Montana Skies (You, Me and the Kids) (Harlequin Superromance, No 1395) (7 page)

“I don't want you to compare them,” he countered,
feeling guilty that he had done just that. “I'm simply suggesting—” Jonas broke off, unsure of what to say. Was he really going to offer advice? How could he when he was out of his element with Caroline and the simple matter of bras?

“Well?” Rissa said impatiently. “Let's hear it. Tell me how to understand her. How many kids would be okay after watching their father bleed to death all over them? Would Caroline? Do you think I
like
the change in Skylar? She wasn't like this before!”

“Maybe not. Maybe you can't control her attitude or change the past, but you can control what you buy her to wear.”

She laughed, the sound high-pitched, full of pain and anger and fear, emotions he knew too well.

“What's so funny?”

Rissa smirked and wiped away an errant tear before it could fall from her lashes. Shaking her head, she turned on her heel and stalked toward the door, her long strides eating up the distance. “Nothing. That's just
really
funny coming from someone who obviously hasn't seen what his daughter bought the other day in the form of underwear.”

 

“G
ET IN THE CABIN
and stay there.”

Skylar didn't move. Her mom got out and slammed the door hard enough to rock the car, and she wanted to ask where she was going, but figured she already knew. By tomorrow Grace and Maura and their husbands would be giving her those looks, the kind older people gave kids.

Her mom disappeared into the trees between their cabin and the ranch house without a backward glance, but she didn't expect anything else. The order to stay in
the cabin was the first words her mom had said to her since the library. She didn't know how Carly's dad already knew her mom, but it was obvious that he'd liked her up until he realized they were a package deal.

She snorted. At least she didn't have to worry about them hooking up. Not now anyway. Besides, she wasn't staying in this loser town any longer than she had to.

“You gonna sit there all night, or get out?”

Skylar glanced into the side mirror and smothered a groan. “What business is it of yours?”

The poop-scooper sat atop a horse, slowly making his way closer. When he got a good look at her face, he shook his head.
“Again?”

Skylar abruptly shoved her door open and smirked when the horse jerked in surprise and he had to hurry to calm it. She probably did look stupid just sitting there, but at least she wasn't wearing a dumb T-shirt that read
Save a horse, ride a cowboy
.

“You and Mandy get into it again, or was it some other enemy?”

“Do I look like I want to talk to you?”

Marcus nudged the horse with his heels. “Fine, but you'd better go put some ice on your cheek.”

He sounded like he cared, but she knew better. Marcus was one of them. “It was courtesy of your friend, Mandy.” Even though her cheek hadn't hurt that much before, it did now that he'd mentioned it.

“Guess your mom's pretty ticked at you, huh? I saw her storm off after she pulled in.”

Skylar grabbed her backpack from the rear seat. “You could say that.” She remembered how her mom had taken on Mrs. Blake, and almost smiled. Until she thought of how Carly's dad had looked after her mom
had claimed her for a daughter. Was that why her mom was so mad? Because she'd embarrassed her in front of him?

Had to be. It wasn't like it was her first fight.

“You wanna tell me what happened?”

She shouldered the bag with a wince. Another bruise? Gym would be fun. “Why, so you can run to Mandy and tell her what I said?”

“I wouldn't do that.”

“Yeah, right.”

“Look, just ignore Mandy and she'll move on. By letting her get to you, you're giving her power. Ignore her and she'll find someone else to pick on.”

She didn't acknowledge his words. Instead she headed for the porch steps and hoped he didn't see how stiff she walked.

“Skylar?”

“What?”
God, she hurt.

“Mandy's in a mood over the end of school and summer. She's after everybody.”

“Is that supposed to make it okay?”

The saddle creaked when he shifted. “She has to spend most of every summer with her dad in Washington. I just thought you might want to know she'll be gone soon.”

She gripped the porch rail, the muscles in her leg pulling painfully because one of Mandy's wanna-bes had either stepped on her or kicked her during the fight. “Yeah, well, so will I. I can't wait to get out of here and go somewhere where the jocks don't smell like horseshit.”

