by Neesa Hart
At the unfamiliar name, August frowned. “Who?”
“Enid’s younger sister, Katherine.”
“I didn’t know there was a younger sister.”
“She died,” Zack told her. “Jansen was in love with her. When she was sixteen, she got pregnant with his baby. Old man Keegan knew. So did Odelia. Keegan refused to let her marry Jansen. Jansen had been drafted, and was on his way to Vietnam when he got a letter from his mother saying that Katherine Keegan had been diagnosed with tuberculosis. The Keegan’s sent her to Tennessee, supposedly to a sanitarium. Jansen believed that she died there.”
August felt her body begin to tremble. “But she didn’t?”
“She didn’t.” He pulled a folded piece of fax paper from his pocket.
August took the paper, unfolded it, and spread it on the table. It was a copy of a birth certificate. Her name and birth date were listed at the top, with Katherine Keegan and Jansen Riley listed as parents. The next page was a death certificate for Katherine, dated two days later. Cause of death: complications of childbirth. “Oh, God.”
“Odelia knew,” Zack told her. “Jansen never did. He had no idea you’re his daughter.”
“Oh, God,” she said again, transfixed by the documents.
“When you came here, Odelia knew exactly what Enid had done. She was desperate to get rid of you. Her father left her with the family’s money and reputation riding on her shoulders. At all costs, she was going to keep Katherine's skeleton in the closet, with the door as firmly bolted as possible. The longer you stayed here, the more dangerous it was. It was only, a matter of time before someone noted the family resemblance, or put the story together. Odelia’s money could only buy silence for so long.”
August wiped a hand over her eyes. A ringing had begun to pound in her ears. “How long have you known this?” she asked.
Zack brushed a tendril of her hair back from her forehead. “Since the day we were married,” he confessed. “I wanted to wait until the time was right to tell you.”
“Does Jansen know?”
“I called him yesterday. He’s on his way here.”
She continued to stare at the table. “What about George Snopes?”
“I believe Odelia brought him to town in a last-ditch effort to get rid of you.”
She sat in silence, listening to the sounds of hammering and sawing trailing in from the backyard. Her whole life, she’d wanted to know who she was, but a part of her now realized that wasn’t exactly true. She hadn’t wanted to know that she wasn’t wanted, hadn’t wanted to know that she’d been given away like a piece of old luggage. A deep, hurtful anger began to build inside as she considered Jansen Riley’s role in this. Surely he had known that Katherine might be pregnant. Why had he allowed the Keegans to lie to him? Why had he believed them?
Why had Enid, knowing she was Katherine’s daughter, allowed her to remain in foster care for so many years?
And why—her fingers shook as she touched the faxes— hadn’t Zack told her, not just when he had proof, but before? Why hadn’t he cared enough to prepare her, instead of springing this on her? Why had he waited until now, when Teddy’s future hung in the balance? In a flash of insight, she saw Zack doing what he’d always done. His whole life, he’d made the decisions for his family. He’d decided where they’d live. He’d decided where they went to school. He’d decided their careers, their lives. He’d taken all the responsibility on himself and shared none of the burden. No wonder he and Rafael didn’t get along. Rafe had been the one who stood his ground, demanded that Zack let him make his own mistakes and live his own life. And just as he’d done all along, he’d tried to run her life, too.
She saw it all so clearly now. Zack had orchestrated her meeting with Fulton Cleese. He’d chosen to infuriate Odelia with the restraining order. He’d demanded that August marry him, using emotional pressure to ensure that he got his way. From the beginning, he’d manipulated her into doing what he wanted, when he wanted.
And, fool that she was, she’d fallen for him like a ton of bricks. From the moment she saw him smiling at her across that damned fence, she’d tumbled head over heels in love with him. Her entire life, she’d struggled to prove to herself that she could make it on her own. She’d never had anyone she could depend on, so learning to depend on no one had been a question of survival. In a few short weeks, Zack had almost stolen from her the one thing that kept her sane. He’d taken her heart, but she’d never give him her soul. That was hers alone.
