Whisperer (10 page)

She was
absolutely tickled that she finally got the best of her brother who
had teased her incessantly. Miles thought he might have to redefine
his relationship with her.

“Tae Kwon Do?”
he mumbled with her foot still at his throat.

“You bet,” she
slyly smirked at him. Then she let him get up. They shook hands and
Miles even praised her.

“Good work,
kid. Maybe there’s hope for you yet.” Janie just smiled and sat
back down where she had been before.

Colt raised his
eyebrows at Mandy. “That’s new too,” he said. Mandy laughed.

Jesse bowed out
of tonight’s entertainment. Too tired, he said. Jason and Amy did
likewise.

“How about
Mandy?” someone yelled. “Doesn’t she get a chance?”

Colt jumped in.
“Come on, she’s new. Give her a chance to acclimate to the Johnsons
et al.”

“No, that’s
okay, Colt. I might have something to share,” she smiled
mysteriously at him. He wondered what she was up to.

“How about a
challenge to Jeanne. Movie quotes – who said them and in what
movie?”

Lily and Sandy
started laughing so hard, they almost fell off their chairs. Sam
doubled over, as did most people around the patio. It was a great
challenge, but unthinkable that anyone could outdo Jeanne in
movies.

Jeanne narrowed
her eyes at her. “Okay, but ground rules. Three quotes each and
nothing horribly obscure. No foreign films or animated. All right
with you, missy?”

Mandy squared
her shoulders, took a drink from her wineglass, licked her lips and
set down her glass. She paused for dramatic effect. Then she
purposely wiped the back of her mouth with her hand. Colt smiled at
her attempt at comic delivery. She could be funny…

“Let’s do it.”
Mandy and Jeanne came around to sit facing each other in the
center. People got excited and started moving their chairs or
finding seats in better locations to see the action.

“Who starts?”
Jeanne said.

“Let’s flip a
coin,” added Sandy. He took a quarter out of his pocket. “Call it,
Mandy.”

She looked at
Jeanne and said, “Heads.” Jeanne smiled

Sandy flipped
the coin way up over his head – what a ham, thought Lily – and it
finally clinked on the hard patio bricks.

“What is it,
Dad?” yelled Jesse.

“Tails. Grandma
starts with the first movie quote. Let’s put a time limit on this
-- contestants can only take three minutes to respond. And no
helping from the anyone,” he warned.

A hush fell
over the audience as everyone watched Jeanne and then Mandy for
reaction. Mandy looked composed, while Jeanne was lost in
thought.

Suddenly, she
brightened.

“Got one.
Ready?”

“Let’s have
it,” said Mandy. She winked at Colt.

“ ‘Fasten your
seatbelts. It’s going to be a bumpy ride.’ ” A few people gasped.
Who in the world said that in a movie? A few minutes passed and
then Mandy smiled.

“Bette Davis in
‘
All About Eve’
.”

“That’s
correct. Good one, dear. I thought that might be before your
time.”

“Love Bette
Davis, Jeanne. She’s one of a kind.”

“Mandy’s turn,”
announced Sandy. Apparently, he had appointed himself host of
tonight’s game show.

Jeanne looked
tense. She knew this girl was good…

“Ready?”

“Go.”

“ ‘I love the
smell of napalm in the morning.’ ” Mandy smiled.

“Oh, I know
that,” said Jeanne. “What is it….let me think.” Tick, tock, went
the clock. Sandy looked at his watch.

“Got it –
Robert Duvall in ‘
Apocalypse Now’.”

“Correct…”

Sandy
announced, “The score is one apiece. Next quote.”

Jeanne thought
hard. She needed to come up with something good. Hmmm…Pause.

“Okay. Here it
is: ‘I am big. It’s the pictures that got small.’ ” She sat back
and smiled at Sam. Mandy would never get this one.

Colt looked at
Mandy. He had never heard that one – he was stumped. Even Lily was
wondering…

Mandy laughed.
Then she tilted her head back, widened her eyes and laid her hand
at her throat. Jeanne knew exactly what she was doing and started
laughing.
What
, the audience was thinking…

“Gloria Swanson
in ‘
Sunset Blvd.’ ”

“Absolutely
correct and great imitation, my dear...” Jeanne looked at Colt,
“This girl is
good
…”

“Okay, Jeanne,
ready? I’ve got a one for you. Probably too easy...”

