A farm-hating neighbor, at that.
The lowing of contented cattle drifted their way. The roosters were tucked away for the night. The hens, too, the dimmer light pushing them to their roosts. A soft breeze and cooler temperatures made the evening less oppressive. Piper turned her face into the breeze, letting it cool the heat of walking nearly three-quarters of a mile uphill. “I love this place.”
Zach watched her, silent.
“And I’ve had to fight for ten years to keep it going. I took college courses nearby so I could live at home and work the farm. I watched my parents’ marriage fall apart because she hated this life. Did you know there’s a website now, a singles site, for farmers? Because the divorce rate among farmers is so high? And it’s nearly impossible for a guy to find a woman who wants to be tied to the rigors of farm life. The daily sacrifices it entails. For a woman?” She worked her jaw, then shrugged. “I’ve learned the hard way to put my future in God’s hands. Most days.” She sent him a smile of admission. “And in all honesty, I’m usually too busy to care.”
She took a broad step back, hands raised, a move that negated his step forward. “I have more than a job here. I have a legacy. And I get that most people don’t understand it, but I’ve spent a lot of time seeking faith and guidance on this stuff. I take nothing lightly when it comes to this farm. This family.” She looked left when the laughter of children floated across the dancing grass in need of mowing. “Lucia. Berto. My brothers. The twins. Noreen and Marly in the ice cream shop. Every decision I make affects them, and I can’t afford to make more mistakes.” She backpedaled up the drive and sent him a small smile and a quick wave. “I think your dad’s coming over to work tomorrow. If that’s okay.”
“My father can do whatever he wants.” Zach’s expression said her words surprised him. “He doesn’t need my permission for anything.”
“Does he know that?”
* * *
Aggravation hit him because she was right, and that frustrated him.
He’d been treating his father with kid gloves because of Marty’s health issues, but his father was better now. And Zach had to learn to back off. Be the kid.
And that was hard for a grown man who wore a badge and carried a gun.
He wanted to watch Piper walk to the house.
He didn’t.
He strode up and around the corner, past the pond, not stopping for a cone, or a talk with the kids, or to pet the little goat.
Right now, he wanted to create distance between him and most everything on the planet.
A slight sound caught his attention.
He turned, the late-day shadows playing tricks with his eyes.
The noise came again, imploring. Needy.
Puppies.
His mother had bred golden retrievers for years. He’d know that sound anywhere.
His heart softened, then hardened as he approached a bag tossed alongside the pond. Hard stillness marked one side of the bag, but the movement within the tied sack gave him hope. He bent low, withdrew the sack from the water’s edge and untied it carefully.
Four tiny puppies mewled up at him, eyes shut tight, days old. Tossed aside like yesterday’s garbage.
Someone had weighted the bag with a rock and tossed it into the pond area, but missed the water by inches. Then they’d driven off, leaving the pups to bake in the summer sun.
“What’ve you got there?”
Marty approached him with an ice cream cone in hand, his brows upthrust.
“Puppies.”
“No.” Marty’s face went hard and soft, just like Zach’s had done. “They dumped them?”
“Tried for the pond. Missed.”
“Good thing you came ’round this way,” Marty told him. “I wondered why you didn’t come over for ice cream, but if you had, these little guys would be goners.”
A spark of wisdom nudged Zach. “What can we do with them, Dad?”
“Save ’em, of course.” Marty handed off the cone to Zach and cradled the bag in his arms as if he carried something rare and precious. “Your mother loved puppies.”
“She did.” The regret in his father’s voice stirred up something else inside Zach. “Even though they were a bother.”
“I shouldn’t have said that,” his father confessed as he carried the puppies toward their house. “The dogs were her project. And it was her farm, too. I should have praised that more, because those pups brought in a pretty penny at times when we needed it.”
Marty’s words said Zach wasn’t the only Harrison who harbored regrets. “Mom was pretty independent. I don’t think she was looking for praise.”
“I should have given it, in any case,” Marty told him. “I knew it then, I know it now. Run over to the farm and see if Piper’s got any baby animal supplement. If not, bring me some fresh milk and I’ll condense it to make formula for these guys. And see if she’s got eyedroppers, too.”
Run to the farm?
See Piper?
The woman who’d just brushed him off?
The sight of Marty hunting up a small box, lining it with an old towel, then tucking it into a darkened corner was enough to push Zach across the field. He’d find Piper, make his father’s request and then head home, ready to take her advice. He’d be foolish to waste time searching for common ground. From now on his common ground with Piper McKinney was property lines, drawn by surveyors required for his mortgage.
Neighbors.
That was that. A deck to build was more than enough to fill his vacation time. Backbreaking work under a blazing summer sun would put thoughts of Piper where they belonged: out of sight, out of mind.
* * *
“Puppies? Dumped? Are you kidding me, Zach? Who would do that?”
Piper’s maternal expression put Zach right back in the zone he’d decried not minutes before, which meant he really needed to work harder to put her out of his thoughts. “Dad was wondering if you had anything over here to help raise them. If we can save them, that is.”
