His voice, rich and deep, came over the airways and wrapped around her like warm tendrils of smoke. “My phone. The way it says your name, you sound like something I’d see on the menu in a Greek restaurant.”
“Oh.” He laughed. “You tempted to have a taste?”
Mandy grinned and leaned a shoulder against the wall. “I’m not into Greek cuisine.”
“How about Irish?”
He’s flirting with me. She’d had men flirt with her, but it had been so long ago that she’d forgotten all her canned responses. “You’re Irish?”
“What, you haven’t noticed my Irish charm?”
“I’ve heard rumors of your Irish temper.”
He groaned. “Cookie is going to pay for telling you all that crap.”
“It wasn’t true?”
“Am I under oath?”
“No, but if you’re really a man of your word, you’ll be honest anyway.”
“It was true. I kick buckets, and if I see someone mistreating an animal, I go ballistic. I do not, however, pick my nose. Not in public, anyway, and I never consume the proceeds.”
Mandy laughed. “That’s good to know.” She switched the phone to her other ear. “So ... to what do I owe the pleasure of this call?”
Long silence. “Damned if I know. I had a reason for calling. Now I’ve forgotten.”
“Back up. Think. When you dialed my number, you had something on your mind.”
“Ah!” It sounded as if he snapped his fingers. “My place, Luke, another visit with Rosebud. I’ve got Friday free. I can quit early. I was thinking we might do another barbecue, sans wine this time.”
She smiled at the remark. “We’d love to come. Is there anything we can bring?”
“Just yourselves. I’ve got everything else covered. Unless, of course, you can find time to whip up another fabulous chocolate cake from scratch.”
“A cake it will be,” Mandy assured him. “Do I have your word that you won’t try to sell me any bridges?”
He chuckled. “Ah, come on. Let a guy have a little fun. Actually, I’ve got a special on one right now. It’s painted bright orange and spans a rather well-known body of water in northern California. If you act quickly, I think I can get you a great deal.” He paused. “You sound different. More relaxed or something.”
Mandy did feel more relaxed. She’d just done battle with a fire-breathing dragon and trounced it. “It’s been a nice evening. We had Coney Island hot dogs for dinner.”
“Ah, those will mellow anybody out. Wish I’d been there. I love those puppies.”
“Next time we make them, I’ll give you a call.”
“I’ll hold you to it.”
Mandy was still grinning when they disconnected.
On Friday afternoon, Mandy whipped her car into a Safeway parking spot before leaving town for the Crooked H. Luke, in the passenger seat, did the head-tipping thing, a habit of his when he had a question or felt bewildered.
“Why are we stopping so soon?” he asked.
Mandy grabbed her purse. “I need to run into the store for something.”
“What?”
“Wine.” The word came out as little more than a whisper.
Luke cocked his head even more. “Did you say wine?”
In a stronger voice, she said, “Yes, wine. You’re right. I was awful at the other barbecue. I need to let Zach know I realize I was wrong, and this is the only way I can think of to do that.”
Luke nodded. “Get more of that stuff we had the other night. It’s pretty good.”
“You aren’t having any.”
“Oh, Mands!”
“At home, it’s one thing. In public, it’s another. You aren’t twenty-one yet.”
“Zach’s ranch isn’t exactly what I’d call ‘public.’ ”
Mandy was finished arguing. She exited the car and closed the door, cutting her brother off midsentence.
A half hour later, when she handed Zach her contributions to the meal, a chocolate cake and the recently purchased wine, he got a startled look on his face. He wore all black this afternoon, his jeans creased, his shirt crisply pressed. With his jet hair, burnished skin, and dark eyes, the overall effect was stunning, especially when he searched her gaze as if trying to read her mind.
She inclined her head at the bottle in his hand. “It’s my way of apologizing for being so rude and unreasonable the last time. Would you mind pouring me a glass?”
