Scent of Roses ; Season of Strangers

by Kat Martin

  Zach thought it was probably good for his father and didn’t regret the hours they had shared, something that had never happened when he was a boy.

  As he left the rest home, the sun was setting behind the low range of hills to the west, casting the sky into deep shades of pink, orange and blue. The long day was nearly over. Driving down the highway, he thought of his disastrous lunch with Liz earlier that day.

  Zach swore softly. If he had ever felt like getting drunk, tonight was the night. He wouldn’t, of course. He’d been down that ugly road and he never intended to go there again.

  He shouldn’t have done it, shouldn’t have pressed Liz for a date when he was still seeing Lisa. He wasn’t sure why he had. Hell, he hadn’t really believed she would accept. And for chrissake, it was only lunch!

  He had always admired her honesty. He should have been honest with her. Damn!

  Zach took a deep, steadying breath. From the start, there had been some kind of spark between them. Liz might not want to admit it, but it was there just the same. He had seen it in her pretty blue eyes whenever she looked at him—though she did her best to ignore it. And he had screwed it up.

  He could still remember how pale she had gone when Carson had said Lisa’s name, the son of a bitch. There was something going on there, Zach figured, something between Elizabeth and Lisa that Carson knew about and Zach didn’t.

  It didn’t matter, he told himself. It was just a lunch date, probably wouldn’t have gone any further anyway.

  Still, he was done seeing Lisa. Whatever attraction he had felt for her had been fading for some time. He hadn’t wanted to sleep with her last week, couldn’t wait to leave the following morning and had gotten a room at the Holiday Inn instead of going back that night.

  He’d talk to her tomorrow, tell her their arrangement was over. He didn’t figure she’d be too upset. She had a string of admirers a block long waiting in the wings. Zach knew she saw some of them when he wasn’t around, just as he dated whomever he wanted in L.A.

  Nothing serious. Just women he met and enjoyed. They knew where he was coming from. Just like Lisa. For as far back as he could remember, Zach had always been a loner. Hell, his nickname in high school had been the Lone Wolf.

  He didn’t like people getting too close, didn’t like letting his guard down enough to let them. If he did, something always seemed to go wrong. Better to keep his distance, play it safe. With Lisa that had been easy.

  With Liz, he didn’t think it would be.

  Hell, maybe it was good things had turned out the way they had. Better for everyone all around.

  At least that was what he told himself as he steered his Jeep along the highway that evening, slowing as he reached the gate to Teen Vision, meaning to have supper with the counselors and the boys.

  He did that sometimes. Though visiting hours and phone calls were strictly limited, as the organization’s founder he had special privileges. It gave him a chance to talk to the kids, try to encourage them.

  He parked in the dirt lot, got out and closed the door, then pressed the lock button on his key fob and headed across the parking lot.

  Sam Marston met him before he reached the dining hall.

  “Zach! I’m glad you’re here.”

  “What’s up?”

  “It’s the Perez boy. He’s skipped. If he’s not back in a couple of hours, I’ll have to turn him in.”

  Raul was out of juvenile detention but still under strict rules of supervision and those did not include leaving the premises without special permission.

  “What happened?”

  “According to his friend, Pete Ortega, he made his usual Friday night call to his sister then headed back up to his room. Pete said he seemed upset about something and a little while later, he turned up missing.”

  “Keep your cell phone handy. I’ll call you if I find him.” Zach went back to his Jeep and cranked up the engine. A few minutes later, he was rolling along the highway toward the section of Harcourt Farms that contained the workers’ cottages, the overseers’ houses and the main farmhouse.

  Zach had a very strong hunch Raul had gone to see his sister.

  CHAPTER TEN

  Elizabeth pulled into the driveway of the Santiago home and parked next to the single car garage. As soon as she cracked open the car door, she was hit by a wave of evening heat. The town was furnace-hot this time of year, the ground as hard as pavement except for the irrigated agricultural land that provided most of the jobs in the area.

