“I heard a new one, by the way,” Lee announced. “How’s this? ‘There ain’t enough room in here to cuss a cat without gettin’ hair in your mouth.’”
Amanda laughed, delighted at the new proverb. She collected them the way some people collected license plates and bottle caps. “Where from, do you know?”
“The Ozarks.”
She nodded. “Great stuff from that neck of the woods. That’s where I got the saying about your brother and the river.”
They rode on for a few minutes more in silence, the only sounds the creak and jingle of the tack, the plodding steps of the horses, the small intrusion of the wildlife.
“What do you think of him?” Lee asked, and Amanda knew that she wasn’t nearly as offhand as she tried to sound.
“He hasn’t looked in his plate once.”
Lee actually shook her head. “Jake has no ego,” she admitted. “He really doesn’t know how terrific he is.”
All Amanda could give her was the truth. “I know.”
Lee looked over, those Kendall eyes sharp and waiting. Amanda could see the girl searching for tactful words, and knew how very important the discussion was to her. She knew what Jake meant to his little sister, what the constant banter camouflaged.
“He’s a little rigid,” Lee said. “Has his little...ways about him. And he doesn’t see the world the way a lot of other people do. For him, the only thing worth knowing about is the ranch and his horses.”
“And his family,” Amanda added softly.
Lee’s eyes widened a little.
“I imagine sometimes it’s hard for a man like him to say what he feels,” Amanda suggested.
Lee turned her attention back to the trail. “I’d give back every cent of my tuition,” she said, “wash dishes at Stilwell’s the rest of my life and never put pen to paper if I thought I could make him happy.”
“He knows,” Amanda said. “But nothing makes him happier than seeing you in college.”
“But what about him?” Lee demanded, her young face so very serious, so intense. “When does he get what he wants?”
Amanda came very close to holding her breath. “What’s that, Lee?”
The girl gave in to an impatient shrug. “I don’t know,” she admitted. “But I do know that he isn’t happy. He hasn’t been for a long time, and it’s making us all crazy.”
Amanda ached to tell her, to share the truth. She wanted so badly for Lee to know that Jake only needed permission for the way out. He only needed his family’s approval, their support. It would mean so much. It might make all the difference in the world.
But she had no right to ask. Only Jake could do that, and right now it didn’t look as if he would.
Patience. Didn’t St. Paul have quite a bit to say on the subject of love and patience? He had no idea, she thought dejectedly. No idea at all.
“Do you like him?” Lee asked, and suddenly Amanda heard the little girl who still depended on her brother, who still worshiped him, who hurt for him in ways Amanda couldn’t even imagine.
Amanda smiled. She knew what Lee was driving at. Little sisters were sometimes notorious matchmakers. “Yes,” she admitted gently. “I like him. Although, I have to admit I was just a little bit surprised by him the first time I met him.”
Lee looked over, uncertain.
Amanda flashed her a grin. “Fussy?” she demanded. “Old maid? He’s about as fussy as a marine DI.”
Lee’s laughter echoed out across the meadow. “Perception is everything, Amanda. He obviously hasn’t told you to stand up straight or made you clean your room before dinner....” She shook her head, once again amazed. “Chinese. I’m going to have to call Gen and tell her. She won’t believe it, either.”
“Trust me, neither did Jake. He almost had a heart attack when he walked in and saw all those vegetables on the counter. At least I stuck to the ones he could name.”
“I heard you stared down Clovis the other night, too.”
Amanda almost sighed. “It wasn’t exactly the Cuban Missile Crisis.”
