Lone Oak Feud (Harlequin Heartwarming) (6 page)

“So, Owen, do you go to school yet?”

He nodded, his mouth full of the last bite of cookie.

“Let me guess, kindergarten?”

“Yeah. Wanna see my totem pole?”

Before she could answer, he ran off, dropping crumbs on the faded olive-green carpet.

“I don’t have the foggiest notion what you’re trying to pull, but you’re not welcome here.”

“I didn’t figure Owen had many friends. Not a lot of kids in the neighborhood anymore.”

“And you think that’s your business?”

“Just being friendly.”

Mrs. Rundle looked her up and down suspiciously. “What’s your daddy say about that?”

“You don’t want to know,” Lindsey said, nearly chuckling.

Owen ran back in and held out a paper towel tube he’d painted and glued with sets of wiggling eyes.

“You made that totem pole?” Lindsey asked. “I love it.” She reached out for it and made a show of admiring it. “You’re quite the artist.”

“I know.” He puffed up with pride. “I made it in school today.” He ran off again, presumably to put the artwork back.

Mrs. Rundle nodded her head. “He needs friends. Someone other than an old lady. Owen?” she called. “Come tell this girl thank-you.”

Owen zipped back in and said, “Thanks! Wanna play hide-and-seek again?”

“Maybe some other time. I need to check on my dad.”

Before Lindsey could turn toward the door, Owen attached himself to her legs in a tight embrace. She bent, something unexpectedly tugging at her insides, and put her arms around him.

She said goodbye, but noticed Mrs. Rundle didn’t thank her. However, the woman’s face had softened a bit. Gone from scornful to begrudgingly blank. She’d done nothing during Lindsey’s visit to signify any kind of memory problem, but then Lindsey didn’t expect it would be easy to find evidence she was unwell. Zach had stayed with Mrs. Rundle all weekend and said he hadn’t noticed anything wrong.

Lindsey still wasn’t convinced, though.

As she walked to the driveway, a familiar black pickup truck drove up.

Busted.

Zach pulled up close to the single-car garage and turned off the engine. Lindsey had nothing to hide. So what if she’d gone against his warning from the other night? She’d told him she wasn’t going to back down.

“Hello again,” she said.

Zach stepped down from the truck and shut the door. His face was unreadable. “Thought I told you to stay away from my grandma.”

“You did.”

“Salinger, why do you insist on agravating me?”

“It’s too easy.”

“What are you doing here?”

“I was visiting Owen.”

He stared at her for a moment. “I guess that’s better than the spying you did years ago.”

“Spying?”

No way could he know she used to watch him work in his backyard shop at night. That was her secret. Something she hadn’t even confessed to Brooke.

Now he did crack a grin, a smug one. “You think I didn’t realize you sat out on your back porch and watched me?”

She didn’t utter a word, didn’t know what to say.

“Cat got your tongue, Salinger?”

“You’re cocky, you know that?” Lame, she knew, but she wasn’t about to fess up to spying.

She turned away, walked down the driveway. She felt his eyes on her back.

“You’re going the wrong way,” he called out when she turned the opposite direction from her dad’s house on the sidewalk.

“I parked down there,” she said over her shoulder, pointing at her Civic just visible at the end of the street.

“Ah, Daddy wouldn’t approve of you paying a visit to the lowly neighbors, huh?”

She ignored him, walked to the car and drove the few hundred yards or so to her dad’s.

Lindsey pulled as far into the driveway as she could get, stopping behind Mrs. Hale’s ancient VW Rabbit.

Her heart was still pounding double-time from the realization that all those years ago Zach had known.

CHAPTER SEVEN

Z
ACH
FOUND
G
RAM
AND
Owen getting dinner ready when he came inside.

“What was Lindsey doing here?” he asked as he draped his jacket over the back of a chair.

Gram, who had just set a plate of burgers on the table, studied him as if she thought he knew more than he let on. The woman was way too
with it
for anyone’s good. Lindsey was so far off base, it was almost laughable.

“She bringed me some cookies!” Owen said.

