Although Leon Ferguson had murdered Ella Larson back in July, her sister and brother kept her diner open. They ran Ella"s Diner during the day and the Longhorn Saloon at night.
The interior was reminiscent of a 1950"s soda shop in bright red and white. The faux red marble- and chrome-edged bar filled the front of the dining room. The alternating red and white stools, along with most of the booths, were all filled with folks who regularly patronized the diner. Zack became very aware of the woman beside him as they entered.
He removed his hat, but kept his mirrored sungla.s.ses in place.
As he searched out an empty table, every eye in the place seemed to turn toward him and Tracy. He returned the greetings he received, but he was cognizant of the curious looks. Many of these same people had attended the football game the other night.
Zelda Marion, an older woman who usually was his waitress at lunch, hurried past loaded down with plates of food. "Hey, Zack, you want your usual?"
He glanced at Tracy. "No, not today."
When Zelda noticed Tracy, her eyes widened with surprise. Everyone knew his and Tracy"s ugly history, if for no other reason than because he was a Cartwright and she was part of the Ferguson clan. Both families had been favorite topics of gossip for over a century.
Zelda glanced at Zack again and said with a smile, "Oh, I see you"ve got company today. Sit anywhere. I"ll be right over."
Tracy seemed as anxious as he was about the overly interested audience as they found a booth and sat across from each other. No doubt, he would be fielding phone calls from his mother and aunt that night regarding his date with Tracy Parker. He wouldn"t be surprised if his aunt didn"t have him married by the end of the week. Thank G.o.d she liked Tracy and he was her nephew, or his life could become a cesspool of rampant rumor very quickly.
He retrieved the plastic covered menus from behind the napkin dispenser and handed one of them to Tracy. She smiled her thanks and took it from him. He had a hard time concentrating on the billings for the lunch rush as Tracy adorably scrunched up her nose and squinted down at her menu.
"Forget your gla.s.ses?" Zack put the menu aside. He decided to order his usual anyway.
His heart skittered over several beats at the pinking of her cheeks.
She pushed her long hair behind her ears. "I only need the darned things for reading. I don"t even wear gla.s.ses to do hair. I should get Lasik surgery, but I can"t seem to justify the cost, and my insurance won"t pay for it. But I"ve been doing a lot more reading lately with school."
"You could afford it now."
She shrugged and the corners of her pink lips twisted into a smirk. "I suppose I can. I forget that I"m a rich woman these days. Heck, the interest payment on my inheritance alone almost gave me a heart attack. No wonder everyone wants a cut."
"How"re cla.s.ses going?"
Tracy closed her menu and wrinkled her nose. "Okay. I guess. It"s gonna take some getting used to. I mean, I"ve taken cla.s.ses before to get my a.s.sociate degree in business, and of course my technical training to get my license to do hair, but I"m still wondering if pre-med isn"t a pipe dream."
"You"ll do fine."
"Tell that to my crazy nerves."
Zelda saved him from commenting by stopping to take their orders. After she returned to the workstation behind the counter, he broke the sudden awkward tension and asked, "Have you heard from the newlyweds?"
Tracy laughed and visibly relaxed. He"d always admired the relationship of the Quinn siblings. Growing up with a father who moved around every few years had made it difficult for them to make lasting friends, especially since they both had been loners. Dylan was as loyal as they come when it came to those who he cared about; however, it took him a while to form that kind of relationship. Tracy had been shy and introverted as a kid.
Zack still remembered the gangly, cross-eyed girl who had walked into his sixth grade cla.s.s. She"d looked like she was being led into the bullfighter"s ringand something about her overwhelming vulnerability had stolen his heart. And scared him s.h.i.tless.
Still did.
"You"ve got to be joking, right?"
He shrugged and leaned back against the red leather of the booth. "I wasn"t, but I can deduct from your response the answer is no. I was hoping you"d told them about the theft."
Zelda returned and placed their drinks before them. He thanked her, and once the older woman was gone again, Tracy sipped her sweet tea. "I told you I"d only tell them about it if something else happened. Nothing has, so why ruin their time together? They deserve this. But to answer your question, Charli sent me a message when they arrived, a picture of her and Dylan posing on the beach in Maui. No message, only the picture taken with her cell phone."
"We did good setting them up."
"That we did." Tracy matched his grin and lifted her gla.s.s in toast. He clicked his gla.s.s against hers, and they both drank. "Although I never expected them to fall in love. But thanks again, Zack, for telling me about Charli"s newspaper ad. I kept thinking Dylan would be good in security or something like that because of his Army background. I never considered ranching."
"I"m just glad I saw the ad. I knew, from all the work Dylan had done on your granddad"s ranch and his own place down in Killeen, that managing a place would be perfect for him."
