When Mom Meets Dad (23 page)

But curiosity was a potent force.  "I can be at your office on Monday around one.  Will that suit you?"

"I'll be in my office all day.  One will be fine.  I look forward to seeing you."

After Lucy said good-bye and hung up, she wondered if she should tell her parents about the call.  But why upset them?  It might be nothing.  She'd wait until after her meeting with Mr. Buckley to decide.  Right now, she had another decision to make—whether or not she should hire Zackary Burke.

#

Glad for a chance to regroup, Zack watched Lucy McIntyre walk into the living room and answer the phone.  Her warm brown eyes slid over him once more before she looked away and concentrated on her call.  Disconcerted by his body's reaction not only to her gaze but to her mere nearness, he tried to dismiss it as a fluke.  For a very long time he'd felt no desire for a woman, the same as he'd felt no inclination to go back to practicing medicine.  He knew they were connected.  He knew he rode across the western states to escape his thoughts as well as the past.  Whenever he stayed in one place too long, all of it came rushing back.

But from the moment he'd taken Lucy McIntyre's hand, smelled lilacs—a scent he associated with long-ago and far-away dreams and white picket fences, and seen the light dusting of freckles across her nose, he'd felt the very real response of a man to a pretty woman.  How could he stay when he was attracted to her?  How could he stay when he knew any attraction would have no place to go?  Not after Kay and what had happened to her and their baby...

Lucy came back to the kitchen, her expression pensive.

"Bad news?" he asked, then wondered why he had.  For the past fifteen months he'd tried to stay uninvolved in other people's lives.

"Oh, I wasn't thinking about the call."  She smiled.  "Actually, I was thinking about you and whether I should hire you."

As she drew closer, the lilacs wound about him again, tempting him with more than a job on a ranch.  The freshness of her smile packed the same mighty punch.  So he asked gruffly, "Why would you want hired help to stay in your house?"

"That's the kind of people my parents are.  But that's also why we checked your references carefully."

"How do you know I'm not an escaped convict?"

"Are you?" she asked with a challenging tilt of her head.

He felt an unexpected laugh rumble from his chest.  It had been a long time since he'd really laughed.  "Do you honestly think I'd tell you?"

Planting her hands on her hips, she gave him another good once-over with her warm brown eyes.  "Yes."

Her certainty drew him out of his seat as much as the scent of her perfume, and he approached her slowly.  "Either you're very naive or a very good judge of character."

"Neither, Mr. Burke...Zack," she amended.  "I've learned to trust my instincts, and they're telling me my family has nothing to fear from you."

Lucy was slender and tall, but he still towered over her a good five inches.  Yet he could tell she wasn't intimidated.  "You're right.  Your family has nothing to fear from me...if I take the job."

"Do you want it?"  Her hands dropped to her sides and he realized he'd like to feel the touch of her skin against his once again.

Impressed with Lucy and her directness, he took a deep breath, knowing he should jump on his Harley and head for far away places right now.  But he wanted the work.  He needed the satisfaction of physical labor so he could sleep at the end of the day.  A ranch would provide plenty of that.  "I want the job."

Their gazes held.  The awareness between them almost hummed in the kitchen as the full realization that they'd be sleeping under the same roof hit him.  Maybe she was thinking about it, too.

Lucy broke eye contact first and took a step back.  "Well, good.  I'll give you a brief tour, then show you where to put your things.  By then—"

The kitchen door opened and a little boy—about five—came running in.  When he saw Zack and Lucy, he stopped.  "Are you the man who's gonna help Dad and Gramps and Lucy till Uncle Marty's okay again?"

Zack watched Lucy's chagrin and he guessed this child heard a lot more than the adults wanted him to hear.  Zack wondered what the story was with "Marty."  Not that it was any of his business.

Lucy said, "This is my nephew, Josh.  My oldest brother's son.  Josh, this is Mr. Burke and he is going to be working here for a while."

Josh stood in front of Zack and stared up at him.  "Is that your bike out there?"

The boy's brown eyes twinkled with curiosity.  His reddish hair spiked in more than one direction, while his sweatshirt proclaimed he was a COWBOYS fan.  Zack's heart ached for the son he'd lost, the child who'd lost his life before he'd had the chance to begin it.  He hadn't been around children since Kay and their baby died.  He'd avoided contact just as he'd avoided the feelings that hurt too much to name.

