had turned sharp and Amanda knew if she stayed he would get truly good and mad at her. She sighed as she stood and reached for a beam opposite her. She hopped onto it, reached for a thick metal pipe, seated herself on it and flipped upside down from her knees; then grabbed another pipe below her to swing to the floor.
“Dad would have your hide if he caught you swingin’ from his pipes like a monkey,” Trent threatened.
“A lot goes in the barn that Daddy doesn’t know about doesn’t it?” Amanda shot her brother a saucy smile as she passed and had to dodge his hat as he took it off to swing it at her behind.
“Get out of here!” Trent called after her.
“Make me,” Amanda turned to walk backwards and made a face at her brother. She caught a hint of amusement in Cade’s eyes and the increase in her heart’s tempo more than her brother’s ill glare prompted her to turn and leave.
“She’s a pest but I love her,” Trent’s words drifted to her as she left and made her smile. She nodded to Greg, one of the hands who was approaching the barn as she passed.
Amanda meandered her way back toward the house only to stop where her father was working on the tractor.
“Hi, Daddy,” Amanda leaned against the tractor’s large wheel.
“Hey, Cupcake; you been reading in the hay loft again?” Sterling’s gaze was amused when he looked up at her.
“How’d you know?” Amanda stared at her dad suspiciously. Sterling reached over to pluck a piece of hay from Amanda’s hair and she smiled at her father.
“Is your book good?” her father’s gaze was back on the engine in front of him but Amanda knew he would listen to every word she had to say.
“I guess so; the heroine’s kind of stupid.”
“How so?” Sterling glanced up at his daughter to let her know he was interested.
“She’s weak; ‘oh help me, help me,’” Amanda pitched her voice high and waved her hands dramatically. Sterling chuckled at his daughter’s antics.
“Not every woman is as strong as you are,” Sterling informed her.
“She’s still stupid,” Amanda insisted.
She strolled over to a nearby Oak, its limbs spreading wide over the land around them and climbed into one of the lower crooks to resume her book. Stupid or not, she wanted to know what happened to the heroine of her story; she was curious about the stranger who had just ridden to the rescue. When Amanda once again became frustrated with the heroine of the story, she closed her book and stretched out across the tree limb, to study her father.
He was silver headed, prematurely according to her aunt, and Amanda had always felt his name was somehow a moniker for his beautiful hair. She could remember, however, that he’d had dark blonde hair once upon a time, though even then it had been streaked with silver. She couldn’t help wondering why her father had never remarried. He was an attractive man and while their ranch wasn’t the largest or most successful they had never truly wanted for what they needed. For a time Amanda had blamed her Aunt Naomi; she had felt that she made her father’s life too comfortable for him to realize he needed a wife. She had almost immediately felt guilty; she loved her Aunt Naomi, even if she was a priss.
_______________________________________________
Amanda surveyed herself in the mirror and made a face; fifteen year olds were not supposed to be as straight as a rail. Well, that was not entirely accurate; she did have two pathetic bumps that were supposed to pass for breast but she wasn’t buying it. Her Aunt Naomi was completely unsympathetic too. “All in good time,” her aunt continually admonished. In the meantime Chris Atkins was purported to be “going steady” with Nancy Moore; she had the largest boobs of anyone in the school. Amanda turned from her mirror in disgust and dressed for the day.
“Happy birthday,” Naomi greeted her as soon as she walked through the door.
“Thanks, Aunt Naomi,” Amanda took the offered plate of blueberry waffles, her favorite, and seated herself beside her daddy.
“Can we go get my learners permit after school today?” Amanda asked the question casually as she dribbled a generous portion of syrup over her waffles.
“Not today,” Sterling shot his daughter an amused glance before turning back to the morning’s paper.
Amanda made a face at her plate and tackled her breakfast; she wasn’t through with this fight yet. Today she