Austin's Revenge (The Townsends Book 4) Read online

  “I talked to Joe earlier,” his mom jumped in, giving him a hard look. “He said you and Amanda had another run-in with Austin.”

  Zane sighed, staring up at the ceiling. “Mark, we really need to talk to your dad about this habit he has of immediately calling Mom and telling her what’s going on at the store.”

  “Hey, don’t get me in the middle of this,” the other man chuckled, shaking his head. “It wouldn’t do any good, anyway. He has your mom on speed dial. He considers you all family and he will do his best to try and protect you all, just like he always has Mom, Abby and I.”

  He groaned, giving his brother-in-law a dirty look before finally turning to look at his mom. “Mom, I’ve got it under control. The chief still has patrols by the house. If something were to go down at the store, Joe would call the station.”

  “He said Austin grabbed Amanda and was shaking her.”

  “And Chris nearly choked him to death,” Amanda added.

  “Well, he didn’t tell me that part,” Jamie replied, her eyes growing huge. “Not surprising, though. Chris is a protective one.”

  Zane sighed, rubbing his temples. He was starting to get a headache, and despite not being a big drinker, he was really wanting a shot of whiskey. If this thing with Austin wasn’t settled soon, he was going to end up in trouble. “Knowing Joe, he knew you would ask us about it and figured we could fill in the rest of the details. Honestly, Mom, it wasn’t any different than any of his other shenanigans.”

  “Well, I really wish you would let me know,” she huffed. “I don’t want to hear any of this second-hand, then end up thinking things were worse than they were.”

  “Guess what,” Mindi said with a grin on her face, trying to change the subject.

  “You’ve discovered Luke isn’t as perfect as you thought he was?” her brother guessed with a smirk.

  “Funny, Zane. Everybody knows Luke’s perfect. Didn’t you get the memo?” Mindi asked with a grin at her husband.

  “Oh no, don’t put that kind of pressure on me,” Luke said, trying not to laugh. He was rocking his sleeping son in his arms, and he didn’t want to wake him up.

  “Mindi, just ignore Zane. He’s a little too wound up of late. He’s building up too much excess energy,” their mom said, smirking at her son and drawing a scowl from him.

  Jamie knew about Zane’s sex life. She also knew he was forgoing that part of his life because of Amanda. She just prayed Amanda was ready for it when he finally decided to release all of that built up energy. She was more than certain he wasn’t going to be wasting anymore of his time with other women from here on out. Whether he already knew he was in love with her or not.

  “What were you wanting us to guess? Go ahead and just tell us,” Carl said, grinning at her. Like Zane had said, he had already figured out she was pregnant again.

  Mindi grinned back at her dad. “Not fair, Dad. Zane was right. You’ve already figured it out.”

  “Figured what out, Baby Girl?” he asked, feigning innocence.

  “That I’m pregnant again,” she said, shaking her head with a laugh.

  “Have you two figured out what’s causing that now?” Zane asked, sounding like he was in pain and causing his mom to laugh.

  “Yeah, we have, but it’s fun, and we don’t want to stop,” Mindi said, smirking at her brother. She knew what his problem was without being told. “And the best part is, were married, so we don’t have to.”

  “Yeah, I know it’s fun,” Zane mumbled under his breath, staring across the table at Amanda, giving himself away, even more.

  Alex had been staring at Abby for the last five minutes. He hadn’t taken a single bite the entire time, which was very unusual for him. Jenny had been watching him, and she was pretty sure where his mind was. It certainly wasn’t on dinner. For Alex, that was saying something. A lot of something.

  “Alex, put it away,” Jenny said, with a smirk on her face. She knew the only ones at the table who would know what she was talking about were, Luke and Mindi, and Mark.

  Of course, Luke being Luke, caught on immediately. He was having to fight his obvious humor so hard, he turned and handed the baby to Jamie, so he wouldn’t wake him up. Then he proceeded to laugh so hard, he almost fell out of his chair. Mindi turned and grinned at him. Mark just turned beet red but couldn’t fight the grin on his face.

