Austin's Revenge (The Townsends Book 4)

by Angie Campbell

  When her need to smile like the cat that ate the canary had finally passed, she looked over at Jamie, and saw the look of concern on her face. Amanda could tell she was thinking of asking her what she was up to. One correctly phrased question and all she had managed to achieve in the last several seconds would be for not. She decided they needed a change of topic. And real fast.

  “So, Phillip, why isn’t Christy here this morning?” she asked, not even realizing what she was about to start. “Doesn’t she normally come over when everyone gets together?”

  He gave her a sour look, not saying a word. He just went back to eating, trying to pretend she hadn’t brought Christy up.

  Zane snorted, finally sitting back down. “I think they had a disagreement this morning. I heard him on the phone earlier. It sounded like he was pleading with someone. I know him well enough to know, he wouldn’t plead like that with just anyone.”

  “Gee, Zane,” Phillip growled. “Do you have to eavesdrop on everyone?”

  “I wasn’t,” he smirked back. “I came across you by chance. The reason I don’t know more than that is, I turned and went back the other way, to give you some privacy.”

  “Phillip, what are you fighting with Christy about?” Jamie asked out of concern.

  “Nothing, Mom,” he shrugged, feeling uncomfortable. “It’s really not a big deal.”

  “You’re as bad as Zane. Maybe worse,” she added under her breath low enough the only one who heard her was Carl. Her husband just chuckled and shook his head.

  “Hey, you three think you can help me move her stuff into my garage today?” Zane asked, looking over at Mark, Luke and James. “Since she seems to think she’s going back, I want to get it done, ASAP.”

  “Sure,” Luke said with a grin. He had caught on to what Amanda was up to like everyone else, but he wasn’t going to be the one to tell Zane what was going on.

  “You think we can get it all in one trip?” he asked before shoving a bite of food in his mouth.

  “I don’t see why not. She doesn’t have a whole lot. She’s not exactly materialistic. We’ve got two trucks between us. Your dad would probably let us borrow his,” Mark said, eyeing Luke, who was still trying not to laugh. “That should be more than enough.”

  “Yeah, you can borrow the old truck,” Carl added with a smirk of his own.

  “Good. We need to go as soon as we’re done with breakfast,” Zane said, glaring at Amanda.

  ******

  Zane walked into his house and literally dropped onto the couch. It had been a long day. Mark was right. Amanda didn’t have a whole lot of stuff. But by the time they had gotten all of it packed and loaded, it was well past lunch. So, when they got back into Sapphire Springs, instead of going ahead and unloading at his house, they had all went to Carl and Jamie’s to see what they’d had for lunch. By the time they’d gotten done eating, Carl had decided he wanted to grill for supper, and had already started the process. Zane and the other three had went ahead and went and unloaded her stuff then went back out to his Mom and Dad’s afterwards. Now it was well past ten o’clock and all he wanted was to take a shower and fall into bed, but he was concerned that Amanda might still be angry at him, and he wanted to talk to her first.

  “Hey, Mandy,” he said, turning her to face him. “Are you still mad at me? I know I was being a little over baring, but I have to protect you. If anything ever happened to you, it would kill me.”

  “I don’t know. I’ll let you know,” she said, thinking to herself, not as long as you give me what I want.

  He nodded, giving her a serious look. “Is that the best I’m going to get?”

  “Probably,” she said, trying really hard to sound irritated.

  “Okay,” he nodded, thinking the best thing to do was give her some space and time to cool off. “Well, I’m going to go take a shower. I’ll be out in a few minutes. Then you can go take one.”

  “Okay,” she said, praying her nerves didn’t get to her. She knew she was going to have to give him enough time to get in the shower before she invaded his bathroom.

  She waited till she heard the door to his bedroom close before she got up to follow him. When she got to the door, she could hear him walking around. When she finally heard the door to the bathroom close behind him, she opened the door, and stepped in the bedroom, being sure to shut it quietly so he wouldn’t be alerted to her presence in his room before she was ready.