  She glanced at her surroundings, at the perfectly spaced walnut trees in the orchard behind this section of the farm, the endless rows of cotton stretching for miles along the road. The heat worked miracles on produce, but it was hell on the people forced to endure it five months out of the year.

  Ignoring the perspiration beginning to dampen the back of her neck, she started toward the narrow cement walkway leading to the small, yellow stucco house.

  Maria had called her at home, which she had never done before. Elizabeth was careful of the people she gave her home number to, but in the two years she had been working with Raul, somehow Maria and her brother had become people she particularly cared about, and she was determined to help them.

  She thought of the young woman’s frantic phone call.

  “I am sorry to bother you at home,” Maria had said, an edge of panic in her voice, “but I did not know what else to do.”

  “It’s all right, Maria. What is it? What’s happened?”

  “It is Raul. He called me as he usually does on Friday and I mentioned that Miguel was going to be working all night. He asked me if I was afraid to stay alone and I told him I was. I wish I had lied, but he would have known if I did. He said he was coming over to stay with me until Miguel got home. I tried to talk him out of it, but he would not listen. He is on his way here now.”

  Elizabeth sighed into the receiver. Leaving the youth farm would have dire consequences for Raul. “Once he gets there, just keep him there. I’ll be over as quickly as I can.”

  Elizabeth hung up the phone, grabbed her purse and car keys, and headed out the door. If Raul was caught AWOL from Teen Vision, he’d be sent back to juvenile hall. Neither Maria nor Elizabeth wanted that to happen.

  She was out of the car and walking up the sidewalk when a dark brown Jeep Cherokee pulled up next to her car. Her mouth thinned as Zachary Harcourt got out and closed the driver-side door. Annoyance warred with a funny little tug in the pit of her stomach.

  He caught up with her at the bottom of the front porch steps. “I gather we’re both here for the same reason.”

  “I suppose so. Raul?”

  He nodded.

  “I’m not sure he’s here yet. I take it he’s not at the farm.”

  “He was earlier. Turned up missing just after supper.”

  She glanced in that direction, but the youth farm was too far away to see. “Maria called to tell me he was coming. I was afraid if he left he’d get caught.”

  “Sam’s closing his eyes to this for the moment. But I’ve got to get Raul back before Sam’s patience wears out. Let’s go see if he’s in there.”

  Elizabeth didn’t move. “There’s no need for you to trouble yourself. If he’s there, I can bring him out to the farm.”

  “Sorry. This is my problem as much as yours. Let’s go.”

  He didn’t give her time to argue, just started up the steps of the little front porch and she fell in beside him. She wanted him to leave, to tell him he didn’t need to interrupt his evening with Lisa, but like it or not, he had a point. Raul was missing from Teen Vision and that made it Zach’s problem as well as her own.

  He firmly rapped on the door and a few seconds later, Maria pulled it open. Her eyes widened when she saw a man she didn’t know standing next to Elizabeth.


  “It’s all right,” Elizabeth said. “This is Zachary Harcourt. He’s come to take Raul back to the farm.”

  Maria looked around, uncertain if she should admit her brother was inside.

  “Raul isn’t in trouble,” Zach told her. “Not yet. That’s why I’m here—to make sure he gets back before he is.”

  Maria opened the door and stepped out of their way. “He is here.”

  Zach waited for Elizabeth to go in ahead of him and as soon as she walked into the living room, she spotted Raul on the sofa. He shot to his feet the moment he saw them, and Elizabeth recognized the belligerent look on his face. She had seen it before and seeing it now did not bode well for Raul.

  “My sister is frightened. I am not leaving her alone in this house.”

  Zach spoke before she had the chance. “If you don’t go back with me tonight, Raul, they’ll return you to juvenile detention. You can’t protect your sister while you’re locked up in there.”

  The boy’s black eyes darted from Zach to Elizabeth and she could read the turmoil there. “I have to stay. She is my sister and she is afraid.”

