Under the Open Sky

Chapter Six

Amanda leaned against the arm of the couch, her gaze fixed on the TV screen but her thoughts elsewhere. Her father and brother had been arguing again; this time so much that Amanda feared that they would come to blows. Both had stomped out of the house. Now the house was quiet, her aunt puttering in the kitchen, leaving Amanda to a little peace and quiet. Summer was almost over leaving her with mixed feelings. On one hand she dreaded her brother leaving, on the other she was beginning to think it was the only thing that would stop the fighting. The sound of a truck roaring to an abrupt stop in front of the house brought Amanda to her feet. By the time she stepped onto the front porch Cade, his shoulders set in a tense line, was rushing up the steps.

“What’s wrong?” Amanda demanded.

“Your dad sent me to get you and your aunt.”

“Why?” Amanda’s stomach knotted.

“Trent and Angela were apparently eloping; they had an accident.”

“What?! Are they okay?” Amanda was shaking now.

Cade shook his head, “I think Trent will be.”

Amanda shook her head. “Angie’s okay; right?” tears spilled over to run down her cheeks unchecked.

“No, Manny, she isn’t, the truck hit the light pole on the passenger side,” Cade shared, his own voice breaking slightly, “the doctor said Angie never had a chance.”

Amanda was sobbing now. Angie had befriended her, in ways taken her under her wing; she couldn’t be gone. How would Trent ever stand it? Amanda welcomed Cade’s embrace as he let her cry while sobs shook her slender body.

“What on earth…Mandy?”

Amanda heard her aunt’s question but she wasn’t able to answer.

“Mr. Jennings sent me to get you and Amanda, Miss. Jennings, Trent has been in an accident; I think he’s okay, but you’re needed. Angie was with him and she didn’t make it,” Cade explained.

“Dear Lord. Alright, just let me get my purse,” Naomi said before turning back to the house.

“Are you alright, Manny?” Cade asked as Amanda slowly recovered from the shock of his news.

“I don’t know,” she answered honestly as stepped from his arms and attempted to collect herself.

“Your shoes,” Naomi stepped out the door and extended a pair shoes to Amanda before shoving tissue in her hands.

“Thanks, Aunt Naomi,” Amanda sat down on the swing long enough to pull her shoes on before following Cade to his truck. Leaving the outside for her aunt, she climbed into the middle. The cab was quiet as they started for town, Naomi finally broke the silence.

“I guess this is one of those times when it would have been to my benefit to get my license,” she mused.

“I don’t think your brother would have wanted you to drive even if you could have,” Cade informed her.

“No, probably not,” she acknowledged.

“Have you seen Trent yet?” Amanda queried of Cade.

“No. I came up on the aftermath of the accident and recognized your brother’s truck. By that time they had already taken him to the hospital and I rushed there. Your dad found out from a friend on the force who recognized his truck and pulled him over to tell him what had happened. The doctor had spoken with your dad by then and he asked me to come get you.”

“How’s Daddy?” Amanda asked tentatively, she was afraid she already knew the answer.

“Pretty torn up; he’s blaming himself.”

Amanda winced at having her fears confirmed. “What a mess,” she sighed.

“You okay?” Cade glanced down at her.

“No, I’m not but I’ll have to be,” she predicted.

“Why’s that?”

“They’ll need me.”

“Mandy, you can’t fix your father and brother,” Naomi chastised.

“Somebody has to be strong and neither of them can be at the moment,” she argued.

As they turned into the hospital, however, she was feeling anything but strong. She wanted to turn and run from whatever horrors waited ahead. She couldn’t; Jennings didn’t run, they faced whatever life handed them, her father had ingrained that in her for years. Tonight was the first time she would fully put that to the test. Not waiting for her aunt to ease down from the passenger side, Amanda followed Cade out the driver’s side. By the time Naomi stood on the pavement, Amanda had rounded the truck and was waiting for her. The trio entered the hospital and hurried to the emergency room where Sterling sat, head in hands in one of the molded plastic chairs that lined the waiting room walls.

“Daddy,” Amanda called as she neared. She watched her father stand and almost stopped dead in her tracks. Her father seemed to have aged ten years since he had left the house earlier that evening.

“Hello, Mandy,” her father, blinked against tears as he hesitated; he was clearly uncertain what to say.

“Have you heard any more on Trent?” Amanda asked.

“No.”

“How are you?” Amanda watched her dad closely.

The man shook his head as it fell forward as though weighted. “I drove him to this, Mandy; I was too hard on them.”

“Daddy, you can’t…no, don’t.”

“I did,” her father’s gaze was tortured. Amanda hugged her father; his sobs tore at her. It was a few minutes before her father managed to gather himself.

“Thanks for going for the women, Cade.”

“You’re welcome, sir,” Cade had seated himself in a nearby chair. The doors to the E.R. opened and Amanda jumped up as her brother entered the waiting room. He stood and stepped away from the wheel chair he had been seated in. His arm was in a sling and a large bandage covered his forehead, but he was on his own two feet. Amanda rushed to his side and he wrapped his good arm around her as he buried his face in her hair.

“I’m so sorry, Trent,” Amanda whispered around her own tears.

