“Protect me from what?”
“From having to deal with her illness. From the sadness of possibly losing her.”
“Damn it all to hell,” he said. “What good is all my land, my money, my stupid fucking Harvard education, if I can’t save her?”
“Zach, sugar—” Laurie reached out to him.
“No, Ma. Stop right there.”
He’d burn in hell before he let Dusty go through this alone. He’d be there for her, take care of her, love her. Whether she wanted him or not. Zach rose and strode toward the door.
“Now where are you going?” Dallas asked.
He faced them with a determined gaze. “I have to see Harper Bay about a horse, and then I’m going to go get my woman.”
Chapter Sixteen
Su
nday afternoon at the Double D Ranch found Dusty tending to one of the barn cats delivering a litter of kittens. A large litter—nine so far, and at least one more was on the way. The cat, a tabby Dusty called Jemma, was having trouble with this particularly large kitten. Dusty had called for the local vet in Black Eagle, but she was out of town. Sam was in Billings and wouldn’t be back until late in the evening, so Dusty was on her own. She was concerned about the cat but secretly pleased that this blessed event required her staunch attention. It kept her mind off the news that was to come the next day.
“Come on, Jem, you can do it.” Dusty massaged the cat’s abdomen, trying to ease the delivery. Jemma squalled, but Dusty remained focused and tried to calm the cat and the newborn kittens searching for a teat.
When the last kitten still refused to budge, Dusty reached in to extract him manually. Jemma screeched but lay motionless, her belly pumping rapidly with breaths. Dusty turned the kitten carefully and at last withdrew him from his mother. Large, as she had expected, and black with caramel stripes. “We’ll have to call you Fatso.”
She checked Jemma and determined that Fatso was indeed the last kitten. Thank goodness. Poor Jemma was exhausted. She lay on her side, and once all the babies were nursing, Dusty stood up and wiped her hands on her overalls. What a mess.
But what a miracle. She loved newborns of all kinds. She sighed, knowing one of her own wasn’t in the cards. Never would be.
Her hair, which she still wore down, hung in strings around her dirty face. Her clothes were filthy with afterbirth and mud. Yuck. She needed a shower, and she needed it now.
As she headed out the door of the barn and up the path to the small ranch house, she spied a blue pickup rolling into the drive. A pickup she had seen before. Had almost made love in.
Zach. Zach was here.
And she was covered in cat placenta.
She could run for the house, but he’d see her. She could run back to the barn, but when he found the house empty, that’s the next place he’d look. Or she could just run.
But she didn’t want to. Not this time. She was so tired of running from him. So tired of running, period. He had come for her, and she wanted him.
He stepped out of the truck, and her heart warmed when she saw he wasn’t limping. She’d known he’d heal quickly. He was so vibrant and strong, so full of life.
He deserved a woman who could be his equal in that respect. Unfortunately, that wasn’t her.
But he had come for her. Somewhere, in the back of her mind, she had known he would eventually. She had wanted him to. As he approached the door to her tiny home, she walked toward him. Then she couldn’t help herself. She ran.
“Zach!” she cried out.
He turned, and his lazy smile lit up his gorgeous face. Oh God, he had grown a short goatee just like she’d asked him to. He looked incredible. So very incredible. All she could think about was how those short whiskers would feel against her cheeks when he kissed her.
And he would kiss her. It was written all over his face.
Within five seconds she was in his arms, his mouth on hers, their lips meshing together in frantic desperation. Her face was grimy and her hair not fit for human eyes, but he kissed her as though she were the last woman on earth. She kissed him back the same way.
After several timeless moments, Zach broke the kiss and pushed her away slightly, holding her shoulders. “You look beautiful,” he murmured.
She couldn’t help laughing at that observation. If she had ever doubted his love for her—and she hadn’t—she’d have been convinced of it at that moment. “I just delivered a litter of ten kittens. I’m covered in blood and guts. Only you would say I look beautiful right now.”