Call it fate, p.24
Call it Fate, page 24
“What’s wrong?”
“I…” I cleared my throat and glanced back at the railing. No one was there. Maybe it had been my imagination.
When I looked back at the men who were tossing back drinks like they were water, I saw at least two men of the same stature. “Um, nothing. I thought I saw someone I know. I was mistaken.”
He smiled and held the door for me, and I hurried inside, eager to be away from anyone that reminded me of Zach’s father. Being back in the city must have my mind playing tricks on me and conjuring the image of the man who once threatened me. I didn’t believe he was still a threat, but I didn’t want to put it to the test. I also still didn’t want to put Zach in the middle of it.
I was certain his father was the reason Zach was determined to get this internship. The little boy inside him was still trying to prove he was the best, hoping to satisfy his father’s selfish and exhausting expectations. And that alone was enough to make me dislike the man.
After we placed our orders, I sipped my wine while he told me stories from his days at veterinary school. In turn, I shared with him about some of my more interesting guests who’d stayed at The Dogtrot, including the very quiet couple who had left a vibrator under the bed along with eight empty condom wrappers.
“The impressive thing is they were only checked in for one night,” I informed him.
“That’s impressive stamina.” He tipped his chin at me. “I bet I can beat it.”
I laughed. Zach always aimed to be the best. “I’m sure you could, tiger, but I’m not sure I could handle it.”
He grinned. “Wanna find out?” He waggled his eyebrows.
I switched my wine for water, needing the icy drink to quench the sudden fire that I felt flame my cheeks, mostly because I wanted to scream yes to the idea.
Dinner arrived, and who knew prime rib could be so seductive? After I took my first bite that practically melted in my mouth, I moaned, earning a smoldering look from Zach. After that, I took my time appreciating each bite—and each look he gave me—as I deliberately shut my eyes and licked my lips or closed them slowly around my fork.
Finally, I settled my utensils on my plate. “I don’t think I could eat another bite,” I moaned.
“I’m glad you enjoyed it. I know I did, even if you’ve made it hard for me to walk out of here.” Zach eyed me over the edge of his wineglass. I noticed he’d only eaten a small amount of his dinner. “Maybe we could have dessert at home?” There was no question what he had in mind for dessert.
His smoldering look caused me to cross my legs over and over.
I swallowed hard. “Check, please.”
He grinned and motioned to the waiter, who’d hovered nearby all evening.
I finished the wine in my glass. “I’m just going to use the ladies’ room before we leave.”
Zach stood as I did and helped me with my chair, always the perfect gentleman. I hoped he wasn’t so much one once we got home.
I finished washing my hands and checked myself in the bathroom mirror while refreshing my lip stain and thinking about how that color would look around Zach’s cock when I paid him back for the orgasm he’d given me earlier. My cheeks were flushed. I knew some of it was from the wine, but that hadn’t brought the light in my eyes I saw staring back at me from the mirror. That was solely due to the happiness that flowed through my veins. And I was resolved to keep it, no matter what it took.
I’d turned the corner near the bar and gasped. Sitting near the end was my nightmare. And this time, I wasn’t imagining things. Never more had I wished to have the power to flash somewhere else, but it wouldn’t have mattered.
Emerson Abbott had already noticed me. He seemed to be as surprised to see me as I was him, but he recovered faster. He lifted his glass as if he were toasting me, but I knew he’d never do that. No, that was a reminder.
I hurried away, anxious to find Zach and get him away from here so we could return home, and by home, I meant Sterling Mill.
Chapter 35
Emalee
* * *
I read through the letter Mama had put aside for me one more time.
Dear Ms. Dawson,
It is our pleasure to inform you that your bed-and-breakfast, The Dogtrot, has been nominated for The Best of the Tennessee Mountains Award for the category of inns and retreats. As part of the vetting process, you should know that your selection as one of the final five candidates out of the hundreds in the area is a significant accomplishment.
