She gave him a brilliant smile and said, “Thank you.”
Entwining his fingers through hers, he hauled her toward him until his mouth hovered over hers. “See, that wasn’t so hard.”
“I survived,” she said in a quavering rush.
“I’m glad.” He leaned down, their breaths tangling.
His heartbeat kicked up a notch, and his senses became alert to everything about Kim—her jasmine scent, the softness of her hands in his work-toughened ones, her petite body next to him. He brushed his lips across hers and tasted the coffee on them. He released her hands and began to enfold her against him.
A sound coming from the direction of the entry hall halted his actions. He straightened and swung his attention toward the noise. As the front door opened, Kim stepped away. With her cheeks as red as before, she turned her back on his father and Ian entering the living room.
“I’ll take these into the kitchen.” Kim gathered up the mugs and hurried away.
His father frowned. “What is she doing here?”
Ian glanced from Zane to his dad. “I’m going to see if there’s any more of that coffee.”
When the police chief left, Zane faced his father. “Kim is here because she was concerned about you. What’s going on, Dad? How can I help you?”
The frown dissolved into a look of sorrow. “I don’t know. I—I’m confused.”
Zane closed the space between them. “About what?”
“I enjoyed working on the roof today. But the second I saw you and Kim together talking like fifteen years never happened, I got…” He dropped his gaze to the floor.
“Angry?”
“No, scared.”
“Scared about what?”
His father looked directly at him. “These past months we have started to form a—” he fluttered his hand in the air “—a bond. I wasn’t a good father to you when you were growing up. I thought finally I would get a second chance. If you two get together, where does that leave me? I don’t have anything really. I’ve made a mess of my life.”
A tightness gripped Zane’s throat. “You’re my dad. That will never change. You’ll always be in my life.”
“For twelve years you stayed away from Hope because of Kim. What if you two get together, have a fight and you leave again?”
“We’re not getting together. I’m helping someone in need. I’ve been doing that in Hope. Kim is just another person who needed help. My past is just that—my past. And Kim is part of that past.”
“But I’ve seen you with her. It’s like you never left.”
“No, we both are very aware that fifteen years have passed. We’re becoming friends. That’s all.” It couldn’t be anything besides that. Their relationship and what happened because of it affected so many people adversely. He wouldn’t risk that again. “Are you hungry? Maggie fixed some roast chicken tonight, and Kim brought us some.” He put his arm around his father and hugged him briefly.
When Zane and his dad went into the kitchen, Ian and Kim stood at the counter near the coffeepot talking. They stopped and rotated toward them.
“I was just telling Ian I needed to get home. Tomorrow is a school day. The kids will be raring to go after the long weekend.” Kim put her mug into the sink and smiled at his dad. “Mr. Davidson, I’m glad you’re all right. I appreciated your help today. Thanks.”
Kim strolled toward the door into the dining room. His father stepped into her path. Zane tensed.
“I’m sorry for my behavior earlier,” his father murmured, not quite meeting her eyes. “I shouldn’t have gotten mad.”
She reached out and clasped his arm, totally focused on his dad. “I understand. I hope you’ll help Zane tomorrow. The storm is moving in faster than they thought. We sure could use all the help we can get. The roof needs to be finished by tomorrow night.”
His dad moved out of the way. “We’ll see.”
“Good night, everyone.” Kim continued toward the front door.
“Kim, wait up. I’m right behind you,” Ian called out, took a last swallow of his coffee and set his mug in the sink. “Tom, call anytime day or night if you need to talk. I wish I could help tomorrow, but I’m on duty. I’ll let myself out.”
When the sound of the front door closing drifted to Zane, the silence of the house settled around him. He glanced at his dad. A thoughtful expression on his face made him pause. “Are you okay?”
“Actually, I am. I think I will help you tomorrow. It’s gonna take a lot of hard work to get that whole roof shingled in one day. You certainly can’t do it by yourself.”
“Nope, Dad. I could use you.”
“Great. I’m starved. Let’s see what Kim brought us for dinner.”
Zane spied the clock in the kitchen. Eleven. “A very late dinner.”
“Better late than never.” His dad’s laughter filled the kitchen.
It was a sound that Zane hadn’t thought he would hear this evening.
His dad went to the refrigerator to get the food. Tired but relieved, Zane scrubbed his hands down his face. He would eat with his father even if he wasn’t hungry. Something changed tonight between them—something that Kim started.
* * *
On Tuesday after school, Kim turned into the driveway of her house to find a crew of men working diligently at shingling the roof before the rain hit. She parked and climbed from her car, staring west at the darkening sky. The storm system had picked up even more speed and probably would dump rain on them within the hour. Anna and Brady were already cleaning up the debris the workers had scattered over the ground.
Kim went inside and quickly put her purse and book bag on the counter in the game room, then returned outside to see if there was anything she could do to help. Dressed in slacks, a shirt and comfortable flat shoes, she decided not to take the time to change clothes.
Kim backed up until she could see the top of the roof. Zane must have pulled six men from another project to do this. His father came to the side where the ladder was. Kim headed toward it as the older man put his foot on the top rung.
