Whisperer (12 page)

Mandy woke up
the next morning and looked immediately at her left hand. The
diamond ring shone brightly with morning rays bouncing off of it.
She stretched and reached over for Colt. Good grief –
he’s up
already
? Then she heard water running in the bathroom. Not
ready to get up yet, she snuggled down into the covers and breathed
Colt in. He was everywhere - in the covers, in the bed, in her
world, in her head… He was larger than life and all she could think
of was him. She took a deep breath and got up, thinking about
breakfast. It was Saturday, so they had a few days to themselves.
After the dramatic events of last night, Mandy wanted to let things
settle. She was excited at the thought of making future plans with
him. Mmmmm…. It was all so yummy….

While in the
kitchen scrambling some eggs, her cell phone buzzed. The default
ringtone didn’t give away the caller, so she answered it. It was
her mother – Deidre. Oh, God…

“Amanda, is
that you?”

“Yes, Mom. What
do you want?”

“Well, that’s a
fine attitude to take to your mother. We haven’t spoken in weeks. I
just want to see how you are.”

“Mom, I can’t
believe you care. I will repeat myself – what do you want?”

“I’m over here
at your cabin and you’re not here. I thought I would surprise you
with a visit. We haven’t seen each other for months.” And it’s been
great, thought Mandy.

“You’re here?
In Donner Lake?”

“Yes, and I’m
getting cold standing on your doorstep. Where are you anyway?”

“Just stay put
and I will be over there soon. You could have called, Mom, to let
me know when you were coming.”

“I wasn’t too
sure that my visit would be welcome, so I took a chance. Please
come let me in. I’m freezing…”

Mandy hung up
pissed. She clicked off as Colt walked into the kitchen. Colt…. She
sighed just looking at him. Why can’t they just be together without
all this interference?

“Did I hear you
say ‘Mom’, as in your mother, Deidre? She’s in town, I take it.” He
walked up to her and took her in his arms.

“Can we not
talk about her? Please?” She kissed him long and steadily – he
kissed her back with everything in his heart. “I just want to stay
here with you. It’s dangerous out there without you.”

She seemed
almost frightened, so Colt held her close. “Nothing’s going to
happen that we can’t work out together. Please remember that
always.” She clung to him and then broke free.

“She’s here --
At my place, wanting to get in. I have to go let her in.” She went
into the bedroom and started pulling on her jeans.

“Mandy…”

“No, I want to
go alone. It’s not fair…” she cried.

“What isn’t,
sweetheart?”

“Your family is
so wonderful and mine is so shitty. I’m sorry…”

“It’s not your
fault and I’m marrying you, not your mother.” Colt kissed her
again.

“I’ve got to
go.” She grabbed her jacket, purse and car keys and headed out the
door.

“Sweetheart…”
Her heart always leaped when she heard him call her. She looked
back at him.

“We have to
meet. Let’s get together for dinner tonight. I have to meet her
sometime, you know that.” He looked at her with love.

“I’ll call you
later. I’m so sorry about this.”

“Don’t worry –
I’m tough…I can take her.” She smiled at his joke and then went out
the door. She felt like she was going from Paradise to Hell. And it
was almost that bad…

Colt had made
reservations in Truckee for dinner. He thought that might be nice
for the three of them to sit down and talk. When Mandy walked in
with her mother, Deidre, he knew things had not gone well.

He stood up
when they came to his table. Mandy grimaced and said, “Colt
Johnson, this is my mother Deidre Wilson. Mom, Colt…”

“How do you do,
Mrs. Wilson? So glad to finally meet you.” She didn’t smile at
him.

Before even
sitting down, she started in, “You might as well know that I don’t
approve of Amanda marrying someone out of Sacramento. She should be
back in town with all her friends and family.” She sat down.

Whew
…this was not going to be fun, he thought.

“What family,
Mom,” said Mandy. “You drove my aunt and uncle out, so there’s no
one to visit there anymore. Why can’t you just let everyone
be?”

“Mrs. Wilson, I
have nothing but love and respect for your daughter. I’m sure she
would appreciate it if you would give us your blessing for our
marriage.”

He paused and
looked her – it was not sinking in.

“I’m sure you
would. She’s a beautiful girl and what are you – a cowboy? What
sort of future could you offer her?”

