absorbed in her reading.
“I feel as if I know part of your family,” she said, folding a letter. “After the Civil War, Warner Delaney started building this ranch house. He brought his family out here. Earlier, he met a woman in Kansas City and is going to ask her to marry him.”
“My great-great-grandmother? Her name was Tabitha, I think.”
They heard a commotion in the hall and a tall man in Western boots, jeans, a navy sweater and a Stetson entered the room. He held the hand of a little black-haired girl who smiled broadly at Zach and then glanced shyly at Emma.
“Will. Caroline. How’s my prettiest and favorite niece?” Zach asked, lifting her up and holding her to kiss her cheek. She laughed and giggled as he set her on her feet. “Hey, Will. Where’s Ava?”
“Stopped to talk to Rosie and leave Muffy with her. Muffy is a dog,” he explained, glancing at Emma.
“Emma, this is my niece, Caroline, and my brother Will Delaney. Ah, here is Ava. Emma, meet Ava Delaney. This is Emma Hillman, my secretary.”
As she shook hands with the adults, Emma gazed into warm welcoming green eyes of a sandy-haired blonde. Caroline, holding a small brown bear, could not stop smiling.
“C’mon, let’s go into the family room where it’s more comfortable and Caroline has things to play with while we talk,” Zach suggested.
Will smiled. “We were on our way back from Dallas and stopped for a few minutes to see about you.”
“Zach, all of you go ahead,” Emma said. “I can stay in here. I don’t want to intrude—”
“C’mon, Emma, or we’ll all have to sit in here on these hard chairs,” Zach said with a shake of his head.
“Please join us,” Ava said. “Don’t leave Caroline and me alone with these two.”
Emma smiled and nodded, knowing Ava was teasing and it was nice that they would include her. Will was strikingly handsome without the ruggedness of Zach. She would not have picked them out of a crowd as brothers because Will’s dark eyes were nothing like Zach’s vivid blue ones. Their facial structure was as different as their hair.
“Well, the offer is still open for you to have Thanksgiving with us,” Will said.
“Thanks. I’ll still stay here. You know Rosie will cook a big turkey.”
“You should join us, Zach,” Ava said. “The snow will be beautiful and we’ll have a great time.”
“Thanks, Ava. I’ll do fine here,” he replied without glancing at Emma.
When they entered the family room, Emma mulled over his turning down the offer for Thanksgiving. How could he turn down Will and stay alone on the isolated ranch? She would never understand how Zach could possibly avoid being lonely and miserable. Was this all a carryover from childhood hurts, seeking isolation because it was a shield against times he had been left alone and deeply disappointed?
“So how are you doing with the memorabilia?” Will asked.
“I want to show you what Emma found in that box of old letters. I’ll put it with anything else of value we find.”
“I’ll get it,” Emma said. “You talk to your family.” Before Zach could protest she hurried from the room. In minutes she returned to hand the box to Zach.
As she sat down, he took the watch and held it up. “Look at this.”
“That looks like a fine watch and something nice to keep since it belonged to a Delaney ancestor,” Will said. Zach carried it to show it to Ava and Caroline who crowded around them. Will got up to join them.
“If this isn’t just like Dad,” Zach said. “I’ll bet he found the watch and stuck it back in with the letters to let us find it.”
“I don’t know. I had the feeling he had never gone through that stuff before,” Will remarked.
“Maybe not. No telling what else I’ll find. Or Emma will find.”
“I hear you’re the one reading the letters,” Will said, smiling at her.
“Yes, most of them.”
“She’s far more interested and views them as sacred chunks of our family history and Texas history, but I don’t have quite the same respect for them.”
The men returned to their seats and Zach placed the watch in the box on a table.
Emma’s mystification about Zach’s solitary way of life grew as she listened to the brothers and realized they were close and enjoyed each other’s company. And Zach was good with Caroline. When Caroline walked over to him, he lifted her to his lap and focused his attention on her.
Shortly she climbed down and went to get into Will’s lap and turn his face so he looked at her. She whispered in his ear.
“Yes, we will right now,” Will said, looking at Zach. “Caroline has some family news to tell you.”
Caroline couldn’t sit still and had a big smile. She climbed down and ran to Zach to stand at his knee. She gave another shy glance at Emma and Emma suddenly suspected she was interrupting a family moment. She wanted to leave them to themselves, but she was afraid that would be even more disruptive, so she sat quietly.
Caroline’s big smile broadened. “Uncle Zach, I’m going to become a big sister.”
“You are!” Zach looked over her head at his brother. “Congratulations!”
“It’s early, but we told Caroline because we want to do some remodeling and build a nursery, not only in Dallas, but at my ranch here and in Colorado.”
“That is great news, Caroline,” Zach said. “Wow! You’ll be a big sister and I’ll be an uncle again.”
She laughed and turned in a circle.
Zach crossed the room to hug Ava lightly. “Congratulations. That’s wonderful.”
“We think so,” she said, her eyes sparkling. She looked radiant as she glanced at her husband and exchanged a look with him. They were obviously so much in love Emma felt slightly envious. Ava reached out to hug Caroline and Will picked her up, holding her while she wrapped her arm around his neck. “We’re thrilled,” Ava added.
“Congratulations to all of you,” Emma said. “You have wonderful news.” She looked at Caroline. “Caroline, you’ll have lots of fun with your little brother or sister.”
Caroline nodded and smiled.
“We’re excited,” Will said. “And we’ll let you both go back to work. We need to get to the ranch. Caroline has been promised to get to ride her horse.”
“It’s been nice to meet you,” Ava said to Emma. “We’re glad you’re working here. Zach needs help with all the old papers.”
“Just keep him from shredding them,” Will remarked dryly.
