Page 12 of Never Quiet

Chapter Three

July 2013 (Age 15)

Mandy’s annual return to the Keys made her excited and hard to live with for weeks. She packed days in advance of their flight and did everything possible to keep herself busy.

Heather, at sixteen months, didn’t understand why her big sister was leaving and made her upset clear. She cried sadly for hours the day before Mandy was due to travel.

Sitting beside the toddler on the porch swing, Mandy signed and spoke to calm her.

Jan sat a few feet away with a cup of coffee, watching them with a smile on her face. The woman was incredible with Heather and one of the most patient people Mandy had ever known.

Her little sister was bright and Caroline often remarked about her rapid learning, as she once had with Mandy. Their mom was already making plans with Jan about speeding up Heather’s tutoring in several areas.

“I won’t be gone long and when I come back, I’ll have sand and shells from the beach.”

“Don’t go!”

“I’ll miss you so much but you’ll see me soon. In the meantime, you have Miss Jan and Terrance to keep you company and take you on field trips. You love going places with them.”

“It’s better when you here!”

“I can’t be with you all the time, sweetheart. That’s why the time we spend together is so important to me…”

“I don’t like you leaving!”

“You love when I come back though. When I get home, I’m going to spend days playing with you. We’ll swim and I’ll take you riding.”

“On Juniper?”

Mandy nodded. “Of course. You’ll ride with me. Jan will go with us because she loves horses, too.” She grinned. “Terrance will follow on the ATV because he’s a little scared of horses.”

From behind them, Terrance clarified, “It isn’t fear, brat. I don’t like uncertainty. Animals are unpredictable.”

Pressing her lips together to keep from laughing, Amanda looked over her shoulder. “So, that time my mare snuffed you and you gave that adorable little scream…that was uncertainty?”

“The older you get, the less I enjoy our talks.”

“Untrue. You live for me to tease you.” Turning back to her sister, she held her face and kissed her chubby cheeks. She stared into light brown eyes and smoothed her fingers through hair that held traces of their dad’s blonde through the dark brown she’d inherited from their mom. Then she signed, “I love you, Heather.”

“Love you, Mandy.”

“When I’m not with you, I think about you all the time.”

“Really?”

Mandy nodded. “I talk to everyone about you and get so excited to see you with Mom and Dad before you go to bed.” Her smile was gentle. “I’ll miss you but I’ll be back so fast. We’ll spend the rest of the summer together before I go back to school.”

Heather sighed heavily. “Alright. You have to swim every day.”

“Of course. I love the pool as much as you do.” When her dad built a patio behind the house and installed a swimming pool, Mandy and Heather didn’t get out of the water for hours. Her little sister had never slept so deeply or for so long.

“Horses?”

“Every day if you want.”

Heather squeezed her hands together and seemed to think carefully for a long moment. Then she signed and asked, “I sleep over?”

Laughing, Mandy nodded. “You can sleep over in my room for two days and then you have to go back to your bed so I don’t mess up your schedule.”

---