Finally Home (20 page)

“
Oh my stars,” Amanda felt her knees go weak.

“
Noah will probably wring my neck for comin’ down here to get ya but I thought you could help,” Luke placed the cowboy hat back on his head.

“
What can I do?” she whispered.

“
Amos always talks about how much he likes you. How he respects you. I think he might listen to you if you tell him to put down the gun,” he said.

“
I’ll do anything I can to help,” Amanda rushed to the front door and grabbed her coat. “Let’s go.”

********

“
What’re you doing here, Amanda?” Noah ran to her when he noticed she was trailing Luke up the hill.

“
I’m sorry, I thought she could help, Noah,” Luke sulked away.

“
Luke said I may be able to persuade Amos to get rid of his gun,” she turned her head from the flashlight Noah held in his hand.

“
He’s not listening to any of us...honey, why would he listen to you?”

“
Can I just try it? Please, Noah,” she squeezed his arm.

He softened when he looked into her beautiful blue eyes. “Ok, but don’t leave my side. We don’t even know why Amos has the gun...he may turn it on us.”

Amanda nodded and was pleased when Noah gently took her hand. “Show me where he is.”

Noah walked her a few feet over ground that was soft from the recent rain. She felt weeds brush as high as her knees and could smell the faint scent of wildflowers in the nippy air. The other ranch hands were on top of the hill, flashlights in their hands, all shining at Amos.

“
Amos, I’m concerned about you...thought you might want to talk,” she cleared her throat, tried to summon enough power in her voice. “Why don’t you lay that gun down and come over here. Tell me what’s troubling you.”

“
That you, Miss Brookfield?” Amos wondered.

“
Yes, Amos. Come over and talk to me,” she coaxed softly, feeling strength from Noah as he massaged her neck gently with his hand.

Amos moved the gun away from his head a moment, hesitating. “I can’t. I don’t deserve to live, ma’am.”

“
Why? What’s so upsetting that it’s making you hold that gun to your head?”

“
I’m so ashamed of what I did to you...and Mr. West,” he whined, lifting the gun back to his head. “It was all my fault! I led ‘em into the barns...I started those fires for ‘em. All for the money...I was so greedy!”

Amanda looked at Noah and at the same time, they both realized what Amos was referring to. “Amos, are you saying that you’ve been helping Mr. Ellinger?”

“
Yes, ma’am,” he leaned against an oak tree, the gun still in his hand, but now pointing to the ground.

“
Amos, please put the gun on the ground and come here. Noah and I don’t blame you,” Amanda moved away from Noah and closer to Amos.

“
Really?” Amos dropped the gun into the flowers that surrounded the oak tree.

Noah followed Amanda and aimed the flashlight in a path toward Amos. “Amanda’s right. Ellinger’s to blame. And if you tell the police what Ellinger paid you to do, we’ll forget all about your part in it.”

“
I don’t know how you can forgive me!” he whimpered, covering his face with his hands.

“
I’ve known you and your pa for a long time, Amos. You’re good people. And I know you wouldn’t have been an accomplice of Ellinger’s unless he waved a lot of green stuff in your face. Am I right?”

“
Yeah, Mr. West. But I haven’t spent it...cause I feel it’s wrong....”

“
So, will you tell the police? It would help prove what Ellinger did to the barn and stable. Arson’s a crime,” Noah located the gun with his foot and pushed it behind him so Luke could pick it up.

“
I don’t know...he could hurt me if I told--”

“
We can’t let Mr. Ellinger get away with his slimy tricks anymore. If we don’t stop him, he’ll succeed in destroying Moonlight Ranch one day, Amos,” Amanda touched his hand.

“
Ok,” he nodded with tightly shut eyes. “I’ll talk to the police, but I think I’ll have to leave the ranch. My aunt in Colorado has been buggin’ me to come live with her...it might be best that I do that now.”

“
We’ll be sorry to see you go. But you’re right, it would probably be for the best,” Noah slapped his back. “Let’s take a quick trip to the station.”