“I don’t, but Luke will.” She pulled out her phone, hit a number on her speed dial and was connected to Luke Campbell in seconds.
But it was plenty long enough for Zach to read the writing on the wall.
Campbell liked animals.
He had a cute kid.
He’d been widowed for over two years.
He was a nice guy.
And he had baby puppy formula supplement. That took a first-place blue ribbon right there.
Zach stopped the list of attributes before it grew any longer. If Campbell and Piper were a done deal, he needed to face reality.
Luke and his little boy pulled into Piper’s yard fifteen minutes later. He retrieved a bag of supplies while his son, Aiden, climbed out of the booster seat in back.
Piper approached him, apologetic. “I hope you didn’t have to get Aiden out of bed. One of us―” she nodded in Zach’s direction “―could have come over and picked it up.”
Luke noogied his son’s head. “Bedtime’s late this time of year, and I promised him ice cream. That made hopping into the car a quick deal.”
Piper smiled down at the little boy. “I would do most anything for ice cream, too, kid. Do you want to go play with the girls?”
Aiden shook his head, shy. He leaned into his father’s leg as if seeking support.
“He can hang with us.” Luke sent a smile of approval to the boy. “Where are the puppies?”
“His place.” Piper motioned to Zach as she moved toward the cut-through between the barns. “Zach, do you know Luke?”
“We met at the breast cancer run last October, and on the Whitehorse Café case. And I’m working the bicentennial with your brother Seth.” Zach reached out a hand, shook Luke’s and tried to make his greeting something
other than tepid.
He failed. Miserably.
But Luke’s smile said he was oblivious to Zach’s true feelings. “I remember. You busted loose and won the race, and gave the sheriff’s department necessary info to nail the guy who trashed the café. You live over here?”
“Moved in a few weeks ago. I got to meet an old friend of yours, I hear.” Zach squatted to Aiden’s level as he indicated the far barn with a quick look to the right. “Beansy the goat.”
The little boy’s eyes shone. His quick nod made Zach smile. But he stayed quiet, his grip tight on his father’s hand.
They moved into Zach’s house, and Piper winced slightly. “It is hot in here.”
“Hah.” Zach shot her an “I told you so” look that she shrugged off.
“It’s cooler down here,” Marty called. He’d tucked the pups into the second-lowest level of the house.
“Would the basement be better, Dad?” Zach wondered. “It’s even cooler there.”
“Pups this age like eighty degrees,” Marty told them. “My wife bred dogs for years. She was finicky about keeping the temps hiked until they were two weeks old because they lose heat quickly.”
“No fur.”
“Right. What’ve we got here?” Marty shifted his gaze from Piper to Luke.
“Eyedroppers, puppy supplement, disposable gloves, nail trimmers and baby wipes for their bottoms. And a recipe for making your own supplement in a few days. This is good for starters, but pricey.”
“Well, let’s get started.” Marty handed them each an eyedropper, popped the top on a can of formula and bent low. “I’ll start with this little fella.”
He picked up a tiny male pup with tender hands, then gained Luke’s approval by dropping a bead of milk on the pup’s upper lip, allowing the pup to find the milk with his tongue. It took several drops before the pup hunted for the source of the milk, but once he did, the pup pursed his tiny mouth avidly, drawing drops of food from the plastic tube.
“Don’t overfeed this first time,” Luke counseled. “Give them a little, let their bodies adjust.”
“Exactly right.” Marty shot him a look of approval. “You know things about pups.”
“Or I’m a sucker for baby animals.” Luke smiled, stood and rolled his shoulders.
Aiden tugged his hand, drawing Luke’s attention down. He smiled and rubbed the boy’s head. “You want to see Beansy?”
The boy nodded.
“And get ice cream before Lucia closes things up?”
Aiden’s grin said his father read him clearly. “You guys are all right here?”
Piper nodded as she crooned murmurs of love to the minute creature in her hand, the sound making Zach long to draw closer. But that would be stupid and shortsighted, so he stood along with Luke and moved toward the half-flight of stairs rising to the main level.
“Be sure to rub their tummies,” Luke added as he and Aiden moved up the steps.
“Will do.” Piper shot him a look of gratitude. “Thanks for running right over.”
“Glad to help.”
Zach followed Luke and Aiden out the door. The cooler air felt good against his face. “Thanks, Luke. You’re welcome to wait for Piper here, you know.”
“Wait for...?” Luke turned, his face questioning, and in that gaze Zach read exactly what he hoped to see. “I’ll see her at the house. Or the next time we stop by.”
An interested man would never brush off time with a woman like Piper. Zach understood that, and he shouldn’t be the least bit happy that Luke’s casual expression said there was nothing between him and the farmer next door. But he was happy. Very.
Luke eyed him, then smiled. “You thought I had something going with Piper.”
“Just didn’t want to get in anyone’s way,” Zach countered.
Luke laughed out loud. “Well, if you can get by Piper McKinney’s cop-phobic attitude, more power to you. Her old fiancé did quite a number on her, and Piper doesn’t have much use for cops these days.”
