Toys and Baby Wishes (26 page)
Read Toys and Baby Wishes Online
Authors: Karen Rose Smith
#
Zack met the McIntyres as they straggled in for Saturday
night supper. Josh introduced each member as if it was the most important job
he ever had. Zack suspected Esther McIntyre had suggested the procedure to
Josh as an exercise in social skills but also to make Zack feel more
comfortable. He was definitely a fish out of water in this family atmosphere.
Mary Jo McIntyre, Rick's wife, dressed in jeans and flannel
blouse, her light brown hair pulled back in a ponytail, sparkled with the same
enthusiasm for life as her son. "It's good to meet you, Mr. Burke. I
hope Josh hasn't been too much of a bother."
"No bother at all. He makes a great tour guide."
Mary Jo smiled and ruffled her son's hair. "He knows
more about this ranch than I do. He sees and hears everything."
Zack laughed. Twice in one day. How long had it been since
laughter had been part of his life?
When Rick McIntyre shook Zack's hand, his grip was firm, his
gaze friendly. "Lucy asked me Josh's very-important- question. How about
you and I take a turn around the place on your bike sometime before I give Josh
the okay?"
Zack heard the amusement in Rick's suggestion. "No
problem. In fact, you might even want to try it by yourself."
Rick grinned like a teenager. "I was hoping you'd say
that. I think you and I will get along just fine."
When Tom McIntyre came in, he went to the kitchen, hugged
his wife and dropped a kiss on her cheek. Then he joined the group in the
living room. With a grip as strong as his oldest son's, he shook Zack's hand.
"I understand you roared in here on a motorcycle. Maybe we can convince
you a Quarter Horse is a much better means of transportation."
Lucy crossed to her father with a smile. "Better watch
it, Zack. He's the best salesman in the state of Wyoming."
Her father grinned at her affectionately. "You know as
well as I do our horses sell themselves. I just find them good riders."
He looked Zack up and down. "Something tells me, this man is a good
rider."
Before Zack could respond, the door flew open and everyone
turned toward it. A younger version of Tom McIntyre stood in the doorway, a
load of firewood stacked high in his arms.
Tom said in a low voice to Lucy, "We actually got some
work out of him today. Maybe he's gonna stop mopin' about that girl."
"Dad...," Lucy chided.
"He's got to get on with his life. You know that
better than anyone."
Lucy glanced quickly at Zack, then looked away. But not
before he saw the shadows in her eyes, not before he saw her chagrin that he'd
overheard her dad's remark. Apparently something...or some
one
...had
hurt her.
Marty dumped the logs on the hearth by the fireplace, then
turned toward the group gathered around it. Unlike the other McIntyres, he
made no move toward Zack.
After a moment of silence where the atmosphere in the room
suddenly became awkward, Lucy introduced the two men. "Marty, this is
Zack Burke. He'll be working with us for a while."
Marty's dark brown eyes focused on Zack, switched to his
sister, then back to Zack. "So you did it. Fine. I didn't know bringing
in hired help was an occasion for a party, though. We usually only have this
commotion on Sundays."
Esther, standing in the doorway to the living room,
addressed her son. "We're a family everyday. I wanted Zack to feel
welcome."
"Welcome to the ranch," Marty said automatically,
with no real feeling, but because it was expected of him, then he headed for
the stairs and disappeared before he could be chided for his rudeness.
Zack couldn't help but be curious about this member of the
McIntyre family who was so different from the others.
Lucy came to stand beside Zack, her arm brushing his.
"I'm sorry about his attitude. He's had rough going lately."
Rick frowned. "A lot of that rough going is his own
fault. More than once I told him Angie wasn't ready to get serious, but he
wouldn't listen. He wouldn't take advice then, just like he won't take advice
now. He's as hard-headed as they come."
Mary Jo nudged her husband's arm with a small smile.
"As if you know nothing about being hard-headed. Lucy's the only one of
the McIntyre siblings who knows how to bend."
"Are you saying I'm stubborn?" Rick asked with
mock indignation.
Mary Jo laughed. "That's a pleasant way of putting
it."
