"I'm glad you've come far enough to be able to see that. Trust me, it took me a while to figure that out as well. But in case you're wondering, Josh is a good boy . . . well, he's a man now. But when all this started, he was little more than a boy."
Zach felt the need to confess or show his remorse or whatever the hell he was feeling. "I'm not proud of myself for turning my anger on the Turner family."
"I know you're not," Jeff answered, as if letting his son get some much-needed stuff off his chest.
"Katie Turner . . . " Zach began and then abruptly stopped, not knowing where he was going with this or how to say it.
"What about her? She's a good girl. She's been through a lot."
Zach's head lifted as he snapped to attention. "You know what she's been through?"
"Just about the whole town knows what she's been through. Do you know what she's been through?" At Zach's nod, his father continued, " I've probably known longer than most."
"How's that?"
"Well, because the kid who hurt her was working here at the ranch, and Josh came to see me and fairly had to lay it out for me. He didn't spell it out to me in plain English . . . he tried to protect Katie's privacy, but I could read between the lines."
"How long ago was this?"
"Hannah was only fifteen at the time and her mother and I were shocked and rightly so by the depth of emotion that the boy felt for her already. Josh took the bull by the horns and told me the kid needed to be fired."
"Josh did that?"
"Yeah."
Zach thought about that for only a second before he understood completely the timeline of events. "Because of Hannah."
"Yeah, because of Hannah. The boy was scared shitless Whitaker would get a hold of her as well."
"Whitaker?" Zach felt a surge of anger that grabbed him by the throat and wouldn't let go.
"Yeah. Jesse Whitaker was the one who hurt Katie and damn near got a hold of Hannah a few years later."
"What?" Zach almost had a coronary.
His father continued, "Feels good to unload about this. We never meant to hide anything from you, son. And we didn't think you were fragile, exactly. Just trying to protect you. It's what parents do for their kids."
The apology rushed over Zach and he knew he understood his parents' motivation. "What about Hannah? Was she hurt?"
"No, thank God. Just scared. Josh got to her in time, and so did the sheriff. But she had enough ammunition to testify against him, and along with Katie's testimony and the sheriff's own daughter's who'd been placed in a threatened position as well, it was enough to send Whitaker to prison for a long time."
"How long?" Zach gritted his teeth as pure satisfaction bled through his veins.
"He got the maximum, twenty years. And this is a close-knit town and the sheriff has a lot of pull; there won't be a parole hearing any time soon, if at all."
Zach took a ragged breath and tried to put that angst behind him. He still had something important to tell his father before he could relax.
"You need to know something," Zach announced slowly.
At his serious tone, his father's eyes narrowed. "What's that?"
Determination made Zach grip the arms of the chair. "I'm in love with Katie Turner and I plan on marrying her if I can talk her into it."
"Shit," Jeff exhaled slowly.
Zach took immediate offense. "You have a problem with Katie?"
"Not at all, son. We love the girl."
Zach calmed back down. "Then what's the problem?" Zach asked, confusion coloring his voice.
His father broke out in a wide smile as he relaxed back into his chair. "Your mother won the damn bet."
After Josh left the room, Katie's mother tried to corner her about the trip she'd been on with Zach and why she'd lied, but Katie wouldn't play along. "I'm not going to talk about this yet. Give it a few days, okay?"
"Okay. I just don't understand--"
"Mom. Neither do I. Not completely. Let's talk about something else, okay?"
Her mother took a deep breath and attempted a smile. "Sure."
"I'm sure you're happy about Josh and Hannah."
"I'm thrilled!" The enthusiasm on her mom's face wavered a bit. "The only thing that would have made me happier is if they hadn't eloped. We could have had a real wedding!"
"I'm sure they had their reasons. Maybe it was for the best that they did what they did. It's not like there hasn't been any angst between our families."
"Well, that's true. And it really makes me wonder what's going on with you and Zach."
Katie shook her head at her mother, who was tenacious to say the least. "Let it go for now, Mom. We'll do this in a few days, okay?"
"All right."
