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She’d feel a lot more confident once that mowing was done. Right now, no one would getanywherein that field. “I want to talk to Owen about getting some pots of flowers to scatter around the farm that weekend. You know, to spruce it up a little.”
“You think my place needs sprucing up?”
“Just a little.” She held up her hand, pinching two fingers together. “It needs a woman’s touch, that’s all.”
He held her closer and chuckled, his voice rough and sexy. “I need a woman’s touch, too.Yourtouch, to be specific.”
She was more than happy to oblige, wrapping her arms around him. This was definitely a relationship, and it was one she didn’t want to lose.
CHAPTER EIGHT
“MOMMA! I’MINyour tree!”
Hudson was laughing, but he also had a tight grip on Zayne’s hands, holding him steady. They’d driven over to Darby Road to show her son the tree where she and Zayne had spent so much time as kids. The old willow tree along the side of the road had lost some limbs over the years, but it was still standing.
“It’s like being in a secret room, Momma!”
“That’s what your mother used to say.” Zayne smiled over at her. “She called it our secret place. We weren’t quite as little as you are, but still—once we were up inside, it was hard to spot us.”
“We had a lot of long conversations up there, didn’t we?” She rested her hand on his waist and he nodded quietly.
She remembered meeting him at the tree and talking for hours. Or just sitting in silence. It was before mobile phones and texting, so sometimes one of them would show up and just be there by themselves, hiding inside the draping willow branches. It wasn’t just a secret place—like he’d said before, it was also a safe place.
When Zayne’s father got in trouble with the law over and over. When her father died. When his mom was “sick,” which was what they’d called it when she was too drunk to take care of her children. Zayne and his big brother, Luke, had done their best to make sure there was food every day—even if they had to steal it.
“Who’d have ever thought back then that we’d be standing here now?” she asked, grinning at Zayne. “Look at how far we’ve come...especially you. I’m proud of you.”
His rough cheeks went ruddier than usual at the compliment. “You haven’t done bad, either. Raising a son, running a fancy-dancy festival like a diva.”
She laughed. “Adiva? I beg your pardon? I’m running that fancy-dancy festival like abusinesswoman.” The festival was less than two weeks away and was consuming pretty much every moment of her life these days. That was why Zayne had insisted she take a few hours off to spend with him and Hudson. He said the spectacular September day was too good to waste staring at her computer screen.
“Have you heard anything on the job front?” he asked, swinging Hudson back to earth and letting him go to explore the crumbling stone fence.
She shook her head. “I don’t expect to hear until October, which is perfect because it will be after the festival. Hopefully they’ll be so impressed with my leadership skills that they’ll have to give it to me and my sterling reputation.”
They walked along the quiet road back toward his truck, keeping an eye on Hudson’s adventures near the stone fence.
“Does your reputation really matter, as long as you have the skills?”
She shrugged. “Probably not, but you know how this town is. You don’t want to be on the losing side of any gossip.” She took his hand. “I think I have enough people in my corner, though.”
ZAYNEDIDN’TRESPOND. He was definitely in her corner, but sometimes he couldn’t help worrying that it may not be a good thing for Andrea. Over the past few weeks, it seemed the more he fell for her—and he was falling hard—the more he fretted about that.
This was all so new for him. A committed relationship with a woman. With a single mom. Trying to be a good public citizen, despite the anxiety it brought. He was a businessman now—another brand-new experience. Thank goodness Andrea had created that bookkeeping and scheduling system for him, because his workload seemed to double every month.
The business was making money.Goodmoney. He had a beautiful woman who said she wanted to be with him. Life was good, but he couldn’t shake the feeling there was a shadow out there, waiting just for him. That was pretty much the story of his life, and there was no reason to think that had changed, despite his recent successes in businessandin life.
She’d asked him a few times if something was bothering him, but he didn’t want to add to the stress of the upcoming festival by telling her he was getting more and more anxious about their future. Hewantedher. Hell, helovedher, although he hadn’t said the words out loud yet. Every time he thought about telling her, he remembered how different they’d always been. She was Little Miss High Society, running events and working at the college. While he was...well, he was one ofthe Rutledge boys. Anyone local knew exactly what that meant.
That night, after Hudson fell asleep on the sofa, the two of them went out to the porch. They talked about the work Owen was doing in the maze, trying to save it. He’d gotten lost the day before and had to scramble up on top of the tractor seat to see how to get out. They chuckled over that story, then talked about Hudson for a few minutes before an easy silence fell. Andrea put her head back and closed her eyes with a contented sigh. It was the best view on the farm.
Owen’s fiancée, Lucy, had come over for dinner last night, and the four of them had sat around the old firepit Zayne had cleaned out and put back to use. His brother, Luke, had brought his wife, Whitney, and their baby, Anthony, over for dinner on the weekend. It felt like he and Andrea, and Hudson, of course, were turning into a family.
She’d mentioned being nervous about aninsta-family, but Zayne was enjoying it far more than he ever expected. Despite that little shadow of fear he was trying to quell, he wanted more. And he was going to tell her tomorrow. Her mother was going to watch Hudson all night. He and Andrea were going to hike to the top of the hill behind the house, where Cliff Thompson had supposedly built a platform of some sort overlooking the valley from the highest point on the farm. And once they were up there, complete with a surprise dinner he had planned, he was going to tell Andrea that he was falling in love with her. That he wanted more with her—more time spent together, more lovemaking, more Hudson, more laughter and more nights like this, where they sat on the porch together without saying a word.
Zayne walked into The Spot diner the next afternoon and waved to Evie behind the counter. “Can I get a couple stuffed burgers to go? With shoestring fries and two vanilla shakes?”
Evie gave him a conspiratorial grin, letting him know thatsheknew who he’d be sharing his dinner with. “Sure thing, Zayne. I’ll even toss in a couple of Andi’s favorite chocolate chip cookies for you.”
