He stiffened and shot her a startled look. “You what?”
“I detest sex,” she reiterated. “I will never allow another man to so much as touch me that way. Before we got married, it happened in the backseat of Mark’s car, and it was horrible. I vowed then that I’d never do it again, but then I realized I was pregnant, Mark offered to marry me, and my folks, believing he was a nice boy, encouraged me to accept. I did, and my second time with him was a nightmare. I will never go there again.”
Jeb glanced over her shoulder to make sure none of his brothers was eavesdropping. “I totally understand why.”
Relief washed through Amanda. “You do?” That was good, she thought. In fact it was excellent. No man in his right mind wanted a frigid wife. “I’m so glad. You can push aside any romantic notions you may have and know that we can never be more than friends.”
His lips twitched as if he were suppressing a grin. “Don’t put words in my mouth. I said I understand why you never want to go there again—being hurt, humiliated, and beaten to within an inch of your life by a man who should have loved and protected you. But I’m not Mark. You’ll never walk that road with me.” He bent to plant a quick kiss on the end of her nose. “Stop worrying, Mandy. We aren’t racing toward a finish line. We’ve agreed to take one step at a time and see where we end up. What’s wrong with that?”
“I’m just afraid your goal and mine may not be the same.”
“You’re right,” he told her. “I’m fine with being only friends for right now, and if you still feel that way later, I’ll accept it. Just don’t throw up any barricades before you reach that stretch of road. There’s a country song I love about life being a dance that we learn as we go. You ever try to learn how to dance?”
Amanda didn’t like the direction this conversation had taken. “Yes, back in high school. I was lousy at it. I tripped over my own feet.”
“No worries. I’ll let you stand on my toes until you get the moves down pat.”
Chapter Thirteen
The following morning, Amanda was relieved to see no weapons in sight, except for the one Barney wore holstered on his hip as part of his deputy uniform. The other men had hidden their guns somewhere. With daylight came a more relaxed vigilance. The men strolled casually from window to window, surveying the grounds around the house, but they weren’t obvious about it. As a result, Chloe forgot about playing prince and princess with them and began stowing the Thanksgiving cookies she’d made with Kate into freezer bags while Amanda started breakfast for a large crew.
At one point, she heard the unmistakable sound of a shotgun being opened and jacked closed, something Chloe didn’t recognize. Raised around guns, Amanda felt no alarm. She knew Jeb would make sure that Chloe had no access to a loaded weapon.
Trust. She wasn’t sure when she’d come to trust Jeb, and intellectually she knew it was too soon, but her heart wouldn’t heed the warning. Recalling his analogy from yesterday, she decided the two of them were, in some ways, like soldiers in a war zone. The usual time required to grow well acquainted had been nixed by their circumstances. She’d seen how Jeb stood his ground when danger threatened. As a kid, she’d taken for granted the feeling of safety her parents had provided, but until coming to this house, she hadn’t felt secure since marrying Mark. It felt incredible to be relaxed and have no urge to look over her shoulder.
Jeb. He came in to assist Chloe with her cookies, admiring the lopsided turkeys and appearing to be in no hurry, but Amanda knew his true goal was to get the kitchen table cleared for breakfast. When the holiday treats were safe in the freezer, he moved in on Amanda, took stock of the works in progress, and then jumped in to help her by peeling potatoes. Even in so large an area, Amanda found herself brushing against him as she used the side-by-side sinks. The accidental touches unsettled her, and she experienced that butterfly-wing sensation in her stomach again. Physical attraction. She could lie to herself and pretend she felt nothing—and that he didn’t—but the electricity that snapped in the air between them was undeniable. She wondered how it might feel to surrender, to have his hands moving over her skin, to let him kiss her. The images that flashed through her mind made her knees weak.
“I thought I’d make your kind of fried spuds,” she told him, determined to stay focused on cooking.
“No way.” He flashed her a grin. “My brothers have tasted mine lots of times. Yours with gravy will be a real treat for them.”
Warmth pooled low in Amanda’s middle. He wasn’t pretending to enjoy her cooking. He truly liked it. She began frying a pound of bacon.
