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

  “I know what you mean. Hopefully, eventually one of them will get a clue and ask the other one to marry them. That brother of mine is never really going to be truly happy until he marries that woman,” Hannah answered, turning to try and look Jeff in the eyes, but as usual he managed to avoid eye contact. “Jeff, tell me.”

  “Tell you what?” he asked, doing his best to play dumb.

  “Don’t even try it,” she huffed, smacking him on the shoulder. ‘You know what I’m talking about.”

  “Hannah, I can’t,” Jeff said, shaking his head, and dropping his eyes to the floor. “It’s not my place to make that decision. No matter how wrong I think he is. Only thing is, I’m afraid I’m going to end up committing murder. You have to stay away from Jeremy Hart.”

  “Come on, Jeff,” Hannah said, nearly snarling, still more aggravated he wouldn’t look her in the eyes, than the fact that he wouldn’t go against Zane’s wishes and tell her anyway. “I can tell you really think I need to know.”

  When he ended up shaking his head, she couldn’t help the growl that escaped her lips. “Will you at least look me in the eyes when you talk to me?”

  He just shook his head at that as well, and walked toward the back door and opened it, where he was planning on joining some of the other guys before supper. Before he stepped through, his head popped up, but he didn’t turn to look at her. He only turned his head enough to ensure she heard him say, “I want you to start working with me tomorrow after church. Amanda is going to be here too.”

  ******

  Carl walked past the door to the game room just as Jamie walked out of it. “What’s going on in there? It sounds like they have a three-ring circus going on.”

  “Our older children have taken over the Kinect from the younger ones. Why don’t you go in there and watch them? They’re crazy,” Jamie said, wrapping her arms around his waist.

  “Our children? Crazy? Not possible,” Carl said, leaning down to give her a kiss.

  “Yeah. I keep thinking, Zane is about the craziest thing I’ve ever known. Then I remember, I gave birth to him.”

  “What’s he doing now?” Carl asked, shaking his head.

  “Oh, his usual. He’s trying to get Jeff to admit out loud that he wants to date Hannah.”

  “I wish he would date Hannah,” he chuckled, shaking his head in confusion. “More than that, I wish I knew what was holding him back.”

  “One of these days, I’m going to corner him and talk to him about it.”

  “You know, I would be tempted to warn him, but I really hope you can get him to talk to you. And if anyone can, it’s you.” He thought for a second, then added, “Luke probably could too.”

  When Carl stepped into the game room, Jeff was playing one of the games on Kinect Adventures that required him to knock balls back the other way, and he looked like he was participating in a martial arts tournament.

  “Gee, Jeff, you look funny doing that without an opponent,” Zane said, trying to break his concentration.

  “Shut up, Zane. You’re distracting me,” he grumbled when he missed one of the extra balls.

  “How many different styles of martial arts do you know anyway?” Zane asked, not paying any attention to Jeff’s request. Just then Jeff’s round ended, and he looked over at Zane with a scowl on his face.

  Zane shook his head, giving him a slightly baffled look. “You didn’t even miss a ball. What are you so upset about?”

  “I missed some of the spare ones,” Jeff said, looking grumpy.

  “You’ve got the highest score so far. You may be more competitive than I am.”

  Jeff continued to glare at him. “I just like to do the best I can at everything. That’s the way I was raised.

  “You didn’t answer my question. How many forms of martial arts do you know?” Zane asked, shaking from laughter.

  “Four.”

  “Wow!” Zane said, truly awed. “Which four?”

  “Tai Chi, which I use more for mental and physical health. Aikido and Taekwondo, which I use the most. Then there’s Wing Chun.”

  “Why do you use Aikido and Taekwondo the most?” Zane asked, sitting forward. He was starting to get an idea.

  “I just favor those two the most. That’s all,” Jeff answered, getting suspicious.

  “So, I might stand a chance of kicking your butt if you used only Wing Chun?”

  “Not likely,” Jeff answered in a very dry tone.

  “What if we make a bet?” Zane asked, grinning.

  “Zane, I don’t want to hurt you. Granted, there are times, I’m really tempted,” Jeff said, his tone still very dry.

