Broken Promises

by Patricia Watters

  Tess looked at Aunt Ruth, and said, "Zak is next door."

  For a moment Aunt Ruth said nothing. Then her forehead puckered, and she looked at Tess with uncertainty, and said, "Zak de Neuville?"

  Tess nodded. "He's the one who brought up the subject of the survey, and the reason why I asked to have it done. Dad told one of the men to thin the trees along the strip of land between the dirt road and the de Neuville's property, and those trees are not on Timber West land. They're on the de Neuville's property. Four trees have already been cut."

  Aunt Ruth eyed Tess over the rim of her cup. "I'm sure Gib knows what he's doing. Certainly he knows where the property line runs."

  "That's the problem," Tess said. "He thinks he knows, but he's wrong. Zak showed me a survey map. He said his father's threatening to sue us for cutting the trees."

  Aunt Ruth looked directly at Tess and said, in a guarded voice, "Have you been seeing Zak de Neuville again?"

  "No," Tess replied. "Well, yesterday I saw him briefly, when he showed me the survey map, but I'm not... seeing him."

  Aunt Ruth drew in an extended breath. "Does your father know he's back?"

  "No."

  "Then you'd better keep quiet about that. It'll just get him riled again."

  Tess toyed with telling Aunt Ruth about taking Zak up in the plane, now that she'd told her that Zak was back, then discarded the idea. Aunt Ruth had enough on her mind without brooding about her brother's reaction to that.

  ***

  The next day, as Tess pulled up to Zak's cabin, she was surprised to find an old Dodge, in the process of being restored, parked beside Zak's truck. The car's body was covered with gray primer and the rear end was jacked high with oversized tires, and inside, a grouping of beads and feathers hung from the rearview mirror. With mounting curiosity, she stepped onto the porch. But before she could knock, Zak opened the door, and said, "Come on in. Vince was about to leave. You remember my brother."

  Tess looked beyond Zak at a young man wearing a black leather jacket, faded jeans with holes in them, and dirty sneakers. Where the jacket gaped open, she saw the grotesquely contorted face of a rock star on a tight black T-shirt. His mouth was planted in a slash, and his dark eyes shone with irritation, though she knew it wasn't aimed at her. "Yes," she replied, trying to assimilate the change from a bright-eyed youth of thirteen to this angry young man of twenty. "It's nice to see you again, Vince."

  Vince nodded, and said nothing.

  Tess sat on the couch, and Zak sat in an overstuffed chair across from her, but Vince remained standing. From the somber look on his face, and the frustration on Zak's, Tess suspected they'd been having some kind of argument. She was about to suggest she come back later, when she was distracted by movement, and looked toward the hallway to see a young boy rolling a truck into the room. When the boy raised curious eyes to meet Tess's gaze, her lips parted in surprise. It was as if she were peering into Zak's gray-green eyes. The boy scrambled over to stand beside Zak, studying her from within the circle of Zak's arm. His young face was topped by a shock of wavy black hair, and in his chin was a small cleft.

  Looking at the boy, Tess waited for Zak to explain.

  Zak drew the boy against him, and said, "This is Pio, my son."

  At first Tess stared blankly at the boy. Then she focused on his features. There was no question. This boy was indeed Zak's son. And the boy's mother, Zak's wife? Where was she?

  Tess gave the boy a nervous smile, and said, "Hi."

  He didn't smile back. Instead, he looked at Zak and said something in Basque. When Zak nodded, the boy scurried outside. Tess glanced out the window at the boy, who was pushing a larger truck across the ground. He appeared to be about six years old. Which meant... Zak must have either impregnated a woman or married her shortly after he left Baker's Creek...

  "Father's damn traditions are straight out of another world," Vince said, his heated words punctuating the pounding of Tess's heart. "And I'll tell you another thing. I won't marry a Basque girl just because he's decided I should."

  Zak looked at Tess, and said, "Excuse us a minute."

  He took Vince's arm and led him onto the porch then pulled the front door shut behind them. Although their voices were muffled some, Tess could still hear what they were saying...

  "He's a proud man and the old traditions have been right for him," Zak said. "It's only natural that he wants the same for you."

