Austin's Revenge (The Townsends Book 4) Page 9

  “How do you see things like that?” he chuckled, giving her a mystified look. “You and Luke have to be the two most unusual people I have ever met. And I don’t mean that as an insult. It’s just that your abilities are something I’ve never seen before.”

  “It’s just a gift,” she shrugged. “All my children have a little bit of it. And I can’t even explain Luke. He’s completely baffling.”

  Jeff just grinned at her, still uncertain if he wanted to tell her this or not.

  “Come on, Jeff. Tell me.”

  “I’m afraid I’ll hurt her if we get involved...” He paused looking over at Jamie wondering what she would think when he said what he needed to, then decided to say it anyway. “If we get involved sexually and I get too excited, I’m afraid I’ll crush her. At the very least, leave bruises.”

  “Jeff, aside from the fact that you don’t need to be having sex until you’re married, you’re not going to hurt her.”

  “I’m not talking about just sleeping with her,” he sighed. “There’s no way I could marry her without over coming this problem first, so that is irrelevant.”

  “You’re going to have to explain where this fear comes from.”

  “My last girlfriend was always telling me I would hurt her when I kissed her and started to get carried away with myself. We never even managed to have sex.”

  “That sounds strange to me. I know you’re extremely strong, but by your very nature, you are more controlled than that. Not to mention all of your martial arts training.”

  “I told you I would sound like an idiot, and I feel like one. But I can’t get past it. Despite the fact in my head I know better. There’s just this small part of me that’s afraid it could be true. I dated her for two and a half years. She had a long time to really drive it home. Not to mention, Hannah’s so tiny, that alone scares me.”

  “Jeff, you can get past this.”

  “Maybe. I just don’t know how to, yet.”

  ******

  “Hey, you already got yours. That’s mine,” Amanda laughed, wrapping the fingers of her free hand around the handle of the pie cutter above Zane’s.

  Even with both her hands on the knife, against just one of his, she knew she wouldn’t be able to win this battle of strength. The man had huge arm muscles. The battle had only lasted this long because he was letting it go on.

  She glanced over at Jamie, who was trying hard not to laugh, giving her a mischievous grin before looking back at Zane. She winked at him and licked her bottom lip, distracting him enough to run a finger of her one hand down the side of the knife, wiping up all the icing.

  “Hey, that’s cheating,” he chuckled as he watched her suck all the chocolaty goodness off her finger. It was a good thing they were in a room full of people, or she might have found herself sprawled out on the dining room table.

  “This from the man who was using his obviously superior physical strength to try and steal the extra icing she had scooped up for herself,” Phillip snorted. “I think it’s a good thing the woman is capable of out smarting you. She’s going to need that in the years to come.”

  Zane gave his brother a dirty look with a snort of his own. “I was only using one hand. She was using both of hers.”

  Phillip shook his head as if to say that wasn’t good enough. “One of your biceps is about the same size as both of hers. Actually, a little bit bigger. Maybe we should get a tape measure out and see just how much bigger.”

  He gave his brother another dirty look and took a big bite of cake and ice cream. He knew his brother was right and he didn’t have anything else to say in his own defense. He didn’t mind Amanda managing to out-maneuver him, but he did mind having to admit his older brother was right.

  Jamie shook her head at her children as she got up from the table when the phone started ringing. “Who would be calling at this time?” she wondered out loud. “Everyone knows we eat dinner at this time.”

  “That’s a good question,” Carl grumbled, looking around the table at his family, then staring at the phone. Everyone was accounted for, and that included all the usual extras. Jeff Campbell, Zane’s partner, had even made it over and was now staring at the phone as hard as he and Zane. There wasn’t anyone left to be calling to say they were on there way or explain why they were running behind.

  “Hello,” Jamie said into the phone, then stood there waiting for a few seconds. “Hello?” she tried again, then almost immediately hung up. “They hung up.”