“Can I help? Do you need something?” Kim shouted up at Mr. Davidson.
He glanced down. “We’re running low on nails.”
“I’ll bring them up. Where are they?”
He gestured toward the back of Zane’s truck. Kim scurried to it and snatched up the box, then rushed back to the ladder. Climbing halfway up, she met Mr. Davidson and handed off the nails to him, and he proceeded up to the roof. Could she do anything up there to help? She started up the rungs and went another six. Then she made the mistake of looking down at the ground. A light-headedness took hold. She squeezed her eyes closed and clutched the ladder.
“Mom, what’s wrong?” Anna called from below.
“Nothing. I’ll be down in a sec.” But she didn’t open her eyes, and she didn’t move. She knew she didn’t like heights, but she was only maybe twenty feet off the ground. What was wrong with her? Still, she remained frozen, glued to the ladder.
“Mom!”
Anna’s shouts penetrated Kim’s mind. The ladder moved. She inched her eyes open and stared down. Seeing her daughter halfway up sent panic through her. “Don’t, Anna. Stay there.”
“But—”
“Get down. You could fall,” Kim yelled, a childhood memory swamping her with chills. She could remember climbing a ladder, a cousin shaking it and her tumbling down to the ground, followed by a visit to the emergency room. She’d suffered a broken ankle that still ached when it rained. It was aching right now.
When Anna reached the bottom, Kim inhaled a calming breath that only relieved her tension for a few seconds. She still needed to descend. She could do it. She had to. Otherwise, how would the men get down from the roof?
When a drop of rain fell on her head then another, she gripped the ladder tighter. She had to do something now. She looked up at the dark sky above her, clouds rolling across. Wind whipped her hair about her face. Some more raindrops splattered her.<
br />
Zane appeared at the top, peering down at her. “Do you need help?”
“No, no. I can get down. Are y’all finished?”
“Not quite. When it starts raining, I’ll have most of my men come down. But I should be able to finish up pretty fast.”
Wind, rain and an uncovered roof were not a good combination. “Everyone should come down. Including you.”
“Don’t worry about me. You climb down now. I’m not leaving here until I see you doing that.”
Looking at the worry in his expression fortified her. She was not going to fall, especially if she could move before the rungs got too wet. “I’m going.”
Her gaze fastened onto her right hand, she willed her fingers to loosen its grip one finger at a time. When her hand was free, she clenched the rung at her chest level. Then she did the same with her left hand. After slipping one foot off, she fumbled for the slat below her, not wanting to peer down. When she found it, she slid her shoe firmly into place and moved the other foot. One rung then another, she slowly made her way to the ground, feeling Zane’s continual perusal. Strangely it gave her comfort instead of making her nervous.
When she planted both feet on the ground, she hugged the ladder for a moment as the rain increased to a light drizzle. Her hair still dancing about her head, she finally stepped away and stared up at Zane.
He gave her a nod and disappeared, but shortly his men began to descend the ladder, hauling tools down.
“Anna. Brady. Get inside.” Kim didn’t move although her clothes were becoming drenched.
A rumble of thunder sounded in the distance, but she didn’t see a flash of lightning. The force of the wind increased. She bridged the distance between her and the ladder and held it steady as the first man was only a few feet above the ground.
“Mom, how about you?” Anna asked as she walked toward the back steps up to the second-story gallery.
“I’ll be there in a little bit.” She stepped behind the ladder to clutch both sides of it.
Finally, the last worker descended, leaving Zane and his dad up on the roof. The rain came down steadily at a forty-degree angle, but she wouldn’t go inside—not until Zane and his dad were safely on the ground.
Chapter Seven
“Son, we need to leave,” Zane’s father said over the noise of the rain hitting the roof.
“Only this one section and it will be done. Go on down. I won’t be long.” Zane lined up the shingle, and using the nail gun, he fastened it to the roof.
“I’m not leaving, either, then.” His dad got the next shingle for Zane to nail to the roof. “It’s getting slippery up here.”
Still they worked. Ten minutes later as the rain slashed at them, Zane finished and quickly gathered his nail gun. “Go, Dad. It’s really picking up.”
His father carefully scaled his way toward the ladder. When he approached it and picked up his foot to swing down onto the first rung, his other one slipped out from under him. He fell onto the newly installed shingles and kept sliding toward the edge. He fought to get a grip, the supplies in his hand tumbling toward the ground.
Zane scrambled toward his dad, lurching to catch him before he went over the side. Grabbing hold of a vent sticking up, Zane used it as an anchor and stretched to hook his father seconds before he plunged to the ground. Zane pulled him up a few feet until his dad managed to stabilize himself. After a few breaths, he secured his foot on the top rung and stepped over the edge.
“I’m not going down until you’re over here,” his dad shouted over the noise of the increasing downpour.
When Zane made it to the edge, his father descended several rungs. Zane looked over and saw Kim below, drenched but holding the ladder steady for them. When his dad was far enough down, Zane swung himself over the side and followed him to the ground.
“Let’s get out of the rain,” Kim said and started for the steps.
