Finally Home (9 page)

With renewed courage, Amanda tossed her sunglasses on the passenger seat and flung open the truck door. Stuffing her cold hands into the pockets of her suede jacket, she marched across the small parking lot and approached the warehouse door. It wasn’t locked, but heavy when she pushed it open. And when it slammed shut behind her, she jumped.

The scent of oak and varnish assaulted her nose as soon as she walked through the small entry. A few pieces of furniture lined the wall to her right. She stopped to examine them, sighing at the intricate designs. Noah’s workmanship was so beautiful; she couldn’t help but feel a proud swell in her heart.

But when she was grabbed by the arm and twirled around, her heart shrunk in fright. Breathing rapidly, she jerked her head up to stare into Noah’s surprised face.

“
I heard the door slam and thought you were a burglar!” he said. He released a silver baseball bat from his hand and it dropped to the concrete floor with a clunk. “If I hadn’t recognized you, I could’ve hurt you, Amanda.”

Her eyes darted to the baseball bat and then lingered on Noah’s blazing stare. “I’m sorry for sneaking in--the door was unlocked.”

His eyes softened and he let go of her arms. “Oh, I thought I’d locked it.”

“
Look, I-I can talk to you later. It was probably a bad idea for me to drop by and disturb you--”

He noticed her sudden embarrassment and decided to let her off the hook. “Amanda, you’re not disturbing me.”

She gazed into his warm hazel eyes. “I stopped by the main house this morning--I wanted to talk to you about something--but Maria told me you had left early.”

“
Uh-huh, I left pretty early. Didn’t sleep well last night after the fire.”

“
Me neither.”

“
Come on, I’ll show you the rest of my workshop.” He touched her elbow and guided her through a wide doorway to their left.

“
Wow, this is huge,” Amanda said, “And all the windows must give you some good light.”

His hand squeezed her elbow, hesitating to let go. “Um, yeah, I don’t have to use the overhead lighting very much... because of all the sunlight.”

She tilted her head to the side and stared at his face. He looked relaxed. She hadn’t seen him this way since before his father died. And now they were talking about lighting? “Why are you in such a good mood?”

He chuckled. “I’m not allowed to be?”

“
Of course, you are. I just haven’t seen you this way for a long time...”

“
Just follow me,” he moved his hand up her arm, resting it on her shoulder.

She shivered from his touch. “Has something happened to put you in this mood?”

Smiling, he took her hand and led her to the other side of the warehouse. “See this rocking chair?”

Amanda gazed carefully over the rocking chair. She touched the smooth oak finish and engraved scroll design. “It’s gorgeous, Noah.”

He grinned with pride. “It was my grandmother’s. She gave it to my dad when he got married. But then it started falling apart. I found it in one of the storage sheds at the ranch last week--”

“
And you decided to restore it,” she finished for him, feeling almost as much pride as he was at the moment. No wonder his mood was so pleasant.

“
Yep. Think it’ll look good on the front porch of the house?”

Her cheeks were hurting from smiling so much. “Yes, Noah, it will look great on the porch where everyone can see it.”

“
If only I’d found it a few weeks earlier, then I could’ve had it restored before dad--”

“
I know,” she interrupted, feeling uncomfortable talking about Thomas. “That would’ve been wonderful.”

“
Well,” Noah clapped his hands together, “I have something else to show you.” He headed toward a piece of black tarp that was draped over something quite large.

“
And what’s this?”

A wide smile grew across his tanned face. “You’ll see.”

Amanda stepped closer when Noah pulled off the tarp. “A desk,” she touched the granite surface and then the oak drawers. It was L-shaped with a small hutch attached to the corner.

“
It’s yours.”

She gasped. “Mine?”

“
I thought you might need one. You’ve been working on that small kitchen table--”

“
I know the perfect place for it!” She flung her arms around his neck, then stood on the tips of her toes to plant a kiss on his cheek.

Caught up in her excitement, Noah hugged her snugly against his chest. Pivoting on his boot heel, he spun her around, enjoying the pressure of her curves against the length of his body.

Amanda fought dizziness as he swung her in circles, then returned her to the ground. She pried her arms from around his neck and tilted her head back, searching his face for a hint of what he was feeling. Did she dare tell him how
she
felt? How her heart and soul overflowed with...love. Yes, she did love him! She wasn’t going to fool herself any longer. He was the only man she
could
love. He had stolen her heart so long ago when they were kids...and had it still.

Noah’s strong hands caressed her hair, then slid down her back. When he leaned forward, she didn’t push him away this time. He rubbed a rough finger over her lips before he covered her mouth with his own, gently kissing her, cupping her face in his hands.

A blazing heat traveled over Amanda’s skin, sending a tingle to her fingertips and filling her mind with fuzzy warmth. She tightened her embrace on Noah, never wanting to let go, when he suddenly withdrew. Opening her eyes, she stared at him-- giddy with happiness--even though her lips felt cold after he had pulled away.

She couldn’t find her tongue--or her brain--so all she said was the first thing that came to mind. “Y-you are so talented.”

He chuckled, his eyes sparkling with amusement. “Thanks, I practice on oranges.”

When she realized what he meant, she busted out laughing. “I didn’t mean kissing! I was talking about the desk.”

He frowned. “Well, thanks a lot. What a blow to my poor ego!”

“
I didn’t mean that either. You’re a great kisser...I knew that when I was fifteen.”

He squeezed her hand and touched a fingertip to her chin. “You remember that kiss?”

“
Of course,” she couldn’t believe
he
had remembered. “It was my first.”

“
Your
first
? Why didn’t you tell me?”

“
Because you kissed me and ran...to another girl.”

