* * *
AMANDA KNEW SHE had hurt Justin’s feelings. There was no helping it. She could not have him underfoot. He was too handsome, too distracting, and she couldn’t afford to lose her focus for even a moment.
“You know, if you don’t want me around, either, I could go off somewhere and just get lost for a while,” Lamar suggested casually as soon as Justin had gone back into the lodge.
Chuckling, Amanda clapped a gloved hand on his shoulder. “Nice try, kid. But you told Justin you’d help carry all this wood into the bunkhouse, so that is exactly what you’re going to do.” She rummaged around in her truck and returned with a pair of leather work gloves for him.
Awkwardly, Lamar inched them on. “You don’t mind taking orders from him?”
Did she? Normally, Amanda liked to maintain her independence and set her own work agenda. That was what made these rural gigs so appealing. The clients were so busy with their own work, they were less inclined to micromanage her. Best of all, at the end of the day, she could really get away from it all in her home-away-from-home travel trailer.
“Justin McCabe runs this ranch. It’s my job to make sure he is happy with the work I do. Yours, too, for that matter, since he’s overseeing your community service.”
Silence fell.
Lamar stacked more trim wood in the corner, next to a pile of interior doors that needed to be installed. “Don’t you want to know what I did to get sent out here?”
Amanda brought in a stack of doorknobs and latch kits. “Truancy, right?”
Lamar scowled. “Justin told you.”
They walked back outside for another load. “Yep.”
Lamar peered at her from beneath his blond bangs. “Aren’t you going to use this opportunity to lecture me on how I’m ruining my life and all that?”
Amanda took in the front of his Pirates of the Caribbean T-shirt. It depicted a rollicking fight scene. “Would you listen?”
“No.”
She handed him a bundle of trim wood. “That’s what I figured.”
Lamar cradled it against his chest. “Which is why you’re not lecturing me.”
Amanda grabbed a bundle for herself and walked with him toward the door. “I figure there has to be a reason you keep cutting class.”
Lamar put down his bundle of wood with more than necessary force. “I hate it. It’s boring.”
Regular school had been a pain for Amanda, too. Figuring they could both use a rest, she went to the cooler in the corner and brought out two icy grape-flavored electrolyte drinks. She tossed one to him. “What does interest you?” she asked.
Lamar wiped the moisture away with the hem of his shirt. “I like watching TV. Listening to music.”
Amanda took a long drink. There had to be something that would help him connect with others. “Do you play any sports?” Even if Lamar didn’t qualify for school teams, there were always private athletic leagues to provide a little fun and make him feel involved.
“Nah.” Lamar finished half his bottle in a single gulp. “I’m no good at sports, either.”
So Lamar had suffered multiple failures, socially and otherwise. Catching sight of his dejected expression, Amanda’s heart went out to him. She knew was it was like to be a teenager who didn’t seem to fit in anywhere. “What are you good at?”
Abruptly, mischief crept into his expression. “Getting out of stuff I don’t want to do.”
Amanda could see that. “You can’t really make a living as a no-show.”
“So maybe I’ll be a security guard,” Lamar boasted, “and sit around and watch those TV monitors.”
Amanda couldn’t think of anything less interesting, but leery of discouraging him, she smiled. “Could work.”
He paced to the window and back. “You’re not going to try to talk me out of it? Tell me I have to finish high school and go on to college?”
Amanda held his gaze. “College isn’t for everyone.”
“Did you go to college?”
Amanda shook her head. “I didn’t like high school, either, so I got a GED instead and learned carpentry from my grandfather.”
His face grew pinched. “I don’t know about the GED,” he grumbled, as if it were the worst idea in the world. “All that studying and having to take those tests...”
Amanda could see where even the idea of that would be overwhelming for Lamar, given he’d skipped so much he had to be way behind on his studies. They walked back out to the truck to finish unloading supplies.
“Do you like being a carpenter?” Lamar asked eventually.
“Very much.”
He slanted her a wary glance. “How come?”
Trying not to think about the failures in her own life, Amanda offered him a faint smile. “Because I like building things that will last.”
* * *
IT WAS NEARLY noon when Justin looked up from behind his desk to see his dad striding into the lodge. As he walked across the spacious living area, Wade McCabe held a large high-velocity floor fan in each hand.
Justin strolled out of the administrator’s office to greet him. “Hey, Dad. Thanks for bringing those out.” Wade set them down next to the overstuffed sofas and chairs that had been donated by a local furniture store. “Some reason you couldn’t run into town and pick them up yourself?”
A very good one, as a matter of fact. “I’m supervising a teenager’s community service right now.”
His dad looked around, perplexed, noting they were quite alone.
“Lamar’s in the bunkhouse, assisting the carpenter. He’ll be back in here as soon as they’re finished carrying in all the wood from the pickup truck.”
His dad paused. “So this is a one-day thing?”
“All summer.”
Wade blinked in surprise. “You’re not really equipped for that, are you son?”
Justin tensed. Here we go again. He turned and walked into his office. “Dad, if this is where you tell me if I’m serious about all this, I need to go back to school and get a degree in psychology...”
