Under Texas Blue Skies

by Debra Holt

  Amanda changed out of the riding outfit and into a pair of sweatpants with an oversized, football T-shirt. She slid a band onto her head, pushing her hair back from her face, and left her feet bare. She planned to stay in that evening, maybe order a pizza, and put on a couple of old movies. She was not in the mood to talk to anyone. In fact, when her phone beeped a couple of times during the first part of the evening, she didn’t even bother to look at the caller ID. She let it go directly to voicemail. Tomorrow would be time enough to deal with the outside world.

  The movie couldn’t hold her interest nor keep her thoughts from being intruded upon by a tall figure in a black cowboy hat. After turning off the television, she headed in the direction of the kitchen and her refrigerator. She rummaged around bags of frozen veggies until she found the pint of banana nut ice cream she kept stashed there for those days when things had been tough at work. Amanda had a fleeting thought she better buy a half-gallon from now on… at least as long as a certain man was in town! With the pint in hand, she grabbed a spoon from the drawer and proceeded to curl up in her rocking chair on the front porch.

  The night air had cooled off nicely but not enough yet to warrant a jacket, although, after a few bites of the cold ice cream, she wished she had thought to grab a throw from the back of the couch as she'd gone outside. With her legs tucked under her, she continued to eat, but the taste was not as good as it normally was. Nor did it have the restorative powers it usually did. Yet another reason to be upset with J.D… he'd managed to ruin her simplest of pleasures. Why had he come back? To show off? Maybe that was a small part of it. But part of her had to cut him some slack on that one. She knew better.

  Amanda had not wanted to allow herself to go backward toward the past, but her mind wasn’t paying much attention to her of late. How many hours had she sat next to him in that old beat-up blue truck he'd driven back in those days? J.D. had salvaged it from a wrecking yard, and it had been held together with baling wire in more than a few places. There had even been some heavy tape inside the cab. How often had she listened as he'd described how he was going to get out of their small town and get to the big city?

  Money had been a scarce commodity back then. Almost all the money J.D. had earned from his playing music at local parties and ice houses on slow nights had gone to helping out his grandparents with the bills. Amanda had never minded. She'd preferred sitting on a blanket in the back of that old truck, listening as J.D. sang and wrote lyrics for new songs that popped into his head. She had not needed anything but his smile and his voice to make her forget the real world and join him in their world of dreams of the future… their future together. Yes, he had strummed his guitar and made his music and claimed he would come back one day and show them all that J.D. Sterling could be a somebody too.

  To the little fool she had been back then, in her eyes, he had already been somebody. She had worshiped the ground he'd walked on since the moment he'd stepped inside the small convenience store her uncle had owned.

  ****

  Amanda was stacking cans of pork and beans in a display... actually she was restacking them. Her uncle, not pleased with the first location she had chosen, had made her take them down, move them a foot, and then restack them. It put her in close proximity to the front door, and just as she placed the last remaining can on top of her nice, neat, symmetrical stack, the door flung open and a dusty cowboy barreled in, but he had his head turned, saying something to the person behind him, and had not seen her crouched there on the floor, nor the pyramid of cans.

  Amanda landed on her bottom, her hands breaking her full fall back onto the floor. The cans, all four dozen of them, went tumbling and rolling in all directions. She shot an angry glance up at the tall figure that came to a halt and stood looking down at her with a really strange half-smile on his face, but it was his eyes that caused her breathing to go wacky all of a sudden. They were the most intense emerald green color she had ever seen. How could a guy have such eyes? That single ridiculous question filtered through her mind. For the moment, she forgot she was still on the floor and the display ruined, but that didn’t last for long. A hand shot out toward her and helped her back to her feet. She gazed at it, still gathering the last of her wits about her. Then his voice broke through, and a feeling of embarrassment crept across her face and through the rest of her body. She probably had gone beet red.

  “Let me help you up, sunshine.” His words held a lazy vitality in them. They also held something else that Amanda had not experienced before, something that made her heart beat erratically in her chest. Could that particular organ actually turn a flip in one’s chest?

  Before she could think better of it, she placed her hand inside his. It was as if she had placed her fingers into an electrical socket. The touch brought her eyes wide and made her feet move a lot more quickly. She scrambled none too gracefully off the floor and jerked her hand away from his. Amanda saw the equally surprised look in his eyes and knew he was aware of the reaction she felt. That just made her cheeks flame more.

  “Sorry about this mess. Let me clean it up for you.” And before she could speak, he went down on bended knees and set about doing just that.

  She stepped forward to grab the few cans he already held in his hands just at the same time as her uncle’s voice boomed from behind her.

  “What in blazes have you done now, girl? I can’t trust you to do one thing without me staying right on you the whole time! Look at this mess… get it taken care of.” He noticed the two young men and turned his attention on the customers. “Sorry about this mess, gents. Come on in. What can I help you with?”

  The cowboy’s eyes had not left her face, and it was obvious he saw the emotions caused by her uncle’s hateful tones, not to mention how her body had almost visibly cowered under the harsh words.