The BoTM Award is only for those inns that consistently achieve the highest standards of customer satisfaction as consistently receiving a top rating of “5” from guest reviews, as well as having been secretly inspected for quality and hospitality. As one of the five finalists, you represent the top three percent in the accommodation industry.
Before we make our final selection, we would like to send a photographer and our judges to The Dogtrot to interview you on April 10 at nine o’clock in the morning. Please allow for a minimum of two hours.
Again, congratulations on your fine establishment and your nomination. We look forward to seeing you.
Sincerely,
Adam Whitehall,
President, Tennessee Tourism Corporation
* * *
“Mama, did you see this?” I rushed to where she was fixing a lunch for Iain.
She took the letter I waved in her face and read over it, her smile growing as she got to the bottom. She looked up at me. “Oh, honey. This is wonderful! It’s a result of all of your hard work.”
“Our hard work, Mama.”
She hugged me. “Oh, honey, we’ve all pitched in where we could, but it was your vision that turned this old place around. I’m just thrilled your hard work is paying off.”
I bit my lip. “Well, we haven’t won yet.”
She gripped my arms. “I don’t doubt for a second that you will. We’re due for some good news.”
Iain burst into the room on a run. “What good news?”
“The Dogtrot has been nominated for an award,” I said, bending down to tie the shoe he’d either forgotten to do himself or had already pulled it out in his rush to get here. I made sure to double-knot it. At the speed he moved, I didn’t need him tripping over a shoelace.
“That’s great! What’s for breakfast?”
I laughed and tapped him on the nose. “How about bacon and eggs?”
“How about Loopy Fruits?”
I rolled my eyes and shook my head. “Okay, sugary cereal for the win. We’re celebrating after all.”
“What are we celebrating?” Zach pushed through the swing door with a smile.
“Mama is winning an award.”
Zach raised his eyebrows as he drew near. “She should.” He pressed a kiss to my lips. “Congratulations. What did you win?”
I showed him the letter. “Wow, sunshine. This is wonderful! Congratulations. Of course, there’s no question that you’ll win.”
“I wonder who nominated us?”
“Does it matter? It could be any one of hundreds of guests you’ve hosted.”
“It wasn’t you, was it?” I hated to ask, but I wanted to know the nomination came without bias.
“Sweetheart, as much as I support the nomination, I didn’t know there was such a thing.”
I frowned. “There’s so much I want to get done. I’d hoped to have that gazebo built this spring, but now Cam doesn’t have anyone to do it. And I’ll have to see if Chase can help me get all the flower beds cleaned up and planted. The front porch needs to be repainted. Oh, and I need to make sure the website is up to date, and I should plan what I’m going to serve when the committee is here, plus all the Derby Day stuff. And I have less than a month if they’re going to be here on April 10.”
Zach put his arms around me and kissed me. “Easy, sunshine. The Dogtrot is already wonderful the way it is, or it wouldn’t have made it this far. Make a list, and let’s see what we can get done.”
I loved that he said “we.”
Mama patted Zach on the shoulder. “He’s right, honey. Let’s not bite off any major projects unless we’re sure we can finish them.”
I looked over to see Iain frowning. “What’s wrong, kiddo?”
“You’re still going to be able to go on my field trip, right?”
“What tr…oh, right. To the zoo.”
He nodded. “You promised in February you would go.”
Damn it. “I’m sorry, sweetheart,” I said gently. “I have to be here for this interview. It’s the day they assigned me. I didn’t know about this back in February.”
He crossed his arms. “But you promised. It’s the best field trip in the whole school. We get to take a big bus and miss the whole day of school.”
I shook my head. “You’ll still have a good time.”
Iain kicked the table leg. “It’s not fair,” he huffed. “You promised. You didn’t go last year, either. I hate that dumb award. I hope you lose.”
