Pamela Nissen – Rocky Mountain Homecoming (страница 10)

“You’re telling me.” The man rested his elbows on his desk and leaned forward, steepling his fingers in front of him like he often did when he was faced with a tough situation. “It’s hard enough knowing that my health is the reason Ivy is back.”

Zach propped his right booted foot above his left knee. “You know about that?”

“I’m no fool, Zach.” He raised one dark eyebrow over an eye in that studious way that instantly brought to mind a petite, auburn-haired young woman. “I know good and well that Violet had to have penned a letter to Ivy. But just between you and me … we’ll let those two ladies think that they’re getting by with something.”

A grin tugged at one side of Zach’s mouth. “All right.”

“Good man.” Mr. Harris winked on a nod.

Zach breathed a little easier for a moment, but not for long. His boss’s health was shaky, at best. The fact that Violet had threatened him like that said as much. The woman could be almost as headstrong as her employer.

“I’m sorry about all of this, Mr. Harris.”

“Don’t be sorry.” He held up his hand. “I’ll be fine. It’s nothing more than a sour stomach now and then, maybe some cramping, too.”

Zach clasped his hands between his knees. “How long have you been sick, anyway?”

Mr. Harris pinned Zach with one of his don’t-press-too-far gazes. “A few months.”

Zach’s mouth hung open in rebellious shock. “A few months? Why didn’t you say anything?” he probed, frustrated and yet, he could hear Ben’s voice from last night, challenging Zach in a similar vein. “I could’ve done more to help out.”

Mr. Harris leaned back in his chair again. “It’s probably just a passing illness, and all of Violet’s fussing will be for nothing,” he dismissed, tapping his knuckles on the wide chair arm. “Besides, if I wasn’t able to get out on the ranch, well then, I might as well just dig my own grave right now.”

“Is there something I can do to help?”

“Just keep doing what you’re doing. You’re a good man out there, Zach.” His boss’s intense gaze bore into Zach. “A lot like I was at your age.”

Zach swallowed hard. “What about Ben? Don’t you think you should let him look you over? He could help.”

“Take no offense,” he replied on a wince. “But I learned, a long time ago, that doctors just poke and prod. They don’t know much more than their patients do.”

“But I know that Ben would be glad to—”

“Zach, I carted my wife all over creation, looking for a doctor who’d help. And what did it get me?” His knuckles grew white as he gripped the arms of the chair.

Zach had only heard bits and pieces about just how sick Mrs. Harris had been. He’d learned this much … Mr. Harris had loved his wife, but no amount of love or care could heal her. Her suffering had been long and great.

“So,” his boss continued, perching his hat back on his head. “I’m feeling fine today. I’ll probably be feeling better tomorrow, and who knows … the next day I might just be feeling like myself again.”

Zach sat up straight, looking his employer in the eye. “I’m glad you said something.”

The man chuckled with a definite amount of irony as he pushed up to standing. “Son, I didn’t have a choice. Violet’s holding my feet over a fire and I don’t care to get burned.”

The clumsy way he grabbed for the desk, as though he was unsteady on his feet, sent alarm shooting straight through Zach. He stood, keeping an eye on his boss’s every move in case the man toppled over. “You’ve been good to me, Mr. Harris. Is there anything else I can do?”

The man slowly crossed to the window and braced his hands on the wide golden pine trim. For a silent moment he peered outside at where the sun had inched up a little higher, christening the day with brilliant light. “You want a job?” he asked, his back to Zach. “Because this one won’t be easy.”

Zach pulled his buckskin gloves from his back pocket. “I’m up to the task.”

Turning, Mr. Harris kept one hand on the window trim as he eyed Zach. “First, you need to know that there’s quite a lot of water that’s run under the bridge between me and Ivy. Things are strained between us,” he admitted, his gaze shrouded with the kind of hurt a man rarely showed. “You may have noticed.”

He’d noticed all right. That’s why he’d already decided that he’d try to be a buffer for Ivy. The hurt look that had flashed across her hopeful expression yesterday in the barn had nearly broken his heart.

And the sorrow drifting over his boss’s expression just now gave him equal pause. Zach had no idea what had transpired between Mr. Harris and Ivy, but having lost his brother Max to a sordid lifestyle which had led to his death, Zach would do whatever he could to help heal the torn relationship.

