Page 46 of Hold Me Instead (Elmwood Falls #1)

Zachary

Zachary dropped his head in his hands, paperwork spread across his father’s desk.

He’d come in early Saturday morning to sort through it all, needing a space away from his dad, who’d been almost angry to share the documents.

Zachary knew it was his dad’s pride getting in the way, but that didn’t soften the aggravation of him watching over Zachary’s shoulder.

No, best to take care of it away from his parents altogether.

It felt risky bringing it all into the office, which was why he went in early, hoping for time alone before Charlie’s arrival.

He’d been trying to find another solution somewhere, but even paying Mel’s accountant for a meeting came up empty.

Nothing besides giving it to Zachary or finding a buyer looked promising.

Charlie would be devastated. They’d been avoiding conversations about transferring over the practice, keeping things running and not thinking about Daniel retiring.

And being with each other.

Most nights after work, they went back to her place for dinner.

Continued exploring each other. Nothing much beyond what they’d done the previous weekend, but Zachary saw her comfort growing each day, a fact that made him honored and determined to keep her trust. She even shared a book with him that had helped her learn about her vaginismus, so he'd been reading that in spare moments too.

He ran his fingers through his hair. Buying the practice himself would do exactly the opposite of what he wanted—it would lose her trust and their relationship.

This whole time, she’d been under the impression he was only here temporarily, without interest in running things.

If he changed his mind? She’d be crushed.

After all the years she’d put into this place, working toward it becoming her own, how could she then just sit back and let him have it?

She was way too ambitious for that, her dreams too big.

She deserved to have her own practice. She’d probably even leave.

Besides. If he stayed in town, it would mean defining what they were, and he hadn’t planned on going down that road again.

But selling to Neptune was worse.

“Oh! Hey.” Charlie’s footsteps stuttered in the doorway. “You beat me today.”

“Catching up on some financial stuff for Dad.” Not a lie .

“What a coincidence. I actually wanted to talk to you about money.”

Zachary turned back to his desk, busying himself so she didn’t see the worry on his face. “What about?”

“Each year, we take up additional collections for our Dale Fund during the holidays. People tend to give a fair amount around this time. I was thinking, what if we partner up with one of the rescues too? See what their wish list is. Sometimes people have extra leashes lying around that didn’t work out, or prefer to contribute new goods instead of donating money. We can have a collection bin going.”

Zachary had turned to watch her excitement.

With her feet planted on the ground, she swiveled her seat this way and that.

Her scrub top matched her energy, printed with snowflakes and animals wearing winter hats, tongues out to catch the crystals.

“That’s a great idea. You thinking the rescue you work with? ”

She nodded. “They’re always looking for supplies.”

He smiled. “I love it.”

She grinned back. “Great.”

They sat for a moment, looking at each other.

Charlie glanced at their open doorway, then stood, placing her hands on the arm rests of his chair.

She leaned in for a peck, but his hands shot up to cup her face, and she giggled.

Short, sweet. Their kiss deepened, and all Zachary wanted was to pull her on his lap.

When voices carried down the hall, she stepped back, a smile on her flushed face.

She started to prep at her desk. He knew he should do the same, but found it harder to tear his eyes from her every time they were together.

***

“Thought I might not get a chance to see you while you were in town.” The gravelly voice dripped with admonishment.

Zachary glanced over the head of the Bernese mountain dog stretched on the floor to the client, an older man who was one of the select few who held the title of original customer at EFVH. Also, the man Zachary had pawned off to Charlie early on in his return.

“How’ve you been, Mr. Sandalli?”

The man shrugged in his seat, golden-brown skin creased, one long, skinny leg resting by its ankle on the other knee. “Can’t complain. Not too cold yet. ”

“Mmm. Think it’ll be a mild winter this year?” Weather was one of the easiest tools of communication, and in Wisconsin, the winter especially.

“Who knows anymore,” Mr. Sandalli groused. “Laurel keeps praying that we’ll have a white Christmas with the kids and grandkids in town. And that if a blizzard should hit, that it comes immediately after they arrive. Thinks it’s a way to keep them here a little longer.”

Zachary chuckled. “How is Mrs. Sandalli?”

“Doing fine. Knitting mittens for the grandbabies. We’ve got five of them, you know.”