  Amanda’s eyes were hidden from his view as she hastily grabbed the cans out of his hands and bent to retrieve the others. But instead of stepping around her and getting on with his business as she assumed he would do, he stayed stooped on the floor and silently gathered up the rest of the cans then stacked them on the shelf. The young man behind him fell in to help also. When it was done, the green-eyed cowboy rose and straightened his shoulders… only then had he looked at her uncle. His eyes lost the warmth she had previously seen in them. In its place was a cold flat gleam as he addressed the store owner.

  “This was my fault. I wasn’t watching where I was going.” He swung his look back on her. The warmth came back, and she felt another strange stirring in her midsection when he spoke in softer tones, “Sorry about all this. I’ll be more careful next time I come in. See you soon.”

  Amanda watched him leave and the door closed behind him. An immense feeling of sadness overwhelmed her senses at his departure.

  She never expected to see him again, but the very next afternoon, in her usual routine, she walked to the store after school and her heart skipped several beats when she spied him leaning against the hood of his truck, his arms crossed. His gaze was barely visible under the dusty straw cowboy hat pulled low over his brow. Yet, she had certainly felt it on her and her slow approach. He scared her with the intensity of it. His whole being scared her, but not in a bad way. She felt feelings awaken inside her she had never known existed before.

  The faded jeans tightly molded to his long legs, a few well-worn spots here and there on them. His sleeveless black T-shirt showed hard, muscled arms, and there was a pair of scuffed, brown boots on his feet. His whole being screamed trouble. However, she did not turn around and run. She should have. Instead, her course took her right to him, and they became inseparable after that…

  There were many other memories wanting to be dusted off, but she forced her mind to keep the door shut on them. They were far too painful, although they had taught her a hard lesson, harder than any her uncle could have taught her. He had been dead for nine years and she had not missed him one day. A fact which probably made her mean and spiteful. He had never wanted he
r… she had been just free help in his store and a maid and cook in his house. A kind word of any sort had been few and far between with him. There had been no hugs, nothing remotely resembling feelings for her, other than she was free labor for his store and a maid for the house.

  When her parents died in a plane crash, he had been the only family member she could be placed with. Her aunt had still been living at that time, so it had not been too bad at first. Amanda had just entered high school when the quiet woman died of cancer. Her uncle’s temper and coldness to her had made her retreat into a shell of shyness. She'd gone to school and then had done her chores and helped at the store. Boys hadn't come calling, even though they'd often seemed attracted at first glance to the tall blonde with the sky-blue eyes. One look at the uncle, and they'd stayed clear. Besides, she hadn't been experienced in the use of feminine wiles as the other girls who'd had time for friends and had female siblings to teach them such things. She'd been, more often than not, labeled shy or stuck up.

  Amanda was proud of what she'd made of herself. She had found strength inside of her that she'd never known existed, and she had been on her own for a long time. She had learned the hard way from her mistakes, and there had been a very high price paid. That sad, quiet little girl who had worshiped him was gone. J.D. Sterling had made certain of that.

  Chapter Four

  “Oh my word! I can’t believe it’s you!” The woman’s voice was just below a squeal as she cleared the counter and was enfolded into J.D.’s arms, her feet leaving the floor as he swung her up in a bear hug.

  “What’s the ruckus out here? Hey! Get your hands off my wife.” The man in a pair of blue scrubs came out of the surgical suite, a mock scowl on his face.

  “She attacked me first!” J.D. laughed across the tiny brunette’s head before he released her and moved to shake the hand extended to him in greeting by her husband.

  Tracy Janus and Tyler Maxwell had been two of J.D.’s classmates in high school. He and Tyler had shared a lot of pranks back in those days. Tracy had been Amanda’s good friend. The four of them had often hung out at the local swimming hole or the pizza joint. Tyler and Tracy had ended up getting married during their second year of college. These days, Tyler was the local veterinarian, and Tracy was his business manager and office nurse.

  “We heard the rumors but didn’t believe them. What in the world brings you back here? Tired of the bright lights and big city?”

  “Something like that. I’m looking at the Peterson place.”

  “We’ve heard that particular rumor too. You need to come to dinner at our house. We have a lot of catching up to do. I won’t take no for an answer.” Tracy waggled a finger at him, the other hand on her hip, before breaking into a wide grin.

  “Then I won’t say no,” he replied with his own smile.

  “You can follow us to the house. We were just closing up.” Tyler removed the stethoscope from around his neck and gave a nod of his head toward the door.

  A few minutes later, J.D. pulled his rig into the drive behind Tyler’s vehicle. Their house was situated a few miles out of town on half a dozen acres of land. He followed the couple up the steps to the front porch.

  “Excuse the mess,” Tracy tossed over her shoulder, with a grin. “We’re in the fourth year of a two-year renovation.”

  As soon as J.D. stepped through the door, he heard the sound of running feet on the landing above the hall and the raised voices of children. Then two little bodies barreled down the staircase and immediately engulfed Tyler’s waist and legs. He laughed, scooping them both up in his arms.

  “These two young ruffians are our sons, Jake… seven years old, and Matt, who is a big five. Guys, this is J.D. He went to school with your mom and me.”

  “He’s real old.” This observation came from the smaller of the two boys… the one with the same look of devilment in his eyes that his dad had.

