by Nerys Leigh
“I’m sure you do.”
She glanced up at him, searching his face for any sign he’d noticed her slip. His expression gave away nothing, but she was sure he must have. She’d hardly done a good job of covering it up. She was usually more guarded with her words, but Zach had a way of drawing her out, just by being himself. She wasn’t lying to him or pretending to be someone she wasn’t. She felt safe with him. She hadn’t felt truly safe in a long time, not even with Clive.
They arrived at the church and joined the crowd of congregants slowly making their way inside. After no more than ten seconds, a little boy ran up to them, grasped Zach’s trouser leg, and tugged on it to get his attention.
Zach crouched in front of him. “Good morning, Nicky. Something I can do for you?”
“Do you have candy today?” Nicky took hold of Zach’s right hand and unfurled it, turning it over and over as if looking for something.
Zach opened his left hand to show him it was just as empty as the right. “Doesn’t look like it.”
Nicky let go of his hand and watched him expectantly.
“Anyway,” Zach said, “why are you asking me for candy when you already have some?”
He reached one empty hand behind Nicky’s ear. When he withdrew it, he held a small pink hard candy between his fingertips which he tapped lightly on the end of Nicky’s nose.
The little boy laughed and held out a hand to take the candy Zach dropped onto his palm, saying, “Thank you!” before turning and running off again.
Jo had watched street hustlers perform sleight of hand in New York and Zach was easily as good as any she’d seen, if not better. “That was very good. I didn’t even see you take the candy out. Where was it?”
He straightened and patted his left pocket. “I bring a bag every Sunday. You’ll see why.”
Even as he spoke, two more children approached. By the time they reached the church doors, he’d pulled hard candies from ears, noses, pockets, and on one occasion, a boot. His smile said it all, he clearly loved the delight his antics brought the children. He would make a wonderful father one day.
Jo’s hand had strayed unconsciously to her abdomen and she pulled it away. Those were impossible thoughts she wouldn’t entertain.
“I started out just for the practice, but now they expect it every week,” he said, watching the final little girl leave. “I don’t have the heart to disappoint them. Fortunately, there aren’t that many children here. When that changes, I may have to rethink things or I’ll be spending every cent I have on candy.” He looked at Jo and tilted his head to one side, frowning a little. “Wait a minute, what’s this?”
Leaning towards her, he reached around her shoulder, bringing his face enticingly close to hers. She fought the need to swallow, her heart dancing a rhythm against her ribs.
Smiling, he withdrew his hand and held up a candy in front of her face.
Suddenly aware of how public the situation was, she took a step back, plucked it from his fingers, and popped it into her mouth. “Thank you.”
“My pleasure.” He glanced towards the church doors and rubbed the back of his neck with one hand. “So I guess you’ll be wanting to sit with your friends in church.”
She wasn’t sure if it was a question or a statement. “I hadn’t really thought about it.” She looked around her, mostly so she wouldn’t have to meet his gaze. “Where will you be sitting?”
“I don’t have any specific sitting plans.” He pushed his hands into his pockets. “We could sit together, if you want.”
“I’d like that,” she replied, far too quickly. “I mean, we might as well.”
A smile tugged at his lips. “Might as well.”
Jo liked the Green Hill Creek Emmanuel Church. It was still the case that it made her feel uncomfortable, it being God’s house, but she nevertheless enjoyed the warm feel of the place, both the building and the people who worshipped there. The tall windows, cream coloured walls, and polished wooden floors were homey and welcoming. Her eyes went to the simple wooden cross on the wall at the front of the room. It had always struck her as odd that so much importance was placed on the symbol of how their Leader was killed, but then Christians were a strange bunch.
She glanced at Zach beside her. Nice, but strange.
She spotted Amy on the other side of the room and waved. Amy waved back, grinning at the sight of Zach sitting with her. She nudged Sara beside her and said something which set Sara to waving and grinning too. Jo was going to be fending off questions about Zach at their lunch today. She’d need to put some thought into what she was going to say, so her friends wouldn’t get the wrong idea about the two of them.
