Kate and Emma kept Chloe entertained. Jeb had brought the child’s dollhouse over, so the two older women spent one day making more outfits for the tiny figures that lived in Chloe’s pretend world. Another day was spent baking in preparation for New Year’s Day dinner, which was to be held at Jeb’s home because he had more space.
When Amanda fished through her pillowcase for clothing each morning, she found notes from Jeb written on pink slips. I love you. Another one that made her smile was, Don’t forget me. I’m coming home. She laughed when she read, If you and Chloe are bunking together, please let Bozo in bed with you. He’ll keep you safe, and he won’t be lonesome. Amanda was tempted to tear through every stitch of her clothing to find all the notes at once, but she decided she preferred to get surprises. He’d put one message in a breast pocket, another in her jeans pocket. She cried when she read, Thank you for loving me. You’re a miracle in my life. And again when a note said, If you feel lonely, imagine that my arms are around you. I’m with you, in my heart.
By the third afternoon, Amanda had moved from nervous to anxious and paced from room to room, rubbing her arms. Jeb had called that morning to let her know everything was packed, the U-Haul was loaded, they’d hired a property management company to clean, paint, and prep the house to be placed on the market, and they planned to meet with a Realtor before noon to list the property. Jeb felt the home would sell quickly and for enough money to give Emma a sizable profit.
“I doubt we’ll head out today. We’re all bushed. A hot meal, a shower, and a comfortable motel room bed sound pretty good to us right now.”
As eager as Amanda was to have him back, she replied, “You need a good night’s sleep before making that drive. I don’t want any of you to get drowsy behind the wheel. Tell your brothers I appreciate all their work. They’re the best.”
“What am I, chopped liver?”
As tense as she felt, she couldn’t help but smile. “You are my Mr. Wonderful, you and only you.”
Now, many hours after that conversation, Amanda couldn’t have smiled if her life depended on it. Her skin crawled, and dread mounted within her. Perhaps over the years, she’d become telepathically linked to Mark. Ridiculous. But she couldn’t shake the feeling that he was gleefully preparing to do her great harm.
The easiest way for him to do that right now was to go after Jeb. The thought filled her with cold terror. Oh, God, why didn’t I think of that? Jeb had protected the one person he knew Amanda loved, but he’d forgotten how dearly she loved him.
Palms slick with sweat, Amanda dialed Jeb’s cell. Her call went straight to voice mail. Growing more panicky, she tried him again and again, all with the same result. Something had happened. She felt it in her bones.
Jeremiah found her in the living room, trying to place calls on her iPhone. When he saw that she was shaking, he grasped her by the shoulders. “Hey, hey,” he said. “What has you so upset?”
He reminded her so much of Jeb. Even his voice had that same rich timbre. “I’m afraid for Jeb. He isn’t answering his phone, Jeremiah. I’ve tried several times.”
“It’s Dad to you.” Ignoring the cell phone clutched in her hands between them, he drew her into his arms. Stroking her hair just as his eldest son often did, he soothed her with words. “My boy is strong and fast as lightning with his fists. I know you haven’t seen that side of him, but in his younger years, he was a scrapper. That puny little husband of yours doesn’t stand a chance. Jeb will break him in half.”
“You don’t know Mark. He won’t face Jeb. He’ll catch him with his back turned.”
Jeremiah passed a work-hardened palm over her hair again. “Maybe he’ll try, but Jeb is with his three younger brothers. Ben works the rodeo circuits. He’s dealt with some rough buckaroos, and when he throws a punch, the guy he hits is lucky to have any teeth left. Barney is a police officer. Just because he’s a small-town deputy, don’t think for a minute he’s small-town caliber. For a while, he was a state boy, and he loved the work, but in the end, he missed Mystic Creek and decided to kiss big-city crime good-bye. Jonas, our college boy, may look like a preppy, but he competes in wrestling, and in his weight class he placed third in the state last year. He also boxes. That punk Mark Banning won’t get to Jeb when his brothers are with him.”
“Mark carries guns!”
