Bad Son Rising (16 page)

Sticking a hand out to Zac, “Thank you for taking care of my girl.”

Zac nodded and remained quiet. Anything he said was not going to be well received.

Looking down at his muddy shirt, the shirt that Lily had been wearing all day and then painted with mud, he excused himself, “I think I need to find a hot shower, if there’s enough water left.”

“We’ll keep the kitchen open for you,” William offered.

“Oh thanks, but I’m not really hungry.” With a wave, he was off.

Finding there was enough hot water left to shower, Zac watched the mud run in rivulets down his legs, pooling at his feet. He hated that William thought she was his.
She’s mine.
And after today he felt secure that they would get it all worked out. She made him promise that he was hers and admitted that from the night they’d met that she’d been intrigued.
She’s mine and I’m not losing her to anyone,
he vowed, vigorously toweling himself off.

Thankfully, he returned to an empty dorm. There was no one he wanted to speak to except Lily and that probably wasn’t going to happen until morning. Sitting on his bed, back against the wall, he rested his head on his bent knees, reviewing all that went down that day.
I just need to have faith,
he told himself.
Everything she told me today was perfect. She wants to be mine. She wants this to work out between us.
Thinking about the ring in his pocket that kept his grandfather’s money clip company on a daily basis, he smiled and thought,
when the time is right.

Oh Liz, Liz, Liz, you totally pegged this, didn’t you. The Ice Princess and the Playboy. We certainly are an odd couple, aren’t we?
But she wasn’t an Ice Princess, after all. Intelligent, serious, guarded. Not really shy in relationships, as she had been the aggressor with him. But it was different than it had ever been before. She had been so intent that they get to know one another, to be convinced that they had common interests and goals, to make sure they truly were simpatico and that it was more than the physical connection they both felt. And it was.

Zac smiled to himself, there was so much she wanted before embarking on a sexual relationship with him. She wanted to know him. The thing that had moved her the most was that he had wanted to make her smile. An intangible. The basic selfless act of making someone else happy. That is what turned this girl on. She was amazing.

The screen door creaked. Lifting his head from his knees, the sight of Lily standing in the threshold involuntarily brought a smile to his face and he felt the jolt in his chest. She stood there a moment, transfixed, and then there it was, her beautiful smile and she was flying across the room toward him.

Opening his arms, she came to him, her eyes wide with an expression he didn’t yet have the experience to read. Taking her face in both hands, his fingertips grasping her hair, his lips were upon hers before she had the opportunity to speak. Returning his fervor, matched with an intensity of her own, he felt relief in his heart, not having even realized he was in need of any.

They were breathless when the kiss broke, reassured of what they both intellectually thought to be true, but were too scared to totally believe emotionally, for fear the day had not been real.

Looking up at him with shining eyes, Lily swallowed hard, “I told him, Zac. I told William.”

And in that moment, it became real. Tightening his arms around her, he drew her head to his shoulder, his face nuzzled in her hair.

“Are you OK?” he whispered and felt her nod against his chest. “Good,” his arms got a little tighter. “How did it go?”

Placing a soft kiss on her lips as she looked up at him, the feeling of pride rose from deep in his chest. He was proud of her. Proud that she had immediately faced a difficult situation.

“He’s not happy,” she was shaking her head, “he thinks you are going to hurt me. He thinks I’m just another conquest. The final frontier.”

Zac’s eyes shot open wide, “He said that? He called you the final frontier?”

When she nodded, he shook his head and blew out a long breath. “I hope you know he’s just speaking from anger.”

“I do. I told him that this had been something in the making for both of us for almost two years, and that I hoped he’d be happy for me, and that I knew I could count on him to be mature and fair and not do anything to separate us personally or in our working capacity.”

“Whoa, you are a smart one, Liliana Castillo. Remind me not to play chess with you.”

She laughed and snuggled into his chest.

“I’m really proud of you, Lils. I know that wasn’t easy. I need to go talk to him.”

“Are you sure?” she looked up, alarmed.

Nodding, “Yes, I’m sure. It’s the right thing to do and I don’t want it to be the elephant in the room.” He knew he needed to do the right thing. As much as William wasn’t his favorite person, Zac knew it was a mano-a-mano conversation that needed to take place.

“I wish I didn’t have to leave you tonight.”

Zac laughed at the pout on her face. “I know. I like having you in my arms,” his fingers combed through her long silky hair, “but I should get you back to your dorm. 0:500 is going to be here way too soon.”

As they got up to leave, something caught her eye and she gasped. “Heckle and Jeckle,” she was smiling. Reaching over to his nightstand, she picked up the framed picture of Nathaniel and Portia. “They’ve gotten so big,” she observed.

A proud smiling brother agreed.

“Are they the last thing you see before you go to sleep?”

Nodding, “They are. I miss the two of them like crazy. They are just so much fun.”

“You’re a great big brother, Zac.”

“I try,” he smiled, as they exited his dorm. “They make being a big brother great.”

Slinging an arm across her shoulder, he looked down at her, eyebrows raised questioningly, silently asking, “Is this OK publicly? Are you ready?”

She answered with an arm around his waist, her fingertips inside the back pocket of his jeans, and a huge smile on her face.

