It Takes Two: Deep in the Heart, Book 1 (30 page)

He sat down on the edge of the bed, trying to think of an escape hatch before this time bomb exploded. No easy answer came to mind. Hot, boiling wrath filled him, made worse by the fact that he could still smell LouAnn’s perfume clinging to his sheets. Zach leaped to his feet, tearing the linens from the bed as if he could exorcise LouAnn and her deviousness that simply.

Problem was, he was only obliterating one half of what was angering him. Carter’s mark was all over LouAnn’s actions.

All Zach could do now was wait for Carter to make his move.

Two hours later, Zach sat thinking in the dimly lit den, his body unable to relax in the comfortable easy chair. He was caught in a metal-teeth snare, into which he’d stepped blindly. The only person who’d ever been able to make him feel more miserable than LouAnn was Pop. With a start, Zach realized he needed to talk to Pop about the wedding. They’d had harsh words about Pop attending, but Zach had never stopped hoping in his heart that some of the shell around his father would crack and he would want to be present. Now, Zach could tell him there wasn’t going to be a wedding.

Because that was the painful decision he’d made. Annie or no, he couldn’t be strangled by LouAnn for the rest of his life, now that she’d shown her true colors. Either way he turned, Annie was lost to him. LouAnn had greatly miscalculated her plan, though. Knowing that he was going to lose the woman he cared deeply about had left him no motivation at all to try to appease LouAnn. He’d called and left a message on her answering machine, once he’d gotten his thoughts straight. No wedding. All he could hope for now was that she’d been bluffing about sending the pictures. Surely there was a core of decency in LouAnn somewhere. Even he knew that wasn’t a likely scenario. Briefly he considered calling Annie to warn her, then realized what an idiot he’d sound like. Once more the red sign flashed neon in his mind.
End of the road, Zach.

Turning off the lights, Zach stepped out into the darkening twilight. Humid air hung around him, suffocating. He got into the car listlessly and headed it toward Pop’s. There was a chance Pop might be home this early, unless the heat was keeping people at the bingo parlor later than usual. Even so, he could go over there and drag Pop out so they could talk, though the old man would be none too pleased about the interruption.

The house was dark and lonely against the shouting and laughter coming from the bingo parlor. Zach glanced that way, deciding he’d check inside before going across the street. “Pop!” he called, pulling open the door.

“No need to shout. I’m sitting right here,” Pop replied laconically.

Zach let the door close quietly as he peered into the darkened living area. Pop sat on the broken chair, his head resting on his hand, as if extremely important matters were weighing on his mind.

With a jolt of realization, Zach realized his old man was stone sober. There was no haze of wrath hanging in the air, ready to explode; no twisted grimace of hate on his face. For once, the fetid smell of liquor was absent from the air. He could remember no other time in his life that Pop had been in a decent condition.

“Are you all right?” Zach asked. “I…do you want me to turn on a light?”

Pop sighed and pointed to a box. “Leave the light off and pull up a seat. I’m fine; I just want to sit and think for a while.”

“All right,” Zach said cautiously. “I’m kind of in a thinking mood myself.” He sat, mostly resting his weight on his outstretched legs in case the flimsy wood should break. Astonishingly enough, it appeared that the most fragile object in the room at the moment was Pop. Never had he seen worry lining his father’s face. Only the distortion of moodiness that came from drinking too much.

They sat in the dark for maybe five minutes before Pop finally spoke. “Well, Zach, as much as I hate to admit this, you were right.”

“About what?” The idea that the old man was backing down on something was nearly as amazing as his sober state.

“About Carter. About the deal. It was a cheap rip-off. I’ve sat here near all afternoon, and I may have finally figured it out.” Pop sighed unhappily. “Carter screwed me.”

“Well, you’re not the only one who can make that claim this week,” Zach muttered. “I thought you two were buddies. Like he was the son you never had.”

He regretted the words instantly the minute he saw deep pain shadowing Pop’s eyes. “Now that’s a funny thing for you to say, Zach. Much as I’d like to lie about it, I think I was using Carter to make you jealous. Stick it to you, because we’ve never been able to be close.”

