Raspberries and Vinegar (A Farm Fresh Romance Book 1) (26 page)

Crying? His gut clenched. He wasn’t prepared to deal with that. He was ready for yelling. He could argue with feisty, but this?

“Jo?” He cleared his throat.

She stiffened but didn’t turn.

“Jo, I’m sorry.”

A sniffle. “It’s true, then.”

“What? No! Yvette lied through her teeth.”

“Then what’re you sorry for?” Bitterness laced her words.

Where to start? “I’m sorry you ever had to meet her. I’m sorry you heard her accusations.”

Jo shifted. “She must have based them on something.”

“Desperation.”

She shot a furious look at him.

“What? No. Not for me, at least I don’t think so. I think she probably really is pregnant, but I have no idea who the father is. I promise you I’m telling the truth. I never had sex with her. Not once.” He took a deep, shuddering breath. Man, this was hard. He’d never really talked about this kind of stuff with a girl before. Not one he cared about. “Gabe and I made a pledge when we were in high school. A bunch of kids in our youth group did. We promised to save ourselves for our future spouse.”

At that revelation, Jo’s jaw twitched but her eyes remained focused on the road ahead.

His anger flared. “What, you want to see the results of paternity tests? Guaranteed beyond a shadow of doubt they will prove my innocence. I’ve kept my vow.”

What more could he say to her? She was set against believing him. Why this, now, when he’d just begun to sort himself out?

Chapter 26

“Whoa.” Sierra glanced out the trailer window at Zach’s departing car. “How did that happen?”

Jo glared at her. “It’s a long story. A really,
really
long story.”

“I’ve got time.” Sierra flopped into the loveseat.

Jo would rather forget Zach even existed. She wanted to believe him, but seriously, why would that scantily-clad woman create stories like that one? And did it matter, anyway? Jo just needed to get him out of her head, once and for all.

Did she have to give Sierra the complete low-down? Yeah. The girls had promised to be there for each other, and the weight was more than she could handle on her own. She was such a mess inside. If Sierra and Zach were meant to be together, she’d have to get used to it.

“I’m waiting.” Sierra looked at Jo expectantly. “Did you two kiss and make up?”

Nice try.
Jo lowered herself into the big chair. “He’s just a jerk, anyway. It doesn’t matter.”

Sierra laughed. “Now who’s being silly? I think you really care about him.”

“I thought
you
did,” Jo shot back.

“And you said you weren’t jealous.” Sierra leaned forward. “He’s a really nice guy. Quite a catch. You should try harder. Meet him halfway.”

“Halfway to Coeur d’Alene? Not a chance.”

“Not what I meant, Jo. Though as cities go, it’s small and pretty nice.”

Jo glared at Sierra. “It hasn’t come up, thank you. I suppose you’d ditch us all for some guy and move back to the bright lights?” The appropriate answer would be “of course not.”

Sierra winked. “For the right guy, you never know. A shot at happiness doesn’t come along every day. Now take Zach, for instance—” She pointed her pinkie at Jo as her cell phone rang. Sierra rolled her eyes, swiped it on, and said, “Hello.” A few seconds later, her face blanched and she surged to her feet. “No! Is he okay? What happened?”
 

There was a pause while Jo searched Sierra’s face for clues, but she turned away. Her voice broke. “No. Oh, no. He’ll never be able to live with himself.”

Claire entered the room, her eyebrows raised as she looked from Sierra to Jo. Jo shook her head and shrugged.

“Can you get a flight into Spokane? … I’ll leave right away. Call me when you have details. … Love you, Mom. See you soon.” Sierra turned slowly around as she set the cell down.

Claire wrapped her arms around her friend. “What happened?”

Sierra sagged against Claire. “My dad. He crashed the grocery truck.”

Claire and Jo exchanged glances. “How bad?” Jo asked.

“He’s been rushed to Coeur d’Alene.”

Claire frowned. “So it happened somewhere near here?”

Sierra nodded into Claire’s shoulder. “This side of Wynnton.”

There hadn’t been an accident anywhere Jo had seen. No sirens, flashing lights. Surely she’d have noticed. She blinked the thought aside. “Is he stable?”

Sierra took a long, shuddering breath. “Mom talked to him. They’re not sure if there’s internal bleeding. He’s pretty banged up.”

Claire rubbed Sierra’s back. “If you’re heading to the city tonight, you’ll need somebody. I’ll drive.”

“There’s more.” Sierra’s voice was muffled.

The girls waited.

“It was a head-on. The woman in the car wasn’t so lucky.” Sierra broke down in full-blown crying.