I stared hard at him. “Young man—”
Zach put his hand on my arm, stopping my words. He quirked an eyebrow and jerked his head toward our son. “May I?” he mouthed.
I nodded, not sure what I was going to say anyway.
Iain scowled at his dad as Zach approached the table, but his expression turned wary, and he squirmed in his seat when he saw Zach’s expression. Zach crooked his finger and beckoned Iain out of the room. I started to follow, but my mom grabbed my arm.
She tipped her head toward the duo as they headed through the kitchen. “Let Zach handle it, man to man. Iain will never accept him as an authority if you always interfere.”
“But—”
“You were worried about Zach just being a playmate in Iain’s mind. Don’t interfere when Zach is stepping up into his role. It’s not easy on him, either. But he needs to do it.” She gave me a warning look. “Without your interference.”
“Fine,” I huffed, knowing she was right.
Still, nothing said I couldn’t spy on them. I grabbed the coffeepot and hurried into the dining room. Fortunately, there was only one couple still eating, so I filled their mugs and pretended to check on the warming trays while I kept an eye on Zach and Iain, who were in a corner of the living room. Zach was sitting in a chair, leaning forward and talking to Iain, who stood in front of him.
I couldn’t hear what was being said, but I noticed a slight slump to my son’s shoulders while Zach spoke. Iain nodded, and Zach placed his hand on Iain’s shoulder. Suddenly, Iain launched himself into his dad’s arms, who immediately embraced him for several seconds before placing a kiss on his head. I scurried back to the kitchen before they could see me.
I was placing a couple of bowls in the dishwasher when the pair returned. Iain walked over to me and wrapped his small arms around my legs and rested his head on my belly. “I’m sorry, Mama. I didn’t mean to hurt your feelings. I don’t really want you to lose the award.”
I knelt in front of him and brushed his soft hair back from his face. “I know you didn’t mean it, but you must remember words still hurt. I appreciate your apology. And I’m really sorry I won’t be able to go on the field trip with you and your friends. I was looking forward to it, too. You’ll still have lots of fun, and you can tell me all about it when you get home.”
His face was still sad, but he nodded. “Okay.”
“Now, we’ve already had our moment of being mad, so tell me something good.”
He scrunched up his nose as if he had to think really hard. “I got Loopy Fruits for breakfast instead of eggs.”
I laughed. “Okay, that’s a weak one, but we’ll let it go.”
“Your turn, Mama. It better be a good one, though.”
“Well, I’d been saving this one for zoo day, but I’m going to go with it anyway. What do you call an alligator who solves mysteries?”
Iain tapped his jaw pretending to be deep in thought. “I give up.”
“An investi-gator!”
He rolled his eyes, but his frown turned into a silly grin. “That’s not too bad,” said my little critic. “I’ll tell my friends that one.”
That was the biggest compliment he could offer. “Okay. Breakfast and then school, mister.”
“Yes, ma’am.” He headed back to the table but paused and turned back toward me. “And Mama? I really hope you do win that award. You work really hard. You deserve it.”
“Thanks, baby. That means a lot.”
He looked at his dad, who nodded his head and smiled back.
Once Iain was settled, I grabbed Zach’s hand and pulled him back into the living room. “What did you say to work that miracle?” I demanded.
He smirked. “Oh, you mean you weren’t spying on me?”
I crossed my arms. “Well…I just wanted to make sure you weren’t in over your head. So far it’s been such smooth sailing since you came into his life.”
“You’re going to have to trust me, Em. I know life with a kid isn’t all sunshine and rainbows.”
“Well, whatever you said, thank you.”
He chuckled. “It’s killing you not to know, isn’t it?”
I rolled my eyes and held my fingers up with some space between them. “A little bit.”
“I just asked him how he’d feel if someone was rude about a project he’d worked on. Then we talked about how it’s okay to be disappointed, but as a family, we’re a team and should always cheer for each other. I think he got it on his own level.”