“I didn’t. That’s great, congrats.” Zachary continued his checks on the dog.

“You giving your dad grandbabies anytime soon?”

He coughed, moving to the computer to jot some notes, the slow computer that was extending his time in this room. “Uh, no. No kids. Sandra’s two keep them plenty busy right now. Any other concerns about Boscoe here?”

“Nope. Still eating like the horse that he is. Just want to make sure there’s nothing wrong, since the stool’s been so loose and all.”

Zachary nodded. “We’ll test that sample and get his round of bloodwork taken care of.

He’s due anyway, so let’s start there, see what it might tell us about his change in weight.

Should have the results back to you in a couple days.

” Zachary held out his hand. “It’s nice to see you, Mr. Sandalli. Please say hi to your wife for me.”

Mr. Sandalli kept his grip firm. “Sorry to have missed you when I brought Whiskers in. Your dad must be thrilled to have you home and handling things here. I’m sure it’s a major weight lifted. Nice to see you taking care of things, son. ”

Zachary swallowed. Was that what was required to be considered a good son? To do the job his father had hoped for him? Was everything else considered moot otherwise?

He gave a small nod. “One of the techs will be in shortly for Boscoe. Take care.” He squeezed out of the room and hustled down the hallway for the kitchenette, needing something fizzy to quench whatever guilt had just wrung him dry.

“How’d it go?” Charlie asked behind him.

He turned, the sparkling water a shake to his system. “Not terrible.”

“Good.” She rummaged in the fridge and pulled out a protein bar.

“You had that in the fridge?”

She bit, eyes wide. “So good. It’s got dates and little chocolate chips. Tastes like dessert.” She wiggled her eyebrows.

He shook his head, amused.

She tilted her head. “You sure you’re good? You look a little…?”

He took another gulp. Pressured ? Annoyed ? Overwhelmed and afraid of disappointing everyone ? He went with “Tired?”

“Constipated.”

He fought off another laugh as a ridiculously pleased smile lit up her face.

“Want a bite? Maybe this’ll help.” She held up her bar, but he waved it off.

“I’ve got a lot on my mind,” he said.

“Anything you want to talk about?”

So many things .

“No. Not now.”

He startled when her hand lightly touched his arm, but seeing her soft eyes and furrowed brow, his shoulders relaxed .

“I’m good, really. Thinking about Dad, and the practice…You know, the usual.”

She nodded. “Want to grab a drink tonight?”

He sighed. “That sounds perfect.”

“Great. Because your sister wanted to go out, and I kinda told her we would.”

“You told her we would?”

“Yeah. Well. We were texting about your dad, and you came up, and I mentioned I met Mel last weekend, and all of a sudden, she planned a night with us. Your mom is going to watch the kids, I guess. She needs out of the house, and your dad wants to be left alone. So Sandra jumped on the chance to have a night out with Jay. Apparently, Whiskey Nights has a holiday spritz or something he wants to try.”

“Jay and his mocktails.” He scrubbed a hand through his hair. “They want to spend their night out with us?”

She shrugged. “Why not?” She gave him a little punch at his shoulder. “Her baby brother’s in town. And she knows we’re friends.”

“We’re more than that,” he grumbled.

Charlie blinked rapidly, her lips parted. Her tongue darted out as she stepped closer, but before she could speak, before he could find out if she was wetting those lips for him, Sheila came in, alerting Charlie of her next appointment.

Without a word, Charlie’s fingertips brushed his on her way out of the room. Which left him with a little more time to determine what all of this even meant.

** *

“I know it’s barely eight, and this is our one stop, but I feel like we’re getting a night out on the town.

” Sandra raised her glass to acknowledge the group, then took a sip of her old fashioned.

She smiled with plum-colored lips, her hair falling in soft curls.

A skinny gold bracelet matched the necklace hanging over her black turtleneck. “So good.”

Charlie laughed. “How were the kids?”

“Alex was very focused on the bedtime story he picked for Gram, and Vivi was just excited they had Gram to themselves,” Jay said. His black sweater was a sharp complement to his wife. He took another sip of his smoky cider mocktail, then handed it to Sandra to try.

“Gram was excited too. For time away from her grumpy husband,” Sandra added.