“Two,” Jeb told her. “A pound will be only an appetizer for this crew.”
Amanda grabbed another package from the meat drawer, noting that it was wrapped in butcher paper and marked as bacon with red ink. Homegrown pork. She glanced over her shoulder to make sure Chloe had left and then heard the child’s voice coming from a distant part of the house.
“You know, Jeb, as much as I appreciate your guarding Chloe’s innocence about the fate of your livestock, perhaps she’d be better off learning the truth. It isn’t realistic for her to grow up believing that meat, poultry, and eggs magically appear in Styrofoam trays or cartons.”
Jeb paused in his task. “I’ll tell her someday. All of us need to know where our food comes from.”
“When?” Amanda asked.
“Oh, I don’t know. I’m thinking maybe when she’s sixteen. Better yet, twenty-one.”
She laughed. “You may not even know her when she’s twenty-one.”
He grinned. “If I don’t, then I’ll happily leave the job of educating her to you.” He resumed peeling. “Johnson called this morning. He tried your cell first and got no answer. So then he dialed mine. The short version is, Mark couldn’t be found.”
A dreadful cold trickled into Amanda’s middle. “Oh, dear God.”
“He’s quit his job. Apparently he’s still renting the house. The cops got in and found some of his things still there.”
“Do you think he’s tracked me down?” Her voice quavered.
“Impossible to say.” The paring knife went still again. “But Johnson filed for the dissolution using your rental address. All Mark will find is a caved-in house. And Gowdy will arrive soon. We’ll have state-of-the-art security before the day ends.” He held Amanda’s gaze. “Mark may know where you work and where Chloe attends school. As soon as classes resume, you need to call your boss and ask for a leave of absence. Just explain what’s going on. And then you need to contact Chloe’s teachers to get her assignments ready for pickup. We’ll work with her here until the danger is past.”
Amanda agreed that going to the school would be dangerous for both her and Chloe. “What if he finds us?”
Jeb narrowed an eye at her. “As long as he minds his manners, he’ll be fine. But if he makes one move to harm either of you, I’ll make him wish he’d never been born.” He relaxed his shoulders. “On a bright note, Johnson created a flyer and sent it electronically to our county sheriff here in Mystic, so a picture of Mark will soon be posted all over town. The image will be underscored with WANTED AND DANGEROUS. People will be warned not to let on if they recognize him. They’re to do nothing until he’s gone, and then they should call the police.”
“How did Johnson get a picture of him?”
“You’ve been out of the Internet loop for too many years. It’s easy to find information on individuals now, especially if you have the resources that Johnson has.” A grin teased the corners of his mouth. “In truth, Johnson got a picture off his Facebook page, which I could do. Better than a mug shot. It shows his face and body build.”
Amanda struggled against the tremors that tried to overtake her body. “He’s after me. I’ll bet you anything he went to my house yesterday.”
“Because it was Friday the thirteenth, and that was his favorite day to make you miserable. I remember you telling m
e that. But his days of making you miserable are over. I know it’ll be no picnic for you to see him in a courtroom, but with Johnson at the helm, I don’t think Mark has a chance of winning. He’ll be lucky to get supervised visitations with his daughter instead of doing hard time.”
Amanda turned the strips of bacon in the extra-large skillet. “I wish Chloe never had to see him again.”
“There’s every likelihood she won’t. He’ll be unable to do anything out of line in front of a caseworker, so the visitations won’t fulfill his needs. I’m guessing he won’t show up. He’ll move on and find another woman to victimize.”
Amanda couldn’t bear to meet Jeb’s gaze. “If Mark isn’t locked up, he’ll never stop trying to make me pay. Chloe, too. He won’t rest until I’m dead.”
* * *
Shortly after breakfast, Gowdy arrived at Jeb’s with six helpers. Blond with friendly blue eyes, he was a stocky young man with a winning grin. In short order, he informed Jeb that keeping the doors and windows locked while they installed a security system would be impossible.
