Under the Open Sky

Chapter Forty-Two

Amanda sat on her couch, Cade’s arms wrapped around her and smiled in contentment. He was headed up to the main house in a little while but for now they were cuddling and making plans.

“As I’ve already said, I haven’t done much with the house so if you would like to make any changes we could do so a little at a time,” Cade offered.

“The first improvement that should be made is me and Cadey-Lynn as permanent installments; then we’ll fix up Cadey-Lynn’s room. The rest can wait and we’ll do it a little at a time as you suggested,” Amanda smiled up at him.

“I want you and Cadey-Lynn with me, every day and every night,” Cade pushed her hair behind her ear.

“Me too. Of course several years from now you will have to let your daughter go. Are you going to handle that better than my father?” Amanda teased.

Cade smiled. “I’ll try,” he promised. “I guess, looking at my own daughter, that I understand a little better now.”

“She’s easy to love isn’t she?”

“She’s amazing, Amanda; I’m in awe every time I look at her,” Cade admitted.

“Me too. She is amazing and the thing that amazes me most is she’s a part of both us.”

“I know; blessed aren’t we?”

“We are,” Amanda snuggled closer and laid her head on his shoulder.

“Maybe we should go ahead and decorate a nursery; I want more children, Mandy.”

“Me too,” Amanda grinned up at him. “And considering that we did nothing to prevent another baby the past couple of nights we may need a nursery,” she teased him.

Cade grinned at her. “I could have made you wait. I’ve had no reason to keep anything at hand.”

“I’m glad to hear that,” she informed him.

“Figured you would be.”

“But I’m not so sure I would have been very happy if you made me wait.”

“I’m not so sure you would have let me,” he teased.

“Probably not,” she acknowledged. “I waited four years for you the first time and five years this last time; I’m tired of waiting.”

“Me too; just tomorrow and then we’ll be married Saturday,” he reminded her. “You’re sure we aren’t moving too fast for you, Manny?”

“Positive,” Amanda climbed into his lap and wrapped her arms around his neck. She kissed him; his arms came around her.

“I can’t stay, Manny,” Cade seemed amused.

“I’m not trying to convince you to.”

“Could’ve fooled me,” he teased.

“I seem to recall that you once wrote something about each time we were together the anticipation built and you liked that feeling,” she teased.

“I did, didn’t I?” he smiled.

“Yes, you did,” she returned and kissed him again.

“I’ve gotta go,” Cade told her a moment later. Amanda stood and walked him to the door.

“Be careful tomorrow. Are you sure you don’t want me to help?”

“Positive. The next time I make love to you I want you to be my wife and I don’t trust myself to be alone with you at my house.”

“Okay,” she agreed and rose on her toes to kiss him again.

“Good night, Manny.”

“Good night, Cade,” Amanda sighed and closed the door behind him. She did not want to go climb in bed alone tonight but she couldn’t really fault his reasoning either.

Amanda poured herself a glass of juice and seated herself on the couch. A moment later a knock on the door had her standing.

“Hey, Mandy,” Jenny grinned as she entered. “I figured you could use a distraction.”

“Thanks, Jenny,” Amanda laughed.

“I know that if you had your way Cade would have stayed with you tonight and honestly I don’t think your dad or brother would have freaked out too badly considering all. It’s sweet that he’s trying to be so respectful though.”

“Sweet? That’s one word for it,” Amanda smiled as she seated herself.

“Well, I put him in your old room so I doubt either of you will get much sleep tonight,” Jenny was grinning as she shared this. Technically Amanda’s old room was the only room upstairs that hadn’t been renovated for Trent and Jenny and now the children.

“Probably not,” Amanda agreed.

“Your Dad and Naomi are talking about moving out here since it will be empty. They seem to think Trent and I need the space. I keep telling them that with us off upstairs it’s no issue.”

“Maybe not, but your family is growing and with the little ones, it is getting noisier, I’m sure,” Amanda joked.

“I hadn’t thought of that,” Jenny admitted with a smile as her hand rubbed her belly. “Have you two discussed more children yet or is it a little soon for that?”

“We’ve discussed it and we’re both in agreement that we want more,” Amanda shared.

“So when will you two start trying or did the conversation make it that far?” Jenny teased.

