“It’s been a long day.” Her lips tingled with the knowledge of how close he was to her. A dip of his head and their mouths could meet in a kiss. She wanted him to kiss her.
And when he bent forward slightly, he gave her a quick one on the tip of her nose. “See you tomorrow.” He released his hold on her and strode toward the door out onto the upstairs gallery.
Disappointment unfolded in Kim and spread through her. Friends. That was all they were, and she needed to remember that. She had to put a halt on her developing feelings for Zane. He’d left her and the town once, and if his plans for the foundation worked out as he hoped, he would leave again.
Chapter Eight
“How did the campaign planning go tonight?” his father asked when Zane came into the house twenty minutes later that evening.
“You should have come.” Zane checked the mail on the counter—mostly junk, which he tossed into the trash and kept the one bill.
“No, I don’t see me doing something like that. I would like to see Ruth as our mayor, though.”
“Great. She’d love your vote. I’ve been thinking about something.”
His dad muted the TV show he was watching and focused on Zane. “So have I. I appreciate you giving me a job, but I don’t want you to feel obligated to hire your own father. If I don’t carry my own weight, I need you to tell me. I don’t want to be a charity case.”
Zane dropped into the lounge chair across from the couch, tired from the fast pace of his day. “You aren’t. I need your help. In fact, I want to see if you’ll work for Kim repairing their upstairs while I get the school finished. Then I’ll be able to put a couple of other men on it, too.” His dad’s expression remained neutral so he hurriedly added, “It would only be about two weeks. I’ll even come over in the evening and do some myself. I’m going to check tomorrow night. She said something about a wiring problem.”
“I’m not an electrician. I can do plumbing and general construction.”
“I know. I’ll work on the wiring if you can do the rest until I have more men.”
“Why does it have to be finished so quickly?”
“Because her father is having trouble dealing with the destruction to his family home. Every time I see him, I sense that. I can see it in his face, like he’s lost. If I can restore his home, he may start to recover.”
“Son, you don’t owe that man anything.”
“But I do owe Kim. I left her. Not the other way around.”
“She found someone else.”
“But they’re divorced. Something went wrong because I know Kim’s feelings about marriage. She only wanted to get married one time. No divorce.” What had happened with her and Scott? The man had fit every criteria her family would have thought important.
“Sometimes what seems good on the surface isn’t.”
Zane stared at the deep lines on his father’s face, put there by many years of drinking himself into forgetfulness. There had been a time when he’d first left Hope that he’d turned to alcohol until one day he woke up and didn’t know how he’d ended up passed out on a bench in Jackson Square. He’d glanced at another man in the same condition, trying to figure out where he was. He’d remembered seeing his father like that many times. That was when he started to turn his life around. He would not become his father and let what happened to him in the past rule his life to the point of self-destruction.
“Are you talking about Mom? Why did she leave us?”
“Because I wasn’t enough for her. She wanted something…different. I can’t really blame her. If I saw her now, I would apologize to her for what happened to our marriage.”
“But she left me, too.” For years, Zane had kept that bottled up inside of him and hadn’t said anything to his dad about her walking out.
His father studied a spot on the floor between them. “We had a big fight. I told her if she couldn’t accept me for who I was then to leave. And not come back. That you and I could get along just fine without her.” He raised his head and looked Zane in the eye. “She did. For a while she called to check up on you, but I wouldn’t tell her anything. I told her if she wanted to know she would have to come home. It was all my fault.”
Zane’s throat swelled with suppressed rage. “She could have come back to see me. She decided not to.” And in that moment, he realized he hadn’t forgiven his mother. After all he’d said to Kim about forgiving her and her father, he harbored anger toward his mother. No wonder he didn’t want to get married.
“Relationships can be complicated. I’ve not been very good at them. Look at ours.”
“That’s changing, Dad.”
“Only because I’m not drinking. What if I do? I’ve come close several times these past six months.”
“I’m here for you. You aren’t alone.”
His dad grinned. “That’s what our police chief says to me.”
“Will you help me with restoring Bienville?” Then maybe he would be totally free of the past. He had wronged Kim and wanted to right that.
“Yeah, son. It’s a beautiful old home. It’ll be a challenge to put it back to its former glory, but I think that’s a challenge I can help with.”
Zane stood. “Thanks. After I meet with Kim tomorrow night, you can get started. Good night.”
Zane strolled toward his bedroom, weariness sagging his shoulders. There weren’t enough hours in the day to do all he wanted to do.
* * *
“How did it go with Cody this afternoon?” Kim asked her father on the way home from seeing the counselor on Saturday.
“I know what you’re doing.”
She stopped at a light and slanted a glance toward him. “What?”
“You had Zane bring Cody on Wednesday so he could talk to me. You figured if I got to know him that I might talk to him about what’s wrong with me. Nothing is wrong with me except I have Parkinson’s disease.”
“What did Cody tell you?”
“We just talked about what was going on with the house. Not much else. Oh, yes, he showed me some relaxation treatments. Because I’m having sleeping problems, he wanted me to contact my doctor. I’m perfectly fine, though.”
