Caleb's Blessing Page 11

  “Caleb you grew up in this house, do you remember ever seeing a torture chamber in it?”

  “A what?” I stopped short and looked over Amanda’s head at my infuriating mother.

  “You’re acting as though you think I’m going to drag her off somewhere and tie her to the wall with chains.”

  “I’m acting like a man who’s staying by his woman’s side because this is unfamiliar territory for her. Now where are we going?”

  “I was going to introduce her around but I guess we can do that later.” She sniffed at me but I didn’t care. I’d made a promise and I aim to keep it.

  Dad was next on the list and I came damn close to breaking his arm the old flirt. “Well now Marjorie who’s this bright little blossom?” I’m pretty sure he knew exactly who she was, but if he thought I wouldn’t kick his old ass for ogling my girl he had another think coming.

  “Colin behave; you know very well that this is our new daughter in law, Amanda.”

  “My sons have their daddy’s taste in women and horse flesh, let me see your teeth girl.” I was about to elbow his ass but Amanda stopped me with her laughter. She actually got the old goat.

  “Well now, things ought to be fun around here.” He gave me a look that I understood only too well.

  “Speaking of which where’s Drake and Diane?”

  “Oh you know your sister in law likes to make an entrance, I’m sure they’ll be here soon. Now Colin unhand my daughter in law and let me go introduce her to the ladies.”

  “Marjorie I’m quite sure she doesn’t want to meet those old biddies, do you child? See she wants to stay with me. Hey do you like spirits?”

  “Dad.”

  “What I’m just asking.”

  “Give her here both of you and go tend to your guests you can introduce her around later.”

  “Okay but I get the second dance son.” That’s what he thinks. I walked her over to the guys who acted like proud uncles or a younger brother in Mikey’s case.

  “You cleaned up real well Ms. Amanda.”

  “Thanks Jonah you boys look very handsome tonight. Jonah I saw Ms. Millie over there when we came in; did you say hi?”

  “Don’t you start too, Caleb’s mama already wrung my ears with her mess, bad enough I gotta wear this contraption....” He mumbled something else under his breath as he pulled at his collar.

  I should’ve known that I couldn’t keep her to myself for too long. Before you knew it people were coming up to me under one pretense or another, but I knew their game since every last one of them had their eyes glued to her.

  By the third time a male checked her out too closely, I removed my jacket and put it around her shoulders. She only spared me one knowing glance but didn’t protest, which was good because it wouldn’t have mattered.

  This of course caused my own personal peanut gallery to snicker like little old women. “Can’t you fucks find someone to dance with?” As was usual, all of the single women were sizing them up and more than a few of them were giving me looks like I’d done something horrible by taking myself off the market.

  “You ready for a glass of champagne now baby?” I was pacing her but she didn’t know it. That’s why I hadn’t let mom introduce her around as soon as we got here. I wanted her to enjoy her evening and throwing her to the wolves as soon as we got here wasn’t part of the program.

  “I’d love one thanks, but Caleb I can only have maybe one and a half.” Her face went beet red. “Why is that sugar?” I was walking her away as we spoke.

  “Um, I tend to say a lot when I’ve had too much champagne.”

  “Say a lot?”

  “You know, be a little more honest than is sometimes good.”

  “Oh I see, not to worry.” Like hell! I signaled one of the servers and had the first glass in her hand before she could blink.

  When she was halfway through I saw my brother and his wife enter. Drake saw us and made a beeline towards us, while Diane did her thing where she waits for all eyes to be on her. The only one missing now was my little sister and she was gallivanting all over Europe for another couple of weeks.

  “Good evening Amanda, you look amazing. I won’t ask how you’re doing, I can see for myself. Congratulations, to both of you.” He kissed her cheek and I pulled her back under my arm.

  “Geez bro, it’s just me.”

  “Yeah I know.” I rolled my eyes at him, like he was any better. Diane finally made her way over to us after accepting all the praise that was to be had.

  “Well hello everyone, why Amanda don’t you look smashing tonight, but what’s with the ugly men’s jacket?” she turned up her nose.

  Drake started to scold her for the crack about the jacket but I stopped him. “She’s wearing my jacket because I find I don’t like the eyes of every man here on her.”

  That ought to shut her the hell up; the thought that she wasn’t the center of attention tonight should keep her ass too preoccupied to start shit.

  “Very becoming Caleb.” My crack had apparently gone right over her vain head. Her eyes and her voice lost some of their fake warmth when she noticed the family jewels adorning my girl’s neck and hands.

  If I remember correctly, she’d once made a joke that they should all come to her since I was never gonna get married. Everyone else had laughed it off at the time, but I knew she wasn’t joking.

  I held Amanda’s hand a little more securely and ran my thumb along her palm. She’d told me about their conversation the day Diane had visited the ranch, and there hadn’t been anything to send up any red flags, but still I didn’t let down my guard.

  Things only got worse when mom’s friends, probably tired of waiting for an intro, started coming over to introduce themselves. Each and every one of them expounded on her beauty in some way, and I could see it was bugging the hell out of my sister in law.

