He grins lazily at me. “Don’t forget we’re like their children. If we complain, they might ban us from Silvermoon for harassing their employees. Ready to leave?”
I nod. “Thank you for staying. Have you been here long?”
“Waiting for you? No. There was a concert in the live stage bar. Sinners of Seattle and Too Far From Grace had a Valentine’s Day concert. I hung out with Seth and his sister who were here to watch them. My cousin, Byron, was around too since he manages Too Far From Grace.”
Okay, so he wasn’t here alone while I worked. Somehow that makes me feel better. Knowing that he stayed for me makes my insides swoon, which is wrong in so many ways. Burke made it clear that his brother is pining for his late wife. Zach told me that his relationship had been a clusterfuck up until the day she died. One of them is wrong, and I should probably stay away instead of trying to unveil the truth.
“Let’s get moving,” he suggests.
“Of course, my car is in the employee parking lot.”
He shakes his head. “Why don’t I drive us, and we can come back for your car tomorrow morning? My car is waiting outside.”
“I don’t want to inconvenience you.”
“This is the least I could do after Burke and I interrupted your workday.”
“Sure, why not?”
“Wow, don’t sound so thrilled about my offer.”
I yawn. “Hey, I’m super tired. I spent part of my day baking Valentine’s Day cookies for Matilda’s school and her after-school activities.”
“Where is she?”
“At Moms. Most Saturdays, she stays with Miranda and Aiden. Except when they leave town.”
“Valentine’s Day getaway?”
I nod, covering my mouth as I try to control the yawning attack. Once we’re in the car, I say, “Thank you for the ride. I guess I needed it more than I thought.”
I lean back on the seat and close my eyes, resting them for a second.
“Wake up, sleepyhead.” A low and throaty voice interrupts what could be one of the best dreams I’ve had in years.
Zachary St. James was kissing me. I could feel his heat burning my skin. Unfortunately, someone dragged me out of my dream before his big hands slid down my body and touched me.
When I open my eyes, I see him. Zach.
His gorgeous, sparkly brown eyes stare at me.
I blink a couple of times and realize that I’m in his car. He’s resting a hand on the passenger door.
“You’re bone-tired.”
I move my neck, stretch slightly, and take off my seat belt. “Probably.”
“So, I didn’t want to wake you up, and you failed to tell me where you live.”
I flinch. “Sorry.”
“It’s fine. Since no one is at home waiting, I took the liberty of bringing you to Burke’s. He has a guest room.”
“Any other day, I’d fight you, but I’m too tired, and it’ll be easier to pick up my car if I stay.”
He grins as if I just made his day.
We enter through the garage. The lights are dim. I think I’m walking into the living room because there are couches and a coffee table in the center. However, it’s hard to make out the color of the walls or the furniture. “You can take your shoes off and leave them in that basket.”
He points at what I think is the main door.
“I take it you haven’t bought a house yet.”
“I’ve been busy. Since it’s late, I can’t offer you coffee, but how about tea?”
“Tea sounds good. While growing up, I used to drink warm milk before bed.”
“I remember that. I’d like to offer you milk, but we don’t have any. Neither one of us drinks it.”
When we enter the kitchen, the lights come to life right away.
“Sensors?”
“Yep. It takes time to get used to them. The first week they scared the shit out of me,” he says, strolling toward the counter and grabbing the electric kettle. “The teas are right behind you. There’s a lavender chamomile honey that you might like.”
I open the cupboard, and there are so many kinds of tea that I feel like I’m in heaven. “You drink tea?”
“Not often.”
“This treasure tells a different story.”
“I bring a sample of everything I sell. The loose lavender leaves come from a store in Luna Harbor. The yerba mate is from Costa Rica. Eros produces it on one of his farms.”
“Who is Eros?”
He closes the kettle, turns up the temperature, and directs his attention toward me. “Callie’s brother.”
“I wish I was that close to Pax’s family.”
“How are things with his family?”
“They’re bad. Matilda made them a Christmas card. We mailed it, but as usual, they didn’t acknowledge it or send a thank-you note. I wish I could say let’s just not do it.”
The kettle beeps. He takes a Café Fusion mug and grabs the tin of tea I have in my hand.
“Why don’t you tell her to stop?” he asks, dipping an infuser with the loose leaves of lavender and chamomile.
“I’d have to give her an explanation. Your grandparents are heartless assholes isn’t appropriate for her age.”
He hands me the mug and sets a saucer in front of me. “Wait until the timer beeps, then you can take out the infuser.”
While he’s cleaning the kitchen, he says, “I bet the Brassard family would be spoiling my kid if…”
His shoulders slump. His face is more than sad. There’s some emotion I can’t quite pin down lingering in his gaze.
“You shouldn’t torture yourself with something that you don’t know happened.”
“What if she was expecting a kid and I pushed her to…?” He closes his mouth, and though I want to reach toward him and console him, I don’t. The timer goes off. I take out the cute infusion spoon and set it on the counter. I sip some of the warm tea while I think of what to tell him.
“That night. It was Megan’s birthday party. Matilda was only three weeks old. Instead of taking her with us, we dropped her at Mom’s place. She was a baby. I wasn’t going to have a newborn at a ballroom with three hundred guests.”
I hold on to the mug tightly, trying to keep the tears inside.
“On our way to Silver Lake, he hit a patch of black ice. We were trapped in the car. They pulled me out first. He yelled, ‘save her, don’t worry about me. Just make sure she gets back to our baby.’”
I close my eyes, pulling back the tears that are threatening to spill. “I had a broken arm. He…they couldn’t save him.”
“Hey, you don’t have to continue.” He takes me into his arms.
I look up at Zach. “For years, I blamed myself. If I had taken Matilda to the party, he’d be alive. Megan sued the first responders. If they had pulled out her son first, he’d be alive. They killed Pax. I killed Pax.”
He presses my head close to his body. “It wasn’t your fault.”
“I know it now, but it took me years to get over that part. Why him and not me? Is it my fault that Matilda doesn’t have a dad? I understand you.”