Katie stood to her feet. "I'm going to call Hannah and find out where she and Ava are. I need some down time and want to catch-up."
Zach spent a quiet evening with his parents while he listened to Janet babble about Hannah and Josh's plans. His stepmother was excited for the couple, excited to have them so close, and Zach heard all about the house they were going to build on the border between the two ranches and every detail of what was going on in their seemingly perfect lives.
He was happy for them, he really was.
As he tried to sleep that night, all he could think about was Katie. He wondered how much time he should give her before he tried to speak to her.
Needles of impatience prodded him and made the blood simmer in his veins.
He finally gave up; he knew that no matter how hard he tried to give her a few days, it wasn't going to happen. He'd be over at the Turners' house the next day, and only after giving himself permission to see her was he able to grab a couple of hours of much needed sleep.
Katie had a great time with Hannah and Ava as they hung out and caught up on all their old friends and the town gossip. She managed, for the most part, to put Zach out of her mind for a while. But there was no way in hell that she expected to find him in her living room at nine o'clock the next morning.
The hour was practically obscene to come visit someone.
Her mother tapped on her bedroom door and told her that he was waiting for her. Katie almost panicked, but quickly brushed her teeth and hair and threw on a pair of old jeans. Taking a deep breath, she walked into the room to face him.
As she came close enough to see his expression, she felt a jolt of distress. His face could almost be described as haggard, and Katie felt a sharp arrow of sympathy for him.
Her mother was bound to be curious, but she'd vacated the house and gone out to the barn to give Katie some time alone with Zach. Her cousin had already left for work, but Hannah was still in Josh's old bedroom that the couple was using for now.
Without saying anything, Katie motioned Zach into her childhood bedroom where they could shut the door and have some privacy in case anyone decided to walk into the main room of the house. Katie loved her mom, but she knew the older woman was extremely curious and she wouldn't put anything past her.
As Zach briefly glanced around her room, Katie gave him an inquiring look. His eyes landed back on her and he launched into speech, his face set in a determined line. "So, I did what I had to do; I brought you home." His mouth flattened and his stare was intense as he continued his explanation. "Your cousin didn't waste any time. The loan's been paid off. So, the slate's clean. But I want it on the record that I was going to refinance the loan for your parents." As she stayed silent, intent on listening to him, he said, "At least give me that, Katie." She realized that he wanted some kind of answer from her so she nodded her head, her eyes glued to him the entire time, her pulse making her blood race through her veins so quickly that she was almost light-headed.
She remained silent and he spelled it out for her in words that she couldn't misunderstand. "I'm ready to do this now. I'm ready to talk about this."
Katie had assumed they'd have at least a few days apart, maybe even a week. "That was . . . that was quick."
"I never said it was going to take a long time. It was about getting you here. It was about getting that damn loan out of the way and making the contract that I made you sign null and void. The entire point was to put you back in the driver's seat, so to speak. From this moment on, I have to know that everything that happens between us will be of your own choosing." His eyes narrowed. "You have to understand that everything that happens is because you want it to happen."
"Okay, I understand," she answered simply.
He took a step closer. "The reason that I told your cousin that I'm in love with you," A look of anxiety spread over his features before he continued, "is because I am in love with you."
The impact of his words sent Katie's hand to her heart and her eyes briefly closed before opening again and finding that he'd come another step closer but then halted. She was completely silent and he continued, "I fucked up with you in a way that I don't know if you'll ever be able to forgive." He swallowed visibly. "I don't know what I'm going to have to do to make it right, but I'm willing to do anything."
"Zach--"
"Please don't say anything yet, Katie. Give me a little bit of hope, okay? If you blow me off now, I don't know what . . . I don't know how--"
His words stopped and Katie knew he couldn't go on. She took the last few steps until she stood in front of him. She lifted his hand between them and held it cradled in both of hers as she looked down at it. She ran her fingers over his rough knuckles. "I forgive you." She cleared her throat and continued to look down. "I know that you didn't know." She took a deep breath and looked into his eyes. "I should have told you a long, long time ago."