A Farm Fresh Romance Series 1-3 (A Farm Fresh Romance Box Set)

by Valerie Comer

  “We’re glad to have you back as a vet. Oft times a man with a family needs a job as well as the farm to make a go. Still, there’s no life like it.”

  Was the county’s entire population ganging up on him? “Now you sound like my mom.” Zach tried to smile. “I’ve tried to convince them to sell out, too. Especially since my father got sick. But they can’t imagine living anywhere else.”

  “I was real sorry to hear about your dad. Rumor has it they’ve traced that bug to the feedlot?”

  Zach nodded. “I don’t know they can prove it, though.”

  Gary stared at the Leask spread and shook his head. “See why I need to get off this land? Just can’t trust that man and how he runs his op.” Then he looked back at Zach. “But I hear your dad’s getting better?”

  “Yes, but not as quickly as his doctors hoped.”

  Gary shot him a sympathetic look. “Sorry to hear that.”

  “Yeah, me too.” If only Dad hadn’t taken ill when he had. Then, by the time Dad was ready to retire, Zach would have been well settled somewhere else and the pressure to take over in Galena Landing wouldn’t have been as great. Or even if Dad had contracted the illness a few years later. Remorse flooded Zach. Oh, man. He’d never seen himself as selfish before this, but it was hard to push the guilty thought aside.

  “Since those Green Acres girls moved to the area, I’ve been doing more thinking about how farming should be done. Feedlot there is just plain wrong.” Gary stared pensively across the fence. “But we were guilty of a lot of wrongdoing, too, Emma and I. Casting a blind eye to where our food was coming from. You’ll never believe it, but we raise beef cattle here and still bought all our meat from Super One. Too lazy to keep a calf back every year and grow it out for our family. We’d been selling to the same corporations as Leask.”

  Had Jo—those girls—infected everyone? Zach swallowed back frustration.

  “Emma hadn’t grown a garden in years. Too busy. She works at the feed store in town, you know. But she came home from that meeting last month at the church all determined to plant vegetables again.” Gary pointed toward the farmhouse. “Things are sprouting up all over her garden. Want to see?”

  Not really. The mention of the neighboring women had turned the entire conversation sour in Zach’s mouth, but he needed a good escape.

  Briiiiing. Saved by the cell.

  “Not this time. I’ve got to get back to the clinic. Full docket this afternoon.” Zach reached in his pocket for his phone.

  “Thanks for stopping by. You’re a busy man.” Gary turned away.

  Zach checked the caller ID. Yvette? No way was he answering this one, but if the cell kept ringing, Gary would wonder why. Zach thumbed the phone on, then off. He hiked over to the Mustang, climbed in, and pulled out of the farmyard.

  Why would she call him? Hadn’t she made it clear enough she was now involved with Garth Draper? It had been obvious how little she cared the night he’d proposed. Thank God she’d turned him down. Not that he wanted to think about God, either.

  The list of thoughts to avoid was growing. Didn’t want to think about God, or Yvette, or the farm, or his dad, or his grandmother’s dementia. Or Jo. Especially not about Jo.

  Chapter 22

  “There, Mrs. Humbert!” Jo balanced a cafeteria tray across her cast arm as she edged into the room. “I brought you a piece of rhubarb crisp.”

  The old lady sat in her wheelchair beside the open window. Birds and butterflies flitted amongst tulips in the courtyard just beyond. She turned at Jo’s words and smiled a greeting. “Do come in, my dear. Rhubarb. Now that’s a treat.”

  Jo beamed, thrilled to have caught Zach’s grandmother on a rare good day. She set the tray on the side table. “It’s from your old place. Are you the one who planted it there?”

  “My John dug those in. Not so many people in the mountains like the taste. They say it’s too tart, but John grew up on the plains where it was much prized. I grew to love it, too, the first fruits of spring.”

  Jo squeezed Mrs. Humbert’s shoulder and sat down around the corner of the table. “I’m so glad he did. We’re enjoying it very much, and looking forward to the other fruit, too. What on earth did you do with six long rows of raspberries?”

  Mrs. Humbert looked thoughtfully at Jo.

  Was she really in there today? She slid in and out of the present seamlessly.

