Finally Home (17 page)

“
Yes, I know where your mind is!”

Amanda frowned while her hand reached out to touch a soft red blanket hanging over one of the booths. “You do?”

“
He will be here. He told me so.”

“
I-I wasn’t thinking about him, Maria,” she stammered.

“
Sure you weren’t,” Maria chuckled.

“
Is that the dance floor?” Amanda cleared her throat, hoping to steer the conversation elsewhere.

“
Big, isn’t it?”

“
Yes,” Amanda admired the couples dancing, their feet shuffling to a soft holiday tune.

“
Maybe you and Noah can do a little dancin’ later.”

“
Yes, that would be nice,” she smiled.

“
Well, howdy, young lady!” A rotund man stopped in front of her, a tall brunette on his arm.

Amanda held her hand out. “Hi there, Mr....”

“
Randall. Horace Randall. Remember...we met at my general store a little while back?”

“
Oh yes, I remember now,” she felt embarrassed as he shook her hand.

“
And this is my wife Candice,” he patted the woman’s hand.

“
Nice to meet you, I’m Amanda.”

Candice squeezed Amanda’s shoulder. “Your dress is lovely, Amanda. You should be out on the dance floor showing it off!”

“
She will be,” Maria hummed as she continued searching through a bucket of ornaments.

“
Did you come to the festival with Noah?” Horace winked.

“
No. I came alone.”

“
I sure thought you two kids would get together by now! I might have to talk to that boy.”

“
Now, Horace, let’s leave Amanda to her shopping,” Candice giggled.

“
All right, but I’m keepin’ an eye out for Noah. He’s gonna get an earful from me.”

“
Nice to meet you, Amanda,” Candice smiled.

“
They’re nice people,” Maria whispered after the couple walked away. “Always been good to Noah and his family. Especially when they lost Jacob.”

“
Jacob...who’s Jacob?”

Maria’s hand fluttered to her mouth. “Oh, no,” she glanced away from Amanda’s questioning eyes. “I opened my big mouth again.”

“
Come on, tell me.”

“
No one’s mentioned him for over twenty years, Miss Amanda. I don’t know if I should tell you anything.”

“
Now I really want to know! Spill the beans, Maria.”

“
I-I will be in so much trouble.”

“
Trouble?
Why do you say that?”

“
If Noah ever finds out I told you, he will be angry.”

“
He won’t know you said anything. I promise. Now, tell me who Jacob is,” Amanda lowered her voice.

“
He was Noah’s twin brother.”

She didn’t know if she heard her right. “Did you say Noah’s twin brother?”

“
Yes.”

Dragging Maria away from the craft booths, Amanda found an empty table and chairs near the dance floor. “I can’t believe this. Noah had a twin?”

“
Jacob was thrown from a horse when he was eight. No one could believe it when he died from his head injuries,” Maria sniffed.

“
Oh my...” Amanda’s bottom lip quivered. “My grandparents, Thomas, Noah...no one ever told me about Jacob!”

“
It was the family’s wish. They blamed themselves for his death, Miss Amanda. They wanted no mention of Jacob ever again because it was too painful. Eventually, the town’s people went along with them.”

“
I’ve never heard of such a thing. I would think they would want to remember him...not pretend he never existed!”

“
Don’t find fault with the way they handled their grief. It was very overwhelming for them,” Maria patted Amanda’s hand.

“
I’m sure it was. I can understand how terrible it must have been.”

“
Like I said, Miss Amanda, they blamed themselves. Especially Noah, since he was riding alongside his brother when he was thrown.”

Amanda rested her forehead on the palms of her hands. “How awful.”

“
Easier to understand Noah’s feelings toward the ranch, isn’t it?”

“
Yes...I see his feelings in such a different light now.”

Not only was Noah being smothered by his parents, but also dealing with the death of his brother and blaming himself...all at the same time. What a load for a young boy to carry! Amanda’s eyes rapidly searched the hall, wanting to find him. Wanting to embrace him. To let him know how sorry she was and to assure him that she understood him now.

“
Remember, you can’t tell him that you know.”

“
But Maria...surely, you can’t hold me to that now.”

“
Please....”

Amanda observed a developing stiffness in Maria’s posture and followed the suddenly nervous woman’s eyes.

“
Hi, ladies,” Noah approached their table.

“
Hi,” Maria stood. “Excuse me...I see an old friend across the room.”

“
Is she ok? She seemed jumpy.”

“
She’s fine,” Amanda found herself staring into his unreadable hazel eyes after he sat across the table. “How are you?”

“
Never better,” his voice was laced with sarcasm.

She wanted to talk to him about Jacob. Wanted to so badly. But Maria had warned her not to. Oh, what a predicament!

Her eyes moved from his face to his neatly combed hair, then admired his pressed shirt and thin black tie. He looked so handsome, she felt herself blush. “I didn’t think you’d show up.”

He glanced at his watch. “It’s only seven. The party hasn’t even started yet.”

She crossed her legs beneath the table, smoothing her long dress over her lap. “I’d have to disagree. There’s a lot of dancing going on.”

He hesitated, then slowly opened his mouth. “Would...you like to?”

“
Dance?”

“
Yes,” Noah lifted his long body from the folding chair.

She held her hand out to him and he took it gently. Rising from her chair, she allowed him to guide her to the hardwood dance floor. She felt as if she were floating. That nothing in the world could pry her body from his after he pressed his cheek against hers and pulled her close, his lips caressing her ear as he twirled her across the floor.

Boy, was she shoved off her cloud quickly as Brandon tapped on Noah’s shoulder.