“Getting only a few hours of sleep at night, not leaving the house much or even your room and often just lying in your bed staring at the ceiling are not normal. You’ve had to deal with a lot of stress over the past years with Mom’s death, losing the business and being diagnosed with Parkinson’s, not to mention the hurricane.” Kim caught sight of her purse with the envelope sticking out of it. “He wants you to sign a release so he can talk to your doctor about some medication to help you.”
“I take enough pills. I don’t want any more.”
Frustrated with his stubbornness, Kim tightened her grip on the steering wheel. “If you knew what I was doing, then why did you go today?”
“I may have an illness, but I’m not losing my mind. I knew if I didn’t go today, you would nag me until I agreed to go. I went as you wanted. Now drop it.”
Kim pulled into the long driveway leading to their home. “I never said you were losing your mind, and I know Cody didn’t, either. You’re stressed, and it’s taking a toll on you physically. You need help. I can’t say it any plainer than that.”
When she stopped in front of the house, her dad hurriedly opened the door and climbed out, saying, “I am not a kid. I’m your father. I will run my own life. I leave this place when I need to. I did today.” Then he slammed the door and strode toward the house.
The sound reverberated through the car. Kim closed her eyes and tried to relax. She couldn’t. Tension cloaked her as if it were a second skin—tension that was so much a part of her life lately.
She reached for her purse, her fingers brushing across the envelope with the release in it. The only other thing she could do was talk to her father’s physician and let him know what was going on. Dr. Blackman might have a way of persuading her dad to at least come in and see him, if not a counselor.
With her body feeling weighed down, she pried herself from the seat and headed for the house. When she entered and started for the staircase, loud voices penetrated her weariness and sent her hurrying up the steps to the second floor. She heard her father yelling in her old bedroom, the one Mr. Davidson was working on right now.
When she rushed into the room, she found her father in Mr. Davidson’s face, screaming for him to quit making so much noise and to get out of his house. Her dad trembled from head to toe, and his face turned blood-red. Mr. Davidson sent a silent plea to her as she approached them.
She wedged herself between the pair, Mr. Davidson quickly backing away as far as he could go. “Dad!”
Fury glazed his eyes. Her father’s mouth opened and closed, but no words came out.
She clasped his arms to try and steady him. “Calm down. Take deep breaths.”
“Stop babying me.” He yanked away and stumbled back.
Kim grabbed for him to stop him from going down, but she couldn’t catch him in time. He collapsed to the floor, curling himself up into a ball.
Rocking back and forth, he murmured, “I can’t take the noise. First the roof and now this.”
Kim swept toward Mr. Davidson and whispered, “You can use our phone in the game room. Call Zane. Let him know what has happened. Then if you can find Maggie, have her come in here. I think she’s in the garden out back.”
He nodded and quietly left, pausing in the doorway and throwing a look over his shoulder. Concern etched deeper lines into Zane’s dad’s face, reflecting how she felt.
She placed her arm around her father. “The noise has stopped. Listen. It’s quiet now.” She schooled her voice into a soothing tone she prayed reached him.
“What’s wrong with me? I’m not crazy. I’m not crazy.”
Maggie flew into the room, panting when she came to a halt next to Kim. “What do you need me to do?”
She rose and leaned toward Maggie to whisper in her ear, “Call Dr. Blackman and Cody. See if they can come here.”
“Okay.”
When Maggie left, Kim knelt again by her father. “I’ll help you up, and we can go to your room. All right?”
He nodded, tears running down his still-red cheeks.
Grasping him against her, she slowly made her way to his bedroom. His shaking trembled through her. When she entered, she headed straight for the bed and helped her dad sit down, then took the place next to him, her arm still about him while she held one of his hands.
“I’m not crazy. I just don’t…” His words ended on a sob, and he lowered his head until his chin touched his chest.
“I’m here to help, Dad. Let me. You need to let Dr. Blackman know what’s going on with you. Cody needs to talk to him. There’s nothing wrong with getting the help you need.” She’d discovered that when she’d ignored fifteen years of heartache to ask Zane to repair Bienville.
He buried his face in his shaky hands. “I feel like I’m falling apart.”
Maggie stepped into the entrance of the room and nodded her head, mouthing, “They’re coming.”
“Both Dr. Blackman and Cody are coming to help. Please let them.” Kim stroked his back, trying to convey a calm she didn’t feel inside. Seeing her father like this unnerved her more than when Scott walked away from their marriage. She’d known that was over when he’d refused to have anything to do with Anna. But she couldn’t give up on her dad.
“Where’s that release? I’ll sign it. Anything to stop this.” He directed his look at her. “I almost hit Tom Davidson. I just lost it.”
“Maggie, I left my purse with the release in my bedroom. Will you get it for me?”
Her cousin left, returning a minute later with Kim’s purse. Maggie gave it to her.
After digging in her bag for a pen, Kim unfolded the release and placed it on the hard surface of her purse for him to sign. Her dad scribbled his signature, then sank back on his bed. Closing his eyes, he laid his arm across his forehead and drew air in through his nose then released it through his pursed lips.
A bell chimed, indicating someone was at the upstairs back door in the game room. Maggie whirled around and went to answer the door. Kim rose and lifted her father’s legs onto the bed.