Zach looked to his grandma for confirmation. What was she doing bringing cookies? Several distinct possibilities flooded his mind. Bribing Owen to be her friend, maybe give her the inside scoop over here. Getting inside the house to do her own twisted research. Doing the exact opposite of what Zach had warned her to do, to spite him. Or, okay, maybe she was just being nice.

“They’re good cookies,” Gram said.

“What, are you two friends now?”

His grandma laughed. “You know me better than that. But I do know cookies. Can’t beat Sullivan’s.”

“Grandma said we could have another one after dinner.”

“Let’s get to it, then.”

Dinner talk centered around safe topics, such as Owen’s school day and what he’d built with Lego toys that afternoon. Once the plates were cleared, Owen gobbled up a cookie in record time, then Grandma sent him upstairs to get his pajamas on.

“Any luck finding that brother of yours today?” she asked after Owen had noisily clomped up the stairs.

Zach shook his head. “Not really.” He munched on a pickle. “Stopped into a bar over in Ellington. The Rat’s Nest. Seedy-looking place off behind the main drag. Talked to the manager there and he knows Josh. Said he’d been in recently for a drink.”

“How recently?”

“He claims to not remember. Don’t know if he’s leveling with me or not. Anyway, I aim to check back there often.”

“I hope he’s okay.”

“He might take some stupid risks, but he can take care of himself.”

“He can do so much more than people give him credit for. They all wrote him off after the accident.”

“Not totally without reason. Josh doesn’t give himself enough credit half the time,” Zach said as he took his plate to the counter, annoyed that Lindsey popped into his mind again. For years now, ever since he’d come upon the accident scene, the image of Lindsey’s anguish had been burned into his mind. Yesterday at the diner she’d shown him a flash of that same pain—when he’d brought up Josh. He wished he could erase it for her.

Gram dipped her last bite of burger in the ketchup on her plate. “If you could get him back here at home... Being a daddy could change everything for him.”

From his place at the counter, Zach watched her take her last few bites of dinner. “Do you really believe that, Gram?” he finally asked.

She didn’t blink an eye. “I do. Joshua has it in him. We just need to pull it out of him.”

Zach nodded firmly once, glad to hear they were in agreement. There were moments he doubted his crusade to get Josh home, times when he wondered if he was crazy for thinking there was hope. But if Gram believed it, too, then they could help Josh work through his problems.

“The sooner we can start, the better. My boss called when I got back into Lone Oak today.” Zach put the stopper in the sink and squeezed some dish soap under the running water.

“How did your meeting last night turn out, anyway?”

“Not good. The commission didn’t go for the zone changes. Three of them didn’t like our plan.”

She walked to the counter and took charge of the dishes. “Now what?”

“Now we redraw the plans, change some of the stuff they objected to, try to keep the integral parts of what we want to create. Wouldn’t be a huge deal if I was there to work on it. Chuck called to say he’s having Adam French help.”

“What’s wrong with Adam French?”

“He’s young, stupid and doesn’t care about the company.”

“So why’s Chuck having him help?”

“So I can take care of business here, I imagine.”

“Zachary, you need to get back to Wichita and do your job. We can handle things just fine here.”

He shook his head. “I need to get Josh home and get him on the right track first.”

Keeping Lindsey out of Gram’s hair was as big a part of his motivation as any, but he couldn’t mention that.

“Well, for now, why don’t you go up and—”

“I know, I know. Go see if Owen’s getting ready for bed.” He dried his hands and headed for the stairs. “I’ve got to get Josh back here just so you have someone else to boss around.”

Gram’s rough chuckle followed him up the stairs.

* * *

W
HEN
L
INDSEY
WALKED
INTO
her dad’s kitchen, she was accosted by the to-die-for aroma of freshly baked coffee cake. Her dad and Mrs. Hale sat at the table, engrossed in a game of Scrabble.

“Mrs. Hale, you’re spoiling him.”

“Would you like some cake, dear? It’s heart-healthy.”

“I’ll try some anyway. Hi, Dad.”

He grunted as he set down his tiles to form a long word. “Don’t talk to me when I’m concentrating. I aim to win this game.”