“I can’t stand it, Mandy; I can’t stand it!”

“I’m so sorry,” she repeated. She had no idea how long they stood like this, sharing their tears before her brother finally pulled away and wiped his eyes on his sleeve. Amanda watched as his gaze found their father’s and her heart nearly broke. The anger in her brother’s gaze was evident, as was the self-recrimination in her father’s.

Amanda followed her father, brother, and aunt in the house following Angela’s funeral and slipped up the stairs to her room. The funeral had been one of the hardest events of her life. Amanda had only just begun to understand what a charmed life she had led until now. She had no real recollection of her mother’s death, leaving no lingering sting, except that of the unknown. This was the first time she had actually lost someone she cared about. She recalled the grief of Angela’s family and her own brother’s tearful apology to them and felt tears sting her eyes again. Would they ever recover from this she wondered? Amanda lay across her bed and drifted into a fitful sleep.

Amanda woke, her room cast in dark shadows as night descended outside. She rose and changed from her dress into jeans and a t-shirt before adding her boots to the ensemble. She was thinking about going down stairs when the fighting started; Amanda cringed.

“I’m sorry, Trent; I don’t know how many other ways to say it!” Sterling’s voice carried up the stairs.

“It doesn’t matter anymore, Dad, she’s gone; she’s never coming back, I suppose that makes you happy doesn’t it?!” Trent flung at their father.

Tears streaming down her face, Amanda hurried to her window and across the porch; she hit the ground running. She couldn’t stand to stay in the house and listen to her father and brother fight any longer. She didn’t know which was worse: the dead silence of the past few days or the awful words her brother was now slinging at their father. She had just made it through the open barn doors, her target the ladder to the loft when an arm hooked her by the waist pulled her around in a one-eighty against a firm chest.

“Woe, what’s wrong, Manny?”

“They hate each other, Cade, they hate each other and I can’t stand it,” she sobbed.

“They don’t hate each other, Manny, they’re hurting.”

“Then why don’t they help each other?” Amanda demanded.

“Men are thick headed like that, sweetheart,” Cade’s hand lightly rubbed her back.

“I’m sorry, Cade; I didn’t know anyone was in here. I just wanted to escape for a while,” Amanda straightened and palmed the tears from her eyes; she was suddenly embarrassed by her outburst.

“I had just turned off the lights to leave when a whirlwind blew through the door,” Cade teased her lightly as he flipped the lights back on. He crossed the barn to the sink and the rough industrial towels beside it; He tore several off and handed them to Amanda who had managed a small semblance of a smile at his joke.

“Here, they aren’t soft but they’re absorbent.”

“Thanks, Cade, I’m sorry, I’m not usually weepy like this.”

“I know that, Manny, you’ve had a lot thrust on you the past few days. Come sit down and talk to me. Let someone else be strong for a while.”

“Thanks,” Amanda sniffed as she sat down on the hay bale next to him. “I can’t decide which is worse, the silence of the past few days or the fighting they started tonight,” she related her thoughts.

“If they aren’t speaking at all they aren’t dealing with it, Manny,” Cade shared his perspective.

“I guess,” she acknowledged as she pulled her knees up under her chin. “I realized tonight how little real tragedy I’ve had to deal with, Cade. I don’t remember losing Mom. There’s a hole I guess, but no sad memories. Until recently Dad and Trent seldom had more than an occasional squabble; it’s almost as though they decided to make up for lost time all at once.”

“Your dad and brother will eventually be okay. Your brother leaving for college may actually give them the space and time they need to sort it all out.”

“I hope so, Cade; I can’t stand seeing them like this.”

“With all that happened the last few days I haven’t gotten a chance to share my good news with you,” Cade announced as he plucked a piece of hay from the bale he was sitting on and began picking it apart.

“What good news?” Amanda sat up and turned to face him.

“I’m leaving for college next week when Trent does.”

“What?” Amanda’s eyes widened at the news.

“Your father came to me the day before the accident and offered me an opportunity to go to college. I never thought it would really be an option for me.”

“That’s wonderful, Cade,” Amanda offered him a smile even as tears stung her eyes.

“If it’s so great why are you crying again?” his smile was bewildered.

“I’m sorry, it’s just, Trent’s leaving, you’re leaving…Angie’s gone and I’m stuck here,” she shared.

“Things will level off, school will start back and before you know it things will be looking up.”

“Maybe,” she offered a weak smile. “I am glad you’re getting to go to college, Cade.”

“Thanks, Manny. Well, I am going to go grab some dinner before the herd of men in the bunk house demolish it all,” Cade joked as he stood.

“Thanks for listening, Cade. I’ll get the lights and the door,” Amanda offered. Cade disappeared through the doors and Amanda stood; she pulled the doors to before turning the lights off and continuing to the loft. Once there, she lay down in the open door, the light of the moon spilling over her as she gazed up at the stars. Her whole world was changing, coming apart at the seams; at least it felt that way. Her thoughts strayed to Angela and Amanda felt hot tears sting her eyes. She had come to love her brother’s girlfriend. There was a part of her that wished the pair had succeeded in eloping. Having an older sister would have been nice.