Broken Promises Read Online Free PDF Page A

with them--Eve draping Adam with columbine. Whenever he became aroused, his gaze became intense and his pupils opened. It was easy to tell with his gray-green eyes. She'd even joked with him about it, telling him she didn't have to look at his crotch to know when he wanted her, only his eyes...
    Uncomfortable with his steady gaze, she lifted the bottle of wine from the table, and while studying the label, she said, "Then I assume you're working at the winery now?"
    "I'm in charge of Spencer Wildlife Park ," Zak replied. "I help at the winery some, but my work at the park takes priority."
    "I don't understand," Tess said, looking up. "You always intended to work at the winery."
    "My degree's in wildlife management," Zak said.
    Tess found that puzzling. Before, he'd had no interest in college. He'd grown up working in the winery and was expected to take over some day. But she also remembered Zak being at odds with his father that summer. According to Zak, everything was either his father's way , or no way. Zak told her back then that moving into the cabin and signing on with Timber West was an escape. Maybe college had also been an escape...
    "Have you been here long?" she asked, an attempt at casual conversation, when what she really wanted was to fire a barrage of questions at him: Why did you leave me? Where did you go? Why didn't you come back? Why did you let me marry a man I didn't love?
    "About six weeks," Zak replied. "That's when I was appointed head of the threatened and endangered species program." He lifted the bottle she'd been clutching in her hands and tipped it toward her glass. "We're in the process of reinstating the bald eagle in the Channel islands ," he said. "We'll be taking chicks from nests with twins and transporting them to California . But first I have to fly over established nests to see if they're occupied." He looked at her, curiously, and said, "Do you still fly?"
    "Yes," Tess replied. "I no longer have a plane though. My husband got custody of it when we divorced. But my dad still has his. He said I could take it up if I wanted."
    "Then you're still certified?"
    Tess nodded. "But that doesn't mean I fly. Right now Timber West is operating in the red, and flying costs money, so it will be a while before I try my wings again."
    "How about Sunday?"
    "What are you talking about?"
    "The park plane's in for an engine overhaul and I need to fly over some nests before the chicks fledge, and time's running out. I thought maybe you could take me up. The park has funds. I could make it worth your while."
    "Where do you want to go?" Tess asked, although she didn't know why. She had no intention of flying Zak around in her father's plane.
    "Just around the area," Zak replied. "I have nests pinpointed on a map. But I'd also like to touch down at the Pine Mountain ranger station and talk to the park ranger there. Do you know Ralph Tolsted?"
    "No," Tess said. "But I know where the Pine Mountain station is. My dad and I flew over it a few times, even landed there once. Dad wasn't too thrilled with the landing strip though... says it's the shortest strip he's ever used. Why Pine Mountain ?"
    "I want to check a nest there and talk to Tolsted about others in the area," Zak replied. "Timing's everything right now. Most of the eagle chicks are ready to fledge." He eyed her steadily again, and it was like she was caught in his dark gaze. It had always been that way with her. He'd get that intense look, and she was like a deer trapped in headlights...
    "It's pretty important work we're doing," he said.
    No. There was no way she'd take him up. Zak living in the cabin where her father found them was bad enough. Taking him up in her father's plane would set her relationship with her father back years if he found out, and she was home to try and close the rift between them...
    "It shouldn't take more than an hour... two at the most with a short stop at Pine Mountain ," Zak said. "Besides, it will give me a chance to be