  “Are you sure?” Mindi asked, getting the same queasy feeling in her stomach she had gotten a lot when they were going through everything with Tracy. “Maybe the connection was bad. It does happen sometimes.”

  “No, I heard the phone click,” she answered, glancing at Zane. “I thought we were the only ones that still had an old rotary wall phone, but that’s what the click sounded like.”

  “Just relax, Mom, and come back to the table,” he replied softly. “It may have been a wrong number and they were just too embarrassed to say. We’ve all made that kind of mistake before.”

  She nodded her head, taking her seat again at the table. “I’m sure you’re right,” she agreed, despite hearing the uncertainty in her son’s voice.

  “Why would someone call, just to hang up?” Tony asked, shoving a bite of cake in his mouth that was way too big.

  “Tony, smaller bites,” Jamie scolded. “You’re going to get yourself choked.”

  “Sorry, Mom,” he spluttered around the cake still in his mouth.

  She sighed, rubbing her temples. “Don’t talk with your mouth full, either. That’s rude.”

  “Not to mention disgusting,” Tonya laughed.

  “I’m not disgusting,” the little boy grouched, sounding hurt. He turned back to his mom. “I’m not, right?”

  “No, you’re not,” she said, giving him a reassuring smile from across the table. “But talking with your mouth full of food is.”

  “Oh,” he blushed, dropping his eyes.

  “Yeah, why would someone call just to hang up?” Nathan asked, giving his older brother a confused look.

  Zane shrugged, not sure if his mom would want him to answer the question truthfully or not. “I don’t know…”

  “Of course, you know,” the little boy grumbled. “You’re a cop, aren’t you?”

  “Well, I wasn’t done talking when you cut me off, which is also rude. I was going to say I don’t know if Mom would want me to explain that to you or not,” he answered looking back at the woman in question.

  “Go ahead,” she sighed, nodding her head. “I’m afraid not knowing might make him more anxious. You know how he is.”

  “It’s a form of harassment,” Zane answered, turning to look back at his younger brother. “Austin is trying to scare all of us.”

  “Why would he do that?”

  “He’s angry at Amanda and I because she doesn’t want anything to do with him.”

  “Why would that be a reason to try and scare all of us?”

  “Because he’s a mean bas…”

  “Okay, time for a subject change,” Carl said, jumping in before Zane could finish his statement.

  “Mom, I want a snake,” Zoe said with a big grin before cramming a bit of ice cream in her mouth.

  “Well, you did ask for a change of subject,” Phillip chuckled.

  Jamie gave her oldest son a dirty look before turning to her daughter. “No, Zoe. You’re not getting a snake.”

  “Why not?” the little girl whined.

  “I don’t think you’re ready to take care of a snake, and I’m not taking care of it for you.”

  “Hunter would help me take care of it,” she said, grinning, thinking she had found the answer.

  “No, I won’t,” the little boy said, shaking his head vigorously. “I’m not touching a snake. Not even for you.”

  “Hunter’s afraid of snakes,” Michael said, slapping his hand down on the table.

  “No, I’m not. I’m just not crazy en
ough to touch one.”

  “Right? You’re afraid of them.”

  “Shut up, Michael,” Hunter grumbled, turning red. “You’re the one that screamed when you saw a little bity spider in the bathroom yesterday.”

  “It startled me when it landed on me.”

  “Yeah,” Amanda shivered. “I feel for you, Michael. It would startle me too, if it landed on me.”

  “See, Amanda gets it.”

  “It was the size of a dime. I had to come in there and smash it for you,” Hunter chuckled.

  “Okay you two,” Jamie said, jumping in before things escalated to scuffling. “That’s enough.”

  “Mom, please,” Zoe whined again.

  “No, Zoe. I don’t want it getting loose in my house,” she said, shaking her head. “And don’t start whining about it.”

  The little girls face brightened on a new thought. “Well, can I have a hamster or a guinea pig?”

