It Takes Two: Deep in the Heart, Book 1 (25 page)

BOOK: It Takes Two: Deep in the Heart, Book 1
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“Very wise of you.”

Annie laughed softly and Zach’s heart pumped faster. “Gert’s been wonderful. I’ve been able to do a lot of stuff today, errands and what-have-you, and even play with Mary some.”

Zach felt complete relief at her words. “I’m so glad you have help. Maybe you can hire her away from the hospital for a while.”

“I’m trying. My ace in the hole is that Gert has a thing for Papa.”

Zach chuckled. “Travis needs someone to keep him in line.”

“I know. He doesn’t think so, of course.”

They were silent for a moment. Zach wondered if he could express to Annie the thoughts swirling around in his mind. Did he have the right to burden her right now?

“Zach?”

“Yes?”

“I know you didn’t start the fire.”

He listened to her voice, trying to intuit what she wanted to tell him but couldn’t seem to make herself say.

“I wish…I wish I hadn’t said what I did this morning. About you seeing the fire first. I acted terribly, Zach. You’ve been so kind—my God, you even saved Cody’s life—and I’ve been cool toward you. I hope you can forgive me.”

“I wasn’t being kind, Annie. I couldn’t bear to watch that crazy man on a tractor kill himself.”

He sucked in his breath, realizing his words might bring back visions of the way her husband had died. He couldn’t bear to cause her any more pain than she’d already suffered.

“Excuse me? What crazy man? Who was the man running behind the tractor in his bare feet, with no shirt on, like he was invincible?” She giggled a little, the sound sweet. “You’re as bad as Cody.”

That was a compliment. “Maybe,” he said with a smile she couldn’t see.

“Can you forgive me, Zach?”

Zach closed his eyes for a moment against the distress he heard in her voice. “I can’t forgive you when you’ve done nothing to me, Annie. You’ve given me so much more than I’ve been able to give you. I…I need to see you, Annie.”

There. He’d finally put words to the feelings that had been circling around his heart since he’d met her. They were free now, free from the secure prison he’d kept them in. It was so very true. He did need to see her, to press her against him, hold her tight.

He just plain needed Annie.

“I don’t think it’s a good idea, Zach.”

“Oh. Of course not, you’ve been so busy today. I have business I need to take care of in Desperado. I could drive down tomorrow just as well—”

“Zach, listen to me. I really appreciate you calling. It means a lot to me that you care. And I know you had nothing to do with the fire. But, I just can’t see you. I’m sorry.”

And very softly, he heard a click. Zach stared, devastated, as he realized Annie had just severed their connection.

 

 

“What the hell was that all about?” Carter was pulling on his clothes as fast as he could. LouAnn was dressing too, putting on the black bra with pointed cups and the black garter belt and stockings he’d leisurely removed from her body with his teeth and exploring tongue. Right now, he wanted the woman to get dressed quickly. Any desire he’d been feeling had hit the road during Zach’s inopportune phone call.

It was time to use his wits to save his ass.

“I don’t know how Zach figured us out,” LouAnn said, sounding breathless and worried. “You don’t suppose Judy snitched?”

“No way. She’s too afraid for her job. Her mother’s in the hospital with some cancer thing and Judy’s footing the bills, so she wouldn’t dare open her mouth,” he said carelessly, his mind mulling over his plans.

LouAnn straightened in the act of connecting sheer stocking to lace garter. “You threatened her job knowing her mother was ill?”

Carter grinned. “Love me for it, honey?”

She pulled the low-cut dress over her head, ensuring that she didn’t muss her tresses, and smoothed it down over her body. “Not at all. You’re lower than a snake’s belly to do that.”

Carter grabbed LouAnn’s arm, squeezing it a bit. “You didn’t mind knowing your wedding and precious socialite reputation were secure because I was discreet, LouAnn. Don’t start playing the insulted virgin just because we got caught. All I’m saying is Judy didn’t blow the whistle on us.”

“Fine.” She jerked her arm away. “Since you’re the one who lost your job instead of Judy, I’ll leave you to pack your things.” Slipping on her high-heel shoes, LouAnn started to sail out the door. Carter’s mocking words halted her.

