A Ring For Cinderella. Judy Christenberry
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than the football game.
Susan feared Zach might be irritated by Paul’s comment, because it interrupted his private battles. Instead, the man walked over to Paul and touched his shoulder. “Yeah. He is, isn’t he?” Then he sat down by Paul.
“What’s the score?”
The little boy supplied the information, and the two bonded in typical male fashion.
Then the doctor came into the room.
Zach bounded up from the couch and met the doctor before he’d made much progress into the room. Susan couldn’t hear their conversation, but she watched them all the same.
Finally the doctor left the room.
“I’m going to say good-night to Gramp. I’ll be back in a minute,” Zach murmured.
“Then we’ll go home?” Paul asked, yawning. “I’m sleepy.”
“Then we’ll go home, sweetie,” Susan responded as Zach left the room. “Thanks for being so good.”
“It’s okay. I’m going to pretend Gramp is my grandfather. Is that okay, Susan? I won’t tell him, but since I don’t have a grandfather, I’ll just pretend.”
Susan gave her brother a hug. “As long as you don’t say anything to Zach or his grandfather, then that’s okay.”
Zach returned. “Ready to go?”
Susan studied his grim face as she helped Paul off the sofa. Something was wrong. She feared the doctor’s news hadn’t been good. “Do you want us to take a taxi home, so you can stay here?”
“No. They have my number and will call if there’s any change.” His words were abrupt, clipped, as if he were out of patience.
She made no more suggestions.
Once they were in the car, heading back to her apartment, she asked, “Are you going back to the ranch tonight?”
“No, I’m staying in town.”
He didn’t volunteer where, and she didn’t ask. If she’d had more room, she would’ve offered to let him stay with them, but somehow she couldn’t see Zach Lowery stretched out on their lumpy couch.
There were several men hanging around outside the apartment building when they pulled up, and Zach scowled in their direction. “This isn’t a safe neighborhood.”
Susan, recognizing Manuel’s father, smiled and waved before turning to Zach. “We’re perfectly safe. Those are some of our neighbors.”
Opening the car door, she slipped out of the car and reached for Paul’s door. Before she could get the boy out, Zach was at her side.
“I’ll walk you upstairs.”
“Really, that’s not necessary.” She started to thank him for a lovely evening until she realized she’d been working, not socializing.
“Yes, it is. I need to pay you.”
He sounded angry. Fine, she didn’t have to take the rest of the money. The first check would help her out of some financial difficulty. She opened her mouth to tell him, but he grabbed Paul’s hand and her arm and started them toward the stairs at a fast clip.
“You’re going too fast,” Paul protested.
Without a word, Zach swung the boy up into his arms, then reattached himself to Susan’s arm.
“Wow, you’re strong,” Paul said in awe.
For the first time since Zach Lowery had come into her life, he smiled, and Susan realized handsome didn’t begin to describe him.
“You weigh a lot less than a bale of hay, Paul,” he said to her brother. “You need to eat more.”
“Susan says I eat lots and lots,” the boy said with a giggle.
“Why do you call her Susan?” Zach asked, frowning.
“’Cause that’s her name,” Paul said simply.
Susan could’ve explained then that Paul was her brother, not her son, but the stairway didn’t seem like a good place for such a private conversation. And she needed to keep her distance from such a handsome man—not get closer.
She got out her keys to open the door, relieved when Zach let go of her arm. His touch had bothered her. As the door swung open, she turned. “Thank you for seeing us to our door. I hope your grandfather’s condition improves.”
She pulled Paul in front of her and turned to go in, but she discovered Zach wasn’t ready to leave. He followed her in.
“We need to talk.”
“About what?”
“Payment, for one thing. Aren’t you interested in the rest of your money?” He gave her a sardonic stare.
Her cheeks flushed as she ducked her head. “I think your first check was sufficient. I didn’t do that much tonight..”
“You more than fulfilled your end of the bargain. Put the boy to bed. Then we’ll talk.”
She didn’t like him giving orders. But he was right. It was past Paul’s bedtime, and the boy’s eyelids were drooping. “Come on, Paul, let’s get you tucked in. And you can read for a little while.”
He was about to protest until she’d tacked on the reward of reading. Paul loved books. “Can I read all of Peter Pan?”
That was his longest book and would prolong going to sleep for almost an hour. With a tender smile, she agreed. “Okay, but don’t blame me if you don’t want to get up in the morning.”
“Do you have any Hank, the Cow Dog books?” Zach suddenly asked.
Paul halted on his way out of the room, a frown on his face. “No. Who’s that?”
“I’ll send you a couple. They’re stories about a cow dog named Hank who takes care of a ranch.”
“Wow!” Paul exclaimed, using his favorite word. “That’d be neat. When will you—”
“Paul,” Susan intervened. “Say thank you.”
“Thank you,” he repeated, and flew across the room to hug Zach around the waist. “I can’t wait.”
Zach rubbed the boy’s head. “I’ll see that you get them right away.”
With a bright smile on his face, Paul ran out of the room. Susan, after sending Zach an apologetic smile, followed him. Zach didn’t realize what a treat new books were to Paul
But she did. Gratitude filled her as she followed her brother.
What an appealing kid. He’d call a bookstore in the morning and have them send over whatever “Hank” books they had on hand.
As memory of what had occurred this evening came back, Zach began to pace the small room. What happened next depended a lot on Susan. And it could be costly to him. But he’d already invested ten thousand dollars in his grandfather’s happiness. And it had paid off.
When he’d left tonight, Gramp was more relaxed than he’d been in quite a while. And he’d had a smile on his face.
Susan came back into the room.
“Is Paul in bed?”
“Yes. Thank you for offering to send him a book. He loves them.”
“No problem.”
There was an awkward moment as Zach tried to think of how to approach the difficult subject.
“Well,” Susan said, a false brightness in her voice, “I won’t keep you. I’m sure it’s been a long day.”
“Yes, it has,