Under the Open Sky (Montana Heritage Series) (37 page)

             
“Not your problem,” Jenny sat up and reached for a fleece throw she had shoved in her bag. “Dang, we’re buried in fog,” Jenny commented. Amanda glanced around to realize her friend was right.

             
“What time is it?” someone asked a short distance away.

             
“Seven fifteen,” David returned.

             
“Fire’s roaring,” Jason invited.

             
“Sounds good to me,” Jenny grabbed her sleeping bag and wrapped it around herself as she moved to stand by the fire. A few others were starting to stir and seek the heat as well.

             
“Should we join them?” Cade asked Amanda.

             
“In a minute,” she requested and snuggled back against him. Cade shifted until she was lying beside him, one of his arms underneath her and his other wrapped around her.

             
“Maybe I should have taken you up on your offer last night,” he teased. “Waking up with you like this would have been even more pleasant without company.”

             
“I offered,” she reminded him.

             
“I know but I have to leave today and won’t be back any sooner than Christmas, maybe next summer, Manny. It’s going to be hard enough to leave you as it is,” Cade reminded her.

             
“I’m dreading it,” she admitted.

             
“So we’ll look forward to seeing each other all the more, Manny,” he kissed her lightly. “What do you say we go get warm?” he suggested.

             
“Okay,” she smiled and let him stand first to extend a hand to her. They moved to stand with a growing group, Amanda wrapped in Cade’s arms and the sleeping bag wrapped around Cade. Coffee, milk, muffins, and granola bars served as breakfast as the group started slowly dispersing and gathering their things to leave; a half hour later only a hand full of people remained.

             
“Thanks, Jason; it was so great to see everyone again,” Amanda informed him.

             
“Glad to; maybe we can do it again next summer,” he suggested.

             
“That would be fun,” she smiled.

             
“I’m glad you could make it, Mandy; good luck to you and Cade.”

             
“Thanks,” Amanda offered him a hug and then moved to her blanket and reached for her bag and her clothes. She had planned to redress much as she had undressed the night before but she wasn’t so certain of that, now. Cade looked amused as she hesitated in indecision. She finally pulled her clothes out.

             
“You changing here again?” Jenny queried.

             
“I guess so,” she admitted.

             
“How are you going to manage the halter top?”

             
“Carefully,” she grinned at her friend. She stepped into the top and slid it up until the bottom was in place, and then tugged the ties up and around her neck to tie them before making sure everything was covered.

             
“Here, I’ll get the hem of your halter,” Jenny offered and held it in place while Amanda pulled off her outer shirt.

             
Amanda thanked Jenny, reached for her skirt and slid it on over her pants. She had to tug her pants down just slightly to fasten her skirt and then slipped her pants off and dropped them in her bag.

             
“Guess I should redress too,” Jenny grabbed her bag.

             
“Yeah, you might want to change in the bathroom,” Amanda recommended.

             
“Why?”

             
“Just trust me,” Amanda nodded. Jenny frowned between her and a grinning Cade and nodded slowly.

             
“Okay, I don’t think I want to know; I’m going,” Jenny hurried across the field.

             
“Did you know you have amazing legs?” Cade asked her as she grabbed her boots and sat down on a hay bale to pull them on.

             
“Thank you,” she smiled at him. Her boots now on, she reached for her jacket and dug a brush out to brush the tangles from her hair.

             
“You are so beautiful,” Cade told her with a smile, “and sexy as hell in boots and a skirt.”

             
“I’ll wear the combo more often,” she promised as she stood and started gathering her things. Cade helped her and walked her to her Jeep. Amanda turned and spotted her brother, Christy, and Shauna a few feet away where they were talking to Jenny. Her brother was scrutinizing her as she approached, Amanda moved to join them.

             
“Hey, I need to talk to you a minute,” Trent grabbed her hand and dragged her off a few feet from the others. “Are you sleeping with Cade?” Trent demanded.

             
“Last night with a whole crowd present,” Amanda intentionally egged him on.

             
“Are you having sex with him?” Trent bit off impatiently.

             
“No!” Amanda answered honestly, though she was tempted to avoid the question and leave him wondering. She watched relief flood her brother’s face.

             
“Amanda, you have no idea how worried I am.”

             
“Trent, I love you so much, I truly do but I’m not a child anymore,” she reminded him.

             
“He spent part of night before last with Shauna, Mandy. Now last night he’s flirting with you,” Trent informed her.

             
Amanda grimaced, “He didn’t spend part of night before last with Shauna.”

             
“Mandy, he…” Trent stopped short as he comprehended what she was saying.

             
“I just told you I’m not sleeping with him, now quit staring at me like that.”

             
“You told him no?”

             
“He told me no,” she admitted and watched her brother rub his face with both hands.

