Under the Open Sky (Montana Heritage Series) (4 page)

             
Cade set the bale back down and turned to Amanda, his gaze meeting and holding hers as if he was waiting for her to say more.

             
Unwilling to admit how much she wanted to get behind the wheel of the truck again, Amanda raised her chin high. She watched a crooked smile lift one side of Cade’s mouth as he shook his head.

             
“You and that colt are a pair, Manny; come on.” Cade led the way out of the barn. Several minutes later Amanda was managing one of the field roads quite nicely.

             
“Increase your speed a little and see how you handle it,” Cade instructed.

             
Amanda nodded and pressed the accelerator gently and then more firmly.

             
“You’re doing good.”

             
“Thanks,” Amanda didn’t dare take her eyes off the dirt road in front of her. Slowly she felt herself relaxing; becoming more comfortable with how the truck handled. Amanda shifted into the highest gear and increased her speed until they were bumping along at a fast clip.

             
“Slow down a little,” Cade cautioned.

             
“I’m not having any trouble,” Amanda protested.

             
“No, but this road wasn’t made for speed,” Cade stated the obvious. Before Amanda could reduce her speed, they bounced through a large pothole. Amanda laughed as Cade braced himself.

             
“This is fun,” she announced.

             
“Please slow down.”

             
“I kind of like this,” she protested.

             
“Manny!”

             
Amanda spotted the heifer in front of them and quickly slammed on the brakes and cut the wheel. The truck slid to a stop and turned sideways across the road. Amanda threw back her head and laughed so hard it hurt. Beside her Cade still clutched the door handle and had one hand on the dash. Amanda clamped her mouth shut and waited for him to yell at her as her brother would have. A deep chuckle sounded beside her and then Cade was laughing.

             
“Kid, your aunt is right; you are growing up wild,” he accused a moment later. “Do you think you can get us back to the barn in one piece?”

             
“Sure,” she grinned. Amanda restarted the engine and drove back to the barn at a reasonable speed. “Thanks, Cade.”

             
“Sure, now you just have to wait for the right opportunity to reveal to your dad that you can drive,” he offered her a smile.

             
“Right,” Amanda nodded. “I should go and let you get back to work,” Amanda turned and started for the house at a sprint. She slowed as she neared the house and spotted her aunt frowning at her. She knew that Naomi couldn’t have seen her driving so she was at a loss as to why she was in trouble.

             
“Were you talking with that new boy?” Naomi demanded.

             
“Cade? Yeah, I was talking to him; why?” Amanda stopped and crossed her arms over her chest to frown at her aunt.

             
“Mandy, he is not the kind of person you should be hanging out with. Why your father continues to hire roughians when he has a daughter your age I will never know,” Naomi looked ready to start a tirade and Amanda was in no mood to hear it.

             
“Maybe because he wants to help people,” Amanda responded and then hurried into the house before her aunt could respond. She took the stairs two at a time, closed herself in her room, and threw herself across her bed. Amanda pulled a pillow close and propped her chin on it. Her dad and brother should be home before too long; she just hoped they had made some sort of peace while they were gone.

             
She was going to miss her brother when he left for college in the fall, she admitted to herself. Amanda rolled onto her back and let her head hang off her bed to stare upside down at the window. A fly flung it’s self against the screen, its buzz sounding like a spitting engine.

             
Amanda knew for all of their fighting that she and Trent were closer than many siblings. She had wondered more than once if they would have been so close if their mother had lived. It seemed to her that in their mother’s absence they had clung to one another in many ways, often just in defiance of Naomi’s latest plans for them. Naomi always meant well of course, but the woman was more old fashioned than the Amish, Amanda had read about. Okay, maybe that was an exaggeration, but not by much, Amanda mused. Amanda heard her dad’s truck coming down the drive, Big Boy barking as though announcing he was back, and she jumped up to meet them.

             
“Hey Pest, just waiting to aggravate me?” Trent smiled as he climbed out of the truck. Amanda felt some of her tension drain away at her brother’s relaxed bantering; apparently he and her father had called a truce.

             
“I have to make up for lost time,” Amanda grinned in return.              

             
“Make yourself useful and grab some of these things your aunt asked for,” Sterling instructed his daughter.

             
“Yes, sir,” Amanda grabbed two bags and carried them into the house, her brother and father on her heels.

             
“Trent, can you put these on the top shelf for me?” Naomi handed Trent several large containers. Amanda returned to the truck and grabbed another load.

             
“I’m going to go see how things are coming with Cade and the tractor, would you have your brother pull the truck out there when you’re through unloading the house things here?” Sterling requested.

             
“Sure thing, Daddy,” Amanda gave him her sweetest smile.

             
“Thanks, Cupcake.”

             
Sterling turned toward the barn and Amanda grabbed another load, hurrying to empty the truck before her aunt was through with her brother.

             
“I’m going to the barn to catch up with Daddy,” Amanda announced after she placed the last load on the counter.

             
“Wait and I’ll drive you,” her brother called. Amanda ignored him and hurried to the truck, climbed onto the seat and adjusted it. Amanda took a deep breath and started the truck.

             
“Hey! What do you think you’re doing?” Trent demanded.