“And so do my boys. With the exception of Barney, they don’t normally, but they’re packing now. Jeb is fine, mark my words. He’s probably in a dead zone right now. No reception. He’ll call when he notices that you tried to reach him.”
Amanda didn’t know what the cell reception was like in her hometown of Olympia. At seventeen, when she got pregnant with Chloe, she’d just gotten her first cell phone, and she couldn’t remember now if there had been dead zones in certain parts of town. “I can’t live without him,” she whispered. “I never told him that. Why didn’t I think to say those words?”
Jeremiah chuckled and set her away from him. “Judging by the way he looks at you, I think he knows and the feeling is mutual. Trust in God, Mandy.”
“I trusted in God for over six years,” she blurted out.
Jeremiah bent to kiss her forehead. “Yep, and over time, as you came to a point where you could help him out a little by running, where did you land?” He grinned and shook his head. “In Mystic Creek of all places, with Jeb living one road over from you. Give God some credit. He not only helped you get out of there, but he guided you straight to the one man on earth who’d love you so much he’d die for you.” He turned toward the back of the house. “Think about that.”
“I am,” she cried after him, “and I don’t want him to die for me.”
Jeremiah stopped, turned, and peered out the front window. “He looks pretty alive to me, honey.”
Amanda whirled to follow his gaze and saw Jeb climbing out of his pickup. She shrieked and ran for the front door. Jeremiah trotted after her to disarm the security system just before she threw open the front door. She forgot about the icy surfaces. All she could see was Jeb striding toward her with that well-oiled shift of his hips that she’d come to love so much.
“Be careful!” he called. “It’s slicker than greased owl—”
Amanda gained the front yard, sheeted with ice, and slipped, plummeting forward into a belly-first sprawl. Jeb cursed, ran forward, and reached down to help her up. The next instant, he let loose with “Son of a bitch!” as he went down beside her.
Amanda’s cheek hurt, but she was so excited to see him that she didn’t care. She tried to sit up and her hands went out from under her, sending her back to the ground. Jeb tried to help her, but he had no better luck. So instead of standing, they scooted toward each other, grabbed hold, and Amanda finally felt his arms around her again. They kissed like starving people who’d just stumbled upon a buffet.
Barney, wearing street clothes and a gun on his hip, moved gingerly toward them. He tipped back the bill of his off-duty ball cap to peer down at this display of undying devotion. “For heaven’s sake, rent a room.” He extended a hand to Jeb, who’d come up for air. Jeb clasped palms with his brother, Barney leaned back to lift, and his slick-soled boots went out from under him. He landed next to Jeb and grimaced as the blow to his hindquarters registered in his brain.
“Well, shit,” he said. “If this is any example of how crazy people act when they fall in love, I want no part of it.” He studied Amanda’s face. “Double shit, bro. She’s gonna have a shiner.”
Just then, Jeremiah, who’d donned shoe chains, trudged out to stand near them, feet spread, arms akimbo. Kate had appeared on the porch, Emma, Chloe, and Bozo crowding behind her. “I raised idiots,” he said. “In Mystic, after a plain old snowstorm, any fool knows to wear shoe chains.”
“There wasn’t any snow up north,” Barney informed his dad. “Bust my ass and call me a three-year-old, but once you’re finished, can you help us up?�
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From the steps, Kate chortled with laughter. Jeremiah glanced over his shoulder. “Kate, get Emma and that child back in the house and set the damned security system. Now. I’ll knock when I’ve got this crew on their feet and safe on the porch.”
Kate, belatedly realizing that she’d left the entire house unprotected, hurried Chloe, Emma, and Bozo back inside and slammed the front door.
* * *
An hour later, Amanda sat at the Sterling kitchen bar with half of a raw potato, with shaved pulp at the center, pressed to her cheekbone. It was Jeremiah’s cure for a black eye. Each time she got tired of holding the spud against her skin, someone ordered her to get back to business.
“It works,” Kate informed her. “Having raised four boys, I know that for certain.”
