by Tina Leonard
Zach closed his eyes for a moment against the distress he heard in her voice. “I can’t forgive you when you’ve done nothing to me, Annie. You’ve given me so much more than I’ve been able to give you. I…I need to see you, Annie.”
There. He’d finally put words to the feelings that had been circling around his heart since he’d met her. They were free now, free from the secure prison he’d kept them in. It was so very true. He did need to see her, to press her against him, hold her tight.
He just plain needed Annie.
“I don’t think it’s a good idea, Zach.”
“Oh. Of course not, you’ve been so busy today. I have business I need to take care of in Desperado. I could drive down tomorrow just as well—”
“Zach, listen to me. I really appreciate you calling. It means a lot to me that you care. And I know you had nothing to do with the fire. But, I just can’t see you. I’m sorry.”
And very softly, he heard a click. Zach stared, devastated, as he realized Annie had just severed their connection.
“What the hell was that all about?” Carter was pulling on his clothes as fast as he could. LouAnn was dressing too, putting on the black bra with pointed cups and the black garter belt and stockings he’d leisurely removed from her body with his teeth and exploring tongue. Right now, he wanted the woman to get dressed quickly. Any desire he’d been feeling had hit the road during Zach’s inopportune phone call.
It was time to use his wits to save his ass.
“I don’t know how Zach figured us out,” LouAnn said, sounding breathless and worried. “You don’t suppose Judy snitched?”
“No way. She’s too afraid for her job. Her mother’s in the hospital with some cancer thing and Judy’s footing the bills, so she wouldn’t dare open her mouth,” he said carelessly, his mind mulling over his plans.
LouAnn straightened in the act of connecting sheer stocking to lace garter. “You threatened her job knowing her mother was ill?”
Carter grinned. “Love me for it, honey?”
She pulled the low-cut dress over her head, ensuring that she didn’t muss her tresses, and smoothed it down over her body. “Not at all. You’re lower than a snake’s belly to do that.”
Carter grabbed LouAnn’s arm, squeezing it a bit. “You didn’t mind knowing your wedding and precious socialite reputation were secure because I was discreet, LouAnn. Don’t start playing the insulted virgin just because we got caught. All I’m saying is Judy didn’t blow the whistle on us.”
“Fine.” She jerked her arm away. “Since you’re the one who lost your job instead of Judy, I’ll leave you to pack your things.” Slipping on her high-heel shoes, LouAnn started to sail out the door. Carter’s mocking words halted her.
“Running to swear to your ex-fiancé your undying love and devotion with my cologne all over your skin? Might not be very convincing.” With a subtle pause, Carter hinted, “I’ve got a better idea.”
That turned her around. She shot him a wary look. “Your ideas have only gotten us in hot water so far, Carter. What are you thinking now?”
“Sit down for a minute, LouAnn, and let me teach you how winners cover all the bases.”
Chapter Sixteen
Annie avoided looking at the phone the next morning, trying not to think about how much she wished it would ring and be Zach on the other end. Still, she knew she’d done the right thing. There could be nothing between her and Zach but certain heartbreak. If there was a man on this earth who might be absolutely the right man for her, it was Zach, but unfortunately, too many obstacles separated them—permanent obstacles.
Like the dank, now rotting fields outside her window. The rain that had teased them all month with its absence, parching the land to inferno-ripe conditions, had finally fallen in the night like tears from the sky. Annie had stood outside watching the silvery, moonlit sheets of water hitting the ground, where the moisture soaked right into the soil. She’d even cried herself, a little, for what might have been. Hours into the morning, Cody had come outside and pulled her into his arms, cradling her against his flannel-covered chest. Willingly, she’d allowed him to walk her into the house, where he wrapped a towel around her and dried her tears before fixing her a cup of hot chocolate in silence.
There had been nothing to say.
Zach hadn’t started the fire, but he was under scrutiny. Until Jim Crier—or another representative she trusted—came to tell her differently, it wouldn’t look good for Zach to be hanging around her or hanging around the farm. Anyone who came out to gather information would stir up hostile feelings, between Zach and the investigators. No need for him to return to the scene of the crime until the smoke had cleared completely. She could only pray that Jim Crier and the sheriff’s team had been thorough in their search before the rain washed away any evidence there might have been.
