Under the Open Sky (Montana Heritage Series) (52 page)

             
“My brother adores the ground you walk on, pregnant belly and all. I didn’t know Mr. Thick Skull Jennings could be so gentle with a person,” Amanda assured her friend.

             
“You said you were going to start dating, Mandy; when?”

             
Though Amanda had promised herself she was going to start moving forward and dating she had yet to take anyone up on their offer. Not since the debacle with Kevin.             

             
“Cadey-Lynn is now two years old, Mandy; it’s been almost three years. I want you to be as happy as I am now, maybe have another child. As much as you love being a mother, you can’t tell me you don’t want more.”

             
“You just said you’re fat and miserable,” Amanda countered.

             
“No, I said I look awful and I’m pregnant all over,” Jenny corrected her. “So how does it look? Like a tent?”

             
“You aren’t even that big yet,” Amanda rolled her eyes.

             
“I know what we could do,” Jenny’s eyes lit.

             
“What?”

             
“We could invite that hunky new vet out to the ranch. He certainly seemed to shake you up that night in town.”

             
“That hunky vet, as you put, is entirely too forward.”

             
“Yeah, because you like subtle men?” Now Jenny was rolling her eyes. “Come on, Amanda; let the hunky new vet shake things up a little,” Jenny grinned teasingly.

             
“I don’t need things shaken up,” Amanda protested.

             
“I don’t know, shaking things up can be kinda fun,” Jenny’s eyes twinkled.

             
“Go try the next outfit; we’re here to shop,” Amanda grumbled.

             
“Fine,” Jenny sighed and turned back to the dressing rooms.

Thirty-Three

              Amanda held Cadey-Lynn in her arms swirling and dancing around and through the house to a country song; her daughter was giggling and her eyes were bright.              

             
“I love you, Cadey-Lynn,” Amanda yelled above the music. As the music on the radio transitioned, Amanda placed a hand high on her daughter’s back and dipped her low to the floor. Cadey-Lynn’s eyes were bright as she laughed deep in her belly. Amanda smiled; her daughter’s laughter made her heart soar. Amanda spun Cadey-Lynn around several more minutes until she ground to an abrupt halt. The day was warm and Amanda had left the inner door open; Reece stood, his shoulder propped against the door frame and was smiling at them.

             
“Hi,” Amanda was breathless from dancing and okay, his smile might be part of it too. She went to turn the music down.

             
“Hi,” he returned.

             
“How is it you have a way of catching me at my goofiest moments and leave me feeling at a disadvantage?” Amanda moved toward the door.

             
“Wasn’t my intent,” he assured her.

             
“What was your intent?” Amanda inquired as she noted his faded jeans and crisp blue shirt.

             
“I was just checking on a foal for your brother and thought I would say hi. I wanted to apologize again if I upset you that night in town. You’ve been pretty efficient at avoiding me ever since.”

             
“You unnerve me,” she admitted and watched him smile again.

             
“Is that necessarily a bad thing?”

             
“I haven’t decided,” she informed him as she opened the screen door. “Come in,” she stepped back and watched him enter. He was tall, well filled out; he made the room seem smaller.

             
“Thanks,” he glanced around the space curiously and shoved his hands into his pockets. “I think it’s great that you play with your daughter with abandon and aren’t above being silly with her. You shouldn’t feel embarrassed or at a disadvantage because of that.”

             
“Oh, well, you caught me off guard,” Amanda set Cadey-Lynn on her feet. The toddler quickly moved to claim her favorite dolly and tote it to her toy highchair; she shoved her in head first before correcting her mistake.

             
“I see she’s practicing for when she gets older, let’s hope she gets the hang of which end goes in first,” Reece grinned at Amanda; she felt herself smiling in return.

             
“Listen, I don’t want to harass you or anything but I would very much like to take you out,” Reece, his gaze direct, waited.

             
Amanda had to swallow hard before she could speak. “Okay,” her insides jumped. “When?”

             
“I’d like to take you to dinner next Friday night, just me and you. Today, I was hoping you might be open to a picnic in the park; the three of us,” Reece nodded in Cadey-Lynn’s direction.

             
Amanda felt thrown off kilter, of all the men who had asked her out, only Reece had expressed an interest in knowing her daughter as well. Amanda, unable to speak, nodded.

             
“Thank you,” Reece smiled at her.

             
“I’ll need to gather a few things; packing for a toddler is a bit like moving,” her voice finally returned.

             
“Not a problem; I have the rest of the day,” he assured her.             

             
“As far as food…”

             
“I’ve got it in the truck,” he informed her.

             
Amanda, her brows inquisitive, paused.

             
“I knew I had to come out here this morning. I was hoping; figured worst case scenario I was eating a picnic by myself,” he offered with a shrug.

             
“A big handsome guy like you picnicking by his self? What is the world coming to?” Amanda teased.

             
“You’re flirting!” his expression was comical.

             
“I do know how,” she laughed as she grabbed her daughter’s bag to pack it. “Excuse me,” Amanda lifted her daughter and moved up the stairs.