  She managed to undress without making any noise. And once she heard the shower door close, she took a deep breath and opened and closed the bathroom door as quietly as she had the other door.

  She was starting to shake, and knew if she didn’t move quickly, she was liable to chicken out. So, she opened the shower door and stepped in behind him, quickly closing it back.

  “Amanda, what are you doing?” Zane asked without turning around. He knew if he looked at her, he was going to be in trouble. Deep trouble. And all of his determination to wait till they were married was going to go right out the window. All the sudden, he wasn’t feeling quite so tired anymore. He had heard her close the bathroom door and was instantly ready, just from knowing she was in there with him.

  “You know what I’m doing, Zane,” she whispered, reaching out to lay her hand on his arm. “Why don’t you turn around and look at me?”

  “You weren’t really planning on going back to Ruby Falls. You were bluffing, weren’t you? You were forcing me to bring you home with me.”

  “Yeah,” she said, biting her bottom lip. “Are you mad at me?”

  “No,” he said, his voice shaking. All he wanted to do, was turn around and yank her up in his arms and forget about being good.

  “Will you, please, turn around and look at me?”

  He shook his head. He knew he couldn’t, or he would take her right there, against the shower wall. He wouldn’t even make it back to the bed.

  “Baby, you’re not ready for this,” he said, still unwilling to turn around. He could feel himself giving in. He knew he was going to have to get them out of this shower, fast. He turned the water off and opened the shower door only far enough to reach for the bath towel hanging on the towel bar on the wall.

  When he wrapped the towel around his waist and stepped out, she huffed, following him out. “Zane, please.”

  “Amanda, I love you, and God knows I want you more than I have ever wanted any woman in my life,” he said, without turning to look at her. He handed a towel back to her, making sure not to turn enough to accidently catch a glimpse of her. It was also, so she didn’t realize he actually had his eyes closed. The last thing he needed is for her to press her naked body up against him. “This resisting taking you to bed is starting to get more difficult than you could possibly ever imagine. Heck, if it weren’t for the fact we kept getting interrupted, I would have given in already.”

  “Then why don’t you just give in?” she whispered, stepping closer, the towel still in her hand.

  He felt her move closer and moved forward, keeping the much-needed space between them. When he heard her sigh of disappointment, his hands automatically fisted, causing his knuckles to turn white. “Because it’s important to me to show you the respect and love I truly feel for you. I won’t take you to bed until we’re married.”

  When he heard her gasp in shock, he almost turned around, until he noticed the towel still in her hand. “Amanda, please, wrap that towel around you, so I can turn to look at you. This is important to me.”

  She nodded her head, despite the fact he couldn’t see her do it and wrapped the towel around her like he had asked. “I’m covered. You can turn around now.”

  The first thing he noticed was the tears in her eyes. “Baby, I love you. Don’t cry. I really do want you. This is just really important to me.”

  “These are not tears of pain, I promise. I love you too. So much. I’m just happy and I don’t know what to say,” she shrugged. “I understand why you want to wait and I’m okay with it now.”


  “Thank God,” he said, pulling her into his arms to hold her close. “Now, all we have to do is, get through this mess with Austin.”

  She leaned back, grinning at him with mischief in her eyes. “Just so you know, I’m not going to promise not to test you on this between now and our wedding day, whenever that will be.” He just chuckled, holding her tighter.

  Chapter 25

  Sunday, September 7

  Carl had called Zane at six o’clock sharp that morning, knowing his son would already be up, even though he didn’t have to work that day. Besides it being a Sunday, he still had another week of vacation left. Which now that Amanda was back, he was actually enjoying his forced vacation, immensely. His dad had asked him and Amanda to come over for breakfast, so he could talk to him.

  When Zane got out of his Trans Am, his dad hollered at him from the back yard. He had obviously been out on the back porch, probably sitting in the porch swing, and heard them pull up. “Zane, come on back here. We can talk while your mom gets breakfast ready. She’d probably like Amanda’s help, if she didn’t mind.”