  “You won’t. You have more control than that,” Zane said with a smirk.

  “Do you have a death wish?” Hannah asked her brother, giving him a dirty look.

  “Nope. But he’s going to do it one of these days. I will find a way.”

  “So, this is your latest attempt to get me to... Well, you know,” Jeff said, stopping just before he said too much.

  Zane laughed at Jeff’s near slip. The man hadn’t realized, there was no reason to hide what was going on. Hannah had known for almost a year now.

  “Yeah, it is. So, what do you say? If I can kick your butt, you have to do it.”

  “Zane, I don’t want to hurt you. This is not a good idea.”

  “The only guy who as ever kicked my butt is Phillip. And the last time that happened, we were only fifteen and sixteen.”

  “No,” the other man said, shaking his head. “And it’s for your own good.”

  “You’re just scared I’ll kick your butt.”

  “No, I’m not,” he snorted, trying not to laugh.

  “Then prove it.”

  “You know what, Zane? Maybe I should. Just to teach you a lesson.”

  “Okay, you’re on,” Zane said, hopping up from the couch with a huge grin.

  Jeff groaned. He had accidently agreed to this stupid bet. Jeff was wondering if the guy was needing another outlet for sexual frustration. He usually never went very long without a partner.

  If things kept going the way they were, Zane would end up realizing he was in love with Amanda. But apparently Jeff was going to have to give the guy a serious workout to help him keep his hands to himself for a little longer. Especially after earlier at the river.

  Heck, right now, he was needing a workout. At least Amanda had put shorts and a t-shirt on over her bikini once they got back to the house. All Hannah had done was put a pair of shorts on over the bottom of hers. And the darn things were short enough, he could almost see the curve of her bottom sticking out.

  They weren’t out in the yard ten minutes, and Zane was ready to call and end to it. And that was saying something. Zane wasn’t one to back down easily. He was way to competitive, and he was really determined to get Jeff to ask Hannah out.

  “Okay, Man, you’ve proved your point. I’m done,” Zane said, trying to catch his breath. Everyone was out in the yard with them, and he would never admit that the reason he was already quitting is because of the look Amanda had on her face. She looked absolutely terrified.

  When she heard Zane tell Jeff he was done, he saw her take a visible deep breath. It caused him to shake his head. He was wondering why she was always worried about him getting hurt. If he didn’t know any better, he would think she was the one in love with him, not the other way around.

  Chapter 8

  Sunday, July 27

  Zane and Amanda hadn’t gotten there yet, and the only two in the backyard was Jeff and Hannah. When he grabbed her from behind to simulate an attack, she couldn’t bring herself to try and hurt him. She just ended up giggling and clutching his arms more tightly to herself.

  “Hannah, what are you doing?” he grumbled in obvious irritation. “You’re supposed to be trying to defend yourself. This isn’t going to work if all you do is laugh at me.”

  “I’m sorry,” she said, shrugging her shoulders, not really feeling sorry at all. “I’m not l
aughing at you. It’s just that I know it’s you and I can’t do it.”

  When she heard him groan, she couldn’t help but giggle again. “You’re going to have to imagine it’s someone you’re scared of. Imagine it’s Jeremy Hart,” he suggested, moving in to grab her again, doing his best to stay on track.

  Problem was, she liked the way Jeff’s arm felt around her, and the way his hands felt against her bare skin. She wasn’t going to be able to do it. She shook her head. “Nope. No good.”

  Jeff dropped his hands and stepped back. When Hannah turned around, he was staring at the ground shaking his head. “Hannah, if you won’t fight back, how is this going to work?”

  Unfortunately for Jeff, Zane had stepped out the back door behind him, and heard what he said. When Jeff heard him chuckle, he turned around and gave him a dirty look. “Where’s Amanda?”

  “She’s coming. She’ll be out in a few seconds. She’s talking to Mom,” Zane said, shaking his head. “You may have to call in a different stand in attacker for her. I’m guessing the last thing she wants to do is prevent you from touching her,” he added with a raise of his eyebrow.

  Jeff closed his eyes and shook his head. “Well, why don’t you be her stand in attacker?”