Wade looked around the sparsely decorated administrator’s office, which at the moment was littered with the paperwork Justin was still trying to get through. “Your mother and I raised you to find what you’re good at and do it to the best of your ability.” He sank into a chair in front of Justin’s desk and gave him a long, level look. “What you are good at, Justin, is finance and accounting.”
Justin slid a stack of papers into a mailing envelope, sealed it shut and ran it through the postage meter. “I’m doing that here.”
Wade steepled his hands in front of him. “To a much lesser degree than what you were doing five years ago.”
Which, for his ambitious father and mother, was unacceptable, Justin knew. They wanted all five of their sons to have the same kind of financial security and success they’d built for themselves, while still holding on to their core values. “It’s important work, Dad.”
Wade’s expression softened. “I’m not discounting that. It’s why I made a sizable donation to help get the Laramie Boys Ranch up and running and accepted a position on the board of directors.”
Something Justin was beginning to regret. In hindsight, he saw answering to his father, even among a group of other involved adults, might not be such a good thing. “Then...?”
“Your mother and I are worried about you.”
Justin grimaced. “Why?”
“Clearly, you’ve yet to get over everything that happened in Fort Worth—first your broken engagement to Pilar, and then...”
Justin heard a feminine throat clear, followed by a knock. He and his father turned to see Amanda standing in the open door.
“I’m sorry to interrupt,” she said, looking gorgeous as ever, despite her hot and sweaty state.
“But have either of you seen Lamar?”
* * *
ACTUALLY, GIVEN THE conversation she’d overhead inside the ranch’s office, Amanda wasn’t at all sorry to interrupt. It sounded as though Justin McCabe needed a break. Having been the target of a great deal of parental lecturing growing up, she knew just how demoralizing such sessions could be. Not to mention the damage they inevitably did to the relationship. Although, unlike her mom and dad—who had seen her mostly as a stumbling block to their happiness—Justin’s parent seemed to genuinely care about him.
She continued, “I just got back with more wood and...”
Justin shot out of his chair, his expression filled with concern. “What do you mean you just got back?”
Why was he making a big deal out of this? “I had to run to the lumberyard to pick up the rest of the baseboard.” She paused. “He didn’t tell you?”
Justin shoved a hand through his hair. “I haven’t seen him. I thought he was with you.”
Justin’s father looked on with a mixture of resignation and disapproval.
Amanda felt for Justin. Whether or not the two of them should have seen this coming was a moot point. She swallowed uncomfortably. “He should have reported back to you about an hour and a half ago....”
Justin stalked around the desk to her side. “Where could he be?”
Amanda turned to let Justin through. She caught a whiff of soap and man as he passed by. “I don’t know.” She was, however, willing to help search.
Together, the three of them looked through the lodge. Eventually, they found Lamar sound asleep in the lounge on the second floor. The TV was on, the sound turned all the way down.
Relieved yet still disapproving, Wade McCabe told his son curtly, “I’ll leave you to handle this.”
Tense with embarrassment, Justin nodded at his dad. “Thanks again for bringing the fans.”
Wade nodded and left.
Lamar opened his eyes, stretching lazily. He smelled of sweat and bubblegum. “Hey,” he said to Amanda. “You’re back.”
“Yes.” She tried not to think about how much trouble Lamar was already in, and he’d only been at the ranch for half a day. “I am.”
Justin clenched his jaw with frustration. “Is this where you’ve been the entire time she was gone?” he demanded.
“Yeah. So?”
“You were supposed to find me when Amanda no longer needed your help.”
Lamar rubbed the sleep from his eyes. “Yeah, well, all you were doing was office work. I’m no good at that.”
Justin gave Lamar a reproving frown. “That’s not for you to decide. This is community service, remember? To get credit for your time, you have to do what you’re told.”
Lamar sat up and dropped his feet to the floor. Belligerence radiated from him in waves. “Is it time for lunch yet?” he asked, completely ignoring Justin’s reprimand. “I’m really hungry.”
Amanda’s stomach had been growling for the past half hour, too. “I’ve got some sandwiches made if anyone wants to join me.”
“Sounds good to me,” the teen said.
Amanda looked at Justin. Temper again under control, he nodded. Then he cautioned Lamar, “Just don’t do that again, okay? For both our sakes, I need to know where you are at all times.”
“Okay,” Lamar muttered.
Relieved to have that settled, Amanda led the way to her trailer. She invited the guys inside, figuring there was safety in numbers. Wrong. The moment they stepped inside, her refuge felt filled to the brim with testosterone. And much smaller. Especially with Justin standing right beside her. Of course, that was probably because at six foot five his head almost reached the ceiling.
“Wow!” Lamar whistled appreciatively as he surveyed the comfortable space she had worked so hard to create. More a mini-apartment than camper, the back half was all bedroom and bath. The front half of the Airrstream housed the kitchen—with a full-size fridge, microwave, stove, sink and even a tiny dishwasher. The butcher-block tabletop between the roomy banquettes doubled as a work space, and there were plenty of built-in racks for her pantry items and cookware.
“You must really like to cook.” Lamar checked out the bins of fresh fruits and veggies, her complex variety of dried chili peppers and some freshly made tortillas.