She and Zach found seats halfway along the aisle and sat. He bowed his head in silent prayer and Jo glanced around the room, noticing a few frowns and whispers sent her way. It wasn’t unexpected, but she was a little surprised it had happened so quickly. She’d only done one shift in the saloon so far. Or maybe it was because of her marriage being annulled. The gossip grapevine grew strong and vigorously in this town, as she well knew from her friends’ experiences.
“Maybe you shouldn’t sit with me,” she said quietly when Zach raised his head.
His brows drew together. “Why not?”
She nodded behind them. “People are looking at us. I think word has spread that I’m working in the saloon.”
He glanced around and the prying eyes rapidly darted away. “Let’s get one thing straight,” he said, returning his gaze to her, “no one in this town dictates what I do except for me. And maybe my pa. And Mrs. Sanchez. And Mr. Sanchez, if it doesn’t interfere with any orders from Mrs. Sanchez. And Mr. Vernon, when I’m working. But apart from that, I’m my own man and I do what I want, no matter what anyone else who should be minding their own business thinks. And what I want to do right now is sit next to the prettiest woman in town.”
Jo couldn’t stop her smile. She almost had to sit on her hands to keep from throwing her arms around him.
“But Mrs. Goodwin always sits with Mr. Goodwin,” Zach went on, “so you’ll have to do.”
She burst into laughter, clamping both hands over her mouth to muffle the sound.
He smiled, his eyes shining, and all of a sudden it no longer mattered to her what anyone else thought. Elephants couldn’t have dragged her from his side.
That probably wasn’t a good thing, but at that moment she couldn’t bring herself to worry about it in the slightest.
Chapter 20
It was Tuesday, three days after Jo started her job at the saloon, when Mr. Vernon walked through the front door of the hotel.
Zach rapidly closed the book he was reading and threw it onto the shelf beneath the reception desk, his hand automatically going to his collar. He had a habit of unfastening the top buttons without being aware he was doing it. Thankfully, his shirt was still buttoned all the way up.
“Sir, what can I do for you?” he said, smiling his best fake smile.
“Is Miss Carter here?”
Worry erupted in the pit of his stomach. “No, she’s, uh, out on an errand.”
A single eyebrow rose towards Mr. Vernon’s receding hairline. “You mean she’s at the saloon.”
Mrs. Vernon. She had spies everywhere in her never-ending quest for juicy gossip.
Zach swallowed. “Yes, sir.”
Mr. Vernon heaved a longsuffering sigh, which was ridiculous because the man was filthy rich and had probably never suffered a day in his life. “Mr. Parsons, when you came and begged me to allow her to stay in my hotel in exchange for room and board, I agreed on the understanding that she was respectable. Working in the saloon is not a respectable occupation for a woman. Very far from it.”
Begged? Zach didn’t remember begging. “Sir, she’s not... doing that. She’s working as a bartender, that’s all. She needs the money. You know it’s not easy to find a job in town right now, especially for a woman.”
“Be that as it may, a woman who works in a saloon,
whatever she’s doing there, is not the kind of person I will tolerate working in this hotel.”
Zach knew he shouldn’t argue, but he couldn’t help himself. “Half the men around here go in that saloon. Pretty sure some of them are employees of yours.”
The frown Mr. Vernon had brought in with him deepened. “You know very well that’s not the same. They’re men.”
“And because she’s a woman, you think she should be held to higher standards? I think that says less about her and more about us, don’t you?”
He knew he’d gone too far when Vernon’s voice became ominously soft. “You seem to be under the impression that this is a debate.”
Zach took an unconscious step back. He wanted to plead Jo’s case more than anything, but he couldn’t risk losing his own job in a futile attempt to make Vernon see reason. “I’m sorry, sir. It’s just, she has nowhere else to go.”
