Chapter Ten

When Pete climbed out of his car, he could hear the sound of a guitar; it sounded like it was coming from the backyard. He could also hear the sound of a basketball being dribbled. He wasn't really surprised, being what day it was. He walked around the house and stepped into the backyard. Sure enough, Andrew's oldest boy-fourteen year old Samuel-was playing basketball with his twelve year old brother, Isaac. Both boys had dark-brown hair. What did surprise him was seeing that it was Amanda, who was sitting on a long stone bench that Andrew and a friend had placed in the backyard the night before, playing the guitar. Though, she stopped when she saw who had come around the corner of the house.

"Don't stop. You're playing sounds great." Pete spoke to Amanda- even as he found himself catching the basketball, as Isaac had missed the net. He threw the ball back to the lad, before walking over to Amanda and joining her on the bench.

"Andrew doesn't have any work for you today, sorry." Amanda started playing her guitar again.

"I didn't come over to do any work for Andrew." Pete sat down on the bench, keeping an eye on Samuel and Isaac as he did so. The last thing he wanted was to get hit by a stray basketball.

Amanda paused in her playing-and then started the music back again. "I don't know if I should apologize to you or not."

Pete was confused. "For what?"

"Wendy came by this morning, to talk to Camilla." Amanda's mouth twitched and a look of someone fighting to keep a straight face appeared.

Pete couldn't help but grin and laugh. "We did bring that one on ourselves, didn't we?"

"You could say that." Amanda stopped playing, opened her case- which was laying on the ground- and put her guitar inside. "Do you want to go for a short horse ride or wait until Wendy and Camilla come out?"

"A horse ride sounds fine." Pete stood up as Amanda slung her guitar over her back. Neither one of them were surprised when the two Mitchell boys started saying Amanda had a beau as the two headed for the stable.

"I'd tell them I am making a good friend only they wouldn't listen." Amanda rolled her eyes as she threw a glance over her shoulder towards the two boys, as she and Pete headed for the stable.

"I doubt it." Pete chuckled.

Moments later, Camilla Mitchell and Wendy stepped into the back yard just in time to see Pete and Amanda riding away from the stable.

"You should do…" Wendy started to speak only to have Camilla, who was fed up with the things Wendy had been saying, cut her off.

"I told you before, and I will tell you again. It doesn't matter what either one of us thinks. Mandi is a very mature, responsible young woman. I may not agree with her, but she has every right to be friends with whoever she pleases! And, if I am to be fair, at least Pete Malloy is honest as they come and nothing but a gentleman!" Camilla took a deep breath, and added, "Now, as welcome as you are to stay and visit, you can just turn around and leave if all you can do is gossip and complain!" She wasn't surprised when the woman turned around in a huff and walked away. Camilla then looked in the direction Pete and Amanda had gone; she could barely see them. 'I hope you know what you're doing.' She thought before telling the boys they needed to go back inside and finish their Saturday chores.

~oOo~

Pete and Amanda, who had followed a dusty, dirt 'road' for close to thirty minutes, stopped and dismounted their horses.

"Here, we can tether the horses to these fence posts." Amanda began securing her horse's reins to one of the posts she'd just pointed too.

"Is this one of the ranch's borders?" Pete asked as he secured his horse and stepped away from the animal.

"Yes," Amanda said as she walked over to a nearby, light grayish boulder. It was odd shaped only there was enough space for two people to sit comfortably. Soon she and Pete were resting on the boulder and looking over the scenery.

"I don't think I've seen this much sagebrush in my life, but the mountains in the far distance are amazingly beautiful." Pete then asked what Amanda did for fun while she was growing up. "Go hunting for arrowheads?" He'd heard about many people doing that, so he figured it was a legitimate question.

"No," Amanda, who was tilting her head backwards just enough to let the breeze that had begun to blow play with her hair, "My parents didn't move to Arizona until I after I turned ten. I grew up riding my bike and going to the park." She looked at Pete with laughter in her eyes. "I had one other past time. My favorite – going into our local police station and begging to talk to my favorite dispatcher and watch her at work." She paused, chuckled again and asked, "Does Joyce Taylor still work for the Los Angeles Police Department?"

Pete felt shock waves go through him. He remembered Joyce well. And, while he'd never seen the child who would slip in and visit the kind-hearted dispatcher before Pete had entered the academy, he'd heard plenty of stories from other officers who had. "She retired five years ago. Only, that girl was you?"

Amanda laughed and nodded. "It was. I've always said my parents moved here in hopes of getting my attention off the police station." She then grew sober and sat straight up. "I don't know what they'd think of what I do now. As you've been told, they died a number of years ago. Only 'parents' I've had since then are the Mitchells."

"They've been good to you from what I can see." Pete, who was still stunned to learn Amanda had lived in Los Angeles for a time and been in the police station, said.

"Yes, they have been, just glad I didn't lose them, almost did too." Amanda sighed.

"How?" Pete asked, curiosity in his eyes.

"There was a car accident in town, put them in the hospital for a while. I took care of their children." She shook her head. "I was so angry, even lashed out at Sheriff Lawson. Oh, he didn't do anything only his stupid cousin was the other driver; he was killed in the accident and I," she shrugged her shoulders. "I guess I needed someone to lash out at. I mean, I'd already lost one set of parents in an accident, and then found myself coming close to losing another set in another needless accident. It almost destroyed me. If you don't believe me, ask anyone around here."

Pete felt shock waves roll over him as, for the first time since Officer Jackman had been killed and Jim injured, he realized why he'd chosen to hurl his anger towards Ed. "No need to ask, I believe you. I also know how that is. I mean, how it is to lose someone and then find yourself coming close to losing someone else." Silently, Pete added, 'Guess I'll have to apologize to Ed when I go back.'

After visiting and enjoying the scenery for awhile, Pete started to get off the boulder. "How about we head back to the Mitchells. We can go slow and continue visiting."

"I'd like that." Amanda slid off the boulder and followed Pete as he walked towards their waiting horses.