“Running to swear to your ex-fiancé your undying love and devotion with my cologne all over your skin? Might not be very convincing.” With a subtle pause, Carter hinted, “I’ve got a better idea.”

That turned her around. She shot him a wary look. “Your ideas have only gotten us in hot water so far, Carter. What are you thinking now?”

“Sit down for a minute, LouAnn, and let me teach you how winners cover all the bases.”

Chapter Sixteen

Annie avoided looking at the phone the next morning, trying not to think about how much she wished it would ring and be Zach on the other end. Still, she knew she’d done the right thing. There could be nothing between her and Zach but certain heartbreak. If there was a man on this earth who might be absolutely the right man for her, it was Zach, but unfortunately, too many obstacles separated them—permanent obstacles.

Like the dank, now rotting fields outside her window. The rain that had teased them all month with its absence, parching the land to inferno-ripe conditions, had finally fallen in the night like tears from the sky. Annie had stood outside watching the silvery, moonlit sheets of water hitting the ground, where the moisture soaked right into the soil. She’d even cried herself, a little, for what might have been. Hours into the morning, Cody had come outside and pulled her into his arms, cradling her against his flannel-covered chest. Willingly, she’d allowed him to walk her into the house, where he wrapped a towel around her and dried her tears before fixing her a cup of hot chocolate in silence.

There had been nothing to say.

Zach hadn’t started the fire, but he was under scrutiny. Until Jim Crier—or another representative she trusted—came to tell her differently, it wouldn’t look good for Zach to be hanging around her or hanging around the farm. Anyone who came out to gather information would stir up hostile feelings, between Zach and the investigators. No need for him to return to the scene of the crime until the smoke had cleared completely. She could only pray that Jim Crier and the sheriff’s team had been thorough in their search before the rain washed away any evidence there might have been.

But even if the fire hadn’t swept her cornfields, Annie couldn’t forget that Zach was due to be married any day. The fear that she might succumb to Zach’s lethal charm the next time she saw him was crippling. All she needed right now was a broken heart to nurse. Once Zach possessed her body, it would be the last barrier she had against him. Like a barrel going over Niagara, she would fall headlong in love with him.

And eventually, she would be left alone.

Even though once she might have been able to enjoy casual physical satisfaction with Zach, they had come to know each other too well for that now. It had gone much too far for her to want less than all of him. It wouldn’t be fair to hinder Zach’s life with her love, when he’d been honest in telling her that he wasn’t available. Had, in fact, taken her arms from around his neck, setting her away from him, when she had kissed him at the fish pond in the very beginning.

“Papa?” Annie asked, walking into his bedroom. With a smile, she saw that Gert had fallen asleep in the chair beside Travis’s bed. It seemed that no one in the house had gotten much sleep during the midnight showers. A constant rain like last night’s was usually music to sleep restfully by, but the day’s events had stolen everyone’s peace of mind.

Deciding Gert and Travis would rather snooze than eat right now, Annie crossed into Mary’s room. Her daughter’s eyes were wide open, staring at her over the top edge of the blanket.

Annie sat down on the bed, gently pulling the blanket down to Mary’s chin. “Good morning, ladybug,” she said, pushing the ebony locks away from Mary’s rose-petal soft cheeks.

That coaxed out a smile. “Uncle Cody calls me that.”

“I know,” Annie replied, reveling in the satin of Mary’s hair underneath her fingertips. “You are a sweet one.”

“Ladybug, ladybug, fly away home, your house is on fire and your children are gone,” Mary recited softly.

“Why, Mary! Wherever did you learn that?”

The child shrugged. “In kindergarten last year.”

Annie caressed her daughter’s forehead. “Our house didn’t burn, baby.”

“I know. And I’m not gone. So, I’m not that afraid,” she said, turning her troubled gaze on Annie. “I love you, Mama,” she whispered.

Swiftly, Annie gathered her daughter up to her, clasping her nightgown-clad body to her tightly. “I love you, too, sugar. So much. I don’t want you to be scared anymore, okay? Everything’s going to be all right.”