Kate served coffee and fresh cinnamon rolls to everyone. Over the refreshments, Barney said, “Remember that time, Jeb, when that senior kicked the snot out of you? You were only a freshman, I think, and half his size. He’d flunked senior year three times.”
Jeb bristled. “I wasn’t that little.”
Amanda didn’t care how big Jeb had been at the beginning of his high school career. All she cared about was that he stood well over six feet tall now, and every ounce of him adored her.
“Well, he did kick your ass,” Barney insisted. “When you came home, you looked like you’d tangled with double-strand barbed wire and lost.”
Kate interjected, “Watch your language.”
Barney gave his mother a wondering look. “Hello, ass isn’t a curse word. The Virgin Mary rode an ass into Bethlehem to give birth to Jesus in a manger.”
Kate popped back, “She rode a donkey, poor darling, and if you read the word ‘ass’ in the Bible, fine. But in conversation, referring to the anatomy of humans, that is an inappropriate word.” Barney cursed under his breath, and his mother said, “I heard that. If you’d like to trade out your cinnamon roll for a bar of soap, I’m ready at any moment.”
Amanda had known from the start that she loved Jeb’s family, but now, after a spill on the ice, she was seeing them without a polite veneer. She still loved all of them. When she glanced toward her mom, she saw Emma’s glowing smile and knew she was equally impressed.
“So when are Ben and Jonas heading home?” Jeremiah asked.
“In the morning,” Jeb replied. “On steep grades, that huge, loaded van will lug down.” He glanced at Amanda. “I figured we could make better time in my truck and I could grab a good night’s sleep here just as well as there.”
A few minutes later, Jeb drove everyone home, along with their luggage and Chloe’s dollhouse. Barney, who’d left his pickup behind at his parents’ house while in Washington, followed them over to make sure all was clear at Jeb’s place and that his brother got everyone inside safely.
After Barney left and Amanda had unpacked all their bags, she and Jeb started dinner. Working beside him, Amanda anticipated the coming night, when they’d be alone together in bed. Judging by the lingering looks he gave her, he was thinking along the same lines.
“Miss me?” he asked. “Did you find my messages?”
“More than you’ll ever know, and yes, I found your notes. They kept me going. I only wish I’d sneaked some into your duffel.” She paused. “I got scared when I couldn’t reach you on the cell phone right before you got here.”
“Just outside of town, on the old Mystic Highway, the road is really curvy and lined with rock cliffs. I had no reception.”
“Why didn’t you tell me you were coming home today?”
“We were tired. I wasn’t sure we could make it the whole way without stopping, and I didn’t want you to be expecting us only to be disappointed.”
“Well, it was a nice surprise,” she told him.
* * *
When the after-dinner routine had run its course, with both Chloe and Emma tucked in for the night, Amanda grabbed Jeb’s hand and led him up the stairs to their room. She wanted—no, needed—to make love with him. She’d missed the pleasures of physical closeness that she could have only with him.
“I need a shower,” he told her as he stripped off his shirt. At her look of disappointment, he grinned. “Join me?”
“In the shower? I’ve never done it in the shower.”
“Then it’s high time you experience it.”
Moments later, standing with him under a hot spray of water, Amanda discovered the delight of soap-slick bodies while making love. By the time they’d toweled off and slipped into bed, she felt drained but happy in a way she’d never imagined possible.
Before drifting off, she whispered, “I can’t live without you. I forgot to tell you that.”
* * *
On New Year’s Day, Amanda enjoyed entertaining Jeb’s family again. The meal, bountiful and nearly perfect, was made even better by laughter and stimulating conversation. Emma and Kate seemed to have forged a fast friendship and sat next to each other. Jonas, seated to Amanda’s right, celebrated getting high marks on his quarterly finals. Adriel, to Amanda’s left, told funny stories about being a receptionist for Dr. Hamilton and Dr. Payne, an internist and a general practitioner, respectively. Ben, sitting next to Adriel, added spice to the volleys by tossing in tidbits about rodeo debacles, the most hilarious one about a notorious, much-feared bull that suddenly decided not to buck.