  Drake noticed it too, but he just smirked and shrugged it off. We were all accustomed to her behavior by now; she always has to be the center of everything no matter what. It’s one of the reasons I’d banned her from coming to any more of my shows.

  “Why don’t I take Amanda upstairs to freshen up a little?” she tried taking her out of my hand.

  “She’s good thanks, I think I see someone I’d like to introduce her to if you two will excuse us.” I hadn’t seen a damn soul but I wanted her all to myself.

  So far things were running smoothly as was to be expected where mom was concerned. She’d gone above and beyond just as I’d asked, and even the governor and his wife were on hand to meet my new fiancée.

  When word of the party spread as I was sure it would, I didn’t want anything left undone. I can’t and won’t forget that crack Cecily had made about her being the help. By the time word got back to her, she and everyone else will know the truth, that Amanda was the future wife of the heir to half the damn state.

  “Are you having fun yet baby?” I turned her into my arms for a slow dance after passing her empty champagne glass off to someone.

  “Oh Caleb’s it’s great, everyone seems so nice.” The tension was gone from her body as she rested her head on my shoulder and squeezed the hand that was holding hers.

  “I love you, and you are, the most beautiful woman here. Then again I think you’re the most beautiful woman anywhere.” It felt good holding her in my arms like this, feeling her so relaxed when I’d been expecting to spend most of the night easing her out of her shell.

  “My turn I think.” I looked over at my dad who had waltzed his ass into the middle of the ballroom floor to annoy me.

  “Dad, go away.” The song wasn’t even finished yet.

  “Boy didn’t I teach you about sharing? Now get out of the way.” He actually muscled me aside and took her from me. At least he makes her laugh.

  I headed back to the wall and the guys, who didn’t seem to have left that spot. “You idiots plan on standing here all evening?”

  “You gave us a job remember?”

  “Yes Adr
ian, but you can see her from the dance floor can’t you? I see that Denise girl eyeing you over there why don’t you go ask her to dance?”

  “No thanks, that one has wedding bells in her eyes.”

  “What’s so wrong with that?”

  “So it’s true, as soon as one of you saps bite the bullet you try to drag all the rest of us down with you.”

  “Shut up and go dance with the girl you ass.”

  “Fine, but I’m expecting the rest of you assholes to come save me if I start sending out signals.”

  “Sure you do that.”

  “There’s been no sign of the Crane girl, and no one’s been buzzing about that business in town, which is surprising. I guess your mom put the word out or something.” Simon shared as soon as we were all through laughing.

  “Good we’re still on rotation though, I’m not expecting anything but I would rather be prepared. Every hour until we leave one of us will check the perimeter.”

  “We know boss you’ve told us like a thousand times before we left.”

  “Fine let me go rescue my girl from dad and the rest of you find a partner for heaven’s sake before mom does it for you, you know it’s only a matter of time.”

  “Damn.” They started scanning the room for prospects of which they were plenty, my boys never suffered for female company, whether that of the soiled doves they preferred, or the more genteel breed of which there were plenty here.

  I had taken my eyes off of dad and Amanda for a split second and they were gone. I started to panic until common sense kicked in. “This fucking guy.” I knew exactly where he’d taken her and could only shake my head.

  If what she’d told me about her reaction to champagne was true, then a few swigs of dad’s illegal shit will have her tongue more than loose. Fuck.

  Chapter 21

  She wasn’t where I’d expected them to be, which was downstairs in dad’s little moonshine lab, but I didn’t panic.

  I knew he wouldn’t let anything happen to mine but I still needed to have her where I can see her, with all these strangers around.

  I checked a couple more rooms before I heard her giggle through the study door upstairs, away from the party. I was about to barge in until I heard them through the door.

  “Oops, sorry.”

  “Uh-oh, why didn’t you tell me you can’t handle your liquor girl? You better give me that.”

  “Uh-uh, I like it, it has...character.” She giggled again and I watched through the crack in the door as she took a swig of his concoction.

  The last time I’d messed with his nonsense I was seventeen. It was the first and the last time for me, because dad didn’t know what the fuck he was doing quite frankly.

  “Take it easy, you want my son to kill me?” She giggled again so I knew she was tipsy. Remembering her words about her reaction to champagne, I decided to stay back and see what I see.

  She was in no danger and she sounded more relaxed up here than she was downstairs, so why not let her have it?

  “Now this one is when he was three, you see, he always knew what he wanted to be when he grew up.”

  What the fuck? Another good look showed exactly what the two of them were up to, old family albums. Of course my mind went to all the embarrassing photos I could remember.

  “He’s so adorable, even then.” She ran her fingers over the plastic that had to be at least twenty something years old.

  “He was a pain in the ass same as now.” He spoke with gruffness but there was affection in his voice.

  “No, I can’t imagine my Caleb being anything but perfect.”

  “Sure, are we talking about my son?”

  “Of course who else?”

  “Well the Caleb I know got up to more shit than half the damn county. If I told you the sleepless nights his mother and I’ve had.”

  “But your wife said he was the best behaved.”

