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Together, the three of them looked through the lodge. Eventually, they found Lamar sound asleep in the lounge on the second floor. The TV was on, the sound turned all the way down.
Relieved yet still disapproving, Wade McCabe told his son curtly, “I’ll leave you to handle this.”
Tense with embarrassment, Justin nodded at his dad. “Thanks again for bringing the fans.”
Wade nodded and left.
Lamar opened his eyes, stretching lazily. He smelled of sweat and bubblegum. “Hey,” he said to Amanda. “You’re back.”
“Yes.” She tried not to think about how much trouble Lamar was already in, and he’d only been at the ranch for half a day. “I am.”
Justin clenched his jaw with frustration. “Is this where you’ve been the entire time she was gone?” he demanded.
“Yeah. So?”
“You were supposed to find me when Amanda no longer needed your help.”
Lamar rubbed the sleep from his eyes. “Yeah, well, all you were doing was office work. I’m no good at that.”
Justin gave Lamar a reproving frown. “That’s not for you to decide. This is community service, remember? To get credit for your time, you have to do what you’re told.”
Lamar sat up and dropped his feet to the floor. Belligerence radiated from him in waves. “Is it time for lunch yet?” he asked, completely ignoring Justin’s reprimand. “I’m really hungry.”
Amanda’s stomach had been growling for the past half hour, too. “I’ve got some sandwiches made if anyone wants to join me.”
“Sounds good to me,” the teen said.
Amanda looked at Justin. Temper again under control, he nodded. Then he cautioned Lamar, “Just don’t do that again, okay? For both our sakes, I need to know where you are at all times.”
“Okay,” Lamar muttered.
Relieved to have that settled, Amanda led the way to her trailer. She invited the guys inside, figuring there was safety in numbers. Wrong. The moment they stepped inside, her refuge felt filled to the brim with testosterone. And much smaller. Especially with Justin standing right beside her. Of course, that was probably because at six foot five his head almost reached the ceiling.
“Wow!” Lamar whistled appreciatively as he surveyed the comfortable space she had worked so hard to create. More a mini-apartment than camper, the back half was all bedroom and bath. The front half of the Airrstream housed the kitchen—with a full-size fridge, microwave, stove, sink and even a tiny dishwasher. The butcher-block tabletop between the roomy banquettes doubled as a work space, and there were plenty of built-in racks for her pantry items and cookware.
“You must really like to cook.” Lamar checked out the bins of fresh fruits and veggies, her complex variety of dried chili peppers and some freshly made tortillas.
Amanda nodded proudly. “It’s a hobby of mine.”
“Where did you learn?” the teen asked.
She opened up the fridge and brought out the three large grilled-chicken wraps with lettuce, cheese and Caesar dressing that she’d made from the leftovers of the previous evening’s dinner. “My grandmother and grandfather. Cooking was something they liked to do together, so when I moved in with them I started cooking, too.”
“Sounds fun,” Justin said.
“It was.” It was the first time she’d known what it was like to be part of a happy family.
The handsome Texan’s fingers brushed hers as she handed him a flavored sports drink. “Was? You don’t do it anymore?”
Trying not to react to the husky caress of his voice, the warm feel of his fingers or the tenderness in Justin’s brilliant blue eyes, Amanda shook her head. “Occasionally, but not as much since my grandmother died of congestive heart failure a couple of years ago.”
“Sorry to hear that,” Justin and Lamar said in unison.
Amanda accepted their condolences with a nod, aware of a growing sense of intimacy she didn’t expect. Wasn’t supposed to want. And knew would be unwise to encourage. “So,” she said, pushing her lingering grief away. “Why don’t the two of you tell me a little more about the area. What should I know about Laramie County?”
“There are a number of good restaurants in town,” Justin began.
Lamar nodded. “The Lone Star’s food is good, and they have live music and dancing, too. Since chicks seem to like that stuff,” the teen added helpfully.
Amanda wondered if that was where Justin had intended to take her the first night, when he’d asked her out.
“I do like dancing,” she admitted with a smile.
Justin’s eyes gleamed. “Then you should make it a point to go while you’re here,” he said. “With or without a date.”
Amanda’s middle fluttered with sensation. Adopting her best poker face, she nodded. “I’ll keep that in mind.”
