Defending Zara (Mountain Mercenaries #6)(44)

“You like books.”

It wasn’t a question. Zara nodded.

“Then we’ll have to see about getting the rest of the Harry Potter books for you to read, as well as whatever else strikes your fancy.”

“I liked reading when I was younger,” Zara admitted.

“And if the way you’ve been going through Harry Potter is any indication, you still like reading,” Meat said.

Zara nodded again and forced herself to turn away from the bookcase. She followed Meat through the house, almost overwhelmed by the size. This house would be a mansion back in Peru, and she couldn’t help but think about how much Mags, Teresa, Bonita, and the others would love it.

Feeling sad that she’d probably never again see the women who had been her friends and helped keep her sane, she did her best to pay attention to what Meat was saying.

They went up the stairs to the second floor, and he showed her the master bedroom, the two guest rooms, and the two bathrooms. She asked him about the furniture, the beds and dressers, and he admitted that he’d made most of it. He was so nonchalant about it, but Zara couldn’t help but be impressed with how pretty and sturdy everything was.

She didn’t want their tour to end, but when they stood in the hallway outside the master bedroom, she knew it was time.

“Feeling better?” Meat asked.

Zara nodded. She was. He’d successfully taken her mind off the craziness at the airport. Of course, now she had to tell her story again, and probably answer more questions than Meat and his friends had asked.

“You’re safe here,” Meat said quietly. “Don’t let them make you feel as if you aren’t.”

“If they don’t believe me, will they take me away and arrest me?” she asked.

“No!” Meat said forcefully. Then, taking a deep breath, he said in a calmer tone, “No, they aren’t going to take you anywhere. You’re Zara Layne, and you haven’t done anything wrong. They’ll probably tell you not to leave the state until your DNA test comes back, but that’s about all they can do.”

Zara chuckled. “Where would I go? I mean, I grew up here and now I’m back, but I don’t know anyone outside of Colorado. I don’t have a car or a driver’s license. I’m not going anywhere anytime soon.”

“We haven’t talked much about your childhood, have we?” Meat asked gently. “None of us wanted to bring up any hurtful memories.”

“I had a good childhood,” Zara admitted. “I haven’t thought about it in a long time, blocked it out, but it doesn’t hurt to think about it, now that I’m back here. I know now that we had money, but back then, I didn’t think much about it.”

“And you grew up in Denver?” Meat asked.

Zara knew they should go back downstairs and let the FBI investigators and Meat’s friends come in, but she was enjoying this. Just the two of them talking. She had a feeling he probably was well aware of exactly where her childhood house was, since he’d done so much looking into her past, back in the motel in Lima. She nodded. “I think it was the Hilltop area back then, but I’m not sure what it’s called now.”

“It’s still called that. I saw that your house was sold, and the proceeds from it and everything your relatives didn’t want went back into the trust.”

Zara sighed. It sucked that she didn’t have anything to remind her of her parents. Not even a picture. But hopefully she could get something from her grandparents or her uncle. Surely they would’ve kept some knickknacks from her childhood home, wouldn’t they?

“Sorry,” Meat said, brushing his fingers against her biceps in a barely there caress before dropping his hand. “I didn’t mean to bring up something so painful.”

“It’s not that. It’s just . . . I feel kinda like it happened to someone else. I’m a different person than I was as a kid, and I keep thinking I should be more upset than I am.”

“You’ve lived more of your life as Zed the Peruvian boy than you have as Zara,” Meat told her. “Cut yourself some slack.”

They heard a knock on the door downstairs, and Zara sighed. Looked like their time was up. “Meat?” she blurted before she could chicken out.

“Yeah?”

“I know I messed it up before, but do you think maybe you could . . . that I could have a hug before we go downstairs?”

“You didn’t mess up anything, Zar,” Meat told her, then opened his arms.

Without hesitation, Zara stepped into them.

This hug felt a lot different from their first one. Mainly because Meat was now standing, and he towered over her. Zara’s head rested on his chest this time, and she could feel the steady thumping of his heart under her cheek as he held her close.

Neither said a word, but slowly, she felt the tension drain from her limbs.

It was unbelievable how much her life had changed in a week, but the constant throughout it all was this man.

Knowing she was getting too attached to Meat, that there was no way he could feel anything more than pity for the uneducated woman he’d found, Zara forced herself to let go and step back.

“Thanks,” she said softly. “I needed that.”

“Me too,” Meat told her. “Come on, we better get down there before they get anxious enough to crawl through my windows.”