It Takes Two: Deep in the Heart, Book 1 (26 page)

“Whoa. Don’t think that’s gonna happen, is it?”

Annie shook her head.

“Well, hellfire, Annie. I’ll marry you, you know that.”

“Shut up, Cody,” Annie said with a smile. “You need a good woman and children of your own to keep you sane.”

“Insane, sounds to me.” They were silent for a moment while they ate. Cody slathered a heaping spoonful of Annie’s salsa over his eggs before looking back up. “So, is the salsa king ever coming back?”

Annie paused before meeting Cody’s eyes. “I think it’s best if Zach doesn’t. I told him not to come here again.”

“Fallen that hard, have you?”

“Maybe.” Annie’s voice was noncommittal, but she dropped her gaze. “Yes,” she whispered after a moment. “I’m afraid so. Crazy of me, isn’t it?”

Cody sighed. “I don’t know, Annie. What I know about finding the right person could be cupped in one of Mary’s little hands.”

“Oh, Cody, your lady will come along one day.”

“Ain’t particularly worried about it,” he said, finishing the last bites of his breakfast. “Now, Slick, he isn’t all that bad, is he? What do you want to go and run him off for?”

Annie narrowed her eyes as she fathomed Cody’s meaning. “Since when did you decide Zach wasn’t so bad? You used to think he was one tough character, too tough for me to tango with.”

“I like tough characters, myself. Anyway, can’t a guy change his mind?”

“Maybe. But Papa will never change his.”

Cody laughed. “Listen, Annie, before this rehab of Travis’s is over, Gert is going to tie him up in his own bedsheets and make him her love slave.”

Annie started to laugh, but sudden shrieks from outside shot Cody off the bench, with Annie close behind.

“My God, Mary, what is it?” Annie flew to her daughter, throwing an arm around her protectively, while following the direction of Mary’s trembling finger. “Oh, my Lord. That’s the snake that got out of the cage. Is it dead, Cody?”

They stared at the rattlesnake, which lay large and unmoving in a patch of sunshine. Cody kicked loose mud its way, but the reptile didn’t swish a rattle “Reckon it is,” he said. “But look at this.” With a boot tip, he pushed the fat rattler away to reveal a much smaller one.

Mary shivered against her. Annie pulled her child tightly to her hip. “Was it a mother, with its baby?” The thought was sad, in a way.

“Wouldn’t count on it, not with it being as big as it is.” Cody kneeled down to get a closer look. “I don’t know that these two snakes are related. It might have just been survival of the fittest. Or biggest, in this case.”

“What did they die from?”

He squinted against the sun, considering. “I’m willing to bet it was the fire.”

“They got smoked out?”

“Well, the heat was pretty intense. Might have gone under the house for protection.” With one hand, he stroked along the conspicuous diamond-shaped markings. “Some animal likely dragged them out this morning, and Mary might have scared it off when she came outside.”

Annie felt sick thinking about how that giant rattler might have been waiting, in a cozy dirt nest under the house, until it saw its chance to strike. And what struggle was being waged under the very foundation of her home last night? “Oh, Lord, Cody. I think I’m more upset than Mary is,” she said. Feebly, she thanked the heavens her daughter hadn’t fallen victim to snakebite.

Cody got a shovel out of the back of his truck, scooping the two snakes up. He tossed them into the bed, along with the shovel. “You need some rest, is all. Come on, Mary,” he said.

Though she’d been clinging to Annie, Mary went readily into his arms. “Tell you what. You go get dressed, and I’ll snag a couple of those grape sodas out of the fridge for the road. We’ll go check on Grandma. What do you say?”

“Yes!”

“Are you sure you feel well enough, Cody?” Annie asked.

“I feel fine, and besides, it’s getting depressing around this snake pit.”

Annie laughed. “Thanks.”

“Naw, I’m teasing,” he said, putting an arm around Annie’s shoulders and giving her a light squeeze. “But I do need to go give Ma a hand. I called her last night and she cussed me for being so stupid to try to stop the fire. I could tell she missed me.”

“I know she does. Tell your mom I appreciate her loaning you out for a while.”