“You’re sixty-two points ahead, Wendell. I think it’s in the bag,” Mrs. Hale said as she cut a slice of cake.

“It’s not over till it’s over.”

“I thought you hated playing Scrabble with him,” Lindsey said.

“He was threatening to go in to work. It was the only way I could keep him home.”

“Dad. You’re not supposed to work yet. You’re not supposed to drive, either. What are you thinking?”

“I’m thinking I’m going loony sitting around this house all the time. I was only going to look at the stories Mary’s got lined up for tomorrow’s paper.”

“Uh-uh. You’d find something to edit. Or rewrite. Knowing you, you’d go out and track down the source and start from scratch on something. Not allowed.”

He sighed. “What would I do without you two lovely ladies to run my life?”

“Have another heart attack, likely,” Mrs. Hale stated matter-of-factly. She set a plate of cake and a glass of tea in front of Lindsey, then sat down to peruse her tiles.

“Killjoy.” Her dad was actually a teddy bear under the layers of grump.

Before Mrs. Hale could form a word, the phone rang. Wendell picked up the cordless on top of a folded newspaper beside him.

“Hello.” He listened for a moment, then handed the phone to Mrs. Hale.

She answered as she stood, and Lindsey caught the frown before the older woman took the phone to the living room for privacy.

“I’ll fill in for her,” Lindsey said, switching to the vacant chair.

“You think you can win for her, huh?”

“You got it.”

She and her dad had always been cutthroat competitive at board games. They’d spent hours trash-talking over Scrabble and Trivial Pursuit when Lindsey had still lived at home.

She stared at the letters for a couple of minutes, then rearranged them. Her dad had left the triple word open, and she was going to capitalize on it. Somehow.

“I’m sorry I got so upset the other day, honey.”

She looked at him. “No need to apologize. I’m sorry you found Zach here.”

“I keep reminding myself you’re just doing what you think is right.”

She nodded. “I’m sorry that hurts you.”

Lindsey’s heart pounded guiltily. Had he seen her at the Rundles before she’d come over tonight? No, he’d been here at the table, engrossed in his match with Mrs. Hale. Maybe someone had ratted on her for sitting with Zach at Tut’s.

“The boy is so innocent, Dad. I hate to think of him suffering in any way.”

“Why can’t they handle this boy on their own?”

“Because they’re Rundles?” She smiled, relieved when her dad grinned. But at the same time, she felt like a traitor because she really liked Owen. Okay, maybe Zach, too. Against her better judgment.

She took his silence to mean the discussion was over and went back to her tiles.

Then she spotted it. Some quick calculations in her head had her grinning smugly. “Z-y-m-o-s-i-s.” She named the letters as she laid them in place, something she’d always done when scoring big. It never failed to make her dad crazy.

“That’s not a real word.”

“You challenging me?”

“Yes I am. Go get the dictionary.”

She laughed as she jogged upstairs to Savannah’s old room. The light in the hallway was on and was bright enough for her to see the bookcase on the opposite wall, so she didn’t bother to turn on the bedroom light. After she picked out the dictionary, the adjacent bedroom in the Rundle house caught her eye.

Zach was carrying Owen over his shoulder like a sack of potatoes, horsing around. Lindsey moved closer to the window, surprised at his playfulness.

Zach pretended to throw the boy into bed and then the light in Owen’s room went off. Lindsey was about to step away from the glass, when Zach’s face appeared right in front of Owen’s window. He stared straight at her in the darkness before pulling down the shade.

Oh, great. She wouldn’t hear the end of this. Groaning, she hurried back downstairs with the dictionary.

Mrs. Hale was back at the table, tears in her eyes.

“What’s going on?” Lindsey asked, setting the book aside, open to the page with her word on it.

“My sister, Ann, fell this afternoon. Broke her hip. She’s going to have surgery tomorrow to replace it.”

“Oh, I’m so sorry to hear that. How’s she doing?”

“Pretty upset. Scared. But we’ll get her through it. I told her I’d fly out and stay with her through the recovery.” Mrs. Hale blew her nose. “I just hate to leave your dad by himself.”