  “Go on in. I’ll be in, in a little bit,” he said, leaning over and giving Amanda a kiss. “I’m sure Mom would like your help.”

  She nodded her head in agreement. “Yeah, I can do that,” she answered before heading for the front porch.

  When he got to the back yard, he found his dad sitting on the porch, just where he thought he would. “Hey, Dad, what do you want to talk about?”

  “Your mom and I have some concerns,” Carl said, giving his son a very serious look.

  “I’m sure you do,” Zane said, taking a seat beside his dad on the porch swing, causing it to groan under the combined weight. “We might need to replace this swing soon.”

  “I don’t know,” his dad chuckled. “I think it might be protesting a couple of two hundred, pound men sitting in it. Well, I’m two hundred. I think you might weigh quite a bit more than I do, with all that solid muscle you got packed on. Even when I was in my prime, I wasn’t that muscled.”

  He gave his dad a strange look. “You’re not thinking I use steroids, are you? I won’t touch that crap.”

  “No,” Carl said, chuckling again. “You’re naturally broader than I am, and you work out to stay fit for your job. I never thought anything like that. Muscle just weighs more than fat. I figure you out weigh me by about fifty pounds. Close to it, anyway.”

  Zane nodded his head in agreement. “Do you think this swing would survive Mark and James sitting down in it at the same time?”

  “Probably not,” his dad said with a shake of his head. “We might ought to warn them.”

  “Yeah, will do,” he agreed. “So, what did you want to talk to me about?”

  Carl sighed, rubbing his temples. “First thing, do you think this thing with Austin is over?”

  “No,” he snorted, shaking his head. “When I’m at work, she’s still going to have to be here with Mom. She’s already agreed to give up her job and look for something here. She’s not going back to Ruby Falls for any reason, unless she’s with me.”

  “What about her boss, Randel Rice, isn’t it? Will he still give her a reference with her quitting like that?”

  Zane shook his head. “Reese, and yes. He knows what she’s been going through with Austin. She talked to him before we came over here. He’s actually glad she’s back over here. She agreed to do phone conferences whenever needed until they replace her, and they could get along without her.”

  “Okay,” Carl said, feeling alarm and relief, all at the same time. “Next question. Are you ready to settle down and get married?”

  Zane smiled and leaned back in the swing, causing it to protest again. “I’ve always been ready for that. I just didn’t realize she was in love with me too. I didn’t think it was possible. All the guys she’s ever dated have always been so different from me.”

  Carl just chuckled. “Of course, she’s in love with you. We were all just convinced you weren’t ready to see it. Have you asked her yet?”

  “Not technically.”

  “Not technically? What does that even mean?” he asked, giving his son a hard look.

  “Well, she knows that’s what I want,” he grinned. “I just haven’t asked yet. I still need to get a ring, and I’m hoping we can get this thing with Austin over with first.”

  His dad gave him a hard look of concern. “You’re not doing what Luke did while you were still trying to catch Tracy, are you?”

  “No,” he said, shaking his head with a snort. “Luke wouldn’t even talk to Mindi about their feelings and the possibility of getting married. I just want Austin caught, so we can let our guard down enough to plan a wedding. I don’t want her to have to constantly be looking over her shoulder anytime I’m not with her. I can’t be with her every time she goes to a shop or the bakery. Besides the fact I can’t take that kind of time off from work, I don’t think she would find that very enjoyable. I’d be sure to end up doing a lot of grumbling.”

  Carl shook his head, furrowing his brow. “You’re probably right and you’re not supposed to see the dress before the wedding anyway.”

  “There is that,” he chuckled.

  ******

  By the time Zane made it to the kitchen, it was to find Phillip had made it over. “Hey, is the whole family coming over this morning?”

  Phillip shook his head and took a sip of his coffee. “I doubt it. I came over to talk to Mom about something.”

  “That something wouldn’t be a certain blonde-headed beauty would it?” Zane asked out of true concern, not trying to give his brother a hard time.