  “No,” he snorted, shaking his head vigorously. “She’d be more than willing to try and hurt me.”

  “Yeah, Zane. Why don’t you be my attacker?” Hannah asked, giving him a smirk.

  “No. I think we better get Mike or Phillip to do it. You’d be able to defend yourself, but you wouldn’t be bent on causing them a bodily harm. And since Mike’s a bigger sucker than Phillip, we probably should holler at him,” Zane said, sticking his head back in the door and doing just that.

  A few seconds later, Michael stepped out on the back porch. “What Zane? I was helping Mom with lunch.”

  “You’re going to help them,” he said, pointing to the pair out in the yard. “I’ll talk to Mom. I can help her if she needs me.”

  “Zane, be sure and come back out when Amanda does,” Jeff said, hiding the grin that spread across his face by turning his back on him.

  “Sure,” Zane said, not thinking anything about it.

  ******

  It was nearly thirty minutes later when Amanda and Zane finally made it out to the backyard. They stepped out on the back deck in time to watch Hannah flip Michael over her shoulder and onto his back. The teenage boy rolled to his side with a groan and laid there for a few seconds before slowly rising to his feet. “You know, as tiny as she is, I never believed she’d manage to do that, even once,” he grumbled, his face showing pain as he rubbed his back. He’d obviously been thrown to the ground several times already.

  Jeff chuckled, shaking his head. “Her weight is irrelevant. She’s using your weight to get the job done.”

  Zane laughed, shaking his head. “Did he not warn you, you were about to get your rear kicked a few times?”

  “Yeah,” he mumbled, dropping his head sheepishly. “I just didn’t think she could really do it.”

  “After last night, you should have known better than to question him about this stuff,” Hannah laughed, throwing her older brother a cheesy grin.

  “Ha-ha, Smarty Pants,” Zane grumbled, rolling his eyes before a grin split his face with his usual humor. “But she is right, Mike. The man does know what he’s talking about when it comes to any kind of hand-to-hand combat or self-defense. You should have known better.”

  “With him being so short, I guess he needed all the advantages he could get,” Michael chuckled.

  “I’m not that short,” Jeff grumbled, raising an eyebrow at him. “There’s no written or unwritten law that says a man as to be six feet tall or taller.”

  “Hey, I was just saying,” he smirked back. “You’re even an inch or two shorter than Luke.”

  “I’ve been instructing her to take it easy on you, since neither of you are used to sparring. Would you like her to turn up the heat?” Jeff smirked back, already knowing the answer. The boy had already been doing quite a lot of groaning.

  “No-no-no,” he said, shaking his head vigorously. “I take it all back. You’re not short. Things are plenty hot already.”

  “That’s what I thought,” Jeff smirked. “Besides, I think it’s Zane and Amanda’s turn. You get to take a break for a few minutes.”

  “Do I get to watch Amanda throw Zane around the yard now?” he asked with mischief in his eyes.

  “No,” the man in question snorted.

  “Ah, come on,” he whined. “Why not?”

  “You have to go help Mom. Besides, I wasn’t out here watching Hannah throw you around.”

  “Yeah, but this is different,” he grinned.

  “How’s that?” the older brother asked, not suspecting anything.

  “Well, Hannah’s my sister. Amanda’s your…”

  The younger boy stopped mid-sentence when he saw the look on his older brother’s face. “Yeah, I’m going to go in now,” he mumbled and darted up the deck stairs, doing his best to avoid getting with in arms reach of his brother but paused at the door when he heard Jeff call his name. “Yeah, what?”

  “Stay close, just in case Amanda has the same problem with Zane that Hannah had with me,” the man answered with a grin, watching Zane for a reaction.

  “What kind of problem was Hannah having?” an unsuspecting Amanda asked, drawing a chuckle from everyone but Zane. “I know you’re pretty solid, but Mike’s several inches taller than you. You couldn’t weigh that much more than he does. If any at all.”

  “Her problem had nothing to do with my weight,” Jeff answered, trying to contain his laugh at the look on Zane’s face.

  “Oh, what was it then?” she asked again.

  “She was…” Michael started to answer.