The look Mrs. Hale exchanged with her dad caught Lindsey by surprise. It went deep. Deeper than employer and employee, maybe even deeper than friends. The possibility that they might share more than she’d ever guessed stunned Lindsey.

“I’ll be just fine, Claudia. I’m an adult.”

“A stubborn, rule-breaking adult. I’ll stay with him while you’re gone,” Lindsey said without hesitating. She absently jabbed her fork at her coffee cake.

“That’d certainly ease my mind.”

“I don’t need a babysitter.”

“Yes, you do.” Mrs. Hale put her hand over Wendell’s. “Lindsey will keep an eye on you.”

“How long will you be gone?” Lindsey asked.

“I don’t know yet. A week or two. At least long enough to see her over the hump.”

“Take however long you need.”

“Thank you, dear.”

Lindsey smiled. “The dessert patrol is here, reporting for duty.”

“Just what I need. Two women ganging up on me,” her dad said, grumpily.

“See, Dad, if you’d behaved yourself and followed the doctor’s orders, you might have gotten some freedom now.”

He narrowed his eyes.

“And by the way,
zymosis
. Right there.” She held the dictionary out to him, pointing. “That’s seventy-eight points, plus fifty for using all my tiles.”

Her dad stared at her. Lindsey couldn’t help cackling in victory as she stood to clear the dishes from the table. “Mrs. Hale, you take it from here.”

Three hours later, Lindsey left her dad’s and got into her car.

As soon as she cleared the house, a figure emerged from the shadows, causing her to slam on the brakes in surprise. Her heart was in her throat until she recognized the face outside her window as Zach’s. She barely avoided the second Salinger heart attack in as many weeks.

Lindsey hit the power window button and lowered the glass halfway. “What are you
doing?
”

“Hey,” Zach said nonchalantly. “You’re out late tonight. Might as well move in with your old man.”

She looked tired—her hair a mess, eyes hollow-looking in the dim light—but she looked as beautiful as he’d ever seen her.

“Funny you should mention it. I’m staying with him starting tomorrow.”

“What? Is his health getting worse?” He wasn’t sure how he felt about having her so close. Too much temptation.

“Just his attitude. The housekeeper has to go out of town.”

“Guess that’ll give you some extra time to spy,” he said with a half grin. “You’re getting sloppy with your undercover work, Salinger.”

Instead of getting worked up like he expected her to, she smiled slowly. “Just can’t keep myself from watching those troublemaker Rundles.”

“Maybe I like knowing you’re watching me.”

His words got to her—he could tell when she wouldn’t look directly at him.

“What are you doing here, anyway? If my dad sees you out here...”

“Hold on,” he said, then jogged around the front of the car. As he opened the passenger door and climbed in, he noticed her checking the windows of the house nervously. Zach tried to ignore it. “I took my grandma to see Dr. Fletcher today.”

Still glancing at the windows, Lindsey backed out of the driveway. “And?”

“Where are you taking me?” Zach asked, his voice lower, huskier than usual.

“Don’t get too excited.” She pulled a few feet down the street, then turned into the Rundle driveway. “So, anyway. Grandma. Doctor. What happened?”

“She’s one-hundred-percent fine.”

“Did they run tests?” Her tone conveyed skepticism.

“Stress test, EKG, bunch of others. She’s a normal eighty-year-old woman.”

“That’s debatable. What about mental tests? Or memory?”

“Don’t think so. I guess the doctor didn’t feel they were necessary.”

“And you came over here to tell me this because...?”

“To put your mind at ease. I know how worried about my grandma you are.”

“Cut the sarcasm. I’m worried about Owen. So you think everything’s fine then, huh?”

“I do.”

“You still think she can keep up with a five-year-old?”

“As much as any of us can.”

“What about long term, Zach? What happens when Grandma’s eighty-five, ninety? Have you thought that far?”

“Josh will be back long before then.”

When, exactly, Zach wasn’t sure. Two full days of searching hadn’t produced results. He was proving tougher to find than Zach had anticipated.

He reclined his seat a few inches and hooked his hands behind his head. When Lindsey didn’t say a word, he glanced at her. She looked at him like he had a screw loose.