When Mom Meets Dad (24 page)
Read When Mom Meets Dad Online
Authors: Karen Rose Smith
"No bother at all. He makes a great tour guide."
Mary Jo smiled and ruffled her son's hair. "He knows more about this ranch than I do. He sees and hears everything."
Zack laughed. Twice in one day. How long had it been since laughter had been part of his life?
When Rick McIntyre shook Zack's hand, his grip was firm, his gaze friendly. "Lucy asked me Josh's very-important- question. How about you and I take a turn around the place on your bike sometime before I give Josh the okay?"
Zack heard the amusement in Rick's suggestion. "No problem. In fact, you might even want to try it by yourself."
Rick grinned like a teenager. "I was hoping you'd say that. I think you and I will get along just fine."
When Tom McIntyre came in, he went to the kitchen, hugged his wife and dropped a kiss on her cheek. Then he joined the group in the living room. With a grip as strong as his oldest son's, he shook Zack's hand. "I understand you roared in here on a motorcycle. Maybe we can convince you a Quarter Horse is a much better means of transportation."
Lucy crossed to her father with a smile. "Better watch it, Zack. He's the best salesman in the state of Wyoming."
Her father grinned at her affectionately. "You know as well as I do our horses sell themselves. I just find them good riders." He looked Zack up and down. "Something tells me, this man is a good rider."
Before Zack could respond, the door flew open and everyone turned toward it. A younger version of Tom McIntyre stood in the doorway, a load of firewood stacked high in his arms.
Tom said in a low voice to Lucy, "We actually got some work out of him today. Maybe he's gonna stop mopin' about that girl."
"Dad...," Lucy chided.
"He's got to get on with his life. You know that better than anyone."
Lucy glanced quickly at Zack, then looked away. But not before he saw the shadows in her eyes, not before he saw her chagrin that he'd overheard her dad's remark. Apparently something...or some
one
...had hurt her.
Marty dumped the logs on the hearth by the fireplace, then turned toward the group gathered around it. Unlike the other McIntyres, he made no move toward Zack.
After a moment of silence where the atmosphere in the room suddenly became awkward, Lucy introduced the two men. "Marty, this is Zack Burke. He'll be working with us for a while."
Marty's dark brown eyes focused on Zack, switched to his sister, then back to Zack. "So you did it. Fine. I didn't know bringing in hired help was an occasion for a party, though. We usually only have this commotion on Sundays."
Esther, standing in the doorway to the living room, addressed her son. "We're a family everyday. I wanted Zack to feel welcome."
"Welcome to the ranch," Marty said automatically, with no real feeling, but because it was expected of him, then he headed for the stairs and disappeared before he could be chided for his rudeness.
Zack couldn't help but be curious about this member of the McIntyre family who was so different from the others.
Lucy came to stand beside Zack, her arm brushing his. "I'm sorry about his attitude. He's had rough going lately."
Rick frowned. "A lot of that rough going is his own fault. More than once I told him Angie wasn't ready to get serious, but he wouldn't listen. He wouldn't take advice then, just like he won't take advice now. He's as hard-headed as they come."
Mary Jo nudged her husband's arm with a small smile. "As if you know nothing about being hard-headed. Lucy's the only one of the McIntyre siblings who knows how to bend."
"Are you saying I'm stubborn?" Rick asked with mock indignation.
Mary Jo laughed. "That's a pleasant way of putting it."
Tom shook his head. "Stubborn or not, that boy better get his head together. Lucy, try to talk some sense into him again, will you? Of any of us, he listens to you best."
"I'll try, Dad."
When she turned toward her father and her elbow brushed Zack, electric charges danced up his arm.
Esther beckoned to them. "Come on! Supper's ready. When we're sitting around the table, maybe Marty will realize how much he still has."
Josh maneuvered to sit on Zack's left. Lucy sat on his right. When Marty rejoined his family, he positioned himself across from the two of them.
It had been over two years since Zack had sat down and eaten a home-cooked family dinner. The night before his camping trip with Kay...
Rick asked, "So...Zack. What do you do besides ride around on a bike?"
Zack accepted the platter of roast beef Lucy passed to him and considered his options. He didn't want to lie to these people but he also didn't want to answer questions that would lead to areas he'd rather avoid. Noticing Lucy's "I-warned-you" look, he answered, "Along with working on ranches, some construction jobs. I've done a little bit of everything. Mr. McIntyre, I hear that construction is particularly slow in Wyoming. Why do you think that is?"
Fortunately for Zack, the conversation turned to the housing market and the economic conditions in Long Brush and the surrounding area. Then he concentrated on his food and tried to keep his mind off Lucy as she reached for the salt shaker. Her hair swayed along her cheek—silky, soft, natural.
Suddenly, she leaned close to his shoulder. "You managed that one like a pro."
If Zack turned his head, his chin would brush her hair. He tightened his hand into a fist, inhaled her scent, and said as casually as he could manage, "I know a secret. Most people like to talk about what concerns them."
"I'll remember that," she said with a smile in her voice.
He turned his head then and his chin did brush her hair. His chest tightened and all his senses went on red alert until suddenly Josh tugged on Zack's arm. Turning from Lucy, he felt Marty's stabbing gaze on him as he leaned down to the five-year-old.
#
After supper, Marty followed Zack to the living room.
Zack stood at the fireplace and waited. If Lucy's brother had something to say, he might as well get it off his chest.
It didn't take long until he did. "Lucy hired you mighty quick."
Zack faced Marty squarely. "You don't trust her judgment?"
"I don't trust a stranger who looks at her the way you do. I'm just warning you—we protect our own. So watch your step."
Zack wondered just how he
did
look at Lucy. As if he wanted to touch her, and kiss her, and wrap his body around hers? He thought he was more guarded than that. Yet, there was no point denying his attraction to her, and he wouldn't lie about it. "Lucy and I are adults. What happens between us is our business."
"Lucy is a McIntyre."
"That doesn't mean you can run her life."
"No, but I can watch out for her like I always have."
As Rick and Mary Jo entered the living room, Marty moved away, leaving Zack to realize more fully what it meant to be a member of a family. An ache for the wife and son he'd lost filled him...an ache he'd managed to deny for over two years.