Oh, boy…the
mother-in-law from Hell…

“Mom, that’s
enough! If you can’t be civil to the man I love, I won’t sit here
and listen to you.” Mandy was pissed…

“Amanda,
honey…” she started. Mandy lowered her voice.

“Here’s the
cards on the table. Do you want to remain in my life? And I mean,
at all?” Steam was coming out of her ears. Colt watched as she took
her on – it was a side to Mandy he hadn’t seen. She was
marvelous.

“Of course,
but…”

“You will not
run my life, period. Do you understand? I would like one nod,
please.” Her mother nodded vigorously.

“And now you
can apologize to Colt, who has certainly done nothing to receive
such a venomous blast from you.” Her mother looked pleadingly over
at her. “NOW…”

Colt nervously
began, “Ah…Mrs. Wilson…”

“I’m sorry, Mr.
Johnson. We got off on the wrong foot. Could we start again?” she
pleaded.

Colt looked at
Mandy who was anything but forgiving. She looked like she was ready
to put her mother on a spit.

“Certainly,
Mrs. Wilson. Here’s a menu. Why don’t we eat? Everything looks
better after you’ve eaten something.” He just babbled. Colt was in
unknown territory. The woman he desperately loved and needed had a
mother that no one should have. He compared Deidre to his loving
mother, Lily. What had happened to make them so different?

The rest of the
meal went slowly, with Mandy ready to shoot her mother at any given
moment and Colt trying to keep the peace between them. Her mother
was already beginning to think that Colt might be the bridge she
needed to Mandy. She started being nicer to him. Mandy wasn’t
fooled. At the end of the evening, when her mother went to the
restroom, Colt took her hand.

“Look, I know
this sucks, but she is your mother. Don’t let her come between us.
Take her back to your place and then come over to mine.”

Mandy let out a
breath. “I’m not sure I deserve you, honey. Look at my mother. Do
you want to end up with that?” Tears came to her eyes.

“Sweetheart,
you’re not going to become your mother. I’m not sure what happened
to her, but that’s not you. That will never be you.” A seed of
doubt had been planted with her, though.

After they
parted, Colt went home and waited for her. She didn’t show and
didn’t answer her phone. He thought about going over to see what
had happened, but decided to give them a night.

Mandy called
early the next morning.

“I’m sorry I
couldn’t get over last night. My mother’s hysteria went from
pleading to satanic, and it was all I could do to keep her quiet. I
thought she was going to go berserk and scare the neighbors. This
is a small town – I don’t need the scandal.” She sounded at the end
of her rope and then…

“And there’s
more…”

“More?” Colt
swallowed. What could be worse than this?

“Eddy, the
asshole called. Actually, it was his second call. He left me a
message when we were at your folks’ place, having a wonderful time.
I feel like I’m in Hell now…” She started crying.

“Eddy, the
ex-boyfriend? What does he want?” As if Colt didn’t know.

“Mom gave him
my new cell number -- why did she think I changed it in the first
place -- and now he wants to get back together. When bad news
rains, it pours…”

“Do you want me
to step in, do something?” Colt was beyond upset, worrying about
how she would cope with all this.

“I just sent
him a text telling him to butt out and leave me alone. Hopefully,
that will do it.”

“Come over,
please. Let me make you lunch and you can relax.”

“I won’t relax
until Mom is gone.”

“When is she
leaving?” Colt hoped soon…

“She wanted to
go into town today to shop. I told her I had to work, so she just
left. I’m coming over now, is that okay?”

Colt had been
holding his breath, thinking he would never see her again. “Yes,
please, do. I’ll be waiting.”

When Mandy got
there, she looked shredded. Colt took her into her arms and she
started crying. He got her to sit on the sofa and just let her cry.
What a mess… He eventually got her calmed down and she ate some
lunch. He thought it was going to be a lonnnnng weekend. He had no
idea…

With the
mother-in-law from Hell in residence and ex-boyfriend/asshole Eddy
on the phone, Colt woke up to a banging on his door. He couldn’t
convince Mandy to stay over. She didn’t want her mother knowing her
private business with him. So the mother was coming between them
now. Shit…He ran his hand through his hair. How could this get any
worse? As soon as he opened his front door, he saw how it could get
worse.

