Lone Oak Feud (Harlequin Heartwarming) (5 page)

“Amazing what getting out of this town does for a guy.” He pushed his beer mug, only half-empty, toward her and stood.

“Going home so soon? We’re just starting to get along.” Heather winked.

Zach smiled. She was blunt, but he didn’t mind her. “See you later,” he said, even though he wouldn’t.

His short time in this dump had reminded him of why he’d better find Josh fast. How long could it take to track down a drunk in a fifteen-year-old truck?

CHAPTER SIX

T
HERE
WEREN
’
T
ENOUGH
HOURS
in the day, and there sure weren’t enough good people out there willing to adopt older children who’d lost their homes.

Lindsey walked into her office after a depressing morning. First she’d met with a boy at the middle school, along with the guidance counselor and his dad. The dad was bad news. It’d only be a matter of time before they had to get the kid away from his father if Lindsey’s hunch was right. She hoped she was wrong but her instincts were fairly reliable.

Then she’d visited Billy, the six-year-old who’d just been placed in the group home two days ago. He should’ve been in first grade this school year, but it turned out his mother didn’t think school was too important. Apparently she’d left him by himself regularly. For days on end. She’d scare him to death before she left, threatening to beat him if he set foot outside. Then she’d come home and beat him anyway, judging by the marks on the boy’s body.

Lindsey sat down slowly at her desk, her heart heavy. As was usually the case, it was a good thing to get this child out of his home, away from the people who hurt him in so many ways. The group home was a decent place. She knew the women who ran it, knew most of the employees and volunteers. They were decent, caring people.

But it still wasn’t family, and visiting always made Lindsey sad.

Billy was still so innocent considering what he’d been through. She wanted to find a permanent home for him before he became withdrawn or jaded. Before he lost hope of belonging to a family.

Lindsey glanced at the clock on her desk and did a double take when she saw it was time to meet Brooke down the street for a late lunch.

Setting Billy’s file on top, she shoved her papers into something resembling stacks and grabbed her long coat from the hook on the wall. She’d have to make it a quick lunch; otherwise she’d be working till midnight.

* * *

L
INDSEY
STEPPED
INTO
Tuttle’s Diner—known locally as Tut’s—and waited for her eyes to adjust. Windows ran around the perimeter of the restaurant, but blinds had been pulled down to keep the sun out of diners’ eyes. She knew her friend was already here—Brooke excelled at the science of being early.

Brooke waved from a dark-green upholstered booth along the far left wall.

“Been waiting long?” Lindsey asked as she slid into the seat.

“Not too. I was on hold for eons with one of my suppliers.” She stuck her cell phone into her jute purse.

Jane came up to the table at that moment. The fifty-something waitress had worked there as long as Lindsey could remember and knew their preferences just about better than they did. “Monday special and a salad?”

They both nodded.

“Bring your own dressing?” Jane asked Brooke.

“Of course.” She opened her bag and took out a small plastic container. None of that unhealthy mass-produced dressing for her.

“So how was dinner at Dad’s last night?” Brooke asked.

“Typical Salinger fare. A fly-by from Katie. Lecture from Savannah. Disagreement with Dad.”

“Ooh, you were all there. Details, please.”

“You should’ve stayed up if you wanted to know so bad,” Lindsey teased her.

“Hmm, Salinger scoop or bed. Tough one.”

They’d lived together ever since college. Brooke had no family in town so she liked to keep up with Lindsey’s. Only from afar, though. She rarely joined Lindsey for family stuff even though she was regularly invited. Brooke didn’t dislike people, she just preferred being by herself eighty percent of the time.

“So the whole family was there?”

“Yeah. Wasn’t planned, but it reeked of a mini-holiday get-together. Didn’t end quite so festive, though.”

“Let me guess. Savannah and your dad got into it again.”

“Nope. This time it was the good daughter upsetting Dad.”

Jane stuck plates of food in front of them, and Lindsey flipped her bun off to make sure there was no mustard.

“What’d you do to dear ol’ dad?”

Lindsey took a bite, chewed and swallowed it before answering. “He found me on the front porch talking to the enemy.”

Brooke’s eyes widened.

“Zach Rundle.”

Her friend put her fork down on the table. “What was that bad boy doing on your dad’s front porch?”

“Trying to get me to forget about his nephew.”

“What are you doing to his nephew now?”