Wary of letting her thoughts wander where Justin’s were obviously headed—into forbidden romantic territory—Amanda guided the conversation to mundane subjects, like the new wind farm and a famous sculptor she’d heard about who worked in bronze.
As soon as the meal was over, she rose. Eager to get back to work, she looked at Justin. “Your dad said he brought two fans that would help cool off the bunkhouse till the air-conditioning is installed?”
Justin nodded. “Lamar and I will carry them over for you.”
Amanda smiled. “Great. I’ll meet you guys there.”
A few minutes later they walked in, and Amanda showed them where she wanted the fans set up. Concerned that there was still a lot of friction between Justin and Lamar, she figured it wouldn’t hurt to act as buffer a little while longer.
“I don’t know what you had planned for Lamar this afternoon,” she told Justin, “but my work will go a lot faster if I have assistance mounting the top kitchen cabinets.”
“I’ll do it!” Lamar quickly volunteered.
Justin looked at the cabinet lift Amanda had set up, and the bulky stock cabinets. She knew he could see it was not an unreasonable request, even if she could easily have done the job all on her own. “Can you keep him busy the rest of the afternoon?”
“I won’t let him out of my sight,” Amanda promised.
Justin exhaled, his expression grim. After a long pause, he gazed at Lamar. “No more disappearing acts. Okay?”
The teen nodded, clearly aware he was on very shaky ground with the man supervising his community service.
Justin turned back to Amanda, his eyes devoid of the gratitude she had expected. “I’ll be in the office, working on grant applications, if you need me.” Justin turned on his heel and stalked off.
Watching him go, Amanda knew she had just made another mistake. She should never have stepped between Justin and his charge. In the end, all she had done was make things worse.
As soon as Justin disappeared from view, she did her best to undo the damage. “You need to give Justin a chance.”
His expression stony, Lamar helped her cut a base cabinet out of its cardboard cover. “McCabe doesn’t get me the way you do.”
Amanda bit her lip. “I’m not so sure about that.” While it was true that she could talk to Lamar with ease, Justin seemed to have Lamar’s number in a lot of ways.
The boy’s jaw tightened. “I see the judgment in his eyes when I screw up, Amanda. I don’t need any more of that.”
She had seen the disappointment, too. However, it didn’t mean Lamar had to return it in kind. “You’re going to have to work with Justin while I’m around, and after I leave. So the sooner you try to find common ground with him, the better.”
Lamar picked up the utility scissors. “Maybe I could continue my community service with you, wherever you go after this,” he suggested hopefully.
Amanda was flattered. She also knew it wasn’t the best idea. She cut open the next box. “I don’t think the court is going to go for that. They’re going to want to see that you can follow the rules and act in a positive manner, no matter where you are or who you’re with.”
Lamar sulked but said nothing more.
Her point made, Amanda focused on the cabinet installation. She kept Lamar busy until his foster father showed up to collect him at the end of the day.
Only when she’d had a chance to get a shower and clean up a little did she go in search of Justin again.
She found him on the back deck of the lodge with his dogs.
“Got a minute?” she asked, aware she owed him an apology, but unsure if he’d accept it.
Justin measured kibble into five stainless-steel bowls. He had the same brooding look he’d worn when he’d been talking with his father. “It’s probably not the best time for us to talk, Amanda.”
Not an encouraging start. “We need to clear the air.”
After each dog had a bowl of food he turned to her. “Go ahead.”
She swallowed. “I’m sorry if I got in the way of whatever you were trying to accomplish with Lamar this afternoon. But I thought a time-out between the two of you might help. And I used the opportunity to tell him he should give you a chance.”
His gaze drifted over her before returning ever so deliberately to her eyes. “Bet that went over well.”
Like a lead balloon. “He’ll come around.” Amanda punctuated her words with a hopeful look.
He stood, legs braced apart, arms crossed in front of him. “Is that all?”
She wished. “I have a feeling you blame me for Lamar skipping out on us this morning.”
“I’m sure he would have done the same thing whether you were here or not.”
She lifted her chin. “Then why are you ticked off at me?”
Leaving the dogs on the patio, he turned and strode back into the lodge. “I’m not.”
“And if I believe that, you’ve got a lake in Odessa you’d like to sell me.”
Justin walked down the hall to his office where stacks of paper and letters littered every available surface. Frustration emanated from him in waves as he took a seat behind his desk. “Let’s just say it wasn’t the best day for me, okay?”
