Broken Promises (18 page)

Walking into the clearing, she called out, "Hey, Mister, you're holding that ax wrong."

Zak stopped and turned, and when he saw her coming toward him, he set the ax aside and smiled. "The name's not mister, it's Zak. Zak Bertsolari de Neuville."
  

"Well, Zak Bertsolari de Neuville," Tess said, continuing towards him, "is there room in your life for a stubborn, pigheaded logger lady who happens to love you?"

Zak answered her question by opening his arms, and when she rushed over to him, he caught her in a fierce embrace, lifting her off the ground, and kissed her soundly. And she kissed him back, with all the passion she'd held inside for seven long years. When at last the kiss ended, and Tess's feet were again on solid ground, Zak looked down at her, and said, "The bigger question is, will a stubborn, pigheaded logger lady take me back?" Then his face sobered. "I'm sorry about what happened, honey. Forcing you to shut down logging on the ridge was one of the hardest things I ever had to do. Am I forgiven?"

"Of course." Tess curved her arms around his neck and looked up at him and said, in all sincerity, "Actually, I'm not sorry I spent the night in jail. Rita was an interesting cell mate."

Zak arched a cynical brow. "She looked fascinating."

Tess laughed. "No, really. She told me Jed Swenson's courting her."

"Swenson courting?" Zak gave her a rueful smile. "Well, from what I saw of the woman, he'd better not step out of line."

"I don't think he wants to," Tess said. "He's a real Romeo, brings Rita flowers and all. Last Christmas, he even hauled in a tree, cut and split it for firewood in her front yard, and now he's talking marriage."

"So am I." Zak kissed her again, drawing her closely to him, a kiss that sustained until they finally had to stop to catch their breaths.

Hands clasped around his neck, Tess peered up at Zak, and said, "I know of a more appropriate place to continue this."

Zak looked at her with curiosity. "Are you thinking where I'm thinking?"

"Umm, hmm."

Zak's brows gathered, and he said, "Does this mean we've had enough substance?"

Tess nodded. "I've had my fill of substance. I liked it better the old way."

Zak gave her a broad grin, then took her hand and pulled her along behind him and headed for the grotto. Tess followed in eager anticipation. It had been years since they'd made love on a bed of cool, soft moss in the shadowy twilight of the forest.

But when they came to where the trail crossed the ridge road, before descending to the grotto, Tess looked beyond Zak, and said, while pointing, "That's Swenson's truck over there."
 

Zak looked at the parked truck. "He's probably finishing the road," he said. "There's still some grading to do at the north end."

"Then why is he parked down here?" Tess asked.

"Maybe he's checking to see how the road's draining after putting in the culvert," Zak replied. "Come on, we have more important things to do." Taking her hand, he led her across the road.

But as they started down the trail to the grotto, Tess tugged against his hand, and said, "I'm feeling uneasy about this. I think we should go back."

Zak took her by the shoulders and looked at her, and said, "Honey, I've told you everything I could think to convince you that I love you and want you for my wife, and I promise never to leave you again. I couldn't. It would be like leaving my soul behind."

"I'm not uneasy about making love in the grotto," Tess said, "I'm so ready for that. I'm worried about Swenson's truck being parked where it is. Something just doesn't feel right."

Zak looked in the direction where they'd come. "I know what you mean," he said. "Let's go back and I'll walk on ahead and see what's going on."

They headed up the trail, but when they came to the road, a muffled explosion not far from where they stood caught them up short. "That came from the direction of the ridge," Zak yelled. "Come on." They ran past Jed Swenson's truck and continued up the road and past the Cat, which sat in the middle of the road with the blade down, appearing as if it had been abandoned while in the process of spreading fresh gravel.

"Swenson blowing up his own road doesn't make much sense," Tess said in a ragged voice, as she raced alongside Zak.

"Maybe not," Zak said, over his shoulder, "but he's blowing up something, and it isn't far from here."

"There he is!"
Tess cried, pointing ahead.

"Swenson!"
Zak yelled. "Hold it there!"

Jed Swenson looked back briefly, then dropped to his hands and knees and crawled into a large concrete culvert that ran under the road. As Zak approached the culvert, Curt Broderick scrambled out the opposite end, a backpack gripped in his hand, and raced toward the woods.

Swenson scrambled out of the culvert and tripped and fell. "Get him," he yelled to Zak. "He tried to blow up the culvert."

Zak glanced at Swenson, then raced after Curt Broderick, lunging for him and grabbing him around the legs as he headed into the woods. Curt fell to the ground and Zak crawled on top of him, but before Zak could pin him to the ground, Curt heaved Zak off, sending him sprawling on his back. Zak rolled over and jumped to his feet, then crouched in front of Curt, arms out, ready to block Curt if he tried to get away. "You're not going anywhere, Broderick," he said, looking down at Curt, who was struggling to get back up.

