Seasons of Love (11 page)

“Why don’t you join us for dinner tonight? You always rush off. But how about some of my home cooking instead?” She stared at the ground, suddenly embarrassed. “I’ve been practicing and learning new recipes.”

He laughed at her comment but didn’t respond.

“You don’t have to be afraid. Grandpa says I’ve improved. But I can see in his eyes that he misses my grandmother’s cooking. He can’t fool me there.”

The light breeze whipped a strand of hair across her eyes. Zane reached over and pulled it out of her face then tucked it behind her ear. She gazed into his intense blue eyes and tried to hide from him how his simple touch had affected her.

“I’d love to join you, but…”

Though her grin remained in place, her disappointment sent a pang of regret through her. She licked her lips. “But?”

“I have a better idea. Let me rephrase that. Not better than eating your home-cooked food, I’m sure.” He took her hand in his, causing her heart to race. “I have something important I need to talk to you about. I’d like to take you out to dinner. Alone. Maybe Grandpa could watch Chad for a while?” He raised his eyebrows.

Riley wondered when she would stop being surprised by anything Zane did. “Well, I still have to cook for my guys, but I suppose I could wait to eat with you.” She paused while she considered her next question then asked, “Can you tell me what this is about? Have you finished the business plan? Or is it something else?”

“I’m researching before I put the document together, but that isn’t what this is about.” He furrowed his dark brows, his expression serious. “This is something else. You’ll have to wait.”

Riley wanted to question him further. She wondered if he had decided to stop working on the farm and simply put the business plan together at home. After all, he’d devoted much more time and effort to this place than she ever expected of him.

“Well then, I’ll see you this evening. Is six all right? That will give me time to feed Chad and Grandpa then clean up the kitchen.” She grimaced when she considered how tired she would be by then, but she looked forward to going to dinner with Zane.

“Six it is. I want to mow the far side of the dike; then I’ll go get showered and changed.” He grinned and turned his back to her as he strolled toward the mower.

She shook her head. She never would have thought he would do this sort of work. And like it. Though he hadn’t said it in so many words, she could see by the calm expression on his face and his relaxed posture that the farm had been good for him.

As she meandered next to the cranberry beds, hope swelled inside her that Grandpa’s farm would eventually bring in more money. With Zane’s help, they’d been able to make use of the planting season instead of putting it off for another year. Depending on what he came up with in his business plan, the next few years could mean big growth for Sanderford Cranberry Farms—if that was what her grandfather truly wanted.

Since John had considered Zane a worthy business partner, Riley measured the possibility of Zane staying connected to the farm in some way. Though he’d never indicated he would work with them from now on—he’d make a great consultant—she wanted him allied with them in a more permanent fashion. Still, Sanderford Cranberry Farms had been family owned and operated for ninety years, and she wasn’t sure how Grandpa would feel about a partnership with Zane.

It saddened her to think that part of her grandfather’s dream was not only to expand the farm, but to make it a family legacy for generations to come. With the rest of the family deserting the farm and going to take jobs in the city, no one was left to run it. Except Riley. She’d always treasured her time with her grandparents when she was growing up and loved the excitement of the harvest and the festival. But Riley and her mother had been whisked away by Riley’s father to the other side of the country, all for the sake of his job.

Though her father remained consumed with his business in California, they’d spoken over the phone several times since her move, and he promised to come to the farm for Christmas.

The holidays.
The familiar pain over John’s death surrounded her heart as she yanked the back door open and went into the kitchen. She decided to bake a one-dish recipe for easy cleanup rather than the five-course meal she’d planned to impress Zane with, giving herself more time to prepare for the date.

She pulled out a baking dish. He hadn’t said it was a date, only that he needed to speak with her, that it was important.

Elsie entered the kitchen. “Hi, Riley. Chad’s asleep. Can I help with anything?”

Riley shook her head and placed some ground meat in the microwave to defrost it. “No, thanks anyway. If Chad’s asleep, you can go home.” The tall brunette teenager had been an answer to prayer. She was Millie’s granddaughter and lived only a couple of farms down on Cranberry Highway. Riley suspected that Millie’s original intent of offering Elsie as a babysitter was to give Millie an additional reason to speak to Riley’s grandfather.

“Okay, I’ll see you tomorrow after school, then.” The fifteen-year-old grabbed her satchel and headed out the door to walk home.

After mixing together a casserole, Riley popped it into the oven and set the timer for an hour then headed upstairs to get ready while Chad slept. If things went as planned, she’d have time to spend reading her Bible. After checking in on Chad, still sleeping in his toddler bed, she took a shower.

She reminded herself that Zane had not said it was a date. But it was difficult to keep from getting excited about the prospect of spending time alone with him, discussing anything at all over dinner. She wondered why he couldn’t tell her in the office. In fact, they’d been alone when she’d come to the cranberry beds to invite him to dinner.

She knew she shouldn’t harbor hope that his invitation had been a date disguised as something else. Though her relationship with Eric was in the past, thoughts of him still haunted her at times—maybe because he’d tried so hard to keep his hold on her, refusing to accept their breakup. Sometimes she feared she would open the door and see Eric standing there. A crazy thought, she knew. At first, Zane’s workaholic attitude had reminded her of Eric. But as Zane had mentioned a few times, she’d had the wrong impression about him.

And he was right. Zane was nothing like Eric. Zane appeared to care about people, considering how every action taken and every word spoken would affect them. Eric, on the other hand, was greedy and self-serving.

