It Takes Two: Deep in the Heart, Book 1 (19 page)

“Humph.” Travis scanned Cody’s face, then Annie’s. “Ah, hell. I can see it ain’t worth telling either one of you that we’ve always gotten by, we always will.”

Annie leaned her head back and peered up at the black sky. “Maybe getting by isn’t enough anymore, Papa. You’re older and not quite as strong as you used to be.” She smiled at his curse of denial. “I’m older, myself. I’d like to provide better for my only child. Shoot, Papa, we don’t even carry enough health insurance to get us by the bad times. If we lost that corn crop, I don’t know what we’d do.” Slowly, she turned around to look at her father. “You don’t say it, but I know you think it sometimes too, Papa. It’s been harder since Carlos died. I haven’t been able to provide as well for us. Maybe it wouldn’t matter if it was just you and me—” her expression turned pleading, “—but for Mary’s sake, it hurts to be so strapped all the time.”

Travis’s face stayed set in mulish lines. “This carpetbagger’s gone and scared the horse sense out of you.” He shot an angry look Zach’s way.

Annie shook her head slowly. “No, Papa. It has nothing to do with Zach. I will admit that I’ve been more insecure about the future, but it started when Carlos died. There were two of us to take on the world before, but then everything changed. Haskins came out here. I began having nightmares about not being able to—”

She stopped, obviously incapable of putting into words what she wanted to say. Zach reached over and patted her knee, but inside, he was promising Carter an ear-ringing firing from Ritter International. It would be one of his last acts of kindness if he didn’t throw Carter out the glass window.

“Well, we don’t have to run out and find a factory tonight,” he said, his voice reassuring. “I was just throwing out an idea. It may be stupid as hell, for all I know.” He glanced up to see a thoughtful expression on Cody’s face. The realization swept him that Cody was actually giving his proposal some merit, without dismissing it the way the old man had. Strangely enough, Cody’s opinion mattered to Zach.

“Aw, hell. Let’s go to bed,” Travis said. “I’ve been home less than a day from the hospital and y’all are talking capital enterprises. Come on, Cody. Help me to my room.”

“All right.” Cody threw one last glance at the pair on the porch and went inside.

“Good night, Papa,” Annie called. “I’ll be in later to check on you.”

She grinned at her father’s muttered cussing. Zach rested his head on his forearms, silently listening to Cody help Travis from the sofa. It was time to take himself down to the foreman’s shack, yet he didn’t feel like leaving Annie yet. He wondered what she’d really thought of his suggestion. Annie was an intelligent woman. She knew what the risks of starting a new business were—especially with a small child and an old man to care for. She also knew what the risks of relying on crops for her income were. Maybe she even had an idea of her own rolling around behind those warm indigo-blue eyes of hers.

He took a deep breath of night air just barely cooling from the heat of the day, and realized that whether or not Annie was buying the idea of Snakebite Sauce, all he really cared about was that she knew he cared about her. Really, really cared about her. This was the only way he knew how to help her, to show her he was on her side, regardless of which side he’d started out on.

He suspected Cody had figured that out, although he still sensed animosity from the big man. Annie was smart enough to realize it, too. He wasn’t in a position to offer Annie any type of relationship, but she had changed his life. Much, much for the better. And he would never forget that.

Annie sighed beside him. “So, can you find your way back down to the foreman’s shack?”

“I think so.”

“There’s a shower, and you’ll find towels in the closet.” Annie’s gaze roved over him. “Although I guess you’ve just finished drying out from your swim.”

Zach smiled at the mischievous light in her eyes. “A warm shower sounds inviting, actually, despite the swim.”

She stood slowly, and Zach rose with her.

“Thank you for coming, Zach. You’ve given us all something to think about.” For a moment, her eyes held uncertainty. “It’s something we’ve been needing to face for some time. Maybe over the next few months, we can talk about your idea again.” She paused for a second, her gaze asking him to understand. “When Papa feels better.”

