours rather; I’m innocent in all of this.”

             
Amanda grabbed one of the pillows they had dropped and slapped Jenny with it before standing to go shower; maybe a shower would help.

              Amanda visited with her dad and aunt for much of the afternoon until her dad got a call to come and pick up a bull he had bought. Amanda then meandered her way to the barn where, as luck would have it, Cade was brushing down one of the horses. Several hands were working in the field just off from the barn, installing a new gate.

             
“Hello, Cade,” Amanda, her hands in her pockets, moved to lean against one of the nearby stalls.

             
“Hello, Manny,” his smile was rather wicked and garnered one from Amanda in return.

             
“You still mad at me?” he asked her.

             
“I’m still thinking about it,” she pouted and watched his smile widen.

             
“Manny, love, you are going to give me a run for my money, aren’t you?”

             
Amanda moved to stand by the horse he was currying and rubbed the gelding’s nose. “If you would just co-operate,” Amanda shrugged and watched him laugh.

             
She spotted her brother coming through the open doors and quickly schooled her features. Whether it was any of his business or not she had no desire to pick a fight today.

             
“Hey, Mandy,” Her brother grinned as he approached and kissed her forehead.

             
Cade moved to turn the horse into his stall; his expression was neutral when he returned.

             
“You still missing your woman?” Amanda teased her brother.

             
“Terribly. Getting back to school will be something of a relief. How are you and Jenny doing down there all by yourself?”

             
“We’re doing fine,” Amanda assured him.

             
“You and Cade write each other and share all your secrets; right?” her brother’s question held sarcasm.

             
“Some things,” Amanda bristled at his tone.

             
“So see if you can get Cade to tell you where he spent last night,” Trent suggested. 

             
Amanda knew he was goading her; making sure she knew that Cade had been out all night the night before. Little did he know. Amanda watched Cade turn to grab his water bottle and shook her head; if her brother wanted a fight she’d give him a fight.

             
“He had too much to drink and I took him to my place to sleep it off. Don’t worry, he turned me down,” Amanda informed her brother. She turned to leave; she could hear Cade coughing behind her.

             
“Damn, Manny,” still sounding slightly strangled, he called after her a moment later.

             
“Amanda Lynn!” her brother exploded as he started after her.

             
“What?” Amanda snapped and turned to face him, her chin high in challenge.

             
“Since when do you take men home and proposition them?”

             
“I am eighteen who I do or don’t proposition is none of your business!” she yelled back at him.

             
“You may be eighteen but Dad is still paying half your bills; what do you think he would have to say about your actions?” Trent was in her face now, fairly gloating.

             
“I won a scholarship that covers my schooling. After I turned eighteen the lease went into mine and Jenny’s name and we’ve been paying the bills with no help. I am an independent woman and I do not have to answer to you, Trent.”

             
Her brother looked as though he had been slapped.

             
“I love you and I thank you for looking out for me but I get to make my own decisions and if I make mistake they are MY mistakes, Trent. I get that right too, just like you. I get to live and learn. If I get my heart broken, it’s my heart.” Her brother staring after her, Amanda turned to leave. She hadn’t wanted to fight with him but he was going to have to learn that he didn’t get to make her decisions for her.

Nine
teen

              Amanda walked around the county fair and enjoyed the crisp air as it tugged at her hair. She and Jenny had driven back up for a weekend with their families and had agreed to meet at the fair that night. They now stood in line for one of the rides, both scanning the crowds around them.

             
“Maybe we should ride another of the rides,” Jenny suddenly suggested as she grabbed Amanda by the arm and started trying to drag her from the line.

             
“What is your problem, Jenny? This is your favorite ride and all I’ve heard all evening was how you were going to ride it first,” Amanda held her ground and looked at her friend as though she had taken leave of her senses.

             
“It looks scarier than I remember,” Jenny insisted and started pulling at Amanda’s arm again.

             
“Jenny, what is wrong?” Amanda insisted.

             
Amanda glanced around expecting to see one of Jenny’s ex-boyfriends or at least someone she didn’t care much for. Instead, she spotted Cade several feet away with a tall brunette on his arm. The woman fairly draped herself on him and was hanging off of his every word.

             
“We aren’t a couple, Jenny,” Amanda reminded her friend and tried to ignore the tight knot that had settled in the region of her heart.

             
“Don’t pretend that it doesn’t bother you, Mandy!” Jenny hissed at her.