“
We’ll get the horses back to the stable, Noah,” Luke promised and then winked at Amanda. “I knew you could do it, ma’am.”

Nodding at Luke, Noah slowly guided Amos away from the tree, then gazed at Amanda, barely seeing her through the dark night. “I’ll be gone for a little while.”

She tugged on his suede coat. “Don’t be gone too long.”

Amanda couldn’t see his face in detail, but knew he was smiling at her. There was a connection between them that she hadn’t felt in a long time.

“
Get some sleep. You’ve had a rough night,” he whispered in her ear, then kissed her cheek.

She accepted a flashlight from Luke but her eyes remained on the vague figures of Noah and Amos trudging down the hill.

“
We’ll get two horses to take us back down to the main house, Miss Brookfield. That way you won’t have to walk so far,” Luke said.

“
Thanks,” she murmured to the young ranch hand, suddenly feeling exhausted from the day’s events.

“
You were really great with, Amos. Anybody could tell you really cared.”

She glanced at Luke, who bashfully darted his eyes away from her. “I care a lot. For this ranch and everyone that lives and works on it.”

“
Are you and Noah gonna get married?” Luke asked and grabbed the reins of a brown paint. The horse whinnied, but remained still so Luke could hoist Amanda onto its back.

Startled, she stared down at Luke. “What makes you ask that?”

“
Just curious,” the boy shrugged and hopped onto another horse.

“
Well, I can’t answer that...right now...I don’t know how things...are going to turn out with Noah and me,” she felt herself blushing.

On the ride back to the house, she gazed at the bright moon and sparkling stars that filled the sky. She smiled, knowing that they were there to light her way home.

********

Amanda couldn’t sleep. Not until she talked to Noah. Almost stumbling over Webster, she tiptoed to the closet and pulled out a fuzzy pink robe. As she made her way down the staircase, she listened for any sounds but only heard the grandfather clock ticking away in the foyer. Where was Noah? He had left with Amos for the police station over two hours ago.

She turned on a light at the bottom of the stairs and tapped her foot. She would wait. How much longer could he be?

Settling herself comfortably on the stairs, she stared at the front door. Her eyes grew heavy as ticking of the grandfather clock hypnotized her into a drowsy state. Before she knew it, she was asleep.

Feeling groggy, she heard someone call her name, then a large hand rubbed over her wavy hair. Looking through slitted eyes, she yawned deeply. Grinning, she realized Noah was sitting beside her on the stairs. “I must’ve fallen asleep.”

“
The question is, why did you fall asleep on the stairs?” he teased and couldn’t resist kissing her nose.

She breathed in the wonderful scent of him. All musk and nature. “I was waiting for you...so we can talk....”

He cupped her face in his hands after she yawned and closed her eyes. “Sweetheart, we can talk tomorrow.”

“
Noah, no,” she protested as he hooked a strong arm under her knees and wrapped the other arm around her waist. “That meeting with Mr. Ellinger...I have to talk to you about it....”

“
Tomorrow,” his lips whispered against her ear.

She felt him lift her into his arms. “Now,” she insisted, her arms immediately circled around his neck and she absently curled some of his hair around her fingertip.

“
It’s one in the morning,” he informed her and carried her upstairs and into her room.

When he laid her on the bed, she crawled beneath the covers, not caring if she still had on her robe. “Oh, Noah, I wish I wasn’t so sleepy.”

He watched her cuddle into the pillows and sat on the bed beside her. His hand caressed her face. “Good night, Amanda.”

After he left the room, she sighed in contentment and drifted off instantly.

Webster’s wet tongue woke her around seven-thirty in the morning. It slid across her cheek and she groaned, stretching her arms out of the sheets. “Puppy, what are you doing up so early?”

