which child stood before him, guessing it was Jake. “Yes, I did give your team a very big point,” he answered, amused that the little kid was checking on him.
The child nodded. “Thank you.” He turned to his great-grandmother. “Did you give my team a point, Gran-Gran?”
“Yes, I did,” she said, leaning forward to hug him. “You’re playing a good game,” she said.
“Thank you.” Smiling broadly, he ran off, half skipped to his dad, who asked him a question, glancing over his head at Zach. The child told his dad something and his dad smiled at Zach and turned back to play.
Zach was unaccustomed to sitting out anything active. During the time-out, he motioned Emma over.
“I hate sitting on the sidelines. If three-year-old Willie can play, so can I.”
“Zach, you have to stay off your foot.”
“This shoe protects my foot. I am not accustomed to being a spectator. I’ll stop if my foot hurts. It’s only tag football.”
“You’ll be on my team then, so I can keep up with you.”
“Don’t hover. Your family will really think we have something going.”
Zach got into the game, enjoying himself even though he knew he was being foolish and risking more injury, but he hated doing nothing except keeping score. He had never been one to sit on the sidelines and he didn’t want to miss out now. He hobbled around and it was easy to keep up when they had geared down to a three-year-old level.
Before dinner they gathered wood to build a fire in a stone fireplace. When Zach started to help, Emma stopped him.
“This isn’t a chore you have to do. Go sit and we’ll get the wood.”
“I’m not doing much,” he said, brushing past her. Minutes later as he picked up a dead branch and turned, Connor blocked his way.
“Thought you were supposed to stay off your foot.”
“A few branches and I’ll quit. I still can’t get accustomed to sitting around.”
“Which is why Emma works on your ranch?”
“Right,” Zach said. He could feel anger from Connor and see curiosity in his expression.
“You’ve been all over the world, so you’re pretty sophisticated and experienced. Emma’s not. Did she tell you she’s never brought anyone home before?”
“We work together. I don’t know what she’s told the family, but I think I’m here because she feels sorry for me.”
“Yeah. We heard you were alone. I just don’t want to see my sister hurt.”
“I wouldn’t want her hurt either.”
“Zach,” Emma called, hurrying to join them. “Give those sticks to Connor and come sit. You shouldn’t be on your foot. Just watch everyone.”
All the time she talked, Zach looked at Connor who gazed at him with a flat stare that held a silent warning. When Emma tugged on his arm to take the wood from him, Zach turned away.
“I think Connor was being a big brother and jumping to ridiculous ideas. Pay no attention to him,” she said.
“Your older brother is a little difficult to ignore since he’s five inches over six feet tall and probably weighs in at 250.”
“Come on. They’re getting the fire started and we’ll cook dinner and then sit and sing and later, tell stories.”
Amused, he went with her, hobbling along.
As they got dinner on the tables, Emma carried a hot dish and set it on the table, then turned to find Connor beside her.
“Emma.” He glanced over her head and she realized they were the only two standing at the end of the long table. “Be careful. I don’t want you to get hurt.”
“I hope, Connor, you didn’t threaten him. He’s my boss.”
“If that’s all he is, that’s fine. Guys like Zach Delaney do not marry into families like the Hillmans.”
“I brought him home for the weekend because I didn’t want him to spend Thanksgiving alone. We’ve always invited people who might be alone on holidays. I felt sorry for him. There’s nothing more to it than that.”
“It looks like more,” Connor said, frowning.
“This is a temporary job that is on the verge of ending. When it does end, I’ll never see him again. Most of the time he works abroad. There’s nothing to be concerned about.”
“I hope not. Take care of yourself.”
She smiled. “I will. Stop worrying.”
He jammed his hands into his pockets and walked away. She watched him and shook her head. Connor was forever the big brother.
As she got more dishes of food on the table, Mary Kate approached with more delicious looking food.
“Is Connor being big brother?” she asked.
“Ever so,” Emma replied, rolling her eyes.
“Emma, should Connor be big brother?”
“No. I didn’t want Zach to be alone over the holiday and he would have been. Anyone in this family would have invited him if they had been in my place.”
“Are you sure?” Mary Kate asked, tilting her head to study her sister. “Here he comes.” She moved away before Emma answered. She forgot her siblings. Zach approached and he was the only person she noticed.
After dinner they played a word game around a blazing campfire. When the sun went down the air cooled with a fall chill and the fire felt good. Emma sat close beside him and Zach longed to put his arm around her, but he did not give in to the impulse. It would look far too personal for a boss and secretary. The dancing red flames highlighted gold streaks in Emma’s hair. She sat beside him playing a simple game where they sang and clapped and the little kids could play. Emma’s dad sat with his arm around her mother while she clapped.
Zach continued to marvel at her family. Outside of old movies, he hadn’t known families like this really existed. He completely understood why Emma treasured her weekends at home and her holidays. As a little kid he had hoped for this, but it had never happened with his own family or any that he visited and he finally had come to the conclusion such families did not exist, but Emma was proving him wrong.
Once as she sang, she glanced at him and smiled. More than ever, he wanted his arm around her or just to touch her, but he knew that wasn’t a possibility now. If he wasn’t careful, her family would have them engaged.
It was after ten when they began to break up. He helped clean until he was told to put his foot up. Finally he went with Emma back to her parents’ house. Tonight, everyone was heading home except her younger brother, and Zach wanted to return to her apartment and be alone with her.
Instead, they sat up talking to Bobby until one in the morning. While Bobby and Emma talked about Bobby’s school year, Zach looked at the Christmas tree. He had counted eight Christmas trees of various types and sizes that had been set up and decorated in the Hillman home.
Besides celebrating Thanksgiving, he was immersed in Christmas. The mantels in the family room and living room were covered in greenery and red bows. Decorations were everywhere he looked. No wonder she had tried to decorate the ranch a little. His attention shifted to Emma and his longing to be alone with her increased.
Finally, when Bobby went to bed half an hour later, Emma came to sit by him. He made room for her and she leaned against his chest, his arm around her and her feet beside his on the sofa.
“It’s been fun, Emma. You have a great family.”
“You really mean that?” she asked, twisting to look at