The words left her mouth before she could stop them. She made it to the top step and paused, but by the time she had the nerve to turn around and say, “Marcus, I'm sor—” he was gone.

Cursing and not caring who heard, she let herself into the cabin. She'd been a latch-key kid for as long as she could remember, but she always hated coming home alone. It was too quiet.

Sniffling, she grabbed hold of the banister rail leading up to her room and began the long climb. Her cheek hurt with every beat of her heart, but she didn't feel like getting ice or a wet rag. Besides it was nothing compared to how badly she felt about telling Marcus he smelled.
Why
couldn't she ever keep her mouth shut? When would she learn?

Skylar eased onto her bed and took her boots off, every pull shooting pain through her sore body. But she figured she deserved the pain after causing so much of it. Deserved it for what she'd done.

Half an hour later she was lying on the bed in the same position when the phone rang. Skylar ignored it. But when the phone kept blaring, she rolled her eyes and snatched it up. “What?”

Silence.

She snorted. Great, that was all she needed. Prank calls from Mandy and her group of losers. Would Marcus join in after what she'd said? She started to slam the phone back on the base when she heard a noise on the other end. “Who is this?”

“It's me,” came a choked whisper, “I wanted to say thank y-you.” A sniffle sounded. “Sk-Skylar, I'm so
sorry.
”

“Forget about it.”

“But—” Carly's voice broke and Skylar pictured her crying like a baby. The way she'd been the first time she'd seen her last week in the bathroom.

“You're letting her get to you again. Mandy's a
bitch. Forget about her. Ignore her and she loses her power.” Skylar winced when she realized she'd used Marcus's words.

She'd apologize later. Tomorrow.
If he talked to her again.

“I don't mean to cry or—or… Every time I stand there and hear her say those horrible things about me, I think she'll stop, but then she doesn't, and everybody laughs and—”

“I'm not laughing.”

“I'm going to make her stop,” Carly promised thickly. “I
am
. Before I'm through, Mandy will be the one crying. She'll see.”

Skylar stilled, not liking the way Carly said that. “What are you going to do?”

“I'm—I've got to go.”

“She's a
loser
, Carly. I'm your friend now, and I'll be a better one,” Skylar bragged, sick to her stomach at the way the girl sounded. Sort of desperate and sad and broken. “What do you mean about making Mandy stop…
Carly?
”

“I don't know yet, but just
some
thing! Something that'll make her realize I can be popular, too. Something that'll really shut her up and show her.”

“Like what? What're you gonna do? You've got something in mind or you wouldn't have said that.”

“Dad's home,” Carly said in a rush, her voice lowering to a whisper. “I've got to go.”

“Carly, come on. Don't do anything stupid. Promise me you—”

“No,” she said hoarsely. “I'm tired of Mandy laughing at me and telling me what a loser I am. She thinks she's so hot, but she's
not
. She's going to regret
making fun of me because I'm going to show her how wrong she is, and prove I can do what I want.”

“Let me take care of Mandy, okay? Forget about her, and don't do something stupid.”

A click sounded on the line like lightning had snapped somewhere. Skylar looked outside and saw dark clouds in the distance. Great. A freakin' storm. She hated storms. It reminded her of the accident. It had been storming then, too.

Air left her lungs in a rush. She turned away from the window, and wished her mom would come home. Wished she hadn't been so mean to the only other person who'd been nice to her. Had Marcus gone to the barn or was he still out there, her words the last he'd hear?

“But, Skylar—”

“Keep your mouth shut, Carly. I mean it. You don't say or do
any
thing, you hear me? You'll regret it if you do…. Trust me.”

 

“I'
M TELLING YOU
I heard them. No mistake, Rissa. Your daughter threatened mine on the phone last night. Told her to keep her mouth shut or she'd regret it.”

Rissa slumped forward against one of the many tables scattered about the large informal dining area and leaned her head in her hand, wishing she could go back to searching the Internet for pilot jobs as she'd been doing before Jonas had shown up demanding they talk.