  “People came for you-pick,” she said at last. “And I froze lots. Rosemary taught me to make the raspberry vinegar.”

  Raspberry vinegar? Rosemary had served it that day on the veranda. Refreshing. “I’ll have to get the recipe from her.”

  “Sweet is good,” Mrs. Humbert mused. “But too much is too much. The vinegar gives it a bit of tang, you know? Both are needed for balance.”

  Jo laughed. “Like the rhubarb. I can’t imagine it without some honey to pull back the tanginess. But some people want only sweet.” Did she have too much vinegar for a guy like Zach?

  Mrs. Humbert’s gaze drifted from Jo to the bowl in front of her, and she startled. Must have forgotten Jo had set it there. She picked up the fork and stabbed into the treat.

  Jo resisted the impulse to reach out and steady the trembling fingers. Something caught her eye, or the lack of something. “Where are your rings, Mrs. Humbert?”

  The elderly woman held up her hands and looked from one to the other.

  Jo squeezed her hands and guided them back to the table. “Your wedding rings. From John.”

  “Oh.” Mrs. Humbert picked up the fork again. “Rosemary took them. They kept sliding off. John said we should get them resized.”

  Jo nudged the bowl of rhubarb crisp closer, her heart twisting at the thought of Zach’s grandmother having to give up her link to her husband. What had happened to her own grandmother’s rings?

  “I wish I’d known my own grandparents better.” The words were out before Jo was aware she’d spoken them.

  Mrs. Hubert cast a glance her direction and a clump of fruit, already precariously balanced, landed in her lap.

  “Oh, I’m sorry.” Jo sprang for a napkin and cleaned up the spot. “I shouldn’t have distracted you.”

  “That’s fine, my dear. I’ll finish this and you tell me about your grandmother.” She eyed the bowl in front of her and zeroed in for another load.

  Jo couldn’t bear to watch. “My grandparents had a small farm not far north of here in Canada. My mother and I lived with them until I was ten. Then Mom married Brad and we moved to California. About a year later my grandparents’ old house caught fire. The wiring or something. Both of them died.” She’d tried to keep the words unadorned with emotion, but her voice quivered at the end, much like Mrs. Humbert’s fork. “I missed them so much. Mom didn’t let me go with her to the funeral. She said I was too young.”

  Mrs. Humbert chased a piece of rhubarb around the bowl, trying to corral it. “She was trying to do what was best for you.”

  “That’s what she said.” Jo sniffled and blinked back tears. “What she keeps saying, actually. She still thinks she ought to run my life, but she’s wrong.”

  The old lady paused in her mission to eye Jo. “You harbor resentment, my dear.”

  Oh, now that was an understatement. “I shouldn’t have burdened you with that, Mrs. Humbert. I’m sorry. Here, let me help you with that bite.” She captured the spoonful and helped the old woman grasp the utensil.

  Mrs. Humbert swallowed. “Bitterness hurts the bearer more than the recipient. I’ve found when I hold a grudge I can’t find peace with God. Are you a believer, my dear?”

  Jo nodded, the words piercing her heart.

  “Then God wants you to forgive your mother.”

  “But she isn’t sorry. In fact, today I had an email from her demanding I come back to California and head up my stepfather’s new organics division. She’s certain, just because I believe in nutrition, I’ll run on back there and do what she wants.”

  Mrs. Humbert’s cloudy eyes fo
cused on Jo’s face. “Have you prayed about it?” She wiped her shaky hands on the napkin then dropped it.

  “I don’t need to. I know what God wants of me, and it isn’t that.” Jo snagged the napkin off the floor, crumpled it, and tossed it in the trash. Then she picked up the bowl.

  “Going so soon?”

  Jo slumped back into the seat, tears burning her eyes. She’d been so testy lately. “I’m sorry. I have my life mapped out. I know what I need to do.”

  The old woman nodded slowly. “You like to control things.”

  “I wouldn’t put it that way.” But so many other people would—and had. From Sierra to Rosemary. To Zach. Only he’d said so much more. Had she possibly deserved his accusations?

  Mrs. Humbert’s pale, cool hand covered Jo’s, still trembling lightly.