At the end of the day, Amanda stood near the beautiful spruce to peer out the living room window into the darkness. When Jeb found her and slipped his arms around her waist, she leaned back against him.
“Penny for them.”
Amanda struggled to put her feelings into words. “Tomorrow is the second, and the hearing will be only nine days away.”
“It’s going to be a slam dunk. Johnson doesn’t think Mark stands a chance.”
Curling her hands over the backs of his wrists, she hugged his arms closer against her. “It isn’t that I believe Mark can win in the courtroom. It’s more a fear that he’ll find some other way to win, some other way to destroy me.” She fell silent for a moment. “For the first time since leaving home, I’ve found happiness, a wonderful man, a loving family, and I even have my mom with us. Everything is perfect, and I know I should just feel thankful, but instead I have an awful feeling of doom.”
“Doom?”
“Yes. Don’t you see, Jeb? It’s all too good to be true. And Mark will stop at nothing, absolutely nothing, to ruin it for me.”
“Aw, honey. Try to forget about Mark and just enjoy being happy.”
Amanda wanted nothing more, but well aware of how cunning Mark was, she sensed, deep down where reason held no sway, that he had a plan. And when he made his strike, no one would be prepared.
* * *
Amanda wished she could stop the clock from moving forward, but the days passed like water through a sieve. Before she knew it, the morning of the hearing arrived. Amanda had ordered a lovely suit, a brown straight skirt with a matching jacket to be worn over an ecru silk blouse. She’d found some suede pumps of the same brown. After she dressed, she stood in front of a mirror, wondering where the raggedy Amanda had gone. She looked classy, but in an understated way, which, after conferring with Johnson, she knew was the perfect tone to set. The judge would see a capable, attractive, quietly elegant woman.
Amanda didn’t feel elegant; she felt terrified. To reassure Jeb, she forced herself to eat breakfast, but the food didn’t settle well, and she was soon in the bathroom purging her stomach. The hearing was set for one that afternoon.
Even though Clyde Johnson had chatted with Amanda several times over the phone, he wanted to meet with her at a restaurant near the courthouse at eleven thirty for a final briefing. She clung to Jeb’s hand during the interview, wishing this whole day would speed by and be over. Johnson fired questions at her, some of which he would ask her in the courtroom and some that he guessed the other a
ttorney would hammer her with. By the time the session ended, Amanda’s head was swimming. Johnson patted her hand.
“You’ll pull it off without a hitch,” he said. “I know you’re nervous and feeling confused, and while on the stand, you’ll have moments when your mind goes blank. If that happens, politely ask for the question to be repeated. It’s okay to say that you’re feeling nervous. The judge will understand.” He tightened his fingers over hers. “Just remember, the opposing attorney can’t trip you up because you’re telling the truth, so even if you get confused or don’t catch a question, you’ll come across well. Mark, if I’m guessing right, will be calm to a point. He’ll smile at some of your answers, trying to convey that everything you’re saying is untrue. Don’t look at him. Pretend he isn’t in the room.”
Amanda’s mouth and throat felt like cotton. “What if he brings a gun?”
Johnson shook his head. “Metal detectors. He can’t get past court security with a weapon, and I’ve put a bug in the judge’s ear that he has done you physical harm in the past and may try again. A court guard will frisk him before he goes through the screener.”
Breath whooshed from Amanda’s parted lips. “Thank goodness for that.”
* * *
En route to the courthouse, Jeb talked incessantly, trying to allay Amanda’s fears. She clung to his every word.
“I’ll be in the spectator area right behind you. Because you’re the plaintiff—the person who filed for the divorce—you’ll sit on the right, facing the judge. Johnson will sit on your left between you and Mark, who will be seated on the far side of his attorney. So you’ll have two lawyers as a buffer. The armed bailiff stands near the bench, where the judge presides over the hearing. The court clerk is also at the front of the courtroom near the judge’s bench. So you’re going to have quite a few bodies between you and Mark. He’d have to be totally off his rocker to try anything during the hearing.”
Amanda took a bracing breath. “Mark is totally off his rocker when it comes to me. Always has been, always will be.”
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