“Well, that’s just great, Zack. I’m glad you felt you had the right to choose when to tell me this. Everyone got to know but August, is that it? Did you want to make sure I’d sleep with you first?”
“Don’t get upset.”
“Upset?” She stood up. “What makes you think I’m upset?”
“You’re yelling.”
“I haven’t even started to yell.”
“Your face is red.”
“It’s hot in here.”
“Querida. sit down. I know this is a shock to you.”
“A shock?” She bit off a half laugh. “Oh, that’s rich. What makes you think I’m shocked? How dare you manipulate me like this!”
“I did not manipulate you.”
“No?” She pointed to the backyard. “You played me like a fool, didn’t you, Zack? Oh, you wrapped it up in a nice little package, but you were stringing me along the whole time. You’ve suspected this since the day we me with Fulton Cleese.”
“I didn’t have any proof, and I didn’t see—”
“You forced the issue with Odelia. You forced the issu? with George Snopes, and when I wouldn’t tumble into bed with you, you forced the issue with me, too. That’s wha this was all about, wasn’t it? You wanted sex, and I wouldn’t give it to you.”
Frustrated, he surged to his feet. “No, damn it. Will you shut up and listen to me?”
The insistent blare of a horn sounded from the driveway “No.” She grabbed the handle of her medical bag where it sat by the table. “I’m through listening to you. You’v« never told me the truth about anything, why should I star listening now?”
Before he could stop her, she stalked out the back door With a muttered curse, Zack followed her into the yard The hammering and sawing had stopped. Belatedly he no ticed that Sam, Jeff and Josh had joined the building pro ect. He gave his brothers a menacing glare as they regardée him with amused looks. “What are you looking at?” he barked.
Sebastiano shook his head as Bubba Lorden rounded the house leading a two-month-old calf on a tether. “You amigo, have really blown it this time.” The boys, sensing the brewing argument, scrambled down from the tree fort
August didn’t seem to notice the growing crowd of spectators. “Just admit it, Zack,” she. demanded. “Admit that’s why you married me.”
“That is not why I married you.”
“If you knew things were going to turn out like this, then you knew I didn’t need your help to get Judge Laden to award me custody.” She glanced at Teddy. “You already knew Snopes wasn’t a real threat,” she hissed.
“I didn’t know that.” He grabbed her arm. “And stop shrieking. You’re upsetting the boys.”
“What do you care?” She dropped her medical bag in the dirt with a thud. “You already got what you came for.”
At the bitter statement, Zack threw up his hands in disgust. “You are the most hardheaded woman I have ever—”
“Is this a bad time, August?” Bubba Lorden stood watching them with a concerned expression on his face. “I know you wanted to do this out at the farm, but I figured—”
“Don’t worry about it, Bubba,” August assured him. “I said now. Now is fine.” She reached into the bag. “Bring him over here.”
Bubba looked warily at Zack, but led the calf forward. “You’re sure he’s not too young? He’s just eight weeks.”
“Positive,” August said. “He’ll be fine.”
Zack took a step forward. “Augus
t, will you just listen to me?”
She held a syringe up to the light as she drained a medicine vial. “Bubba, he hasn’t been ill, has he?”
“No, ma’am.” The young man’s Adam’s apple bobbed when he saw Zack’s harsh frown.
“You cannot ignore this forever,” Zack said.
August stuck the hypodermic needle in the calf’s rump. The young animal squirmed, but endured the expertly applied shot.
Sam’s sneeze caught Zack’s attention. He looked over his shoulder to see that his brothers and the seven boys had closed ranks around him to watch the procedure with the calf.
“Boy,” Bo said, “is she mad.”
“Yeah.” Chip nodded. “I never seen August like this.”
Jeff pushed his glasses up the bridge of his nose. “Not even that time we almost burned down the shed.”
Sam wiped his nose with the back of his hand. “Or the time we let Mr. Farley’s geese loose during that garden party at Ms. Keegan’s club.”
Lucas gave Zack a pitying look. “You blew it, man.”
Even Teddy shook his head at him.