“Let me have
your worst.”

Mandy’s voice
became silky and low, “ ‘You know how to whistle, don’t you, Steve?
You just put your lips together and blow.’ ”
Whew.
Colt felt
beads of sweat pop up on his face and grabbed a napkin to wipe them
off.

Lily started
laughing at Colt’s reaction and thought, ‘
You go, girl.’

Sam and Jesse
looked at each other and gulped.

Jeanne laughed.
“Good one. Lauren Bacall in ‘
To Have and Have Not
.’ She was
a vixen in that movie…”

People started
talking and whispering, “Two to two.” A few bets were made and
money exchanged. Really, smiled Mandy?

“All right,
calm down, everyone,” said Sandy. “We have the final round. The
score is tied with two quotes for each side. Mom, you’re up.”

Jeanne and
Mandy looked at each other. This was it. May the best movie nut
win…

Jeanne narrowed
her eyes. She had thought of a good one. Was it good enough to trip
up Mandy?

“Ready?”

“Any time you
are, Jeanne.” She looked calm.

“Who said, ‘A
boy’s best friend is his mother’.”

Mandy thought
for a minute. “Too easy. Anthony Perkins in ‘
Psycho
’.”

“Absolutely
right.”

“Okay, everyone
be still. Last movie quote from Mandy.”

Mandy took her
time. She had already decided on her quote, but thought she might
make the movie diva sweat a little. No one had expected her to do
so well -- Of course not, they didn’t know her. She knew they
expected Jeanne to mop up the floor with her. They wouldn’t think
that ever again…she smiled.

She turned to
Colt and pretended to slap him. Colt was so surprised that he
snapped his head back, like she had really hit him. His eyes
widened. Lily and Meg looked at each other and laughed.
What a
kick this girl was
…

“ ‘Snap out of
it!’ ” she said to him.

Jeanne smiled
broadly and then started laughing. “Oh, that was great. And you
shocked the heck out of my cute grandson in the bargain…” She
paused. “That was Cher in ‘
Moonstruck’.”

“Correct,”
smiled Mandy. “And this is for scaring you, Colt.” She leaned over
and kissed him. “I just needed a prop….” She laughed.

Everyone was
applauding and laughing. No one had ever come so close to beating
Jeanne at her own game. They loved it and they loved Mandy. She was
terrific! Colt’s eyes shone with pride and love. He took her hand
and kissed it.

“That was an
even tie between Mom and Mandy. Good work to both of our
contestants. Now for their prizes,” kidded Sandy. Lily got up and
pretended to open a curtain, like Vanna on ‘Wheel of Fortune’.
Sandy cut a piece of red velvet cake for Jeanne and then one for
Mandy. Lily passed them out and everyone applauded. Lots of ‘Good
one,’ ‘Too funny,’ and ‘Get her next time, Mandy,’ from the peanut
gallery.

Jeanne and
Mandy shared a hug. Jeanne whispered to her, “Welcome to the
family, sweetie.” That was the best prize Mandy could ever get.
Tears sprang to her eyes.

The band had
gone home, so the party started breaking up. Everyone was saying
their goodbyes, packing food and drinks and then departing. While
Lily and Sandy, with some help, started taking plates and things
back into the house, Colt took Mandy’s hand and led her out to the
barn. Lily saw them go in and raised her eyebrows at her husband.
“A little tangling, maybe?” They smiled at each other.

Mandy leaned
against the side of the barn with Colt’s outstretched arms on both
sides of her. She was pinned there, happily, with his lips inches
from hers.

“How about a
tangle, sweetheart?” He practically purred.

“I just know
that doesn’t mean you want to put knots in my hair, does it?”

“No, it
doesn’t.”

“Well,
then…”

“It’s cowboy
for lovemaking.”

“That’s what I
kind of thought,” she grinned.

“Mom has you
bunking at Grandma’s and I’m at Jesse’s. No place for us to be
alone, but here in this lonely barn…”

“Do you see me
leaving?” she whispered.

“No…” Colt
began kissing her. They were just getting into that kiss, when
Colt’s cell phone buzzed.

“Go ahead and
get it.”

Colt got his
phone out. A text from Jesse -- ‘Where the hell r u. Going to
Risings Bar n Reno 2 dance. Come with us.’

“Jesse says
they’re going into Reno to dance. Want to go?” he asked her.