Tom shook his head. "Stubborn or not, that boy better
get his head together. Lucy, try to talk some sense into him again, will you?
Of any of us, he listens to you best."
"I'll try, Dad."
When she turned toward her father and her elbow brushed
Zack, electric charges danced up his arm.
Esther beckoned to them. "Come on! Supper's ready.
When we're sitting around the table, maybe Marty will realize how much he still
has."
Josh maneuvered to sit on Zack's left. Lucy sat on his
right. When Marty rejoined his family, he positioned himself across from the
two of them.
It had been over two years since Zack had sat down and eaten
a home-cooked family dinner. The night before his camping trip with Kay...
Rick asked, "So...Zack. What do you do besides ride
around on a bike?"
Zack accepted the platter of roast beef Lucy passed to him
and considered his options. He didn't want to lie to these people but he also
didn't want to answer questions that would lead to areas he'd rather avoid.
Noticing Lucy's "I-warned-you" look, he answered, "Along with
working on ranches, some construction jobs. I've done a little bit of
everything. Mr. McIntyre, I hear that construction is particularly slow in Wyoming. Why do you think that is?"
Fortunately for Zack, the conversation turned to the housing
market and the economic conditions in Long Brush and the surrounding area.
Then he concentrated on his food and tried to keep his mind off Lucy as she
reached for the salt shaker. Her hair swayed along her cheek—silky, soft,
natural.
Suddenly, she leaned close to his shoulder. "You
managed that one like a pro."
If Zack turned his head, his chin would brush her hair. He
tightened his hand into a fist, inhaled her scent, and said as casually as he
could manage, "I know a secret. Most people like to talk about what
concerns them."
"I'll remember that," she said with a smile in her
voice.
He turned his head then and his chin did brush her hair.
His chest tightened and all his senses went on red alert until suddenly Josh
tugged on Zack's arm. Turning from Lucy, he felt Marty's stabbing gaze on him
as he leaned down to the five-year-old.
#
After supper, Marty followed Zack to the living room.
Zack stood at the fireplace and waited. If Lucy's brother
had something to say, he might as well get it off his chest.
It didn't take long until he did. "Lucy hired you
mighty quick."
Zack faced Marty squarely. "You don't trust her
judgment?"
"I don't trust a stranger who looks at her the way you
do. I'm just warning you—we protect our own. So watch your step."
Zack wondered just how he
did
look at Lucy. As if he
wanted to touch her, and kiss her, and wrap his body around hers? He thought
he was more guarded than that. Yet, there was no point denying his attraction
to her, and he wouldn't lie about it. "Lucy and I are adults. What happens
between us is our business."
"Lucy is a McIntyre."
"That doesn't mean you can run her life."
"No, but I can watch out for her like I always
have."
As Rick and Mary Jo entered the living room, Marty moved
away, leaving Zack to realize more fully what it meant to be a member of a
family. An ache for the wife and son he'd lost filled him...an ache he'd
managed to deny for over two years.
Excerpt from
FOREVER AFTER
Finding Mr. Right
series,
Book 2
CHAPTER ONE
The man was shirtless, sweated, and built.
Darcy Kearn slipped behind the service counter, thinking if
she'd been at the beach, she'd have taken the time to enjoy the sight. Broad
shoulders, lean hips, biceps that looked as if they'd been honed by physical
labor.
But she wasn't at the beach. This was her automotive shop,
and from the looks of her most recent arrival, he was frustrated...and angry.
Impatience radiated from his glistening half-naked body as he scowled at the
two partially dismantled vehicles in the service bays.
Her head mechanic had already informed her the man refused
to accept the fact they couldn't repair his car until Monday. It was moments
like these she'd rather be working on an engine than soothing ruffled feathers.
The stranger glanced at the service desk and stalked toward
it like a man on a mission. As he approached, her gaze homed in on his chest.
Black curly hair, damp with perspiration, formed a T. Tendrils wisped around
dark male nipples, then arrowed in a long thin channel to the waistband of navy
shorts. He was lean enough that the definition of his ribs was clear. The
whorl of hair around his navel tempted her to look lower. Her stomach
fluttered and she yanked her gaze upward.