  “What is so funny about that?” Jamie asked, giving her son-in-law a strange look. “And why is Mark blushing?”

  “Inside joke,” Mindi said, still grinning.

  Zane, who had been sitting there looking at Alex, trying to figure out what Jenny was talking about, all the sudden started laughing as well. “I take it, you two have been told that a few times, yourselves,” he said with a smirk. “Apparently, Mindi hasn’t told Luke that enough. She’s already pregnant again.”

  That was all it took for the rest of the adults at the table to catch on and start laughing. Alex caught on and was now redder than Mark. They couldn’t tell if Abby was blushing. The second she realized what Jenny had meant, her head dropped, and her hair was shielding her face.

  When Jamie started laughing, she didn’t have anyone to pass the baby to. Sure enough, little Sam woke up, howling his head off. “Oops,” she chuckled, handing him back to Luke. “Sorry.”

  “It’s okay, Mom. He’s probably hungry,” Mindi said, getting up from the table to go fix him a bottle. With Sam crying, it didn’t take long for Gavin to wake up screaming for a bottle as well. Jenny just got up and followed Mindi without a word.

  “Okay. So, what started this inside joke?” Jamie asked, shaking her head at her grown children and their spouses.

  “Luke trying to get some when we were supposed to be getting ready for James and Lisa’s wedding.”

  “Your dress was falling off,” the man said in his own defense. “It was a little distracting.”

  “Why was your dress falling off?” Jamie chuckled.

  “I couldn’t get it zipped,” Mindi shrugged. “He was supposed to be zipping it for me.”

  “Okay,” she nodded. “But that doesn’t explain why Mark was blushing.”

  “I got the phrase from Mindi. I have to say that to him at work all the time,” Jenny laughed. “The man can have a one-track mind, sometimes.”

  Chapter 17

  Saturday, August 16

  “Hey, Zane, how do pancakes sound this morning?” Amanda asked as she dug around in one of the bottom cabinets for a skillet with her behind stuck in the air. If she’d had any idea how enthralled he'd become watching her, she probably would have been mortified. As it was, she didn’t immediately take note of his silence. “I know you usually want eggs and sausage or bacon, but I thought something different would be good. We could maybe cook some bacon to go with them.”

  Finally finding what she was looking for, she stood and turned to find him staring at her. She gave him a concerned look. “Are you okay?”

  He shook his head, as if to clear the cobwebs away. “Yeah, I’m fine. Pancakes with bacon sounds good. What do you say I get the bacon cooking while you mix up the batter for the pancakes?”

  “Sure,” she smiled, moving to get a bowl out of the cabinet.

  Several minutes later, when Amanda went to flip a pancake with a pancake turner, Zane reached over and snatched it from her. “Hey, I need that.”

  “No, you don’t,” he grinned. “Flip it without it.”

  “Okay, I’ve seen your mom do that, but I’d probably end up throwing it in the floor.”

  “No, you won’t,” he said, shaking his head. “Just give it a try.”

  She gave him a disgruntled look but decided to give it a try. When she tried mimicking what she had saw Jamie do, she nearly done exactly what she said she would do. It popped up a little, sliding toward the edge of the pan. She huffed, giving the pancake a dirty look, like it was its fault she had failed to flip it over.

  “Here, let me help you,” he laughed, stepping over behind her. Problem was,
the moment his arms went around her, he got distracted. She smelt way too good, and he was wanting to pull her up against him and turn her head just enough he could reach her mouth with his.

  “Zane?” she questioned. “Are you in there? This pancake is going to burn.”

  “Oh, yeah,” he mumbled. “Sorry.”

  She could hear how distracted he was, and he still wasn’t flipping the pancake. That did it. She reached over and turned the stove off and pushed the skillet back to a cold burner. She barely had a chance to turn around before he had his hands in her hair and was kissing her, their pancakes and bacon forgotten. The other day he had said something about the bed being too close. She didn’t think they were even going to make it that far.

