Wrong Side of Town

Chapter 10

All in all, Zach considered his first day at the office to have been a success. Granted, busting an illegal moonshine still in somebody's abandoned barn wasn't exactly big-city police work, but Elvis Brown and his sons were too dumb to know how to rig a still, and they were liable to blow themselves up. Zach figured they'd done the entire Brown family a service by shutting down that mess. Odds were good they'd plea bargain it down to probation, and that wouldn't be a bad thing, either. Elvis was a decent farmer when he wasn't messing around with his grandpappy's recipe.

Still chuckling to himself, Zach parked his borrowed truck behind the ranch house and took the steps two at a time up to the wide, wooden back porch.

"Something smells like heaven." He swung the family's long-time housekeeper into a hug, lifting her feet off the floor. "Admit it. You made chicken enchiladas just for me. One of these days, Rosaria, you're going to have to ditch Jake to run off and marry me."

The fifty-year-old woman who'd half raised Zach and his siblings, laughed and swatted him on the shoulder. "Yes, I made you enchiladas. Now, put me down, you big oaf."

Zach did. Then he snitched a freshly fried tortilla chip out of a basket on the table. "Oh, man! I'm going to be eight hundred pounds, just from catching up on all the food I missed overseas."

"You'll find a way to work it off, I'm sure. Now, go wash up. Dinner will be on the table in twenty minutes, and you know your mother will be upset if you're late. Your sister is home, too, so she'll be here any minute."

Excited at the thought of seeing Xan, Zach zipped up to his room to wash up and change. There'd been manure and whiskey all over that damn barn. He shuddered to think of anyone actually drinking that stuff.

Fifteen minutes later, showered and dressed in clean jeans and a white polo shirt, he was back downstairs, joining his parents in the ranch house's sprawling living room. He immediately crossed to his mother and kissed her cheek.

The basket of tortilla chips and a bowl of Rosaria's fresh pico de gallo sat on a tray on the cocktail table, so Zach helped himself as he took a seat next to his dad on the sofa.

There were ice buckets on the table as well, one with a bottle of wine, the other holding several bottles of beer. With a smile, Walt popped the tops off a couple Lone Stars, beads of condensation clinging to the chilled glass. He handed one to Zach. "Here's to your first day on the job, son. Good work. Jennings says you were a big help with Elvis and the boys."

Zach shook his head, even as he lifted his bottle to clink the long neck against his Dad's. "She's good," he said then paused to take a long swallow of the icy beer. "Can't see why you'd have any problem promoting her to Senior."

Walt shrugged. "She's young, but yeah, she's got potential. She said the same thing about you, by the way. Seems you convinced her you're more than just the boss's son."

Zach grinned. "One down, twenty to go."

Quinn came in then and helped himself to a beer. They chatted with him about the ranch for a moment while they waited for Xan. Then the talk turned to baseball - yet another thing Zach had missed while he was away. Football might be practically a religion in Texas, but Zach had always preferred playing and watching baseball.

"Zachariah." His mother's voice, quiet but firm with authority, broke into the male-bonding session. "I heard something in town today that...disturbs me."

He tipped his head respectfully. "Yes, ma'am?"

"I understand that you had lunch today at that horrible little diner." She emphasized the word diner as if it was synonymous with hellhole.

"Ysabel, even I eat at the Dine-n-Dash occasionally." Walt smiled fondly at his wife. "It's not fancy, but there's nothing wrong with the place."

"It's not that." Ysabel sipped her chardonnay daintily. "It's that Mercedes Wilding saw you leaving - with a woman."

"Jennings?" Walt looked at Zach and shrugged. "No harm catching a meal with your partner, but there is a no-fraternization rule, if that's where this is going."

"No." Zach set his beer down and rubbed his temples. He knew that gossip spread like wildfire in a town the size of Hawthorne, but he hadn't expected this quite so soon. "I ran across one of the librarians in the diner and walked her back to the library after lunch. Just using the manners I was taught."

"Be careful, Zach." His mom's perfectly made-up lips were set in a tight line. "You've just gotten home. You're not caught up on who's who in town any more. Give it some time before you get involved with...anyone you might regret."

Zach sighed. He knew she worried, but he wasn't seventeen. "I'm a big boy, Mom. Yes, I had lunch with Laney Burroughs, and I enjoyed it. Now, you be careful you're not judging Laney by her sister. She's nothing like Nina. Aren't you the one who taught me that every person is only responsible for their own actions? After all, wasn't the first Hawthorne in town accused of cheating at cards - which won him this very land we're living on?"

"That's just an old story, and you know it." She set her wineglass down on an end table with an uncharacteristic clatter. "I want you to stay away from that girl, Zach. It's bad enough that Mamie insists on hiring every hard-luck case she can find."

Zach opened his mouth to reply, but he was so stunned he really didn't know what to say. The front door was thrown open, saving him from saying something to his mother that he'd probably regret. His sister Xandra ran across the room and flung herself into Zach's arms. He barely had time to stand and catch her.

"Oh, I can't believe you're finally home," she cried, kissing his cheeks and grinning broadly. "Darcy Lewis is going to be thrilled. She's single again, you know."

Zach squeezed his sister tightly and shook his head. Xan's friend Darcy had been one of his high-school girlfriends, but he hadn't spared her a thought in years. "No fix-ups. If I want a girlfriend, I'll find my own." He glared over Xan's head at their mother. "And she'll be whomever I damn well please, regardless of her pedigree. I'm a little old to have anyone picking out my friends for me."

Then to soften the silence that had invaded the room at his harsh words, he smiled and held out a hand to his mother. "Now, why don't we go in and eat? It sure is good to be home."