Afterwards, as she lay nestled against him and they gazed up at the massive oak limbs of their Adam and Eve tree, Zak said, "Does this mean we're back to sex and no substance?"
Tess rolled her head sideways and smiled at him, and replied, "I certainly hope so."
***
Tess studied intently the chess board resting on the table in her cabin. After a moment, she moved her pawn forward, then said to her father, "It was really no surprise to learn that Curt had been employed by Maddox for several years."
Gib's bushy brows drew together above intense eyes. After a long stretch of silence, while he studied the board, he moved his queen. "I still can't get over Yaeger putting him up to it though. You have any thoughts about that?" he asked, while waiting for Tess to make her move.
"Well, when I think back over everything that happened, I realize I should have put things together earlier on, but I'd already made up my mind that it was Swenson, so I wasn't even considering the obvious, which was Curt," Tess said, sliding her rook across the board.
"Pay attention," Gib said. "That's not a very good move. You can take it back if you want."
Tess contemplated the board for a moment, then rolled her eyes upward and said, "That was pretty dumb." She moved the rook back two rows.
Gib grinned. "That's better. You've got to stay alert. You can't let your opponent distract you." .
Tess advanced a pawn, "What do you think is going to happen now?" she asked.
Gib studied the board. "They're looking at conspiracy and several felonies, and by the time I collect damages, Yaeger won't be too anxious to pull anything like that again."
Tess looked up from the board. "You really plan to hit them hard?"
"Hell, yes," Gib replied. "Timber West was doing pretty damn good before they started their dirty dealings... might not have had to depend on the pole timber if they hadn't caused all the problems they did. If we can collect damages, we might be sitting pretty good."
"Then... would you still want to try and make a go of it here," Tess said, in a weary voice.
Gib sighed. "I think I'm about ready to throw in the chips. I guess I just don't have the fight I used to have to keep this place going."
A wry smile touched Tess's lips. "Don't worry about fight, Dad. You still have plenty of it. You'll be blowing off steam till your dying day. I can just hear you at your funeral, 'don't jerk the casket... the hole's not deep enough... who the hell sent all the flowers.'"
Gib laughed, and said, as he set down his bishop, "Am I that bad?"
"You're impossible." Tess said, grinning. "You're also about to lose your bishop."
"What!"
"Pay attention, Dad. You can't let your opponent distract you."
The sound of a vehicle out front caught their notice. Tess stepped to the door and opened it just as Zak and his father were getting out of Jean-Pierre's SUV. Zak kissed her, and said, "We stopped by because my father wants to talk to your father."
Tess peered around Zak. "Hello, Mr. de Neuville... uh... please come in." She gave Zak a questioning look and stepped back for them to enter.
Jean-Pierre nodded. "Miss O'Reilly." The hint of a smile touched his lips.
Gib stared intently at the chess board, ignoring their guests.
"Dad?"
Gib raised his eyes to Jean-Pierre, and said, "If you're here to settle out of court you've wasted a trip. I'm not about to give up anything that's rightfully mine."
Jean-Pierre moved to stand above the chess board. "I didn't come to talk about the hearing, but I do want to discuss another deal with you," he said, his eyes moving over the board as he studied the positions of the pieces.
Zak took Tess's hand. "I want to talk to you too." He pulled her toward the door.
Tess glanced at the two men. "We can't go now," she said. "They'll kill each other."
Zak's lips spread with a slow smile. "Then our problems will be over. Come on. They're grown men."
"I really don't think we should leave them."
"Father?" Zak said, drawing Jean-Pierre's head around. "Why don't you sit down and finish the game for Tess. She and I are taking a little walk."
Jean-Pierre looked from Zak to the chess board, then his gaze rested on Gib.
Gib glanced up and said, "You play?"
"Some," Jean-Pierre replied, lowering himself to sit opposite Gib.
Zak nudged Tess onto the porch and pulled the door closed behind. "They'll be okay for the duration of the game," he said.
Tess glanced back at the door. "I hope you're right."
Zak took Tess's hand and they scurried across the road and into the woods. Under a canopy of trees, Zak pulled her into his arms and kissed her, and she threaded her fingers in his hair and kissed him back. When their lips drew apart, Zak said, "I have something for you, but you have to promise me something." He reached in his pocket and pulled out a small velvet ring box.
Tess's eyes glistened with excitement as they fixed on the box and she imagined the engagement ring Zak would have bought her. She had no idea what it would be like--they'd never discussed rings--but whatever he'd chosen would be exactly what she wanted. "What do you want me to promise?" she asked.
"That you'll never bury this again." Zak opened the box.
Tess looked at the small gold band. "Zak!" she yelped. "How did you ever find it?"
"I had to perform surgery on our tree," Zak replied. "But the ring was still in the bottle where you'd left it."
Tess took the ring with a shaky hand, then tipped it until she could see the engraving inside. "Eskauldunfededun," she read. "The Basque is faithful."
Zak took the ring from her and slipped it on her finger, and said, "Honey, will you marry me again? This time for real?"
