'Are you all right?' She brushed his hair away from the cotton.
'I've had better days.' He smiled. 'This probably isn't the best time to talk, but I want you to know what happened between us, it was real…' He couldn't think of the right words with people in his front yard shouting they were going to kill him. 'It was something that's never happened to me before. It was…'
He heard Crystal ordering all oil workers to leave if they still wanted to have a job come dawn.
'If I thought there was one chance in a million you'd say yes, I'd ask you to marry me.' He wished he hadn't told her his thoughts. She could buy and sell him and everything he owned with pocket change.
Zack looked out the window. Carlo ordered his men to move the women over and go after Anna. But the men weren't moving. Colonel Travis should have had these four ladies at the Alamo.
'There's one chance in a million,' Anna whispered as she leaned and kissed the bandage over his eye.
It took a moment for her words to sink in.
Meredith stood at the corner of the porch and stared at Granger as he watched from the back of the crowd. His rifle was propped against his shoulder; his finger looked like it was resting on the trigger guard. He had come to bring Larson back but now, he was hesitating. She knew he could have stepped in and handled the crowd, but he was letting them do it.
Thanks to the huge windows of Zack's home, Anna's statement was being played out before everyone's eyes.
About the time Carlo called a charge to save his sister, everyone in the crowd saw Anna push Zack's shirt aside and kiss the bandage covering his broken ribs. It did not look like the kind of thing a woman does to a man who raped her, shot her brother and kidnapped her from her home.
The mob moved back, no longer wanting to follow Carlo. They could see Zack gently holding her, whispering to her as lovers do.
The crowd had no way of knowing that he was promising to stand with her no matter what the storm. He made his oath for a lifetime, not just for tonight. The men outside might not hear Zack's words, but they could see Anna's face as she smiled up at him.
Granger swung over the rail of the porch, dipping his head to the widows as though he hadn't seen them in a while 'Nice job,' he commented casually. 'Next time I need crowd control, I'll be sure and call you ladies.'
They all looked out over at the pickups and cars. Men were leaving quietly, as though they had been caught eaves dropping.
Carlo was the only one who did not move. 'I am not leaving without my sister!' Despite the crutches, he stepped onto the first step on the porch.
Granger glanced at the widows, almost as if he was considering letting them handle the stout man. Any one of them would gladly cut Carlo to pieces. 'You've done enough for one night, ladies,' he said. 'It's time I earned my pay.' He moved to the step directly above Carlo. 'I'm afraid, Mr. Vangetti, that you'll be riding back with me. At least as far as the county lockup.'
'I do not think so.' Carlo seemed to believe that if his voice was louder than anyone else's then he must be right. 'I have done nothing, Sheriff, but protect my family.'
Granger watched Carlo carefully. 'You see, Mr. Vangetti. it's against the law to file a false report. Zack Larson didn't rape your sister, and he didn't shoot you.'
'You can not prove that!' Carlo shouted.
'Yes, he can,' Anna whispered from the doorway. She slipped out onto the porch, staying well behind Granger. 'You forget, Carlo, I was there.'
'You would send your own brother to jail?' Carlo looked surprised at the possibility. Anger crept into his words. 'That would not be a wise thing to do, Anna. Not for your sake, or Zack's.'
Randi stomped toward the edge of the porch, her hands already balled into fists for a fight. Carlo's size and volume didn't frighten her.
Before she issued a death threat that he would have to arrest her for, Granger slid between them and took Carlo by the arm. 'How about you come along as a guest of the county tonight? Let your sister have some time to think. Give you a chance to settle down.'
Carlo swore as Zack walked up behind Anna and placed his hand on her shoulder. The Italian took powerful breaths like a bull about to charge.
The sheriffs grip tightened around his solid arm.
Carlo tried to jerk free, but it was hopeless. He might be a fighter, but he was smart enough to know now wasn't the time. With an angry oath, he stopped struggling with Granger. 'You must take him in, also.'
With the help of Adam on Carlo's left side, Granger turned Carlo toward the patrol car. 'We're not in the habit of arresting a man for loving a woman.' He glanced over his shoulder. 'Sorry about the lock up, Larson. No hard feelings.'
Before Zack could answer, Carlo demanded, 'You can not leave him here with my sister.'
'He's well chaperoned.' Granger opened the back of his car and gave Carlo a helpful shove as he glanced back at Meredith. ''Course, I suspect they're all criminals, but I'm too outnumbered to haul them in.'
Meredith opened her mouth to say goodbye to Granger. He hadn't spoken to her, but she'd felt him watching her from the time he walked up at the back of the crowd. There was something comforting about knowing he was there.
Before she could think of anything to say, he was gone. She watched his taillights disappear and realized she had probably ruined any chances of them ever even being friends. Eventually, he would figure out that she had told him the truth, she had set Zack free, and even though it was the right thing to do, she'd broken the law. They lived in different worlds. She believed in doing what was right, he believed in following the law. Once in a while the two view were not parallel.
'Thanks for the loan.' Zack returned the Mustang keys. 'If you'll bring it out some weekend, I could work on that engine. Maybe make it run a little smoother for my next getaway.' He lowered his head. 'You saved my life tonight as well as Anna's. Thanks.'
Meredith did not know what to say. Before Zack could move, she wrapped her arms around him and hugged.
At first, he didn't react. Women hugging him was not something that happened to him often. Slowly, he put his arms around her and patted her on the back.
Meredith fought tears. She told herself she just needed someone to hold her for a few minutes. She needed her heart to stop pounding. She needed to know it was all over and they were all out of harm's way.
But Zack's arms gave her little comfort. He was not the one she wanted. The man she needed would never offer.
Meredith pulled away and gently embraced Anna. 'You're welcome to come home with me,' she volunteered. 'Randi and I will try not to keep you up talking.'
Anna shook her head. 'I want to stay here tonight.'
The women moved away from Anna and Zack with hugs but few words. They knew what they had done and why they did it. There was no need for thanks.
At Helena's car, Meredith asked, 'You want me to follow you home? Or Randi can drive you and I'll follow.' Helena had been a rock during the trouble, but now she looked so pale it frightened Meredith.
'No, dear. I promised J.D. I'd be home by dark and I'm already late. He'll be worried about me. I'd best hurry.' She climbed in her huge car and pulled away.
Randi moved to Meredith's side. 'He's not dead to her, is he?'
Meredith shook her head. 'Does it matter?'
They waved goodbye to Crystal and folded into the Mustang.
'I don't suppose I could interest you in stopping off at Frankie's on the way home?' Randi propped her foot up on the dash.
Meredith laughed. 'No way.'
'Then, how about the Dairy Queen? I'm starving. A life of crime always makes me hungry.'
'Now, that's a deal. Let's go crazy and order banana splits.'
Randi leaned back and frowned. 'I'm living on the wild side now.'
But she laughed all the way through her hamburger and fries. By the time they ordered their banana splits they were Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid, reliving their night of near death and riotous adventure.
