Under the Open Sky (Montana Heritage Series) (7 page)

             
“Then whose were you discussing?” Trent finally demanded.

             
Amanda scooted across the seat and hopped down. “Thanks, Cade,” she acknowledged his holding the door for her. “We were discussing yours,” she informed her brother before turning and bounding up the front porch steps.

             
“Mine?” Trent stopped short and stared after his sister.

             
“She asked me to talk to you,” Cade explained.

             
Choosing to go on in instead, Amanda didn’t wait around to hear what else he planned to say.

             
“Hey, Daddy,” Amanda greeted him with a kiss on his cheek. He was seated in his favorite recliner, a western on the TV.

             
“Hey, Pumpkin,” her dad glanced at her and then did a double take. “What are you wearing?”

             
“It’s called a skirt,” Amanda grinned at his look of consternation.

             
“I know that, but well, that isn’t one of your church skirts.”

             
“It’s a school skirt; I just haven’t worn it before.”

             
“Yes, well, um, you look…very grown up,” her father finally managed.

             
“Thanks, Daddy. I’m going to bed. Love you.”

             
“Love you too.”

             
Amanda entered her room and moved to the mirror to study herself again. Her skirt came to just past mid-thigh, not that short at all, she realized, and her shirt while fitted, didn’t cling. She had been paranoid after her run in with Jeff. He had been drunk, she reminded herself and turned to dress for bed. She was just leaving the bathroom from washing her face when her brother topped the stairs.

             
“Hey, Mandy, thanks for the warning; the last thing I need is another fight with Dad,” Trent admitted.

             
“I know.”

             
“You scared me though and I think you know it,” Trent accused.

             
Not bothering to deny his claim, Amanda smiled.

             
“Funny,” he groused. “Look, I like Cade well enough but he’s a very experienced man and not anyone to play around with.”             

             
“I didn’t,” Amanda countered.

             
“Just be careful, guys like him seem to have some draw on women.”

             
“I’ve seen that, as I said: I’m fifteen!”

             
“There are girls your age…”

             
“Yeah, I know; I’m not and I don’t plan to not until…” Amanda stopped and frowned.

             
“Until you marry?”

             
“Like you?” Amanda crossed her arms and challenged her brother and watched him frown.

             
“Okay, until what?”

             
“I’m ready and I’m not ready and can’t imagine that I would be anytime soon. The idea of just sleeping with some guy for the heck of it creeps me out.”

             
“It should!” Trent followed her into her room. “And I plan to marry Angela.”

             
“Good.”

             
“I do,” Trent insisted.

             
“I said good!” Amanda turned on her brother and planted her hands on her hips.

             
“I’m sorry, Mandy. I just realized tonight that you’re growing up and I won’t be here to protect you,” Trent admitted.

             
“Daddy will.”

             
“But he doesn’t understand our generation, men in his generation were more…honorable or something.”             

             
“Right teen pregnancy is an invention of our generation,” Amanda offered with a serving of sarcasm.

             
“Where do you get your sharp tongue?!” Trent demanded of her.

             
“Maybe mom was sassy,” Amanda offered as she seated herself on her bed and grabbed one of her pillows to pull it close.

             
“Sassy? Is that how you like to dress it up?” Trent moved to seat himself at her desk.

             
“Spirited?”

             
“Sharp; you could cut a man to pieces.”

             
“Good, so I can look out for myself,” Amanda grinned at her brother.

             
“I hope so, Mandy; I hope so.”

              ______________________________________

              “You are spending too much time with that girl; I won’t have you throwing your future away son. You are at a critical point in your life where the decisions you make will shape the rest of your life!” Sterling yelled at his son.

             
Amanda sighed impatiently. As much as she dreaded her brother leaving at least the fighting would stop when he did. Trent had spent nearly every spare moment with Angela since his graduation and their father had taken notice.

             
“I am eighteen years old and if I want to see Angela I will!” Trent shot back.

             
Amanda stood and crawled onto the porch before scooting down the post to head for the barn. She couldn’t stop her brother and father from arguing but she didn’t have to stay and listen to it. She hated the way her father and brother fought lately, it seemed at times it was all they did; it had never been this way before.

             
The day’s heat had abated leaving a cool breeze to tease Amanda’s hair as she walked the rutted farm road between the house and barn; Big Boy once again trotted beside her. Here, with the night sounds serenading her, she felt peace replace the tension that had tightened her shoulders. Amanda’s steps slowed as she neared the barn and found the door open and lights glowing from inside. Cade was bent over the engine of one the tractors just inside the double doors. Amanda quickened her pace; perhaps Cade would be better company than her family was at the moment.

             
“Hey, Manny, what are you doing out here so late?” Cade glanced up at her as she entered and leaned against the tractor wheel.