  She was right. He didn’t even bother trying. She didn’t remember getting there, but at some point, he had picked her up and sat her on the table. She had a very fleeting thought about hoping the table could take it. The thought only lasted a second.

  He had managed to take up all the space in her mind. She didn’t have room to worry about whether or not the table would end up nothing but kindling by the time they were done. She was starting to realize he wasn’t going to stop this time. She could tell he wasn’t even trying to stay in control.

  He ran his hands up her sides under her shirt, and he didn’t even slow down until he had her breasts cupped in his hands. It wiped her mind clean. When he ran his mouth along her jaw, and started down her throat, she dropped her head back and moaned, wrapping her legs around his, trying to pull him closer.

  She would really rather they do this on a bed the first time, but she was afraid if she stopped him long enough to get him down the hall he would start thinking he was taking advantage of her again. She knew she needed to keep him focused on what he was already doing if she was going to get him to go all the way.

  When Phillip cleared his throat, Zane groaned and clutched her to him. “What?” he snapped, not even bothering to look up, at first. He had a pretty good idea who it was without looking.

  Phillip and their dad were the only ones of the family that had a key to his house. His dad would have been more likely to walk over and smack him in the back of the head, then tell him to get himself under control. Besides, his mom would have sent his brother over, since he was only a couple streets away, rather than sending their father all the way into town.

  “Mom was wondering if you two were feeling up for a barbecue today. Would you like me to tell her you’re busy?” Phillip looked completely serious, and there was no way to tell what he was really thinking.

  “Funny, Phillip,” Zane grumbled, dryly. “Why didn’t you just call?”

  “We did. Both of your cells are in there by the door. I’m guessing you didn’t hear.” Amanda still couldn’t tell what he was thinking. She had a feeling Zane could, though.

  “Zane, I’ll go get ready to go.” She may not have been able to tell what he was thinking, but she knew without asking, he wanted to talk to Zane in private.

  Zane stepped back and sat her back down on the floor, using his body to shield her long enough for her to fix her clothing. Once done, she gave Phillip a shy smile and headed out of the kitchen. He waited till she was down the hall far enough she couldn’t hear before he said anything.

  “Are you sure you know what you’re doing?” Zane gave his older brother a dirty look over his question. “I’m not talking about you getting involved with her. And don’t try to tell me you’re not getting involved. You are definitely involved,” he stressed. “You don’t usually kiss the women you’re dating on the mouth. I’ve seen more than one of them get irritated at you for it. Heck, according to Ashley, you don’t even hold hands in public. What I’m talking about is her staying here. I’d been standing here for several seconds. That was the third time I had cleared my throat. I thought I was going to have to start yelling. If I hadn’t walked in here, you wouldn’t have stopped. I know you, Zane. The last thing you want, is to take advantage of her. I don’t think for a second, that’s how she would feel. But I know you would.”

  “Yeah, I know. I’m going to have to move her in with Mom and Dad. I don’t know what my deal is. I can’t stop touching her. It’s like an addiction,” Zane said, not wanting Phillip to realize how in love with her he was but wondering if his ploy was pointless. He was starting to suspect there wasn’t a single family member over the age of twelve that didn’t already know how he felt about his sexy little roommate.

  Phillip shook his head at him. Apparently, he wasn’t going to admit it, until Amanda knocked him over the head with a club. Maybe if Amanda tells him how she feels, he’ll admit it. Maybe he’s holding back because he’s not sure how she’ll react.

  ******

  “Come on, Mom. Why won’t you and Dad buy me a car?” Michael asked, whining.

  She gave him a very serious, as-if look. “We haven’t bought cars for any of your older brothers and sisters.”

  He lifted both hands, gesturing toward his older brother. “Well, how did Alex get his truck?”

  “He saved the money to buy it himself. And I’m still wondering why he bothered. It’s not like he dates,” she said, giving Alex a confused look. “I would have thought he would have at least asked Abby to go to the movies with him by now.”

  “Mom, please don’t,” Alex groaned, turning red in the face. “I don’t want to talk about it.”

