“Give up?” He eased closer. Waited. Came closer still.
She lay motionless until just the right moment and then lunged for him, catching him around the ankles.
He crashed to the ground, landing on his back. The air whooshed from his lungs. He lay so still she jumped up and rushed to his side. “Zach, are you okay? I didn’t mean to hurt you.”
His eyes were wide, beseeching.
“Can’t you breathe? What do you want me to do?”
He crooked his finger, and as she leaned over him, he caught her wrists and pulled her to his chest.
She could sprawl on him or lean on her upper arms. She wanted to do the former but wisely chose the latter, her elbows cradling his ribs on either side like a hug. He held their clasped hands over his heart. Did he do it on purpose, silently telling her that’s where she belonged?
But of course, he didn’t. And of course, she didn’t belong there.
His pupils widened so only a brim of brown iris remained in his eyes. His hat had landed behind him, and a lock of his hair dipped over his forehead.
She didn’t move. Couldn’t. This was where she wanted to be. To belong. And she didn’t mean the ranch, though it was part and parcel of who Zach was. She meant his family. But most of all, she meant Zach.
“I caught you.” His words rumbled from his chest, vibrating through her fingers, up her arms, and into her heart. Oh, if only it meant what she wanted it to mean.
“I didn’t know I was still being chased,” she murmured.
“In case you’ve forgotten, we were playing a game.”
He might have been, but she wasn’t.
“I thought you’d hurt yourself.” She freed herself from his grasp, left behind the heart-to-heart connection that was in her mind only, and sat up.
He grunted as he sat beside her. “I might have been hurt just a little.”
She turned her head to study him. “Really?” She sounded uncertain, not knowing if he had been bruised or if he was teasing.
“Yeah. I never expected you to play such a dirty trick on me.” Oh, what hurt he managed to put into his words, though she wasn’t convinced.
“All’s fair in love and war.”
“War, is it?” He puffed out his lips. “I know who I’m at war with, but who are you warring with?”
Several answers sprang to her mind. None of which she could give voice to. She was at war with his reluctance, with disappointment, and even with her own goal, which was, first and foremost, to give Poppy the kind of security that Amelia’d known as a child. Besides, it wasn’t war she was thinking about. It was love. Zach watched her, waiting for her answer.
“I’m at war with how people will judge Poppy.”
“I can’t believe anyone would look at that sweet child and judge her for something she had nothing to do with. But I know they will. Giving her a father will help a lot. Especially if the man is supportive and protective of her.”
“I know.” She thought of how Zach often held the child, how Poppy pressed to his chest with such free affection. And Kat, Pa, and even Gil all adored the little girl. How could she rip the sweet child away from everything this place offered?
And yet, what choice did she have?
She got to her feet. “I better get back and make sure she’s okay.”
Zach fell in beside her. As they passed the barn, Amelia pulled him to a halt. “Look.”
Laughter carried to them as Kat chased Poppy, catching her and swinging her into the air, then putting her down to do it again. Both of them laughed with abandon. And Pa sat by the house watching and chuckling.
Zach squeezed Amelia’s hands. “So good to come home to them enjoying themselves.” He glanced toward the bunkhouse. “I doubt Gil has sobered up yet.”
“Let him sleep it off. I’ll make supper.”