It was a lie, he knew of several people who would give her a place to stay, but he didn’t want her to leave the hotel. He wanted her here, where he got to see her every day, several times a day. Where he had an excuse to spend lunch and supper and, at a stretch, breakfast with her. Where he got to see her during his break and before he went home at night.
“She is welcome to stay in the hotel as a guest,” Mr. Vernon said.
Zach had to bite his tongue to keep from replying. The man knew perfectly well that Jo wouldn’t be able to afford the room.
“Kindly inform Miss Carter that I wish to see her,” Vernon continued. “She can come to the bank tomorrow morning.”
Sighing, Zach closed his eyes. “Yes, sir.” He glared at his boss’ back as he walked out, muttering, “Judgemental oaf,” when he was sure he wouldn’t be heard.
What was he going to do now?
~ ~ ~
Zach usually looked forward to walking Jo home from the saloon as one of the highlights of his day. Not this day though.
He carefully tapped a nail into the loose panel on the dining room wall and reached for another.
How was he going to break the news that the job he’d got for her, not to mention the room in the hotel she’d only two days before thanked him for, was about to be snatched away? Surely there was some way to stop it from happening, some way to persuade Vernon to allow her to stay. Even some way to force him to...
Zach almost hit his own thumb. Of course! Why hadn’t he remembered that before?
Dropping the hammer, he ran through to the kitchen where Mrs. Sanchez and Ana were beginning preparations for the restaurant’s supper menu. “Do you know where Javier is? I need him to cover reception for ten minutes.”
Ana looked up from the potatoes she was peeling. “Last I saw him, he was with Papá out back.”
He called, “Thanks!” as he dashed for the back door.
With Javier on reception, Zach left the hotel and sprinted down the road, dodging horses and wagons and surprised pedestrians. Five minutes later, he arrived at his father’s livery stable.
George leaped to his feet, startled, when Zach burst in. “What’s wrong?!”
It was a few seconds before Zach could get the words out. He needed to run more often. He was getting soft. “Nothing.” He took a few panting breaths. “Well, not nothing, but nothing really bad. Although it is fairly bad, for me anyway. But I’m hoping you can help.”
George folded his arms. “All right. Although you are going to need to start making sense first.”
Zach dropped onto the chair his father had vacated. “You know when I first started working at the hotel and you said that if I ever had any trouble with Mr. Vernon, I should tell you and you’d deal with it?”
He frowned. “What have you done?”
Zach threw his hands into the air. “Why does everyone assume I’ve done something wrong?”
His father stared at him.
“Well, this time I haven’t,” he said. “But I need your help.”
~ ~ ~
Zach glanced at the clock on the wall for what was probably the hundredth time, his heel clicking a nervous rhythm on the floor behind the reception desk. Six more minutes and he’d have to leave to fetch Jo from the saloon.
Heaving a sigh, he resumed polishing the cutlery arrayed on the shelf behind the desk. Since, with hardly any people staying there, working reception didn’t involve that much actual work for a lot of the day, he helped out in other aspects of the hotel’s running too. They all did.
Five minutes.
“Sorry, Jo,” he murmured, “I failed. But I’ll help you move your things.” He shook his head. “Hey, Jo, guess what! You won’t have to see my face around all the time anymore.” He sighed again at the possibility she’d think that a good thing. “Jo, I know I won’t be nearby anymore, but could I come see you anyway? I’ll be here at nine, ten, eleven, noon...”
“Talking to yourself, Mr. Parsons?” Mr. Vernon said from the doorway.
Zach almost dropped the spoon he was polishing. “No, sir. I mean, yes, sir. Sort of.”
He put the spoon down and watched his boss approach with trepidation. Mr. Vernon looked unhappy. Given the circumstances, Zach wasn’t sure if that was good or bad.
“I have had cause to... reconsider my decision to let Miss Carter go,” Mr. Vernon said as he reached the desk, his face pinched as if saying the words pained him. “So I will no longer require her to see me tomorrow.”
It was a full five seconds before Zach recovered enough to speak. “Uh, thank you, sir.”
