Chapter 52
Chapter fifty-two
Two weeks later, Leavenworth: Zac
“Good morning, Janet,” Zac crooned as the office manager shuffled into OtB with her lunchbox and a sweater thrown over one arm. The mild surprise didn’t escape him as she made her way to her desk.
“Early again.” It wasn’t a question but more of a curious observation.
“Yep,” he affirmed, popping a folder back into the filing cabinet. “I rotated out the archived client waivers and got a head start on the invoices from accounts payable.”
Janet nodded as she logged into her computer.
She gave no acknowledgement beyond that, but Zac wasn’t surprised.
Nor was he expecting a pat on the back from her.
It had been fun shocking her when he came to her, offering help with anything she needed.
Ok, maybe it wasn’t shock so much as grave skepticism, but it hadn’t derailed his determination.
Determination to not only pull his weight but also take on as much as he could manage was his motivation.
Especially since Lucy had popped out the twins, and she and Jon were hulled up at home trying to figure out the whole parenting thing.
Zac was happy to take as much off their plates as possible for as long as was needed.
Come to find out, he enjoyed being useful.
Zac shut the cabinet and made his way to the carafe of coffee he’d brought in that morning.
He filled the gone fishin’ mug and doctored it the way Janet liked.
He handed her the caffeinated peace offering along with a thick folder.
“The new gear requests and order forms, arranged alphabetically by distributor.”
“I prefer by request date,” she corrected. She flipped open the folder and took a sip of coffee.
“Noted,” Zac chuckled. A few weeks of helping wouldn’t convince Janet that he’d turned a new leaf, but honestly, he was in it for the long haul. It wasn’t a temporary game he was playing. And if the grumpy office manager never came around, well . . . that’d be her loss.
“Thanks,” the woman in question grunted quietly.
“Anything for you,” Zac drolled, adding a bow with flourish. He pointed at her mug. “Let me know when you need a top off.”
Janet rolled her eyes, but Zac spied a hint of a smile and for now, he’d take it. Any progress was worth the effort.
The bell on the front door jangled and a hushed curse followed behind it. Jonathan inched through the door with one baby strapped to his chest while the other rode snuggly in the stroller he pushed.
“Daddy’s home,” Zac bellowed, bounding forward to greet the most exhausted version of his best friend that he’d ever seen.
“Shhh! She finally fell asleep. If you wake her, you soothe her.” Jonathan bounced rhythmically where he stood while also gliding the stroller back and forth.
“Where’s the missus?” Zac whispered.
“Passed out in the car.” He returned at the same volume. “She begged me to drive her down here. We’ve both gone a little stir-crazy. But she bonked the second I pulled out of the driveway.”
Janet shuffled up beside Zac and knelt down to get a look at the twin in the stroller. She cooed and pinched his little toes, which were poking out of the forest-themed blanket Zac had bought them for the baby shower. “Is it bad of me to want him to wake up for snuggle time?”
“Bruce only wakes up on his schedule, so snuggle away. It’s Bianca that wakes up if you breathe wrong.”
Needing no further encouragement, she scooped up the baby boy and stole him back to her work area, humming and bouncing gently.
“You two managing?” Zac had no doubt his friends were incredible parents, but with those record-breaking dark circles under Jonathan’s eyes, he had to ask.
“Yes. It’s hard. We’re tired.” If it wasn’t evident in his voice, the lag time between when his right eye blinked and then his left would have cleared things up. “But we love them so much.” He dipped his chin and touched a gentle kiss to the top of Bianca’s bald head.
“If there’s anything you need . . .”
“Keep plugging away here. Not having to worry about this place is a huge help.”
“It’s nothing—”
“It’s everything. You’ve really pulled through for us, man.”
Zac had to keep his chest from puffing up. He hadn’t done anything huge, but showing up day after day and putting in the work made the difference. He was finally becoming someone his friends could count on. Someone he was proud to be.
The office phone chimed aggressively, and Janet hurried to snatch it before the shrill noise woke either baby. “Off the Beaten Adventures . . . oh, hi. Yes. Oh no. Sure thing. I’ll send him. No, dear. You take your time.”
Jonathan and Zac looked expectantly as Janet strolled over calm and unhurried.
“That was Frankie. She had a flat tire.”
“We can drive out and get her,” Jonathan said with an exhausted sigh.
“No, you have your hands full. I can swing out and get her,” Zac offered. “I don’t have anything on my schedule besides bothering Janet all day.”
“Thanks, man. We appreciate you.”
The words were music to his ears.
“Actually,” the office manager cut in, “Benji is already on his way. But, Zac, she needs you to cover for her until she gets the situation figured out. She said something about her spare is already on her car so she needs to get a new set from the shop. Either way, I can look up the details of her first job.”
“Sure, I can do that.” Zac strode over and accepted the sticky note Janet held out to him. “Bouldering at the Penstock trail? Sweet. What time are the clients checking in for waivers and such?”
“She said they already did it and to have you meet them at the Old Pipeline Bridge at nine.”
“Easy enough,” He shrugged then grunted as he looked at his watch. “I’d better hop to it. Jonathan, baby, other baby, Janet. It’s been real.”
Zac’s work truck crunched to a stop in the busy parking lot on the side of the Wenatchee River.
He was surprised to find a space that late in the morning since it was a superb day for climbing.
Autumn lured flocks of tourists with its changing leaves.
Gold, red, and orange played with the trusty evergreens as the colorful trees prepared to drop their leaves.
The mornings started brisk, but as soon as the sun rose high in the sky, the warmth would radiate through the valley.
Many climbers aimed to get an early start on claiming their favorite routes before others came along.
Some would share while others became oddly territorial.
Zac always thought it was funny when people acted like they owned one of the boulders.
He’d even seen a guy get so enraged that he’d pissed all over one to keep everyone else away.
As though there weren’t hundreds of other rocks to play on in a five-mile radius.
He loaded a couple of crash pads on his back and opted to leave the cooler of snacks in the truck. If the site was too busy, he’d probably encourage his group to find another spot down the river.
Again, plenty of boulders for everyone.
He crunched toward the start of the pipeline bridge to wait but froze when he saw a flash of auburn hair tucked neatly into a jaunty ponytail.
Tabby cat.