  “We’ll see. Those are a possibility,” she said, then jumped and turned to eyeball the phone like it was a snake when it rang again. She wasn’t sure how long it had been since the last time, but everyone had managed to calm down and move on. That didn’t help her uneasiness now, though.

  She turned back, almost like in slow motion, to look at her son. He didn’t bother to ask if she wanted him to answer the phone for her. He got up and made it across the room in three quick steps.

  He yanked the phone off the hook and snarled, “Hello.” He heard a startled, ‘Uh’ come across the line before a click, then the dial tone.

  When he turned back to the table and was nearly laughing, his mother gave him a sour look. “Zane, this is not funny.”

  “I have to agree with your mom, Zane,” Amanda said, her voice coming out a little shaky. “After yesterday morning, I would think even you would have trouble laughing.”

  “Yesterday morning?” Jamie asked, eyeing her son hard.

  Zane sighed, turning his eyes up at the ceiling. He really wished Amanda hadn’t said that. He had deliberately not said anything to his mom about the dead stray on his front porch because he didn’t want to give her anything else to worry about.

  He must have been silent too long because he soon heard his mom huff, “Zane?”

  He rubbed his temples, finally looking her in the eyes. “There was a stray cat that had been running around the neighborhood for the last few days. I’d only seen it a handful of times. I tried to catch it once and Amanda had fed it a few times on the porch. Yesterday morning I heard a thump outside the front door. When I went to check it out, I found it on the welcome mat with its throat slit, covered in its own blood. It was a pretty grizzly sight.”

  “Zane, this is all crazy,” his mom whispered.

  Zane sighed, shaking his head. “That’s just it. The problem is, Austin isn’t crazy. He’s just mean and vindictive.”

  “He vandalized your jeep. He’s left dead strays on your porch. Now this,” she said, throwing her hands out to her sides. “Are you at least reporting all of this down at the station?”

  “Yes, Mom. After the cat, the chief started having regular patrols going by my house, whether I’m there or not.”

  She breathed a sigh of relief and nodded her head. “Well, that’s something, but all of this still isn’t funny.”

  “Sorry, Mom,” he said, sounding sincere. “I wasn’t really laughing at the situation. I was laughing at the fact Austin obviously isn’t smart enough to realize I would start answering the phone, when I’m sure the reason he chose to call in the first place is because he knew Amanda and I would be here for dinner.”

  “How can you be certain it was Austin?” Carl asked, looking concerned.

  “When I answered, it startled him enough, he mumbled uh before he hung up.”

  His dad shook his head, giving him a pained look. “That doesn’t prove anything.”

  “Maybe not, but that was definitely Austin,” he shrugged. “Besides, who else would it be?”

  “I don’t know. How many people do you usually aggravate in the span of a day? The list could be quite long.”

  Jeff managed to say this with such a straight face, the whole room fell completely silent for a few seconds, until Zane grinned back at him. “Well, I’d say you should probably be put at the top of the list, but you’re sitting right here. So, I guess you’re in the clear.”

  The other man chuckled and shook his head. “You’re a riot, Man.”

  When the phone rang again, Zane had it answered so quickly, it cut off mid-ring. “What?” he snarled into the phone more fiercely this time.

  This time ‘Townsend’ was growled in his ear before the phone was slammed down. “Well, he’s getting braver,” he grumbled as he hung the phone back up, giving Jeff a really serious frown. That could have been an indication of the kind of escalation they needed to watch for.

  “What do you mean, he’s getting braver?” Amanda asked, terror clearly written all over her beautiful face.

  “He just said Townsend and slammed the phone down in my ear that time,” he answered, walking over to pull her into his arms. “It isn’t anything I can’t handle. Don’t worry.”

  “But this, after yesterday morning, Zane. I don’t like it. I’m afraid someone’s going to get hurt.”

  He pulled back, framing her face in his hands. “Do you trust me?”

  “Of course, I do,” she snorted as if he should already know without having to ask. “I always have.”