Again silence engulfed them, and he found himself gazing at Tracy. He should swing the conversation back to Brent, but he had time. Despite her coming a long way from the shy little girl she"d been in junior high, there were times when her pewter eyes seemed insecure with the world around them. She was no longer cross-eyed, which one last surgery had corrected, leaving behind minor farsightedness. The braces she"d worn their early high school years were gone, leaving behind a bright, sincere smile in a face sharp with angles. But she"d grown into her once pointed features. Her lankiness remained, but pregnancy and maturity had rounded her body ever so slightly, making her less waiflike and more willowy. She still was practically flat-chested, but today she obviously wasn"t braless. Her once short dishwater brown hair was now long and streaked with becoming natural-looking highlights of golden brown.
Jolted by his desire to kiss the disconcerted pucker from her lips, he had to look away. He turned to look out the window above the short Coca-Cola themed curtain.
Tracy sucked in a breath. "Logan told me he"s moving to Nashville."
Zack met her eyes across the table. He didn"t want to talk about his younger brother and his crazy dreams. He didn"t want to make small talk with her at all. Or any other kind of speech. He wanted her in his bed, with only the soft moans and mewls of a woman in the throes of pa.s.sion coming from her.
To hide his growing desire, he busied himself with drinking his c.o.ke. "Actually, he informed the family last night. I personally think he"s being a fool. The kid"s a lawyer, and a d.a.m.ned good one. He makes a seven-figure salary that"s closer to eight." He shook his head and pursed his lips. "I hope he can make it, but out of every hundred hayseeds who fly into that town thinking they"ll sing their way into fame and fortune, only one makes it. And he"s already had that chance."
"Who knows? Logan might be that one out of a hundred this time around."
Something about the tone of her voice had him meeting her gaze.
"But I"d suggest you never call him a hayseed to his face."
"Whether he likes to admit it or not, Logan Cartwright is a hayseed as much as I am. He might make it big, but I"m not holding my breath. I"ll bet in six months, instead of making record deals, Logan is back making cheating husbands and gold-digging wives wish they had never crossed paths with attorney Logan Cartwright." When she narrowed her eyes at his obvious doubts concerning his brother"s talent, he said, "I"m not saying that he can"t sing, because I know he can."
Tracy"s ruffled feathers settled, and she smiled. "Unlike his brother."
"Hey! I can sing."
She raised a perfectly arched brow. "I remember your attempts at singing, Zack Cartwright. It"s a wonder I didn"t run in the other direction."
He grinned at the mention of a particular date when he"d attempted to sing a Garth Brooks song to her. "Okay, I can"t hold a tune in a bucket. I guess I take after my old man. In my defense, Ain"t Going Down "Til the Sun Comes Up isn"t an easy song to sing, though I remember getting the results I was aiming for."
Zelda took that moment to deliver their hamburgers and fries, but he didn"t even acknowledge the woman. He was too busy fighting the image of him and Tracy tangled together in the soft gra.s.s by the lake on his ranch. From the intensity of the storm clouds in her eyes, he got the impression Tracy remembered the same wild encounter.
When Zelda left, Tracy reached for the ketchupthe exact same time he made a grab for the bottle. His fingers brushed hers. The soft satin of her warm skin was like touching an electrified fence.
She pulled her hand away and cleared her throat. As she tucked her hair behind her ears again, she cooled the rising heat by asking, "Any leads in who"s stealing the cattle?"
Swallowing hard, he set the bottle before her with a smile.
She tentatively reached for it and murmured, "Thanks."
Once she finished with the ketchup, he dumped some on his own french fries. "Actually, that"s what I wanted to talk to you about."
"Oh."
He looked up from his plate.
Tracy put down a fry and quickly averted her eyes. "What did you want to know?"
"Do you know anything about Jake"s truck driving gig?" Zack picked up his burger and took a bite.
Tracy took a deep breath and picked up her fork. "Henrietta Parker was in the shop yesterday for her bi-weekly wash and set. I asked her about Brent, and she wasn"t too nice in her comments. But she never is, concerning her grandsons."
Zack set his burger back on the plate. "What did she have to say?"
"Henrietta doesn"t know how he can afford that truck either. He apparently is still mooching off her and his mother. He lives at Sandy"s until his mother gets fed up with his lazy b.u.t.t, and then he goes to Henrietta"s for a few weeks. Promises to help her out around the house, but he never does. As far as I can tell from what Bobby has said, Jake must be doing well. He"s been buying new furniture for the trailer and can afford to sue me for custody. But what I don"t get is, if it"s so lucrative, why is he still running the garage?"
Zack leaned back in the booth seat and crossed his arms over his chest. "Do you know where Jake"s cargo is coming from?"
She popped a french fry into her mouth. "Maybe Waco or Killeen. Or even Austin."
They ate in silence for a few moments, and Tracy couldn"t keep her eyes off Zack, while everyone in the diner seemed to be watching them. The rumor around Colton was Zack never dated. According to his aunt Winnie, he claimed he didn"t have time for a woman in his life. Nor did he want to confuse Amanda, who still believed her mother would come home someday. Tracy remembered her conversation with the little girl at the football game.
Wait, you mean y"all can"t get married?
