for him to jump.”
“He’ll never learn if you don’t make him try.”
“He is trying,” said Zach, anger percolating inside him. “I can tell he’s trying. But he’s not cut out for jumping. He’s not cut out to be some robust ranch hand, running after cattle and horses.”
“Ranch hand?”
“He’ll get hurt.” The day’s frustrations clouded Zach’s brain, coalescing into outright anger. “He might even get killed. And the people who claim to love her should stop putting her in danger.”
Alex peered over the rim of his glass. “Her?”
“Huh?”
“You said her.”
Zach gave himself a shake. “I meant him.”
“You said her.”
Zach downed his drink in one swallow. “He’s just a little puppy. I’m going to take care of him. So sue me.”
Alex rocked back. “Okay, Zach. What the hell’s going on?”
“Nothing.”
“You’re all bottled up.”
“I’ve been working hard, and I’m tired. We’re all tired.”
“Bull,” said Alex. “You love this stuff. When things get frantic and risky, you love it even more.”
“I hate it.” Zach hated everything today. He hated uprooting their headquarters. He hated moving halfway across the country. And he especially hated depending on Seth Jacobs. If he didn’t need to set DFB up in Lyndon, nobody,
Alex was silent for a long minute. He polished off his own drink. “It’s her, isn’t it?”
Zach tried to take another drink, but his glass was empty, nothing but a sip of melted ice on the bottom. “I don’t know what you’re talking about.”
“You’ve been on edge since Abigail left.”
Zach gave a grunt of disagreement.
“Why don’t you call her?”
Zach would like nothing better than to call her. “Not gonna happen.”
“I know what you’re going through. I’ve been there with Stephanie. You’re going to feel like this until you call her.”
“I can’t call her.”
“I know you
“You think this is about my dignity?” Zach scoffed. If it had been that simple, he’d have kept her here when she came back for Ozzy. No, that wasn’t true. If it had been as simple as his dignity, he’d have never let her leave in the first place.
“What else would it be about?” Alex asked.
Zach wasn’t a heart-to-heart kind of guy, but he was too tired to fight it tonight, too tired to do anything but admit the truth.
“It’s about you,” he admitted to Alex. “You and DFB and everybody else. If it was just about me, I’d do whatever it took. In a heartbeat. Anything.”
“You’re in love with her,” Alex stated.
“Absolutely.” There wasn’t a doubt in Zach’s mind.
Alex rose, crossed the floor and retrieved the scotch bottle. He poured a measure into each glass. “Then it’s not about me.”
Zach contemplated the new drink, a sense of eerie calm coming over him as his mind went places he never could have imagined. “How would you feel about starting over?” he asked softly.
Alex sat back down. “Starting over how?”
“You and me, in a cheap basement suite, working as bartenders again while we save up a down payment for another business.”
“Not great,” said Alex. “But I’d do it. Why?”
Zach hesitated a moment longer. “Because her brother threatened me.”
Alex was clearly confused. “Threatened you with what?”
Zach set the glass down. “The mayor told me that if I ever so much as spoke to his sister again, he’d turn down our business license and make it impossible for DFB to operate in Lyndon.”
“Why?”
“He thinks he’s protecting Abigail. He knows I blackmailed her. I imagine he thinks I coerced her into sleeping with me.”
Alex stared reflexively into space, and the minutes ticked by.
Zach knew he’d put his friend in an impossible position. He was sorry about that. But he didn’t think he could bring himself to abandon Abigail.
When Alex finally spoke, there was a thread of laughter in his voice. “He actually forced you to choose between her and me?”
“He did.”
“And you chose me? I’m flattered, Zach. But…you’re an idiot.”
“Choosing her would have destroyed the company.”
“You’re still an idiot.”
“Are you saying I should have turned him down?” Zach challenged.
“I’m saying, for starters, you should have told me we were being blackmailed.”
“Yeah,” Zach was forced to agree. “I should have told you that.”
How many other mistakes had he made in all this? He found himself picturing Abigail in his robe, the night he’d rescued her from the highway, her bandaged arm, the fading bruises, her sore rib cage. His stomach churned.
“I can’t leave her there, Alex. It’s not right. She’s not happy. The work’s dangerous. I’m afraid it might kill her.”
“So go get her.”
“I do, and I risk everything we’ve ever worked for.”
“We’ll build something else.” Alex made it sound ridiculously simple.
“And what about our employees?”
“If worse comes to worst, we’ll sell the assets and give them all a fat severance package.”
Zach snapped his fingers. “Just like that?”
“You don’t get to give up Abigail for me, Zach. Because if I find the right woman, and I have to choose-” Alex grinned and shrugged “-you’re toast, buddy.”
“Good to know where I stand.”
“Isn’t it?”
It was.
And it was great to know that Alex had his back, just as he always had. No brother in the world could be more loyal than Alex. Because of him, Zach didn’t need to stand around and watch Abigail suffer. He could do something about it, damn the consequences.
When Abigail heard Zach’s voice in the foyer of the ranch house, she shot to her feet from the sofa, gaping in astonishment as he elbowed his way past Travis, wheeling into the living room.
Her brother Seth jumped up from an armchair, squaring his shoulders and widening his stance. “What the hell are you doing here?”
Lisa appeared from the kitchen, obviously drawn by the raised voices. She stopped in the archway and took in the three men.
“Zach?” Abigail managed to say, the breath leaving her body. What had happened? Why did he look so angry?