  “Yes, I guess I am. It’s nice to meet you, Jake,” he said, shaking the boy’s hand. Matt just smiled at him, and J.D. ruffled his hair, bringing a giggle from him. “Nice to meet you too, Matt.”

  “You boys go get your hands washed and make sure you’ve picked up the toy room before dinner.” Rosa, their sitter, stood patiently waiting in the doorway of the dining room. She nodded a welcome to their visitor after brief introductions had been made.

  “Let’s go see what’s going on in the kitchen,” Tyler said, nodding for J.D.to follow him.

  “Cold beer for you, J.D.? Sorry I don’t have any champagne, since that’s probably what you drink now.” Tracy threw a teasing smile his way as she set two long-necked bottles on the table. She began chopping vegetables for their salad.

  The evening was a nice one. J.D. felt himself relax more than he had in a long time. This was what he had missed. Cold beer, good friends, and great conversation around a kitchen table. It couldn’t get much better. Dinner was good too… homemade chili, salad, and cornbread.

  There was a lull in conversation, and that’s when the boys had to say goodnight and head upstairs for their baths. However, they both decided it was their dad that they wanted to do the supervising. Tyler excused himself, and the dishes were left to Tracy and J.D., who fell right into clearing the table and loading the dishwasher.

  “You’re fairly domesticated,” Tracy remarked as he spontaneously pitched in to help with the cleanup.

  “Have you forgotten how I had to do most of the cleaning and the cooking and the washing before I left home? Guess it stuck with me.”

  Tracy nodded her head. “We heard about your grandparents. At least they got to see you make it big.”

  J.D. shut the door of the dishwasher and punched the button to start it. There was a solemn look in his eyes when he turned to wipe off the countertop. “Yeah, they did get to spend a couple of years down in Florida. But Gramps had the stroke, and then Grandma didn’t last too long after he went. They were just too worn out from working hard all their lives and then having to raise a hellion like me.”

  “You weren’t a hellion. At least, not by today’s standards. You never broke any laws… well, at least not any major ones,” she finished with a laugh. He joined her in that.

  “Another beer?” she offered. He took one and joined her at the table. A peaceful quiet settled over the house, broken only now and then by the squeals that could be heard from above their heads. Tracy slowly shook her head as her eyes gazed up at the ceiling.

  “There’ll be more water on the floor than in the tub by the time they’re done.”

  “You have two great kids there. You and Tyler are lucky. Your plans all worked out for you.”

  “Yes they did, and we’re very blessed. There’s nothing like having kids. You’ll find that out one day.”

  “I hope you’re right.” A shadow passed over his face, and he fell quiet. J.D. thought for a moment and then made a decision. “I’ve seen Mandy. She’s the agent for the Peterson place.”

  Tracy kept her eyes on the tabletop. Her voice was even-toned when she commented, “She’s really become quite a businesswoman. There’s none better when it comes to real estate. She learned the business from the ground up. Morris is very lucky to have her.”

  “She’s changed... a lot.” He searched for the right words.

  Ever since he had returned and set eyes upon Mandy, he had tried to figure out why the dramatic reaction she'd had to his arrival. There was something he was missing. Even as they'd toured the ranch house, he had kept part of his attention on her every word but also on what she hadn't said. While his eyes had taken in the details of each room, he'd been still acutely attuned to the woman watching silently from the doorways. He hadn't been able to get a read on her, and that was something he had not counted on. Maybe he should have thought things through a little better, but he'd known he could wait no longer. He'd had to come back here. He needed to have the chance to realize the final part of his dream. That was where Amanda came into it all.

  For whatever reason, she'd
seemed determined to thwart his every move to put things on a more personal level between them. He needed to find a key to understanding the woman she had become. J.D. was intent on finding out more about the girl he had known. He forged ahead.

  “I heard she left here right after graduation. Then she came back about a year later. Someone told me they thought she left to get married, but she isn’t married now. What happened?”

  “Maybe you should ask her those things.”

  Tracy was not being very forthcoming. He supposed she was just being a good friend to Amanda. He respected her for that. Yet it didn’t get the answers he needed.

  “Let’s just say she isn’t interested in reunions. She’s only concerned with making the deal.”

  “Look, J.D.,” Tracy began, appearing to once again choose her words with great care. “Amanda has come a long way. Those marriage rumors were just that… rumors stirred up by the gossip-mongers of this small town. She went through a lot in the months after you left. You remember how her uncle treated her. Amanda was so beaten down emotionally back then she was afraid of her own shadow more often than not. I don’t know how she did it, but she pulled herself out of all of that even after—” Tracy broke off at that point and looked as if she wished she could take the words back. “So how long will you be here?”

  J.D. was very much aware of the fact that Tracy was trying to change the subject. There was something he didn’t know. It was a large piece of the puzzle toward figuring out what was going on with her. He would bet on it. Would it explain why Mandy reacted to him as she had? If he tried to pump Tracy for anything more, he was afraid he would really seal her lips on the subject of Amanda. He would need to bide his time, as much as he didn’t want to waste another moment where Mandy was concerned. He had already lost too much time with her.