Change of Heart - By S.E. Edwards Page 0,49

either,” she comments in an offhand sort of way.

I look back. “What?”

“My mom,” Amanda repeats. “I never knew her, either. And my dad died when I was only six. I was raised by my two older brothers.”

“Oh.” I hesitate. “I’m sorry.”

“Please.” Amanda makes a face. “You probably know better than I how insincere that makes you sound. I hate when people assume they know everything about me just because I’ve known some hardships.” She tosses her hair. “Am I right?”

I turn to face her. “That’s exactly how I feel, actually.”

Amanda laughs. “Good. Come here, sit down.” She gestures across the table from her. Then she winks. “I don’t scratch.”

I step around the mess Steel has made on the floor and come to the table. I look at Amanda warily.

She sighs when I don’t sit down right away. “Penelope, you can relax. I don’t think there’s any reason for us to hate each other.”

“I don’t hate you,” I say, choosing my words carefully.

“But you don’t like me much, either, right? Don’t deny it. I can see it in the way you look at me. Truth be told, I probably deserve it. I don’t get many visitors out here. You were a bit of a surprise. I guess what I’m trying to say…” Amanda takes a deep breath, “…is I’m sorry for acting like a bitch when I met you.” She smiles in a stiff sort of way. “There, I said it.”

I was not expecting that. An apology? From Amanda? After everything Rich had told me about her? It almost strained belief. “You had a right to be. You weren’t expecting anyone other than Rich.” I pick at my rumpled sweater. “I know how I must look, too. But you invited me in anyway, and for that, I’m grateful. Truly.”

Amanda smiles and sticks out her hand. “Truce?”

“Truce,” I agree, smiling back. She has a strong grip.

Amanda laughs when she lets go. Her laugh sounds like chiming bells. “Well, that’s a relief. Whew! Tell me I’m not the only one who felt the tension dissipate.”

“Yeah,” I agree. I sit across from her. “It does make things easier.”

In a flash her good humor dies and her eyes harden. “But if you sleep with Richard,” she says darkly, “I will kill you.”

I’m taken aback by the sudden shift. Just as I’m trying to catch my bearings, Amanda’s face splits into a grin she can’t hold back anymore. “I’m teasing!” she laughs. “I had you going there, didn’t I?”

I smirk back. “With skills like that, you should be on TV.”

“Or the movies,” she says. She nods toward Steel. “She likes you.”

I give Amanda a curious look. “Steel is a girl’s name?”

“What?” Amanda looks at me, then looks down at the dog… and then breaks out into uncontrollable laughter.

“You think her name is ‘Steel?’” she says as she gasps for breath, tears streaming down her face. “No, no!” Amanda whistles, and the retriever trots up to her. Amanda turns the collar on the dog’s neck around and shows me the tag. “‘Steel’ is the brand of the dog tag!” she tells me. “Her name’s on the other side.”

“…Mel,” I read out.

“Short for Melissa,” Amanda tells me, still grinning. “You really think I would have named my dog after a type of metal?”

I can’t help but laugh. “I didn’t know what to expect.”

“Well, she likes you either way. Even if you did think she was a boy. Don’t you, girl?” Amanda rubs the underside of her dog’s neck, and Mel wags her tail happily. Amanda lets go, and the big retriever comes to me. I scratch her between the ears.

“Dogs have a much better sense of people than we do,” Amanda tells me. “In fact, a lot of animals are like that. You can tell a lot about a person by how they interact with animals. You know the fastest way to introduce a bad guy in a movie?”

“What?” I ask, curious.

“Give him a scene with a puppy. Have him kick the dog as soon as it comes over.” Amanda shrugs. “The audience will hate him forever.”

I laugh. “That’s probably true.” I look down at the dog. “So is that why you were so hostile at the start? Because Mel was growling at me?”

I mean it as a joke, but Amanda takes the comment seriously. “Actually, yes. But then I saw you and her in the kitchen, and, you know…” she shrugs again. “The rest is history.”

“So Mel’s like your personal litmus test to whether you can trust