  “Don’t start, Zane,” Phillip growled, giving his brother a dirty look, proving that was exactly what he wanted to talk to his mom about.

  Zane took a step back, holding his hands up. “I’ll drop it. Have you seen Amanda?”

  Phillip pointed at the pantry. “She’s helping Mom get breakfast started. I think she’s getting ready to mix up biscuit dough,” he answered staring at Zane for a minute, thinking hard. “Zane, what’s up with you? You look different this morning.”

  “Nothing’s up with me,” he said, shaking his head. “I’m fine.”

  “I didn’t say I thought there was something wrong,” his brother chuckled. “You look happy this morning. More than you have in a really, really long time.”

  “What’s wrong with my being happy?” he asked with a puzzled look. “Amanda’s safe again. Why wouldn’t I be happy?”

  “Nothing. It just makes me wonder what happened.”

  “Why does something have to have happened?”

  Phillip sat back in his chair, raising an eyebrow at him. “Now I know you’re hiding something. And I have a pretty good idea what it was.”

  Just then Amanda walked out of the pantry with the flour and other assorted items in her hands. She must have heard at least the last thing Phillip had said. When she looked up at Zane, she started glowing.

  Phillip had just taken a drink of his coffee. When he noticed how red she had turned, he slammed his coffee mug down, sloshing it everywhere, feeling certain his guess of a second ago was right. He nearly sucked the hot liquid down the wrong pipe, which started a coughing fit. Zane walked over and slapped him on the back. When he was finally able to speak again, he looked up at Zane and said, “If you don’t want Mom to figure it out, she’s going to have to stop turning into a tomato when she looks at you.”

  “What?” he asked, truly confused for a few seconds.

  “Don’t try to play dumb with me. I’ve got eyes in my head, and I wasn’t born yesterday.” When Phillip looked back over at Amanda, he noticed she had gotten even redder, and she was standing there staring at him in horror. “I know now why you are so happy. All that built up sexual energy is gone.”

  “No, you’re wrong,” he said, shaking his head. “You’re embarrassing her because you think we did something and you’re being too blunt about it.” That and she’s probably thinking about how
hard she tried to get something to happen.

  “Zane, I know you better than that,” he said, shaking his head. “You’re way to happy for some reason.”

  “Of course, I’m happy,” he nodded. “The woman I love, loves me back. But that doesn’t mean we’re not going to wait until we’re married.”

  “Married?” Phillip blurted in shock. “Wait till you’re married? Wow! If I ever doubted how you felt about that woman, I don’t anymore. Now I know why you’re so happy.”

  Zane didn’t say anything. He grinned and walked over to Amanda who had finally turned around and started working on her biscuit dough. She had obviously decided to ignore Phillip as Zane wrapped his arms around her and kissed her on top of the head.

  ******

  Ashley walked through Katie’s Café, a tiny restaurant that catered to those who liked their food swimming in grease. She gave a small shudder and a disgusted look at her surroundings. “What is it about places like this? Why would anyone want to eat at a place where one bite could cause a heart attack?” She could smell the grease in the air and it was making her nauseous thinking about eating something cooked in the place. “Well, at least it’s not a biker bar,” she mumbled under her breath.

  She looked around the small room at all the empty tables, wondering where her prey was, until she noticed a man of about the right height and build with a dirty shirt and ball cap sitting at the counter.

  She walked up behind Austin, smacking him in the back of the head. When he spun around with a growl, she stepped back out of his reach, wagging her finger at him. “You don’t want to get yourself thrown out of here. I know you’ve lost Amanda again. From what I hear, he just walked in, and right back out with her in tow.”

  “Well, he had an unfair advantage. He brought Harris with him. That beast coldcocked me. When I came to, they were all three gone.” He wasn’t going to add, he was also outside with no way back in. The little whore had obviously had the big one take his key. And he certainly wasn’t going to tell her that he’d been sleeping in his truck for the last several days.