Forever in Love (Montana Brides) (21 page)

“It’s not a good idea.”
 

Nathan looked confused.
 

“You. Me. We’re not a good idea.”
 

He jammed his hands in his jacket pockets. “What changed your mind?”

 
Amy bit her bottom lip. Pulling the blanket closer, she sank into the nearest seat. “We don’t need therapy. Not with each other, anyway.”

“What do you mean?”
 

The grit in Nathan’s voice was enough to send Boots flying off the sofa. Amy watched the cat’s tail disappear out the door and wished she could follow him.
 

“Amy? What’s going on?”

“Nothing’s going on. That’s the whole point. I feel differently about you. If anyone else had been with me last night and well...I would have run a mile. He wouldn’t have gotten one button undone.” She scowled at Nathan’s lopsided smile. “I don’t know why you’re feeling so good about everything. I practically ripped your shirt off and threw myself at you. I don’t need therapy sessions, I need a brain transplant.”

“That’s a good thing, isn’t it?”

“It’s the worst thing that could happen.” She yanked the blanket higher as Nathan took his jacket off and dropped down onto the sofa beside her. “You’re my best friend’s brother. I’ve known you most of my life. People will talk.” Especially if Sally didn’t get rid of the grin on her face whenever she talked about Nathan and Amy in the same sentence.

“So this isn’t about experimenting with someone else?”

“
What
?” If Nathan’s arm hadn’t shot out and jammed her against the arm of the sofa she would have been half-way across the room by now. “Let me go, you big oaf. I should never have smooched you. If you want to get up close and personal with someone else that’s your business, but keep away from me.” She twisted to the left, but the darn blanket wrapped tight around her body like a mini straightjacket.
 

“Calm down, Amy. I don’t want to see anyone else.”

She tried to push her hands out of the blanket, but Nathan’s arm locked her to the seat. “Why did you say you wanted to experiment then?”

“I didn’t. I was wondering if you did.”

“Me?” Amy stopped struggling. She turned to Nathan and watched a dull blush work its way up his neck. He sat back in the sofa, letting his arm drop back to his knees.
 

“You seemed...umm...to enjoy what happened last night, and I ...well I thought you might want to...”
 

Amy’s mouth dropped open. “You think I’m cheap?”

“No!” Nathan clamped his arm down before she could move. “No, I just thought that...damn it, would you stop twisting like a worm and listen to what I’m saying?”

“If you made any sense, I’d listen to you, but all I’ve heard so far is that you think I’m the town tramp.”

“I don’t think that.”
 

Nathan glared at her, his breath fanning her cheek in short, sharp bursts that matched her own. Then something in his gaze shifted, moved toward a deep, dark place that she’d seen last night. He lifted his arm from her body to her head, his fingers brushing against the side of her face. “I want to kiss you, but if I do that you’re going to think that’s all I came here for. And that’s not the reason.”

Amy didn’t think his coming here to kiss her was such a bad idea at all. Not when his fingers were rubbing small slow circles against her skin. The same spot he’d licked and kissed last night until she couldn’t think straight. The same spot that would get her into trouble if she didn’t move away.
 

She held onto Nathan’s hand, pulling it away from her face. “Catherine’s case worker called. Mom wants to meet me tomorrow.” Her voice dropped to a whisper and her stomach twisted into knots. She felt as if she’d just given her sister a life sentence and she couldn’t do anything about it.
 

Nathan’s fingers tightened on her hands. He pulled her against his chest, dropping his chin to the top of her head. “I thought you had another week before she arrived?”

“So did I,” Amy sighed, too tired and worried to do anything but relax against Nathan. “I guess something happened to change their plans.” And that something would have been her mother. Carmen Sullivan never did anything by the rule book. She’d spent her whole life ignoring what most people took for granted and she wouldn’t let a little thing like a court order change her ways.
 

“What time is she arriving?”

“I didn’t ask. All I know is that we’re meeting at the community centre at two o’clock. She could be in Bozeman right now for all I know.” Amy felt a wave of panic thread along her spine. “When you knocked on the door, I thought it might have been her.”