             
“Amanda,” the one word was weighted with fatigue.

             
“Funny that the man you claim is after one thing and one thing only is taking his time getting it,” Amanda mused aloud. “He keeps telling me I’m better than a brief fling, Trent. Does that sound like a man who is intending to use me?”

             
“He said that to you?” her brother looked confused.

             
“That and several similar statements; yes,” Amanda returned. She rose onto her toes and kissed her brother’s cheek. “I’m a big girl now, Trent. If he breaks my heart you can take a swing at him; okay?” Amanda teased.

             
“Yeah,” her brother sighed.

             
“Is he womanizing around school or something that I should be concerned about?” Amanda asked and watched her brother frown.

             
“No, he’s usually at work, home, or class,” Trent admitted. “He only dates when I bully him into getting out,” the words were uttered begrudgingly.

             
“I know,” Amanda smiled up at her brother.

             
“Right, he writes you all the time,” Trent nodded.

             
“Would it be easier if it were someone else?” Amanda asked her brother.

             
“Maybe, but probably not,” Trent admitted.

             
“Love you, Big Brother,” Amanda hugged him.

             
“Love you too, Mandy,” he hugged her back.

             
Amanda returned to where the others stood; Cade slipped an arm around her and pulled her close.

             
“You okay; you two looked to be having a pretty intense conversation over there,” Cade noted.

             
“We were coming to an understanding, I hope,” Amanda offered him a smile.

             
“Good,” Cade smiled down at her. They chatted a few more minutes before Trent suggested they should all be going. Amanda sighed at his announcement.

             
“I’ll walk you to your Jeep,” Cade offered.

             
“Okay,” Amanda nodded. She turned to him and slid her arms around him when they reached her vehicle. “I’m going to miss you,” Amanda informed him.

             
“I’ll miss you too,” he assured her. Amanda couldn’t stop her tears when Cade kissed her; she knew this year was going to be a miserable one.

             
“Don’t cry, Manny; it’ll be over before we know it.”

             
“I hope so,” she responded. Cade cupped her face and kissed her again as he pulled her closer.

             
“If we had skipped the party last night we would have had some warm memories to dwell on,” Amanda teased.

             
Cade smiled, “We have something to look forward to,” he countered.

             
Amanda smiled and nodded, “I’ll count the days.”

             
“So will I,” he promised and kissed her one last time before he released her. Amanda glanced up to see her brother watching them. He was frowning but he looked more puzzled than angry. Amanda waved in his direction and climbed into her Jeep.

             
“Bye, Manny,” Cade stepped back so she could shut the door.

             
“Bye, Cade,” she returned.

             
“I’ll call you tonight,” he told her.

             
“I’ll be waiting.”

             
Amanda put her Jeep in gear and started back up the drive.

             
“I’m surprised you two stayed all night,” Jenny finally spoke after they were on the highway.

             
“It wasn’t my idea to,” Amanda admitted.

             
“How many times is he going to turn you down?” Jenny demanded; she sounded both amused and baffled.

             
“I don’t know; he wants us to wait until we’re through with school,” Amanda sighed.

             
“I can kind of see what he means, Mandy,” Jenny admitted.

             
“I know; it just feels like I’ve waited forever just for it to be okay to be with him.”

             
“So what’s a few more months?”

             
“Torture,” Amanda grinned; Jenny laughed.

____________________________________

              Amanda felt blue after Cade and her brother returned to school, she made a point of focusing on her own schooling and ignored her male admirers altogether. When her father announced he was moving the cabin, Amanda made frequent trips out to watch his progress. The old place was slowly taking shape, the rooms being refinished and prepared for occupants. She helped him select furnishing and colors and spent her free nights helping rather than going out on the weekends. It was pointless; there was only one man she was interested in and he was several hours away. Besides, they had made a promise to each other. They wrote often and spoke on the phone almost every night but she hadn’t seen him since the morning after the party at Jason’s.

             
“I appreciate all your help, Mandy-Lynn,” her father told her as they painted side by side. Amanda smiled; her father hadn’t called her Mandy- Lynn since she was a child.

             
“Glad to,” she assured him.

             
“I was thinking that when Trent returned from college he should move out here. It will give him some privacy and let him learn some independence,” her father announced.

             
Amanda felt her heart fall; she had always loved this place.

             
“If he and Christy continue on as serious as they seem to be, then he’ll be needing the privacy,” her father pointed out.

             
“That’s true,” Amanda nodded.

             
“Naomi says she’s glad to see the old place make a comeback,” Sterling shared with his daughter.

             
“How long did she live here?” Amanda asked as she poured more paint into her rolling pan.

             
“Just a few years but they were a few years she needed to deal with some stuff she was going through. She wasn’t always the prim old lady she is now,” Sterling offered his daughter a smile.