“Hey, soldier,” Mack said to Zane as he leaned against the tailgate. Mabel noticed he leaned on the far edge, away from Zane. He probably didn’t want his clothes getting dirty.
Zane didn’t respond, but his mouth did twitch a little. Mabel guessed she could work with the mouth twitch better than pure silence.
“This isn’t your fault, Zane,” Mabel said, though even Mabel herself had a hard time looking at the destruction that lay in front of them. She’d overheard that the city had to turn off the water to half the town while this got figured out.The potential for contamination of drinking water is high,she’d overheard one of the officials say.
“Yeah, it’s the fault of the dimwit who built the dam in the first place. The owner of the land insists he had no idea this dam evenexisted. I’m calling his bluff, but there’s going to be an investigation either way.” Mack rubbed his eyes. “I don’t want you worrying about it. So we have the water shut off for a bit? So what? And we have a boil order for a few days? This is all par for the course. A day in the life of the most powerful man in town.” Mack’s eyebrows bumped up a couple of times.
The ego of that man could make a monk in a vow of silence sing. Still, Mabel knew it was an act. Underneath it all, Mack was humbler than almost everyone.
“I shouldn’t have climbed up there to try to do anything about it, though.”
“Look, Zane. Let’s go home, okay?” Mabel’s chest burned when she thought ofhomewith him. “Everything’s under control.” She wrinkled her nose and pushed against his shoulder. “Besides, you need a shower.” He was covered in mud, yes. But he was also still so dang hot.
“I’m good to stay here for a while longer.” He glanced at Mabel. “But if you’re getting tired, you can take my truck home. I’m sure Mr. Fancy Pants here could drop me off later.”
Mack smirked. “What? I like to dress better when I’m having meetings. Is there a problem?” He looked down at his burgundy dress shirt that had a small repeating white pattern on it and his tailored gray slacks. He picked off a little piece of lint.
“I like a man who can get dirty, though.” Mabel grinned, giving Zane a look. He needed someone on his side at a time like this.
“I can get dirty!” Mack lifted a shoe. “I’m pretty sure this is not just dirt on my sole. Smells a whole heck of a lot worse than dirt.”
Zane let out a little laugh. “You should have been born in the city.”
“I’m a Silver Plummer for life, and you know it,” Mack replied. “You should worry about Liam more than anyone, though. Now there are some fancy clothes.”
They nodded and then waved as the rancher who’d put his cows on the trailer drove away.
Mabel eased closer to Zane. “If you feel like you need to stay, then stay. But I’ll take Styles back to your place until your sister gets off, okay? It’s going to be a while, and I’m sure your arms feel like they’re going to fall off.”
Zane shifted where he was sitting and gently moved Styles over to his other side. “I told you, I’m good. But, please, if you need to leave, take my truck.”
“But then where would you sit?”
Just then a car pulled up, and even though it was almost dark, Mabel saw that it was Zane’s sister, Lorelei.
Styles stirred a little in the transferring process, but once they got him safely tucked into the back of his mom’s car, his head lolled to one side in sleep once more.
Lorelei squeezed Zane’s forearm. “You okay? This is a mess.” She gave a sympathetic chuckle. “As are you.”
He nodded. “Still waiting to hear what they’re going to do.”
“You don’t have to stay, do you?” Lorelei asked. “I mean, it’s not like they’re going to take you into custody for accidentally messing up a poorly built and illegal dam.”
No. But the state would open up an investigation on the dam. There would be paperwork to file. Mabel also knew it was going to be a big headache to clean up this sediment bar that now covered a large portion of the cow pasture.
Poor Zane. First the hospital’s investigation, and nowthis?
Zane shrugged. “I don’t feel like I can leave yet.” He turned to Mabel. “You don’t have to stay here. I know you have studying to do.”
“You trying to get rid of me?” She was teasing, but she couldn’t help the whisper of worry.
“Not at all. But nothing’s happening, and it’s not like we can keep working on the project.” He reached out to touch her arm but then drew his mud-dried hand away.
“I’d love to drop you off at your house, Mabel,” Lorelei said. “I’ll just be waiting in my car.”
Mabel thanked her and turned to Zane.
“What are your plans this weekend?” She gazed at him. “I’m hoping they’ll at some point involve me.”