"Yes," Tess cried, and threw her arms around his neck. After she kissed him soundly, she said, "When did you go back for it?"
"A couple of days ago," Zak replied.
"I wish I could show it to Rita," Tess mused, while holding out her hand and gazing in wonder at the ring she never thought she'd see again. "We talked about you that night. She thought it would be best for me to find someone else. She said she knew some really nice fellas."
Zak gave her a knavish grin. "Well, if you want to reconsider."
"It's tempting," Tess said, "but since there's no man alive who could satisfy me the way you do, and with such an impressive male member, I wouldn't be interested. I'm really not into substance anymore and what you have is very, very sexy." She stretched out her hand again and looked at the ring. It seemed so natural to have it on her finger again. "So, you name the date."
Zak kissed her on the forehead. "Very--" he moved to the tip of her nose and pecked it lightly "--very soon--" he moved to kiss her on the lips. "Now, I have something else to show you." He took her hand and started up the road.
"Where are you taking me?" she asked.
"To the grotto."
Tess tugged Zak to a halt. "You're not serious. Our fathers could finish the game early and come looking for us and it would be very embarrassing, especially with the... umm... kinky things we so."
Zak laughed. "That's not what I planned, at least not until later." He led her into the woods and they followed the trail to where it crossed the logging road to the ridge, then scurried down the embankment and over to where their Adam and Eve tree stood. There, Tess released Zak's hand and walked over to the tree. The hole where she'd placed the bottle so many years ago gaped open, but with tool marks scarring the edges.
Zak moved to stand beside her. Slipping his arm around her waist, he said, "I didn't want to do that to our tree, but the hole had closed completely."
"Is this what you wanted to show me?" Tess asked, staring at the unsightly hole.
"No," Zak replied. He pulled a small flashlight from his pocket and clicked it on. "What I want to show you is what's inside the hole. Here, take a look." He handed the flashlight to Tess and she aimed it into the opening and peered inside.
"Wh
at am I supposed to see?" she asked.
Zak moved her hand with the light until the beam caught several pieces of rusty wire that groped out from the core of the tree. "That's old barbed wire. While I was rooting around for the bottle with the ring, I snagged my hand on one of the wires, so I dug some of it loose. There are several strands embedded in the tree, and each one has a different kind of barb. They were the sections where the old fences had been nailed to the tree. Do you realize what this means?"
Tess studied the wires. "No, not really."
"They show that a fence has run through this area for over a hundred years." Zak took the light from her and directed the beam to one of the wires. "The flat, twisted barb on the wire closest to the core of the tree dates back to the early 1900's. The next one over, with the S-shaped barb, goes back to 1915, and the one close to the outside, with the double-wire barb, is fairly modern."
"So the tree's grown around them," Tess said, staring at the three sets of barbed wire.
"Yep," Zak replied. "I checked in the county records and found the old survey map and property description. When my father had the place surveyed recently, there was no way to tell where the old fence line ran, but it looks like the surveyor was off by about forty feet."
"Then my father was right all along," Tess mused.
Zak nodded. "This old oak is even described on the survey as a line marker. I explained it to my father and showed him the tree and the old property descriptions, and he agreed I was right."
"Then he's dropping the suit?"
Zak shrugged. "He can't sue a man for cutting trees on his own land. I'm afraid my father and I misjudged your father."
Tess looked at Zak's smiling face. "How can you look so pleased when you know your father's going to have to eat crow?"
"I'm not pleased about that," Zak said. "I'm just glad they're running out of things to fight about."
"I'm sure they'll find something," Tess said. "When does your father plan to tell my father about this?"
"About the same time he makes an offer on your place. He needs more grazing land and he intends to make an offer today. That's why he's here."
Tess pursed her lips. "That's all well and good, but I can't imagine those two agreeing on anything long enough to make a deal. Meanwhile, we'd better get back before the game's over and all hell breaks loose," she said, feeling increasingly apprehensive about having left the two old men together.
Zak sighed. "Yeah, I guess you're right."
They headed back, but as the they approached the cabin, loud voices could be heard from inside. Tess's heart hammered. "I knew we shouldn't have left them alone."
"They were only playing a game of chess," Zak said, lengthening his strides.
They bounded onto the porch. When Zak hurled the door open, and Tess crashed to a halt behind him, Jean-Pierre and Gib turned in their direction. "What the hell's going on?" Gib said, staring at them.
Jean-Pierre stood, impatient eyes on Zak. "Is that any way to come into a house?"
Zak looked from his father to Gib. "We heard yelling and thought--"
"Hardly a reason to knock down a door," Jean-Pierre said, splaying a hand toward Zak.
"We just thought..." Zak looked from his father to Gib O'Reilly and found that neither looked particularly angry. "What was all the yelling about just before we came in?"
Jean-Pierre squared his shoulders and glanced at Gib. "We were discussing a business deal."
Tess eyed her father, restlessly. "What kind of business deal?"
"We were discussing the sale price of Timber West--" Gib looked at Jean-Pierre "--but I don't intend to get robbed blind."
