Raspberries and Vinegar (A Farm Fresh Romance Book 1) (8 page)

When the meal ended and Claire began to clear off the table, Jo excused herself, grabbed her hoodie, and accompanied Domino outside. He ran circles around her while she made her way to the tire hanging from a branch of the elm across the yard.

Had Zach played on this swing as a child? Jo pushed off slightly with her feet, allowing the rope to twist the tire slowly.

In the distance, the sun sank toward the horizon and the waxing moon brightened overhead. The scent of freshly turned earth filled her nose as shadows stretched. An owl hooted up the hill, and another answered from down the valley. Domino zigzagged the ground, sniffing. She leaned over to scratch his silky ears when he came near.

Dear Lord, why?
She’d thought she had come to terms with staying single. She didn’t need a man, a husband to make her happy. She had God, her girlfriends, and a chunk of land to grow food and demonstrate living gently on the earth. The community house they’d soon start wasn’t the end-all. Each of them had plans for a cozy home of their own to build nearby. They’d help each other and keep living in community. Someday they’d have guests and students, people who’d want to emulate their lifestyle. Folks they could teach. None of that required getting married. She simply hadn’t planned on finding someone at this stage.

Besides, if Jo had to fall in love, why couldn’t she be logical about her choice? God knew if she picked a mate, he’d need to feel as she did about His green earth. Someone who shared her values, her faith, her passions. She didn’t have these things in common with Zachary Nemesek. There was little evidence of strong faith. Zach longed to return to the city. And as for passions…

He was falling for Sierra, like every other male on the planet. Jo was twenty-five years old and never been kissed by a guy who meant it. Unless she counted her grandfather.

The door to the trailer creaked open, revealing Zach silhouetted against the rectangle of light. Jo heard low voices and the door closed. He whistled for Domino and by some sort of instinct, Jo’s hand tightened on the pup’s collar. Domino whimpered.

Why had she held him? Juvenile move. She released him with a pat, and he shot off across the yard, only his white parts showing.

Jo twisted the tire swing, not wanting to strain her eyes as
Zach and the pup walked down the driveway. Too dark to really
see. Too pathetic to try. Tears burned in the back of h
er eyes. Stupid, stupid Josephine.

A warm, moist tongue licked her hand. She startled, clutching at the rope to prevent falling off the tire.

“Ah, that’s where you are.” Zach’s voice was surprisingly close. “I figured Domino would lead me to you.”

If he only knew. Jo hesitated, unsure of her voice, before rotating the tire back around. “Hey there.”

Zach climbed on the picnic table and sat with his boots on the plank seat, elbows on his knees. “Beautiful night.” His face glowed slightly in the moonlight and his hair gleamed. It looked soft, like Domino’s ears.

A flush crept up Jo’s neck and onto her cheeks. Good thing the shadow of the elm protected her from his gaze. “Yes,” she managed to say. “I love spring.”

He tilted his head, but his eyes remained in shadow. Was he looking at her? She couldn’t tell. “What about it appeals to you?”

“It’s like a promise. Seeds planted. Anything can grow.” Jo could have kicked herself. Nothing like playing with innuendo.

He sighed and tilted his head downward. In the outline of his posture Jo saw discouragement, not hope.

In a snap decision she stopped the tire swing and slid off. She climbed onto the picnic table, leaving plenty of space between them. “Spring doesn’t offer promises to you?”

He shrugged. “It’s been a rough few months. I’m not sure what I believe anymore.”

His family had been through so much with his father’s illness. “How so?” For a long moment, Jo didn’t think he’d answer.
 

“I thought I had a permanent position lined up for after my graduation. It, um, fell through.” He shifted on the table. “I’m headed into Coeur d’Alene later this week to follow up on some job leads with the hope my dad gets better soon.”

Right. And it wasn’t nice of her to pray to the contrary, but she could hardly help herself.

“That Guillain-Barré is a kicker.” His voice was so low she barely made out the words.

Had he received more news, worse news? “He’ll be okay, won’t he?”

“Depends what you mean by okay. The immunoglobulins halted the progress of the disease, but he’s not recovering quickly. It may be partly due to his age.” Zach shook his head. “He’ll be in physical therapy for a while. It may be months before he’s well again. If ever.”