  “His mother lies for him, she always did. The boy was always part criminal in the making. There was a time there when I had a bail fund going.

  I finally bought Marjorie a yacht with it last year, because that was the first time I started to believe that he wasn’t headed for the hangman’s noose.”

  She laughed so hard she almost fell out of her chair. “You’re making it up.”

  “If I lie I die.” The old lying ass put his hand over his heart and one in the air. I was grinning silently to myself because I’d never seen her this relaxed. I should bag some of dad’s hooch for later.

  “Now you see this one here, where he’s covered in a cast from head to foot? He was seven, first time he went wrangling with a bull. Sent his mother to her bed for a week. Poor woman hasn’t had a sane moment since.”

  “But he only has a cast on one arm.”

  “Okay you caught me, I think he got that falling out of a tree if I remember correctly.”

  He knows very well that I got it from him egging me on when he knew that mom didn’t want me to climb the tree, because it was too big and I was too little. Then again mom always thought we were too little to do anything.

  Dad on the other hand would sneak and let us do it, as long as we didn’t involve him when shit went south.

  It was the first time that I learned that as big and bad as my dad was in my eyes, he was scared shitless of mom, especially when it came to her kids.

  For some reason it taught me to respect them both more. It also gave me a stronger sense of family.

  Dad never became weak in my eyes because he deferred to mom in some things, no more than I found her weak those times when I saw him put his foot down and mom did as she was told.

  As a kid I didn’t understand all the dynamics, I just knew I felt safe with these two people, as an adult I get it.

  “Aww, my poor Caleb, he’s so little here.”

  “Don’t let the little rascal fool you, he was always up to some shit. I slept with one eye open until he left for college.”

  “Caleb went to college?”

  “What do you think, that I raised an idiot? Of course he went to college.

  It was hard on him doing both and of course he didn’t take regular classes like the rest of ‘em after his first year, but my boy sure did get his degree.”

  “Wow, that must’ve been something, doing both at the same time, and so young.”

  “I’m sure it was, his mother and I are very proud of him, now we have something else to be proud of him for.”

  “What’s that?”

  “You.”

  “Me?”

  “Yes you. I always knew he would choose the perfect gem. His mama worried forever about that boy settling down. His brother’s been married for a while now, and he’s younger you see, so she got nervous. But I knew and I was right.”

  She was silent for so long that I almost walked in, but then I heard her softly spoken words and I couldn’t move if I wanted to.

  “But I’m not a gem.”

  “What do you mean?” his voice had gone soft too.

  “He hasn’t told you?”

  “Told me what sweetheart?”

  “About me, about my past.”

  “I know enough, I don’t see what that has to do with it. Were you the one running around shooting people and beating up on someone you thought was weaker than you?” She shook her head but kept it down.

  “Well then tell me, tell me why a bright, beautiful and kind young lady doesn’t think she’s a gem?”

  “Because...don’t you think your son deserves better than my past? Don’t you think he deserves someone like that Cecily girl?”

  “Who? Listen I’d like to be sure of the lineage of my grandkids when they finally get here. I’ll thank you kindly not to wish that person on me and my family, thank you very much.”

  “What do you mean?”

  “Never you mind all that now, you just listen to your father in law, I know about these things. You’ve seen my wife? She’s a gem.”

  “Oh but I’m nothing like her, she’s perfe
ct.”

  “It’s good that you think so, as her daughter in law it will make life easy. But I tell you I see some of the same qualities I saw in her over thirty some odd years ago in you. She’s another very strong female.”

  “But I’m not strong like that as you know.”

  “What’re you talking about? You’re here aren’t you? Do you know how much strength it takes to walk away from the known into the unknown? It takes a lot of guts and courage.

  It takes even more guts and courage to let anyone else in and you’ve done that too. You should be proud of yourself young lady, I am.”

  I knew she was going to cry, and I knew I wouldn’t be able to stand out here if that happened, but before I could move forward he was on it again.

  “Don’t start that crying mess because both my son and his mother would have my ass. Now drink up and let’s get back before one or the other of them comes looking. I’m surprised the boy hasn’t started tearing down my place already.”

  “Do you really think that I...that I can make him happy?”

  “You already have girl. I know my boy, the only time I’ve ever seen him remotely close to this happy, is when he was in one of those damn rings trying to get his dumb ass killed.”

  She was back to laughing and snorting as the old reprobate put it on thick.

  “You’re laughing but I’m telling you, that boy came out the womb looking for trouble. From the time he could walk he was always looking for shit to get up to.”

  “I hope our sons are just like him.” There were still tears in her voice so I pushed the door in alerting them both to my presence.

  “I’ll take her dad.”

  “Shit, give me that.” He took the glass jar from her but it was already empty, which was a surprise. How had she finished that shit and was still standing?

  I hid my smile as I walked over and picked her up from the chair and into my arms. He slipped out of the room when my seemingly tipsy baby face planted into my chest with a heavy sigh.

  “You okay baby, how much of that crap did you have to drink?” I lifted her chin with my finger to gauge the situation. Her eyes were a little bright, but she didn’t seem any worse for wear. It could be from all the excitement.