Chapter Ten
Grace
“Let’s feed the horses first.”
I didn’t need to look at him to know he was smiling. Why was my discomfort making him laugh?
“Fine.”
I filled a bucket for Starlight while Zachary took care of the main feeding area. I lingered in Starlight’s stall. It wasn’t fair to the others, but he was my favorite. I was rooting for the new kid. I started combing his mane, which was very soothing for me, too, and he seemed to like it. I didn’t realize that I’d lingered too long until Zachary appeared in the doorway of his stall.
“You really took a liking to him, huh?”
I nodded. “Yeah. He’s very sweet, though a bit shy. But that’s just because you’re new, isn’t it, Starlight?”
“Have you ever owned horses?”
“No, but my parents took me riding when I was a kid. They refused to buy horses, though. Dad was actually against me riding too. He thought it wasn’t very safe.”
“Bad accidents can happen,” Zachary said in a stern voice, then softened it. “Grace, I didn’t want to put you on the spot earlier.”
I whipped my head toward him. He was standing with his feet wide apart, arms crossed over his chest. How could he look sexy even in that god-awful raincoat?
“Really? Because you did seem to enjoy yourself a bit.”
The corners of his mouth twitched. “Sorry.”
“That I caught wind of it or that you did it?”
“Both,” he said, and now he was full-on smiling. “But I didn’t want to make you uncomfortable. We don’t have to talk about any of that. I just wanted to clear the air because everything was...”
“Insane?” I suggested.
“Yep.” He snapped fingers as if he’d been searching for that word all along. “Perfect way to put it.”
I laughed. “Hmm. Let’s just leave it at that, okay?”
I returned my attention to Starlight’s mane, but there wasn’t much for me to do. I’d combed it perfectly. He currently had much better hair than I did.
“Sure. Whatever makes you comfortable. You look great in that raincoat, by the way.”
“Really? Because I have never felt less sexy—ever.”
A loud groan resounded throughout the stall. It took me a second to realize it came from Zachary.
“You’re fucking sexy no matter what you wear. Even when I took you out of that river, all I could think about was not ogling you like a damn Neanderthal.”
I sucked in a breath, repeating the same stroke on Starlight’s hair because I didn’t know what to do with my hands. His confession took me by complete surprise.
“Well, you fooled me,” I whispered. “You seemed very focused on getting me to calm down.”
“I can multitask,” he said without hesitation.
Right! Clearly there was no stopping whatever this was, so I decided to play by the same rules. I didn’t even know what they were, but I could improvise.
Looking him straight in the eye, I said, “You don’t look too shabby in your raincoat either.”
His eyes lit up. “I’m glad you noticed.”
“Hard not to.”
“Really? I’d say this makes it difficult enough.” He motioned to the coat.
“Yes, but I do have a good memory and an excellent imagination. Like you.”
He bent at the waist, tilting forward toward me. “I like this side of you, Grace.”
I swallowed hard. “I like it too. Wasn’t even sure I still had it.”
His smile fell. Straightening up, he frowned. “What do you mean?”
“I haven’t done this—teasing—in years. Forgive me if my skills are rusty.”
“I assure you they are not. I could tell you I have proof, but it’s best not to talk about this anymore.”
It was on the tip of my tongue to ask what he meant when it dawned on me.
Wait. Does he have a hard-on?
Jesus, Grace. Why did your mind jump right there? He could mean a million other things. Maybe his pulse is racing or something along those lines.
“You’ve been divorced for a year, right? Longer?” he asked.
My shoulders slumped as I lowered the brush. There was really no point in brushing anymore. Starlight’s mane couldn’t possibly look any better.
“Ah, can we talk about anything else?”
He nodded. “Of course. Sorry, none of my business.”
“I don’t have anything to hide, and it doesn’t make me uncomfortable, just sad,” I said as we walked out of the stall. “But yes, even though I’ve been divorced for longer than a year, I haven’t been out on a date. Honestly, I threw everything I had into my company. At the time, it was my only way to survive. It was very important to me that my business succeeded so I could regain my self-esteem,” I explained as we headed toward the door. We didn’t leave the barn, though. It was still pouring rain.
“You should be proud of what you’ve accomplished. From what I know, your business is a great success. I was stunned when I first looked up how young the company was. You’re a very good businesswoman.”
I tilted my head. “And you weren’t expecting that from the socialite who just does things for her ego, were you?”
Zachery closed his eyes, shaking his head before opening them again. “I truly apologize for that. Marcel’s words coupled with our first interactions gave me the completely wrong impression. I usually don’t jump to conclusions like that.”
I was willing to give him the benefit of the doubt because he’d jumped in the Mississippi River for me.
“I gathered a lot of experience in the family’s company before I got married,” I said.
“And then you quit.”
“Yes. It was one of my husband’s wishes that I become a full-time wife.”
“Why did you do it?”
The obvious confusion on his face made me second-guess myself all over again. I guess I was just trying to keep the peace in our marriage at the time, but that wasn’t something I wanted to tell Zachary.
“Honestly? I don’t know. I thought at the time that’s what good wives are supposed to do. I didn’t realize his intentions, though.”
