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them in Laney s mailbox, was actually a Federal offense. While Zach knew a lot of it would be
plea-bargained away, he also knew the kids would all be paying for their actions one way or
another. Their parents were, to put it mildly, pissed. Once they d been handed irrefutable
evidence, the mayor and his buddy Kendricks had both vowed that their sons would be dealt
with. The mayor already had Mick looking at juvenile boot camp for the boys.
Now that everything was more or less under control, Zach had a couple of other tasks to
accomplish before he could go home and spend the evening with Laney. He was just getting
ready to pack things up when his cell phone rang. The display showed an unknown number.
Zach Shannon.
Zach, this is Parker Burroughs. I can t reach Aunt Laney, and Jacob s grandmother told
him something about a fire. Is she okay?
Yeah, she s fine. There was a little damage to the front porch, so they wouldn t let her
go inside. She s at my house, resting up.
She doesn t even have her phone?
No, she didn t get anything out of the house. But the building s been cleared. There s no
structural damage. She ll just have to use the back door for a few days while the porch is
repaired.
Thanks for keeping me in the loop, dude. Might have been nice if somebody called me.
Zach winced. I m sorry. You re right I should have thought of it. I m leaving the
office in a few minutes to go get some things from your house. Once she has her phone, I m sure
she s going to want to give you a call.
All right then. The boy grunted his acceptance. Do you know if she s heard about the
job yet? Or if this is going to affect the sale of the house? We were hoping to get settled in up
here before school started.
I don t know. Minnesota? Hell, no. She wasn t going to move anywhere at all, not if he
could help it. Certainly not a thousand miles away. He really hoped Parker wouldn t mind
staying here in Hawthorne.
Are you keeping an eye on her? She s sounded pretty awful all week, and she never
once mentioned your name. I figure that means she wasn t spending time with you.
Not much, no. It s been kind of a rough week. But I promise, from here on out, I ll be
keeping her very, very close. If she lets me.
Oh? And just what are your intentions toward my aunt? Parker mustered every bit of
dignity a teenager could except his voice cracked on the last word, making Zach smile.
I intend to ask her to marry me. Tonight. If that s all right with you, that is. He knew
that Laney came as part of a package deal, and honestly, he didn t mind a bit. The misfit teen had
already found his own place in Zach s heart. Now, Zach wondered which room in his house
Parker would like as his own.
Yeah, that s okay, if you mean it, Parker said slowly. Does that mean we d come live
with you? Cause I don t think our place is big enough.
I kind of hoped you would, Zach answered. The house is too big for just me, anyway.
Think you could handle staying in Texas, now that you ve been cleared?
There was a long pause then a war whoop. I could manage. Tell her to call me as soon
as she says yes.
Of course. Zach grinned as he hung up the phone. Now for one more call before he
moved on with the rest of his life. He shut and locked his office door then placed a call to his
father s hospital room.
Hi, Mother. How s he doing today?
A little better every day. Ysabel sounded tired but optimistic. Good. If all goes well,
he could be coming home on Monday. But dear, you sound exhausted. Is anything wrong?
Not now. It was just a really long night with a case. I thought it might cheer him up to
hear we got the arson case all wrapped up with a big ol bow on it.
He s not in the room just now. They took him down the hall for some testing, but I ll be
sure to let him know. You re right. That will perk him up. Shall I have him call you when he s
back?
That would be great, though it s actually you I wanted to talk to partly at least.
Really?
Her surprise made him wince. Had he been that obvious about avoiding her since he d
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