             
“Well, Cadey-Lynn, what are we getting ourselves into this time?” Amanda asked as she changed the child’s clothes. “You want to go the park?”

             
“Go park,” Cadey-Lynn agreed.

             
Amanda gathered what she needed as quickly as she could.

             
“Can I get anything?” Reece asked as he followed her into the kitchen.

             
“I think I’ve got it,” she assured him before filling a couple of cups for Cadey-Lynn.

             
Amanda stepped onto the porch and pulled the door to behind her. “I’ll have to get Cadey-Lynn’s seat,” she told him. By the time she was ready to go he was going to have changed his mind, she mused. There was no such thing as getting out the door quickly with a toddler in tow.

             
“Let me help,” he volunteered. They soon had Cadey-Lynn’s seat transferred and were on their way. She had made a quick call to the main house to tell her aunt she was going out so no one would worry but she wasn’t quite ready to tell Jenny where she was going; that was going to cause a stir.

             
“Well, I made all these plans to get you to go out with me and now I can’t for the life of me decide what to say next,” Reece grinned. “I know you’re from here; I know your mom died when you were a baby, your aunt and father raised you and you have one brother married to your best friend. You have a daughter, just over two years of age; you have a business degree, and you love ranch life. I know you had your heart broken, survived it, and find you to be an amazing woman. What else should I know?”

             
“How do you know all that?” Amanda demanded of him.

             
“I did my homework,” he turned to offer her a grin.

             
“I guess so. Where are you from?”             

             
“I am from North Dakota, small little prairie town.”

             
“Have you always wanted to be a veterinarian?”

             
“No, actually. I was into bull riding for a while; wanted to go professional but after getting my brains knocked around, once almost mortally, I changed my mind.”

             
That explained the muscle, she mused.

             
“Wow, adventurous type?”

             
“Can be. These days I keep it to some white water rafting and wrestling bulls for medical care.”

             
“So what are these life lessons you said something about sharing?” Amanda asked him.

             
“One is to never lay my cards on the table all at once,” his eyes sparkled as he answered.

             
“I think you are entirely too charming and therefore dangerous; you can take me home now,” Amanda laughed.

             
“I have worked too hard to finally get you to go out with me to give up now that you’re here. I have tried to bump into you at church, I’ve even been to the ranch a couple of times; turns out you weren’t home. Today I just decided to go for it.”             

             
“I’m flattered,” she admitted.

             
“I’m flattered that you agreed; you seem pretty cautious, but then considering all I don’t blame you.” Reece turned his truck into the park drive.

             
After Reece had parked, Amanda jumped down and started gathering Cadey-Lynn and her things. Reece grabbed a picnic basket and they crossed an open field to a stream bank; Reece spread a blanket on the ground.

             
“Figured it would be easier for Cadey-Lynn if we skipped the picnic tables,” Reece explained.

             
“Good thinking,” Amanda set Cadey-Lynn down and then seated herself beside her daughter. Their conversation was relaxed as they ate. Cadey-Lynn called every animal “bwird” and kept trying to stray down the stream bank; between the two of them they managed to keep her from the water.

             
“Where are you going?” Amanda chased her daughter as she took off running across the field, her giggles floating behind her. Amanda caught her around the waist and swung her off her feet. “You are a booger,” Amanda accused.

             
“What do you say we take her to the playground where all that energy can be put to good use?” Reece was already packing their supplies.

             
“Thanks, sorry about that.”

             
“It goes with the age. My cousin’s daughter is about to get the better of her.”

             
“This one’s a hand full to be sure,” Amanda admitted. Once on the playground, Cadey-Lynn wasted no time climbing the large child friendly steps onto the play structure, Amanda and Reece followed. Reece seemed unfazed, chatting easily with Amanda as they followed behind the toddler and helped when she needed, otherwise they let her explore. When she spotted several children playing on a handle attached to a track that mimicked a zip line, she grabbed her mother’s hand and started pulling.

             
“Cay-Lynn play,” she pointed to the handle.

             
“Cadey-Lynn, I don’t think you can do that one sweetie,” Amanda informed her daughter.

             
“You want up there?” Reece squatted to ask her. A moment later he lifted the child. “Hold on tight,” he kept his hands at her waist and held onto her all the way to the other end. Cadey-Lynn’s delighted laughter filled the air. She convinced Reece to do this several more times before he set Cadey-Lynn down and collapsed dramatically.

             
“You wore me out,” he told her.

             
Cadey-Lynn grabbed his hand. “Up,” she tugged.

             
“I’m too tired; you wore me plum out,” he said.

             
“Up,” Cadey-Lynn shook his chest. Reece sat up with a roar and scooped the child into his lap to tickle her ribs.

             
Amanda was smiling as she watched; her father and Trenton were the only men who played with Cadey-Lynn in this way. By the time they left to return to the ranch it was getting over into the evening and Reece insisted on taking them to dinner. Amanda felt torn about Reece. He seemed to be a nice man, very patient with her daughter too, but the thought of dating him scared her.