Chapter 13
Northern California
At five o’clock on Saturday evening, the day of the gala, Amanda and Sam finally made it downstairs dressed and ready to go. It had taken two hours, four outfit changes, and one additional blowout.
While she had the means to have a makeup artist and hairdresser on call, Amanda liked doing it herself.
Well, she and Sam did anyway. They’d perfected hair and makeup over the course of boarding, undergrad, and grad school.
So, more times than not, they ditched the professionals and took care of it themselves.
As they headed to grab Stephen and say goodbye to Callie, Amanda was struck for a moment that she couldn’t remember if she had ever left Callie for the night.
Not recently, of course, but before. She’d spent some time in the evenings with Alex, but that was always after Callie’s bedtime, and she’d always woken up in her own bed.
“You’re wondering if you’ve left Callie for the night?
” Sam repeated when she asked her, in true sarcastic Sam fashion.
“Are you frigging kidding?” She made a ridiculous face, lips pulling in opposite directions.
“You wouldn’t let her out of your sight, much less think you were entitled to a”—she used air quotes—“girls’ night out.
” She softened then and said, “Not that I blame you, Ammy, ever. We managed.”
Amanda was ruminating on what Sam had said, trying to retrieve…well, anything, as they stepped into the kitchen. There they found Stephen sitting at the table playing cards with Callie, while Rosa finished preparing dinner.
“Fish or war?” Amanda asked.
Callie, deep in concentration, pursed her lips, and whispered, “Crazy Eights, Mama.”
“Good choice,” she said, bending to kiss the top of her head. Helen was feeding Zander, but handed him to her, bottle and all, at her gesture. It was a smooth pass and the baby didn’t miss a beat.
“Sorry you have to wear a tux tonight,” Amanda said, turning to Stephen.
As she did, Amanda caught Sam flicking her eyes in his direction, too, and blushing.
It looked like she was about to say something but changed her mind.
Interesting, Amanda thought with a small smile.
It looked like her suspicions were right.
He looked up from his cards for the first time.
“Christ, Amanda,” he said, his accent a little thicker with playful aggravation as he took in her dress.
Then his eyes lit on Sam, and Amanda had the pleasure of getting a glimpse, albeit only for a second, of what this man clearly felt for her friend.
Wow. How had she not seen this before? Because you’ve been freakin’ obsessed with analyzing Alex!
She smiled at the thought, and let herself wonder for a moment if something was going on between her best friend and Alex’s brother.
Of course, it helped that Sam’s dress was off-the-hook hot.
Amanda winked at her, and then at Callie, who had placed the swear jar next to her uncle with a meaningful thump.
Amanda rubbed her fingers and thumb together in the universal sign of “pay up” before setting the bottle down and patting Zander’s back.
After a quick kiss, she deposited the baby back in Helen’s outstretched hands.
Stephen had already taken his wallet out, shrugged, and dropped a twenty in the glass container painted with beautiful lettering by none other than Callesandra Eleanor Montgomery herself. She’d never forg—
“Shut the front door!” Amanda exclaimed aloud, leaping out of her chair.
Stephen started swearing again when he saw the slit that ran up the entirety of one side of her dress and tossed his whole wallet in the jar before reaching for his gun.
She and Sam chuckled. “Really?” Amanda asked, momentarily distracted from the memory that had just hit her like a ton of bricks.
“Yeah, really, Amanda. Between you and the princess,” he said, jerking his head toward Sam, “I’ll have my work cut out for me tonight.
” Having already taken his gun from the holster, he removed the clip, looking at it carefully before clicking it back into place.
“When Alex gets a load of you in that I might as well just plan to shoot any poor bastard who looks at you wrong.”
“Listen,” Amanda said, forcing back her grin, “it’s my first real night out in forever. And I have to say, I’m really looking forward to it. So no trouble, okay? And that’s only going to happen if Sam doesn’t have to do some fast-talking on your behalf.”
Sam did a double take. “Why? Isn’t Chris coming tonight? You can be represented by none other than Calder Defense’s finest.”
“Are you saying you wouldn’t represent me?” Stephen asked, his voice low, eyes dancing.
Sam leaned over the table. “Listen, pretty boy, while I haven’t practiced in a while, I pity the poor bastards who try to keep you down.”
Wow, for Sam, that was…revealing, to say the least.
