The Cowgirl's Chosen Love - Vivian Arend Page 0,98

mother leaned back in her chair, gaze darting between him and Julia. “Wait. First, Julia? Are you okay, sweetheart?”

A little gasp escaped Julia’s lips at the obvious concern in Pamela’s tone, but she nodded. “Just a little nervous.”

“There’s no need to be. Since I doubt this was a secret from Zach, and he brought you here, it means he trusts you. Which means we trust you,” Zachary Senior insisted. He eased in close enough to pat his son on the shoulder. “Although I do admit I always figured Petra would be the one to do something like this.”

“Just wait,” Zach offered. “This means she gets to do something even more off-the-wall.”

“Heaven forbid. Okay, tell us the details.” His mother sipped her mai tai as if she didn’t have a care in the world.

Zach kept the explanation simple, skipping the parts that involved nudity and playing down the drunken bit as much as possible.

Julia sat quietly, fingers squeezing his as he spoke.

When he hit the kicker about the financial obligation to stay married for a year, his father let out an exasperated groan. “That was Bruce for you. He could never resist interfering.”

Pamela shook her head then focused once again on Julia. She opened her mouth and then closed it. A second time she started, but this time spinning her attention to Zach. “Well. All right, then. You can move into the spare room off the house, and Julia can have the cabana to herself.”

Shit. As expected. “It’s okay, Mom. We’re dating now.” Zach leapt in, hoping Julia wouldn’t change her mind and cave to the suggestion.

“We just didn’t want you to get the idea that this is anything—” Julia hesitated. Tried again. “Zach and I are friends. But…” She sighed, an enormous tired sound. “It’s complicated.”

Zachary Senior nodded slowly before clapping his hands together and looking at them brightly. “Well, as long as things are okay with you, then things are okay with us. But for heaven’s sake. If you need someone to talk to—”

“That’s okay,” Zach hurried to assure him, because while he and his father could have this discussion, he did not need his mother getting involved. His mother would somehow make the conversation revolve around sex, and that was utterly out of the question. “We’ve got it covered.”

Zach gave Julia a break and gathered his sisters together for a quick and dirty rundown of the situation. He did not offer any of them the code to their wedding ceremony video.

Petra was the first to haul Julia into a hug, and when the rest of them followed suit, smiles and support obvious in their actions, Zach took the opportunity to slip out of the house and head to the beach.

His soul hurt.

His brisk walk faded to a shuffle then to nothing at all as he stared at the lights shining off the water from the houses bending around the bay.

Zach found a rock to settle on, stretching his legs in front of him as he tried to find his internal balance.

Julia wanted to tell the truth. He had honoured that request in the same way he’d tried to for the past months of doing what made her happy.

But the fact she didn’t see them as more than friends yet cut him to the core. Because that was the truth he wanted. The truth he needed desperately.

He picked up rocks, mindlessly tossing them into the waves.

Behind him, stone clinking on stone warned of someone’s approach. When his father settled beside him, Zach wasn’t too surprised.

Still, he tried to deflect. “Nice night for stargazing.”

Zachary Senior laughed. “You are a shitty liar, son.”

“I’m a very good liar,” Zach insisted before sighing out a complaint. “You just happen to have all my same tells, so you get to cheat and see what I’m trying to hide.”

“Yeah, well. Sorry about that.” His dad matched his position, staring up and nodding. “It is a good night for stargazing. Might even spot the ISS later.”

They sat for another few minutes before his father spoke again. “You really like this woman, don’t you?”

“Yup.”

A warm hand landed on his shoulder. “Bruce messed things up for you, didn’t he?”

“Maybe. Maybe this time with Julia is the best thing I’ve got going for me.” Zach glanced sideways. “I’m not that terrible a bet. This means I’ve got time to prove it.”

“Have you told her how you feel?”

“How can I?” The complaint snapped out. Zach shoved to his feet and started pacing again. “She’s trapped, Dad. Can you just imagine