Mary snuggled in deeper, seeking Annie’s warmth. “I wasn’t too scared. Uncle Cody says you’re the bravest woman he knows, so I was trying to be brave like you.” She looked up anxiously. “But it was hard, Mama. Real hard.”

“Oh, Mary.” Annie rocked her baby back and forth in her lap. “Let me tell you a secret. I’m not brave at all. Uncle Cody just told you that because he’s blind in one eye.”

“Is he really?” Mary asked, fascinated.

Annie was glad to see the tension in Mary’s face relax a little. “No, baby,” she said with a smile. “But Cody sees only what he wants to see. Now, here’s another secret. You don’t have to be brave until you have children of your own, okay? Until then, I’m taking care of you. Deal?”

“Deal.” Mary sat pensively for a moment. “Mama? When is Mr. Zach coming back?”

Annie froze and put down the silky-soft plait of Mary’s hair she’d been braiding. “I don’t know, baby.”

“He said he would.”

“I know he did,” Annie said slowly, “but sometimes people can’t do the things that they really want to.”

“Oh.” Mary’s shoulders slumped. “He promised.”

“Well, I know Zach would like to come back, but…”

But what?
How could she explain that Zach would have kept that promise—would have been here last night, in fact—but that Annie had told him not to come?

“I’ve been praying, Mama. I’ve been praying for a new daddy. I kinda thought Mr. Zach might have been him.”

Now Annie’s shoulders slumped. Her daughter wanted a father and Annie wanted Zach. But she said, “I don’t know, sugar. Come into the kitchen. I’ll fix you some breakfast. Maybe later I can take you down to feed the fish.”

“Okay, Mama,” Mary said obediently, padding into the hall in front of her mother.

Cody sat at the kitchen table, hunched over a newspaper. “Are you feeling better?” Annie asked. “Less like a smoked turkey?”

“I’m fine,” he replied grumpily. “Are you feeling better? Less like a kitten who nearly drowned herself in the rain last night? I won’t be surprised if you catch a cold, and I’m not dragging chicken soup all the way over here when you do.”

Annie laughed, as he’d known she would. “Cody Aguillar, I’d forgotten what an ornery person you are when you don’t get much sleep. If I didn’t know better, I’d think it was harvest time. Coffee?”

“Please.” He looked down at Mary, who’d seated herself next to him on the plank bench. “I know another little lady who didn’t get much sleep last night, either.”

“Was Mary up last night?” Annie asked, surprised.

“Up? The child sat in her bed, peering out her window most of the night. Like she was trying to spy Santa Claus and his reindeer.”

“He didn’t come,” Mary said glumly.

“Of course not. It’s not Christmas,” Cody said.

“Never mind,” said Mary.

Annie glanced at her daughter as she set Cody’s mug in front of him. “Were you watching for Mr. Zach?”

“I don’t want to talk about it, anymore. Can I go outside, Mama, please?”

The child still wore her nightgown, but what could it hurt to let her sit on the porch for a little while? It was sunny now that the rains had passed, and it would be good for Mary to soak up some of those rejuvenating rays. Might even lift her spirits.

“Stay on the porch, sugar Leave the front door open, too, so I can call you when I need you.”

“Yes, Mama.” Mary slid down from the bench and left the kitchen.

“Well, that’s a fine howdy-you-do,” Cody said. “I thought she was looking to make sure the fire wasn’t going to start up again. Never occurred to me she was looking for Slick.”

“It was partly the fire,” Annie said, ladling some huevos rancheros onto a plate for Cody. “She said she’d been trying to be brave last night. But, she was also hoping he’d come back.”

Cody was silent as he took a bite. “Thank you, Annie; this is delicious,” he said. “I’m starting to get my feelings hurt. I always thought I was first in Mary’s heart.”

“You’re an excellent uncle, friend, and the father figure Mary hasn’t had,” Annie said warmly, sitting down across from him with a plate of her own. “Unfortunately, that’s what Mary’s looking for. A father.”

BOOK: It Takes Two: Deep in the Heart, Book 1
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