Zane’s gaze bored into Bryce’s. “She’ll be great, with her safety and her studying.”
Bryce didn’t say anything, just fixed his dead stare on Zane a moment before undoing the latch on the pump and replacing it on the machine. Before he drove away, he spoke to them again. “Severalpeople have been asking me about this water tower repair situation and how you guys are doing on the watershed project. I hope I’m not remiss in telling them you’ll get it done. I don’t know what we’re going to do if the state rejects your proposal.”
“You don’t need to worry.” Zane knew his voice held bitterness, and he hoped Bryce got this message loud and clear. “We’ve got it handled.”
Zane finished filling up, and by then, the diatribe in his head had already begun. He didn’t think it was good form to disparage someone’s father. But he also wanted Mabel to know he saw the realities, how deficient her father had become.
They pulled out of the gas station, and he couldn’t keep it in any longer. “Don’t forget about your studying?” Zane’s anger was measured, but his frustration simmered right below the surface. “Does he think you’re still in high school?”
Mabel shot him a look of surprise. “No. He hears me complaining about the NCLEX all the time. He’s just reminding me of my goals.”
“You’re right. But he barely even looked at you except to tell you what you should and shouldn’t do. You’re a grown woman.”
“Yes, I am. He’s…” She sighed and gazed out the window. “He’s been through a lot.”
“Doesn’t give him license to treat you that way.”
“I know. It’s not like I said, ‘Yes, Daddy. Whatever you say, Daddy.’” She bit her lip. “Sometimes it’s better not to react.”
“And sometimes it’s better to respond, from my standpoint. I had to say something. Besides—” Zane urged himself to think before he spoke. “Youhave been through a lot. You’re the one who lost your mother. You’re the one who had to become the responsible adult in the family at age fourteen. You got sick and didn’t have a single person to take care of you. Your dad never even came home from the oil rigsone time when you were in the hospital or when you came home and could barely get up off the couch.”
Sadness settled in his gut as he remembered how sick she was. He could have lost her that summer. She’d been weak and exhausted. Little appetite, pale face, fingertips so cold she wore knit gloves most of the time. The memories haunted him.
Silence fissured between them. “He had to work, and he sent money,” she said.
“As he should have. You lost your job because of your illness.” He took a deep breath. “I take issue with people who hurt you, okay? I know he’s also hurting. But he’s the father. He needs to step up.”
“Not everyone can be Reverend Jeff Taylor.” She said it quietly.
She was right. Zane was lucky to have the father he did, and his mother, Robyn. “I have a great father and mother who are still alive and well, thank the Lord. But I have a problem with those who can’t get their ducks in a row to heal themselves.” He rested his forearm on the top of the steering wheel. “I’m sorry.” He knew he sounded defensive. Who was he to talk about healing, especially healing the emotional stuff? He didn’t understand any of that very well.
Suddenly, he caught one small glimpse into how she felt. He could empathize with her.
Mabel had lost her mother. For all intents and purposes, she’d lost her father. She’d lost him as a series of immature and ill-informed behaviors paralyzed the both of them.
It was a combination that no one should have to go through in this life.
Zane would do everything he could to help her heal.
Chapter 14
Okay, so Mabel had decided that Zane wasn’t actually a bad driver. He might have hit the bumps in the road too fast, but she felt perfectly safe with him in this truck, which to be fair, was way cleaner than her car. Its “new car smell” was natural and not the prefabricated kind from one of those air fresheners she sometimes bought.
The sunset glowed yellow, orange, and pink, and Mabel was reminded of how beautiful the Silver Plum countryside was.
“Despite being sick that year, it was kind of a good summer, in a way,” she said.
Zane snorted his disbelief. “How could it have been good? You were really sick. You had to move to your dad’s duplex, and no one was around. All the KNO people were gone.”
A warmth spread under her breastbone. “You weren’t gone. You came home.”
He nodded. “I was glad to be here. I wanted to help a lot more than I did.”
“You did help me.”
He stared out the windshield. “I couldn’t stand the thought of you being here all alone.” A frown crept across his face. “Iunderstood that your dad had commitments to work, and a contract in the oil fields is a big deal.” He bit the corner of his mouth. “I had to come.”
“You came for me?” Her throat felt like it had been swabbed at a doctor’s office a few too many times. Memories of him slammed into her, and she gripped the door’s armrest.