“So you grabbed a hunk of wood?”
 

The smile in Nathan’s voice made Amy feel slightly better. “It was either that or throw Boots at her. But he’s such a big softy that he would have curled around her shoulders and gone to sleep.”
 

“Do you want me to come with you?”

Amy pulled back, surprised that he’d want to get tangled up in her problems. “You’d do that?”

“Why wouldn’t I?”

“I thought you’d be busy on the ranch.”

Nathan tapped the end of her nose. “I can spare a couple of hours. Besides, it’s either go with you or help Sally decorate mom and dad’s place for Thanksgiving.”

“I guess I should be flattered that you rate Catherine and I above a six foot plastic turkey.”

“If it gets me out of blowing the thing up I’ll even throw in dinner.” A smile pulled at the corner of his mouth. “You can put that scowl away. Everyone has to eat some time. Think of it as sharing a table with me.”

“As long as I’m not sharing anything else.”

“Spoilsport,” Nathan whispered.
 

Amy cleared her throat. “It’s a deal, then.” She pulled Catherine’s purple bunny blanket closer as she stood up. “I’ll see you tomorrow afternoon.”

“Are you kicking me out into the cold, dark night?”

“Someone has to.” Amy’s throat went dry as Nathan stretched like a full grown tom cat on the prowl. She walked across to the front door, determined to ignore the chuckle coming from behind her.
 

 
“There’s no point taking two vehicles. I’ll pick you and Catherine up at one-thirty. Lock the door after me.” He pulled his hat low on his head, grinning at the frown on her face. “You bring out the best in me.”

“I hate to be the bearer of bad news, but bossy doesn’t get a mention under the qualities a woman most admires in a man.”

“It’s just as well I’m not after your admiration then, isn’t it?”

 
Amy didn’t need to be told what he was after. One look at the heat in his eyes and she knew. She opened the front door, sucking in a lungful of cold air before waving him through in case he’d forgotten he was leaving.

As soon as he was on the porch she locked the door and pulled the safety chain across for good measure. She heard Nathan’s truck rumble in the still night air and imagined every curtain along the street twitching as her neighbors watched her late night visitor leave.
 

Boots wandered into the hallway, wrapping his warm body around her legs. She bent down and scratched under his chin, smiling at the contented purr coming from her furry bodyguard. And for the first time since the call from Catherine’s case manager, she thought the meeting with her mom might not be as bad as she’d thought it would be.

CHAPTER NINE

Amy wasn’t someone that gave into hysterics. She hardly ever raised her voice and she most definitely didn’t turn into a soggy emotional mess when her life hit rock bottom. She’d scrapped herself out of more corners than most people had the misfortune to meet and managed to hold her head up high. Until today.

Her mom sat opposite her in a black vinyl chair looking just as uncomfortable as Amy felt. Every now and then they’d both dart anxious glances at Catherine sitting as happy as you please in her stroller.

“Do you want me to take Catherine for a walk?” Nathan stood up, and Catherine lifted her arms in the air.
 

“No.”
 

Amy bit her tongue as the sharp whip of her mom’s voice turned every head in the room toward her.
 

Catherine’s case worker cleared her throat. “I think that’s a good idea, Nathan. If you could give us fifteen minutes alone, that would be great.”
 

He picked up Catherine and the yellow snow suit they’d left on a chair. “We passed an indoor play area when we came in. If it’s still open I’ll take her there.” Nathan sent a concerned glance toward Amy. “Come and get me if you need me.”

She nodded her head, knowing full well she didn’t want him to see more of the woman that had abandoned her daughters. She shouldn’t have let Nathan come with them. He’d leave here thinking Amy could turn into another Carmen Sullivan. That Amy might have inherited the same gene that made her less dependable, less honest than half the human population.
 

Catherine waved her fist over Nathan’s shoulder and Amy waved back. No matter how much she wanted to pretend that everything was fine, she couldn’t return her sister’s smile.
 