“I would remind you that your position here is not set in stone. You are a good worker, and honest, but I am in charge. If you question my decisions again, I will be forced to think very carefully about whether you should remain in my employ.”
“Yes, sir. I won’t, sir. Thank you, sir.”
His boss fixed him with a stare that had Zach squirming, then turned and left without another word.
A grin immediately erupted on Zach’s face and he punched both fists into the air. “Yes! Thank you, Pa!”
“What are you so happy about?” Javier strolled from the direction of the dining room.
“Life is good, Javi. God is good. Everything’s good!”
He took off his jacket and tossed it to Javier who shrugged it on. It was a little too big, the younger man’s shoulders not having grown into the broadness of full adulthood yet, but it did in a pinch. Javier had his own uniform, but he rarely had his jacket with him. He hated the thing.
Javier took his place behind the desk. “You are strange.”
Zach danced out into the lobby and jigged across the floor towards the door. “Maybe, but I’m happy and strange!”
He reached the saloon early and went straight inside. Jo looked surprised to see him as he walked up to the bar, but not unhappy. He was certainly happy to see her, and ecstatic that he would continue to see her every day, as many times as he could get away with.
“You’re early,” she said, placing a clean glass on the shelf behind her.
He rested his elbows on the bar and grinned. “I know.”
“You also look like the cat that ate the canary.”
“I’m just happy, is all.” He couldn’t stop smiling.
She laughed softly and shook her head. “In all my days, I’m not sure I’ve ever met anyone who smiled more than you.”
“Well, maybe it’s the company I keep.” He was thrilled to see a slight tinge of pink blossom on her cheeks. “Listen, could you give me ten minutes? I need to go and ask my pa something, but I want to walk you home.”
“Sure, I’ll wait. Don’t be too long though, or I may have to ask one of these fine gentlemen to escort me.”
He turned to look around the room, gauging the competition. He probably didn’t have anything to worry about. But still...
“Don’t you dare. Escorting you is my job. I’ll be quick.” He flashed her another smile and hurried back outside, setting off at a jog for the livery.
“He said you’d be coming,” Amy said when he walked i
n the door. “He’s out back. What did you do?”
Zach rolled his eyes. “Nothing!”
He found his father in the corral behind the livery, checking Eagle’s left front hoof.
“Everything settled with Mr. Vernon?” George said without looking up.
Zach gave Eagle’s neck a rub. “He said he’d reconsidered firing Jo, although he didn’t seem too happy about it. What did you do?”
“Nothing. I just appealed to his better nature.”
Better nature. Right. “That’s the worst lie I’ve ever heard.”
George waved him over. “Can you see anything in here? He’s been limping.”
“Left your reading glasses at home again, didn’t you.” He leaned over to peer at the hoof. “I think there’s a stone. Give me the pick.”
“How do you know I’m lying?” George held Eagle’s hoof steady while Zach gently probed around the tiny buried pebble.
“Because Vernon doesn’t have a better nature.” He manoeuvred the pick around and the small pebble popped out and bounced onto the ground. “Looks clear now. No bruising that I can see.”
George lowered the hoof. “I’ll clean it up and give it a trim.”
Zach crossed his arms. “So how did you get him to let Jo stay?”
He straightened and walked to the water pump. “Let’s just say that I know something that gives me a little leeway with him. And it’s best you don’t know more than that, so don’t ask.”
Zach looked out at the horses in the field beyond the corral. “Leeway with the all-powerful Mr. Vernon, huh? Can’t you even give me a clue?”
“Nope.”
“Well, what if you get sick and die? Will you tell me on your deathbed?”
George carried the bucket of water and a clean rag over to Eagle. “I promise I will tell you on my deathbed.”
“But what if you die suddenly, like in an accident?”
“Then the secret will die with me.” He placed the bucket down and lifted Eagle’s foot.
“But I’m your only offspring! Don’t you want me to have it, for me and your future grandchildren? It could be part of my inheritance.”