“Nothing yet. But I intend to keep an eye on him. Make sure the old bat is capable of caring for him.”

“You really think she isn’t?”

Lindsey shrugged. “All I know is that a five-year-old boy shouldn’t be wandering around outside in the cold. At night. By himself.”

“It could’ve been an honest slipup.”

“Could’ve been.”

Brooke shoved a bite of salad into her mouth and looked thoughtful as she chewed, “What are you going to do?”

Lindsey expelled a frustrated sigh. “Whatever I can.”

“Can you open a case on him?”

Lindsey made a snortlike
hmph.
“I wish. Not that I want him in the system, but it would be easier to make sure everything’s okay if I could.”

“Why can’t you?”

“There’s not enough. Ever since the state hacked the budget, our hands are tied until there’s obvious abuse or neglect.”

“I’d call a boy out wandering around without shoes neglect.”

“You would. And I would. But the agency can’t. Besides, even if I had a legitimate case, they’d say I’m too close to it to work on it.”

“But at least someone could get in there and see what’s going on.”

Lindsey nodded, setting her burger down. Her appetite had taken a hike. “So. We’re back to me keeping an unofficial eye on Owen. That should be easier since Zach left for Wichita today.”

Even though she felt Owen was safer with Zach home, she didn’t like coming into contact with him. She couldn’t help but worry her dad would go into cardiac arrest again.

“Well, if it isn’t the man himself,” Brooke said as she tossed her napkin onto her empty plate.

Lindsey followed Brooke’s stare. Zach walked toward the counter along the back wall, focused on his destination. However, Lindsey noticed several sets of eyes following him. The Rundle brothers had always been able to cause a stir when they showed up somewhere.

“I thought he was gone,” Lindsey said, mostly to herself.

“I’d say not. And he can darken our front porch any day.” Brooke grinned at Lindsey, flipped a ten on the table, and stood. “I need to get back to it. See you tonight.”

Lindsey didn’t respond. She absently stuck a French fry in her mouth, then realized it was cold and tasteless.

Brooke was the only person who knew about Lindsey’s ill-advised tryst with Zach back in high school, and now Lindsey wished she hadn’t told even her.

She gestured to Jane for the bill. Zach was ordering takeout at the counter and hadn’t noticed her.

She fumbled in her purse to get her cash ready for a quick escape. When she looked up again, Zach stood inches away from her.

“Hello, neighbor,” she said with forced cheer.

“Mind if I sit for a minute?”

He wore an old pair of jeans and a lined flannel shirt. Everyday work clothes for him, she assumed. Yet his presence was as compelling as any businessman dressed in tailored slacks and a tie. The complexity in him intrigued her.

Several people were watching them, so she motioned for him to sit across from her, hoping that would generate less attention. He eased into the booth, his legs brushing her knees in the process.

“You’re supposed to be gone,” Lindsey said, checking around the restaurant again to see exactly who had spotted them together.

“I’m not. Happy to see me?”

“Did you come to threaten me some more?”

The waitress slipped Lindsey the check and a puzzled look, but kept on walking.

He shook his head. “Just a question. Have you seen my brother lately?”

“No,” she said abruptly. “I haven’t been looking for him.”

“Fair enough.” He picked up the unused spoon in front of him and spun it around. “What are you so nervous about?”

“I’m not.”

“You keep looking over your shoulder.”

So she did.

“Don’t want to be seen with me, huh?” He almost sounded like he was kidding, but there was an edge to his tone.

“I don’t want my dad hearing about it is all.”

Zach leveled a stare at her that made her uncomfortable.

“If you do happen to see my brother, could you call me?”

“I can’t promise I won’t run him down.”

“I found him out back last night. I’m going to get him home.”

“Why?” She didn’t care if her horror showed on her face.

“To take care of Owen.”

It took a gargantuan effort for Lindsey not to comment.

“He cares about the kid. I could tell last night.”

“I thought your grandma was just fine to take care of Owen.”

“She is.” His grumpiness had returned, if it’d ever left. “But Owen needs his dad. It’d do Josh a world of good, too. He needs a reason to get his act together.”

This was exactly why she’d never be able to work with the Rundles if it ever rose to case status. Fundamentally, Lindsey believed people like Josh deserved a chance, as long as the child wasn’t endangered. Sometimes all people needed were support and resources. Someone who believed in them.