  She gave him another confused look over his embarrassment before turning back to her other son. “We’ve told you before, if you intended to have a car when you turned sixteen, you needed to save money for it.”

  Just then Zane walked in the kitchen through the swinging doors, with Amanda and Phillip right behind him. “Is he begging you for a car?”

  “Yes, just as you predicted would happen,” she answered, reaching over to answer the phone when it rang. When she said hello and then almost immediately hung up, Zane gave her a questioning look.

  “That’s the third time this morning,” she said, answering his unspoken question. “The first time was this morning, around eight. I didn’t think anything of it until the second time. Even then I wasn’t sure they were connected. The second one was about an hour ago.”

  “Anytime you get those calls like that, start writing them down with the time they occurred,” he grumbled. “I’m going to find out why he finds it necessary to harass you and Dad.”

  “Zane, don’t go after him without good reason,” his mom sighed.

  “He’s harassing you here,” he exclaimed. “That’s good reason.”

  “No, it’s not. It’s a nuisance, but he’s not hurting any of us.”

  “Well, I did tell you he was going to ask you to buy him a car,” he stated, pointing at Michael and effectively changing the subject. Jamie knew him well enough to know the subject of the prank phone calls was now closed. He wouldn’t be talking about it anymore, no matter what she said.

  She sighed and shook her head. “Yeah, he seemed to have thought when your dad and I told him he was going to have to buy his own car, we were kidding.”

  Phillip chuckled, slapping Michael on the back. “They haven’t bought any of the rest of us cars. They’re not going to change that now.”

  The younger boy huffed, sticking his bottom lip out like a five-year-old. “Other kids’ parents buy them cars.”

  “Well, we aren’t other kids’ parents, now are we? You’re going to have to start saving money. It’s going to take a while.”

  “Well, why can’t I use part of my inheritance from Grandpa Townsend?” he asked, looking like a light bulb had just come on.

  “Oh, you know better than to even ask that,” she said, frowning at him. “You can’t touch that money until you’re twenty-five. And you’re behaving like an excellent example of why he set it up that way. He was hoping you would be old enough by the time you got your hands on it, you would know the true value of money and how hard it is to acquire that much of it.” She leaned in, almost touching her nose to his
. “You want a car, you bettered start saving.”

  “Dang it,” he huffed, finally giving up and turning to storm out of the kitchen.

  “Do you think he’s ever going to learn?” Jamie asked, looking at both Zane and Phillip.

  “Yes,” Zane nodded. “But most of it is going to be the hard way.”

  Just then, the phone rang again. Zane reached over and snagged the receiver before his mom had a chance to. “Hello,” he barked into the phone.

  The party on the other end growled, “Townsend,” before the phone was slammed down in his ear.

  “Boy, he does not like it when I answer,” Zane chuckled as he hung up the phone.

  ******

  They had all made it outside and were all waiting to get sat down to eat. This had been a last-minute barbecue, so Carl was just getting started with the grilling, when the family Mastiff come around the corner of the house with Emily trying to ride him like a horse. Bruno was a very patient, long suffering dog. He just trotted up to Zane and looked up at him as if to ask, ‘Will you please get this child off of me?’

  Zane reached down and picked his youngest sister up off the dog and patted him on top of the head. “Go on, Bruno. Get out of here. Go hide before I put her down.”

  “Zane, no,” she cried as she watched the dog dart around the end of the house. “Put me down. I want to ride the dog.”

  “No, Emily,” he said, shaking his head. “He doesn’t like it. Do you want me to ride you like a horse?”

  “Zane,” she giggled, shaking her blonde head vigorously. “You’re too big, Silly.”

  “Well, you’re too big to ride the dog.”

  The little girl stuck her bottom lip out in a pout and mumbled, “No, I’m not.”

  Zane chuckled and kissed her on top of the head before sitting her down on the ground. “Go on. Go play, but no more riding the dog.”

  She looked up at him for a few seconds before sticking her tongue out, then darting off in the opposite direction the dog had gone, almost as if she thought her older brother was going to grab her again if she didn’t hurry.