He looked uncertain, but he stepped to a cupboard to extract one wineglass and then set about opening the bottle. Mandy took a seat at the table, which had already been set. Linen napkins, artfully crimped into standing fans, adorned the center of each plate, she noticed, and salad forks had made an appearance. She bit back a smile as she watched Zach use the corkscrew with an expertise born of long practice. He was putting on the dog for her, she realized. That made her a little nervous, but it was a giddy, delicious kind of nervous. She pictured those big hands coaxing the napkins into fan shapes and suppressed a giggle.
When he turned toward her with a half-filled goblet, she said, “Won’t you join me?”
He froze in his tracks. “I promised not to drink around you or Luke anymore.”
Luke was out on the porch with Rosebud. Mandy glanced in that direction. Then she met Zach’s gaze again. “I’m releasing you from that promise. My brother isn’t the only one who has issues. I have a few, too, and my irrational fear of alcohol is one of them. If you stick to that promise, I’m going to feel like more of an idiot than I do already. I’d really appreciate it if you’d join me.”
Zach had been trying to make some changes of his own recently. Mandy’s reaction to the merlot at the last barbecue had started him thinking, and Luke’s revelations about their father’s alcoholism had made him think even more. When it came to alcohol, he could take it or leave it. But maybe, just maybe, he had been drinking a little too often. How long did it take for frequent alcohol consumption to get its hooks into a man? The very thought had prompted Zach to back off on the drinking.
Hell, he no longer even missed visiting the honky-tonks. Over the last two years, he’d sometimes stopped in at one of his former haunts and hooked up with a lady to scratch his itch, but since meeting Mandy he didn’t even get the urge. The women in those places didn’t interest him now. Glancing at Mandy, he suspected she was the reason that blondes had lost their appeal. She wore a soft-looking green sweater and snug jeans that showed off her figure, only in a tasteful, understated way. He liked that. A man didn’t get the contents of the package shoved in his face. She came gift-wrapped, and he had to use his imagination to guess what was under the layers. And his imagination had been running up a lot of overtime ever since he’d first met her.
He liked the way she wore her hair today, clipped in a sleek twist at the back of her head. Little tendrils had escaped to lie like ribbons of silk on the pale nape of her neck. The upsweep accentuated the delicate line of her jaw. Damn. The closer he looked, the more he wanted to touch and taste.
He could think of a few other things he wanted, too, but this wasn’t the time to dwell on them. He’d have to spend half the evening turned away from her.
Instead he granted her request and poured himself some wine. Together they went out onto the porch. Zach saw Mandy glance toward the paddocks in search of Tornado. “I closed the paddock doors,” he told her. “There are more hands working in the stable than last time. I don’t want Tornado to get loose again.”
Zach got Luke lined out to go walking with Rosebud; then he joined Mandy on the top step to watch the pair explore the ranch proper. Being with Mandy relaxed him. She was okay with silence and didn’t try to fill it up with ceaseless chatter.
“Ah,” she said softly, her smile radiant. “Would you look at that?”
Zach found it difficult to drag his gaze away from her profile, but as he settled his attention on Luke and Rosebud, he grinned. The young man and the little horse were forging a fast friendship. When Ro
sebud veered around an overhead obstacle, she nudged her handler’s leg for a treat.
“Be right back,” Zach said, setting his glass aside.
He scaled the steps. When he reached Luke, he said, “You’re missing some of her cues. When you feel her swing out, she’s going around things. You need to concentrate, and when you feel her do that, always click and give her a treat. Later, when she’s all trained, it won’t be so important, but for now, she needs reinforcement.”
Luke nodded and fell into a walk again. Zach stayed close, softly telling Luke when Rosebud had given him a cue. Within minutes, Luke began to pick up on the subtle changes in the mini’s gait, the shifts and gentle turns. Satisfied that the kid would reward Rosebud when appropriate, Zach returned to the porch.
“At the risk of being repetitious, I want to thank you for all the wondrous changes I’m seeing in my brother,” Mandy said softly. “He’s becoming more self-sufficient with each passing day.”
Zach laughed when she told him about the peanut-butter-and-salsa sandwich. “Thank God you found a labeler.”
“Oh, yes.” The dimple flashed in her cheek. “My kitchen is now so organized, Luke can find everything, and I’m lost.”