He nodded. “It’s not my idea anymore. It’s yours. Do with it what you will. If it helps you in any way, then I’m glad.” Slowly, gently, he ran one finger across Annie’s cheekbone. “Before I leave tomorrow, I want another tour of the cornfields. I’ve never seen what corn near harvest time looks like.” He removed his hand slowly. “Actually, I think the only corn I’ve ever seen besides yours was in the grocery store.”

Annie smiled. “City boy,” she murmured softly.

He chuckled. “Yeah. Well, I’m sure you’ve heard the old saying that you can take the country boy to the city, but you can’t take the city boy to the country.”

“I think you completely ruined that saying, Zach,” Annie teased.

“Something did get lost in the translation, I agree.” They stood staring at each other for a moment, their eyes locked. Finally, he had to break the silence. “So. Cornfield tour in the morning?”

“Right after breakfast.”

“We could take Mary,” Zach offered.
Shame on you, using a little girl as a buffer!
he thought. “If you think she’d like that,” he finished guiltily.

“Mary always loves to romp in the fields,” Annie told him. “She’ll tell you more about those corn crops than you ever wanted to know.” She looked toward the fields where the corn was planted, then looked back at Zach a little sheepishly. “I had acres and acres of it planted. Corn’s one of my favorite things to grow. Cotton’s a good moneymaker, but you can’t eat it,” she said with a smile. “If I had to, I could make meals out of that corn for a very long time. I can see it from the south and west windows of the house, and sometimes I imagine that corn is a security blanket around us.”

She sighed before turning her wistful gaze back to him. “Silly, huh, city boy?”

Zach clenched his hands at his sides to keep from pulling Annie into his arms. “I’m barely resisting the urge to run through those cornfields naked in a ritual appreciation dance,” he said, forcing himself to sound light.

Annie laughed, the sound full of relief. “You always say the right things.” She turned to go into the house. “You’ll be okay?”

Zach waved her on. “I’m going to bed down in that shack like it’s the Ritz, and I’m not waking up till I hear reveille. Or smell breakfast cooking.”

It was untrue, but it kept the smile on Annie’s face until she closed the front door behind her. And that alone made his trip to Desperado worth it.

Annie went down the hall to her room after checking on Travis, then on Mary. The little girl slept peacefully in her bed, clutching a small bear in her arms. Annie turned the nightlight on, in case Mary woke up in the night with a bad dream. It didn’t happen as frequently now, but Annie was in the habit of turning the tiny light on just in case.

She thought about Zach comforting Mary as she walked into her own room. He’d said more to Mary than anyone else had ever managed, including Annie. Although she’d tried to help Mary deal with her grief, there really wasn’t a good way to explain to a child why her daddy died, or how, or why God had let it happen. And was Daddy up in heaven, watching over her?

Annie sighed and sat down on the bed to brush her hair. Of all people, Zach Rayez wasn’t the person she would have guessed could connect with Mary’s pain. And what he’d told the child about his own mother had brought swift tears to Annie’s eyes. At least Mary still had one parent left who loved her, and then a circle of doting family.

Zach had lost both parents. No wonder he’d grown up to be such a tough character.

But not too tough to drive out to Desperado to try to help Annie solve some of her difficulties. Despite Travis’s and Cody’s suspicions, Annie knew Zach was on the level. He might be tough in business dealings, but she herself had seen soft underbelly. Vulnerable heart. All in all, a good man in many ways.

A man who was due to be married very soon.

Annie pursed her lips and put the brush down. White-hot pain stabbed into her heart as she thought about his fiancée. She would be beautiful, of course. She would be able to help Zach in his career. No doubt the future Mrs. Rayez was loving and kind and just the woman he could entrust his heart to. The heart that had known little love as a child, and likely less as an adult. He would choose a woman who would be careful of those bitter scars and yet know how to encircle him and make him whole with her love.

She slipped into a nightgown and turned out the bedside lamp. Later, after Zach had gone, she would think again about the salsa. Later, when she knew his wedding was past and that their connection was finally severed forever, she would think about her future.

