But here Zach was now, fifteen months later—feeling not quite as whole as he’d been hoping to feel, exactly one year ago, when he’d been released from the hospital. Luke had said he was welcome in the guesthouse for as long as he wanted to stay. But now that Zach had decided to make Crystal Rock his permanent home, he wanted to get his belongings out of storage, so he’d begun his search for somewhere else to live.
Besides, Luke would be getting married soon, and once the weather became warmer, Luke and Kelly might want to use the in-ground pool, which was situated near the guesthouse, for some romantic time alone together.
Zach grinned at the thought, stepping out from the shower—until he caught a glimpse of himself in the mirror across the room. Studying the puckering scars and the mangled skin covering much of his torso, along with the skin over his lower back and buttocks, his frown was fierce as he stared at his naked body in the mirror. The first of the series of skin graft operations had begun—not so much to make his appearance presentable, but to increase the flexibility of his skin, while hopefully decreasing the amount of pain and discomfort in the future. There was a lot of heavy scar tissue covering his torso and upper arm, along with some more extensive scarring running down one of his thighs.
What in the hell had he been thinking, earlier today? Sure, the burns only covered about twenty percent of his body—it could’ve been a heck of a lot worse. His face had been saved—although there was still a lot of scarring covering his neck and the underside of his chin. But looking at himself in the mirror, he couldn’t help thinking—what female would even want him, the way he looked now? His chest was a mess, all wrinkled and mangled, with the hair on his chest beginning to grow back in spotty patches. And one of his nipples was barely recognizable. He couldn’t even stand looking at himself. What’d made him think he could ever expose any woman to the horror of his naked body, the way it was right now?
Quit feeling sorry for yourself, you idiot,” he muttered out loud. “Luke lost his limb, saving your life, and his burns were a hell of lot worse than yours. You don’t see him feeling sorry for himself.”
Zach smiled wryly, still staring at himself in the mirror. At least his anatomy was still in working order.
But what kind of woman would ever want to make love to a guy like him?
He took in a long, deep breath. Beth? Something weird had happened to him, when he’d seen her standing alone and isolated on the beach at Dragonfly Pointe. She’d reminded him a little of himself—at peace, but not quite whole—as if she was searching for something elusive—something…
Hmm—Zach supposed unspoken would be the right word to call what was definitely undefinable.
What a chore it must be, raising that kid of hers. The dedication, the time involved was inconceivable.
He began getting dressed as he thought about Kyle. After pulling on some sweats, he hesitated, before tugging a T-shirt down over his head. Could this, by any chance, be the new kid from Crystal Visions, Zach was supposed to be working with in the new year?
He smiled wryly. Maybe. Zach had been training since the fall as a volunteer at the school, to get the feel of things, and now he was supposed to become a personal assistant for one of the kids during the day. Supposedly, the kid was entering the vocational program, and was slated to begin working at Callahan Construction with Zach, come spring.
Zach began whistling as he made his way into the kitchen to feed Em and begin cooking dinner. He knew it was stupid to be thinking like this, especially since they’d just met. But the idea of having an actual excuse, to keep in touch with Beth Bowen, was making him happier than he’d felt in a long, long time.
CHAPTER FOUR
Beth had tears in her eyes. “It’s beautiful, Cal.” They’d just taken a tour of her nearly remodeled four-story home, overlooking Stone lake.
“It’s a lot of house.” Cal said, smiling. Sometime during their walk, he’d grabbed Kyle’s hand and was keeping him in line for Beth with hardly any effort. She could count on one hand the number of times Jim had attempted to help her with Kyle—in fact, he’d downright avoided it—even when she’d obviously had her hands full on the weekend, after working all week, catching up on chores around the house, while cooking for him.
She hesitated, as her eyes searched the kitchen, which was still completely unfinished. “I hate to point out the obvious, but I was really counting on moving in here right away.”