Her eyes swept over a strong chin to smoky eyes...and
stopped. She'd never seen such intensity in a man's eyes. That first look
into them was a shock--like her first taste of a hot pepper or her first spring
off a high dive. They swept over her as if trying to learn everything about
her in a few seconds.
Suddenly she wished her overalls were something more
alluring and feminine. Irritated by the thought of silk or lace in a garage,
she spoke crisply. "I'm Darcy Kearn. May I help you?"
The man mowed his fingers through his thick, sable hair.
"You're the owner?"
At five-foot-three, she was used to physically looking up to
men. But with this man she felt she needed five inch spikes to equalize her
position. She squared her shoulders and marshaled her forces.
"Yes. I'm the Kearn in Kearn's Automotive Repair. May
I help you?" she repeated.
He scanned the service area, assessing the space and
equipment. "You were the only garage in the area open this late on a
Friday, and you're the only one open tomorrow. I need my car as soon as
possible. How much do I have to pay to get it on your roster first thing in
the morning?"
Somehow, Darcy held on to her rising temper. "We don't
work that way Mr..."
"Hallaran. Seth Hallaran," he supplied brusquely.
Hallaran. Hallaran. The name bounced around in her head
while she tried to place it. "Mr. Hallaran, we're booked solid. Memorial
Day last weekend backed us up, and with regular customers needing
inspections--"
He eyed her again in earnest. "Come on, Ms. Kearn.
What will it take?"
She gave up trying to place his name. Whoever he was, he
was used to getting what he wanted. Well, not this time.
If he wouldn't listen to reason, he could just take his
fabulously virile, bronzed body and his car to someone else's garage.
"Mr. Hallaran, you're welcome to take your car
elsewhere if you'd prefer not to wait until we can fit you in."
The pulse low on his jawline worked rapidly as his voice
rumbled with restrained anger. "That's difficult since it won't run on
its own and I had it towed here. Now it's your responsibility."
Darcy suppressed a sigh. Why did her customers think she
was an all-powerful mechanical wizard? In this day and age with computers
running almost everything, she could only do so much. She stepped from behind
the counter to look out the window at his state-of-the-art, cobalt-blue sporty
car hanging from the back of the tow truck. Slowly, she counted to ten,
recalling how her father had taught her humor and patience were more profitable
than a careless tongue.
She turned and faced him. "Mr. Hallaran, did you have
your tonsils out?"
His brows arched. "Yes. Why?"
"I just wondered if the doctor removed your patience
and good humor as well."
For a moment he looked as if he wanted to shake her. Then
his scowl disappeared and he laughed. A loud deep laugh that rumbled to her toes.
She realized he wasn't angry with her, but at the circumstances that had
brought him here.
The laugh diminished to a chuckle as he shook his head.
"I'm sorry if I was rude. I never expected to puncture a gas tank. I
didn't have a cell signal where it happened and I had to walk a mile in this
heat to get one. Then I had to wait forty-five minutes for the tow truck. And
you stand there looking as cool and casual as a fresh strawberry."
"Is that your idea of a compliment?"
He grinned. "Not usually. But with those freckles and
red hair-- I'm really bungling this, aren't I?"
"You'd better stop while you're ahead." She
couldn't suppress a smile.
He stepped closer until she could smell musky male. One
pulse chased another until all of them sounded in her ears. She took a step
back. Intimidation was one thing, sheer male power was quite another.
He cocked his head. "Look, Ms. Kearn. I'm sorry if I
insulted your business ethics. I'm used to city politics and practices. I
recently moved here, and Hershey's still unfamiliar to me. That's one of the
reasons I need transportation."
He had charm. She'd give him that. And he knew when to use
it. But that didn't change anything. "Even if I could fit you in
tomorrow morning, which I can't," she emphasized, "I don't have a new
tank. I won't be able to get one until Monday morning. I can give you the
number where you can rent a car."
Seth frowned. Something in Darcy Kearn's eyes, the honesty
in her voice, tiptoed across his soul. The sensation rattled him and he
reached for a suave comeback. But one wasn't there. He stared at her until he
regained his composure. Honesty? Since when had he met a grade A honest
woman?