“Interesting. And you didn’t like it? Being a stay-at-home wife?”
“No, not at all. I always loved working even though I wasn’t seeing eye to eye with my brothers on many things. To be fair, maybe that’s one of the reasons why I quit. I wanted some distance from them. They were more like my husband than like me, I came to find out later.”
He nodded once. “Makes sense. From what I know of Kyle, I wouldn’t want to be around him either.”
“You don’t need to sugarcoat anything. I know who he is, and I make no apologies for him. He’s always had a chip on his shoulder somehow regarding Dad. Wanted to prove that he could do better.”
“Even if it was illegally,” Zachary said through gritted teeth.
“Sounds that way. He and Beau were very eager to get me out of the company and make it clear that there was no place for me.” I glanced at the floor. It bothered me that I’d never had the sibling relationship that other kids had in their families. But everyone’s upbringing was different, so I tried not to dwell on it too much.
“What the actual fuck!” Zachary exclaimed. “That’s pretty shitty of your family, in my opinion. One thing I know is that not one of my brothers would try to undermine any of us in business. That’s just not our way. We have one another’s backs.” His voice was hard, like he couldn’t possibly accept what I told him.
“Then your family has a bit more heart than my brothers. Anyway, my husband—I only realized much later on—wanted me to stop working so he could have the upper hand. You know, if he controlled the finances, he’d control me. Bit by bit, he started to chip away at my confidence.” I couldn’t bring myself to look up from the floor. “He started very subtly, telling me what was okay to buy or not. Then he got angry when I’d use my savings.” I shook my head, finally looking up to see the coldness in Zachary’s eyes.
Why am I telling him this? It’s not like we’re friends.
“That son of a bitch.” His visceral response actually made me feel good. How strange was that? It was like he really cared.
“I’m happy it’s all over, honestly. And I’m happy we never managed to get pregnant.” I closed my eyes. “Sorry, I don’t know why I said that. It’s very personal.”
“Grace.” His voice was soft. When I opened my eyes, I realized he’d stepped closer. “I’m sorry for everything you’ve been through, and I’m very sorry for being such an asshole to you. It wasn’t my intention to put you down.”
“Well, I wasn’t exactly welcoming either. I can imagine that having someone continuously make snide remarks would put you on edge. I’m sorry too.”
It was hard to form a coherent thought with him so close. He smelled like rain, and mud, and hay, and horse, and I somehow loved it.
“The snide remarks weren’t helping.” He winked. “Still, I don’t want to excuse myself. When you’re an asshole, you’re an asshole. And I was an asshole, so the excuses don’t matter.”
“Thank you. I appreciate that even though I do have my share of blame.”
“Right.” He tilted his head to one side, breaking eye contact. Taking a deep breath, he added, “Want to run back? The rain doesn’t appear to be slowing down.”
As if on cue, another lightning bolt flashed across the sky, followed by a roll of thunder.
“Yeah. This is only getting worse. How are we going to drive back in this weather? Visibility is zero.”
“We’re going to probably need twice as long to make it back to the city.” He was looking outside the barn, obviously trying to decide what to do.
“Maybe we shouldn’t stay for dinner,” I suggested.
“Let’s go back to the house. I think that dinner will help pass some time so maybe the rain will subside a bit. I’ll race you,” he said.
I burst out laughing.
“Right. You’re a foot taller than me. That would be a very unfair race. Unless you give me head start.” And then I darted out of the barn without looking back, securing my hood around my head.
The rain was even colder than before, and my teeth were chattering by the time I reached the main house. I burst in unceremoniously and then stayed put for a few seconds, trying to catch my breath. Zachary came in right after me.
“Good God. It’s terrible out there.”
“I agree,” I said.
I immediately opened my raincoat and shrugged it off. Even though it wasn’t wet on the inside, I felt very cold. Fortunately it was long enough to cover my jeans.
Felicia hurried toward us. “Thank goodness you’re back. I was wondering if something happened. You were out longer than we figured.”
“We’re good,” Zachary said in a confident tone that invited no further questions. “Something smells tasty.”
“Dinner is ready. And you can just leave those in the corner.”
We did as she said. Zachary was right next to me as we followed Felicia through the house. Once we entered the kitchen, I could see the wooden table was full of goodies.
“Felicia, this is a feast,” I said.
The appetizer was a crab salad, which I was dying to taste. The main course was indeed a stew. I spied black beans, sweet potato, and shrimp.
“Come on, you two. Sit down. All went well at the stables?” Gaston asked.
“Yep. Horses are well-fed. Starlight’s hair was thoroughly styled,” Zachary said, winking at me.
I blushed. “I couldn’t help it. He seemed to like being fussed with.”
“You have a knack for horses, Grace,” Felicia exclaimed. “You’re welcome here anytime. The horses will love you. And you can join whatever activities you want, whenever. There’s no need to notify us.”
Her comments humbled me. I was happy she trusted me so much.
The atmosphere at the table changed a bit as conversation shifted to talking shop. Good. I took a look at Zachary, but he seemed very relaxed. He reached for bread as Felicia put crab salad on each plate.