Cal’s smile became wider. “Ah—but it’s time to show you the surprise that I mentioned, when I was talking to you on the phone, last night.” He waved his hand at the back door.
She opened up the door and walked out onto the porch.
Cal asked loudly, “See that house, lit up over there, that extends over the top of the boathouse?”
Her eyes were wide when she turned to stare at Cal. “That’s the rental house? The one that you told me would bring in a little extra income every month? It’s huge!”
Cal began to laugh. “And completely finished. The main house, here, should be move-in ready within two or three months—and you and Kyle won’t have to live amidst the construction mess.”
“Oh, Cal. I expected some dinky little one-bedroom house, when you talked about a rental.”
“Three bedrooms—and it even has a basement. The family room extends over the lake, so Kyle should get a real kick out of it. It used to be another vacation property, before the homeowners, here, decided to buy the property for more privacy. Then the next homeowners tried to make this place an inn, while they lived in the house next door.” He shrugged. “But that went belly up twenty years ago, before Jake Loughlin remodeled the Dragonfly Inn. That’s what made this town a prime vacationing spot again.”
Still staring at the rental, Beth nodded her approval. It looked so cute, clad in the same light green siding she’d chosen for the main house. “So it’s move-in ready?”
He nodded yes. “I know I switched up your directions a little.” He grimaced. “I just thought—why not have the rental house ready to go, so you can rent it out as soon as you move into the main house? Then you can use the extra money you make for additional improvements here, in case your house in Bloomington doesn’t sell right away.”
“I couldn’t be happier.” Beth grinned. “I’d hug you right now, if you weren’t still holding onto Kyle. I’ll admit, I’m starting to feel pretty worn out from that drive, and it’s nice to have a little help with him.”
Still holding onto Kyle’s hand, Cal laughed again, as he led him out through the doorway and onto the porch. “Well, come on then—let’s get you two settled in.”
Beth laughed along with Cal, as she followed him and Kyle down the steps from the porch and along the path.
* * * * *
She and Kyle were settling in nicely, Beth decided, as she stood sipping on her coffee in the family room. It’d been nearly a week now, since they’d arrived in town. Preparing for their move into the main house in February, she’d only unpacked winter clothes, along with the bare necessities. The last few days they’d been decorating for Christmas, and after they attended the party they’d been invited to over at the Dragonfly Pointe Inn this afternoon, she and Kyle would go pick out a Christmas tree at a farm nearby.
This second house on her property was nearly as big as her house in Bloomington. She hadn’t had any input about the remodeling of this home. But she wouldn’t’ve done anything differently than Cal had done, Beth had reassured him, even if she’d been offered the opportunity to choose. Cal had wanted to surprise her, and he’d mentioned that, he’d been hoping, he had a good enough grasp about her design and color choices to make her happy.
Located above the boathouse, the family room had three outer walls encased in thermal glass. And a gas fireplace, tiled in shades of blue and seafoam glass, gave extra warmth to the room, with its vaulted ceiling.
And what a view, she thought, staring out across the lake through the glass. In fact, Beth had loved this room so much that, af
ter gutting the sorely neglected porch that overlooked the lake, Cal would be creating a similar space in an addition built off from the main house.
Snow was in the forecast, and was beginning to trickle down over the semi-frozen lake. Beth had mounted a bird feeder outside of the family room on a sturdy oak. Preparing for the harsher weather coming in, blue jays and sparrows were battling over the seed, and a couple of squirrels scampered along the branches of the tree, patiently awaiting their chance to dig into the seed, after the birds were finished.
Beth grinned. Kyle had his nose pressed up against the glass—he was unusually animated because of the all the visual stimulation. She kind of hated to leave the house today, because of the weather. But she’d only made it into town a few times this past week. She and Kyle had eaten dinner with the Callahan family, before Beth had driven to the store and stocked up on groceries while Cal and his wife, Jenny, had kept an eye on Kyle. Beth was able to make short trips to the grocery store with Kyle. But if she had more than a few items to buy, Kyle would invariably misbehave—he had a short attention span—and he’d become disruptive; grabbing other items from the shelves or trying to leave, before Beth had a chance to pay for her groceries.