He said that as if he knew what it was like not to have that. Remembering my one and only encounter with Zach’s dad, I had a sense that his dad didn’t accept anything less than perfect. I suspected it fostered Zach’s drive to be the best. But I wondered if the little boy still inside him longed for his own paternal teammate to cheer him on.
“You’re a good man, Zach. Thanks for talking to him.”
“He knew what he said was wrong even before I talked to him. You’ve done an incredible job raising him.”
I blinked back the moisture that threatened to flood my eyes. Wrapping my arms around him, I leaned my head against his chest. “Thank you. I think I needed to hear that from you.”
His arms, strong and secure around me, squeezed. Then, after a brief kiss, he pulled back enough to look at me. “I didn’t say anything to Iain without checking with you first, but I wondered if I could go on the field trip in your place.”
I gave him a skeptical look. “Are you sure you can handle being around a bunch of first graders, especially a bunch of boys? They can be overwhelming, and it’s going to be a long day.”
He scowled playfully. “Hey, I was president of my fraternity. What’s that if not trying to be in charge of a bunch of obnoxious boys? Besides, Iain’s friends are smaller. I can handle it.”
I shrugged. “Okay. If you can get the day off from work, I’ll let his teacher know. I’ve been meaning to add you to the approved list to pick him up anyway.”
Zach beamed. “All right, then. It’s settled.”
I didn’t say anything more, but I couldn’t hold back my grin, already looking forward to the stories he was bound to bring home.
Chapter 36
Zach
* * *
“What in Sam Hill is going on here?”
The booming, deep voice behind me had me looking toward the front door with a frown. Standing in the clinic’s doorway was a mountain of a man leaning heavily on a cane, my part-time receptionist next to him.
When had I come to think of anything about this place as mine?
Wanda cast a worried glance my way before linking her arm through his. “Now, Harold, getting all spun up isn’t gonna do you a lick of good.”
“But what is he doing to my clinic?” he rasped as his face grew into an unhealthy shade of red.
I hurried toward him, eager to introduce myself and to explain the small amount of chaos that had greeted him. “It’s a pleasure to meet you, sir. I’m Zach Abbott.”
He waved his hand as if he was swatting flies. “I know who you are. I want to know what you think you’re doing here.”
“Why don’t we have a seat and I’ll explain.” I asked a young couple to move because every seat was full, and when one seat cleared, it was quickly filled. I looked behind me, expecting him to follow, but he continued to glower at me.
“Harold? Sit.”
He sat. So did I. Even a couple of the dogs in the room responded to Wanda’s command.
Grateful I wouldn’t have to catch him as he wobbled on the cane that looked like it could snap like a stick, I tried again. “Doc, it’s nice to finally meet you.”
“Hmmph.”
“Today is National Pet Day. I thought it was a good day to coordinate with the county animal shelter and try to get some of the animals adopted. I’m offering free vaccinations and cursory exams to anyone who adopts one of their pets.”
I pointed to the full waiting room where everyone was watching like they expected us to throw a few punches. I wasn’t sure they were wrong.
“As you can see, it’s been highly successful. The high school is doing dog baths in the parking lot next door to raise money for new lights for the football field, and the Ladies Auxiliary is having a bake sale for whatever it is they do. As you can see, it’s working out great for everyone.”
Wanda beamed. “It’s a perfectly wonderful idea!”
Her husband grunted again. “And where’s the money coming from for all this free care?”
“Everyone here volunteered their time. As for the vaccinations, they’re supplied by a donation from a charitable organization I’ve worked with many times.”
Wanda nudged him. “See? I told you Doc Zach knows what he’s doing.”
“Hmmph.”
The door swung open again, and a family with a very excited little girl walked through holding a small terrier in her arms. Katie cleared her throat and shot me a desperate look from the hallway that led to the exam rooms. I caught on to the tech’s concern; they couldn’t move patients along with me sitting here, and we were already backed up.