But she would never, ever believe in Josh. Her distrust and hatred for him were so deeply ingrained, she couldn’t be impartial.

Personally she wanted to make sure Owen stayed far, far away from his biological father. But professionally, she realized they deserved a chance to make it work.

She didn’t feel the need to tell Zach that, though. If he wanted to get his hopes up for Josh, that was his problem.

“Well?” he asked.

“Since when do you look for my approval?”

“It wasn’t your approval I wanted. I figured you’d have something to say. You always do.” He met her eyes, his expression...amused? He tapped the end of the spoon on the table once.

“Owen doesn’t have any good options. Grandma’s old, at the very least. Josh is allergic to responsibility and is an alcoholic. Finding another home for a child is never my first choice.”

Zach rubbed a hand over his face and sighed. “What would you do if you were in my shoes?”

Why on earth did she actually wish she could help him?

“I don’t know, but I doubt it would involve your brother.”

“You’ll never forgive him, will you?” Zach’s expression seemed to soften.

“Have you?” she snapped without meaning to.

“Forgiven him?” He shrugged. “It’s not the same. He’s my brother. She wasn’t my mother.” He almost sounded apologetic.

Lindsey would rather have a dozen teeth pulled without anesthetic than continue this conversation. “I need to get back to work,” she said, standing.

“Likewise,” he said as he glanced at his watch. “Wichita calls.”

He stood and walked to the counter as Lindsey turned toward the exit. Inez, the other waitress, was just putting his food in a plastic sack. She looked questioningly at Lindsey.

She wasn’t the only one who wondered what Lindsey was getting involved in. Word spread at the speed of light in this snail’s pace town. Lindsey just hoped no one who’d seen her with Zach cared enough to mention it to her dad.

* * *

I
T
WAS
AT
TIMES
LIKE
THIS
when Lindsey questioned her sanity.

She’d parked her car the next day half a block down and around the corner from her dad’s house in a particularly shadowed area.

She was going to find out if Mrs. Rundle was competent to care for Owen or if the way she’d acted the other night was the status quo. To make a judgment, she had to have some contact with the people, didn’t she? The woman tended to hole up in her Victorian, and Lindsey rarely ran into her. Which was usually a good thing.

Mrs. Rundle would see through the cookies, Lindsey knew. No big deal. She wasn’t trying to fool her so much as see if she recognized her this time. Beyond that, she didn’t know what kind of oddness she was looking for. But getting inside, even for five minutes, would be a start.

Lindsey glanced toward her dad’s house as she knocked.

Zach would give her grief if he found out she was “bothering” his family. She’d made sure his truck was gone before parking. He’d said he was leaving town yesterday afternoon but then she hadn’t expected to run into him at Tut’s, either.

The door opened slowly and she looked down at Owen peeking out at her. She smiled. “Hey, Owen, how are you?”

“Good! What’s in there?” He stood on tiptoe to peer at the tin box she held.

“A surprise for you.” Lindsey perused the hallway behind him. Seeing no one else, she bent down and took the lid off the box.

“Yummy! Chocolate chip?”

She nodded, but stopped when he started to grab for one. “Better make sure it’s okay with your grandma first.”

At that moment, Mrs. Rundle seemed to pop in out of nowhere, coming from the room behind the front door instead of from the hallway, as Lindsey had expected.

She saw Lindsey and frowned. “What are you doing here?”

Lindsey stepped over the threshold even though she wasn’t invited. “Being nice to your grandson. He and I are buds, aren’t we, Owen?” Yeah, she was playing it up for Mrs. Rundle’s benefit. Pushing her, maybe.

“Can I have a cookie, Gram?”

Mrs. Rundle sneered as she examined the cookie tin. “You make those yourself?”

“I bought them at Sullivan’s. They’re safe,” Lindsey said drily. The bakery at the only grocery store in town made irresistible cookies and pastries. No one could deny it, not even this critic.

Mrs. Rundle picked out two cookies and handed one to Owen. The other, she took a begrudging bite of. Lindsey hid a grin. She hadn’t counted on making any points with the cranky woman, but maybe the cookies were one in her favor. Not that she wanted to be friends or anything.

The two ate their cookies in awkward silence. Under normal circumstances, Lindsey would bow out now and be on her way. But this wasn’t normal. This was an info-gathering trip.