  Jo squeezed back.

  “I will pray for you, my dear. God loves your zeal, I’m sure, but He wants your heart.”

  “Thanks.” Jo only hoped Mrs. Humbert would stay lucid long enough to make good her promise. She stumbled for the door, needing to clock off work and head home. Needing, at least, some space to think.

  Used to be easy to submit to God. The desire to walk lightly on the planet was like a beacon in Jo’s soul she knew came from Him. But Zach? That seemed to be a desire with little to no confirmation from the heavens.

  That made her angry. Frustrated. And so it went in circles in her head, pressure building up until she felt it would burst, splattering brain cells everywhere.

  Moments later she exited the care facility, hoping Sierra had remembered the promise to pick her up. She scanned the parking lot and froze. Sierra was there, all right. She’d parked the Golf right next to Zach’s black convertible. She stood behind the vehicles with him. Nudging Zach with her elbow. Tipping her head back in laughter. His deep chuckle mixed with Sierra’s light giggle.

  Jo choked down the snake of jealousy. Nice they could enjoy each other’s company. She stalked over to the hatchback and tossed her bag in the open window.

  “Hi, Jo.” Zach’s voice close behind startled her.

  She turned slowly. “Hello.” Looked up, afraid to meet his gaze, but finally did. Uncertainty lurked in his deep brown eyes. Yeah, well. She’d seen him with Sierra. She took a deep breath. “Your grandmother is doing very well today. I’m sure she’ll be glad to see you.” Maybe he’d get the message that she, Jo, wasn’t. Whatever. She pulled the car door open and slid inside.

  Sierra climbed into the driver’s side and leaned across Jo to wave at Zach through Jo’s window. “See you later, Zach. I’m so glad I ran into you.”

  Jo’s jaw clenched and she stared straight ahead. I just bet you are.

  The few seconds before the car pulled away from the curb seemed like eternity. Jo shot a sideways glance at Zach as he turned and headed in Galena Hills’ sliding doors.

  “What’s the matter with you?” demanded Sierra.

  “Nothing.”

  “Nice try. I know you better than that.”

  Yeah, she did. And she ought to know what was wrong without Jo needing to spell it out. But she would if she had to. “You seem awfully comfy with Zach.”

  “Jealous, are we?” Sierra’s voice held a glint of humor.

  “I didn’t say that.”

  “Oh, come on, Jo. Lighten up. You sent the guy packing, which means he’s fair game. Not that I have designs on him, mind you. I’m just saying.”

  She called this game fair? Not a chance.

  **

  If only Zach hadn’t been detained by Gary Waterman. Or run into Sierra in the parking lot. He might have made it inside the facility before Jo got off work. Not that he’d have found her with Grandma, of course, though Grandma said Jo had brought her rhubarb crisp minutes earlier. He’d leave the bag of organic chocolates in Grandma’s drawer and see if she remembered to offer some to Jo.

  Back home at the end of a long day, Zach stepped out of the car and stretched in the late afternoon sun. The sweet scent of apple blossoms wafted over him, soothing away some of his stress. The city never smelled this good. And come summer and autumn, this entire mixed orchard would provide fruit of all kinds. He remembered a berry-stained face and clothes as a youngster, and picking an apple on his way to the school bus. Those were the days.

  The back door swung open and his mom appeared on the veranda, wreathed in a huge smile. “Zachary, guess what! Your father is being released on Friday.”

  Zach pocketed the keys to his car and ruffled Domino’s ears. Old Pete, lying on the deck, thumped a greeting with his tail as Zach came up the steps. “That’s great. You driving to the city to get him, or do you need me to?”

  Mom threw her arms around him. “You couldn’t leave until after work. We’ll manage.”

  Whoa, was she crying? Zach patted her back. “Hey, it’s okay.”

  “It is now.” She blinked back tears and beamed at him. “It’s been such a huge ordeal and I’ve missed him so much.” She pulled out of Zach’s arms and opened the screen door.

  Zach couldn’t help himself. “It’s not over yet. It’s not like he’s the same as he was before he got sick. He can barely get around.”

  “He’s the same inside. You think all the rest of it matters? Not really. He’ll be home where he belongs.”