But even if the fire hadn’t swept her cornfields, Annie couldn’t forget that Zach was due to be married any day. The fear that she might succumb to Zach’s lethal charm the next time she saw him was crippling. All she needed right now was a broken heart to nurse. Once Zach possessed her body, it would be the last barrier she had against him. Like a barrel going over Niagara, she would fall headlong in love with him.
And eventually, she would be left alone.
Even though once she might have been able to enjoy casual physical satisfaction with Zach, they had come to know each other too well for that now. It had gone much too far for her to want less than all of him. It wouldn’t be fair to hinder Zach’s life with her love, when he’d been honest in telling her that he wasn’t available. Had, in fact, taken her arms from around his neck, setting her away from him, when she had kissed him at the fish pond in the very beginning.
“Papa?” Annie asked, walking into his bedroom. With a smile, she saw that Gert had fallen asleep in the chair beside Travis’s bed. It seemed that no one in the house had gotten much sleep during the midnight showers. A constant rain like last night’s was usually music to sleep restfully by, but the day’s events had stolen everyone’s peace of mind.
Deciding Gert and Travis would rather snooze than eat right now, Annie crossed into Mary’s room. Her daughter’s eyes were wide open, staring at her over the top edge of the blanket.
Annie sat down on the bed, gently pulling the blanket down to Mary’s chin. “Good morning, ladybug,” she said, pushing the ebony locks away from Mary’s rose-petal soft cheeks.
That coaxed out a smile. “Uncle Cody calls me that.”
“I know,” Annie replied, reveling in the satin of Mary’s hair underneath her fingertips. “You are a sweet one.”
“Ladybug, ladybug, fly away home, your house is on fire and your children are gone,” Mary recited softly.
“Why, Mary! Wherever did you learn that?”
The child shrugged. “In kindergarten last year.”
Annie caressed her daughter’s forehead. “Our house didn’t burn, baby.”
“I know. And I’m not gone. So, I’m not that afraid,” she said, turning her troubled gaze on Annie. “I love you, Mama,” she whispered.
Swiftly, Annie gathered her daughter up to her, clasping her nightgown-clad body to her tightly. “I love you, too, sugar. So much. I don’t want you to be scared anymore, okay? Everything’s going to be all right.”
Mary snuggled in deeper, seeking Annie’s warmth. “I wasn’t too scared. Uncle Cody says you’re the bravest woman he knows, so I was trying to be brave like you.” She looked up anxiously. “But it was hard, Mama. Real hard.”
“Oh, Mary.” Annie rocked her baby back and forth in her lap. “Let me tell you a secret. I’m not brave at all. Uncle Cody just told you that because he’s blind in one eye.”
“Is he really?” Mary asked, fascinated.
Annie was glad to see the tension in Mary’s face relax a little. “No, baby,” she said with a smile. “But Cody sees only what he wants to see. Now, here’s another secret. You don’t have to be brave until you have childre
n of your own, okay? Until then, I’m taking care of you. Deal?”
“Deal.” Mary sat pensively for a moment. “Mama? When is Mr. Zach coming back?”
Annie froze and put down the silky-soft plait of Mary’s hair she’d been braiding. “I don’t know, baby.”
“He said he would.”
“I know he did,” Annie said slowly, “but sometimes people can’t do the things that they really want to.”
“Oh.” Mary’s shoulders slumped. “He promised.”
“Well, I know Zach would like to come back, but…”
But what? How could she explain that Zach would have kept that promise—would have been here last night, in fact—but that Annie had told him not to come?
“I’ve been praying, Mama. I’ve been praying for a new daddy. I kinda thought Mr. Zach might have been him.”
Now Annie’s shoulders slumped. Her daughter wanted a father and Annie wanted Zach. But she said, “I don’t know, sugar. Come into the kitchen. I’ll fix you some breakfast. Maybe later I can take you down to feed the fish.”
“Okay, Mama,” Mary said obediently, padding into the hall in front of her mother.
Cody sat at the kitchen table, hunched over a newspaper. “Are you feeling better?” Annie asked. “Less like a smoked turkey?”
