It Takes Two: Deep in the Heart, Book 1 (34 page)

Annie sighed. If she called him, those questions might be answered. Somehow, that was just as unnerving as being in the dark.

There was no way now that Annie could continue to avoid dialing Zach’s number. She’d called the agricultural extension to ask questions about subsidies on wheat. She’d called Jim Crier to see if there were any further developments on the investigation. There weren’t, and they both knew there weren’t going to be. The rain had pretty much taken care of matters, not to mention that the culprit had been fairly careful not to leave evidence around. Then she’d called her insurance company, as well as her father’s doctor’s office with a progress report. There simply wasn’t anyone left to call, though she would have rung anyone to avoid hearing Zach’s voice answering his phone. Would he be glad to hear from her? Or would he be stiffly polite, embarrassed that she hadn’t understood the parameters of their association?

Annie closed her eyes, knowing that, just as she was going forward, planning new crops and a new venture in her life, she needed also to go forward with her personal life. There was no point waiting around for something to happen if it wasn’t going to. Opening her eyes again and taking a deep breath, Annie dialed Zach’s number.

“Hello?” a rough and rather craggy voice shouted at her when the phone was picked up at the other end.

She raised her eyebrows in astonishment. “May I speak to Zach Rayez, please?”

“He ain’t available. Take a message for you, though.”

Grimly, she pressed on, trying to ignore the growing tremors in her stomach. “Do you know when he might be available?” she asked.

“Nope. Can’t say that at all. Give me your name and number, and I’ll tell him you called.”

“I…” Her message was too personal to leave. Still, leaving some word would be the right thing to do, she supposed. “I…could you tell Zach that Annie Aguillar called, please? He has my phone number.”

“Hang on a second while I get the spelling. Annie…Ag— Wait a minute. Annie? This morning Zach asked me if you’d called.”

Relief washed into Annie with the speed of a torrential downpour. “He did?” she asked. “I would have called sooner if I’d known—”

She cut off the sentence, realizing that finishing it with “if I’d known he wanted to talk to me” wasn’t going to sound right. “Well, I’d be grateful if you’d pass the message along.”

“Say, hold on, Annie,” the man said hurriedly. “I…uh…I can’t say as to when Zach might call you back. I don’t suppose you’d want to pay him a visit, you know, just a quick, social thing.”

Her eyebrows rose again at the suggestion. She sensed hesitation in the man’s words, as if he wasn’t sure he should be mentioning the idea. And it was obviously an off-the-cuff invitation.

“I don’t really do quick, social things, sir,” she replied. “Is there a reason I’d want to?”

“Well… Zach’s been kinda ill. I’m his father, so I’ve been here looking after him. But, to be honest, he might feel better if you came by, since he was asking for you and all. Might cheer him up a bit. He hasn’t had many visitors, you know.”

Every fiber of Annie’s body sprung to awareness. “What’s wrong with Zach?”

His father paused. “Don’t rightly know.”

“You haven’t taken him to a doctor?” Annie was becoming more worried by the moment.

Another pause. “He won’t let me.”

“I see.” Zach could be extremely stubborn, she knew, as most males were when faced with seeing a physician. Papa didn’t exactly go quietly and docilely when he was sick, either. But she had no car, no way to get to Austin. Annie was quiet for a moment, her insides knotted with indecision. “I’m not sure I can do anything to help,” she murmured, throwing up a last resistance. How did she know Zach would welcome her?

“Can’t hurt anything,” Zach’s father replied. “You don’t have to stay long…but please, Annie. I think it would do him a world of good.”

The indecision caved. Zach had done more for her and her family than anyone besides Cody. And if his father said a visit from her might make Zach feel better, then by heaven, she’d find a way to get to Austin. Gert could keep an eye on Travis. And they wouldn’t mind watching Mary for the evening, or Cody could probably be counted on to pinch-hit. “I’ll be there tonight,” she promised.

“I’ll order some pizza,” he replied before hanging up the phone.