  “You cannot stay!” Maria practically shouted. “This is the chance you have been waiting for. You must go back before it is too late!”

  Raul just shook his head.

  Elizabeth glanced between the two siblings, focused her attention on the brother. “It’s all right, Raul. I’ll stay with Maria.” As the words spilled out, it occurred to her that perhaps it was a good idea. When nothing happened in the house tonight, maybe the girl would concede the possibility that her ghost might not exist and return to her sessions with Dr. James. “If it’s all right with Maria.”

  “You do not need to stay,” Maria said. “I am fine here by myself.”

  “Your brother is afraid you’ll be frightened. If I’m here, you won’t be.”

  Maria swallowed, glanced nervously toward the open bedroom door. “I called my friend, Isabel, but she was…expecting company tonight. I shouldn’t have told Raul.”

  “It isn’t a problem for me to stay, Maria. Really.”

  Raul stared at her and all his bravado deflated like a pinpricked balloon. “You would stay?”

  “I think it’s a good idea, don’t you?” She managed a smile. “Maybe I’ll see Maria’s ghost.”

  Maria looked up at her and hope sparked in her jet-black eyes. “Sí, maybe you will see her. Then you will not think I am crazy.”

  “I don’t think you’re crazy and neither does Dr. James.” She caught herself before she launched into another fruitless discussion about anxiety. “But if I happen to see your ghost, of course it would make a difference.”

  Maria turned to Zach. “Do you believe in ghosts?”

  The edge of his mouth faintly curved. “I suppose I would if I saw one.”

  Very diplomatic, Elizabeth thought with a trace of humor. Maybe he really did have the finesse it took to make a good lawyer.

  “Maybe Ms. Conners will see one tonight,” Maria said.

  His mouth curved even more. Such a sexy mouth. Something warm and completely unwanted slid into the pit of her stomach.

  “Perhaps she will.” Zach looked over at Raul. “I think it’s time for us to go.”

  The boy hung his head and nodded.

  “Go get in the car. I’ll be right there.”

  “I am sorry for the trouble I caused.”

  “It’s all right. You were trying to take care of your family. I can understand that. We just need to work things out so that you won’t have to do it again.” Raul headed for the door, and Zach cast a meaningful glance at Elizabeth. “Can I speak to you for a moment?”

  She would rather he just left, but he had work to do just as she did. By the time she joined him on the porch, Raul was sitting in the passenger side of the Jeep. Zach reached over and closed the front door behind her. His arm brushed hers, and a little tremor of awareness went through her.

  “You need to get Maria to tell her husband what’s going on. Once he understands what’s happening, they can work it out so she’s not alone.”

  “I’ve tried. She won’t do it. He’s not exactly the understanding type, if you know what I mean. He’s ten years older, one of those macho types. Maria doesn’t think he’ll believe her and it’ll only make him mad at her.”

  “Then you’re going to have to do it. It isn’t fair to Raul to carry this burden by himself. At any rate, I don’t know what other choice you have—aside from staying over every time her husband goes out of town.”

  “Fortunately, that doesn’t happen very often. But you’re right. He ought to be told.” She turned, trying to think of a way to approach Miguel, and felt Zach’s hand on her arm, turning her to face him.

  “About this afternoon…I was wrong. I should have been more honest. I apologize for what happened.”

  Her mouth tightened. She drew her arm away, trying to ignore the heat of his fingers that remained. “Doesn’t matter. Like you said, it was only lunch.”

  “Yeah, only lunch.”

  She started to turn away, but Zach’s deep voice stopped her.

  “It’s over with Lisa. I’m not going to see her anymore.”

  “Why not?”

  “Let’s just say she’s not my type.”

  She took hold of the doorknob.

  “I just wanted you to know,” Zach said.

  Elizabeth turned the knob and pushed open the door. “Well, now I know.” She walked inside and closed the door.

  * * *

  Zach drove Raul back to Teen Vision.