“
It’s urgent,” Brandon leaned on his crutches in the middle of the dance floor, seeming unaffected by the obstacle he was creating for the other couples as they tried to steer around him.

Noah shot Brandon a lethal stare. “I should’ve known you were lurking around here somewhere.”

Amanda felt a cold chill when Noah walked off the dance floor. She turned on Brandon. “Why are you here?”

“
I have to talk to you right away, Amanda. In regards to our deal...”

She took a deep breath and helped Brandon maneuver through the whirling couples. “What’s so important?”

“
Mr. Ellinger is a very shady man. He tried to sneak something into the sales contract. But I caught it.”

“
I told you he was sly. What did he do?”

“
He put in a clause that said I could never resell West Furniture.”

“
Why would he do that?”

“
Well, he came straight out and told me that he never wanted the business to fall back into the hands of Noah West.”

“
You’re kidding!”

“
No. Of course, he had no idea that I knew you and that I was buying the business for you to give back to Mr. West.”

“
Did you get the clause removed, Brandon?”

“
You bet. I told him I would cancel the sale if he didn’t take out the clause. He wasn’t too happy about that. But I guess he wanted to sell more than he wanted that clause in there because he’s having the papers retyped.”

“
So you weren’t able to sign today?”

“
No, but I have a meeting with him on Monday. So, unfortunately, I’ll have to stay at the ranch for a little while longer.”

“
Thanks for doing this for me,” Amanda whispered. “It’s very unusual for you to be so helpful.”

“
How can I turn down a chance to add to my fortune?”

She frowned. “Oh yes, how can I forget...you’re doing this for the money.”

“
Sorry to disappoint you, but I haven’t changed into a nice guy.”

She laughed, then began to look around the room for Noah. “Do you think he stormed out of here?”

“
Your lovely Mr. West? Yes, storming sounds like something he would do.”

“
I just want things to work out for me and Noah,” her eyes were wide with hope.

“
I still don’t know what you see in that uncivilized man, but if it’s what you want, I’m sure things will work out in time.”

“
I’m going to find him. Maybe he’s still around here,” she craned her neck as she looked around the room.

“
All right. If you must,” Brandon rolled his eyes. “I’m going back to that dreadful ranch and get some sleep.”

Amanda watched him hobble off on his crutches, praying her instincts were right when they urged her to trust him.

“
Miss Brookfield,” a man’s scratchy voice caught her off guard. Why she didn’t recognize it sooner, she didn’t know, but wished she had.

She shook at the sight of him...his beady eyes and long pointed nose. Dressed completely in black as usual. “What do you want?”

“
You’re looking lovely tonight,” he moved closer to her.

She wanted to flee from him, but knew that’s what he wanted her to do. Wanted her to be frightened of him.

“
I don’t have time to talk.”

“
That must be why you hire others to talk
for
you!”

“
What do you mean?” she asked slowly, confused.

His eyes traveled down her body, over her tight silver gown. “You must promise these men a heck of a lot to do your sneaky jobs for you.”

“
Look, I don’t understand your cryptic words, Mr. Ellinger! So, I think our little conversation is going to end right now,” she brushed past him but he seized her arm.

“
I’m too smart for you,” he hissed.

“
Let me go before someone sees you,” she yanked her arm from his grip.

“
I did some checking on Brandon Barrington,” Mr. Ellinger sneered and whipped a thin folder from his trench coat, then pulled some papers from the folder and ripped them in half.

She felt all color drain from her face. Placing a palm to her forehead, she crumbled to the floor, her eyes fluttering shut as the world went black.

CHAPTER ~ NINE

“
Everybody move away!” Maria started to lift Amanda from the floor, but found the task difficult for a short old woman like herself.

“
Need some help, Maria?”

“
Yes, Amos, please help me lift her,” she was immediately grateful that Amos had appeared.

But as Amanda was being hoisted off the floor, her eyes opened. Grabbing Maria’s jacket collar, she gasped. “What happened?”

“
You fainted, dear,” Maria helped Amos walk Amanda to a nearby chair, thankful the crowd was dispersing.

Amanda slumped into the chair, her head feeling tingly and heavy. Embarrassed, she hid her face behind her hands. “I can’t believe it....”

“
Don’t worry, everyone’s already forgotten by now,” Maria smoothed her hand over Amanda’s hair.

“
Miss Brookfield, don’t think nothin’ of it,” Amos bent down and whispered. “I fainted once. In front of the other ranch hands! Woah! But they understood, on account that I was all feverish and all.”

“
Thank you, Amos,” Amanda managed a smile.

“
See ya later,” he nodded bashfully.

“
Do you want me to drive you home?” Maria sat on a chair beside her and held her hand. “You might be coming down with something.”

“
No, no, I can drive home,” her head was throbbing with a sharp ache as she remembered clearly what had caused her to faint. She anxiously looked around the hall for Mr. Ellinger.

“
Well, if you insist to drive, then I will follow you home in my car!”

“
Have you seen Noah?”

Maria wrapped a red scarf around her curly black hair. “No, I haven’t seen him for quite a while. In fact, I thought that you two were together until I saw you out cold on the floor.”

“
Could’ve turned out that way,” Amanda sniffed, wiping a stray tear from her eye. “We started to dance, then Brandon showed up.”

“
Oooooh, that boy! He is wretched! If you don’t boot him out of the house when we get home...I will!”

********

The sky was scattered with stars, the moon shining full and bright...but all magic of the night was lost to Amanda. She was in no mood to admire such beauty. Without a word to Maria, who had trailed her home as she promised, she slammed her truck door and hurried through the light falling rain. She rubbed her cold nose and pulled off her jacket after she stomped into the house.