Zara stood up from the kitchen table the next morning after hearing the car stop outside and walked to the door… she looked outside the window before going back and opening the door, nodding at Dianne and Enzo.
But Zara turned confused at seeing Finn and Amanda and turned back to Dianne after letting the four into the farmhouse, closing the door.
"Zara… nice to see you again." Enzo greeted, trying to break the tension.
"Yeah, you too… you two know where your rooms are, though I suppose with… extras, you'll have to share. Not that you'll mind, of course." Zara responded, before motioning them to the stairs.
As Enzo led Amanda and Finn upstairs to the second of the three floors, Dianne looked at Zara from across the table.
"You've… calmed down." Dianne said after a moment.
"Dad may have left the house to me, but he left the land to Uncle. So it's not just mine to deny entry of." Zara responded, Dianne working out that it wasn't that Zara accepted them being there, but instead that she accepted that it was half their uncle's house too.
"Well… thank you, at least. For keeping-" Dianne started to say, Zara cutting her off.
"You're welcome, Di. Now you're probably jetlagged or something, go to fucking bed." Zara responded in an angry tone, before leaving the kitchen and heading out into the yard.
"Could cut the tension with a damn knife… what the fuck is her problem to hold a grudge for so long?" Amanda muttered after glancing out the guest bedroom window, Enzo getting her to sit down.
"We might have a clue if we even knew what the grudge was about." Finn responded as he moved their cases over to the corner, near the wardrobe.
"You're not the only one who wonders that." Dianne said as she entered the room, having heard him as she came up the stairs. "It was like one day she just snapped, I understand a couple of ideas that came to mind since it was all around the time our father passed, but still… none of them explain such a long lasting grudge."
Amanda jumped when her phone rang and looked, seeing that it was Seth and letting it go to voicemail before Enzo and Dianne headed to their room.
"With Mandy and Seth, we at least know why they fight." Enzo replied after Dianne closed the door.
"Plain ol jealousy there." Dianne responded before she could hear the shower in the neighbouring room.
Zara glanced over at the window on the second floor after noticing the closed curtains, knowing it was Finn and Amanda's room… she had been watching Raw, SmackDown and NXT lately and noticed how Amanda's behavior would change when she was around Finn and then had to be near Seth.
And Zara was uncertain of who Amanda really was off camera.
"Hey, there you are." Zara heard, turned and saw Mark.
"Hey… Dianne and Enzo arrived, with… friends." Zara responded as she helped Mark with carrying some of the hand tools he'd been using while clearing up a tree that had fallen near one of the cattle fields.
"Their friends probably needed a break too… but you seem unsettled about one of their friends." Mark replied.
"Yeah… people can be very different on and off camera, especially when it means an audience of thousands of people." Zara answered.
"Yes they can." Mark said before they headed inside.
Amanda had walked downstairs after getting cleaned off, dressed and her makeup more natural looking with her curly hair pulled back in a ponytail.
"So where are you from?" Mark asked.
"Orlando… but I was born in West Newbury, Massachusetts and lived there until I was 15." Amanda answered before noticing that Zara had her eyes narrowed… until Mark nudged Zara.
"What made you move? Newbury is a nice place." Zara questioned.
"It is but… I started young in the business and John wanted to keep an eye on me, make sure I didn't get into trouble." Amanda replied before Finn walked downstairs, in clean clothes and hair still damp.
"Checked in on Dianne, she's asleep… and you look like you could use some rest too." Finn responded as he absentmindedly tucked a few loose strands of Amanda's hair behind her right ear.
"She needs the rest more than I do." Amanda whispered but let Finn lead her upstairs anyway.
"Zara, you know you're gonna have to start mending things at some point." Mark replied, Zara turning to him.
"Yeah, maybe when we've spent a couple hundred years in fucking hell… but I guess you didn't realise, hell is exactly what every walking moment is when she's around!" Zara responded angrily, triggered by the thought of it.
Amanda had been by the edge of the hallway when she heard that and Finn pulled her closer to him, the two walking into the room and him closing the door after noticing her angered look.
"One of us is gonna have to ask what happened! All the fights I've had with my brothers, they've never held grudges like that and neither have I!" Amanda whispered as they stretched out on the king sized bed and Finn's left arm wrapped around her back.
"Damn right they haven't… something real serious must've happened to cause all this." Finn responded, his hand lightly massaging her side which it had rested near.
"Had to… what was the longest you ever went without talking to your brother after a fight?" Amanda questioned.
"A few days. What about you and your brothers?" Finn replied.
"About the same… Zara and Dianne, they… they seem like they've gone years without talking." Amanda answered as she rested her head on his right shoulder and his arms wrapped around her, her right leg half resting on his.
And any other time, he would've questioned why but he knew the tension was leaving her seeking affection and pulled her closer to him, her arms wrapping around him.
"That does quite describe it… one of them will explain it at some point, it ain't right to take sides at least until then." Finn said in response after the two settled into a comfy position.
Amanda nodded as the two watched Tv.
At the same time, Dianne was opening her eyes and saw Enzo.
"It's quiet here…" Dianne replied as they sat up.
"It is… remember that one time we were here when we were younger and snuck off to that bar?" Enzo responded, Dianne smiling.
"Yeah, I remember. Downing shots based upon a game of ping-pong table tennis, with two plates and a rubber ball." Dianne answered, the two laughing.
"Hell of a night… I wonder if that old place is still around." Enzo replied.
"If it is, it's under different ownership. The guy moved out of town just before I left with you." Dianne responded.
"He ever say why?" Enzo asked.
"He went back to DC after his brother died, so I've heard. Not sure how he died." Dianne answered.
"Sometimes you have to go back home for a while… until you find yourself on stable ground again." Enzo said.
It was later when everyone was downstairs and at the table eating dinner that Zara noticed the scar on the palm of Amanda's left hand.
"You cut yourself on something there? I mean… I'm no stranger to it, farm work is an easy one to get the blood flowing where it wasn't meant to be." Zara questioned.
"Yeah… I was just… I was really young, had… had lost three people who were basically family." Amanda responded after setting her fork down next to the last bit of sauteed chicken, caught off guard and fidgeting slightly but relaxed when Finn rubbed his right hand up and down her back.
"Ah, I get ya… sort of like the one on your leg, sis. I mean, you can't show that scar anymore for obvious reasons, but-" Zara replied, looking at Dianne.
"Not another word." Dianne cut her off in a flat, serious tone.
Zara nodded and finished her dinner before heading outside, Amanda sipping what was left of her whiskey… and Mark saw the rage and pain in her eyes and rested a comforting hand on her right shoulder as Finn held Amanda's left hand in his right one.
But Amanda stood up and headed outside into the backyard to clear her mind, Finn following her and resting his right hand on her back.
"Only hours of knowing her and I…" Amanda responded in a hushed but angry tone as her slightly oversized flannel shirt blew back in the wind, the shirt fully unbuttoned and covering a tank top. "Next time we get time off, I think we should go to the Broken Skull Ranch in Texas. Been a long time since I've been around Steve Austin… don't give me that look, I know I'm avoiding bringing it up." She said as they leaned against the railing on the patio.
"Bringing up the fact that she doesn't seem to care that Dianne lost her leg… I almost lost mine once, wasn't much older than you are." Finn responded, Amanda looking at him.
"That time you told me about, how you injured your knee? You said they didn't think it was serious at first." Amanda replied as they leaned against each other.
At the same time, Zara was in the front yard under a tree when she heard footsteps and turned…