Zach tossed and turned in his sleep. He awakened about every hour, it seemed, to glance at the watch on his arm and then try to fall asleep again. About two in the morning, he got up and walked around the cabin, uncertain as to why he couldn’t relax. The fish pond was still. He walked back to the front, glancing toward Annie’s house. All the lights were out, except for a small glow, like a star, in a west window. Zach smiled, remembering that Mary’s room was across the hall from Annie’s. He’d seen the rows and rows of stuffed animals lovingly arranged on a daybed the afternoon Annie cut her finger. Mary had been afraid of him then. But she wasn’t afraid of him now. He was glad she trusted him. A child’s trust was a very important gift, and very few adults trafficked in the business of trust, Zach knew. He would treasure Mary’s trust forever.

Yawning, he went back inside and crawled in the sheets. The bed was comfortable enough, with crisp, white sheets that smelled of detergent. The cabin itself was cool. Zach lay on his back, his arms crossed under his head, staring into the semiblackness. Oh, there was a reason he couldn’t sleep. He just didn’t want to face it.

Annie Aguillar had started a fire in him he couldn’t douse. Something about her had attached itself to his heart and wouldn’t let go. Trying to think about LouAnn did nothing to improve the situation. A vision of LouAnn naked but for high heels, modeling her wedding garter, flitted through his mind. Zach winced. And made a major resolution. He was going back to Austin tomorrow and meet with LouAnn, to tell her he couldn’t go through with their wedding. It was going to be a most unpleasant scene, but it had to be done. Whether or not Annie ever became a part of his life remained to be seen. But she had taught him the real meaning of love.

And he didn’t love LouAnn.

He loved Annie with heart-pounding, bone-melting emotion he’d never felt for a woman. He could go mad thinking about Annie when he was lying beside another woman, a woman he didn’t love anymore.

Zach closed his eyes, willing himself to sleep. There was no point in thinking about it tonight. Time enough for action tomorrow.

The smell of something cooking teased Zach out of a restless dream. He smiled to himself and rubbed his face in the pillow. What little he’d tasted of Annie’s cooking was delicious, and he looked forward to eating whatever she made for breakfast. He hadn’t eaten since noon yesterday, having declined dropping in on their homecoming dinner last night.

However, he would make up for that with gusto this morning. The fact that he’d be sharing the meal with Annie and Mary was the best part, of course. Travis and Cody he could deal with—easily—if it meant being with those two ladies.

He sat up groggily and rubbed a hand over his face.
There’s a hell of a breeze this morning, if I can smell what Annie’s cooking,
he thought. It was still dark in the cabin, yet he could see a glow on the horizon out the south window.

South. Not east as the sun rises.

Zach shot to his feet and raced to the window. “Oh, my God,” he whispered. “The fields are on fire.”

Chapter Twelve

“Cody! Annie!” Zach stumbled toward the house, awkwardly jerking his jeans on one leg at a time. Glancing toward the cornfield, he saw only bright flames and jet wisps of smoke spiraling upward in the darkness. Forcing himself to run faster, Zach gained the porch steps and started pounding on the front door hard enough to fracture the aged wood. “Somebody open the door! The cornfields are on fire!” he shouted.

The door jerked open. “Slick!” Cody said. “What the hell?”

“There’s a fire in the cornfields.” Zach pointed toward the south. “It’s big, too.”

“Damn it.” Cody cursed under his breath and reached over to the sofa, snatching jeans up. “Annie!” he yelled over his shoulder.

“My God,” she said, appearing in the doorway, soft and rumpled in a gown that just swept her knees. “What are you two doing?”

“Call the fire department. The corn’s on fire,” Cody commanded.

Annie gasped and raced into the kitchen. Now dressed, Cody shouldered past Zach and hurried down the porch steps. Travis hobbled into the hall, tossing a malevolent stare Zach’s way. “What the hell are you doing, sneaking around the house at this hour?”

Annie returned at that moment. “Papa, there’s a fire in the fields. Listen out for Mary, in case she wakes up frightened. I’m going down there.”