             
“I’m a refugee of World War III,” she muttered darkly; her brows were drawn in frustration.

             
“Your dad and Trent at it again?”

             
“Of course.”

             
“I told your brother to cool it some; he won’t listen.”

             
“Nothing new there but this is the first time I can really recall my brother and father staying at each other so long.”

             
“They’ll move past it, if nothing else your brother leaving will put an end to it.”

             
“I know,” she sighed as she meandered to a nearby hay bale and seated herself; Big Boy propped his head on her knee.

             
“You’ll miss him won’t you?” Cade had stopped and turned to face her.

             
Amanda nodded.

             
“You two are closer than most brothers and sisters I’ve known.”

             
“We always have been. Maybe it’s because we lost our mother so early; I don’t know we’ve just always been close.”

             
“Must be nice.”

             
“It is. What about you, Cade, do you have any siblings?”

             
Cade gave a mirthless chuckle. “Not that I’m aware of but I suppose given my father’s penchant for women that it is a real possibility.”

             
“Sorry I asked.”

             
“Nah, it doesn’t bother me anymore,” Cade insisted as he turned back to the tractor’s engine.

             
Amanda somehow knew it did matter; she let him have his bluff.

             
“Want to do me a favor, Manny?”

             
“What’s that?”
              “Climb up there and try starting the engine, let me see if I’ve got this or not.”

             
“Sure,” Amanda hopped up to climb onto the tractor’s high seat. Big Boy flopped to the ground with a sigh. Amanda’s attempt to start the tractor produced spitting and sputtering.

             
“Stop; I see the problem,” Cade stuck his head back in the engine.  Amanda waited and admired him as he worked. He had discarded his shirt; his muscles were impressive, his shoulders were bunching as he wrestled with the engine.

             
“Okay, try it again,” Cade instructed a moment later.

             
Amanda cranked the tractor; its engine rumbled to life.

             
“You did it,” she offered him a smile.

             
“Fixing engines and things kind of comes natural to me,” he admitted. “You can turn it off. Thanks, Manny, I don’t think I could have fixed it by myself, I needed to see the engine turn over before I could even see where the problem was.”

             
“Glad to help, anything that gets me out of the house at the moment,” Amanda climbed down from the tractor.

             
Cade moved to the utility sink and grabbed the strong soap her father kept in the barn for washing away grease and animal sweat. The sound of Trent’s truck roaring to life and spitting gravel as he spun down the drive carried through the air.

             
“I guess that means Trent has run to see Angela just to spite dad and now Daddy will hide behind a catalogue while Aunt Naomi tip toes around him,” Amanda mused aloud.

             
“What will you do?”

             
“Sneak back in and stay out of both their way,” she admitted. “I guess I should get back; Naomi will freak if she finds me gone.”

             
“Hold on and I’ll walk you back,” Cade pulled his shirt back on. “Does your dad know you sneak out?”

             
Amanda grinned and considered it. “I think he suspects I do but I’m not sure.”

             
Cade flipped off the light and grabbed an object that looked suspiciously like a rifle in the dim light of the crescent moon.

             
“Your father found wolf prints around one of the pastures yesterday and is making all the men carry one of these,” he held up the rifle.

             
“He didn’t say anything,” Amanda’s gaze was wide when it met his.

             
“He probably didn’t want to worry you and I suspect that he doesn’t know you sneak out,” Cade informed her.

             
“I’ll be more careful,” she assured him.

             
“Good. I see Angela has left her mark on you as well,” Cade commented as they walked toward the house, Big Boy trotting between them.

             
“What do you mean?” Amanda frowned over at him. He motioned toward her outfit and Amanda glanced down. She wore a pair of jean shorts, hemmed, not cut offs and a tank top.

             
“Oh, well, she kind of convinced me that my clothing was only making me look even lankier and straighter,” Amanda admitted.

             
“You’re out growing it,” Cade assured her. “I know your brother and I like to tease you but you’ll be a knock out one day Manny and it’s driving your brother crazy.”

             
“Thanks,” Amanda could feel heat climb into her cheeks. She was suddenly glad the night was rather dark. “I guess you’ll miss my brother too,” Amanda changed the subject.

             
“I will, he wasn’t sure of me at first but I think he’s almost decided I’m okay,” Cade offered her a grin.

             
“Almost?”

             
“Almost,” Cade nodded; his smile was enigmatic. “You should be okay from here. You going back in the same way I’m sure you came out?”

             
“What?” Amanda turned and frowned at him.

             
“That’s quite an acrobatic act you do,” Cade teased.

             
Amanda opened her mouth to speak, closed it and shook her head.

             
“I thought Trent was the only one who knew my secret to getting in and out,” Amanda admitted.