  “Then let us handle it,” he replied, pulling her back against him before looking at Jeff, then his dad. He knew he could count on his family to help when he needed them. And right now, he definitely needed them.

  She nodded her head, doing her best not to let herself panic. She wrapped her arms around his waist and buried her face in his neck. His arms were the only place she felt truly secure and, she never wanted to leave them.

  Chapter 11

  Thursday, August 7

  Zane and Amanda had stopped at the store on the way to his mom and dad’s. Jamie had called and asked them to pick some stuff up on the way. They were standing in the produce section picking out tomatoes and laughing like they didn’t have a care in the world, when Ashley Mullins walked up and snarled. “Well, now I know why I haven’t been seeing you for the last few weeks.”

  Zane sighed and turned around to look her in the eyes. “Ashley, I left you a message and told you I wouldn’t be able to see you for a while. What is your problem?”

  “Her,” the woman snarled, pointing at Amanda. “Why is she here? I thought she lived in Ruby Falls. Aren’t you still living with Austin Green?” she asked, directing the question at Amanda.

  At the other man’s name, Zane growled, “She was never living with him. He was free loading. She’s staying with me right now.”

  She huffed, throwing her hands in the air. “Seriously? You won’t even let me in your house.”

  He snorted like the answer was obvious and raised an eyebrow at her. “You’re not her. Besides, I wanted to make sure you didn’t get the wrong impression. Apparently, you deluded yourself anyway.”

  “What? You’ve got to be kidding me,” she huffed, feeling the sting of the unspoken insult. “I thought you had finally out grown this need to take care of her, all the time.”

  “What do you want, Ashley?” Zane asked, stepping over in front of Amanda when Ashley tried to take an aggressive step toward her.

  “You are mine,” she snarled, glaring at Amanda, “Not hers.”

  “I don’t belong to anyone. I was getting ready to break things off with you anyway. When we started hanging out together, I told you I don’t do actual relationships, and you had started to push. That’s the reason I don’t get involved with... Well, innocent women. You knew all that going in.”

  “Well, what do you call her?” she snapped, looking at Amanda.

  “I call her, none of your business,” he growled in her face, leaning down enough their noses almost touched. “She’s got stuff goi
ng on that she needs help with.”

  She took a step back, visibly shaken from his aggression. “Can’t she find someone else to help her? Why do you always have to be her ‘white knight’?” she asked in a much more agreeable tone, for the first-time showing signs she realized she might have over-stepped a little.

  He shook his head and relaxed his stance a little bit. “I don’t know about being her white knight, but no. And I don’t want her to go to someone else.”

  “Fine,” she snapped once more, obviously forgetting his anger of a few seconds ago. “You’re going to have to make a decision. It’s either me or her. You can’t have both of us.” She crossed her arms over her chest and smirked at Amanda, obviously thinking she knew what his answer would be.

  “Okay, if that’s the way you want it,” he grinned, waving at her. “Goodbye.”

  “What?” she asked, shock clearly written on her face.

  “You know I won’t turn my back on her. I never have, and I never will. So, I guess it’s over,” he said, throwing his hands up in the air as if in surrender. “Besides, like I had said just a little bit ago, I was getting ready to end things with you anyway.”

  With that said, Zane turned around and went back to picking out tomatoes, leaving Ashley standing there with her mouth hanging open.

  “Well, I never,” she huffed.

  Zane glanced back at her, and in a dry tone asked, “You still standing there?” Finally getting the message, Ashley huffed off, glancing back to glare at Amanda when she heard her laugh at something Zane had obviously said.

  Amanda looked up in time to see Ashley walk back out through the front door. “I didn’t know you were dating anyone. Are you sure you’re okay with this?”

  “It’s fine,” he said, shaking his head with a shrug. He was feeling a little uncomfortable with the topic of Ashley Mullins, but he figured it would be best to get this explanation out of the way, so they could move beyond it. “I wasn’t dating her in the sense that you mean dating.”

  “What do you mean?” she asked, giving him a curious look.