Free An Eye for an Eye: Zach and Katie's Story (Redwood Falls) by Lynda Chance Page B

she'll need it. It will also give her time to make sure she's ready for this."
    Hannah cried, "I'm ready! I want you. I want you now !"
    Josh looked down at the eighteen-year old girl he held within the circle of his arms. A shiver ran along Katie's spine when she recognized the look of naked need in her cousin's eyes.
    As much as she wanted to state her opinion on the matter, the two people she loved so much needed to make up their own minds. They were both legally adults and she knew her opinion would only clutter up the point and get in the way.
    "I'm going over to the Student Union for awhile. Ya'll have things to discuss, so I'll give you some breathing room." She focused on Josh. "Will you text me before you leave? I want to say goodbye." Katie stood hovering at the door, hoping she was doing the right thing by not screaming at Hannah and telling her to listen to Josh.
    "Katie," Hannah's soft voice reached her and Katie turned to see pain screaming from the younger girl's eyes.
    Katie didn't hesitate, just walked straight to Hannah and took her in her arms for a hard, swift hug.
    Hannah's voice came softly again, "I love you."
    Katie squeezed her younger friend again and whispered back, "I love you, too." She held Hannah in her arms as she cut her eyes to Josh and back again to Hannah, where they softened on her young friend. "As much as I think this is going too fast, God knows I understand. There's not a better man in this world than my cousin. Believe me, I totally get it."
    Katie looked between the two of them a moment more before walking to the door. She turned the knob and let herself out.
    As she walked out, a dark, disturbing premonition of an enraged Zachary McIntyre infiltrated her entire being. She had only seen him briefly a handful of times since that dark night when he'd cornered her in the study at the McIntyre ranch. The times she'd spoken to him in the last two years had been sporadic. But each time she was in his radius, she felt like a bug pinned under a microscope. His intense scrutiny never failed to induce a confusing mix of sexual tension, resentment and a slight, unwarranted fear.
    At least, she prayed the fear she felt was unwarranted.
     
    ****
    Dallas, Texas
    Zach McIntyre sat in the corporate offices of McIntyre Oil and Energy and surveyed the Dallas skyline with a scowl. For a man who had it all, he was inexplicably stressed and impatient. What he lacked was time. The last few years had been good to him financially. His determination had made it so.
    The wind contracts he had signed had led to more business; his energy company now held such a large stake in the wind-generating segment of the industry that he was a major player. The money was fantastic, unbelievable; the lack of personal time his schedule left him was frustrating and kept him on a tightrope.
    If it wasn't for his secretary, Betty Cargill, who was from the old school and didn't mind running his personal errands and taking care of overseeing his life away from the office as well as inside of it, he would definitely be up shit creek.
    But luckily, when he'd originally set up the infrastructure of his business, he had hired both Betty, and a couple of young, hungry engineers who had just completed grad school. It had taken almost all of Zach's funds to pay those three high salaries when he had first started out, but now it was paying off in spades. He had chosen his employees well, and he had brought them up with him when he struck gold. They were loyal and would do just about anything for him.
    Of course, he had more employees now than he could count, but the hiring and firing was something Betty and Human Resources took care of. His days were packed with back to back meetings and travel. Everything from visiting with the land commissioner, to travelling back and forth to Saudi, to buying and selling blocks of oil futures. There were just some things he couldn't delegate. And the larger and more intricate his company became, the