“I’d definitely love that. I wouldn’t want to just be financially invested in this, but also personally. Not to make any decisions, of course,” I added quickly, looking at Gaston and Felicia. “You’re the experts here, but I’d like to be involved.”
“If I’m honest,” Felicia said, “we do need someone with good business sense. We’ve been winging it for thirty years, which is possibly how we ended up in this conundrum in the first place. So any knowledge would be helpful.”
“I’d be more than willing to share.”
Zachary was suspiciously quiet. When I looked at him, he said, “Me, too, of course. There’s no doubt about that. I don’t know as much about horses as Grace, but I’m very good at business.”
“What would each of you suggest we improve?” Felicia asked as I took the first forkful of crab salad.
“You’re a very good cook,” I offered once I’d swallowed. She beamed from ear to ear. “As for changes, well, first things first, I’d say that all the cabins need air-conditioning.”
“Yes, they’ve become quite unbearable in the summer,” Felicia said.
“And I suggest making some of the cabins bigger for groups that want to stay together.”
“I was going to suggest that as well,” Zachary said. “Kids, especially the teenagers, prefer to do things as a group. They want their privacy, too, but not too much.”
“You know, we do get more and more teenagers,” Gaston said. “And that definitely has merit.”
Zachary and I both had plenty of suggestions as dinner went on. It didn’t feel like we were competing—more like we were collaborating.
After we gulped down the food, I leaned back in the chair and put a hand on my belly. “I’m about to explode.”
“We’ve got dessert too. Apple pie,” Felicia told us.
“Oooh, I can always make space for apple pie.”
She brought the dessert to the table, with vanilla ice cream on the side. “I’m sorry this is a bit unceremonious, but Gaston and I usually slice our own portions and spoon whatever we want of the ice cream on top.”
“My brothers and I do the same whenever one of our grandmothers makes pie,” Zachary said. “With so many of us, there’s nothing left after everyone gets their servings.”
Felicia and Gaston looked at each other. I felt like they were going to announce something, and I was instantly on edge.
“We have an idea,” Felicia said. “Why don’t you both participate in this project? You clearly have good ideas, and you could work well together.” She hesitated on those last few words. I didn’t blame her, since we’d been at each other’s throats during our first visit here.
“I’d be good with that,” Zachary said, which completely shocked me.
I swallowed hard, feeling put on the spot. Could I do this with him? I considered it for a split second before realizing it wasn’t possible. After the way things had gone with Roger, I didn’t want to risk anything. Never again would I depend on anyone else or have to ask for approval. I wasn’t sure any of it would actually apply in this case, but my body instantly shifted into fight-or-flight.
“The idea does have merit,” I said, “but I’d prefer to go into it by myself, if at all.”
My announcement was met with silence. I realized they were expecting me to explain my reasoning, but what could I say? I got too burned by my ex-husband?
“It was just a thought,” Felicia said in a low tone as we all helped ourselves to the apple pie.
More thunder rolled in—louder than before. The windows clattered, and I nearly dropped my fork.
“This is turning out to be one big damn storm,” Gaston exclaimed. He looked out the windows. “It’s going to tear out trees at this point.”
“The wind was strong when we came back from the stables,” I said.
“It’s not just strong,” Zachary said, glancing at his phone. “Weather channel says it’s fifty miles an hour. It’s definitely going to tear out trees.”
“It’s going to be madness driving back,” I whispered.
“No way are we letting the two of you go back to New Orleans tonight. It’s unsafe out there,” Felicia said. “You’ll get blown off the road! And what if a tornado pops up? You’ll have nowhere to go.”
I looked at her and saw the worry and concern all over her face. Zachary still had his head tilted to his phone, but he’d raised his eyebrows, indicating that Gaston’s assessment was indeed accurate.
“What do you suggest?” he asked.
“One of the cabins is still fully functional. You can spend the night there,” Gaston said. “It’s not big, but it’ll be comfortable for you two. Has almost all the amenities except air-conditioning. But you won’t need it tonight because temperatures are dropping. You can drive back in the morning. We’d offer to put you up here at the house, but there’s just one bedroom, and that’s ours.”
I swallowed hard. The thought of rooming with Zachary in a cabin was enough to make me hyperventilate. Our smoking-hot kiss flashed in my mind, as if it had just happened.
On the other hand, I truly didn’t want to drive back.
I nodded. “I’ll take you up on your offer. Thank you.”
“I’ll stay too,” Zachary said. “Thanks to both of you for looking out for us. All the news outlets say the traffic is already madness. Some roads have been closed down because of flooding. Apparently, the rain is already too much for the sewer system.”
“Excellent. Since neither of you are driving, how about I bring a bottle of our best brandy? Gaston made it. And we can finish all of this pie while we’re at it too,” Felicia suggested.
“I’m up for some brandy,” I said. “Kind of need it. That cold seeped into my bones even though I didn’t get wet.”
“Not a brandy type of guy, but if Gaston made it, I’ll try it,” Zachary added.
“It’s a party, then,” Felicia concluded.