             
Amanda put the truck in gear and started forward; her brother scrambled to jump into the bed of the truck.

             
“Dad’s gonna kill you,” Trent predicted through the cab’s sliding windows.

             
Amanda ignored his comment and pulled the truck up the barn, reversed it and positioned it for unloading before cutting power to the engine and hopping down from the cab. She found her father watching her, hands on hips.

             
“Since when can you drive?” her father demanded.

             
Greg and Tracey came forward for supplies; they ignored the interplay.

             
“Since I’ve been practicing,” Amanda announced her chin tilted up in determination; her father was going to hear her out today. She saw Cade grin behind her father before he buried his head in the tractor motor he was working on.

             
“And who taught you?” Sterling’s gaze was steady and expectant.

             
Amanda met his gaze and remained silent.

             
“You know anything about this, Trent?” Sterling shifted his gaze to his son.

             
“No, Sir. You know anything about this, Cade?” Trent turned to his friend.

             
“She can drive a tractor, what’s so different about a truck?” Cade dodged the question.

             
“So you just taught yourself to drive?” Trent was eyeing her like he didn’t buy it.

             
Amanda crossed her arms and ignored her brother.

             
“I can drive, Daddy. I promise I’ll be a really good driver and obey all the laws and everything,” Amanda bargained.

             
“Driving on the farm and driving in town are two very different things,” Sterling informed his daughter.

             
“Yes, sir, it is, but I know you can teach me real well, Daddy,” Amanda gave him a coaxing smile and held her breath.

             
Sterling nodded. “I guess I can at that. Alright, I’ll take you Monday but don’t say anything to your aunt until it’s a done deal, okay?”

             
Amanda rushed to her father and threw her arms around him. “Thank you, Daddy.” She kissed his cheek; then laid her cheek against his shoulder.

             
“If you manage to hurt someone, or especially yourself, your aunt will never let me live it down,” Sterling informed her.

             
“I won’t though, Daddy. I didn’t damage the farm or kill any of your cows did I?” Amanda countered. She thought she heard a snort from under the tractor but didn’t dare look in Cade’s direction.

             
“I suppose not, not that I’ve found anyway.”

             
“You won’t regret it, Daddy; I promise.”

             
“I hope not, now go on; I’ve got work to do.” Sterling kissed his daughter’s forehead and turned to enter the barn. Trent eyed Amanda suspiciously and then followed their father.

             
Amanda finally allowed herself to look in Cade’s direction. Cade was smiling at her and offered a wink. Amanda grinned in return and then quickly wiped her smile away when she caught her brother watching her. Amanda, her smile firmly back in place, turned to dash to the house.

Four

              Amanda stood at her bedroom window watching as her brother, Angela, and Cade took turns swinging way out over the pond from a recently tied rope and splashed into the water below. Heat had arrived with summer and the day was sweltering. Amanda would have joined them but upon seeing Angela in a swimsuit had immediately known she wouldn’t be putting her toothpick body on display beside the older girl’s. Angela’s peal of laughter pulled another deep sigh from Amanda. Too bad girls couldn’t wear cut offs to swim like her brother and Cade, she mused moodily. Why couldn’t she? Amanda turned and impatiently pulled on her swimsuit before yanking on cut off jean shorts and a white tank top over it. Dashing out her door, Amanda ran down the stairs in a rhythmic staccato, out the front door, and allowed the screen to slam closed. Without ever pausing, she dashed across the drive, grabbed the empty rope, and with a whoop swung out over the pond and let go. She came up to find her brother grinning at her.

             
“Decide to join us, pest?” he teased.

             
“Couldn’t let you have all the fun,” she smiled back.

             
“Hey, Mandy,” Angela greeted.

             
Amanda smiled and returned the girl’s greeting.

             
Modestly pretty with auburn hair, green eyes, and pale skin that was already freckling in the afternoon sun light, Angela was a sweet girl. Amanda had come to understand that the only thing her father held against the young woman was the threat she held to Sterling’s plans for Trent’s schooling.

             
“Where’s the new swimsuit Aunt Naomi bought you?” Trent demanded.

             
“I’m wearing it,” Amanda responded with a glare.

             
“Then why are you still wearing clothes?” her brother was laughing now.

             
“Hey, your sister’s at that awkward stage when every girl feels funny about their body; leave her alone,” Angela chided gently.

             
“Thanks, Angie,” Amanda shot her a smile.

             
“Sure, I remember how I felt; your brother wouldn’t give me the time of day back then,” Angela admitted with a sly glance toward Trent. Amanda smiled as her brother blushed and sputtered for an answer. She didn’t however; wait for his response before climbing onto the dock and plodding back to the rope to swing again. She spotted her aunt watching from the porch with arms crossed and pointedly ignored her. A moment later the water was swallowing her beneath its cool surface, the light drifting farther away amid the roar of the water around her. Amanda kicked and bobbed to the surface before spitting water from her mouth and pushing hair from her face. A few feet from her, Angela, laughing and talking with both Trent and Cade, sat on Trent’s shoulders.

             
“Hey, Mandy, climb on Cade’s shoulders and see if you can unseat me,” Angela called as Amanda swam their direction.