“Um,” Amanda looked thoughtful a moment, her lip between her teeth and then grimaced. “Two nights ago?” she nodded.

“Mandy!” Jenny’s eyes widened.

“What?” Amanda laughed.

“And you gave me a hard time about being in a rush?”

“We didn’t exactly discuss it before hand,” Amanda shrugged. “I mean it crossed my mind but I was not about to put the brakes on after looking for him for so long. Would you have?”

“Probably not,” Jenny admitted. “So you two are going to start trying immediately?”

“I think we’re just going to enjoy each other and when it happens, it happens and we’ll both be excited,” Amanda answered.

“Good luck,” Jenny grinned.

“Thank you. I have to admit that the idea of another little one, maybe a little boy that looks just like his daddy is awfully appealing.”

“I know it is, Mandy; you’re a very natural mother.”

Amanda stood before the mirror in her bed room in the main house and smoothed the skirt of her dress. She had chosen spaghetti strapped, short, plain under dress of soft cream with a filmy lace over lay that was shorter in the front than the back. To her aunt’s dismay, she had paired it with her boots. She straightened her hair, clipped the sides back and applied light make up.

“Leave it to you, Mandy, to wear a short dress and boots. Actually, in an odd way it wouldn’t be right for you to marry in anything else,” Jenny decided.

“My thoughts exactly,” Amanda nodded.

“I did as you asked; I made sure Cade is not in a penguin suit as you called it. He’d look sexy in one, you know?”

“I know, but he doesn’t need one to look, sexy; he does that without trying.”

“Guess you’re nicer than me,” Jenny smiled. Trent had worn a tuxedo and he had tugged at his collar all day. Amanda had actually been feeling bad for him by the end of the day.

“You ready, Mandy-Lynn?” her father knocked on the door.

“I’m ready,” she opened the door with a smile.

“You look amazing, Mandy-Lynn. I hope you two are real happy.”

“Thank you, Daddy,” she rose on her toes to kiss his cheek.

“Well, let’s go,” her dad offered his arm. Amanda grabbed the bouquet of wild flowers she’d chosen and let her daddy escort her across the yard. Cade was waiting and wearing a pair of dark jeans, a black on black striped shirt, and cowboy boots. He looked so sexy standing there that Amanda had to sigh. He was smiling as she approached and she smiled back.

They stood under the spreading branches of the tree, a light breeze stirring the leaves above as the preacher had them repeat their vows. It was perfect, her father, Naomi, Jenny, and Trent standing around them; Angie in her daddy’s arms. Cadey-Lynn stood directly beside her mother wearing a sun dress and her pink boots impatiently waiting for them to officially become a family. When the preacher declared Cade could kiss the bride, he wasn’t shy about doing so; his hand cupped her chin as he kissed her deeply.

“Congratulation and welcome to the family,” Trent stepped forward to hug Cade after he had finally released Amanda.

“Thank you,” Cade hugged him back.

Amanda accepted Jenny’s hug and then her aunt before her father pulled her close and held her for a moment.

“I love you, Mandy-Lynn.”

“I love you too, Daddy,” Amanda returned. Her father released her and extended a hand to Cade who walked up and slipped an arm around Amanda.

“You take good care of my daughter.”

“Yes sir; I will,” Cade nodded.

“I don’t think I ever told you how proud I am of you, Cade. I know I was angry about how things went down with Amanda but you should know how proud I am and how much I respect the hard work you put into getting your degree and then your own spread. When you showed up here you were a kid with a chip on his shoulder. I’m proud to say I’m standing toe to toe with a good man today,” Sterling extended his hand again.

Amanda stepped back and watched Cade swallow hard. He extended his hand and Sterling pulled him into a hug.

“Thank you, sir,” Cade finally found his voice. Amanda turned to thank Jenny for her help as she approached, one ear still following her father’s conversation with Cade.

“I know you’ve got your place now, but I thought I would mention that Harris Kingsley has started talking about selling out if you ever consider buying land up this way,” Sterling shared.

Amanda smiled at Jenny in amusement.

“I’ll keep that in mind sir,” Cade promised.

“Good, you do that. Hey Trent,” her dad turned to go.

Amanda looked over to find her husband smiling and shaking his head. When he found Amanda watching him he winked and Amanda knew that she had just fallen in love with him all over again.