Free Lone Oak Feud (Harlequin Heartwarming) by Amy Knupp

doing bringing cookies? Several distinct possibilities flooded his mind. Bribing Owen to be her friend, maybe give her the inside scoop over here. Getting inside the house to do her own twisted research. Doing the exact opposite of what Zach had warned her to do, to spite him. Or, okay, maybe she was just being nice.
    “They’re good cookies,” Gram said.
    “What, are you two friends now?”
    His grandma laughed. “You know me better than that. But I do know cookies. Can’t beat Sullivan’s.”
    “Grandma said we could have another one after dinner.”
    “Let’s get to it, then.”
    Dinner talk centered around safe topics, such as Owen’s school day and what he’d built with Lego toys that afternoon. Once the plates were cleared, Owen gobbled up a cookie in record time, then Grandma sent him upstairs to get his pajamas on.
    “Any luck finding that brother of yours today?” she asked after Owen had noisily clomped up the stairs.
    Zach shook his head. “Not really.” He munched on a pickle. “Stopped into a bar over in Ellington. The Rat’s Nest. Seedy-looking place off behind the main drag. Talked to the manager there and he knows Josh. Said he’d been in recently for a drink.”
    “How recently?”
    “He claims to not remember. Don’t know if he’s leveling with me or not. Anyway, I aim to check back there often.”
    “I hope he’s okay.”
    “He might take some stupid risks, but he can take care of himself.”
    “He can do so much more than people give him credit for. They all wrote him off after the accident.”
    “Not totally without reason. Josh doesn’t give himself enough credit half the time,” Zach said as he took his plate to the counter, annoyed that Lindsey popped into his mind again. For years now, ever since he’d come upon the accident scene, the image of Lindsey’s anguish had been burned into his mind. Yesterday at the diner she’d shown him a flash of that same pain—when he’d brought up Josh. He wished he could erase it for her.
    Gram dipped her last bite of burger in the ketchup on her plate. “If you could get him back here at home... Being a daddy could change everything for him.”
    From his place at the counter, Zach watched her take her last few bites of dinner. “Do you really believe that, Gram?” he finally asked.
    She didn’t blink an eye. “I do. Joshua has it in him. We just need to pull it out of him.”
    Zach nodded firmly once, glad to hear they were in agreement. There were moments he doubted his crusade to get Josh home, times when he wondered if he was crazy for thinking there was hope. But if Gram believed it, too, then they could help Josh work through his problems.
    “The sooner we can start, the better. My boss called when I got back into Lone Oak today.” Zach put the stopper in the sink and squeezed some dish soap under the running water.
    “How did your meeting last night turn out, anyway?”
    “Not good. The commission didn’t go for the zone changes. Three of them didn’t like our plan.”
    She walked to the counter and took charge of the dishes. “Now what?”
    “Now we redraw the plans, change some of the stuff they objected to, try to keep the integral parts of what we want to create. Wouldn’t be a huge deal if I was there to work on it. Chuck called to say he’s having Adam French help.”
    “What’s wrong with Adam French?”
    “He’s young, stupid and doesn’t care about the company.”
    “So why’s Chuck having him help?”
    “So I can take care of business here, I imagine.”
    “Zachary, you need to get back to Wichita and do your job. We can handle things just fine here.”
    He shook his head. “I need to get Josh home and get him on the right track first.”
    Keeping Lindsey out of Gram’s hair was as big a part of his motivation as any, but he couldn’t mention that.
    “Well, for now, why don’t you go up and—”
    “I know, I know. Go see if Owen’s getting ready for bed.” He dried his hands and