Amanda nodded proudly. “It’s a hobby of mine.”
“Where did you learn?” the teen asked.
She opened up the fridge and brought out the three large grilled-chicken wraps with lettuce, cheese and Caesar dressing that she’d made from the leftovers of the previous evening’s dinner. “My grandmother and grandfather. Cooking was something they liked to do together, so when I moved in with them I started cooking, too.”
“Sounds fun,” Justin said.
“It was.” It was the first time she’d known what it was like to be part of a happy family.
The handsome Texan’s fingers brushed hers as she handed him a flavored sports drink. “Was? You don’t do it anymore?”
Trying not to react to the husky caress of his voice, the warm feel of his fingers or the tenderness in Justin’s brilliant blue eyes, Amanda shook her head. “Occasionally, but not as much since my grandmother died of congestive heart failure a couple of years ago.”
“Sorry to hear that,” Justin and Lamar said in unison.
Amanda accepted their condolences with a nod, aware of a growing sense of intimacy she didn’t expect. Wasn’t supposed to want. And knew would be unwise to encourage. “So,” she said, pushing her lingering grief away. “Why don’t the two of you tell me a little more about the area. What should I know about Laramie County?”
“There are a number of good restaurants in town,” Justin began.
Lamar nodded. “The Lone Star’s food is good, and they have live music and dancing, too. Since chicks seem to like that stuff,” the teen added helpfully.
Amanda wondered if that was where Justin had intended to take her the first night, when he’d asked her out.
“I do like dancing,” she admitted with a smile.
Justin’s eyes gleamed. “Then you should make it a point to go while you’re here,” he said. “With or without a date.”
Amanda’s middle fluttered with sensation. Adopting her best poker face, she nodded. “I’ll keep that in mind.”
Wary of letting her thoughts wander where Justin’s were obviously headed—into forbidden romantic territory—Amanda guided the conversation to mundane subjects, like the new wind farm and a famous sculptor she’d heard about who worked in bronze.
As soon as the meal was over, she rose. Eager to get back to work, she looked at Justin. “Your dad said he brought two fans that would help cool off the bunkhouse till the air-conditioning is installed?”
Justin nodded. “Lamar and I will carry them over for you.”
Amanda smiled. “Great. I’ll meet you guys there.”
A few minutes later they walked in, and Amanda showed them where she wanted the fans set up. Concerned that there was still a lot of friction between Justin and Lamar, she figured it wouldn’t hurt to act as buffer a little while longer.
“I don’t know what you had planned for Lamar this afternoon,” she told Justin, “but my work will go a lot faster if I have assistance mounting the top kitchen cabinets.”
“I’ll do it!” Lamar quickly volunteered.
Justin looked at the cabinet lift Amanda had set up, and the bulky stock cabinets. She knew he could see it was not an unreasonable request, even if she could easily have done the job all on her own. “Can you keep him busy the rest of the afternoon?”
“I won’t let him out of my sight,” Amanda promised.
Justin exhaled, his expression grim. After a long pause, he gazed at Lamar. “No more disappearing acts. Okay?”
The teen nodded, clearly aware he was on very shaky ground with the man supervising his community service.
Justin turned back to Amanda, his eyes devoid of the gratitude she had expected. “I’ll be in the office, working on grant applications, if you need me.” Justin turned on his heel and stalked off.
Watching him go, Amanda knew she had just made another mistake. She should never have stepped between Justin and his charge. In the end, all she had done was make things worse.
As soon as Justin disappeared from view, she did her best to undo the damage. “You need to give Justin a chance.”
His expression stony, Lamar helped her cut a base cabinet out of its cardboard cover. “McCabe doesn’t get me the way you do.”
Amanda bit her lip. “I’m not so sure about that.” While it was true that she could talk to Lamar with ease, Justin seemed to have Lamar’s number in a lot of ways.
The boy’s jaw tightened. “I see the judgment in his eyes when I screw up, Amanda. I don’t need any more of that.”
She had seen the disappointment, too. However, it didn’t mean Lamar had to return it in kind. “You’re going to have to work with Justin while I’m around, and after I leave. So the sooner you try to find common ground with him, the better.”
Lamar picked up the utility scissors. “Maybe I could continue my community service with you, wherever you go after this,” he suggested hopefully.
Amanda was flattered. She also knew it wasn’t the best idea. She cut open the next box. “I don’t think the court is going to go for that. They’re going to want to see that you can follow the rules and act in a positive manner, no matter where you are or who you’re with.”
Lamar sulked but said nothing more.
Her point made, Amanda focused on the cabinet installation. She kept Lamar busy until his foster father showed up to collect him at the end of the day.
Only when she’d had a chance to get a shower and clean up a little did she go in search of Justin again.
She found him on the back deck of the lodge with his dogs.
“Got a minute?” she asked, aware she owed him an apology, but unsure if he’d accept it.
Justin measured kibble into five stainless-steel bowls. He had the same brooding look he’d worn when he’d been talking with his father. “It’s probably not the best time for us to talk, Amanda.”
The Long, Hot Texas Summer Page 3