  Someday he wanted a love like his parents had. A love that wasn’t based on good looks—though his mom was a real cutie in the old photos—but on something more enduring. If he were honest with himself he hadn’t been looking in the right places. That’s where he’d gone wrong with Yvette. He’d taken on that relationship without thought to the future. Apparently there was still unfinished business or Yvette wouldn’t have called him. Was it too much to hope she’d forget to phone again?

  Jo’s words echoed in his mind. She’d never date someone she couldn’t see marrying. He was one of those people, but he couldn’t keep her out of his head. She hadn’t looked so happy to see him in the Galena Hills parking lot. Why did his subconscious not seem to get the memo there was no future with her?

  Why did he even want one? His life would never be comfortable with her. For one thing, he’d probably never get to eat a burger again. Though if they were made out of sick cattle like Leask’s, maybe he didn’t want to.

  Jo wouldn’t have let that happen. She wouldn’t have settled for a few phone calls and being told there was nothing the authorities could do as the sale was legal. Jo would have gone out there and given Leask a piece of her mind. Probably she’d have stopped the truck even if she’d had to lie in the dirt in front of it. She wouldn’t have given up like he had.

  But he couldn’t do everything. Could he?

  “Zach?”

  He pulled himself back to the moment and allowed the screen door to smack shut behind him. “Sorry. What was that you said?”

  His mother shook her head. “Wow, you were not even here. I asked if you could help me set things up for Dad in the living room. I think stairs are a bit beyond him just yet.”

  “Um, sure. Want me to do the chores first?”

  Mom smiled. “Please do. And take Domino. He’s antsy today.”

  Zach grinned at the pup, who licked his fingers then bounded down the steps beside him. His mom went back in the house and the screen door snapped shut.

  His phone rang again, and he pursed his lips as he checked the display. Yvette. At least this was a better time to talk to her. Why couldn’t she leave him alone, though?

  Finally, on the fifth ring, he answered.

  “Zach, how are you?” All breezy and pleasant, like nothing had happened.

  He wasn’t going to fall for it. “Fine.”

  “When will you be back in Coeur d’Alene? I’ve missed you.”

  Whoa. Where had that come from? Once he’d have done anything to hear those words. “Not sure, why?” He wished he’d bitten the question back, but it was too late. She’d heard.

  “Some things have come up.” She hesitated.

  “Wh
at, Draper dump you?”

  “Very funny, Zach.” But she didn’t laugh. “Just thought you might like to know you’re going to be a father.”

  Zach jerked to a halt in the middle of the barnyard, seeing nothing around him. His blood pressure shot sky-high. “That would be a bit tricky, wouldn’t it? Being as we never had sex?”

  Yvette laughed. “Like anyone would believe that.”

  “Anyone who knows me would believe me. If you got yourself knocked up, Yvette, blame Draper. Don’t drag me into it. I’m innocent as you well know.”

  “It’s hard to blame Draper, as you so eloquently put it, when I’m farther along than that.”

  Zach willed control over himself, over his words. He even caught himself praying. “I seem to recall you were sleeping with some other guy while dating me. Call him.” If she’d been standing in front of him, he’d have been hard put not to wring her pretty neck.

  “No one would believe that, either.”

  Yeah, right. Once it had become obvious what kind of girl she was, he should have guessed something like this. “Yvette, I’m not the father of your child. You are the one who kicked me out of your life, not the other way around. Don’t come crying to me again. You made the mess, you deal with it.”

  “If that’s all the support I get out of you, I’ll have to abort. Sorry, but I can’t raise a child on my own.”

  His heart plummeted. “Yvette, this is not my baby. You know it.” No way could he marry her now. He didn’t want to, whether or not he could ever smooth things out with Jo. Whether or not he wanted to get together with the little spitfire. He’d seen Yvette for what she was—a manipulating opportunist—but this current trick was beyond his understanding. Yet, send an innocent baby to death? She was such a liar. Surely she didn’t mean this. But what if she did?

  “Zach?”

  His hands shook. His whole body shook. “What? Did you say something?”

  “I need to talk to you. When are you coming to Coeur d’Alene?”