Amanda refused to give him sympathy. He was throwing enough of a pity party all on his own.
“I don’t deny there were issues,” she countered. “But to be honest, the problems were also of your own making. I mean, really,” she continued, goading him with thinly veiled exasperation, “could you have given Lamar a worse task on his first day here?”
Justin’s glance narrowed. “What do you mean?”
Not about to let him pull rank on her—because in this instance they were equals—she moved around the front of the desk and leaned against it, facing him. “Lamar was sent here because he can’t stand school. So the first thing you do is give him paperwork?”
His full attention on her, Justin rocked back in his swivel chair and waited for her to go on.
Her frustration with the situation boiling over, Amanda continued, “Does anyone know why he is skipping so much? Has anyone even asked him?”
Justin’s handsome features sharpened with chagrin. “I don’t know what he’s told others, but I can tell you that I haven’t discussed it with him.”
Hands cupping the edge of the desk, her arms braced on either side of her, Amanda leaned close enough to search his eyes. “Don’t you think you should?” she persisted.
Justin’s brooding expression returned. “I’m not his counselor.”
Amanda exhaled and sat back. She knew this wasn’t her problem, and yet it was. “Then try being his friend.”
His jaw hardened. “He’s got to respect me first.”
Amanda knew better than anyone that a solely disciplinarian approach never worked with a kid like Lamar, just as it had never worked with her when she was ticked off at the entire world. “Set a good example. Inundate him with kindness and patience. The respect will come.”
Silence fell between them. She couldn’t tell what Justin was feeling. Wasn’t sure she wanted to know.
Restless, Amanda stood and began to pace around the room. She paused to look at some of the awards hanging on the wall. There were several for community service and fund-raising, as well as his bachelor’s degree diploma from the University of Texas. Also on display were a model and numerous sketches of the Laramie Boys Ranch as it would look when it was completed with a dozen residential bunkhouses, barns and corrals, basketball and tennis courts, and a swimming pool. But the walls were devoid of the kind of pictures that one would expect to see—portraits of family and friends, and kids he had helped in the past. Truth be told, there was nothing uniquely personal here.
Wondering if his quarters at the ranch were any different, she swiveled back around. “I know your heart is in the right place,” she said softly, determined to help him succeed with Lamar.
He raked his hands through his shaggy hair and stood. “You just don’t think I’m cut out for this.”
Amanda paused, her hands curving over the back of an armchair. It was difficult telling someone what they didn’t want to hear. For whatever reason, with Justin, it was ever harder. She met his eyes. “Kids like Lamar are complicated. They’re tough to reach because they play everything so close to the vest.”
His broad shoulders relaxing slightly, Justin roamed closer. She inhaled the brisk masculine scent of his skin and hair, her pulse picking up another notch.
“So how did you get through to him?”
Feeling as if the room was a little too warm and small for comfort, Amanda turned and walked into the spacious living area with its abundant couches. She sank into a big armchair, wishing she could find the right words to reassure him. “I didn’t. Not really.” Pretending she wasn’t oh-so-aware of every masculine inch of him, she looked Justin in the eye, then lamented, “All I can tell you for certain is that Lamar’s self-esteem is incredibly low.”
Justin rubbed the underside of his handsome jaw. “Which is why he’s acting out.”
Trying not to notice how good it felt to be with Justin in such an intimate setting, Amanda fought back a flush. “Right.”
Justin sat on the sofa opposite her. “Still.” Justin paused to look her over lazily, head to toe. “You connected with him a lot more than I did. He followed you around like a lost puppy.”
Tingling everywhere Justin’s gaze had touched, and everywhere it hadn’t, Amanda shrugged. She knew that what she and Lamar had shared had, for the most part, been superficial, that there was much more going on with the teenager than he was divulging. There had to be, given the fact Lamar had been abandoned by his parents before becoming a ward of the state.
Aware Justin was still studying her intently, Amanda slanted Justin a haphazard glance. “Lamar had never actually seen any carpentry work being done, so he was interested in what I was doing.”
“Plus,” Justin guessed ruefully, “Lamar was trying to get out of more desk work, assigned by yours truly.”
“Good point.” A more companionable silence fell, and they exchanged smiles. “I want this to work out for you both,” she said.
Really listening now, Justin leaned forward a bit. “Then where would you suggest I start?”