             
“He made me no promises and nothing really happened; I mean not really so…” Amanda shrugged.

             
“You aren’t upset?”

             
“Yeah, I am but for all the reasons I just gave you I have little right to be,” Amanda admitted.

             
“He…the things he said and….”

             
“Let it go, please?” Amanda begged.

             
“Mandy, you didn’t tell me you were coming,” her brother accused, as he approached; he had his arm around Christy. Christy had ridden over from Washington with a friend and would be riding back to college with Trent the next week.

             
“Jenny and I were talking about it last night at dinner,” she reminded him.

             
“How are you, Mandy?” Christy asked.

             
“I’m fine,” Amanda lied.

             
“You’re Jenny; right?” Christy smiled at Jenny in greeting.

             
Amanda watched her friend smile back and knew it wasn’t easy for her to do so.

             
“Have you seen Cade? We lost him and his date earlier,” her brother inquired of her.

             
“There he is,” Christy pointed him out.

             
Amanda steeled herself, she was the one always pursuing him, not the other way around she reminded herself.

             
“Cade!” Trent called and waved. “Look who we found.”

             
Beside Amanda, Jenny suddenly looked outraged and stared at Trent with pure malice.

             
“What is wrong with you?” Amanda whispered furiously.

             
“Hey,” Cade offered a strained smile to the group.

             
Amanda smiled in return; at least she hoped it was a smile.

             
“Cade,” Jenny nodded curtly, though her angry gaze was still pinned on Trent.

             
“You haven’t met Cade’s date have you?” Trent inquired. “She’s in our class; she drove Christy over. Amanda; Jenny this is Shauna. Shauna, my sister, Mandy, and her best friend Jenny.”

             
“It’s nice to meet you,” Shauna offered her hand.

             
“Nice to meet you,” Amanda managed to offer the woman a tight smile. Jenny, refusing the woman’s hand, nodded. Amanda noted that Shauna was attractive in a voluptuous way. Was that Cade’s preference, she wondered?

             
“We should have made plans for you two to bring dates and then we could have all had fun together,” Christy mused.

             
“I’m sure Amanda could turn around, smile, bat her lashes a little and have three or four at her beck and call. She certainly has them lined up waiting for any hint of encouragement at school,” Jenny offered a brittle smile that seemed aimed at Cade and then Trent.

             
“Jenny!” Amanda elbowed her friend and shot her a look that begged her to stop. The group seemed frozen; the air tense and frigid and Amanda wanted to find a hole and crawl into it.

             
“Who says you have to be able to get a date to have fun?” Shauna demanded. “You two have to ride a few rides with us; don’t they?” Shauna gazed up at Cade with adoring eyes as she linked her arm though his.

             
“Of course,” Cade nodded.

             
“Right,” Amanda returned and cleared her throat.

             
“Hey, we should all ride the giant Ferris Wheel first,” Christy jumped in; she looked relieved for something that might break the tension in the air.  Amanda and Jenny followed the two couples, their feet dragging.

             
“Please stop making this worse,” Amanda, pulled Jenny back a moment.

             
“I’m sorry but…”

             
“Hey come on you two!” Christy waved to them.

             
Amanda sighed and turned to join the others. She found herself seated between Cade and Jenny who was sandwiched against Trent on the other side, the other two women sandwiched opposite them. Amanda and Jenny exchanged glances of commiseration and settled back to pray for the end of the ride. By the time they were next in line to get off Amanda wanted to shove something down Shauna’s throat so she would shut up, if only for a minute.

             
An hour and a half later and Amanda was beginning to feel truly and honestly sick at her stomach. Shauna was making it more than clear she wanted Cade in her bed. When Trent suggested they eat, Amanda decided that she would make an escape soon.

             
“Here, you all hold us a seat and give me your orders,” Trent instructed. As soon as he was gone, Shauna started talking again. Amanda glanced at Cade to find him staring at her. She dropped her gaze only to look back up a moment later. If she had to make a guess she would say that Shauna’s incessant prattle was getting to Cade as well. In fact every smile he gave Shauna was more brittle than the last. She felt a small stirring of hope but she was still hurt and confused.

             
“I am starving,” Shauna announced. “I hope their burgers are good; I know the burgers at our home fair are good. Oh! And they have the
best
peach cobbler. I got the recipe; I’ll have to make it for you sometime,” Shauna smiled up at Cade.