“Not today,” Sterling shot his daughter an amused glance before turning back to the morning’s paper.
Amanda made a face at her plate and tackled her breakfast; she wasn’t through with this fight yet. Today she planned to enjoy her birthday; she already knew the routine but never tired of it. After school she would come home and be shooed off to enjoy herself while her Aunt Naomi made her a special meal and a three layered German chocolate birthday cake. She would then open her presents and spend the night playing checkers with her dad, an activity he seldom got still enough to participate in.
“Happy birthday, Pest,” Trent seated himself across from his sister after giving her head an affectionate pat.
“You could be nice seeing as how it’s my birthday,” Amanda suggested. A grin was all the response she received from her brother.
__________________________________________________
Amanda was growing impatient, a month had passed and her father still refused to take her to test for her permit. She’d just about had enough of his stall tactics. Taking deep satisfaction in the resounding bang that followed, she shoved the screen door open and loped off the porch and across the field to the corrals. Big Boy trotted along beside her, his tail wagging and tongue lolling. He was a large collie mix that her father had found abandoned at the feed store a few years earlier and brought him home. He was now as much a part of the ranch as the hands were.
“Mornin’ Mandy,” Jason greeted, from where he was climbing onto one of the tractors.
“Good morning, Jason,” Amanda returned.
Amanda called to the horses and reached into her pockets for the sugar cubes she’d tucked inside. It didn’t take the horses long to consume her supply of the treat and Amanda again found herself restless. Her father and brother had left for town that morning for supplies; Amanda had pointed out it would be a perfect time to get her permit to no avail. Amanda didn’t even have the satisfaction of trailing her brother and aggravating him. All the men seemed to be out in the pastures so she couldn’t even chat with them. Amanda sighed in boredom.
“You look like you just lost your best friend,” the voice behind Amanda made her jump. She turned and watched as Cade approached and propped one booted foot on the bottom rail. She had gotten to know Cade a little better in the weeks he had been there but she was still a little wary of the man.
“I’m stuck here, not getting my permit, while Daddy and Trent gallop around town,” Amanda glanced at him and then turned her attention back to the horses. She heard Cade chuckle and glanced at him again. He had turned to lean against the fence, his elbows on the top rail as he studied her.
“You are a skinny as a boy aren’t you?”
Cade’s stating of the obvious only annoyed Amanda and she lifted her chin as she decided to ignore him.
“Manny; there’s a nick name for you.”
Amada’s gaze snapped to Cade, he was grinning at her as though he had gotten exactly the result he wanted.
“Don’t you have work my father is paying you to do.”
Her Aunt Naomi would have been proud of the cool superior tone she pulled off. Her aunt was always reminding her that it was important to maintain a proper distance from the hired hands; an edict Amanda ignored at will.
“You really are a pest aren’t you, Manny?”
Amanda resolutely ignored him, though she was aware that he continued to watch her.
“Come on, Manny,” Cade offered her a hand.
Amanda frowned at his hand and then him.
“You want to learn to drive? I can teach you.”
“You don’t have a vehicle.” Amanda pointed out and then nearly bit her tongue; she was supposed to be annoyed at him.
“The farm truck is sitting right there with the keys in it. If you can drive that old thing; you can drive anything,” Cade nodded to where the battered old pick up sat.
Amanda eyed it with longing.
“I don’t have a permit,” Amanda was watching him with interest now.
“We’ll never leave the farm,” Cade promised her.
Amanda hesitated and then climbed down off the fence. Cade opened the door to the driver’s side and made a gesture with his hand for Amanda to climb in. Amanda’s limbs were shaking as she climbed onto the high seat and grasped the wheel with suddenly damp palms. Amanda jumped when the passenger door opened and she shot Cade a nervous glance.
“You ready?” Cade was watching her expectantly. Amanda nodded in determination. “Okay, press in the brake and the clutch and turn the key,” he instructed.
“Okay,” Amanda licked her suddenly dry lips and did as he instructed. Pleasure shot through her when the truck started.
“Now, make sure you’re in the right gear.”
“The right gear?” She looked down at the gear shift to find all the numbers and letters gone; her mind had suddenly gone blank.
Amanda glanced at Cade nervously. She had driven the tractor; she had thought the truck would be easy.
“Okay, turn the truck off; we need to cover a few basics first.” Cade instructed and waited for her to comply. “Put your hand on the gear shift.”
Amanda put her hand on the gear shift only to yank it away when Cade covered it with his.
“Relax, Manny; I’m not in the habit of hurting kids.” Cade’s gaze was amused which only further irritated Amanda.
She swallowed the sharp retort she wanted to offer and returned her hand to the gear shift. Cade took her through each gear and then had her find them on her own before having her start the truck again. A few minutes later the truck was jerking forward.
“Okay, now…” Cade braced himself when the truck jerked hard and the engine died. “Restart it. Press the clutch and brake and put it in first. Now, ease off the break and onto the gas.” The truck jerked and died. “You have to stay on the clutch a little longer.”
“I’m tryin’!” Amanda bit out impatiently. She had thought learning to drive was going to be fun.
“Relax, Manny, there’s no reason to clutch the wheel so hard. Now, try again.”