The dog barked, then hopped back onto the floor. Amanda groaned and rolled over, her eyes focusing on the empty food bowl in the corner. Forcing herself from the warm bed, she shivered when her feet stepped off the rug and touched the hardwood floor. After she filled the dog’s food and water bowls, her thoughts wandered to Noah. He could be in the dining room waiting for her already. She wanted to talk to him right away. She needed to find out if he was still leaving. She needed to find out how he felt about her.

It took her fifteen minutes to shower and dress, then she skipped down the hall and descended the stairs. Her smile faded when she entered the dining room. It was empty. Moving into the kitchen, she frowned at Maria. “Where’s Noah?”

“
Don’t know,” she wiped her face with a towel. “I heard him leave the house about an hour ago.”

“
Maybe he’s around the corral.”

“
Could be, but I think he drove off in his jeep,” Maria poured a thick batter from a bowl and onto the griddle. “He didn’t even stop to say good morning to me like he usually does.”

Amanda’s joyful feeling began to waver. “He told me we would talk today. Why did he run off so early?”

“
The day has just begun, Miss Amanda. Maybe the talk will be later.”

“
Have you heard anything about Amos?”

“
Nobody has told me nothing,” she grumbled. “What happened to him?”

“
I guess he’s all right. I convinced him to release the gun last night. He was feeling used and guilty because Mr. Ellinger paid him to assist with the barn and stable fires.”

Maria shook her head. “What a sick man that Mr. Ellinger is. Why would he do such a thing?”

“
Revenge. He wanted this ranch and would try anything to get it...or destroy if he couldn’t have it.”

“
So, Amos helped him...I always thought that boy was so nice,” Maria flipped the pancakes on the sizzling griddle.

“
He is. The money made him do what he did. Anyway, he said he is moving to Colorado to be with his aunt. But I don’t know if he’s gone yet. Noah took him to the police station last night to confess what he did and provide proof that Mr. Ellinger hired him.”

“
I’m just glad everyone is ok,” Maria crossed her heart with a finger. “I prayed so very hard last night. I didn’t know what was going on.”

Amanda put her arm around the woman that had come to mean so much to her in such a short time. “Just remember that you’re part of this crazy unrelated family. We’ll never keep you in the dark about anything.”

“
How would you like some nice fluffy pancakes? Most of them are for the hands who are sleeping in this morning after such a rough night, but I can spare a few for you,” she kissed Amanda’s cheek.

“
Later, thanks. I’m taking a walk,” she sighed.

After slipping into her coat, she opened the front door. Her eyes scanned the corral, looking for Noah, then concentrated on the rolling hills beyond. But he was nowhere in sight. Shuffling through the grass tipped with dew, she headed for the corral. And there was Stormy and Angel.

“
Your face sure lights up when you see them,” Amos approached her.

Shocked, Amanda backed away from the fence. “Good morning...I wasn’t expecting to see anyone.”

“
I’ll be leaving this afternoon,” he nodded toward the horses. “You were worried about them last night, weren’t ya?”

“
I was worried about
all
the horses...but yes, Stormy and his mother are special to me.”

“
I-I want to apologize for last night--”

“
Amos, there’s no need. I’m just glad you’re not hurt,” she clapped her hands and Stormy awkwardly galloped over to her. Touching the small white diamond on the foal’s nose, she giggled.

“
Well, uh, thanks for being so nice to me,” he leaned against the fence. “Now it’s my turn to be nice.”

She glanced at him. “You’ve always been nice. I won’t forget how you helped me the night I fainted at the Holiday Festival.”

“
Yeah, because of Mr. Ellinger,” he scowled.

Amanda climbed on the fence and reached over to pet Stormy’s back. “Hopefully, he’s out of our lives for good.”

“
Miss Brookfield, I’m taking up too much time here. I was sent here this morning as a lookout and I better do my job,” he rocked back and forth on his boots. “You need to go up to your grandparent’s old place. Right now.”

She hopped down from the fence and stared at him in awe. “What’s this all about?”

“
Can’t say. You just need to go up the hill and head for your old house,” he waved his hand. “Bye, ma’am.”