  "That's fine for you to say, you're etchekoprimu. Firstborn," Vince spat the words. "The winery will be yours... if you marry a Basque woman and fit into Father's mold, that is."

  Zak sighed. "You know you always have a place there."

  "I'd die of boredom in Navarre."

  The silence that followed was broken by Zak. "You don't have to turn your back on all the values you were taught in order to be your own person."

  "And I don't have to hang around here and listen to this crap either," Vince said. "I thought at least you'd understand, but you're no different from him. You'll do exactly as Father says. You'll marry a Basque woman, settle into his niche at the ranch, and live his life for him. I hope you enjoy it."

  When Zak finally spoke, there was resolve in his tone. "I've been where you are, caught between two worlds, not fitting into either, but there is a middle ground between the old ways and now. You just have to find it and convince Father."

  Vince laughed shortly. "Ever try moving a mountain?"

  Zak laughed too. "Meanwhile, try not to irritate him."

  "Which means, tell him what he wants to hear. I can't do that."

  "Try," Zak said. "And thanks for bringing Pio along today, even if the visit's short."

  Vince eyed Pio, affectionately. "There was no way I could get out of it. He had to tell you about the kittens."

  Zak stepped off the porch then and crouched in front of Pio, and said, "I'll be anxious to hear what you name your new pal."

  Pio's face brightened. "When can I bring him here?" he asked in an animated voice.

  "Not for six weeks," Zak replied. "Meanwhile, I'll come for you next weekend and we'll go find some eagles, maybe do a nest climb. How would you like that?"

  Pio grinned. "I'd like that."

  After Vince left with Pio, Zak went back inside and collected several maps from the kitchen table, and they left in Tess's Jeep. But while they were driving to the airpark, he said to Tess, "I should have told you about my son. I didn't expect Vince to come by with him today and I planned to tell you about him later."

  "It doesn't matter," Tess said. "That was a long time ago." She was determined to ask no questions about Zak's past, or about the mother of his son. It would be too humiliating, and she did have some pride. And maybe her father was right. Maybe Zak had used her. Maybe what they had going that summer was nothing more than teenage hormones coupled with Zak's promises of forever to keep the sex coming. She'd certainly given him reason to come back for more. She liked the sex too, but what was more important for her was the aftermath of their lovemaking, when Zak talked about how it would be for them someday...

  "To answer at least one of your questions," Zak said, "my wife died about four months ago so I have full care of our son."

  Tess fingers curled around the wheel. The word our didn't compute. She'd never imagined a son of Zak's not being her son as well. But what was almost as troubling was the fact that Zak was a widower of only four months, and two nights ago he came close to kissing her. Not exactly a grief-stricken widower. "It must be difficult for you," she said, and tried to sound convincing.

  "It is for Pio," Zak replied. "My wife and I separated some time ago." He was quiet for a while, then he sighed, and said in a weary voice, "I had no idea how tough it was to be a single parent, shuffling job and family and school, being there when Pio's sick. There's no question, a young child needs a mother. As it is, Pio's with my folks during the week so he can go to the Basque school in Navarre, and I go there on weekends. But as soon as school's out, he'll be moving into t
he cabin with me. We need to make our own adjustments."

  "My father must have faced the same dilemma when he took over the role of both parents after my mother died," Tess said, trying to sound compassionate, feeling a little stab of guilt that he hadn't felt that way when Zak told her about his dead wife. But she could empathize with his dilemma with his son. "Nothing seemed to go right back then. The meals were terrible, the house was a mess, and neither of us cared. And I had no direction or guidance. Fortunately, Aunt Ruth moved in and took over, and our lives fell into place again." She glanced at Zak, and added, "What you need is an Aunt Ruth."

  "It isn't about what I need," Zak said. "It's about Pio, and he needs a mother."

  "Then I guess you'd better start looking for a wife," Tess clipped, "presumably Basque, if you don't want to be in trouble with your father."

  When Zak said nothing, Tess realized that was precisely what he intended to do.

  After filing a flight plan, Tess gave the plane its preflight check, taxied to the end of the runway, checked the flaps, and took off. They headed toward Timber West and the ridge where Zak wanted to look for the first nest. Sitting close to him in the small cabin conjured up images from the past when she'd be riding with Zak in his truck, and she'd rest her hand on his thigh, or she'd snuggle against his shoulder, or raise her head and give him a kiss on the jaw...