Now that she considered it, when she had learned about her half brother in Massachusetts, Eric hadn’t expressed any interest in the situation until she’d told him how John was hoping to develop new hack-proof encryption software. She regretted that slip of her tongue, but in her excitement, she hadn’t thought to keep secrets from her boyfriend. For all she knew, he’d shared the news with some of his high-level business contacts and the vultures had circled, wanting in on the cyber action.

But John never said a word.

Riley wrapped a towel around her wet hair and peeked in on Chad. He slept curled up in a ball in the corner of his bed. She hurried to the chair in her room and grabbed her Bible off the side table. Taking a deep, calming breath, she reminded herself that she’d come to the farm to find peace and have time with God, not to rush through everything or become stressed while she prepared for dinner with Zane.

She tried to clear her mind of distractions and focus her thoughts on the Lord, but she couldn’t quit thinking about Zane. There was something she needed to discuss with him, too, and she might as well do it tonight. She’d been remiss in allowing herself to care about him. Zane had said he believed in God. But did believing in God make someone a Christian? Or was it trusting in God? She remained unconvinced about his commitment to the Lord, not because he’d declined on several occasions to attend church with her, but because he avoided any discussion about God. But then, Riley hadn’t always been ready to discuss her relationship with God, either—something she should have freely shared. She frowned then prayed for God to make her stronger.

She turned to Matthew 10, where she’d left off reading. “I am sending you out like sheep among wolves. Therefore be as shrewd as snakes and as innocent as doves.” The words pierced her heart with conviction. She thought again of Zane’s comments to her.
“I don’t want to give you the wrong impression.”

Riley considered everything she knew about Zane. Frankly, it wasn’t much. As a person, he was kind and considerate, hardworking. Still, a niggling doubt in the back of her mind continued to bother her.

He’d put an unbelievable amount of time and effort into Sanderford Cranberry Farms, for John’s sake, he said. She believed him. But she knew he’d neglected his own company, because every time she questioned him, he told her he’d put Cyphorensic aside for a while. But why? Clearly, there was much about him she didn’t know. She had trouble buying the fact that an entrepreneur such as Zane would put anything, especially the company he’d started, on hold. She pushed the unwelcome thoughts away, because she appreciated and wanted Zane’s help. Still, she had to guard her heart somehow. She didn’t relish the thought of being hurt again.

A child’s cry reached her from across the hall, and she rushed into Chad’s room. She pulled him out of his bed and discovered his body was on fire with fever.

As Zane readied himself for dinner with Riley, he tried to get his mind off the possible outcome. He wasn’t sure how she would respond when he told her what he’d kept from her all this time. But because he finally believed the crisis had long gone and that he’d been wrong about everything, he hoped her reaction to the news would be a mild one. With that behind him, perhaps he could tell her he was interested in pursuing a relationship. He blew out his breath, anxiety burning in his gut. He’d never been good with women.

He needed to focus on going forward with Cyphorensic again. Because nothing had surfaced regarding his stolen computers, John’s brainchild of new encryption software was gone. Zane had been unable to locate a copy of the software, which frustrated him. He couldn’t imagine that John hadn’t kept a copy somewhere. Zane had no choice but to return to his original vision for Cyphorensic as a computer forensics software provider.

Of course, there was still the possibility that the criminals who stole John’s software would attempt to use it, but they’d have to break John’s code first, which was unlikely. Though it had never been far from Zane’s mind, he needed to begin the search for John’s replacement. In truth, no one could replace John—either in terms of his brilliance or in terms of his friendship to Zane. But it was long past time to put the past behind him and return to his normal life.

When he finished showering, his cell phone vibrated on the dresser and he picked it up. Riley’s number flashed across the display, and he clenched his jaw. He dialed into voice mail to retrieve the message, hoping their plans hadn’t changed.

Riley’s worried voice resounded through the small device, explaining that Chad suffered with a fever and she didn’t feel comfortable leaving him. Zane returned her call, and Robert answered. He said that Riley had been in contact with a nurse and had given Chad a fever reducer. Zane snapped the cell shut, feeling both disappointed and concerned over Chad at the same time.

He ordered in Chinese, and after he finished eating, he reclined on the sofa and fell asleep.

Buzz. Buzz. Buzz.

The vibration stirred Zane from a deep slumber, and he fumbled for the phone in his pocket. He glanced at the clock as he flipped open the device, which displayed Riley’s number. One thirty in the morning.

Apprehension coursed through his body. “Hello?”

“Zane! I’ve been trying to call you. Why haven’t you answered? You won’t believe what’s happened.”

The distress in Riley’s voice urged him to the door. He grabbed his keys and left the condo. “Calm down, Riley. Is it Chad? Is he all right? Call the doctor.” He climbed into his vehicle and spun out of the parking lot.

“No, Chad is fine. I gave him a fever reducer. It worked. It’s the office—someone has ransacked our office.”

Chad fell back to sleep while Riley clutched him, waiting for Zane to arrive. She felt guilty that she still held on to the child, but she wanted to know that he was safe and secure after what had happened. The police had already come and gone, which reassured her. She tiptoed up the stairs and laid him back on his bed.

After taking care of Chad, she returned to the kitchen and poured herself another cup of coffee, realizing that she wouldn’t get any sleep tonight. Grandpa leaned against the counter with his cup, lost in thought. Though she’d tried to contact Zane before the authorities, he hadn’t responded to her initial attempts to reach him. Now as she considered her actions, she wondered why he was the first person she’d thought to call.

She tried him again after the police had left. It had seemed surreal when the two cruisers raced up the cranberry farm drive. She’d answered a series of questions and was told to expect an officer from the Bureau of Crime Investigation to take photos and recover prints the next day.