Callie jumped up again, moving the swear jar over to where her aunt was. Then Sam turned to Amanda, asking, “Wait, what was ‘shut the front door’ about?”
Amanda shrugged like it wasn’t a big deal. “Oh, nothing, I just remembered when Callie painted that,” she said, pointing to the swear jar. “We were sitting outside, and I was so big and pregnant with Zander, you had to provide leverage as I sat down next to her.”
Sam started laughing too. “Oh my God, Am, remember how we got to the ground?” She came over and they reenacted the moment.
Amanda had to wipe her eyes from laughing so much. “And then when you tried to help me stand—well, we couldn’t.”
Sam started talking before Amanda finished. “And we were laughing so hard, we couldn’t catch a breath, and Stan had to help you up a few minutes later.”
“Wait a minute,” Amanda said, looking at Sam. “There was something else too. Not just the painting of the jar, but Callie’s name. I thought in my head, ‘Callesandra Eleanor Montgomery,’ like I knew it. Isn’t that right, baby?” she asked, turning to Callie, who beamed, clapping her hands.
“Yay, Mama,” she cried.
Amanda tried searching for more, but came up blank. At Sam’s and Stephen’s inquiring looks, she just shook her head, shrugged, and said, “That’s all I got.”
On the bright side, it was the biggest moment that she’d had in a long time, and the nicest. This was no horrifying flashback or vivid snapshot that freaked her out. Just a pleasant memory.
She motioned with her head toward Stephen then. “You really should fish your wallet out of that jar before we go.”
Sam, who was closer to the jar, reached in, muttering, “Don’t forget who has your back,” as she grabbed the wallet.
As Rosa and Helen came in to set the table for dinner, which was going to be small tonight, given that everyone else was going to the gala, Amanda hugged Callie goodbye, told Rosa she’d check in later, and skipped out of the room, actually feeling excited for the night.
An hour later, when Stephen pulled into the hotel parking lot where the event was being held, she saw Alex already standing outside among a cluster of hotel staff, Calder Defense employees, and partygoers.
Between his mysterious appeal, business acumen, access to the stars, and ridiculous good looks, the man was fast becoming a celebrity himself.
Sam grabbed her hand as she and Stephen both asked if she was okay. She shrugged, grinned, and said, “I can’t explain it, but I feel great.”
She fingered the exquisite diamond chain that Alex had given her the other night.
A night that had included a late-night walk on the beach.
Not one to act nervous, his behavior had taken her by surprise.
She had enough anxiety to deal with lately, so she’d just asked him flat out what was up.
He’d turned to her and grabbed her shoulders to bring her in close.
What could she say, the man liked her there.
Then he’d grinned and said, “I know you don’t care much for jewelry, Amanda, but I saw something the other day and I simply couldn’t not get it for you.
” She was so surprised, mostly by his sheepish expression.
“Really?” she’d said.
“Yeah,” he’d answered with a nod.
She’d hit his chest. “Then show me,” she’d laughed, and he’d fished the rather large box out of his front pocket, watching nervously as she’d opened it.
Her jaw almost hit the sand when she saw the beautiful long, thin delicate chain of diamonds that shimmered stunningly in the moonlight.
Not gauche or over the top, just simply the most incredible piece of jewelry she’d ever seen.
“I love it,” she’d told him, meaning it.
“I’ll wear it to the event this weekend. ”
Stephen and Sam started bickering then about which valet lane to get into, drawing her attention back to the present.
“Ser-i-ous-ly,” she drawled out as she rolled her eyes.
They both smirked, obviously not that upset with each other.
Then Stephen pulled up right next to the entrance, reached into the center console, grabbed a small leather pouch, and got out of the truck.
He waved off the attendant, opening her door himself.
“Remember how this works?” he asked, handing her the earpiece Alex had gotten for her the other day. As he slipped it in place, she repeated what he’d told her before.
“You’ll be able to hear me, even if I whisper.”
“Smart girl.” He waved off another attendant eager to move his SUV next to the others belonging to Calder Defense. There had to be twenty parked alongside the circular drive. Alex wasn’t kidding when he’d said there’d been an uptick in business lately.
As they waited in the Nav, Sam started giving her the who’s who of the night’s guests, snorting as one couple in particular walked by.
Amanda’s head snapped to Sam. “Really? They’re back together?”
“Seriously, Ammy.” Sam shook her head. “I’ve missed the hell out of you.”