“Well, great,” Zack said, “this is just what I need. I’m in the middle of a major crisis, and I’m getting advice from the Marx brothers.” When Miguel started to laugh, he gave him a withering look.
The sound of a car in the drive momentarily distracted August from her examination of the young calf. Zack glanced up to see Jansen Riley making his way across the yard in measured strides. “Jansen,” he muttered.
August stiffened. “The gang’s all here.”
Zack laid a hand on her shoulder, “August, please listen to me.”
“I’m busy,” she insisted. “Bubba, rope his back legs, we’ve got to lay him down.”
Bubba deftly tied off the binding rope. August repeated the procedure on the now protesting animal’s front legs. “The tranquilizer should help,” she said, “but you’re going to have to hold him still. He’ll kick if you don’t.”
Jansen reached the backyard. “ Zack, what’s going on?”
“Morning, Jansen,” Zack said. “I’m just having a little fight with your daughter.”
Jansen looked at August. “Dear God, she’s the spitting image of Katherine.” He set his suitcase down on the ground as he took two steps toward her. “August, I can’t begin to tell you what—”
“Bubba,” August said, ignoring them all, “get the redhandled calipers out of my bag.”
Zack saw the way her shoulders stiffened, knew she was struggling not to look at Jansen. He placed a restraining hand on the older man’s arm. “Wait a minute, Jansen,” he said. “You’ve waited thirty years, you can wait anothei couple of minutes.”
“Zack, I—”
“I know,” Zack said, “but just hold on.” When he saw August struggling with the calf’s front legs, he bent to help her. He grabbed the animal’s head and forelegs, holding them still while August pulled on a pair of latex gloves. “Maybe you’re right,” he told her. “Maybe I should have talked to you about it, but if you’ll just listen to me, you’ll see that I—”
“Here ya go, August” Bubba had returned with the instruments she’d requested.
“Thank you. Bubba, hold his hind legs. Zack, if you’re going to insist on helping, hold tight. He’s not going to like this.”
Zack felt the boys crowd close to his back as August took out an ominous-looking scalpel. Chip tapped him on the shoulder. “What’s she doing?”
“Get back, boys,” Jansen said. “That calf could kick you.”
They moved inches away. August gave the scrotal sac between the calf’s hind legs a tug. The animal yelped and struggled against Zack’s confining grip. “Hold him, Zack,” she insisted. “If he kicks me, I could cut my hand off.”
“The reason I didn’t tell you all this before,” Zack insisted, “is because I wanted to be sure. How would you have felt if it had all turned out to be untrue? How would the boys have felt?”
Ignoring him, she made her first incision. As the knife sliced open the tender flesh, the calf bellowed. Behind him Zack heard Sebastiano groan. With a deft swipe of the scalpel, she sliced off the testicle.
“I think I’m going to throw up,” Miguel said.
The calf was whining now. “What the hell are you doing?” Zack asked.
“What does it look like I’m doing?” she snapped. “I’m doing a routine castration. I do about a hundred of these a year.” She glanced at Bubba. “Hold him steady. One more to go.” She made a second incision, then fingered the other testicle. When she cut it off, Zack saw Rafael’s hand move protectively to his groin.
“All done,” she said. She patted the calf’s belly. “You did good, buddy.” With a quick economy of motion, she swabbed the wound with a local anesthetic. Wiping off the instruments, she dropped each into her bag, then untied the calf’s legs. He stumbled to his feet, giving her a somewhat wounded look, but seeming more or less recovered from the indelicate procedure. August dropped both testicles into a sanitized plastic bag. “You want them, Bubba?” she asked the young man.
His face paled as she watched her strip the bloodstained latex gloves from her hands. “Uh, no, ma’am. I’m just gonna take him home.”
“He should be fine.” She handed him a tube of medicine and a bottle of drops from the bag. “If he starts rubbing at it funny, spread some of this on it. It’ll stave off infection. And here are the antibiotics for his feed. The directions are on the bottle.”
“All right.”