“It’s Amanda,” she corrected, “Or Mandy.”
Amanda bit her lip and started over in the process, this time managing to keep the truck going as they rolled forward across the field.
“Now, push in the clutch and shift into second,” Cade instructed. Amanda successfully shifted gears and felt herself relax a little; she could do this, it wasn’t so different from the tractor after all. Almost an hour later she was able to drive around the field fairly well, only grinding the gears on occasion. Amanda finally parked the truck, proud that she had succeeded and disappointed that Cade had to get back to work.
“I drove!” Amanda bounded out of the truck. “I drove,” she repeated when Cade had come around to lean against the truck.
“You drove; not bad kid.” Cade was grinning at her.
“Thank you so much, Cade.” Amanda spotted her father’s truck coming down the drive and dashed toward the house before her father spotted her. She and Cade had agreed not to tell her father of her driving lessons yet.
“Hi, Dad,” Amanda greeted as the men climbed from the truck.
“Dad?”
“How was your trip to town?” Amanda asked as she circled the truck, Big Boy panting from his run beside her.
“My trip to town was fine. What did you do with yourself?” Sterling was watching his daughter closely.
“Oh, I managed to keep occupied,” Amanda assured her father. “I’m going to go see if Aunt Naomi needs help with dinner.” Without further comment Amanda bounded up the front porch steps and into the house.
Three
“You will go to college this fall, Trenton, and that is final! Furthermore you will not see Angela again; is that clear?” Sterling’s raised voice floated to Amanda from the floor below; Amanda sighed. The fighting had started a week earlier when school had ended for the year and Trent had graduated.
“I don’t want to go to college
, Dad; I want to stay here and help you run the ranch and I don’t need a degree to do it.”
“If you want to help me run this ranch you will go to college.”
“It isn’t your future to plan, Dad; this is my decision and I don’t want to go to college and I will see Angela if I want to. I’m eighteen next week; I’m not a child anymore.”
Amanda jumped up from her bed and pushed her screen out of her window to climb onto the porch roof. It was a beautiful night; a refreshing breeze stirred the trees making them sigh and the night insects sang their familiar tune. Amanda loved late spring evenings.
She carefully scaled the length of the roof and swung her long legs down around the porch post to scoot to the ground below. It was a trick she had learned to use in avoiding her aunt. Tonight she didn’t want to cross the battleground of the main floor of the house. Knowing she would find refuge from the yelling, she quickly set her path for the barn. She could see lights on in the men’s bunk house and Benjamin’s truck. He must have come back earlier this evening when she wasn’t paying attention. Benjamin was her father’s foreman and had been out of town for several weeks helping his recently widowed mother move. She would look forward to seeing him the next day.
Amanda entered the barn and climbed into the loft to scoot the edge of the double doors that were used to raise hay into the loft. The large two story clapboard she called home looked like something from a picture, its windows lit in the night’s darkness. As peaceful as the house looked, tonight peace did not reside in its walls. She hated it when her brother and father fought. Fortunately it was seldom enough despite the two of them being just alike.
Amanda observed a truck moving down the farm lane and recognized it as the clunker Cade had recently bought. When he parked under a tree near the barn, Amanda watched with interest as he led a young woman into the shadows of the barn and crawled to the edge of the loft to peer down on the interior. She recognized the girl from around school. A recent graduate and classmate of Cade’s, Miranda was known more for what she was willing to do than her brains.
Figures, Amanda mused in irritation. Now what? No matter how she left the barn she was going to have to interrupt the pair who were busy kissing and groping each other. Amanda sighed; was that all men ever thought about? Unless she wanted a show it was time to get out here, she decided as she stood and hopped onto the beam opposite her perch.
“Forgive me for interrupting but could I get out of here please? It’s getting a little hot for me,” Amanda had swung to the floor by the time she finished her sentence. She heard Miranda gasp and watched as the two jumped apart.
“What are you doing out here at this time of night?” Cade demanded.
“I was trying to enjoy a peaceful moon lit evening but that looks unlikely,” Amanda shared as she sauntered in their directions.
“You should probably take me home, my parents are going to be wondering about me,” Miranda edged around Cade and out of the barn. Cade was standing arms crossed as he stared at Amanda in irritation and she stopped to match his pose.
“A word of advice, Cade, my father doesn’t cotton to the men bringing women to the ranch to mess around with, his having an impressionable young daughter and all so I would tread lightly if I were you.”
“Is that a warning, Manny?”
“I have no intention of telling if that is what you’re asking but Daddy has been known to check on the animals before bed.”
“Look, Manny, Miranda and I were just…”
“It’s Mandy, and I am fifteen, not five and I know exactly what you and Miranda were just up to,” Amanda rolled her eyes in disgust at his attempt to play down his actions. “All I’m saying is if my dad catches you, you will lose your job.” Amanda started around Cade; he stopped her by grabbing her arm lightly.
“You won’t tell?” his gaze probed hers.
“I know you think I’m a brat but I’m not mean spirited, Cade; I know you need this job and I have nothing against you. If you like bimbos knock yourself out, but I suggest you do so somewhere where my dad isn’t likely to walk in on you.”