Annie took Mary inside to her room, helping her put on a little pair of denim shorts and a pink eyelet blouse. “Grape soda for breakfast. Ugh. Will you please ask Grandma Aguillar to give you something healthy to eat?”

“Yes, Mama.” Mary grinned. “You shouldn’t be so picky, Mama. If you tried one, you’d probably like it.”

“I’m not picky, Mary, I’m particular. There’s a big difference.”

Mary giggled. “Sodas are better than that old coffee you drink.”

Annie ruffled the bangs on Mary’s forehead. “You may have a point there. Now, slip these shoes on and hurry out to Uncle Cody’s truck before he has to come looking for you.”

“I will, Mama.” Mary hurried outside, and Annie watched the big man help her daughter into the truck. It was relatively new and expensive-looking, big all over and meant to haul whatever needed it on the farm. Cody’d bought it from a friend and was awfully pleased to have gotten it. Annie smiled and let the blinds fall back in place. He’d needed a new truck, but she thought the worked-over hearse suited his style far better.

But he wouldn’t have been able to toss those snakes into the back of his hearse quite as readily, Annie thought with a shiver. The fright that had run up her spine when she’d seen the enormous length of serpent again—so close to Mary—had made her slightly nauseous. Her only child had been through so much lately. Would life ever get easier for them, be gentler to Mary?

Annie shook her head and strolled back down to check on Gert and Travis. They were both still asleep, so she made Mary’s bed, enjoying placing the plentiful stuffed animals in a row along the back and over the pillow. Outside, she could hear mockingbirds rustling and chattering in the trees outside the house. The sun was shining brightly and it was a beautiful day, if she didn’t have to walk past the trees and see the stark blackness of the fields.

No point in thinking about that if she could avoid it for the moment. She’d clean the kitchen after Travis and Gert ate, Annie decided. Putting on boots, she wandered outside to stare at what damage the rains had done. Slowly, she walked to where the corn had grown in neat furrows. The ground lay fallow, unnatural in its idle appearance. To Annie’s eyes, it almost looked as if the very dirt was waiting, wanting the rejuvenation of roots down deep inside it. If she could get the insurance money fast enough, Annie supposed she could get another crop in of something before it was too late for the fall growing season.

Feeling sorry for herself now wasn’t going to put food on the table, though. Annie remembered how she’d once told Zach that she imagined the cornfields were a security blanket wrapped around three-quarters of the house. She’d felt invincible, knowing it was a good crop and that, even if their financial situation became more precarious, they could eat many meals off that corn.

Fervently she wished Carter Haskins had never come to Desperado. What a low-down, two-headed snake he’d been, far more dangerous than that old, fat rattler which had met its end in the shadows under her house last night. Annie wished Carter could reap the rewards of the devastation he’d managed to force on her and her family—and then instantly tried to push the bitterness from her mind. It would do no good to let the hatred burn inside her for what he’d done—but it stung her pride to know he was sitting somewhere laughing at her. Waiting for the bank to foreclose now, any day.

Annie reached down to touch the earth, making a solemn vow that a new crop would be planted to be nourished by its life-giving soil. Then she stood and walked toward the house, resolute in her determination to survive this terrible setback. Somehow, some way, she was going to find a way to keep her home.

The sight of Zach’s shiny sports car parked in the drive by her house stopped Annie in her tracks. Leaning against it was Zach, looking big and strong and more irresistible than ever. His arms were crossed over his chest, and in his face she read stubbornness and determination. While she’d been staring at her ravaged land, Zach had been watching her, giving her time to grieve.

But by the hard look in his eyes, Annie knew Zach wanted an explanation for why she’d said she didn’t want to see him.

Chapter Seventeen

“Hello, Zach,” Annie said.

Zach could read the wariness in her eyes. But he’d had to see Annie. Some hopeful, desperate feeling inside him said that if he could just have thirty minutes to talk to her, she wouldn’t tell him to go away.

He could only hope that he was right. “I’m chancing you won’t tell me to hit the road,” he said, striving for a light tone in spite of the truth of his words. She didn’t smile, her ebony brows drawn in a tight line in the mocha of her skin. Her hair, hanging darkly radiant to her waist, was held back with combs so that he could see every nuance of her expression. Annie was going to tread very cautiously with him. “Okay. Will a bribe buy me thirty minutes of conversation with you?”