He’d be a listening ear. A voice of encouragement.

And he’d pray. In spite of his floundering relationship with God, he’d pray that God would do that which Zach was fairly certain only God could do. He’d seen God work miracles in Ben, Joseph and Aaron’s lives. God could work a miracle here, too. Couldn’t He?

“I know she’s found a place for herself out east just like her mama wanted for her, but if something happens to me, then all of this, every last inch of this ranch, must fall to her.” Mr. Harris reached out and grabbed Zach’s arm in an uncommon show of desperation. “She needs to fall in love with this place again, Zach. I need her to love it just like she did when she was a little girl—before things changed. Do you hear me?”

“I understand.” Zach gulped back a lump of uncertainty. He’d do whatever Mr. Harris wished, but this would require him being in close quarters with Ivy, and he’d already discovered that her very presence incited his old insecurities and fears. Having her back here was one thing, but could he go to this extent without losing the man he’d become and the confidence he’d worked so hard to gain?

“With the way you love this place, you’re just the man to help her with that.” Mr. Harris’s grip on Zach’s arm tightened. “If things take a bad turn for me, then she’s going to have to stay here. I want you to lead her heart home.”

Ivy’s first night back at the ranch had been fraught with every emotion imaginable. She was grieving, still, her mama’s death. Sorrowful for her father’s cool, uninterested greeting. Overjoyed to see Violet.

But the stomach-fluttering thrill she felt at the mere thought of Zachariah Drake had sent her into an outright tailspin. He’d knocked her control off-kilter without doing a thing. Last night, she’d even dreamed of the man. His broad, burden-bearing shoulders. His chiseled, masculine jawline. His crystal-blue, secret-bearing gaze.

She tipped her head back and breathed in deep, wishing she could get the man out of her mind.

Back in New York she’d gone on a few lovely little outings with Neal Smith, and never had she had such an all-encompassing response to the man. Ever. Oh, Neal was handsome in a very pristine way. And he was as agreeable as a man could possibly be. Kind. Respectful. But he’d never once made his way into her dreams. In fact, he’d barely even interrupted her thoughts.

She threw her chestnut-colored paisley wrap around her shoulders and headed down the front steps for a breath of fresh air, if for nothing else than to clear her head of Zach Drake. She could only hope that, perhaps, she’d find her wayward common sense and self-control out here, because it had escaped her last night. Completely.

She’d likely not had it in her possession from the moment she’d stepped foot off the train.

When she caught sight of Zach out by the barn, talking with one of the hands—Hugh Bagley, a former classmate and old friend—she stopped in her tracks. Shielding her eyes from the bright morning sun, she saw Zach jam one hand to his waist and jab his pointing finger toward the barn, his brusque litany of words falling just out of reach. But his stern expression … it was readable from here, a good hundred feet away.

When Hugh caught sight of her, his defeated stance shot upright. “Ivy!” he called as he started jogging her way, leaving Zach glaring after him.

“Hello, Hugh.” Smiling, she waved and hurried over the hard ground to meet him.

“If you aren’t a sight for sore eyes then I don’t know what is.” Catching her up in his long-armed hug, he squeezed tight then grasped her arms and held her away from himself. “It’s good to see you, Ivy. Really good.”

Her frustration regarding Zach’s behavior all but vanished at Hugh’s warm greeting. “How wonderful to see you, too, Hugh.”

“I heard whisperings from one of the hands that you were back. I’ve been looking for you all morning.”

“Surely you had better things to do.” She stepped away from him, her arms aching from his tight hold. He always had been like a grown but playful pup that hadn’t yet learned the word gentle.

“I thought you’d never come back.” A grin stretched the width of his long and narrow face.

“Well, believe it or not, I am here.”

“That, you are,” he confirmed with an appraising look.

Readjusting the scarf around her shoulders, she gently rubbed where his hands had been and planted a smile on her face, even when she felt confused by everything that had happened since she’d been home. She didn’t need Hugh digging into her heart. They’d been friends years ago, but she’d never thought to parcel out the deepest secrets in her heart to him. He couldn’t seem to be serious enough to handle that kind of information.