She discarded the gloves in a garbage bag, then snapped the satchel shut. As Bubba led his calf away, she finally turned to Zack. “Just tell me one thing, Zack,” she said, with a dead calm that made him feel panicky. “Tell me why you wanted to marry me.”
He’d gotten so used to having her ignore him, he was unprepared for the abrupt question. “What do you mean?”
“I mean, why did you want to marry me? It wasn’t because of Odelia. It wasn’t even because of the boys. Why did you do it?”
Relief surged in him. This she would understand. Somehow, he’d cleared the last hurdle, and once he explained to August that his only concern had been for her protection, she’d understand. He was sure of it. He reached out a comforting hand. “Because, querida, you needed me.”
Her expression turned stone hard. He watched the anger flow through her with a renewed feeling of panic. “I don’t need anyone, Zack. Not parents. Not a family. And especially not you.”
“August—”
“You bastard. You arrogant bastard. Who gave you the right to play God with other people’s lives?”
“I wasn’t—”
“Who gave you the right to decide what was best for me?”
“Will you—”
“What makes you think you can stand there and tell me I need you? How dare you!”
“Damn it, will you—”
“Shut up, Zack. Don’t you think you’ve said enough for one day? First you tell me you’ll marry me to save my kids. Never mind how I might feel about it. You practically bullied me into it by scaring the wits out of me. But I’m supposed to need you? Well, thanks, but no thanks.” In one hand, she still held the small bag with the bull’s testicles. With a muttered curse, she slapped them against his chest. “Here, why don’t you keep this as a souvenir? Every time you look at them, you’ll know I wish it had been you.” She turned and stalked into the house.
Zack faced the small crowd of men with trepidation. “Now what?” he muttered.
“Don’t get too close,” Miguel said.
Sebastiano shook his head. “And hide all the knives.”
Lucas jammed his hands in the pockets of his shorts. “She’s really mad, Zack. You better let her cool off.”
Jansen glanced from the boys to Zack. “Nice going, Adriano,” he said. “You went from attorney, to friend, to son-in-law, to fool, all in one day.”
Zack exhaled a long breath. “Jansen, I’m sorry. I didn’t mean for you to mee
t her this way.”
“It’s all right.” He hefted the suitcase to his other hand. “I was prepared for it to take some time.”
Sebastiano seemed inclined to agree. “You’ve just turned her world upside down, Zack. Give her a little time to adjust.”
“Mierda.” Rafael stepped forward to grab Zack’s shoulder. “Between the four of you, you don’t know enough about women to fill a thimble. Hermano—” he gave Zack a shake “—you’re about to throw away the only decent woman who’d ever have you.”
“Hell, don’t you think I know that?”
“For someone who makes his living arguing, you sure blew it this time.”
He glared at Rafael. “Thank you for your support.”
“You, amigo, are coming with me.” He looked at Miguel and Sebastiano. “You two, watch the boys so Jansen can talk to August alone.”
“Where are you going?” Miguel asked him.
“How’d you get here, Jansen?” Rafael asked.
“I flew. My private plane is at the airstrip.”
“Good. We’re borrowing it.”
“Are you nuts?” Zack pointed at August’s house. “I’m not leaving her now. Not like this”
Rafael pried the plastic bag out of his hand and tossed it in the trash. “You are if you want to keep that woman. My God, amigo, you’re head over heels. Don’t blow it.” He propelled Zack out of the yard with a firm hand at his shoulder.
By the time they were settled in Jansen’s plane, Zack was wallowing in self-pity. He’d ruined everything. He’d finally met a woman he could love, and he’d destroyed it with his own pride and arrogance. “You think I’m a fool, don’t you?”
Rafael checked the panels as he prepared to take off. “Yes.”
“You’ve always thought I was a fool.”
“No.” He flipped several switches, and the engine roared to life. “I’ve always thought you were too stubborn for your own good. You were so busy being everything we needed you to be, you never took a long look at yourself, Zack. You can’t go through life scared to death that people are going to leave you. That’s no way to live.”
He looked out the window as Rafael began to taxi the plane. “Is that why you despise me?” he asked.