“Okay, kid.” Beth smiled at Kyle. “Are you ready to go to a party, and make some new friends? You get to meet all your new teachers, and some of the kids you’ll be going to school with.”
Kyle was definitely becoming excited, when he smiled at her, and began jumping up and down.
CHAPTER FIVE
Zach was holding his breath. She was supposedly coming to the party with her son today, so he’d been watching the double-doors leading into the solarium, for the last half hour now. He just hadn’t been able to help it—he hadn’t stopped thinking about Beth Bowen since they’d met.
Zach hadn’t had a reaction like this to a woman since…
He blinked, startled to realize the answer was never.
Dazedly, he shook his head, and scolded himself. Quit being such an idiot!
Taking in a deep, steadying breath, Zach turned and resumed his conversation with his friends. Luke had an arm wrapped around his fiancé, Kelly, and he was wearing a huge smile on his face as he glanced around the room. Luke had lost a limb in Iraq, and had somehow survived burns covering sixty percent of his body. But he’d gone through several surgeries to remove scar tissue and regenerate his skin. The number of operations Zach would require wouldn’t even come close to the number that Luke would need.
Looking at how well Luke had adjusted after so many debilitating injuries, Zach was suddenly ashamed of himself for the way he’d been behaving. He’d always been kind of a loner. But during this past year, he’d avoided going anywhere in public—he’d been suffering through some pretty deep bouts of depression too.
But that’s why he’d moved to Crystal Rock—at Luke’s suggestion. It was a great town, and with the new wounded warrior facility about to open, Zach had finally begun sessions with the psychologist, who’d be in charge of the head-shrinking aspects of the program, while a rotation of doctors would be in an and out of the clinic, on a weekly basis, to take care of the patients’ medical issues.
“Have you finished shopping, for everything you’re going to need, for your new office, Zach?” Kelly asked.
Zach had been picking up office supplies, and had even discovered a massive oak desk at a second hand furniture store that Kelly’s father, Cal, had recommended. The construction of the wounded warrior facility would be completed sometime in the next month, and everyone who would be working there had agreed to pick up their own supplies and furnishings, since the facility’s funding was still somewhat limited.
“I think I’ve found—pretty much—everything I’m going to need, Kel. I might have to pick up a filing cabinet eventually, though.” Zach continued, “Thanks again for letting me store everything in your garage.”
“Not a problem,” Kelly answered.
Luke gave Kelly a squeeze with the arm he still had wrapped over her shoulders.
Zach thought again, how lucky Luke was, to have found someone who seemed to understand him so well. Somehow, Luke had become engaged to the most incredibly beautiful woman Zach had ever seen. Well, she’d been a model, he’d heard. She was tall and thin, with white-blonde hair—in fact she reminded a little of Beth Bowen, Zach thought suddenly—although Kelly was quite a bit younger. But, wow, what Zach would give, to have a woman look at him, the way Kelly looked at Luke. Sometimes, it kind of took his breath away.
Zach grinned at Kelly. “I don’t get it,” he said, turning to stare at Luke, “what do you see in this guy?” Luke had never exactly been considered handsome, even before his injuries.
Luke barked out a laugh, and rolled his eyes upward.
“I was never able to help myself.” Kelly’s smile was definitely wry, when she looked at Zach. “And it’s been that way ever since I can remember,” she added, gazing back at Luke.
Luke gave Kelly a tender smile, in obvious agreement, and pulled her a little closer to his side.
“There she is,” Kelly said, waving her hand in the air, and staring toward the door.
Zach turned and looked at the woman waving back. Kelly had been waiting for Beth?
Beth smiled, and tugging on Kyle’s hand, she began making her way through the crowd. But, obviously noticing him, she hesitated for a moment, before coming closer.
