us talk this through, okay,” Cade rubbed her arm lightly. Amanda turned and rose onto her toes to kiss him lightly on the lips, her hand behind his neck. She laid her forehead against his for a moment and then settled back onto her feet.
“I’ll be back,” she promised. He nodded, his eyes dark with worry.
Amanda, unmindful of the gravel beneath her feet, hurried down the stairs and ran across the drive. She bounded onto the porch, yanked the door open and entered the house. She saw her aunt step from the kitchen, her eyes going wide as she took in Amanda’s appearance. Amanda wasted no time tearing up the stairs to gather her clothing and shut herself into the bathroom to shower. She made herself take several deep breaths. She had to be calm and reasonable if she had any hope of them listening to her. As soon as she was dressed Amanda rushed back down the stairs and spilled onto the porch; she came to an abrupt halt when she found her brother and father talking.
“Where’s Cade?” she demanded.
“Cade is no longer employed on this ranch,” her father announced evenly.
“Where did he go?” she demanded.
“I wouldn’t know,” her father returned.
“You had no right to send him away without even letting him talk to me,” Amanda accused.
“I had every right! I made it clear from the day I hired him that you were off limits!” her father bellowed in return.
“That was fine when I was fifteen but in case you haven’t notice I am not a child anymore!” Amanda balled her fists in fury.
“I am still the owner of this ranch and I still make the decisions; I made the decision to fire him.”
“I love him, Daddy,” Amanda admitted, tears in her eyes. “I love him and we want to be together.”
“I’m sorry, Amanda but I want better for you.”
“You don’t even know him,” Amanda accused her father.
“I do,” her brother glared at her.
“Do you?” Amanda turned on her brother.
“Yes!”
“How did get the scar by his eye?”
“In a fight.”
“With who?”
“I don’t know,” her brother snapped.
“He tried defending his mother when his dad was beating her, the ring his dad was wearing tore his skin open,” Amanda supplied. “How did his mother die?”
“He says his dad killed her with his abuse and then leaving,” Trent snapped.
“She committed suicide; she couldn’t deal with it,” Amanda shared.
“What is he most scared of, more than anything else in this world?”
“Mandy, what is the point of this?” Trent snapped impatiently.
“My point is I know him, Trent. We wrote each other two and three times a week for four years. We talked on the phone every night for the past year. We told each other things that nobody else knows; I know him. I know that he wants to be a rancher and be like you two,” she said around tears, “though at the moment I can’t imagine why.”
Amanda watched her father flinch and felt her heart break; she had never spoken to her father that way.
“Amanda, you are my only daughter and it’s my job to protect you,” Sterling informed her.
“Ask your son how many women he has slept with, Dad; or do those men’s daughters not matter?” Amanda turned and entered the house and grabbed her spare key from the entry table. She found Naomi watching her wide eyed from the kitchen doorway.
Amanda stepped outside and around her father and brother to climb into her Jeep. Over two hours later she was in tears again and her heart ached so bad she could hardly breathe. She couldn’t find Cade anywhere. It was nearly four in the morning when Amanda knocked on Jenny’s new apartment door.
“Mandy; what’s wrong?” her friend grabbed her arm and dragged her inside.
“I can’t find Cade; he’s gone,” Amanda shared.
“Gone? Gone where? Why?”
“Dad fired him.”
“What?” Jenny sank to the couch, her hazel eyes dark with worry. Amanda related the events of the evening to her friend.
“I hurt so bad I can’t breathe, Jenny. I want to find him and make sure he’s okay,” Amanda gasped, as she leaned forward.
“Take a deep breath, Mandy; take a deep breath,” Jenny rubbed her back. A moment later, Amanda leaned against her friend, sobs wracking her body. Jenny wrapped her arms around Amanda and let her cry; Jenny’s own tears wet the back of Amanda’s shirt.
_________________________________________
Amanda returned to the ranch the next day to find Naomi the only one home.
“Hi, Naomi,” she greeted softly as she entered.
“Are you okay?” Naomi rushed to hug her.
“No,”