Noah closed his eyes, recalling that night. “I’m sorry, Amanda. I hope you’ll forgive me for being such a jerk.”

She looked into his eyes. It wasn’t a matter of forgiveness...it was trust. Loving him was easy, trusting him would take some work. “You really hurt me back then. But like you said, you were a jerk.”

He tugged playfully on her hair. “So I’m forgiven?”

She nodded and placed her head on his chest, feeling the warmth of his body through his shirt. “Yes, you are.”

“
If I knew giving you a desk was all I had to do to get you to stop pushing me away...I would’ve done that the first day we saw each other again.”

Playfully, she punched his hard chest with her fist. “You were the one with the mood swings, pushing
me
away!”

“
It was very hard for me when my father died, Amanda. And I’m still trying to deal with it--”

“
So, why don’t we deal with it together? And we’ll both stop the pushing.”

His mouth curved into a grin. “No pushing? Well, I hope pulling is still ok.”

Drawing her to him, he kissed her urgently, releasing a fire that had been held back far too long.

Amanda melted in his embrace, loving every second of his long, passionate kiss. His slender fingers slipped through her hair as he pressed his lips against hers with a firmness that made her knees buckle. Like the kiss before, she never wanted it to end.

Breathless, she hugged Noah tight when he slid his mouth down her cheek and nibbled her ear. But without warning, her mind...so full of love and excitement...began to spin with thoughts of the ranch.

“
Y-you know, you’ve almost made me forget what I stopped by for,” she stepped away from him, creating some distance.

“
I am a little curious.”

“
I talked to Maria this morning...she told me something interesting about your mother.”

Noah’s dark eyebrows arched in surprise. “What’d she tell you that was so interesting?”

Amanda lowered her eyes. “Something that shocked me.”

“
Come on,” he cradled her face with his large hands, then kissed her lips. “Tell me.”

“
Maria said that Mr. Ellinger was in love with your mother and became bitter when she left him to marry your father.”

Noah dropped his hands from her face, shooting her an incredulous gaze. “What?”

“
That’s why he wants the ranch, isn’t it? He couldn’t have your mother, so he wants Moonlight Ranch...at all cost.”

As if something dawned on him, he began to laugh. In a quick move, he bent over and scooped Amanda into his arms. “Honey, I’m happy about us too, but...maybe you should rest a while. I think you’re delirious.”

She clasped her hands around his neck, dangling her legs over his muscled arms. “I am not! Put me down.”

Realizing she was serious, he leaped across the spacious workshop and dropped her on a corner sofa. “Then Maria is delirious.”

“
You’re telling me that this is news to you?”

“
My parents never mentioned anything about Mr. Ellinger. It’s nonsense!”

Amanda grabbed his arms. “It’s not nonsense. I heard it from Maria. Why would she lie to me?”

Rubbing his hands over his face, he groaned. “It’s just so hard to imagine.”

“
I know. A classy lady like your mom being involved with Mr. Creepy...”

“
I need to go back to the ranch and talk to Maria,” he said in haste. “I’ve got my dad’s old pickup...I’ll load your desk onto it and bring it by later.”

“
Noah,” she hopped from the sofa and grabbed his hand.

He held her gaze, then blinked after a long moment.

“
I’m just glad you know about Mr. Ellinger. I hope we can focus on reviving the ranch now.”

“
Amanda,” he squeezed her warm hand, “I don’t want to revive the ranch.”

Her mouth opened in shock, then closed tightly. She slipped her hand from his. “You still want to sell it, don’t you?”

He nodded slowly. “Why can’t you see that selling it is the best thing?”

“
How can it be the best thing? How can you sell your childhood?”

“
Maybe I want to!”

She squinted at him through watery eyes. Folding her arms across her chest, she turned her back to him. “That is such an awful thing to say.”

“
You don’t understand how it was for me, Amanda. Yes, I had loving parents but they were also controlling. They had only one path laid out for me...and that was stepping into their shoes to run the ranch.”

“
Oh, that sounds so terrible! I could only dream of being in your shoes.”

He approached her from behind, running his hands over her hair. “The ranch means such different things for us.”

She whirled around and shot a pleading glance at him. “Yes, I see it does. I love it and you detest it! But if you care about me at all...give me a chance to make you love it again!”

Torn between his feelings for her and his overwhelming desire to leave the ranch behind him, he didn’t know how to respond. Shutting his eyes, he rubbed his temples in frustration. “There are other factors, too.”

“
Other factors?” she placed her delicate hands on each side of his face.

“
Factors involved that give me no choice but to sell.”

She sighed. “Please don’t be so cryptic. Just tell me what that means.”

“
Amanda, I don’t have time to go into it,” he moved from her abruptly.

Wiping her eyes, she followed him. “You struck some sort of deal with Mr. Ellinger, didn’t you?”

He flinched. “He helped me out during a time when my father wouldn’t.”

“
You actually trusted that horrible man?”

“
He believed in my talent, helped me get started with my furniture.”

“
Oh no,” she began to realize just how stuck Noah was. Mr. Ellinger used him. “You have to get out of any deals with him, Noah. He’ll only take everything from you.”

“
I’m fully aware how much you dislike the man but you’re carrying this a little too far. The simple fact is that I don’t want the ranch and Mr. Ellinger does, Amanda.”

“
But I want it! And you can’t sell it without my agreement.”

Amanda looked away from the flickering hurt in his eyes.

“
I have a busy day. I may not be able to make it by your house until late this evening with the desk.”

Obviously, he had decided to end their conversation. She opened her mouth to say something, but with quick strides he moved from the large room to his small office. Amanda’s ears popped from the door he slammed behind him.