Hmm—what did that mean? Zach thought. And what the heck was wrong with him? He was having the same kind of stupid reaction that he’d had, when he’d met her, the other day.
But—whoa—she really looked lovely today, wearing a pretty little furry white coat, with matching earmuffs, and boots that came up to her knees. Kyle had on his bulky parka again. He sure was a good looking kid. Although he towered over his mom at about six-foot two, he looked just like her—with white-blonde hair and big blue eyes.
After Beth and Kyle managed to make their way through the crowd, and were finally standing beside them, Kelly smiled and reached for Kyle’s hand. “Hi Kyle.” Kelly motioned at Zach. “Zach, I’d like for you to meet my cousin, Beth—she’ll be taking over the accounts at Callahan Construction, after the first of the year. And this is her son, Kyle.”
Zach and Beth answered, in unison, “We’ve met.”
Zach smiled sheepishly at Beth.
Kelly’s gaze was definitely speculative when she looked at Zach. “Really?”
Zach frowned at Luke, who was grinning while rolling his eyes upward.
But then Beth spoke, in that breathless voice of hers—it was sure doing all kinds of crazy things to his insides again. “The first day I arrived in town, I drove over to the beach at Dragonfly Pointe, to check things out.”
“And I was taking a jog with Em, along the beach,” Zach cleared his throat, “when I got run over by a tank.”
Luke and Kelly were both visibly curious, so Zach looked at Beth and grinned.
Beth grimaced. “That Kyle! He knocked Zach off of his feet to the sand, and sat right down on top of him.” She rolled her eyes. “I think he was trying to say hi.”
Kelly snickered, staring at Luke, who blinked, and snorted. And then they both began to laugh.
Shaking his head at Beth, who was smiling widely, Zach grinned wryly.
And then he turned to Kyle. “Guess what, Kyle? I’m actually gonna be the one working with you, when you begin the program at Crystal Visions.”
Beth started. “Really?”
Zach nodded, looking deeply into her eyes. They were a sapphire blue, with silvery flecks—and even more beautiful than he remembered. Just as he was about to say something more, Jake Loughlin’s voice shot out from across the room. And everyone began taking their seats, at the rows of tables, that’d been set up inside the solarium.
Kelly was obviously manipulating the situation, Zach noticed, because he found himself seated next to Beth. Kyle sat between him and Luke, while Kelly took the chair next to Luke, further down at the end o
f the table.
When Beth slowly tugged off her coat, Zach’s breath began to seize. She was wearing a creamy, silk blouse that was tucked into jeans that rode low on her hips. She looked to be as thin as Kelly, who was probably about half her age.
And, yes—Beth’s figure was equally lovely.
Beth looked younger than he was, Zach thought—no older than thirty. Although he’d ticked off the numbers in his head when he’d first met her, Zach had been a little shocked to discover that she was actually forty-five—after he’d received Kyle’s academic files and history this past week.
She was only eight years older than Zach, though.
No big deal, there.
Zach started, squirming in his seat. What in the hell was he thinking now?
“Even though I know that there’s a coat check,” she said, giving Zach a smile. “I find that it’s easier to hold onto our coats, just in case Kyle begins acting up.”
Zach nodded agreeably.
She hung the coat over the back of her chair, before moving over to help Kyle remove his, with Zach’s assistance.
The servers began delivering food to the table. Quiet murmurs echoed throughout the room, as everyone began to eat and enjoy their food. The Dragonfly Pointe Inn boasted a five-star restaurant, and was one of the most popular places to dine in northwest Wisconsin.
“This is delicious,” Beth said, as she forked another bite of ravioli.
“Hamburgers even taste like steak here,” Zach answered, with a grin.
The school’s planning committee had gone with a simple fare today. Many of the kids who were here had disabilities, and required some assistance while eating.
Two Hearts Unspoken (Two Hearts Wounded Warrior Book 2) Page 3