Amanda turned and left the barn; she noted Miranda who stood, her arms crossed as she leaned against Cade’s truck and glared at Amanda. Amanda was fairly sure she had heard her every comment. Amanda saluted the older girl as she passed and continued to the house at an unhurried pace. She wasn’t particularly anxious to return the turmoil inside.
____________________________________________
Amanda watched her father place a worn cap on his head as he readied to go to town, her brother dragging his feet as he prepared to go along.
“You comin’ along?” Sterling inquired of his daughter.
Amanda shook her head; her father was still in a crappy mood and she had no intention of being stuck between him and her brother all the way to and from town. Nuh uh, she was not crazy. Given her father’s mood there was no chance of getting her permit either.
“Suit yourself,” her father shrugged. The pleading gaze her brother shot her direction almost changed her mind…almost. She walked to the truck, closed the gate after Big Boy had hopped in, and waved them on their way before meandering her way to the barn to see how one of the new colts was faring. She waved to several of the men, all mounted to ride out and stepped through the barn doors. The interior of the barn was dark after the brilliant afternoon sunshine and Amanda had to blink before she could see where she was going, though she could make the trip in the dark if she had to. In the last stall, she found the growing colt tossing and shaking his shiny head. He was going to be temperamental, she could already tell, but he was a beauty with his deep chocolate coat.
“Pretty isn’t he?” Cade asked as he entered with a bag of feed on his shoulder.
“He is; temperamental too.”
“Nah, he’s just high spirited, with the proper training he’ll make someone a good mount,” Cade predicted.
“That’s what Dad said too,” she acknowledged; she still maintained that he was temperamental.
“I figured you would head to town with your dad and brother and pester them for your permit,” Cade teased, his blue eyes bright.
“I know better than to put myself between them when they’re having a round,” Amanda was shaking her head.
“Still into it over Trent’s schooling?”
“That’s what drove me out here last night,” she admitted as she turned, put her back to the stall, and crossed her arms over her chest.
“Thanks for not getting me in trouble, Manny.”
“I don’t know why you thought I would and it’s Mandy,” Amanda pushed off the stall and strolled toward the open double doors of the barn.
“You want another driving lesson?” Cade called after her.
Amanda stopped and turned to face him, “You don’t have to buy me off, Cade; I’m not a tattle tell.”
“I wasn’t trying to buy you off but suit yourself,” Cade shrugged and turned to lift a bale of hay.
“Alright,” Amanda agreed.
Cade set the bale back down and turned to Amanda, his gaze meeting and holding hers as if he was waiting for her to say more.
Unwilling to admit how much she wanted to get behind the wheel of the truck again, Amanda raised her chin high. She watched a crooked smile lift one side of Cade’s mouth as he shook his head.
“You and that colt are a pair, Manny; come on.” Cade led the way out of the barn. Several minutes later Amanda was managing one of the field roads quite nicely.
“Increase your speed a little and see how you handle it,” Cade instructed.
Amanda nodded and pressed the accelerator gently and then more firmly.
“You’re doing good.”
“Thanks,” Amanda didn’t dare take her eyes off the dirt road in front of her. Slowly she felt herself relaxing; becoming more comfortable with how the truck handled. Amanda shifted into the highest gear and increased her speed until they were bumping along at a fast clip.
“Slow down a little,” Cade cautioned.
“I’m not having any trouble,” Amanda protested.
“No, but this road wasn’t made for speed,” Cade stated the obvious. Before Amanda could reduce her speed, they bounced through a large pothole. Amanda laughed as Cade braced himself.
“This is fun,” she announced.
“Please slow down.”
“I kind of like this,” she protested.
“Manny!”
Amanda spotted the heifer in front of them and quickly slammed on the brakes and cut the wheel. The truck slid to a stop and turned sideways across the road. Amanda threw back her head and laughed so hard it hurt. Beside her Cade still clutched the door handle and had one hand on the dash. Amanda clamped her mouth shut and waited for him to yell at her as her brother would have. A deep chuckle sounded beside her and then Cade was laughing.
“Kid, your aunt is right; you are growing up wild,” he accused a moment later. “Do you think you can get us back to the barn in one piece?”
“Sure,” she grinned. Amanda restarted the engine and drove back to the barn at a reasonable speed. “Thanks, Cade.”
“Sure, now you just have to wait for the right opportunity to reveal to your dad that you can drive,” he offered her a smile.
“Right,” Amanda nodded. “I should go and let you get back to work,” Amanda turned and started for the house at a sprint. She slowed as she neared the house and spotted her aunt frowning at her. She knew that Naomi couldn’t have seen her driving so she was at a loss as to why she was in trouble.
“Were you talking with that new boy?” Naomi demanded.
“Cade? Yeah, I was talking to him; why?” Amanda stopped and crossed her arms over her chest to frown at her aunt.
“Mandy, he is not the kind of person you should be hanging out with. Why your father continues to hire roughians when he has a daughter your age I will never know,” Naomi looked ready to start a tirade and Amanda was in no mood to hear it.
Under the Open Sky (Montana Heritage Series) Page 2