“I’m fine,” he replied grumpily. “Are you feeling better? Less like a kitten who nearly drowned herself in the rain last night? I won’t be surprised if you catch a cold, and I’m not dragging chicken soup all the way over here when you do.”
Annie laughed, as he’d known she would. “Cody Aguillar, I’d forgotten what an ornery person you are when you don’t get much sleep. If I didn’t know better, I’d think it was harvest time. Coffee?”
“Please.” He looked down at Mary, who’d seated herself next to him on the plank bench. “I know another little lady who didn’t get much sleep last night, either.”
“Was Mary up last night?” Annie asked, surprised.
“Up? The child sat in her bed, peering out her window most of the night. Like she was trying to spy Santa Claus and his reindeer.”
“He didn’t come,” Mary said glumly.
“Of course not. It’s not Christmas,” Cody said.
“Never mind,” said Mary.
Annie glanced at her daughter as she set Cody’s mug in front of him. “Were you watching for Mr. Zach?”
“I don’t want to talk about it, anymore. Can I go outside, Mama, please?”
The child still wore her nightgown, but what could it hurt to let her sit on the porch for a little while? It was sunny now that the rains had passed, and it would be good for Mary to soak up some of those rejuvenating rays. Might even lift her spirits.
“Stay on the porch, sugar Leave the front door open, too, so I can call you when I need you.”
“Yes, Mama.” Mary slid down from the bench and left the kitchen.
“Well, that’s a fine howdy-you-do,” Cody said. “I thought she was looking to make sure the fire wasn’t going to start up again. Never occurred to me she was looking for Slick.”
“It was partly the fire,” Annie said, ladling some huevos rancheros onto a plate for Cody. “She said she’d been trying to be brave last night. But, she was also hoping he’d come back.”
Cody was silent as he took a bite. “Thank you, Annie; this is delicious,” he said. “I’m starting to get my feelings hurt. I always thought I was first in Mary’s heart.”
“You’re an excellent uncle, friend, and the father figure Mary hasn’t had,” Annie said warmly, sitting down across from him with a plate of her own. “Unfortunately, that’s what Mary’s looking for. A father.”
“Whoa. Don’t think that’s gonna happen, is it?”
Annie shook her head.
“Well, hellfire, Annie. I’ll marry you, you know that.”
“Shut up, Cody,” Annie said with a smile. “You need a good woman and children of your own to keep you sane.”
“Insane, sounds to me.” They were silent for a moment while they ate. Cody slathered a heaping spoonful of Annie’s salsa over his eggs before looking back up. “So, is the salsa king ever coming back?”
Annie paused before meeting Cody’s eyes. “I think it’s best if Zach doesn’t. I told him not to come here again.”
“Fallen that hard, have you?”
“Maybe.” Annie’s voice was noncommittal, but she dropped her gaze. “Yes,” she whispered after a moment. “I’m afraid so. Crazy of me, isn’t it?”
Cody sighed. “I don’t know, Annie. What I know about finding the right person could be cupped in one of Mary’s little hands.”
“Oh, Cody, your lady will come along one day.”
“Ain’t particularly worried about it,” he said, finishing the last bites of his breakfast. “Now, Slick, he isn’t all that bad, is he? What do you want to go and run him off for?”
Annie narrowed her eyes as she fathomed Cody’s meaning. “Since when did you decide Zach wasn’t so bad? You used to think he was one tough character, too tough for me to tango with.”
“I like tough characters, myself. Anyway, can’t a guy change his mind?”
“Maybe. But Papa will never change his.”
Cody laughed. “Listen, Annie, before this rehab of Travis’s is over, Gert is going to tie him up in his own bedsheets and make him her love slave.”
Annie started to laugh, but sudden shrieks from outside shot Cody off the bench, with Annie close behind.
“My God, Mary, what is it?” Annie flew to her daughter, throwing an arm around her protectively, while following the direction of Mary’s trembling finger. “Oh, my Lord. That’s the snake that got out of the cage. Is it dead, Cody?”
They stared at the rattlesnake, which lay large and unmoving in a patch of sunshine. Cody kicked loose mud its way, but the reptile didn’t swish a rattle “Reckon it is,” he said. “But look at this.” With a boot tip, he pushed the fat rattler away to reveal a much smaller one.