“Thanks.” Zach couldn’t help the sarcasm in his tone. It disguised the pain he was feeling.

Pop shrugged. “Chickens always come home to roost. Only this time, there ain’t no home to return to.”

“What are you saying?”

“The limited partnership was very limited. Carter came here today to collect on my share of the money for the land deal. I have no money, so he owns my house now.”

Sadness glimmered in Pop’s eyes. Zach swallowed, realizing the old man was trying desperately to hold back tears.

“If I can’t come up with the money in three days, I have to move out. What a sorry end to come to. Old as I am, and I’m going to be evicted from the only home I’ve ever known.”

Disbelief curled through Zach. He’d been right from the start; Carter’s pretense of friendship with Pop had been a means to get to Zach. Firing Carter was turning out to be a costly gesture to just about everyone Zach cared about. His vice president—and college friend—had thought out all the twists to this game. Any way Zach turned, he was discovering a precipice.

Sighing deeply, he decided he would try to figure out a way off this Monopoly board later. For the moment, Zach had to consider Pop. “What are you going to do?”

“I don’t know.”

Zach rubbed his forehead, thinking. “Do you want any help?”

His father tiredly swayed his head back and forth in a helpless gesture. “Think I’d be damned grateful to get any help from you that I could, Zach. I wasn’t going to ask you, because I know I don’t deserve it, but …hell, yeah, I’m in hot water here.”

“Okay.” He rolled his shoulders, trying to ease the tension Carter’s maneuvers were causing. “Get your stuff. We’ll move you into my house tonight.”

“What are you talking about?” Pop was totally shocked.

“I say if Carter wants to own this house, then let him. He couldn’t sell this rat trap if he wanted to. The house is only fit to be pushed over. He may get a little money from the sale of the property, but not much, with that bingo parlor over there and the crime rate in this part of town. Carter’s counting on you having no place else to go, so he can extract more blood from you. But, Pop, I’m telling you that you have a better place to go, and to hell with Carter.”

“You would do that for me?” The gratitude on Pop’s weathered face made Zach feel miserable. He would have done so much more for his father over the years, if only he would have let him.

“Won’t be any skin off my nose. The house is so big we don’t have to run into each other for days if we don’t want to,” he said brusquely.

“Well, hell…what about your wife? Can’t imagine she’ll want an old sot like me hanging around.” Pop’s white eyebrows lifted inquiringly, as if he couldn’t believe the offer—as if Zach had suddenly lost his mind.

“There isn’t going to be a wife,” Zach said, his voice low yet determined. “LouAnn isn’t the right woman for me. It’ll just be me and you, Pop.”

Now tears did leak from Pop’s eyes. “I don’t know what to say. I didn’t expect this.” He wiped at his nose with a dirty sleeve. “Are you certain, Zach?”

Zach stood with a sigh. “I’m positive this is the only way to keep Carter from trying to bleed you dry, Pop. Get your things. I’ll borrow a truck tomorrow and we can come get the bigger items you want to keep.”

“I won’t be needing to come back, Zach. Just a minute.”

Pop left the room, shuffling down the hall. Zach looked around the room, knowing in his heart he was doing the only possible thing to keep Carter from manipulating his father. And if Pop had been shocked into soberness by the thought of losing his house and being kicked out into the street, maybe eventually he’d be ready for further treatment for his problem.

Pop made his way back into the room, carrying a cardboard box with some clothes in it and a smaller box stacked on top. Zach didn’t ask what was in the box, but he assumed they were mementoes. Taking the whole sorry mess from Pop’s hands, he pushed the door open with his foot. “Ready?”

“Ready,” Pop said firmly. Then he glanced back down the hall, as if he was listening to something. Pop’s stillness was unsettling, with the darkness surrounding them and the noise from across the way. Zach watched his father without saying a word, unsure what he was thinking. But it was obvious some last emotion was hanging him up.