Zac knew he still had to face William that night, but in the meantime, he was going to enjoy walking his girlfriend back to her dorm and for the very first time, kissing her goodnight under the star-filled night sky.

William Bray did not want to see Zac Moore. That was evident. But Zac knew he was doing the right thing and it occurred to him that he wanted to do the right thing in everything that had to do with Lily.

He was sitting behind his desk when Zac arrived and Zac knew that he was giving William the “hometown advantage” by having this conversation on William’s turf.

“What can I do for you, Moore?” his tone was already dismissive.

“I just thought it would be good if we talked.”

“I don’t see that there’s much to talk about.” The Englishman wasn’t going to make it easy for him.

“William, we both think the world of Liliana and want the best for her.”

“Don’t presume to know what I think, Moore,” he cut him off.

“Fair enough,” Zac smiled. “I think the world of Liliana and I want the best for her.”

“Time will tell what you want with her.”

“That it will.” Zac agreed.

“If you hurt her, Moore, I will have your ass off this project so fast your head will be spinning.” William barely moved his jaw as he spewed the harsh words at Zac.

“Again, fair enough,” Zac was not going to give him the fight that he wanted. “If I hurt her, don’t let me near her. But on the same token, if anyone else hurts her,” the ‘anyone’ was implied, “don’t expect me to sit back and silently watch it. Fair enough?” and Zac got up and left before William had the chance to answer.

“Does this mean the Germans are available?” Niles nudged Zac.

“And waiting for you, mate,” laughing, Zac had been amazed by the myriad of responses he and Lily had gotten to their news.

Katje and Anneliese had initially stepped up their game only to find a very monogamous Zac had no interest in anyone but his girlfriend. Neither one liked to waste time and moved on quickly when their Zac retrieval efforts yielded no results.

The initial surprise and novelty of Zac and Lily’s coupling quickly wore off as everyone focused back on the day to day tasks involved in bringing fresh water to the villages. In no time, it was hard for people to remember Zac and Lily not being together. Even William backed off, allowing them to continue to work projects together.

Finding the computers free in the rec room one night, Zac took advantage of the rare occurrence using the opportunity to shoot off an email.

Lizard,

Sorry it’s been awhile. Things here have been busy and internet signal is not always great. You’ll be proud to know… I have a girlfriend. Yes, you read that correctly. I, Zac Moore, have a girlfriend. Yes, I said it — the G word. I am in a committed relationship and it feels like nothing else I’ve ever experienced before. I can’t believe how much I love sharing everything with one person.

Now this might not surprise you as much as the previous paragraph. My girlfriend (yes, I’ve now typed that three times) is Lily Castillo. Lily is the girl that I met (and danced with) at my dad’s wedding and you were right, she did like me. She was just afraid getting involved with me would be a stupid thing (wonder where she could have gotten that idea. Ha-ha, she’s very smart). We’re currently working at a project site together and I feel like I’ve got a shared mission in life with her. You’d love her. She’s smart (a Yalie) and strong and really wants to know me. We’re talking about signing on for another 6 month TDY because we’re accomplishing so much here and the thought of leaving and not helping to bring clean water to these villages is something neither of us can fathom at this point. I’ve learned so much here — about engineering projects, that thing called passion (you perv, I’m talking about the work) and what it’s really like to vibe with another person. It’s not just sex. You proud of me or what?!

Things going OK for you at Bryson? You keeping all the girls happy? ☺ Hope so. Say hi to Brian for me. Tell him I’m almost out of LeBrons. They’ve bought a lot of beer for the gang over here. Anything he can ship will be greatly appreciated and I’ll PayPal him the money.

Give your mom a big hug from me and a hello to your dad.

Miss ya, Lizard.

Z-man

“What are you up to?”

He had smelled her coming up behind him just as he was hitting send.

“Sending an email to my best friend, Liz.”

Sitting down next to him, “Liz, hmmm. Should I be jealous?”

With a smile, he kissed her and laughed, “I might be the jealous one when she meets you.” He raised his eyebrows.

“Is she gay?”

He nodded, still smiling. “Yeah, she and my old roommate Brian are my closest friends.”

“I hope I get to meet them someday.” Lily twined her fingers through his.

“I can’t imagine that you won’t.”

Kissing her, it was amazing to be talking about the future, sharing dreams and friends, both in Africa and the United States. With every day that passed, they became more real and Zac’s fears of not being able to have a normal relationship receded to the edges of his consciousness.

“So, did you tell her about me?” Lily was now in his lap.

“I did,” teasing her by not saying anymore.

“You’re not going to tell me?” her face just inches away from his.

Tapping his lip, she rolled her eyes and then obliged him with a kiss.

“So what did you tell your friend Liz about me?”

“I told her that if she lays a finger on you, I’ll kill her,” he teased.

Hitting him on the shoulder, “Come on, tell me.”

His eyes took on a serious cast as they engaged hers, “I told her I’m crazy about you, Lils and that we’ll probably stay here together for another six months after the current TDY is up.”

Satisfied with his response, she got up out of his lap and took his hand. “Do you want to go for a walk?”

Going for a walk was their private joke for finding a private place down on the lake. Zac had confided in Lily that the first time he had asked her to go for a walk with him he’d wondered if it had sounded lame to her.

“Lame? No way,” she advised. “I thought it was so romantic that we were going for a walk under the full moon.”