But before Zak realized what happened, Curt was on his feet, rushing Zak with knotted fists. Zak shot an arm out, blocking Curt's punch with his forearm, but Curt's blow sent Zak falling backwards. Before Zak could recover his footing, Swenson grabbed Curt's arm, jerking him off balance. As Curt fell to his knees, Swenson pinned his arm behind him in a hammerlock, and said, "Now you're gonna talk, Broderick."

"Not to you, Swenson."

Swenson tightened his grip on Curt's arm and lifted. "You were trying to blow up the culvert. Why?"

Curt winced, but said nothing.

"Talk you bastard," Swenson bellowed, pushing the pinned arm higher. "You're behind everything that's happened and you're trying to put the blame on me."

"Take it easy, Swenson," Tess said. "Don't break his arm, just hold him while I check out the culvert." She walked over and crouched down and looked inside the culvert.

Zak crouched beside her. Pointing to where several jagged cracks gaped open, he said, "If he was planning to blow it up, he didn't make it."

"He may not have been trying to blow it up," Tess replied, "just fracture it so the first loaded truck would collapse it."

"You could be right," Zak agreed. "Let's see what he has to say." They walked over to stand above Swenson, who still had Curt pinned to the ground.

Looking down at Curt, Tess said, "You worked for Maddox Demolition and you set the charge that caused the landslide, didn't you?"

Curt's eyes flared, then he looked away and said nothing.

"Fine," Tess said. "But if you don't want to talk here, they'll get it out of you at the sheriff's office. I suspect they'll also learn that you shot the skidder tire and cut the hydraulic line on the Cat. That should keep you comfortably behind bars for a while."

"I'm not taking the blame for Carl Yaeger," Curt said.

"So it
was
Yaeger," Tess mused. "What was in it for you?"

"Yaeger said he'd give me part interest in his operation and make me foreman if I got your father to sell to him. He's the one who put me up to it, the landslide, the skidder tire, the culvert."

"Yaeger might have put you up to it," Tess said, peering down at Curt, "but you're the one who carried it out. You could have come to me."

Curt said nothing, just sat on the ground with his shoulders slumped, and his head down.

Zak reached for the back pack that Curt had dropped, then unzipped it and rummaged inside. He drew out a taped packet of half-sticks of dynamite, then shoved them back into the pack, and said to Tess, "Go call the sheriff and I'll stay here with Swenson until he comes."

Tess nodded, but before she left, she looked at Jed Swenson, who was standing over Curt, and said, in a contrite voice, "I guess I owe you an apology, Swenson. Maybe we can't work together, but I think you're a good man."

Swenson crooked his neck and shot a spate of tobacco juice into the dirt, and replied, "Just
doin
' my job."

CHAPTER TWELVE

While stretched out on a bed of soft spring moss covered by a light flannel blanket, Tess looked up from her vantage point and watched the play of muscles across Zak's chest as he dragged his briefs down his legs. He tossed them on top of the rest of their clothes, then turned to face her. "Very impressive," she said, as her gaze followed the thin line of dark hair that trailed down his belly to the masculine object thrusting upward at the end of that line.

"Not as impressive as it's going to be in a few minutes," Zak said.

"Umm, are you telling me it gets bigger yet? That could be scary."

Zak laughed and lowered himself beside her. "Not bigger, just more active."

"Good," Tess said. "I was afraid it might be worn out after last night and this morning." She'd always loved the playful bantering they engaged in before making love. It made her happy, and relaxed, and completely free of any inhibitions. It had been like that from the start. To Zak, every inch of her was beautiful, and every inch of her was for his eyes only. Although he told her that often, she could also see it in his eyes, just as she saw it now.

"Honey, you might wear it down to a stub," Zak said, "but as long as I can see everything I'm looking at right now, there's no way on God's earth it'll ever be inactive."

Tess laughed and moved into his arms, and when she molded her body to his, and the musky male scent of him filled her nostrils, and she felt the hardness of him moving against her belly, she knew the bantering was over for both of them.

With the tip of his tongue, Zak traced the swirl inside her ear, the rush of his breath drawing a gasp from her. "You drive me crazy when you do that," she said, in a ragged voice.

"That's my intent," Zak replied, then continued a downward path with his tongue, making little patterns over her breast and around her nipple.
 

"That feels good," Tess said, as Zak flicked the tip of his tongue back and forth across a tight bud. After tending to the other breast, he made his way down, concentrating on the parts of her that brought gasps from deep inside her, and moans of pleasure escaping her lips.