But he guessed he wasn't going to be able to avoid Josh.  "Yep.  That's my bike."

"Can I have a ride on it?"

"Josh..." Lucy scolded.

Zack grinned.  "I bet we'll have to ask a few grown-ups before I can give you an answer on that."

Turning to Lucy, Josh pleaded, "If you ask Dad, I'll ask Mom.  Please?"

Zack could tell Lucy was putty in her nephew's hands.  He was sure of it when she gave the boy a hug and said, "I'll see what I can do."

"Josh, I told you not to run ahead of me like that."  A pleasantly rounded woman, wearing a down coat smiled at Zack from the doorway.  As she stepped into the kitchen, Zack realized she belonged here as much as the hand-woven multi-colored place mats on the table, the green vines sitting in planters on the window ledge, and the homey aroma of something braising in the oven.

Coming right up to Zack, she extended her hand.  "I'm Esther McIntyre."

The manners he'd thought he'd left back in California but that had emerged with Lucy and now with her mother, urged him to say, "It's good to meet you, Mrs. McIntyre.  I've accepted the job on the ranch.  That is unless you'd like to interview me, too."

Esther smiled at him, squeezed his hand and looked him straight in the eye.  "I trust my husband's judgment and Lucy's, too."  Unzipping her coat, she said, "Now, I've got to get supper ready.  Lucy, you show Mr. Burke around.  And Josh—"

"I wanna go with them."

It didn't look as if Zack had to worry about anything happening even if he was attracted to Lucy.  There were lots of chaperones.  Maybe this stay at the Rising Star was exactly the distraction he needed.  And if it wasn't?

He'd leave.  He'd gotten very good at that.

#

With Josh along on the tour chattering and pointing to his house that was as close to the all-purpose barn as the home where Lucy had grown up, she felt comfortable walking beside Zack.  At least that's what she told herself as he responded to Josh's questions and comments with patience and interest.

When the five-year-old ran ahead, she couldn't help but say, "You're good with Josh.  Have you spent much time around children?"

Zack stopped for a moment, keeping his gaze trained on the little boy.  "Not nearly enough," he answered softly.

Lucy thought she heard longing in his voice and analyzed what it meant.  Like most men, he wanted children.  Like Pete Cantrell.  And when she'd told Pete she couldn't give him a child...  He'd practically left a cloud of dust behind him as he'd rushed to escape their relationship.  Since Pete, she'd concentrated on her family, the ranch, business management courses, and thought about adopting a child herself someday.  She knew better than to repeat past mistakes.  She knew better than to expect a man to give up the idea of blood heirs to take care of someone else's children.

She had no reason to believe Zackary Burke was any different.  As she gazed at his profile, the defined bone structure, the angular line of a strong jaw, the thick vitality of his black hair, her heart sped up.  Yes, she was attracted to him.  But attraction was as insubstantial as smoke.  There was no point exploring her attraction to him...no future in letting sparks catch fire.  Because after the fire, she had nothing to offer.

Zack started walking again and she did, too, keeping her distance, reminding herself he was a drifter and would not be staying.

Glancing at Lucy as she grew quiet, Zack realized she had to take two steps to his one and he slowed his pace.  "Tell me about the ranch."

She smiled then, and he realized it was an automatic response to the place where she'd grown up.  "When I was little, I thought it was the world," she said.  "It seemed to have no boundaries.  I could run in any direction until I was too tired to keep going, and I was still on the ranch.  I can't imagine living in a big city with no land around me, no cottonwoods or fence or as much grass as sky."

"You love it here."

"I always have, and I always will."

Stopping again, he faced her, suddenly filled with the need not only to get closer to smell her perfume, but to know more about her.  "You don't have a desire to venture beyond the town of Long Brush?"

"I'd need a very good reason.  Even to live in town.  I like being out here with my family."

He itched to touch the glossiness of her hair as it swept across her cheek.  "You don't feel crowded?  As if they're in your business all the time?"  He'd never known real family.  He and Kay had been planning to put down roots...

"That's the greatest advantage to living on a ranch.  When I feel crowded, I have plenty of space to catch my breath."

