Page 70 of Never Quiet

Dakota yelled, “Sterling!”

Amanda snickered as she crouched to hug the little boy tightly. Kissing both his cheeks, she took his hand, stood, and kept him beside her as she mingled with guests.

He was the perfect gentleman.

She found her grandparents on the front porch and went to join them, pulling Sterling into her lap as she sat.

“Sterling, these are my grandparents. Caroline and Bill Woodring. This is my favorite little boy on the planet. Sterling Cain, Dakota and Gunner’s son.”

“It’s nice to meet you! Oh my gosh! I’ve heard so much about both of you!” Sterling smiled up at Amanda. “I’m gonna marry Amanda one day. I’ll ask and she’ll say yes.”

Naturally, her grandmother was all class. “Sterling, you strike me as a young man with goals. I like that. Amanda is smart, lovely, and kind. I think, if you work hard, apply yourself, and always behave like a gentleman, she’d be as lucky to have you as you’d be to have her.”

Tilting his head, he replied softly, “You talk like a queen.”

“Allow me to demonstrate your first gentlemanly skill, Sterling.” Bill stood, bowed to Caroline, and extended his hand. She placed hers in it and he kissed the back. “Got it?”

Sterling climbed off Amanda’s lap, bowed, and held out his hand. She placed hers in it with a smile and he kissed the back.

“Sterling. You’re going to be a powerful temptation to the ladies as you get older.”

He settled on the arm of her chair. “Let me ask you something, Amanda.” She waited with a smile. “As much as I want to marry you, I think you love my uncle.”

“Uh…”

“He’s cool and all, a little annoying sometimes, but if you end up with him, how would you feel about me asking Heather to marry me? Huh? Would you be mad?”

Putting her hand on his back, she said seriously, “Nothing would make me happier. You have to be careful with the crazy. She’s very calm, gentle.”

“Okay. I’ll give it some thought. I still want to marry you but I should have a backup plan because it’s gonna take time for me to catch up to you.”

“Time passes so slowly sometimes,” she murmured.

Leaning over, he kissed her cheek. “I’m going to practice my sign language with Heather…”

Caroline quickly signed, “You learned sign language?”

“Uh huh. I wanted to impress Amanda. She was very impressed. Taught myself but I get rusty if I don’t watch the videos.” He shrugged. “Mom says you gotta use it or lose it.” He repeated the gentlemanly skill he learned from Bill to Amanda and then Caroline. “I’ll see if Heather likes that.”

They watched him walk away and Amanda sat back against the chair. “Isn’t he great?”

Bill said, “I really like that kid.”

Glancing at the bigger of their front fields, she noticed there were collapsible stadium seats being erected.

“What’s going on?”

Bill grinned. “Fireworks. We got the volunteer fire department to come out and one of the firework vendors agreed to do an awesome demonstration after dark.”

“Wow.” She turned to look at them. “You guys weren’t playing around.”

“Nope.” He stood and pulled her to her feet. Then he turned and did the same for Caroline.

“How tall and beautiful you are, darling.” There were tears in her grandmother’s eyes. “Not a little girl anymore. You haven’t been in a very long time. I hate that for you.”

“I’m going to be okay. I promise. Pops will bring you to visit and I want video of every exhibit.”

“William has been a wreck about you leaving.”

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