Mary shivered against her. Annie pulled her child tightly to her hip. “Was it a mother, with its baby?” The thought was sad, in a way.
“Wouldn’t count on it, not with it being as big as it is.” Cody kneeled down to get a closer look. “I don’t know that these two snakes are related. It might have just been survival of the fittest. Or biggest, in this case.”
“What did they die from?”
He squinted against the sun, considering. “I’m willing to bet it was the fire.”
“They got smoked out?”
“Well, the heat was pretty intense. Might have gone under the house for protection.” With one hand, he stroked along the conspicuous diamond-shaped markings. “Some animal likely dragged them out this morning, and Mary might have scared it off when she came outside.”
Annie felt sick thinking about how that giant rattler might have been waiting, in a cozy dirt nest under the house, until it saw its chance to strike. And what struggle was being waged under the very foundation of her home last night? “Oh, Lord, Cody. I think I’m more upset than Mary is,” she said. Feebly, she thanked the heavens her daughter hadn’t fallen victim to snakebite.
Cody got a shovel out of the back of his truck, scooping the two snakes up. He tossed them into the bed, along with the shovel. “You need some rest, is all. Come on, Mary,” he said.
Though she’d been clinging to Annie, Mary went readily into his arms. “Tell you what. You go get dressed, and I’ll snag a couple of those grape sodas out of the fridge for the road. We’ll go check on Grandma. What do you say?”
“Yes!”
“Are you sure you feel well enough, Cody?” Annie asked.
“I feel fine, and besides, it’s getting depressing around this snake pit.”
Annie laughed. “Thanks.”
“Naw, I’m teasing,” he said, putting an arm around Annie’s shoulders and giving her a light squeeze. “But I do need to go give Ma a hand. I called her last night and she cussed me for being so stupid t
o try to stop the fire. I could tell she missed me.”
“I know she does. Tell your mom I appreciate her loaning you out for a while.”
Annie took Mary inside to her room, helping her put on a little pair of denim shorts and a pink eyelet blouse. “Grape soda for breakfast. Ugh. Will you please ask Grandma Aguillar to give you something healthy to eat?”
“Yes, Mama.” Mary grinned. “You shouldn’t be so picky, Mama. If you tried one, you’d probably like it.”
“I’m not picky, Mary, I’m particular. There’s a big difference.”
Mary giggled. “Sodas are better than that old coffee you drink.”
Annie ruffled the bangs on Mary’s forehead. “You may have a point there. Now, slip these shoes on and hurry out to Uncle Cody’s truck before he has to come looking for you.”
“I will, Mama.” Mary hurried outside, and Annie watched the big man help her daughter into the truck. It was relatively new and expensive-looking, big all over and meant to haul whatever needed it on the farm. Cody’d bought it from a friend and was awfully pleased to have gotten it. Annie smiled and let the blinds fall back in place. He’d needed a new truck, but she thought the worked-over hearse suited his style far better.
But he wouldn’t have been able to toss those snakes into the back of his hearse quite as readily, Annie thought with a shiver. The fright that had run up her spine when she’d seen the enormous length of serpent again—so close to Mary—had made her slightly nauseous. Her only child had been through so much lately. Would life ever get easier for them, be gentler to Mary?
Annie shook her head and strolled back down to check on Gert and Travis. They were both still asleep, so she made Mary’s bed, enjoying placing the plentiful stuffed animals in a row along the back and over the pillow. Outside, she could hear mockingbirds rustling and chattering in the trees outside the house. The sun was shining brightly and it was a beautiful day, if she didn’t have to walk past the trees and see the stark blackness of the fields.
No point in thinking about that if she could avoid it for the moment. She’d clean the kitchen after Travis and Gert ate, Annie decided. Putting on boots, she wandered outside to stare at what damage the rains had done. Slowly, she walked to where the corn had grown in neat furrows. The ground lay fallow, unnatural in its idle appearance. To Annie’s eyes, it almost looked as if the very dirt was waiting, wanting the rejuvenation of roots down deep inside it. If she could get the insurance money fast enough, Annie supposed she could get another crop in of something before it was too late for the fall growing season.