The lightest trace of a smile passed across her lips. “You haven’t been able to bribe me before.”

“You’ve got a point. So this time, I decided to be smart.” He reached through the open window of the sports car, pulling out a large, rectangular white box. Without a word, he handed it to Annie.

“What’s this for?”

He grinned at the suspicion in her eyes. “It’s not a snake. Go ahead and open it.”

“Oh, don’t even say that,” she murmured. “My fingers shake just thinking about it.” But slowly she pulled the lid off, gasping. “Oh, it’s beautiful!” Carefully, she took out the musical carousel, three white horses on gold poles poised to spin around a glass bottom.

“It’s for Mary,” Zach said quietly. “Do you think she’ll like it?”

“Like it? Zach, she doesn’t have anything like this! It’s…so stunning.” Sunshine shone off the golden bridles and hooves of the white horses, making the carousel look like a starry vision out of a child’s fairy book. “You already were Mary’s hero. Once she sees this—well, it’s a wonderful bribe, Zach. Thank you.”

The delighted and grateful expression on Annie’s face warmed his heart. Once he’d seen the porcelain confection, Zach had known it had to belong to Mary. For a room decorated with raggedy stuffed animals and handmade dotted-swiss curtains, it was the perfect jewel in a little girl’s crown. And for Mary, who had taken the time to teach a city man how to fish and who’d believed him without reservation when he’d said he would return, it was the perfect way to say thank you.

Mesmerized, Annie twisted the carousel. Pink, peach and lilac roses adorned the turning base, while strains of a happy, lighthearted tune melted into the hot Texas air. “You shouldn’t have bought her something so expensive.”

Zach shrugged. “Some things are so special no price can be set for them.” Gently, he reached to stroke one dark tendril that was lying against Annie’s cheek. “Didn’t you tell me that once?”

“About my land,” Annie said with a smile. “You did understand, all the time.”

“I understand much better now. You taught me that. You’ve taught me a lot of things. Annie, don’t turn me away,” he said, his voice husky. “I have to talk to you.”

Annie stared into Zach’s sable eyes, knowing that much more than a need to talk echoed between them. They would share, they would touch, they would laugh—Annie smoothed a finger along the painted roses of the carousel top. Part of her cried out,
This man is not the solution to your problems!
But the biggest part of her—the part where her heart resided—couldn’t resist time alone with him. “Come with me,” she said softly.

He followed her down to the foreman’s shack. Underneath a potted cactus lay a key, and she opened the door. Inside, Annie turned on a light and the ceiling fan before setting the carousel on a rough, wooden table. Slowly, she turned to meet Zach’s eyes. “I need to tell you something first.” At his nod, she said, “When I told you I didn’t want to see you, I was afraid.”

Approaching Annie slowly, the way he would a frightened kitten, Zach moved to within a few inches of her. Close enough that he could see the darkness of her eyes, see the trembling in her lips. “And now?”

“I’m still afraid. Aren’t you?”

“Yes.” Slowly, he slipped his arms around her, at once struck by how right holding her felt. “But not of this.”

Annie bowed her head, touching her brow to his chest. “I threw myself at you once before, Zach. I can’t forget what you said—”

Stroking her lip with his finger, Zach whispered, “I broke off my engagement.”

“Why?” Annie’s voice was scarcely more than a whisper as she looked up to search his eyes.

“I discovered that my fiancée was unfaithful to me, which was the catalyst for breaking up with her,” Zach replied thoughtfully. “But the truth is, I wouldn’t have been able to marry her, anyway. Once I’d met you, my heart wasn’t in it.”

She shook her head, but Zach placed his finger over her lips. “I’m not saying that you purposely had anything to do with my decision. What I am saying is that in you, I saw faithfulness, whether it was to your family or your land. In you, I saw a woman who knew what mattered in life. I was blinded by ambition and greed, and I’d forgotten what really counts, but I remember now. I don’t think I will ever forget again,” he said, brushing his lips along her forehead.