"Robbed blind!" Jean-Pierre yelled. "You got this place for a song. And that dead horse you call a bulldozer isn't worth the cost of hauling it away."
"Dead horse is it?!" Gib bellowed. "Then why are you so anxious to buy it?"
Zak stepped between the men. "Hold it there," he said, raising a hand. "Tess and I have an announcement, then you two can continue your discussion." He wrapped his arm around Tess and pulled her against him. "Like it or not, Tess and I are getting married." When neither Gib nor Jean-Pierre spoke, Zak continued. "The two of you have been feuding for years. You've both meddled in our lives, trying to keep us apart, but not any more. We love each other and we won't let either of you come between us ever again."
"And furthermore," Tess added, "someday you'll both be grandfathers to our children--they'll be your heirs--so think about that during your business discussion."
For a moment Jean-Pierre said nothing. He just stood, looking at Zak and Tess. Then he turned to Gib, and said, "I guess we should recognize when we're defeated." A smile cracked his face and he extended his hand.
Gib stared at Jean-Pierre's hand, and for an instant, Tess thought he wasn't going to take it. Then Gib returned the smile and clasped Jean-Pierre's outstretched hand. "That boy of yours is damned persistent," he said, "but he got himself a helluva woman." He winked at Tess. "I just hope he can handle her."
Zak gave Tess a squeeze and looked at Gib. "I'll do my best."
"Good." Gib turned to Jean-Pierre. "Now about this land--"
"Your asking price is completely unreasonable," Jean-Pierre continued.
"Unreasonable!" Gib's eyes flared. "There's over two million board feet of marketable timber left on this land, we're talking seventy to eighty-year-old second-growth timber--"
"Only if there weren't eagle nests around!"
"Wait!" Zak broke in. He looked from his father to Gib. "Why don't you two settle the whole thing here." All eyes followed the direction of Zak's finger to the chess board. "First winner of two games in a row gets his price."
Jean-Pierre's lips tipped up in a confident smile. "I'm willing," he said, without question.
Gib shrugged. "Why not?"
Tess looked at her father, then at Jean-Pierre. "Incidentally," she said, "who won the last game?"
Jean-Pierre motioned with his head toward Gib. "He did," he mumbled. "But not easily."
"Not easily! You left yourself wide open. All I had to do was move in--"
"I wasn't my game to start with--"
"Stop!" Tess cried. "Just sit down and get this over with."
Gib and Jean-Pierre moved around the table and sat opposite each other. Tess saw the eagerness on both faces as they arranged the pieces. "Now, if you two won't kill each other," she said, "Zak and I have some unfinished business." She looked at Zak and nodded toward the door.
Zak took her hand and they left the cabin. After they'd stepped onto the porch and closed the door, Zak gave her a quizzical look, and said, "You never mentioned exactly what your father's chess rating was. You do remember it, don't you?"
"Of course," Tess replied.
"Well?"
Tess smiled. "Nineteen hundred." She gave him a wry grin. "At least it was the last time he was rated."
Zak let out a sharp whistle. "It's going to be close," he said, gathering her in his arms.
Tess raised on tiptoe to kiss Zak. As he pulled her to him, she whispered, "Adam, why don't we continue this at the grotto, now that our fathers will be occupied for a while."
Zak grinned. "I like that idea, Eve."
As they stepped from the porch, Jean-Pierre's voice rose. "Scrap that old equipment and the place would make a helluva wedding gift, wouldn't it Gib."
"You said it, JP," Gib replied. "A helluva gift. Your play."
Zak shook his head. "Like I said before, the only time I ever heard my father use profanity was when it involved your father, but this time it's music to my ears." He draped his arm around Tess's shoulders and drew her to him. "Mrs. Zakhra Bertsolari de Neuville," he mused. "I like the sound of that."
Tess eyed him with amusement. "You're either putting me on or that's a very weird name," she said, "but I love it."
###
By Patricia Watters
HISTORICAL ROMANCES
Colby's Child
Perilous Pleasures
/>
Wicked Temptations
Her Master's Touch
CONTEMPORARY ROMANCES
In Hot Pursuit
Broken Promises
Adversaries and Lovers
Justified Deception
One Hot Hunk
To be released in 2012
VICTORIA'S LADIES
Come Be My Love
Touch me With Love
WHISPERING SPRINGS CHRONICLES
LIVING WITH LIES TRILOGY
Book One: Playing With Fate
Book Two: Playing With Fire
Book Three: Playing With Destiny
THE LIES UNCOVERED TRILOGY
Book One: Bittersweet Love
Book Two: Bittersweet Promises
Book Three: Bittersweet Memories
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Born and raised in New Orleans, Louisiana, Patricia Watters gave up the glamour and pageantry of the city, and now writes novels from a hand-built log house nestled in the evergreen forests of Oregon. An author with Harlequin and Avon-Harper Collins in the past, and a long-time member of Romance Writers of America, Patricia specializes in romance, and she invites you to visit her website and drop her a line. She tries to respond to all notes, but please allow a couple of weeks for her to do so:
www.patriciawattersromances.com
Table of Contents
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Broken Promises Page 18