Annie stared at the receiver for a moment, pondering that strange remark. Something very mysterious was going on. Trickles of alarm fanned through her as she wondered if something worse than sickness had gotten to Zach. Something more like a person whose mind was bent with revenge. Cody’s words came back to her:
I wonder if there’s any way the fiancée and Zach’s employee could be in cahoots. What’s Zach done that might piss either one of them off real bad?

It was a haunting question. She squinted, thinking hard. The fire. The cigar in the field. The fable of oil under her land. The pictures.

Zach’s sudden silence.

Zach had fired Carter Haskins—and also broken off his engagement. And now he was suffering from an unknown malady that Zach’s father thought a visit from Annie might help.

Because he’d asked for her.

Annie’s hands were shaking. She dialed Cody’s phone number, absurdly relieved when he answered immediately.

“Cody,” she said abruptly, “I was wondering if you’d lend me one of your vehicles. I need to go to Austin.”

Annie wasn’t surprised by the size of Zach’s house, nor by the obviously wealthy neighborhood he lived in. She parked the junky old hearse out front with a small grin to herself, thinking some noses would certainly be pressed against windowpanes. As she got out of the car, Annie realized with a pang that she was stepping into Zach’s world. A world totally foreign to her, a place where she likely wouldn’t fit in. There was light-colored brick everywhere, and shiny brass lamps and mailboxes, and actual paved, cobbled sidewalks all adorning the houses, signaling affluence.

Feeling self-conscious, Annie ran her hand down her long braid, making certain it was still neat despite the harried rush in which she’d left Desperado. Tendrils had come loose around her forehead and along her cheeks, but it couldn’t be helped now. Either Zach was going to be glad to see her or he wasn’t. And there wasn’t a way to gauge his reaction. She had to see him to know.

Ignoring the anticipation racing through her, Annie walked on to the porch and rang the bell. To her surprise, Zach himself came to the door.

He didn’t seem especially shocked to see her, nor particularly enthusiastic. At least a day’s growth of beard darkened his chin. Annie had never seen Zach without the utmost attention paid to his grooming. Somehow the unkempt hair and shirt hanging out of his jeans was troubling. Still, he didn’t look as ill as his father had represented.

“Hello, Zach,” she replied.

“Hi, Annie.”

Not
nice to see you
or
what a surprise
. “Did you know I was coming?”

He shrugged. “No, I didn’t. But that’s all right.” Motioning her inside, Zach said, “Have a seat.”

She walked to where he pointed, asking, “How are you feeling?”

“Fine.”

She hadn’t expected open arms or Zach doing rebel yells at the sight of her, but she certainly hadn’t expected this laconic person. Perching on the sofa set at an angle to the seat he was taking, Annie told herself it was all right to try to move the mountain with a little more directness. “How have you been, Zach, really?”

Zach nodded. “Fine. Quiet, actually.”

But he didn’t look at her. Annie noticed Zach kept his eyes trained on the teak coffee table, every once in a while his gaze darting to the hallway. Annie’s heart began slowly sinking in her chest. If he wasn’t glad to see her—and if this monosyllabic conversation was an indication of how her visit was going to go—Annie knew she shouldn’t have come.

He didn’t want to see her.

Worse, she wasn’t sure she knew him anymore.

“Mary’s enjoying the carousel,” she said tentatively.

Interest flickered briefly in Zach’s eyes. “I’m glad.”

Annie pursed her lips. Obviously, she was going to have to use less finesse to get some real answers. “I missed hearing from you. We all did. Papa wondered if you’d gotten lost.”

His gaze stayed with her. “Somewhat,” he said mysteriously. “A lot’s happened since I saw you last.”

Annie nodded. “I thought it might have. It’s been crazy lately, hasn’t it?”

Zach appeared hesitant. “I know I’m ready for a change.”

“How much of a change?” Annie asked softly. “What’s happened, Zach? Your father said you were ill, but you don’t seem sick, maybe just unhappy or something. Can you tell me what’s wrong?”

Is it me?
she wanted to ask.