Wanting to keep her talking, he asked, "Do you sell your horses locally?"

Lucy raised her chin a notch and stuffed her bare hands in the pockets of her jacket.  "Rising Star has a reputation.  We sell to customers all over the country.  The Quarter Horse isn't only a cow pony.  He's a great all-around horse.  And Quarter Horse racing is picking up again, too, though most of the horses we sell are trained for cutting events."

The late October breeze carried the forecast of winter as it suddenly buffeted Zack with more force.  When Lucy's hair blew across her lips, he couldn't keep himself from reaching out, smoothing it along her cheek.  Her brown hair was as silky as it looked.  Would her lips taste as sweet as he imagined?  Could her hands make him remember passion and the fire that drove it?

If he lowered his head, he could taste her...maybe taste desire again...

"Hey, Mr. Burke," Josh called from the barn door.  "Come see my saddle."

Lucy's lashes fluttered and she avoided his gaze.  Zack pushed desire away and said to Josh," "We'll be right there."  More disappointed than he wanted to admit that he hadn't kissed her, he was also grateful for the interruption.  What if he'd kissed her and found he was still frozen inside?  And what if she thought a kiss meant something other than curiosity?

As he saw Lucy's cheeks redden not only from the fresh air, but also from the embarrassment she was trying to hide, he knew a kiss would mean more to a woman like this than a moment of desire.

Then all of a sudden, she faced him squarely and asked, "When you leave Rising Star, where are you headed?"

The question took him by surprise—but only for a moment.  He realized Lucy, like most women, had permanence on her mind.  He'd learned too well that nothing about life was permanent.  "Trying to get rid of me already?" he teased.

"Of course not.  I just wondered, that's all."

He could tell Lucy wasn't the type of woman who could be easily sidetracked.  "Probably Texas."

"Any place in particular?"

Frowning, he shrugged as if he hadn't given it much thought.  "San Antonio, maybe."

"Why?"

"Is this still part of the interview?" he asked, impatient with her questions because he didn't have the answers.

"I guess you can say that.  Where a man is going can be just as important as where he's been."

He'd been to hell and was finding his way back to earth.  Holding on to anger that simmered beneath his impatience, he answered, "I'm going to San Antonio because I've never been there."

"And after that?" she pressed some more.

Raking his hand through his hair, he said, "I haven't planned it out.  Maybe I'll head up to Alaska and climb a few glaciers."

Lucy didn't blink an eye.  "What are you running from, Zack?"

Her insight brought his anger to the surface.  "I'm not running.  I'm exploring.  And I didn't realize when I accepted this job that I'd be grilled about my life.  Or are you reconsidering your offer?"

"No, the offer holds.  If you still want the job."

For some insane reason, he wanted it more now than when he'd ridden his bike under the wooden sign where letters carved into the wood read RISING STAR.

"Mr. Burke.  Aunt Lucy.  Are you coming?" Josh yelled again, holding the door open for them.

After waving to her nephew, Lucy waited for Zack's answer.

When her brown eyes searched his face, Zack realized this woman might have the power to make him feel again.  "Look, I want the job.  But I want my privacy, too.  Let's just stick to the here and now."

Her brows arched.  "A man without a past and without a future.  We can try it, Zack.  But I can't promise my family won't ask the same questions I have.  You might get tired of fending them off."

With a grimace, he shook his head.  "Let's go look at Josh's saddle.  I'll worry about fending off your family when I have to."

As he strode toward Josh, Zack realized Lucy's words were more of a prediction than a warning.  At least he'd be ready.

And he
would
be prepared.  He wasn't about to open wounds that were finally starting to heal.

#

Zack met the McIntyres as they straggled in for Saturday night supper.  Josh introduced each member as if it was the most important job he ever had.  Zack suspected Esther McIntyre had suggested the procedure to Josh as an exercise in social skills but also to make Zack feel more comfortable.  He was definitely a fish out of water in this family atmosphere.

Mary Jo McIntyre, Rick's wife, dressed in jeans and flannel blouse, her light brown hair pulled back in a ponytail, sparkled with the same enthusiasm for life as her son.  "It's good to meet you, Mr. Burke.  I hope Josh hasn't been too much of a bother."