With a nod of greeting to Amanda, he told Jeb, “We’ll do a little hardwiring, but we’ll also be going wireless wherever we can. That requires opening windows and doors repeatedly to make sure the magnetic devices are making good contact, testing the alarm, and all kinds of stuff. Some ditchdigging, which is noisy, will be necessary to install cable to the outside cameras. I brought a trencher, but it’ll take time to penetrate the ice and the frozen ground. Once you and I decide where you need visual coverage, I think all of you should leave and go someplace more secure.”
Jeb agreed. “You still think you can get everything done today?”
“I’ve got three more guys coming in from Crystal Falls. I think ten of us can knock it out and be finished by five or six.”
Ben spoke up to say, “I’ll call Mom. She’ll be happy to have us at their house.”
As he turned away, lifting his cell phone to his ear as he walked, Chloe chimed in with, “Yay! We’ll be with Mimi all day long!”
* * *
The day at the Sterling home passed with amazing speed for Amanda. Kate was energetic beyond belief. While the men visited, ate snacks, and watched the property perimeters, Kate came up with one project after another to entertain Chloe. First, they made more cookies, decorated for Christmas this time, and then they adjourned to the craft table to create another dozen beautiful tree balls. At first Amanda worried that her daughter would pick such awful color combinations that her attempts would look like goulash, but instead, the six-year-old girl went for bling, choosing metallic gold and shimmery burgundy. The result was outstanding.
“Oh, Chloe, that’s my favorite one yet!” Amanda said.
Chloe beamed. “Mimi said yesterday that it’s better to use only two colors. Sometimes I can use three. But if you use too many, the paint runs together and makes one icky color inside the ball.”
Hats off to Mimi. Amanda relaxed to focus on her own efforts.
“You can keep the ones you make,” Kate said. “I already have so many that my tree looks as crowded as Times Square on New Year’s Eve.”
“Oh, we can’t just take them!” Amanda cried. “The materials cost money.”
“At most, only two bucks apiece. I got the clear balls on sale. The paint isn’t that costly per bottle, and you’re only using a little.” She leaned across the table to turn a few in the egg carton. To Chloe, she said, “That’s the most important part. By turning them, we can make sure the colors spiral to make a lovely design inside each ball that shows through the glass.” To Amanda, she added, “I sell these for a nice profit at the Christmas bazaar, twenty bucks a whack. The bazaar is held each year at the Mystic Creek Menagerie. That’s where Dizzy’s Roundtable Restaurant is. The building is gigantic, and all our churches put up tables there for a small fee. It’s fabulous. The eateries remain open. People can shop, eat, and shop some more.”
Amanda had grown excited for a moment because these gorgeous balls were very easy to make, and eighteen dollars of profit per sale sounded like a grand way to make money fast. Dreaming. With Mark at large, she couldn’t have a table at the bazaar.
Amanda watched the paint swirl inside her ball to create a magical blend of black and gold. As if sensing Amanda’s turn of thought, Kate said, “I know this is a trying time for you. But you can rest assured that everyone in town will be watching out for you, however long it takes. Barney says posters are up everywhere, and a few of my friends have even called to tell me about them. I pretend to know nothing.”
“What kind of posters?” Chloe asked, turning the ball she held to cover the inside with paint.
Amanda could only think to answer truthfully. “The posters show a picture of your daddy. If anyone sees him in Mystic Creek, they’ll call the sheriff’s office.”
Chloe set her ball in the egg carton. “Good. My daddy is mean, and if he finds us, he’ll try to do bad things.”
Glancing at her watch, Kate changed the subject, saying, “I think it’s time to make afternoon snack trays.”
* * *
As promised, Gowdy called Jeb at five to tell him the security system had been installed and gave him the temporary passcode to disarm and reset the panels. By then it was dark, so all of Jeb’s brothers followed them back to the newly armed house. It didn’t escape Amanda’s notice that she and her daughter were surrounded by a gaggle of large men as they walked from the truck to the front door. It unnerved her to realize their aim was to protect her and Chloe from a bullet. With their own bodies.
Once inside, Jeb stepped over to a beeping security panel to punch in the passcode. Jonas, the last person to enter, turned to bolt the door. As Amanda helped Chloe take off her jacket, Barney said, “Well, bro, now that our services are no longer needed, I’d better head back to work.”