  “She was just having trouble wanting to throw him to the ground, is all,” Zane stepped in and answered before he could finish. “He’s not done anything to truly irritate her. She found it easier to practice on her little brother.”

  “Oh well, in that case, we should be fine. You’re ornery enough, I shouldn’t have that kind of problem,” she said, patting him on the arm with a wide grin before making her way down to the yard. Everyone else erupted with laughter. Except for Zane. He just gave her a sour look and followed behind her.

  ******

  Zane dropped his head to the ground and closed his eyes. Amanda was definitely getting a handle on the self-defense Jeff was teaching her, but he didn’t think he was going to be able to take being thrown to the ground much more. “Maybe we should use football gear to do this. I’m starting to get sore,” he grumbled, slowly pulling himself back to his feet. “Or maybe we could stuff pillows in our clothes.”

  “Oh, come on,” Amanda grinned. “I’m not hitting you that hard in the stomach. I’m trying to take it easy on you.”

  “It’s not my stomach I’m wanting to pad. It’s my butt and back,” he grumbled, giving her a dirty look. “I’m not as young as I used to be.”

  “You’re talking like you’re old and gray,” she laughed. “You’re hardly that old. You’re only twenty-eight. Well, you’ll be twenty-nine in November, but that’s still a few months away.”

  “Don’t mind him. He doesn’t take getting beat well. Even when it’s planned,” Jeff chuckled. “You’re doing great. You’ve got the mechanics down. You just need to keep practicing.”

  “Is this all we’re going to work on?” she asked, moving over to sit down on one of the picnic tables. Zane wasn’t the only one needing a break.

  “For today,” he answered. “We’ll work on some more stuff next time.”

  They all glanced up toward the back door when they heard it open and Mindi walked out. “Hey, Zane, you have a visitor at the front door,” she smirked.

  “Who?” he grumbled with a shake of his head. “I’m not expecting anyone.”

  “Oh, I’m sure you weren’t expecting her,” his sister laughed, eyeing Amanda. “She’s complaini
ng that she hasn’t seen you in at least two weeks and she wants to know why.”

  He groaned and gave a little shiver. He knew exactly who was looking for him. Ashley Mullins. “Did you let her in the house?”

  “No,” she snorted, shaking her head. “As if I’d do a thing like that. Mom doesn’t even like that woman. She probably would have thrown her right back out. And Ashley wasn’t happy when I wouldn’t let her in the front door, by the way. I told her I didn’t know if you were here or not. Which was obviously a lie. I noticed your Trans Am when Luke and I pulled up. We got here about two seconds before she did.”

  “Mindi, you’re writing a book,” he groaned, shaking his head.

  “Fine,” his sister huffed. “What do you want me to tell her?”

  “Tell her I’m not here and to get lost,” he grumbled. “You know, in that wonderful way you have with people.”

  “Ha-ha,” she snorted. “Why do I have to deal with your dirty work. You should have taken care of this already.”

  He shrugged, indicating just how little he cared. “I left her a message and told her I wouldn’t be seeing her again. That I had things to take care of. It’s not my fault she didn’t listen.”

  “Well, you should have known that wasn’t going to work,” Mindi chuckled. “She doesn’t listen to anyone. She thinks she’s God’s gift to man,” she added before shaking her head at him and turning to go back in the house. “Maybe I’ll have Mom throw her off the front porch,” they heard her mumble just before the door closed behind her.

  He groaned, rubbing his temples. “Wouldn’t you know she would find that amusing?” he grumbled. “Come on, let’s go on in. It’s probably getting close to time to eat. They might could use a little more help.”

  Chapter 9

  Wednesday, July 30

  Hey, Zane, stop that,” Amanda laughed, swatting his hands away when he reached out to snag her around the waist for about the tenth time in as many minutes. He’d been trying to tickle her all morning. She’d managed to prepare breakfast between fits of laughter. She would definitely have to say he was a lot more fun in the morning than Austin had ever been. Austin would always wander around asking, ‘Where’s my breakfast?’ Then not be happy with what he got. “If we’re not careful, you’re going to be late. You still have to take me out to your mom and dad’s.”