Under the Open Sky (Montana Heritage Series) (34 page)

             
She picked Jenny up and then continued on her way to Jason’s grandparents'. Several minutes later she turned into a long driveway and followed it past the house and down into a valley by a large barn. A small fire already burned in the field beside the barn and a large screen sat several feet out into the field. Jason had borrowed the screen and projection equipment from a friend of his and was going to show movies. Everyone was bringing food and sleeping bags and they were going to make a night of it.

             
“Well, if it isn’t the Dynamic Duo,” David greeted them with a hug. “How are you, Jenny?” he asked of her.

             
“I’m good; how are you?” Jenny returned.              

             
Amanda had to smile, she still wasn’t certain if Jenny and David had actually been a couple or not.

             
“Mandy; Jenny!” Chloe waved as she jogged up. “I haven’t seen you two in ages; how are you?” Chloe hugged them both. They were soon joining the growing group by the fire.

             
“Claim a space,” Jason invited and indicated the half circle of hay bales that sat opposite the screen.

             
Amanda and Jenny spread a blanket before they dropped their things on top and moved to put their food items on the makeshift tables inside the barn. A couple of guys were running extension cables out the door to the equipment for watching movies.

             
“I am so glad that Jason is doing this; can you believe how long it’s been since we were all together?” Chloe was following them.

             
“I know, I had thought I would keep up with everyone but I’m always so busy it doesn’t happen,” Amanda admitted as they made their way back outside and greeted friends as they went. Amanda spotted Samantha several feet away and excused herself. She still wasn’t certain exactly what had happened between Samantha and herself.

             
“Hey, Sam,” Amanda greeted her old friend with a smile.

             
“Hi, Mandy,” Samantha smiled back.

             
“I can’t remember the last time I saw you,” Amanda admitted. She didn’t add that she was surprised to see her tonight. Samantha had never run with the group that was here.

             
“It’s been a while,” Samantha nodded in agreement. “Troy invited me tonight; he and I have a few classes together,” she answered Amanda’s unasked question.

             
“You and Troy huh? He’s nice,” Amanda offered.             

             
“He is,” Samantha agreed. “Tonight’s our first date so we’ll see what happens next.”

             
“How have you been, Sam?”

             
“I’ve been real good.”

             
“You look nice,” Amanda complimented her friend. Samantha had never spent much time primping; tonight she was dressed very nicely, her hair and makeup in place.

             
“Yeah, I finally decided to change my look; a little slower than you were,” Sam offered with a shrug. 

             
“Hi, Mandy,” Troy smiled as he joined Samantha and handed her a glass of soda.

             
“Hey, Troy; it’s good to see you.”

             
“It’s good to see you too. I hear you and Jenny are rooming and attending down at Haddon together?”

             
“We are. I’ll let you two enjoy your date. Maybe we can talk more later,” Amanda suggested to Sam.

             
“I’d like that,” she nodded with a smile.

             
Amanda smiled and turned to go and rejoin Jenny where she was talking with Chloe, Dede, and David. Chloe was telling about a small fire in one of the dorm rooms one night that sent the entire dorm into the courtyard in the middle of the night.

             
“It was freezing cold and here we were in our gowns and pajamas, every guy in the school was suddenly outside just to spy on us,” Chloe rolled her eyes.

             
“I can imagine,” David was grinning. “They should have invited all you ladies back to their warm dorm rooms,” he joked.

             
“Men!” Dede rolled her eyes.

             
“I don’t think I would care much for dorm living,” Jenny commented.

             
“Uh, huh; me either,” Amanda agreed with her. Amanda watched Jenny grin, her gaze going past Amanda. Before she could turn, two hands covered her eyes, a familiar scent enveloping her a moment before lips brushed her neck just below her ear.

             
“Cade!” Amanda turned to throw her arms around him as his arms settled around her waist. He greeted her with a kiss.

             
“How did you end up here?” Amanda demanded of him.

             
“A little birdie told me about the gathering,” Cade winked over her shoulder at Jenny.

             
“Thank you, Jenny,” Amanda turned; Cade’s arms remained around her as she leaned into his embrace.

             
“So I guess you two don’t have to sneak around to see each other anymore, huh?” David teased.

             
“We never snuck around,” Amanda argued. “That aside, my brother has no idea he’s here.”

             
“Trent still trying to tell you who you can and can’t see?” Chloe guessed.

             
“Yep, but I am eighteen and he has no say.”

             
“So why don’t you just be done with it and tell him you’re seeing Cade,” Jenny challenged.

             
“Are we seeing each other? I’m not sure what we’re doing,” Amanda joked as she tilted her head to look up at Cade.

             
“We’re seeing each other, we just don’t get to see much of each other,” he grinned down at her.