“Sure…After…”
Mandy looked up at him through her long lashes. Colt’s mouth went
dry. He quickly sent Jesse back a text. ‘B there later. Save us a
spot.’

He took her
into his arms. “Now where were we…” She pointed to her lips. Her
soft, luscious lips…

He kissed her
greedily, as if he might not get another chance. She returned it
with all her body leaning into their embrace. Anticipation and
longing wrapped around them in layers. He pulled her into one of
the barn stalls, and onto the hay overflowing everywhere. Sliding
his hand up under her blouse, he found one of her breasts. She
quickly took her blouse off over her head, so he could continue
without obstacle. Her bra was soon discarded.

His lips
trailed little kisses from her face, down her throat and to her
breasts. She tugged at his jeans’ zipper and managed to get it
down. She slid her hands down his chest and into his pants.

“More?” she
asked.

“More.”

Her jeans were
gone now too, and he slid his hands down into her pants.

“More?” he
smiled.

“More,” she
smiled back.

He moved her
gingerly onto her back in the stall.

“Any pitchforks
in here?”

He laughed.
“Not so far.”

Sensation
poured over her body – soft and sweet and pure and
lovely
.

She wanted him
as if they had never made love before. He shivered as she stroked
him and kissed him at the same time. He took her then. Pleasure
turned into demand, as they bent and swayed together. And there in
the barn, with horses all around, they again found the love that
would bind them. It’s never just one thing, but good tangling is
crucial.

Colt closed his
eyes as his body calmed down. Under him, Mandy blew little puffs of
air on his face. “You need to calm down, mister. You certainly do
get excited…” She put her hands on either side of his face and
sweetly kissed him. He kissed her back.

“ ‘I’m going to
give you a thousand of these before I’m through,’ ” Colt sat up and
smiled at her. He helped her sit up, when it hit her.

“Kevin Costner
in ‘
Open Range’
, right?” She clapped her hands. “Oh, that
was perfect…you’re getting pretty good at this.”

Colt gave her a
sexy gaze, “Yes, but I need lots more practice.”

“I think that
can be arranged.” She started kissing him again, demanding
more.

His cell phone
buzzed with another text. He read, ‘Cut out the tangling and get
over here.’

He looked at
her and laughed. “Jesse guessed at our current activity and has
insisted we join them. Want to go?”

“Yes,
definitely. We can and will pick this up later. Let’s go ‘cut a
rug’, as Jeanne and Sam would say.”

They got
dressed and left the barn. Mandy glanced back at it and knew that
going in there again would never be the same for her. She grinned
at the thought and took Colt’s hand. She laughed and plucked hay
out of his hair. When they went in to borrow Sandy’s truck, Lily
laughed and plucked more hay out of his shirt. Colt actually
blushed when she did that… And it’s hard driving to town when your
girlfriend won’t keep her hands to herself…Mmmm….
lovely
…

Next morning,
Colt yawned as he and Jesse were astride their big Palomino horses.
They had ridden out to check on the herd and count how many more
calves needed inoculation and branding. He looked at Jesse in the
midst of his yawn, and Jesse laughed at him.

“You need to
get in at a decent hour, if you want to ride herd with me.”

“Shit, you were
the one who insisted we come out. I would have been happy to stay
in the barn with Mandy.”

“That would
have worn you out more than dancing,” he grinned.

“Possibly…but
more enjoyable.” Colt laughed. “We went in to borrow Dad’s truck
and Mom actually picked some hay out of my shirt. Talk about
embarrassing.”

Jesse laughed
hard at that one. Then he got serious. “Mom’s been after me about
Audrey.”

“What about
Audrey?”

“If I’m going
to marry her or not.”

“Are you guys
living together at your place?”

“Not quite, but
close.”

“Has Jason said
anything to you about her?” Pause.

“Yes, he asked
about my intentions.”

“What did you
say?”

“I told him my
intentions are honorable. But I’m just nervous about getting
married. It’s so permanent.”

“Yeah. Mom and
Dad would be pissed if you decided to divorce.”

“So I want to
be sure.”

“Jeez, Jesse.
How can you not be?” Jesse looked over at him.

“Do you want to
be with anyone else?”

“Hell, no, but
what would you say if Mandy’s father asked you the same
question?”

“That’s not
going to happen because her father is dead, but I can go along with
the premise.”