Jo’s heart sank. “Oh, no.” She tried to imagine the grieving family and how awful they must feel.
 

“There were deer on the road.” Sierra managed to get the words out. “Mom said the woman swerved to avoid them and ran right into Dad’s truck.”

“So it wasn’t exactly his fault.” That was a relief, anyway. Jo patted Sierra’s back. “I’m glad he’ll be okay.”

“But I need to see him.” Sierra pulled out of Claire’s arms.

Claire nodded. “I’ll go pack a bag for both of us. Do you want to come, too, Jo? Or stay home alone? If you need something, you could call Nemeseks.”

Like that would happen. “I’ll stay here.” She stood in the middle of the living room while Sierra and Claire rushed around. In just a few minutes, the VW’s taillights disappeared down the drive.

Jo headed down the hall and into the bedroom. Threw herself down across her bed and prayed for Tim Riehl and the family, for the unknown woman’s family. For Zach. For herself.

***

Zach faced his mother over cups of Earl Grey at the kitchen table. Dad, loaded up on painkillers, was already asleep on the twin bed Zach had set up in the corner of the living room.

“How’d it go with Jo?”

Zach sighed. “Not very good. She doesn’t believe me.”

“She told you that?” Mom had a sip of tea.

“As good as.” Zach twisted his mug around on the table. “Mom, I’m sorry. I’ve made a huge mess of stuff over the past couple of years. I don’t know where I went so wrong.”

She clasped his hand across the table. “By ignoring God?”

Zach thought back. Why had he quit going to church and hanging out with the gang from the college-and-careers group? It’d seemed so reasonable at the time. He’d been busy, tired. Just needed to get a bit of extra sleep Sunday mornings. To finish his homework Friday nights. To hit the library during the prayer group that met Tuesday noon.

It wasn’t that he’d stopped believing. He’d just sort of let his faith slide into a back corner of his life. He could retrieve it any time with no consequences. He hadn’t become evil.

Right. Look where that had gotten him. Flirting with disaster.

He met his mother’s gaze. “That was the start, for sure.”

“You don’t need me to tell you that God is waiting for you to offer your life back to Him, do you?”

He shook his head. “I’ve already started. I didn’t know how far I’d drifted until Yvette called me.”

“You had a near miss.”

“Not that easy.” He whooshed his breath out. “If I don’t ‘own up’ to the baby, she’ll terminate.”

“She can’t hold you responsible.”

Zach lifted a shoulder. “It feels like she can.”

“So
n.” Mom waited until he finally met her gaze. “You know I’m not for abortion. No doubt about it. But if you’re not responsible for this pregnancy, then going along with her isn’t the right thing to do, either.”

“I know, but...”

“There isn’t a but.”

He stared at her. “I’ll be responsible for the death of an innocent child.”

“No, son. Yvette is the one making this choice. Not you. What does she expect you to
do
?”

“She wants...” Zach scowled, thinking hard, as his words trailed off. Yvette hadn’t said she’d changed her mind about marrying him. Not that the offer was still on. Had she been looking for money? That seemed silly. Jeff Hammond had more cash than a hundred Zachary Nemeseks, and it was highly unlikely he’d turn a pregnant daughter out onto the streets. “I don’t know what she wants.”

Mom nodded slowly. “Call her bluff.”

He already had, just by walking away. But the sensation she wasn’t done with him lingered. Mom was right, though. He couldn’t take responsibility for Yvette’s choices — past or future.

“So, about Jo.” Mom’s eyes gleamed.

The phone on the kitchen wall rang shrilly.

Zach lunged, hoping to catch it before it went off a second time. Dad needed his rest. “Hello?”

“Zachary?”

“Speaking.” He glanced at his mom and shrugged. Didn’t know who it was.

“It’s Pastor Ron.” The man hesitated. “I have some bad news for you.”

Zach frowned. “Hi, Pastor. What’s that?”

“Can you come over to Gabe’s apartment? He needs you.”

Had Bethany lost the baby? What irony, after Yvette’s flippant talk. But how could he help Gabe with that? He cleared his throat. “Can you tell me what happened?”

“There’s been a terrible accident.” The older man’s voice caught. “Beth... Bethany... her car... she’s dead.”

“Bethany?” Zach’s world reeled for the second time that day. Bethany’s laughing face and rounding belly floated through his memory. That was someone who deserved to be pregnant. Not Yvette. “That can’t be right.”

“Gabe has to drive to Wynnton to identify her body. He can’t do this alone, Zach.” The pastor choked on his words. “He needs his best friend. You.”