“Ah, well, you’ll get oriented.” Zach hesitated. “I’m really proud of him. In the beginning, I doubted he’d step up to the plate. This is one time I’m glad to be proved wrong. What he’s doing ... Well, he’s making a lot of changes at once. That can’t be easy.” Zach watched as she took a small sip of white zin. “I’m proud of you, too.” He inclined his head at her goblet. “That’s not an easy change for you to make, either.”
“I’ll never be a frequent drinker. But it feels good to be able to have a glass of wine and not feel panicky.” Her cheeks went pink. She fixed her gaze on her brother. “Last night, I showed Luke how to form hamburger patties. He did really well. He’s also learned how to heat soup in the microwave and make his own hot chocolate.”
“Wow.” Zach realized she wanted to change the subject. “Luke’s progress is amazing. But you need to stop thanking me.” Zach felt uncomfortable with her gratitude. “The effort he’s putting into this tells me a lot about him.” He took a sip of wine, then turned the goblet stem between his fingers. “For one, it says how much he loves you. It also says a lot about his character. He’s a fine young man with a caring heart and a good head on his shoulders.” He met Mandy’s shimmering gaze. “That’s your doing. I didn’t raise him. You did.”
She looked quickly away. “Sometimes I feel as if all I did was goof up.”
Zach smiled. “Hey, if you’re going to take the blame for his screwups, you also have to take credit for his fine points. Get used to it.”
“I will if you will.”
Zach sent her a questioning look.
“I’ll always believe you were the force that set Luke on another path. He and I are actually becoming friends. That was never possible before. I’m grateful for that.” When Zach started to say something, she held up a hand. “No argument.”
With a chuckle, Zach set aside his goblet. “Okay, I’m a miracle worker. On that note, do you mind if I butt my nose in where it doesn’t belong again?”
She arched her brows. “No. Butt in all you like.”
“I know this lady who works with the sight impaired. Her name’s Carly Coulter. She’s another of Sam’s sisters-in-law.” Zach handed her a slip of paper. “That’s her contact info. I’d love to see Luke hook up with her. She could do wonders for him.”
Mandy nodded. “Thank you, Zach. I’ll give her a call.”
Keeping an eye on Luke, Zach pushed to his feet and went to light the grill. Glancing at Mandy over his shoulder, he asked, “You going to bite my head off if I offer you more wine?”
She grinned and held up her glass. “Only a little. I’ll have to drive home later.”
Zach poured each of them another small measure of white zinfandel, which wasn’t his favorite. Then he joined Mandy on the steps again.
“So,” he said, “tell me about your work.”
She groaned. “I’m a medical transcriptionist, it bores me to death, and I refuse to spend my downtime talking about it.”
Zach chuckled. “Ouch. That smacks of a lady who hates her job. How does it work, anyway? Being a medical transcriptionist, I mean. Do you have to physically go to the offices?”
She sighed, her expression resigned. “Sometimes I do, but most clinics are set up now to send material to me online, even the audio versions of a doctor’s dictation. When they can’t, I stuff Luke in the car and make a quick run into town.”
“Not a very stimulating job, I take it.”
“Not for me. But it allows me to work at home, thanks to the Internet, and I can set my own hours. I contract out to clinics and private practices. It brings in enough income to make ends meet. For now, I have to be thankful for that and not complain.”
“And if the sky were the limit, what line of work would you be in?” he asked, genuinely interested in hearing her answer.
She rolled her eyes, and that adorable dimple flashed at him again, making him want to touch a fingertip to the spot. “You’ll laugh.”
“No, I won’t.”
She cupped her elbows and propped her folded arms on her knees. “I’d love to own a plant nursery that caters to people who do their own landscaping. I like working in the dirt. Seeing things grow. It excites me when a flower blooms, especially if I started the plant from a seed or a cutting.”
Zach digested that. He could see the yearning in her expression when she spoke of plants. “Hmm. Like I said before, gardening isn’t my deal, but I sort of understand where you’re coming from. For me, it’s starting horses from scratch. There’s no thrill to match the one I get when I raise a foal from birth, training it, loving it, working with it every day, and then getting to see the end result, a champion cutting horse. That’s when my flower blooms.”