  “Thanks, Zach.” Raul cracked open his door as Zach turned off the engine in the parking lot. “I really appreciate what you did for me tonight.”

  “Sam did it, not me. But I’ll tell you, Raul, those breaks come few and far between. Don’t expect another one.”

  He nodded. “Do you…think you might talk to your brother about the house?”

  That was a joke. Like talking to Carson would do an ounce of good. “Let’s just see how Ms. Conners does in the house tonight. Maybe she can help Maria figure out what’s going on.” If anything really was, which he sincerely doubted.

  Still, with the crazy stuff that happened in the world today, anything seemed possible.

  “I like Ms. Conners.”

  A memory of her standing next to him on the porch sent a ripple of heat into his groin. It was crazy. Every time he saw her, his attraction to her grew. “So do I.”

  Unfortunately, she’s never been too keen on me.

  “I hope she sees the ghost.”

  Zach grinned. “So do I.” He could imagine the look on Liz Conners’s face if there actually was a ghost.

  “You’d better get going,” he said. “Sam is already worried enough.” Which was true, though Zach had phoned as soon as they’d gotten in the car to tell Sam he was bringing Raul back to the farm.

  Raul nodded and climbed out of the car. “See you tomorrow.”

  “I’ll be here.” Zach restarted the engine. “I’ll expect to see you, hammer in hand.”

  Raul smiled for the first time that night. Then his smile slowly faded and Zach figured his earlier concern for his sister had returned.

  Maybe Liz’s being there would help. Zach hoped so.

  Though he didn’t think it likely she would see Maria’s ghost.

  * * *

  “I’ll sleep in here on the couch,” Elizabeth said to Maria, who, now that Elizabeth had agreed to stay, worried that the accommodations wouldn’t be good enough. Earlier, Maria had insisted on fixing her something to eat, which was fine by Elizabeth, who discovered she was ravenously hungry. She hadn’t finished her meal with Zach at The Ranch House and been too busy to get anything since.

  After a delicious dinne
r of leftover chile verde, homemade tortillas and Spanish rice—and an agreement that from now on Maria should call her Elizabeth—they retired to the living room to settle in for the night.

  “You could take the bed,” Maria said, “but I do not have an extra pair of clean sheets.”

  “The couch is fine. It actually looks pretty comfortable.”

  Maria studied the brown, overstuffed sofa and bit her lip. “There are two bedrooms but the other one is empty. We are saving to buy a crib for the baby, but we don’t have enough money yet. I have a very nice quilt that belonged to my mother. I will put it over the sofa. And you can borrow one of my nightgowns.”

  Elizabeth changed out of the khaki pants and sleeveless yellow blouse she’d been wearing when Maria had phoned, into the ankle-length pink nylon nightgown the younger woman loaned her. They were about the same height so the length wasn’t a problem, and it wasn’t so sheer her modesty was at stake.

  “It is too tight for me right now,” Maria said a bit shyly. “But soon I will be able to wear it again.”

  “I know you must be excited with the baby so close.”

  “Sí. I cannot wait to have a child of my own. That is why I am so afraid. The ghost…she said they will kill my baby if I stay.”

  Elizabeth walked over and lightly touched Maria’s shoulder. The young woman had also changed into a nightgown, her feet bare beneath the hem, which fluttered in the current of air coming from the room air conditioner in the window. There was only one unit in the house. Even with the machine running full-blast, the house was on the warm side of comfortable.

  Certainly it couldn’t account for the awful chill Maria had mentioned.

  “You mustn’t worry, Maria. Everything’s going to be fine.” They sat down on the sofa together and Maria used the TV tuner to flip through the few channels they received on the little thirteen-inch TV sitting on a table against the wall.

  “Not much on,” Elizabeth said. “It’s getting late, anyway. Why don’t we just go to bed?”

  Maria yawned and nodded. “That is a good idea.” She turned toward the bedroom and started walking but her steps slowed as she approached the open door.