***

Zach pulled the Mustang into the parking lot of the Wynnton Hospital. A few vehicles dotted the space, well lit by streetlights.

Beside him, Gabe rubbed bloodshot eyes and stared through the windshield at the emergency room doors. His jaw twitched.

Zach put his hand on his friend’s shoulder. “Ready, man? I’ll come in with you if you want.”

A tear glistened on Gabe’s cheek as he slowly shook his head. “I can’t believe it.”

The drive to Wynnton had been quiet. Zach tried to break it a couple of times, but Gabe didn’t respond. Zach had failed his pal. He couldn’t begin to imagine what Gabe was going through.

“Hang on to God, man. I know it’s rough, but He’s got your back.” Rough? Who was he kidding? The kick he’d felt in his gut when Jo rejected him could only be a minor hiccup compared to losing a beloved wife of several years, a best chum since childhood. Bethany had been Zach’s friend, too.
Had been
. How did a guy start thinking of a friend in past tense?

“He’s got a strange way of showing it.” Gabe’s Adam’s apple bobbed as he swallowed. He shot a look at Zach. “And since when did you start believing that?”

“I’ve been doing some thinking. I’m finding my way back.”

Gabe’s jaw twitched. “Yeah, that’s great, man.” He shoved the car door open with unnecessary force and climbed out. He leaned back in. “Nice that God loves you, cause He sure doesn’t love me.” The door slammed.

Zach’s mouth dropped open.

His best bud, shoulders drooping, hands shoved deep into his pockets, wove across the sidewalk to the hospital doors. They parted automatically, the garish light beaming all around him. Two women ran toward Gabe and embraced him, but he shook them off. The trio remained framed in the doorway.

Everyone here knew Bethany: nurses, doctors, lab techs, cleaning staff. She’d been working here, what, three years? Four? But they were Bethany’s friends, not Gabe’s. And even though Gabe clearly did not know it, he needed Zach at his side. The guy was hurting. He couldn’t have meant what he said.

Zach locked up the Mustang and followed Gabe into the building. He nodded at the two nurses. “I’m his best friend. Name’s Zachary.”

Gabe shifted away from him. Only slightly, but noticeably.

“Dr. Seeley said to call him when you got here.” The nurse’s lips trembled. “He’ll take you d-downstairs.”

Gabe nodded curtly.

Zach caught the young woman’s eyes. “Thanks.”
 

She cast a sidelong glance at Gabe and hurried behind a windowed wall, where she lifted a phone. Zach watched her lips move but couldn’t hear.

Gabe jammed his hands back in his jeans’ pockets and hunched over to the window.

Was the doc going to be long? Zach didn’t know how much of this he could handle. But it wasn’t about him. It was about Gabe. Gabe, who spurned Zach’s help. Who doubted God.

Well, Zach had doubted God aplenty, too, and for less reason. He leaned back against the nearest wall and closed his eyes.
God, Gabe doesn’t want to talk to You right now. He’s hurting.
Man, Zach was, too. He blinked back hot tears.
We like to think we’re in control, but I’m learning — the hard way — that’s not so. Please, God, comfort Gabe. He needs you so much.

The statue of Gabe stood at the window, and the nurses had retreated to the safety of their zone. Zach went back to the business of praying.

***

Jo blinked her eyes open against the early morning light streaming in the window. She must’ve fallen asleep at some point, but all she remembered was tossing and turning, her thoughts all a-jumble. Zach. Sierra’s dad’s accident. Zach. Yvette. Zach.

She’d almost blurted everything out to Sierra, almost asked her friend for advice. Would have, had the phone not rung. What would Sierra have told her?

Probably that she was pig-headed, and it might be true. At least that’s the conclusion she’d come to sometime in the wee hours. The accident — the death of some unknown woman — had taunted Jo. If it had been her life cut short, would her attitude and her posturing have been worth it? Maybe she’d been too hard on Zach. He’d tried to talk to her and she’d shut him down.

Jo stared at the ceiling.

She’d put on a porcupine’s armor, making sure no one could get close to her. How would she even know if Zach changed? He’d never get a chance to say so.

Life was grayer than it used to be. Not as black and white. But she’d been so busy trying to keep all the compartments in her life separate she hadn’t been watching for God’s leading. Maybe He was trying to tell her something. Maybe she ought to apologize to Zach. Let him explain. Then if he didn’t profess his undying love to her — and why would he? — she’d know she’d given him the opportunity. Maybe then she could move on.