“Are you feeling better?” she asked him.
He inhaled and exhaled several more deep, relaxing breaths.
Kim glanced at the doorway. “Dr. Blackman is here to see you.”
The man entered, and Kim met him halfway across the room. She moved close to tell the doctor what happened with Mr. Davidson.
She was halfway through the description of what she saw when her father pushed himself up on his elbows and said, “You don’t have to whisper. It’s no secret that I screamed like a banshee at Tom for using his electric saw to fix my house—something that needs to be repaired and I want repaired. Charles, I lost it.”
“Let me check you out, then we’ll talk. It may be a good thing for you to go to the hospital.”
“No. No hospitals. My wife went to one and never returned home.”
“I’ll be in the game room, Dr. Blackman. Dad’s new counselor is coming. He and Dad talked today. He might have some insight.”
“Dr. Weston arrived when I did. I’ve worked with him concerning several of my patients.” The doctor walked to the bed and put his black bag on the table next to it.
Kim closed the door and went to the game room where Mr. Davidson, Zane, Maggie and Cody waited for her. Kim’s gaze shifted from one to the other, detecting worry in their expressions.
She bridged the distance to Tom Davidson. “I’m sorry for what happened in the bedroom. My father isn’t himself.”
“I know. I understand.”
For a long moment, the connection between her and Mr. Davidson remained as though no one else was in the room. Everything in the past didn’t matter anymore to Kim. She saw genuine sympathy in the older man’s eyes. Had some of what her father was experiencing been like what he’d gone through with his addiction to alcohol? The loss of control. The denial. The anger festering inside.
Zane appeared at her side. “How about you? Are you okay?”
“Honestly? I don’t know what I’m feeling right now. On the ride back from Cody’s office, we talked about what was going on, and he denied he had a problem.” Kim peered toward the counselor. “He refused to sign the release. At least in the car.” She held out the paper. “He did after he lost it. I hate that it took those actions to get him to acknowledge something is wrong, but maybe something good will come out of it.”
“I don’t know about y’all, but I could use a big cup of coffee.” Maggie strolled to the kitchen part of the room and began making a pot.
Kim sank onto the couch, wishing the soft cushions could swallow her up, shield her from what was going on. She was glad the kids were at friends’ houses today. The words spewing from her father’s mouth had burned her ears. She’d never imagined hearing him talk like that. He’d always been an example of a Southern gentleman, but the man in that room a while ago hadn’t been the father she knew.
While Kim rested her head on the back of the sofa, Zane, Cody and Mr. Davidson took a seat.
“Kim, what do you want us to do about making repairs?” Zane settled next to her on the couch.
“I don’t know. Dad wants the house back to the way it was. I think that will help him.”
“It’ll be hard to do without making noise.” Mr. Davidson crossed his legs and took the mug of coffee Maggie passed to him.
“I know. What do you think, Cody?” Kim straightened and picked up her drink that Maggie placed on the table next to her.
“Dr. Blackman may prescribe some medication for Keith, but that may take a while to get into his system. You might have to get creative or postpone having your house repaired, which I don’t think is a solution.”
“Part of the problem is that Dad has been cooped up in this house way too long. I need to get him out more.”
Maggie stood
behind Mr. Davidson and sipped her coffee. “Why not see if Ruth can help us? Uncle Keith has agreed to be her campaign manager. Maybe she can get him out of the house to work on her campaign.”
“I imagine you wouldn’t have to do it for long. He’s hypersensitive about things like sound and touch right now, but with the right medication, he’ll be able to cope.” Cody glanced toward the doorway.
Dr. Blackman came into the room. “I could use a cup of that great-smelling coffee.”
While Maggie went to fill him a mug, he sat in the last vacant chair and put his bag on the floor next to him.
“How’s Dad?”
“I’ve given him something to help him sleep. He’s exhausted. Why didn’t he tell me he wasn’t sleeping when I saw him a few weeks ago?”
“You know Dad. He hates to admit to anything being wrong. The insomnia has gotten worse in the past week or so.” It was about the time Zane had come back into their lives. Had she added to her father’s stress? All she’d wanted to do was make their situation better so her dad would become himself again. She peered toward Zane and became trapped in his dark blue eyes. She saw the same question in his gaze.
“Dr. Weston, I understand Keith signed a release for us to talk. Do you have a few minutes right now?”
“Yes.”
Kim rose. “We’ll leave you two alone, then.”
Zane came to his feet at the same time his father did. “I need to get back to the school. Dad, why don’t you come help me there?”
“Sure, son.”
Maggie left the house first and headed toward her garden. While Mr. Davidson descended the staircase, Zane remained on the landing.
He grasped Kim’s hand. “Dad really is okay about what happened.”
“I’m not. My dad scared me. I’ve never seen him like that. He doesn’t lose it.”
“We all have the capability to lose it at any time.”
“Yeah, that’s called stress, and it’s taking its toll on Dad.”
Pulling her to him, he held both of her hands, the only barrier between them. “How about you? What’s happening has to be affecting you, too.”
Love Runs Deep (New Beginnings Book 7) Page 10