Carmen stared resolutely ahead, ignoring the gurgling infant clutched in Nathan’s arms. Amy didn’t know whether her mom didn’t care, or if she’d spent so long ignoring the fact that she had a baby that she didn’t know how to act around Catherine. The uncharitable part of her thought that the only person her mom had ever cared about was herself.

Jackie Montgomery, Catherine’s case worker, tapped her pen against the thick pad of paper in front of her. “I really want you to consider unsupervised visitation, Amy. Your mom isn’t taking Catherine away, she just wants to spend some time with her while she’s in Montana.”

“Have you read Catherine’s file?” Amy’s voice had reached that nearly hysterical just give me a minute stage. Jackie raised a perfectly manicured eyebrow and Amy clamped her lips tight. It wouldn’t do to lose her cool in front of the woman that could change Catherine’s life forever. Or feel bitter toward a system that had offered a temporary solution to her mom’s permanent problems.
 

“I’m aware of what happened in the past.”

Amy held the edge of her chair with trembling hands. Her mom had lied her way through most of her life, ignoring everything around her when surviving got too hard. No one looking at the smartly dressed woman would think she had a deceitful bone in her body. But Amy had lived with her for too many years to trust her mother now.
 

She’d seen the way Carmen could manipulate people, make them think that she understood them, that she was their friend. It wasn’t until the dust settled that they realized they’d lost a whole lot more than Carmen’s friendship. Money, husbands and alcohol rated high in her mom’s book of must haves. Especially if they belonged to someone else. As if reading her thoughts, Carmen turned her head, staring at Amy with the same chocolate brown eyes she saw reflected back at her every morning in the bathroom mirror.

“I’m not drinking anymore.”

Amy had heard the same words so many times that she didn’t have to look at her mom to know she was stretching the truth. “How long has it been this time?” She heard the hiss of indrawn air long before her mom pushed away from the table.
 

“I’ve had enough of this conversation. I might not have been the best mother in the world, but I taught you to have more respect than what you’re showing me. You should be ashamed of yourself.” Carmen grabbed her bag off the floor and stalked across to the door. “If you think you’ve seen the last of me you’re out of luck. I want to spend some time with my little girl and nothing you can do will stop me.”

Amy jumped as the door slammed shut behind her mother.
 

Jackie took her glasses off and rubbed the bridge of her nose. “It’s not my place to tell you how to run your life, but I do have a responsibility toward Catherine. Your mother has made an effort, Amy. By all accounts she’s turning her life around. I think you need to give her a chance.”

“I won’t let her mess up my sister’s life.”

“You don’t need to. All your mom wants is a few hours alone with Catherine. If it would make you feel better I could be there as well. At least tell me you’ll think about it.”

Amy stared at her mom’s empty chair, remembering all the times she’d believed Carmen had changed. That the days of being left on her own were over. She’d finally come to the painful conclusion that no matter what she did or where her mother was, she’d always be on her own. She had to toughen up or sink into the same hell her mother wallowed in.
 

“Is everything alright in here?” Nathan stood in the doorway with Catherine in his arms, frowning at Amy. “Your mom ran out of the building a few minutes ago.”

The weight of her mom’s anger and Nathan’s confusion pressed down on Amy’s shoulders. Carmen wasn’t the only one who’d had enough. Amy had thought bringing Catherine to Montana and starting a new life would be the hardest part of keeping her sister safe. She’d been wrong.
 

Seeing her mother had brought all of her old insecurities rushing back. Her mom had looked good...better than she remembered. More in control of her life, more able to cope with a toddler. And that worried her. No matter how well she looked after her sister, if her mom could prove that she’d changed for the better, Catherine could end up going back to live with her.

Amy pushed her hair back from her face and let out a tired sigh. “I need to think everything through.”
 

Jackie shuffled some papers. “Your mom has a flight booked for Wednesday afternoon and I’ll need an answer by Monday lunchtime at the latest.” She picked up her satchel and handed a card to Amy. “Ring me on my cell phone as soon as you have an answer. It doesn’t matter if it’s the weekend.” She stood beside Nathan and rubbed Catherine’s arm. “And all you need to do, little lady, is keep that smile on your pretty face. It was nice meeting you, Nathan.”