The man chuckled with a definite amount of irony as he pushed up to standing. “Son, I didn’t have a choice. Violet’s holding my feet over a fire and I don’t care to get burned.”
The clumsy way he grabbed for the desk, as though he was unsteady on his feet, sent alarm shooting straight through Zach. He stood, keeping an eye on his boss’s every move in case the man toppled over. “You’ve been good to me, Mr. Harris. Is there anything else I can do?”
The man slowly crossed to the window and braced his hands on the wide golden pine trim. For a silent moment he peered outside at where the sun had inched up a little higher, christening the day with brilliant light. “You want a job?” he asked, his back to Zach. “Because this one won’t be easy.”
Zach pulled his buckskin gloves from his back pocket. “I’m up to the task.”
Turning, Mr. Harris kept one hand on the window trim as he eyed Zach. “First, you need to know that there’s quite a lot of water that’s run under the bridge between me and Ivy. Things are strained between us,” he admitted, his gaze shrouded with the kind of hurt a man rarely showed. “You may have noticed.”
He’d noticed all right. That’s why he’d already decided that he’d try to be a buffer for Ivy. The hurt look that had flashed across her hopeful expression yesterday in the barn had nearly broken his heart.
And the sorrow drifting over his boss’s expression just now gave him equal pause. Zach had no idea what had transpired between Mr. Harris and Ivy, but having lost his brother Max to a sordid lifestyle which had led to his death, Zach would do whatever he could to help heal the torn relationship.
He’d be a listening ear. A voice of encouragement.
And he’d pray. In spite of his floundering relationship with God, he’d pray that God would do that which Zach was fairly certain only God could do. He’d seen God work miracles in Ben, Joseph and Aaron’s lives. God could work a miracle here, too. Couldn’t He?
“I know she’s found a place for herself out east just like her mama wanted for her, but if something happens to me, then all of this, every last inch of this ranch, must fall to her.” Mr. Harris reached out and grabbed Zach’s arm in an uncommon show of desperation. “She needs to fall in love with this place again, Zach. I need her to love it just like she did when she was a little girl—before things changed. Do you hear me?”
“I understand.” Zach gulped back a lump of uncertainty. He’d do whatever Mr. Harris wished, but this would require him being in close quarters with Ivy, and he’d already discovered that her very presence incited his old insecurities and fears. Having her back here was one thing, but could he go to this extent without losing the man he’d become and the confidence he’d worked so hard to gain?
“With the way you love this place, you’re just the man to help her with that.” Mr. Harris’s grip on Zach’s arm tightened. “If things take a bad turn for me, then she’s going to have to stay here. I want you to lead her heart home.”
Ivy’s first night back at the ranch had been fraught with every emotion imaginable. She was grieving, still, her mama’s death. Sorrowful for her father’s cool, uninterested greeting. Overjoyed to see Violet.
But the stomach-fluttering thrill she felt at the mere thought of Zachariah Drake had sent her into an outright tailspin. He’d knocked her control off-kilter without doing a thing. Last night, she’d even dreamed of the man. His broad, burden-bearing shoulders. His chiseled, masculine jawline. His crystal-blue, secret-bearing gaze.
She tipped her head back and breathed in deep, wishing she could get the man out of her mind.
Back in New York she’d gone on a few lovely little outings with Neal Smith, and never had she had such an all-encompassing response to the man. Ever. Oh, Neal was handsome in a very pristine way. And he was as agreeable as a man could possibly be. Kind. Respectful. But he’d never once made his way into her dreams. In fact, he’d barely even interrupted her thoughts.
She threw her chestnut-colored paisley wrap around her shoulders and headed down the front steps for a breath of fresh air, if for nothing else than to clear her head of Zach Drake. She could only hope that, perhaps, she’d find her wayward common sense and self-control out here, because it had escaped her last night. Completely.
She’d likely not had it in her possession from the moment she’d stepped foot off the train.
When she caught sight of Zach out by the barn, talking with one of the hands—Hugh Bagley, a former classmate and old friend—she stopped in her tracks. Shielding her eyes from the bright morning sun, she saw Zach jam one hand to his waist and jab his pointing finger toward the barn, his brusque litany of words falling just out of reach. But his stern expression … it was readable from here, a good hundred feet away.
When Hugh caught sight of her, his defeated stance shot upright. “Ivy!” he called as he started jogging her way, leaving Zach glaring after him.
“Hello, Hugh.” Smiling, she waved and hurried over the hard ground to meet him.
“If you aren’t a sight for sore eyes then I don’t know what is.” Catching her up in his long-armed hug, he squeezed tight then grasped her arms and held her away from himself. “It’s good to see you, Ivy. Really good.”
Her frustration regarding Zach’s behavior all but vanished at Hugh’s warm greeting. “How wonderful to see you, too, Hugh.”
“I heard whisperings from one of the hands that you were back. I’ve been looking for you all morning.”
“Surely you had better things to do.” She stepped away from him, her arms aching from his tight hold. He always had been like a grown but playful pup that hadn’t yet learned the word gentle.
“I thought you’d never come back.” A grin stretched the width of his long and narrow face.
“Well, believe it or not, I am here.”
“That, you are,” he confirmed with an appraising look.
Readjusting the scarf around her shoulders, she gently rubbed where his hands had been and planted a smile on her face, even when she felt confused by everything that had happened since she’d been home. She didn’t need Hugh digging into her heart. They’d been friends years ago, but she’d never thought to parcel out the deepest secrets in her heart to him. He couldn’t seem to be serious enough to handle that kind of information.
“Boy, have I ever missed you, Ivy. All of the fun we had.” He raised his eyebrows. “Things just aren’t the same as they were back then.”
“I wouldn’t imagine they are.” Memories of the fun adventures they’d shared flitted through her mind. “So, you’re working here, too?”
“Too?” His heavy brow furrowed beneath his brown cowboy hat.
She angled a quizzical look at him, then slid her gaze over to where Zach stood, jamming a shovel into the earth with enough force she’d have thought he was planning to dig all the way to the other side of the world. “You know … Zach.”
His eyes rolled back for a brief moment. “Oh, yeah … the big boss.”
Ivy fingered the delicate wool fringe edging her scarf, recalling how Hugh had never much liked Zach. “I had no idea he was my father’s foreman. Can you imagine my shock? He’s changed so much.”
“He sure has changed.” Hugh gave a huge sigh. “And he’s foreman here, whether I like it or not.”
“What happened out there just a minute ago?” She passed a quick glance toward Zach. “He looked quite mad.”
“Enough to spit iron stakes.” With a mutinous manner about him, Hugh looped his arms at his chest. “Screamed at me like I was some no-good criminal sniffing around for trouble.”
“He