A few of the ranch guests visiting before the summer rush sat by the large stone fireplace lining the wall, talking amongst themselves and waiting for breakfast to be served. A family of four crowded around a table in the corner playing Go Fish, the father in a wheelchair, his young daughter in his lap giggling because every
time he discarded, the man blew a raspberry into the little girl's neck.

“What did Caroline say?”

Jonas wrapped his fingers around the coffee cup in front of him. “First she said I should call her
Carly,
a name your daughter apparently found in a book—and that I was wrong,” he muttered. “She says they're friends.”

“Then are you sure—” His eyebrows rose in response, and Rissa nodded. “Okay…you're sure. But I don't get it. Skylar said this Mandy person makes fun of people all the time so I could see Skylar getting into it with her, but with
Caroline?
”

“I know what I heard.” Jonas sipped his coffee and swallowed. “It has to have something to do with the incident at the library last night, but I couldn't get anything out of Caroline. I get information out of criminals, but not my thirteen-year-old,” he muttered with disgust.

“Teenagers are tougher than criminals,” she offered wearily, trying to lighten the mood and give herself time to take it all in, “too many burgeoning hormones interfering with brain power.”

Jonas winced, but smiled. The move made him appear more boyish, his rugged countenance more attractive.

“Rissa, I know no parent wants to think of their child as abusive—”

“Abusive?”
Rissa was taken aback by her train of thought versus his.

“Bullying,” he quickly corrected. “But this has got to stop.
Now.
I don't want to find myself arresting Skylar, but I will if I have to.”

She stared at him, hurt even though she told herself she had no reason to be. Hadn't she warned Skylar
herself that violence led nowhere? She'd lost it at the library and screeched at Jonas in anger, but he wasn't the bad guy. The compassion in his eyes, the way he'd stared at her when he'd pulled her over and then let her go with a warning. Much as she hated to admit it, he was right.

“I'm pretty good at first impressions, and you seem like a very nice woman—”

“She is,” Maura stated firmly from a few feet away. Her cousin moved toward them and set two large plates of food down on the table. “But if you're going to discuss such heavy topics this early in the morning, I suggest you do it on a full stomach.”

“Good advice,” Jonas said with a smile of thanks.

“Thank you, Maura.” Rissa stared down at the colorful eggs peppered with seasonings, a few red and green peppers, and a little cheese. Her stomach rolled, and it was everything she could do to wait until Maura turned her back to them before she pushed the plate away.

What must Maura think? It was barely seven o'clock in the morning, and here she sat across the table with Jonas Taggert in full uniform discussing her daughter, who'd come home from the
library
scraped, scratched and bruised.

“Oh, wow. I haven't had anything this good since—ever.”

Like it or not—like
him
or not—she laughed softly. “Maura's cooking is phenomenal.”

Jonas swallowed the bite in his mouth, his expression troubled. “Rissa, I know this can't be easy for you—it isn't easy for me—but…there's no good way to say this.”

“What?”

“I've told Caroline to stay away from Skylar. And I'd
appreciate it if you'd tell Skylar the same thing. I think it would be best.”

Rissa's hopes that Caroline would soften Skylar's Goth-girl edges disintegrated. “Don't you think that's a bit drastic?”

“She
threatened
her, Rissa, and she has to be taken to task for it.”

Jonas stared at her, his solemn gaze direct, intense, that of a concerned father. A man who knew trouble, saw it on a daily basis and recognized it in her daughter.

“Rissa, if there was another way—”

“I understand,” she murmured. “As soon as I find a full-time job, we'll be leaving North Star anyway so…hopefully we'll be out of your hair soon.”

Jonas scowled at her words. Because she'd said they were leaving?

Wishful thinking.

 

“H
E SAID HE DOESN'T
want me to talk to you, but I don't care.” Carly leaned against the locker next to her friend's and tried to look cool. “I didn't know she was your mom. She's really pretty. And nice. She, um, helped me the other day at a store.”