"But it gets even better yet," Zak assured her, then continued down until gasps escaped her lips, and she felt an ache deep and low inside, and her body demanded fulfillment.

"Zak, that's enough," she said in a raspy voice. "I'm ready."

Zak made his way back up and kissed the hollow of her throat, and the curve of her chin, and the corners of her mouth,
 
and when he hovered over her, she tipped her hips, allowing the hardness of his body to find the softness of hers, and in one slow fluid movement, Zak joined his body with hers. She met his thrusts with her own, their movements building in intensity, until together they found the ultimate fulfillment. When her breathing finally became steady again, and her heart rate settled, Tess molded her body to Zak's, and said, "Was it this good years ago?"

Zak kissed her temple. "Yeah, honey, it was this good, and it will always be this good because we belong together. Our bodies belong together."

"That's what you told me the very first time we made love," Tess said. "Actually, it was shortly before we made love. You were very convincing. And every time we made love after that I was convinced all over again. It's amazing how every part of you fits perfectly with every part of me." She cuddled against him, and her breasts settled against his side, and her legs entwined with his, and her bent arm rested in the hollow below his ribs. "And when you're my nature boy, you're the perfect fit in that way too."

Zak laughed at their private reference to when he was aroused. Then he kissed her, and said, "When we get married I want to repeat the same vows as before. Do you remember the words?"

"Of course," Tess said. "How could I forget. Our vows. The ring. Being in the grotto as Adam and Eve and making love afterwards... I thought it was the most perfect wedding any girl could ever wish for. It might have been make-believe, but when you slipped the ring on my finger and promised to love me throughout eternity, I felt very married."

Zak lifted her hand and stroked her bare finger with his thumb, and said, "What happened to the ring?" .

Tess looked at her hand in his, and replied, "I buried it."

"Where?"

Tess glanced over at the big oak tree and the place where there had once been a hole, and which was now filled in with bark, and said, "I put it in a bottle and shoved it inside the hollow of our Adam and Eve tree. It seemed appropriate to lay it to rest there."

Zak looked at the tree, and his brows drew together. "That must had been soon after I left. The hole's filled in."

"It was a year after, which was also the day before I ran off with David," Tess said. "I put the ring in a bottle and came here, and after I shoved it in the hole, I cried so hard I had trouble convincing myself that I was really happy about marrying David. And when I did marry him, even while the judge was reading the words that would make me David's wife, all I could think of was... how could you do this to me? How could my father do this to me? How could I ever be happy with David?" She tipped her head up and looked at him. "Even when I was married to David, you were always somewhere in the back of my mind, and my soul."

"You were with me too, over the years," Zak said, "but I gave up the idea of our being married a long time ago."

Tess cuddled closer. "Well, that's all behind us. Our only problem from now on will be worrying about how to keep a couple of bull-headed old men from killing each other. It will definitely be a challenge. And we still have the issue of the property line, and my father isn't about to back down, and yours is ready to sue. Maybe we should have let Curt finish blowing up the culvert so my father would get disgusted and sell the place. I'm very tired of working crews of men. Being a housewife and mother sounds a whole lot more appealing. But right now I have this millstone around my neck called Timber West Logging."

"Not for much longer," Zak said.

Tess looked at him, curious. "Then you must know something I don't."

"Only that when you're my wife you won't be running a logging camp or heading a crew of men." Zak leaned over her and kissed her soundly. "But while we're on the subject of you being my wife, will you be comfortable living in the house in
Navarre
?"

"Comfortable? You say that like living there would be a hardship."

"I mean, under the same room with my family... my father, that is, although we'd have the south wing to ourselves, with it's own entrance and kitchen. And since my mother and father want to travel some, we'd be alone a lot and--"

Tess pressed her fingers to his Zak's to silence him. "Honey, I'd be happy living anywhere you are. But the house in
Navarre
is fine. Besides, I promised to build Pio a tree house there."

"So that's what you and Pio were talking about outside when I was telling my parents goodbye," Zak said. "I wondered what that was all about."

"Actually, it was a bribe," Tess admitted. "You have to do that with kids sometimes. I told him I'd build him a tree house if he promised he'd never,
ever
, climb up to old one again, and he promised." Her lips tipped in a satisfied smile. "It'll be tricky staying one step ahead of my new son, but I think I can manage."

"Yeah, honey, I know you can. And with your experience handling men, if we have five or six more sons I'm sure you'll stay a few steps ahead of them as well."

"Only sons?" Tess said. "You don't think I can handle daughters?"

Zak looked at her, curiously. "I guess I never thought of you with daughters."