She nodded. “It is sort of the same, I guess.”
Zach talked for a while about his horses, and she seemed to hang on his every word. He enjoyed that. Normally women got a dazed look on their faces and almost fell asleep. Damn. He’d heard men claim that when they met the right woman, they felt as if they could drown in her eyes. Zach had even heard his brothers talk that way. Until now, he’d always thought it was hogwash.
He did a quick visual check on Luke and Rosebud, who were over by the paddock fencing. Then he cupped Mandy’s chin in his hand. Her eyes widened, and he felt her stiffen. He didn’t let that stop him. He moved in.
As their lips met, his first thought was that she kissed like a schoolgirl, teeth clamped closed, arms still locked in a fold. But then—oh, man—her mouth was so sweet, soft and silken, with lingering traces of wine to intoxicate him. He remembered his reaction the first time he ever saw her, and it was the same again. Just a chaste touch of their lips, and she managed to inflame him as no other woman ever had.
Zach didn’t want to rush her. When a woman clenched her teeth during a kiss, any sane man knew it was a warning. He gently broke the contact, straightened, and watched with fascination and no small measure of bewilderment as her cheeks turned red. Her embarrassment made him want to smile. He bit it back. He yearned to kiss her again, but he held that urge in check as well. This was too important—she was too important—for him to risk moving in on her too quickly.
Chapter Fifteen
Since kissing Mandy again clearly wasn��t a smart move, Zach decided to concentrate on getting to know her better. Both she and Luke had mentioned that their mother had flown the coop, but neither of them had been forthcoming with any details. He figured getting her to tell him that story might be a great way to begin an exchange of personal information. He glanced across the parking area to make sure Luke and Rosebud were okay. On familiar ground, the little horse was performing beautifully, and Luke had lengthened his strides and was looking more confident.
“So, tell me, what exactly led up to your mother doin
g a disappearing act?”
She blinked at the sudden change of subject, but then her mouth tightened, and the shimmer in her eyes gave way to shadows. For a second he thought she might tell him to mind his own business, but then the tension went out of her. Rubbing her palms on the knees of her jeans, she took a long breath and slowly released it. “There was nothing really different that happened. My father started beating on her. That was pretty much a nightly occurrence at our house. I carried Luke upstairs to hide with him in the closet. Those were Mama’s orders. I was to always grab Luke and get him safely away. She was terrified that Dad would finish with her and turn on us.”
“So that was it? He beat her up, like always, only that time she decided to leave?”
Mandy gazed off across the pastures, her eyes getting a distant look in them. Her brows drew together in a slight frown. “Actually, one thing was different the last night. Mama always begged him to stop hitting her, but that time, when he didn’t stop, I heard her scream that she’d had enough and was going to leave him.”
“What happened then?”
“It really scared me. I heard Dad yell, ‘So you want to leave me, do you? Over my dead body!’ I was so afraid for my mom. You didn’t say things like that to him and get away with it. I thought he’d go clear over the edge. Only he didn’t.”
Zach studied her delicate profile. “He didn’t?”
“No. Right after that, it went quiet downstairs. I think he passed out. When I felt it was safe, I picked up Luke—he’d fallen asleep in my arms—and took him to bed.”
“You didn’t go back downstairs to check on your mom?”
“No. I was forbidden. When Dad got like that, he was crazy. Mom wanted me nowhere near him. So I just went to sleep.” Her slender shoulders lifted in a fatalistic shrug. “The next morning when we woke up, she was gone. Her suitcase, most of her clothes, her personal effects, all gone. She didn’t even leave us a note.”
Zach searched her expression for any sign that she was about to cry, but all he saw was hollow resignation. She was either the strongest woman he’d ever met, or she’d separated herself from all emotion when it came to the subject of her mother. He rested his arms on his knees, letting his hands dangle at the wrists. To his way of thinking, it was understandable why the woman had fled from such an abusive relationship, but it sucked that she’d left her kids behind. “That must have been really rough.”