What did she mean by that? Surely, Amanda wasn"t implying she wanted Zack and Tracy to get married.
She shook her head and smiled.
He wiped his mouth with the paper napkin, and his brow wrinkled into a frown. "What"s so funny?"
She met his intense blue eyes and decided to throw everything down. "I was thinking about what Mandy said about us...ah...getting married the other day when we were talking about how...our families are connected."
His bewildered expression turned hard. "Mandy is going through a stage. She overheard Winnie and Mom talking about me needing a girlfriend. Now, Mandy got it in her head that I need another wife."
Tracy blinked at the idea and laid her hand over her chest. "And she picked me?"
Zack stared at her with cold, unforgiving eyes as he said, "Yes, but it isn"t going to happen."
She looked away and swallowed her heart along with her pride.
"But I"m still a man in need of a woman. I"m just not looking for a wife."
His voice was so low she wondered if she"d heard him correctly. Tracy brought her gaze back to his and the fire had melted the ice in his eyes. Unless Zack Cartwright had changed in the past fourteen years, she knew he was a man with a very healthy s.e.x drive. He didn"t want her; he wanted a woman. Any woman would do.
Was she willing to risk her heart if Zack never forgave her? Could she deny him if he wanted her to be the woman to appease his l.u.s.t?
She had no answers, but the way her body ached for his touch made her want to find out. "I was wondering..."
He raised a brow in quiet question, and she forced herself not to look away. She sucked in her lip and wasn"t sure she wanted to ask.
"Yes?" he prompted when she didn"t continue.
"I was wondering if you and Amanda would like to come over to Oak Springs tomorrow evening for dinner. Mom and Dad have to go back to Washington for a week or two and are leaving in the morning..." When his lips flattened out, she realized she couldn"t push him. He had to come to her. Reaching for a possible explanation for wanting him to have dinner with her, she added, "Bobby and Amanda seemed to get along so well at the wedding, and I thought they might like to see each other again. She could bring along her bathing suit and the two of them could play in the pool." When his expression didn"t soften, she averted her eyes to her half-eaten burger and murmured, "Oh, never mind. I don"t"
"What time?"
Her jaw went slack as she looked up. She could barely force words past her suddenly dry throat. "Is five okay? That way the kids can play for a while before we eat."
"Sounds Good. Should I bring my trunks?"
"Trunks?"
He picked up his gla.s.s of c.o.ke and the air buzzed with electricity as he pinned her with his gaze. "You said something about swimming."
As soon as Tracy got home, she found her mother in the kitchen. "Mom, what was I thinking?"
Her mother laughed and continued stirring something delicious smelling in a large pot on the stove. "h.e.l.lo, to you too, sweetheart. So, now what have you done?" Then she lost all the amus.e.m.e.nt. "Is Bobby okay?"
"Bobby"s fine." Tracy plopped onto a barstool and huffed.
Her mom faced Tracy. "Logan can"t take your case?"
"No. I mean, Logan is all gung-ho about it. He"s convinced we can win."
"Then what"s wrong? Is school going okay?"
Tracy fought the impulse to roll her eyes, but barely. What was it with everyone"s fascination with her going back to school? "Yes, school is fine. I invited Zack to dinner tomorrow night."
"That"s wonderful!"
"No, it"s not!" Tracy pushed a lock of hair from her face, deciding in that second she was cutting it. "Mom, you know I can"t cook. I wish you would be here to whip something wonderful up."
With a wistful smile, her mother said, "I wish I was, too. I"d have made my cranberry glazed pork chops." She shook her head and laughed. "Actually, I"m glad Daddy and I won"t be here. This is a great opportunity for you."
Her mother opened the oversized refrigerator and pulled out a pitcher of lemonadefresh squeezed with lemon slices floating on top. She poured a gla.s.s and set it before Tracy.
"Mom, what am I going to do? I can"t make a meal like your pork chops."
Her mother pursed her lips and opened her mouth to speak.
Tracy cut her off. "And no, I won"t have you cook for me so all I"ll have to do is warm the meal. This was my brilliant idea. I guess I could make spaghetti or bake some chicken. With my luck the noodles will be soggy and the chicken dry like they always are."
"How about steaks on the grill?"
"I can"t grill steaks." Tracy jumped up from the bar and paced the kitchen. "The last time I even tried cooking steaks, one of them was raw and the other one was burnt." She wasn"t at all sure what she wanted her mother to do about her situation. "I shouldn"t have been so impulsive. But we were having lunch together and...Mom, I think we might actually have something going for us. I just wanted to do something that didn"t happen by chance. Like lunch today or the football game the other evening. But I shouldn"t have"
"Tracy, don"t panic."
"Don"t panic?" She squeaked. "I"ll ruin any chance we have by cooking. The way to a man"s heart is through his stomach. Ha! Not if I"m doing the cooking, it"s not. I think I"ll call and cancel. He"ll never want me again anyway. I broke his heart, and he"s still hung up on his dead wife. Zack just wants a roll in the hay"