"Honey, I do like pretty things, and I also like to dress like a woman on occasion. If we had a daughter, I might even take up sewing and make little dresses. Actually the idea of having five or six daughters sounds very attractive right now. I've about had my fill of handling males."

Zak bent over and kissed her again. "Sons or daughters, you'll do fine. And while we're on the subject of handling males, something's becoming active again."

Tess looked down and laughed. "So I see." She ran her hand along the line of dark hair, and said, "But
this
, I don't mind handling." She shoved Zak onto his back, and this time she worked her magic on him, teasing and tasting and touching every delectable inch of his magnificent male body before straddling him and finishing the job.

Afterwards, as she lay nestled against him and they gazed up at the massive oak limbs of their Adam and Eve tree, Zak said, "Does this mean we're back to sex and no substance?"

Tess rolled her head sideways and smiled at him, and replied, "I certainly hope so."

***

Tess studied intently the chess board resting on the table in her cabin. After a moment, she moved her pawn forward, then said to her father, "It was really no surprise to learn that Curt had been employed by Maddox for several years."
 

Gib's bushy brows drew together above intense eyes. After a long stretch of silence, while he studied the board, he moved his queen. "I still can't get over Yaeger putting him up to it though. You have any thoughts about that?" he asked, while waiting for Tess to make her move.

"Well, when I think back over everything that happened, I realize I should have put things together earlier on, but I'd already made up my mind that it was Swenson, so I wasn't even considering the obvious, which was Curt," Tess said, sliding her rook across the board.

"Pay attention," Gib said. "That's not a very good move. You can take it back if you want."

Tess contemplated the board for a moment, then rolled her eyes upward and said, "That
was
pretty dumb." She moved the rook back two rows.

Gib grinned. "That's better. You've got to stay alert. You can't let your opponent distract you." .

Tess advanced a pawn, "What do you think is going to happen now?" she asked.

Gib studied the board. "They're looking at conspiracy and several felonies, and by the time I collect damages, Yaeger won't be too anxious to pull anything like that again."

Tess looked up from the board. "You really plan to hit them hard?"

"Hell, yes," Gib replied. "Timber West was doing pretty damn good before they started their dirty dealings... might not have had to depend on the pole timber if they hadn't caused all the problems they did. If we can collect damages, we might be sitting pretty good."

"Then... would you still want to try and make a go of it here," Tess said, in a weary voice.

Gib sighed. "I think I'm about ready to throw in the chips. I guess I just don't have the fight I used to have to keep this place going."

A wry smile touched Tess's lips. "Don't worry about fight, Dad. You still have plenty of it. You'll be blowing off steam till your dying day. I can just hear you at your funeral,
'don't jerk the casket... the hole's not deep enough... who the hell sent all the flowers
.'"

Gib laughed, and said, as he set down his bishop, "Am I that bad?"
 

"You're impossible." Tess said, grinning. "You're also about to lose your bishop."

"What!"

"Pay attention, Dad. You can't let your opponent distract you."

The sound of a vehicle out front caught their notice. Tess stepped to the door and opened it just as Zak and his father were getting out of Jean-Pierre's SUV. Zak kissed her, and said, "We stopped by because my father wants to talk to your father."

Tess peered around Zak. "Hello, Mr. de Neuville... uh... please come in." She gave Zak a questioning look and stepped back for them to enter.

Jean-Pierre nodded. "Miss O'Reilly." The hint of a smile touched his lips.

Gib stared intently at the chess board, ignoring their guests.

"Dad?"

Gib raised his eyes to Jean-Pierre, and said, "If you're here to settle out of court you've wasted a trip. I'm not about to give up anything that's rightfully mine."

Jean-Pierre moved to stand above the chess board. "I didn't come to talk about the hearing, but I do want to discuss another deal with you," he said, his eyes moving over the board as he studied the positions of the pieces.

Zak took Tess's hand. "I want to talk to you too." He pulled her toward the door.

Tess glanced at the two men. "We can't go now," she said. "They'll kill each other."

Zak's lips spread with a slow smile. "Then our problems will be over. Come on. They're grown men."

"I really don't think we should leave them."

"Father?" Zak said, drawing Jean-Pierre's head around. "Why don't you sit down and finish the game for Tess. She and I are taking a little walk."

Jean-Pierre looked from Zak to the chess board, then his gaze rested on Gib.

Gib glanced up and said, "You play?"

"Some," Jean-Pierre replied, lowering himself to sit opposite Gib.

Zak nudged Tess onto the porch and pulled the door closed behind. "They'll be okay for the duration of the game," he said.
 

Tess glanced back at the door. "I hope you're right."