Nodding, Jeb said, “I really appreciate this, guys. It’s a big house, and I couldn’t have covered all the entrances by myself.”
“No big deal,” Ben replied. “We were happy to stay over. But now that we’re past the hump, I need to boogie, too. A neighbor kid is taking care of my livestock, but with these low temperatures, I worry anyway.”
Before Amanda saw it coming, she and Chloe received hugs from men who had been strangers to them yesterday. Jonas’s farewell made Amanda smile. Arms locked around her, he bent low to whisper, “I’m going for my bachelor’s in psychology, focusing on human services. Later, I hope to get my master’s.”
She leaned back to search his gaze. “Wow. When can you set up shop? I think I’m going to need some counseling.”
He grinned and kissed her forehead. “Soon. But if you stick with my brother, I’ll refer you to someone else. Conflict of interest.” He winked.
Once the men left, Jeb relocked the front door and then, after fetching a stool for Chloe, gave her and Amanda lessons on how to operate the system. Together they came up with a permanent numerical passcode that all of them could remember: Bozo’s birth date. Chloe loved that idea.
When Jeb went outside moments later to care for his animals, Chloe stood on the stool under the kitchen security panel to turn off the system. Jeb paused at the back door and met Amanda’s gaze. “If I’m not back in an hour, hit the panic button. Same goes if anyone tries to get inside.”
Amanda nodded, locked the door behind Jeb, then supervised Chloe as she reset the alarm to Stay.
“Now we’re safe as can be,” she told the child. “And I need to get started on dinner!” In the kitchen, she set an oven timer for fifty-nine minutes. If Jeb didn’t return before it went off, she would do as she’d promised and alert the authorities. “Do you want to help me cook?” she asked Chloe.
“Yes, please.”
Amanda reached up to turn on the kitchen TV and froze in midmotion. A larger monitor had been installed next to it. Divided into squares, pictures of the house, both in
side and out, graced the screen. She could see Jeb walking toward the sheep enclosure, clear as day, even though it was dark. There were views of the front yard and porch, the upstairs hall. No area where an intruder could approach the house or be seen inside had been missed.
“Oh, my, infrared cameras,” she said in a low voice.
Chloe turned from positioning her stool near the sink to stare with wide eyes at the pictures. “Wow, Mommy, we’re on TV! Does that mean we’re movie stars?”
With a start, Amanda located the kitchen view and laughed. “No, sweetie. It only means that Mr. Jeb spent a passel of money to make this house secure.” She pointed. “See? That’s the upstairs hallway. Right now, it’s empty, as it should be. If we saw someone in the hall when all of us are accounted for, we’d know we had an intruder.”
Chloe’s face went pale. “Then what would we do?”
Amanda gave the child a quick hug. “We’d press the panic button and lock ourselves in the downstairs bathroom until the police arrived.”
“We can’t forget to take Bozo in with us.”
* * *
Amanda decided to quick-thaw hamburger and make an oven casserole with noodles and cream of mushroom soup with a little cheddar cheese tossed in for yum effect. It wouldn’t be haute cuisine, but it would fill their empty stomachs and be ready to eat quickly. As she worked, giving Chloe small chores and circling Bozo, who lay on the slate near the child, Amanda glanced often at the monitor to check on Jeb’s whereabouts. If Mark lurked in the dark, ready to pounce— Well, Amanda couldn’t even finish the thought. If something happened to Jeb, she wouldn’t know what to do.
A sudden ache filled her chest. What’s happening to me? As she put the baking dish into the oven and set a second timer for thirty minutes, she saw that her hands were trembling. She’d never dealt with emotions that ran this deep for a man. She’d adored her father, but that had been different, a bond formed by flesh and blood.
When Jeb knocked a moment later, Amanda could see him on the monitor. She hurried to the security panel to disarm the system and then moved to open the door. Jeb shouldered his way past her, closed and locked the door, and said, “You didn’t ask me to identify myself. Never open the door unless you know for sure who’s there.”
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