  "When we locate the nest, dip the wing so I can get a good look inside," Zak said.

  Tess shifted her thoughts to the panorama below. Within minutes, they skimmed over Timber West land. She spotted Zak's cabin and hers, and just beyond a patch of woods was the clearing with the logging camp. "Where should we start looking for the nest?" she asked.

  Zak scanned the forest below. "Somewhere on the ridge, in the old-growth timber up there. Look for an old snag."

  Tess turned the plane in a wide arc toward the ridge and flew low over the treetops. "There's a pretty big stand of old-growth just above where we're getting ready to cut pole timber," she said. "And there's some on Carl Yaeger's tract too. My dad wanted to buy that piece of land a few years ago. He could have paid for it fast with those old trees."

  "That's our biggest problem with the eagle population," Zak said, "harvesting old-growth trees. If it isn't stopped, there won't be any trees strong enough to support nests."

  "We always leave a lot of good-sized second growth," Tess assured him.

  "Are the trees big enough to support a two-ton nest?" Zak asked.

  Tess looked askance at him. "Aren't you exaggerating?"

  "No. Some older nests are eight feet across and six feet deep," Zak replied. "They can easily weigh two tons." He sat up straight. "Over there!" He pointed to a massive nest of coarse limbs atop a huge fir. Tess maneuvered the plane near the nest and dipped the wing. "Twins!" Zak exclaimed. "Looks like the tree's fairly accessible too. Could you circle the old-growth once more before we head out? I want to look for perch nests."

  "Sure," Tess replied. "What are those?"

  "Unoccupied nests the eagles use as perches for spotting prey and roosting at night."

  Tess circled the old-growth once more, while Zak logged his findings, then they headed east toward McKensie and Plum lakes. As they slowly gained altitude, Tess felt the exhilaration of flying again. "My biggest regret about my divorce was that David got the plane," she said.

  After a stretch of silence, Zak said, "How old were you when you married?"

  "Eighteen," Tess replied, feeling some satisfaction that he'd asked the question. She hoped he'd take her answer as meaning that she didn't sit around waiting for him to come back, like the naive little fool she'd been. He didn't need to know she'd spent her days doing that, all the while hoping and praying that he'd appear one day with a perfectly logical explanation as to why he'd left. And her world would be right again...

  "Was he from Baker’s Creek?" Zak asked.

  "Seattle," Tess replied. "He'd been flying into Baker’s Creek every week to work on a big house he was contracted to build, and we met at the airpark."

  "Where is he now?" Zak asked, while scanning the forest below.

  "I don't know," Tess replied. "He moved east and I haven't heard from him since. What about you? Where have you been for the past seven years?" She'd had no intention of prying into Zak's past, as much as she wanted to, but when the opportunity came, the question popped out.

  "Mostly France and Washington," Zak replied.

  "Why France?" Tess asked, surprised that he'd been out of the country. She'd always imagined him in Navarre at his parents place. She'd even thought about going there after her divorce, but never could bring herself to do it. She didn't want to face the humiliation of finding Zak there with a Basque wife, as his father would have expected.

  "My father sent me there to learn about Basque wines," Zak replied. Then he looked into the distance, and said, while pointing, "There's McKensieLake. Circle a little lower if you can."

  Tess didn't reply. Her attention was drawn to the grayish specks flipping against the windscreen. She eased the controls back. The plane leveled off before slowly rising as they headed for the ranger station at PineLake. For the moment they cruised smoothly, but while Zak was watching the thick forest closing in on the valley below, Tess was scanning the panorama below for other reasons. "That's oil on the windscreen," she stated. "We have to land."

  Zak looked up and saw the specks. "Land where? There's nothing but forest down there."

  "The ranger station should be just over that ridge," Tess said. "Start looking for the lake. There's a grass airstrip beside it." She focused again on the specks of oil, which now merged together and were moving in grayish streaks up the windscreen. "We've got to get down fast!"

  The engine began to sputter. "Jesus," Zak said. "The engine's about to cut out!"