Slowly, Pop turned back around. “Did I ever tell you that you were born in this house?”

Astounded, Zach shook his head. “I didn’t know that.”

Pop nodded. “We were too poor for a hospital. A church lady came over and helped your mother.” He stared back down the hall, his eyes wide open, looking. “She had a tough time of it. But she was brave…so brave. I was afraid. Her shrieks scared me to death. There was so much blood. But I couldn’t take her to the community hospital, because she…because I hadn’t married her. She wasn’t legal, and I was afraid…it was 1966. The law and attitudes were different then. I didn’t know—”

Zach shifted the boxes to one side. Gently, he took his father by the arm. “Come on, Pop. Let’s go home.”

It didn’t take much to get Pop settled into one of the guest bedrooms. The old man and the boxes had gone quietly, gratefully into the freshly painted room. There was a connecting bathroom, so Pop nearly had his own apartment, except for whatever he needed from the kitchen. When he could slow down a little, Zach planned on having a television put in Pop’s room. Then he’d have everything he needed to feel settled in.

Zach walked into his own room, not tired despite the late hour. What he was feeling was keyed-up apprehension pouring through his veins. His answering machine had been blank, though he’d expected a venomous reply from LouAnn to his message that there wouldn’t be a wedding. Feeling numb, Zach crossed to the mahogany bureau and reached into his pockets. Slowly, he placed the earrings down on the shiny wood. Then he pulled out the snake jaw Cody had given him, looking at the skeleton for a moment before putting it beside the glittering jewels. A sudden, distressing thought paralyzed him as he realized where Carter’s other shoe might be dropping from.

In the beginning, Carter had claimed he’d never met Annie. Never been to her farm. Couldn’t make any progress buying her land over the phone. So he’d lied, talking Zach into going out there. Yet Carter had tangled with Annie and knew he would never get what he wanted.

But Carter was now the sole owner of the deed to the land south of Annie’s. And now that Zach had fired him, Carter would be a dangerous neighbor for Annie to have.

Though she didn’t feel rested, Annie had gotten up at six this morning, having chores to attend to around the farm. Through the rest of the early hours, the day warmed up steadily, with every sign of being one of the hottest days on record for this summer so far.

Deciding that a cranberry loaf and iced tea would be a refreshing snack in the afternoon, Annie went inside and prepared it, her mind only half on her work. When she finished that, she turned her thoughts to fixing lunch. Cody and Mary came into the kitchen to say hello, and Annie was relieved to finally be able to put her mind on something other than Zach.

“Mmm. Smells great. Am I invited to lunch?” Cody asked, sitting down.

“Sure,” Annie replied, slapping some potatoes down in front of him. “Start peeling.”

A knock at the door kept her from hearing his reply. A man she didn’t know was standing on the porch.

“Are you Annie Aguillar?”

“I am.”

“I need you to sign this, please,” he instructed, handing her a pad.

She did, then accepted the package from the courier with a hesitant smile. “Thank you,” she murmured, closing the door and walking back into the kitchen, where Cody sat at the plank table eating the cranberry bread she’d just baked. Mary had run down the hall to check on her grandfather and Gert.

“This is certainly the week for surprises,” Annie commented. “This package was sent all the way from Austin by courier.”

Cody grinned. “Wonder who would make such an expensive gesture?”

“I have no idea,” Annie said. Her heart was racing.

Though she was still angry with Zach over paying her taxes, the feminine side of her was irrationally delighted and flattered by this sign of interest. Maybe she’d been wrong about his motive for paying off her taxes.

“Well, open it,” Cody commanded gruffly. “Let’s see what Slick’s up to this time.”

“Maybe I won’t show you,” Annie teased.

“Maybe, hell. Maybe I’ll just have a look-see myself.” He made a pretend swipe to grab the package.

“All right,” she said, laughing. “What does that man have up his sleeve this time?” Tearing open the envelope, Annie pulled out a handwritten note on cream paper. The sloping, delicate letters read,
Thought you might be interested in these.