             
“You two are cute together,” Dede grinned at them; Amanda smiled back. She glanced over to find Samantha watching her and smiled. Samantha offered a strained smile in return and turned to say something to Troy. Amanda frowned, still puzzled by Samantha’s distance. Amanda turned back to the group around her; they continued to talk and laugh as the sun began to dip behind the mountains. The smell of burgers and hot dogs cooking began to pull everyone toward the barn where Jason and a couple of other guys were grilling.

             
Amanda seated herself on the tailgate of Cade’s truck, Cade joining her as others followed. Conversation flowed as they ate and Amanda felt content and at peace with life. It felt good to be seated beside Cade, everyone accepting them as a couple instead of trying to pretend he was merely her brother’s friend.

             
As soon as she had finished eating, Amanda moved to stand in front of Cade, where he was still seated on the tailgate. Cade wrapped his arms around her as she leaned against his chest, her arms resting on his knees on either side of her.

             
“I heard your brother was getting serious about a girl; who is she?” Chloe queried.

             
“Her name’s Christy; he met her at school. She’s nice enough I guess but I can’t say I’m really thrilled,” Amanda admitted.

             
“Oh?”

             
“I don’t want her for a sister-in-law,” Amanda answered honestly.

             
“I don’t think they’ll make it to the alter,” Cade predicted.

             
“No?” Amanda twisted to look at Cade.

             
“No, I can’t put my finger on it but something is missing between them. Not to mention she isn’t quite his type.”

             
“I noted that,” Amanda nodded.

             
“She basically chased him until she caught him,” Cade informed her.

             
“Like me?” Amanda grinned at him.

             
“I wasn’t running,” he informed her, “just staying a step ahead until your age caught up,” he smiled at her before leaning down to kiss her.              

             
“I think I’m going to give these two some space,” Jenny was fanning herself when Amanda turned back to the group. Amanda laughed as her friend walked off, the others following her.

             
“We ran everybody off,” Amanda informed Cade as she turned to face him.             

             
“Fine by me, for a moment anyway,” he kissed her again and tugged her closer by her belt loops. It was several minutes later before Amanda snuggled against Cade’s chest with a sigh.

             
“What was the sigh for?” Cade asked her as his thumb caressed the bare skin at her waist.

             
“I would invite you to ditch the party in favor of a quiet evening at my place but I know you would turn me down,” she admitted.

             
“I’m not making love to you tonight and leaving tomorrow,” Cade confirmed her prediction.

             
“You are so mean!” she accused as she leaned back to stare up at him.

             
“No, if I were mean I would do just what you suggested,” he countered.

             
“So you’ll head off to school and all the women waiting there,” Amanda frowned up at him. The closer they got, the more it bothered her to think of him with other women.

             
“Manny, I have slept with exactly three women since meeting you: the first two just after I went to work for your father and the third was at a party my sophomore year. It was another reminder of why I don’t usually drink and I didn’t again until the other night when I was watching that guy put his hands all over you,” Cade informed her.

             
“Three women?” Amanda queried. His reputation, which she had set out to learn after she met him, didn’t quite match that. “Look, Cade, what you do isn’t really my business.”

             
“Until now, no; what you did was none of mine and what I did was none of yours. But I would say that’s changed; wouldn’t you?” Cade was watching her intently.

             
“Do you want it to change?” Amanda asked.

             
“Yes, I do and I want you to know that I haven’t been off at school fooling around with a bunch of women.”

             
“What about this Nicole?” Amanda couldn’t help asking.

             
“I doubled with your brother a few times with a few of Christy’s friends, Nicole was one of those and she was fun and we spent a lot time laughing together. She was the one who wanted to change that.”

             
“You didn’t?” Amanda surveyed him with a raised brow.

             
“I can’t believe I’m telling you this,” Cade sighed and shook his head. “She came over and started trying to seduce me. I was trying to politely turn her down when she reached into my pocket and found your letter.”

             
“Oh?” Amanda waited.

             
“She demanded to know why I was dating her and writing another woman and to know who you were but stormed out before I could answer. When she came back the next weekend to apologize for blowing up at me and asked who you were I relayed your answer, credited to you incidentally, and she really did blow up. That was the last time I saw her in more than passing.”

             
“Good,” Amanda was smiling at him.

             
“Your brother is quite put out with me.”

             
“Why?” Amanda demanded.

             
“Because he keeps trying to set me up and I won’t go out more than once maybe twice with any of them and won’t sleep with them.”

             
“And this makes him angry?” Amanda was smiling in confusion.

             
“He suspects that it has something to do with you but he can’t prove it. I think he has it in his head that if I’m sleeping around it will ensure I’m not with you,” Cade shared.

             
“Does it have something to do with me?” she asked him and watched him smile.

             
“It has everything to do with you, Manny.”

             
“Good,” she smiled and leaned forward to kiss him.

             
“Manny?” he cupped her face.

             
“Yes?”

             
“We’ll both be finished with school by next summer. Wait for me and I’ll wait for you,” he requested.