Zach’s arched brow invited Luke to continue, but Luke shook his head. “Not my story to tell, because Piper’s a good friend and has been for years, but if you do an internet search on Hunter Reilich, you’ll understand why she shies away from uniforms. Between her and Lucia, they don’t have a lot of trust in the system right now.”
Reilich? The dirty cop who aided and abetted a racketeering ring after his father bought his way into the Clearwater Police Department?
Zach had noted Lucia’s reticence. But Piper’s?
He hadn’t seen that coming.
He remembered the story. Reilich was a seven-year veteran with lofty family connections and a lust for power. He got brought down after several police agencies received an anonymous tip about his shady dealings. Reilich and a handful of others were indicted and convicted for their actions. Their bust made it possible for the Buffalo police to partner with the FBI and the state troopers to dismantle a widespread drug ring in Western New York. The mountainous terrain made it pretty easy to hide things like meth labs. Gambling dens. Drug houses.
Disgust mingled with surprise inside him. Piper and a guy like Reilich?
He’d mull that over later. Right now he stooped low and held out a hand to Aiden. “Thanks for coming to see the puppies. Come over again, okay?”
The boy’s tenuous smile as he gripped his daddy’s leg said he’d like to visit the pups again. Zach moved back up a step as Luke started toward the ice cream barn. “Luke, thanks.”
“Anytime. I’ll stop back in a day or two, see how they’re doing. If that’s all right?”
“It’s fine.”
“As long as I don’t have designs on a certain farmer,” Luke added, grinning.
“You’re a quick study, Campbell.” Zach gave him a half wave, half salute goodbye. “We’ll see you soon.”
Piper met him halfway to the stairs. “Luke’s gone?”
“Headed to your place for ice cream. So no. Not really.”
“The pups are sleeping for the moment.” She smiled at Zach’s father as he quietly climbed the stairs behind her. “Luke said to feed them about every two hours, right?”
“For the first week. We can take shifts.” Marty met Zach’s gaze over Piper’s head.
“Or do it together in half the time,” Zach supposed.
His words made his father smile. “Your mother would have seen it that way, too.”
Janet Harrison liked people, she sought company, she loved baby creatures. In some ways Zach was like her. But his dogged determination to handle a job, get it done and do it right?
That was Marty, through and through. Only Zach had sense enough to know when to walk away. Come home. Chill out.
Piper reached out and hugged Marty. The embrace surprised the older man, but he returned the hug. “Marty, I’m so glad you found those little guys.”
“I didn’t. Zach did.”
“Oh.” She turned, taken aback. Her fumble made Zach grin.
“Do I get a hug now?”
“No.”
Zach feigned an arrow to the heart. “I’m wounded.”
She ignored his antics and moved to the door. “Marty, call me if you need me.”
“You have enough to do,” Marty told her. He used his no-nonsense voice, the one that said he’d be fine. No help needed. “I’ll be over to help tomorrow. Between feedings, that is. And no sense telling me no, young lady. I like to keep busy.”
“Thank you, Marty.” She sent him a smile as she stepped through the door.
Zach followed her. Walked her down the steps. Then across the yard, hands thrust into his pockets. If he could whistle, he would, because knowing Luke Campbell didn’t have feelings for the petite farmer at his side made him happy.
“What ar
e you doing?” Piper’s voice held a sigh of resignation that said she knew exactly what he was doing, but would call him on it anyway.
“Walking a pretty lady home.”
“Umm...” She directed her gaze forward and waved a hand. “In case you haven’t noticed, I am home.”
“A gentleman always walks a lady to her door.”
“Zach—”
He paused. Faced her.
She dug a toe into the ground and looked away.
With one gentle finger he drew her face back, toward him. “I like you. I like being nice to you. There’s no law against that and I’m a cop, so I’m an expert on law and order. Let’s leave it at that for now, okay?”
“But it doesn’t get left at that,” she whispered, and it hurt him to hear the raw note in her voice. “Things happen, and they happen more often around cops. I’m no fan of drama. All I want is a normal life, a greeting-card-commercial existence. And Zach?” She stepped away from his touch, from his gaze. “My life has been anything but, so you might want to think hard and fast yourself.”
“You’re warning me off.”
Her sad, resolute smile became more grim. “I’m warning us both off.”
“Piper.”
“Gotta go.” She turned and jogged the rest of the way to the house. The light slap of the wooden screen door said she was in. Safe.
But he’d read the expression on her face. Heard the note of wistful resignation in her tone. Whatever had gone on with this family did a number on her. And he hated to see her weighted down with work. He might not love farming, but he had the muscle and the know-how to help her. That would be the Christian thing to do. Speak your faith, live your faith, love one another. A fairly simple concept.
His internal warning system clicked into high gear. Leave it alone. You have plenty to do and no love of farming. She’s got a farm to run and no big appreciation for cops. The writing’s on the wall. All you have to do is read it.
The caution hit home. Zach had bought a house in a country setting because he liked room to roam and land to hunt come autumn. He started the summer with a plan. There was work to be done. That deck wasn’t going to build itself.
Falling for the Lawman Page 5
