But Denny worried that he was not an adequate counselor. He had failed to reach Zachary, and there had been that dreadful incident with May, which he had handled badly. Had he been a competent counselor, he would have been aware of her growing attachment and nipped it in the bud. What could he have said or done to break through the wall Zachary built around himself? He had not wanted help and had merely yielded to pressure from Sarina and the others. Still, Denny worried that he had failed Sarina, the family, and even Zachary.

Hannah’s voice interrupted Denny’s musing. “Zachary’s a chameleon. He changes color before your eyes. It’s scary and disarming. Sometimes he’s charming and appears to be devoted to his wife and child. More often he’s a self-centered, no-good bum.” She rubbed her temples. “Max keeps hoping. Where will this end? I wonder.”

She did not have long to wait to find out.

33

The Confrontation

On the day that the two transportation vans pulled into the yard and rounded the house to the barn, and the milk cows began their slow, prodded ascent into the bowels of the huge trucks, Zachary exploded.

He appeared on the scene, paced from barn to van, raged like one gone mad, arms flailing, eyes wild, and screamed obscenities at his father.

“How could you do this to me? This dairy is my birthright, and you’re selling it out from under me. Who set you up to this? That g-d woman you married?” He cursed his father. “Damn you, damn you. My mother would never have allowed you to do this to me.”

Max had had it! He had tried. Lord knows he had tried. He had promised Hannah to maintain his calm and patience and he had done that. He had ignored his son’s inconsistencies, his vacillations and unaccountable, bizarre outbursts, and allowed Zachary space and time to settle in, to adjust. And this was the outcome? How dare he speak to him this way, to curse and embarrass him in front of strangers? The arrogant little punk.

“Who in the h———do you think you are?” Max bellowed. “When did you ever express an interest in this dairy? On the contrary, you’ve made it clear on more than one occasion that you hate my work, my life, this place.” Max circled Zachary, assessing the situation, uncertain where this was going or if it would devolve into physical contact.

“I don’t know you,” Max snarled. “Your mother wouldn’t know you. Do you think she’d approve of your gambling, of the way you treat your wife and child?”

Contempt spread across Max’s face and sounded in his voice. “You think you can just hop the next ship to another port? It’s time, boy, to cut the crap and grow the hell up.”