Free Change of Heart by Fran Shaff Page A

turn down such a reasonable
request. Zack has lost so much, and he doesn’t want to lose you. He
loves you, Mr. Kent, why shouldn’t he spend time with you? He’s so
happy when you’re around, and he’s glum as a beggar when you’re not
with him.” She took a deep breath and wiped her hands over her
face. “Why can’t we give the boy a little happiness?”
    Jase stared down at her a long moment.
Refusing Zack’s request had been difficult enough. He’d never have
the strength to turn down Marietta if she flat-out insisted on his
taking Zack home to the ranch.
    “He belongs with you, Miss Randolf.” His
words were firm but gentle.
    “He’ll have his whole life with me.”
    “He needs you now. Even he understands
that.”
    “Mr. Kent, the boy deserves some happiness. I
know it’s impossible to give him both what he needs and what he
wants, so we have to choose. He needs to be with me, but he wants
to be with you. I say let him be with you now and me later.”
    “You’re only delaying the inevitable,” Jase
said, shaking his head. “The boy has to be with you.” He looked out
on the compound as he searched his mind for a solution to this
latest dilemma. “There’s a way, I suppose, to do what you’re
asking.” He gazed at Marietta and wondered if what he was about to
suggest was more for Zack or for himself. “I’d consider having Zack
come to the ranch with me if you came too.”
    “What?”
    The shock on her face mirrored Jase’s own
astonishment at what he’d been audacious enough to say. Then, the
solution began to pour from his lips without his having any idea
where the answer had come from.
    “I’ll move into the bunkhouse with my ranch
hands. You can live in my house with Zack and my housekeeper, Mrs.
Whipple.”
    No matter where the idea had come from, Jase
liked it. And not only because it would make Zack happy. He’d be
pleased to have Marietta nearby too.
    “But, to put you out of your own house... Mr.
Kent, that wouldn’t be fair.”
    He placed his hand on her shoulder. “I’d
sleep on the ground in a blizzard if it would help make Zack happy
and keep the two of you together.” He held both her shoulders and
gazed down at her. “I don’t know whatever put such an idea into my
head, Miss Randolf, but I’m glad I came up with it. I truly believe
this is the best solution for this situation. What do you say?”
    Her eyes turned softer than Jase had ever
seen them. “Let’s go tell Zack the good news.”

Chapter Seven

    It took only a couple of hours for Jase,
Marietta, and Zack to load the things they needed onto the borrowed
buckboard they took to Jase’s ranch. As he sat next to Marietta
driving over the beautiful open prairie on a warm December day,
Jase’s heart filled with gratitude that he’d found the right
solution to his problems.
    While it was true he could end up with a
broken heart when Marietta ultimately left him, he’d gladly take
the pain in order to give Zack a few weeks of happiness. The
happiness he’d receive himself with Zack and Marietta nearby would
be enough to sustain him the rest of his life. It had to be.
    Matters of the heart always surprised Jase.
He’d actually been jealous when he’d seen the young soldier with
Marietta on the Carson porch. He had no right to jealousy. He and
Marietta weren’t even close enough to speak to each other on a
first-name basis, yet he couldn’t help how he felt.
    He’d grinned at his foolish feelings when
he’d learned the reason Marietta had been sitting with the soldier:
she’d been helping the private write a letter to his sweetheart
back home. And Jase had been jealous.
    No need to ponder that now. Marietta was next
to him for the moment, and he couldn’t have been happier.

    ~ * ~

    Marietta remembered Zack’s directions to
Jase’s ranch home as they passed each of the landmarks the boy had
described. The house was visible from a great distance away, and
when they pulled up to the white clapboard