“I was going to call you. Sometime.” He paused. “I don’t know when. But I would have, Annie. Between canceling a wedding and—”

He sat quietly for a few minutes before getting up. Annie watched him disappear down a hallway, then return with a paper in his hand, which he gave to her. “Don’t suppose you got this edition of the newspaper.”

“Paper boy would have to have a pretty strong arm to throw the paper all the way to Desperado from Austin.” Annie scanned the article in shock. Looking up, she met Zach’s eyes. “This is only fit for the bottom of a birdcage.”

Zach nodded. “Yeah. But I sure didn’t see it coming.”

“This is Carter’s work?”

“I’ve got some calls in to find out, but I’m pretty certain he’s the highly placed official they’re quoting. Only, he’s not part of the company anymore because I fired him, but obviously, that fact didn’t get checked. Or wasn’t significant enough to include.”

“This is because I wouldn’t sell my land to that miserable monster.”

Zach shook his head. “This is happening because Carter’s a greedy bastard. Everything was fine as long as I fit into the pattern. The instant he realized I really was going to leave the company, I became useless to him. By then, he’d gotten it into his head to cheat you out of the supposed oil, and thought I was just the person to strike the deal. It’s been a one-upmanship game with Carter all along, only I didn’t realize I was playing.”

Zach shot her a smile that seemed threatening and determined at once. “But I do now.”

“What a terrible price for you to have to pay,” Annie murmured.

“What a terrible price for
you
to have to pay,” Zach returned, with more hard-edged spirit creeping into his voice. “I can’t stop thinking about everything you’ve lost because of me.”

Annie lowered her eyes. “I have gained because of you, Zach.”

He snorted. “If I’d never shown up at your door, your father would never have had that heart attack.”

“That’s not—”

“And that’s just the beginning. As long as I live, I’ll never forget the sight of that cornfield blazing, Annie. It’s painted in a fiery yellow-orange picture in my mind. I caused you to lose your livelihood, your security.”

Zach’s voice was anguished. She sensed that nothing she could say could erase what he thought he’d done to her. So she shrugged. “You paid my taxes. Wasn’t that enough to make up for everything?”

“Maybe in part.” Zach sounded uncertain. “I could help, and I wanted to. But, yeah, it was the least I could do.”

Annie sat stiffly, not wanting to hear her own assumptions confirmed. She’d known Zach had probably felt obligated. Still, it hurt. And that taunting voice inside her screeched mockingly,
Not because he’s in love with you!

“The thought was kind, but unnecessary. You shouldn’t feel any responsibility for me. I’ve always managed, even before I met you.” It was true, but injured pride made Annie say the words more spitefully than she’d intended. But she wished the differences between them weren’t so obvious. She didn’t want to seem so helpless to a man like Zach Rayez.

“Oh, I know that,” Zach said, swiftly. “It was just that—”

The doorbell rang, cutting off his words. “Excuse me,” Zach’s tone was brief. He got up and opened the door. Annie had leaned back into the sofa, trying to pull in a deep breath that might relax her, when shrill words reached her.

“Mr. Rayez,” the woman said, “My bridge circle is due to start arriving any moment. Do you think your maid could park that…her car in back of your house?”

Chapter Twenty-Two

There was a pause. Annie’s mouth dropped open in astonishment.

“Annie, love,” Zach called, “my neighbor has something she’d like to ask you.”

Without hesitating, Annie rose and went to stand beside Zach. The plump old woman lowered her eyes briefly before trying to steady her gaze on Annie. Even wearing little-old-lady heels, the woman didn’t reach Annie’s shoulders. Annie stared down at the triple strand of pearls adorning the woman’s fat throat and the sheen of her silk dress as the sun danced on the fabric.

“I’m not a maid,” she said quietly. “If your guests can’t park their cars near mine, then I guess they’ll have to jog up from the end of the street.”

“Well, I never!” the woman sputtered.

Annie sized up the woman calmly. “No, it doesn’t appear that you do get much exercise,” she said, not releasing the woman’s stunned gaze as she stepped back.