“Hey, bro…How
are you? Thought I’d come visit,” said his brother Miles. He smiled
broadly and walked into Colt’s cabin, looking around. “Nice place.
Is the girlfriend here? Don’t want to interfere.” He winked at
Colt.

“You’ve got to
be kidding, Miles. You show up without letting me know you’re
coming? What the hell’s wrong with you anyway? Were you raised in a
barn?” Colt was furious.

“Jeez, I
thought I would surprise you. Chill out, I won’t stay long.”

“You won’t stay
at all. I’m having enough trouble right now without you in the
midst of things.” Colt walked into the kitchen… Too much going on
without coffee. He started making some.

“Where’s
Mandy?” Miles asked, looking around.

“None of your
business, Miles. Dad know you’re up here?”

“Ah…no…I kind
of told him that I wanted to visit Jeanne and Sam. He thinks I’m
over in Sonoma.”

“So go to
Sonoma. I really don’t need any more aggravation right now.”

Miles sat down
in the kitchen. “Why? What’s wrong? Anything I can help with?”

“Shit, Miles…
Okay…Mandy’s mother is in town and is causing trouble between us.
This just isn’t a good time to visit.”

“What – you
aren’t good enough for her daughter or something?”

Colt calmed
down somewhat and he talked to Miles about Deidre and Eddy. Miles
was sympathetic and Colt began to relent about his staying a few
days. But only a few days…

After he took a
shower, Mandy called and wanted to go for a ride. Colt picked her
up and they went to pick up their horses. Colt told Miles to stay
put and don’t bother anyone. He and Mandy would take him to dinner
later, if possible, depending on what Deidre was doing. Colt was
getting disturbed with all these extra people in the mix. So was
Mandy…

Dinner Sunday
night with Miles and Deidre was not fun, but not horrible. Miles
kept the conversation lively and Deidre seemed to like him. Mandy
was obviously uncomfortable and Colt was too. Nowhere to run…
Thankfully, Monday morning, Colt and Mandy could go to work and
escape their respective homes. Midday on Monday, she got a call.
Her mother was on a tirade about men, in general. There weren’t any
good ones at all. She said she was going over to Colt’s place.
What? Colt was at work and Miles…. Oh, shit, Miles would be
there.

She called
Colt. “I think my mother is going over to your place. Isn’t Miles
still there?”

“Well, yeah…but
I don’t think he really knows enough to get anybody in trouble.” He
thought again. “Let me take that back…”

“Colt, can you
get over there? I have another client coming in ten minutes.”

“Yeah, I’ll
call you back later.” When Colt got to his cabin, Miles was on the
phone to Sandy. “What the hell, Miles…”

“Here, Dad
wants to talk you.”

Sandy’s voice
on the line was the panacea Colt needed right now. “Dad…it’s all
going to shit here.”

“I hear it. So
her mother’s stirring up trouble and so is brother Miles? I just
told Miles to come home and leave you guys alone.”

“Thanks, Dad.
He’s packing as we speak.”

“You know he
had a fight with Deidre, don’t you?”

“What?” Colt’s
voice cranked up a few decibels. “Miles!” he yelled in Sandy’s
ear.

Miles had
grabbed his suitcase and headed out the door. “Later, bro!”

Colt let out an
exasperated breath. “Dad…”

“Son, take a
deep breath. You’re going to live through this.”

“Okay…” He
tried to calm his breathing.

“Apparently,
the mother came over to tell you to leave Mandy alone. I think she
drinks, Colt. Anyway, Miles was there and they had a shouting
match. Miles is so impulsive and walked into a beehive.”

“Dad, I suppose
it could be worse here, but I don’t know how. I proposed to Mandy a
few days ago and we were in Heaven. Then her mother and Miles
arrived, plus an old boyfriend and things are all out of
whack.”

“Old
boyfriend?”

“Some guy named
Eddy from Sacramento. She broke up with him last year and now he’s
badgering her to get back together.”

“For Pete’s
sake...” Colt could hear his mother in the background trying to
find out what was going on.

“I’ve got to
go, Dad. Mandy should be home soon and we’ll need to sort through
some of this crap. I’ll call you later. Love to Mom…” He hung
up.

Sandy looked at
Lily. “Well, it’s not good. Let’s go out on the patio and talk
about it. But they did get engaged…” Somehow that didn’t make them
feel fabulous right then.