  "We can glide in if we can find the airstrip," Tess said. "Just keep looking for the lake. It can't be more than five minutes from here... I hope." Squinting through the murky windscreen, she scanned the terrain in the distance and spotted a silvery patch. "There it is!" she exclaimed. "PineLake. But I don't see the landing strip." She leaned forward, focusing on the opening in the woods where the lake lay, then through the oil-splattered windscreen she saw the cleared area that served as a landing field. "Damn that landing strip's short," she said. "I hope the wind's right because we don't have time to approach from the other direction. As it is, we'll have to dip in over those tall trees at this end."

  She banked the plane in a sweeping turn to align with the landing field below, then throttled back, lowered the flaps, and continued to nose the plane down. As they dropped toward the runway, Tess saw a windsock perched atop a tree and realized, with alarm, that they were approaching with the wind. "The wind's wrong," she said. "We're coming in too fast." She scanned the field for obstructions and studied the trees at each end of the narrow, grassy strip.

  The engine sputtered, cut out and sputtered again.

  She advanced the throttle slightly. "This is going to be a hot landing, and it better work the first time because we won't get a second chance," she said, her heart pounding so hard she felt lightheaded. She gripped the wheel. "Okay, now. Here we go. Put your head in your lap for the landing and be ready to jump out and run in case there’s a fire…”

  CHAPTER FOUR

  The clearing came up fast, and within seconds they skimmed close to the tops of the trees. Tess cut the power as the plane plunged toward the airstrip. Peering through a windscreen almost completely obscured by oil, she maneuvered into the clearing and touched down, feeling a jolt as the main gear contacted. Holding her breath, she struggled to ease the controls forward, until the nose wheel touched down. Then throwing all her weight onto the pedals, she applied the brakes. The plane shuddered and bounced over the uneven ground while careening toward the wall of trees at the end of the runway... skidding to a halt at the edge of the clearing, a breath away from the mammoth trees rising before them.

  After the plane dipped to a halt,
Tess sat for a moment, staring into the dense growth, wondering what quirk of fate spared them from plummeting into the impenetrable wall of trees. But gradually an awareness of how close they'd come began to dawn... and a nervous shudder rushed through her, and her heart began to pound, and she started shaking uncontrollably. Zak pulled her to him and held her. It felt natural to have the side of her face pressed to his chest, and his cheek against the top of her head, and his arms wrapped snuggly around her. She closed her eyes and tried to hold onto the memory of what they'd once had, just a little longer...

  "I never thought ground could feel so good," Zak said. When she raised her head to look at him, he smiled down at her. "That little scrap of a fourteen-year-old girl was right. She can fly a plane. You did one hell of a job bringing us down." Then his eyes became dark, his gaze intense, and he lifted her chin with the curve of his knuckle, and slowly moved toward her...

  And the door on Tess's side of the plane flew open. "Everybody in here okay?"

  Tess jerked her head back and looked around. "I think so," she said, more shaken by having Zak's arms around her and the near kiss, than by what could have happened.

  "You're damn lucky. The whole front of the plane's covered with oil," the man said. "I'm Ralph Tolsted."

  "Tess O'Reilly," Tess said, moving away from Zak, and this is--"

  "Zak de Neuville." Zak reached around Tess to shake Ralph's hand.

  "You're from the wildlife park," Ralph said to Zak. "I wasn't expecting such a dramatic arrival. That was a nice piece of flying, young lady." He stepped aside to let Tess climb out.

  "Thanks," Tess replied. Gripping the wheel to quiet her shaking hands, she eased out of the seat, then stepped from the plane on weak, tenuous legs.

  When she started to sway, Zak put his arm around her and said, "You okay?"

  She nodded. "I will be in a few minutes." She walked around the front of the plane and stared at it. Oil bathed the windshield and streamed along the sides of the fuselage and under the belly. She raised the engine cowling and peered inside and located the problem. "A broken oil line," she said. "Looks like we've lost most of our oil. Dad better have a spare hose. We've got to get back this afternoon." She climbed back into the cockpit and searched through the toolbox for a spare hose, but found none. Flipping open her cell phone, she tried to call the airpark, but couldn't get a signal.