A light breeze riffled through Jo’s hair, causing her to shiver even in her hoodie. “Then it’s a good thing for your folks that you were free to come home and help. God worked it out for them.”

Zach snorted. “That was nice of Him.”

He didn’t sound convinced, and she could understand why. She only half-believed it herself. Wasn’t it better to make a plan and pursue it to the finish line rather than wonder what secret meaning God had behind things?

“Sorry. I have trouble thanking God for messing up my dad’s health and making me lose my job, so I could help Mom. Sounds like backward assistance.”

Dear Lord, give me the words.
“We often don’t see the whole picture. God has reasons we can’t understand.” At least that’s what everyone told her when things slid out of her clutching grasp.

Zach lifted his shoulder in a shrug. “I suppose. I was raised in the church. I’ve heard the lingo.” He paused for a moment, scratching Domino, who had his front paws on the bench between their feet. “How about you? Are you a Christian from way back?”

Her? He wanted to know about
her
? “I went to Sunday School when I was a kid living with my grandparents. My mom and I moved to California when I was ten and she married Brad.” Jo grimaced. “He wasn’t much interested in church.” Or anything that didn’t look like tremendous short-term profit. Forgetting Brad would make her happy. “Meeting Sierra in college helped me find my way back to God.”
Nice one, Josephine Lynn. He hadn’t been talking about Sierra. Good of you to bring her up.

“How’d you wind up buying a farm here in the north panhandle? It’s not what I’d expect out of a group of beautiful young women.”

It’d been awhile since anyone called her beautiful. Not when Sierra was around. “We believe God wants Christians to demonstrate living in respect for the Earth He created for us. Everyone’s so interested in money and power.” Like her mom and Brad. “The planet can’t sustain all this commercialism for much longer. So few people know how to grow their own food and live simply on the land. We want to prove it can be done.”

He chuckled, and her blood rose. How dare he.

“It’s not all it’s cracked up to be, Jo. Trust me. Look at my folks. Their house is practically falling apart around their heads. They’ve been farming forever and getting nowhere. Dad had to take a job off the farm to make ends meet. I never want to be as poor as them.”

“We’re not afraid of hard work, Zach. We know what we’re up against. My grandparents farmed over the border in Canada. They taught me things worth having are worth fighting for.” Jo slid off the picnic table and stood there, hugging herself, missing her grandparents. If only they’d still been there to go back to, but they’d died not long after her mom had hauled her away.

“Hey, no offense. I was just showing you the other side of the coin.” He hopped off the table.

Conversation over.

Too bad he didn’t share her values. He persisted in believing they—all three of them—were children that had no idea what they were in for. Well, he might be right and he might be wrong, but it didn’t change things. They were staying anyway.

An owl hooted from straight up the elm, startling Jo. Domino went into a barking frenzy and she tried to step out of his way, only to trip over him. Strong hands held her up and didn’t let go. She looked straight at the buttons on Zach’s suede jacket as the warmth from his hands seeped through her sleeves. She trembled, and not from cold.

“Hey, you okay?” The moon cast a gentle glow on his face.

“Yeah, fine, thanks.” If only she wasn’t such a klutz around him. Jo pulled away, but he didn’t let go. She looked up.

“Jo?” His gaze captured hers.

Her breath deserted her for an instant.

He gave her arms a little squeeze then released her. “Good night.”

Jo stumbled backward a step, but regained her balance before he needed to rescue her yet again. She couldn’t tear her eyes from his deep brown ones. “Good night, Zach.” Jo turned and hurried for the trailer door, trying already to remember how her words had sounded. Harsh... or desperate?

Chapter 7

The Hammond Pet Clinic waiting room was full of people and animals of all sizes, shapes, and species. Sure looked to Zach like Jeff could use another veterinarian, but the only emotion Zach could summon was relief it wasn’t him. He picked his way between pet carriers and approached the reception desk.

Yvette peered up at him through artificially long eyelashes and swung her expensive platinum curls over her shoulder. “Daddy’s busy.”

He’d expected to feel more emotion — a sense of loss, maybe — at seeing her again. So not there. He kept his voice even. “I just need to see him for a minute. I’ll wait and catch him between patients.” He forced himself to keep holding her gaze.

