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care of Chad?” He pinned her with a blue-eyed stare.
    She bristled and opened her mouth to speak, but he held up his palm to stop her. “Let me at least help you get organized, get things running smoothly. It’s what I do. I can see that you’ve come into an impossible situation.”
    Zane pulled his other hand out of his pocket and moved close to Riley. “I feel like I need to do something for John, for his son and sister. Don’t deny me this.” He leaned in and kissed Chad on the cheek.
    The tender kiss startled her. She stiffened at his nearness. His cologne fogged her thinking, and she backed up to clear her mind.
    “What do you know about cranberry farming? You’re a computer geek, for crying out loud.” Riley pressed her dry lips together, hoping she hadn’t offended him. “When would you have time to do this, and how would you work? Are you even willing to get your hands dirty?”
    Zane grinned at her onslaught of questions. Not the effect she’d been shooting for. He unbuttoned his left shirtsleeve and began to meticulously fold it over until it reached his elbow. Then he started on the other, again taking time to be precise with each crease.
    “First of all, I’m not a computer geek. Your brother was, remember?” His smile faded at his mention of John. He placed his hands on his hips. “I’m ready to get my hands dirty. I’ll work part-time in the morning for a few weeks, months, however long it takes. I’ll take care of Cyphorensic and other business in the afternoon.”
    He came across as ridiculous, standing there with his sleeves rolled neatly to his elbows, yet his starched white shirt looking as though it had been painted by an artist working in chocolate. Riley covered her mouth to hide her smile.
    He raised his arms in question. “What? You don’t believe me?”
    “So you’re really going to just throw that shirt away?”
    Zane’s eyes widened; she’d caught him off guard. He looked down at his shirt as if seeing Chad’s artwork for the first time and laughed.
    His laughter sent an unexpected thrill through her heart. She’d been wrong. Zane was not like Eric. Her ex-boyfriend would never have the desire or need to help anyone—unless he had an ulterior motive. Still, she’d been a poor judge of character in the past and couldn’t be certain of Zane’s intentions. She cradled Chad in her arms, desiring to focus on the child and, for the moment, put aside her concerns about Zane’s true reasons for wanting to help.
    “All right.”
    His cheerful expression turned serious, his smile fading. “You won’t regret this, Riley. May I call you Riley? I’m not sure we ever established that.”
    His eruption of words made her dizzy. “Yes, yes, you can call me Riley.”

    As Zane pulled into the parking lot of the two-story business complex that housed Cyphorensic Technologies, he tried to relax. He’d made the decision to help Riley on the cranberry farm in order to search for what John had sent her, or at least to earn her trust so that she would tell him. But while he was in the farm office, he couldn’t think of anything he wanted to do more than help her. He owed that much to John. But he had to admit it wasn’t the best business decision he’d ever made. Against his better judgment, he’d offered to spend time organizing things and getting the farm ready for expansion. All he’d really needed to do was be forthright and ask her about John’s message.
    He slammed the car door and pressed the security alarm button on his key fob as he headed toward the building. Something about Riley, her desperate need, or possibly the combination of Riley holding Chad and her desperate need, had touched his heart. Awakened it. Made him feel alive. It astounded him that with everything he’d done with his life, he’d never felt this way before. And he wanted to feel this way more.
    Zane stared at the gold-etched name of his lifeless company; then he pushed through the plate glass doors