His father trailed her as Zane took the ladder down, then hurried after the pair. Upstairs inside the game room, he and his dad stayed by the door while Kim dashed to the linen closet for towels.
“We should have just gone home.” His father rubbed himself as dry as possible.
Zane did, too, then bent over and mopped up the puddle on the hardwood floor. “We’re putting the roof on, so you won’t have water inside, and look how much we brought in.”
“Me, too.” Kim tried to dry her hair, but wet curls hung about her face. “You’re both welcome to stay for dinner. I can put your clothes into the dryer.”
“Thanks, but I still have to go to the school tonight to make up for pulling part of the crew off the job. I’ll go home and change then go there.”
“I’m coming with you, son.”
“Great.”
“I can come, too.” Slinging the towel around her shoulders, she finger-combed her hair.
“You know how to put down a gym floor?” Zane asked, remembering how she had stayed outside in the rain and held the ladder for them.
“No, but maybe I could do something else.”
He grinned. “I appreciate the thought, but we’ll take care of it.”
“Then let me get y’all two slickers to use.”
“That, I will accept.” Zane took their towels and put them on the counter.
Kim came back a minute later with two yellow ones and gave each of them one. “Were you able to finish the roof?”
“Yup and this rain will be a good test to see what kind of job we did today.” Zane shrugged into the slicker.
His father headed toward the door to the gallery. “I’ll be out in the truck.”
“Mr. Davidson,” Kim called out. When his father paused and glanced back, she walked to him and continued. “Thanks for your help. If you hadn’t, we’d still have part of our roof off. If I can return the favor, please let me know.”
His father lowered his gaze for a few seconds then reestablished eye contact with Kim. “It was my pleasure.” He opened the door, a gust of wind slamming it against the wall.
* * *
Kim grasped the door to shut it after Zane and his dad left. As she was swinging it closed, she caught Zane’s gaze. At his warm look, a few stones of the wall about her heart crumbled. She owed him more than money for his repairs, and she intended to pay him.
When the lock clicked into place, Kim leaned back against the door, rubbing her hands up and down her arms. The chill of the damp wind had burrowed into her. But then she visualized Zane’s last glance, and the cold melted.
Maggie entered the game room. “I can’t believe we don’t have to put the pans out to catch the leaking water.”
“And then listen to the drip, drip. I can see why people think that’s a torturous sound, especially when we had so many. Is Dad in his room?”
“No, I’m right here.” Kim’s father shuffled into the room. “I’m just glad it’s quiet now.”
At that moment, lightning flashed, followed almost immediately by thunder. Kim pressed her lips together to keep from laughing at the irony of it.
But it didn’t stop Maggie from saying, “That’s not my idea of quiet. We need to be extra thankful tonight for a dry place. I came home for lunch, and Zane and his crew didn’t even want to stop to eat.”
Her dad grumbled something under his breath.
Kim balled her hands into fists, her fingernails cutting into her palms. “I’ve had enough of your attitude. Zane didn’t have to help us. He chose to because that’s the kind of man he is. You staying in your room and hiding was wrong. You taught me better than that when I was growing up. What are you afraid of?”
His eyes grew round. He drew himself up taller, lifting his chin a notch. “I’m not afraid.”
“You’re striking out at someone who doesn’t deserve it. That usually means a person is afraid of something.”
“People don’t change. I remember how he was fifteen years ago. His father—”
Kim held up her palm. “Stop. His father was one of the men up there fixi
ng our roof, staying even when it started to rain so it could be finished. People do change. I have. Zane has. He isn’t the same as he was when he was nineteen.”
“How do you know that for sure?” He gripped the edge of the counter nearby.
“I just do.”
“At church, Zane and Gideon are doing a great job with the younger kids in the eight- to twelve-year-old youth group.” Maggie walked toward the door. “I’ll leave you two to talk.”
“Stay, Maggie. I’m leaving.” Her father pivoted and headed out of the room.
When he left, Kim sank into the chair near her, her body quaking. “I shouldn’t have said anything, but I’m so tired of being in the middle. Dad isn’t usually this unbending.”
Maggie sat across from her. “I think you’re right. He’s scared.”
“Of what?”
“Losing you.”
“To Zane? That’s not going to happen. Our time has passed.”
“Do you really think that?”
“I wouldn’t say it if I didn’t think it. After Scott, I’m in no hurry to be in another marriage. Although I do feel Zane has changed, he did leave me years ago. Anna doesn’t need any more disruptions in her life.”
“Just Anna?”
“Okay, me, too. We’ll get this house fixed up, and our life will settle back into its usual routine from before the hurricane.”
Maggie stared at her. “You believe that?”
“What? That our lives will improve when we aren’t living in a couple of rooms in this house?”
“Nope. That the house is the answer to all your problems.”
“I know it’s not going to be the answer to all of them, but you’ve got to admit it will make life a little less hectic. I feel like everything in my life is a mess like this house.”
“Maybe your life feels like it’s a mess because you haven’t attended church much these past few years. If you don’t want to go to Hope Community Church because of Zane, find another one. The Lord has a way of helping us straighten out our messes. And Anna should join the youth group.”
Love Runs Deep (New Beginnings Book 7) Page 8