“He doesn’t want to talk to you. He gave you your pink slip. Remember? That means he’s done.”

The paper had legally terminated his employment at the Hammond Pet Clinic. Filled in by Yvette’s hand, but signed by her father. Like Zach could forget. “I need a letter of reference from him.” He’d done good work here for his temp position. Jeff Hammond had no reason to deny him a referral.

Yvette’s gaze narrowed.

Except for personal reasons, of course. But other vets at other clinics wanted to know why Hammond had signed on a different vet after Zach
had been there for nearly three months. He didn’t want to drag Yvette’s name into it and risk getting sued. Besides, it would only prove how poor his own taste in women had been. Sure, she was beautiful. Enough money could make any girl gorgeous. He studied her now, and tried to remember what had once increased his heart rate.

He could walk around the desk, down the corridor, and find Jeff on his own. He’d worked here long enough to know his way around. Yvette had no muscles to speak of—she couldn’t stop him. But a white-coated man came out of the hallway just as Zach gathered himself to follow through. A guy from Zach’s class at the veterinary college. “Draper?”

“Hey, Nemesek. Fancy meeting you here.” Garth Draper entered the reception area as Yvette stood to meet him. He pecked Yvette’s cheek and squeezed her shoulder. “This guy giving you some trouble, sweetie?”

Zach expected to feel jealousy, but it didn’t rise. Instead, relief grew into something near palpable. If he had a job, he could be thankful it wasn’t here. Zach glanced at the waiting room behind him and lowered his voice. “Hey, Draper. Sorry to see she got you suckered in.”

Yvette wrinkled her nose at him.

Draper chuckled. “Nice try, Nemesek.” His fingers massaged Yvette’s neck as he scanned the waiting room. “Who’s next?”

Nothing remained for Zach at Hammond Pet Clinic. Jeff never went against his darling daughter, so there was no reason to think he’d have charitable thoughts for Zach now. Time to leave. He swiveled on his heel and strode toward the door. Yvette’s chuckle came to his ears just before the door swooshed shut behind him.

Good thing he’d parked around the corner, out of sight of the clinic’s windows. He rested his forehead on the Mustang’s steering wheel for a long moment. How could he have been so stupid as to tangle his love life with his job? Why couldn’t he have seen her for what she really was before he’d gotten in so deep?

She’d wanted him to sleep with her, but he’d meant the oath he’d sworn in high school. Some vestige of the honor he’d been brought up with gave him the courage to hold the line. Oh, he’d desired her all right, and believed she felt the same about him. Until the evening Zach remembered he’d left his cell phone at her apartment and discovered a man’s jacket and boots in her entry. Bad enough, but the bedroom door had been closed and Yvette’s breathless voice had told Zach to get lost.

That still stung.

Josephine’s elfish face drifted into his mind and settled beside Yvette’s. No comparison. There was nothing fake or manipulating about Jo. She was who she was. Refreshing, if a little blunt.

But he still needed a job, and sitting in Jeff Hammond’s parking lot wasn’t getting him one.

***

Jo read the email from her mother with growing dismay. Mom intended to visit, dragging Brad in her wake. Jo looked around the dingy trailer. It took no imagination to see the dilapidated, foul-smelling place through her mother’s eyes. The whole structure was smaller than the suite Jo had in Brad’s house as a teen. No way did she want Mom seeing this. Ever.

She couldn’t possibly mean it, anyway. The only feasible reason she’d come would be to criticize. Jo had never done anything good enough for her mother and her current living conditions weren’t likely to change Mom’s opinion. As for Brad, he’d given Jo everything but the time of day. There wasn’t a chance he’d started caring now.

Jo hit ‘reply.’
It was great to hear from you.
A lie she hoped God would forgive.
Things are crazy hectic here this spring and we’re not really settled in. Probably best if you wait until next year to come all the way out here, once our community house is up.
Not that Mom would expect to stay at the trailer. Even Brad’s friends stayed in posh hotels when they visited California, though it was hard to imagine anyone with more room for guests.
Keep in touch. Love, Jo.

The message seemed rather terse but she couldn’t summon up the politeness to change a word of it.
Send
.