Best for the Baby (10 page)

He shrugged. “I suppose.”

“I wonder how hard it would be to mount them.”

“Don’t spend too much time working on it. Mom has plenty of Dad’s stuff, and we can probably buy artwork just as cheaply.”

“But these are what Heron Cove is all about. They’re part of this place. I think they’d look much better than some old picture of a fish.”

“Suit yourself.”

“I’m going to give it a shot, anyway,” she said, thoroughly annoyed with him now. She twisted around to dig into the stack of things she’d set aside for him to take back to Miami. “What about this?” she asked, holding out a floppy beige hat with fishing lures fastened all around the crown. “Don’t you think your mother will want your dad’s fishing hat?”

“I doubt it,” he said with a complete lack of inter
est. He didn’t take the hat out of her hand. “It smells, it’s stained—”

“Zachary Davidson! You can’t be serious. There wasn’t a summer I was here that your dad didn’t wear this hat. You know your mother would want this as a keepsake.”

“She’s kept enough, Al. You can’t hold on to everything.”

She stared up at him, stunned. Something pretty drastic was wrong here. Zack and his father had been so close. Had something happened to change that? “What—”

Zack’s chair scraped back with a loud screech as he stood. She could see his pulse, strong in his throat, and he was clearly out of patience. “Don’t make this into a bigger deal than it is,” he told her in a frosty tone. “I just don’t see the point in being foolishly sentimental over every little reminder of someone’s life. It’s maudlin.”

She refused to let him scare her off the subject. “I’m sorry, but I disagree. It’s a wonderful memento of your father’s life. I sat on this very porch and watched you and your dad go through this tackle box
forever,
picking out just the right lures that would bring in the biggest fish. And if it was successful, it went on this, like a prize.” She lifted the hat in the air. “This was so much a part of who your father was.”

Zack stood over her, making her feel at a distinct disadvantage. “I know you mean well, but leave it alone, Al.”

“I just don’t understand how you can call it a foolish reminder.”

He shook his head at her, as though she were a complete idiot. “Sometimes it’s just better to leave the past in the past,” he said in a bitter tone. “Haven’t you realized that yet?”

T
HE NEXT DAY
Alaina stood in the cottage dining room with Heather Moran.

Alaina had talked Zack into purchasing a small “shabby chic” sideboard from Heather’s shop, one she felt sure would work perfectly with the well-worn dining-room table. Heather had stopped by to see how it looked, and Alaina had enlisted her advice on a few things. Right now, they were deciding the best way to showcase the room’s strongest feature—the French doors that looked out to the patio deck, where dozens of Davidson barbecues had taken place.

Alaina, standing by the windows, grabbed a handful of curtains. “Suppose I pulled them back permanently so that as soon as people walk in, they see the windows?”

“Uh-huh,” Heather agreed.

“The light in here is so gorgeous in the afternoon. I’d hate to cover it up.”

“Sure. That would work.”

Something in Heather’s tone made Alaina turn to look at her. The woman was staring out the windows.

Zack stood on the deck, replacing crumbled bricks in the large barbecue pit his father had built. He wore jeans, but no shirt, and as he moved into a patch of crisp
autumn sunlight, Alaina couldn’t help but admire those broad shoulders and long muscles. His skin had the tight elasticity of good health and a natural athlete.

No wonder Heather was mesmerized. What woman could resist reacting to the sight of a man like that?

Watching him, Alaina felt heat shoot through her body, potent and sexual, but she refused to acknowledge it. Bad enough that Zack was always hovering at the edges of her nightly dreams, a fragment of a life not entirely left behind. She refused to allow him to tinker with her waking hours, as well.

“I was thinking of giving this room a Wild West theme,” she said. “Paint cowboys and Indians all around the walls. And maybe a tribute to General Custer on one side. What do you think?”

“Sounds wonderful,” Heather replied. She made a motion with her head that might have been construed as a nod, but then seemed to swim back to the conversation. She turned, to give Alaina her full attention. “Wait…what?”

“You haven’t been listening to a thing I’ve said since we came in here.”

Heather’s forehead puckered, and her smile was apologetic. “I’m sorry.” She flicked a finger toward the windows. “But you have to admit, the scenery is pretty distracting.”

“I don’t see what the big deal is,” Alaina said with a shrug. She felt blindsided by jealousy, but immediately squashed it. “He’s just a man.”

Heather laughed. “Yeah. And the Grand Canyon is just a hole.” She swung back to the windows. After a few moments, she sighed. “My God, when we were
teenagers, I could see those lovely young muscles of his were going to amount to something one day. But who knew it was going to be this good? All that time I wasted chasing after Ricky Weidemeyer when I should have been doing my best to catch Zack.” She grimaced. “Not that it would have done a bit of good.”

“Why do you say that?”

Heather threw her a skeptical glance. “Ha! Like he’d have given me the time of day when you were around. We all knew you two were soul mates.”

“Well…it didn’t quite work out that way, did it?” She tapped the top of the sideboard. “How do you think a silk flower arrangement would look on this end?”

“Nothing too large,” Heather replied after some consideration. She came to Alaina’s side. “So what’s the deal? How come you didn’t end up as Mrs. Zachary Davidson? He doesn’t come into town much, but I suspect he’d never tell me the story, anyway. I did run into his dad last year. He told me you broke up right after high school. He said…” Her voice trailed away. When Alaina looked at her more closely, her cheeks had gone the color of summer roses. “Never mind. It’s not important.”

“He said what? You can tell me. I won’t get mad. All that’s been over and done with for years.”

Heather bit her lip. After a moment, she huffed out a sigh. “He said that you were an idiot for turning Zack loose. That one day, when you finally stopped letting your parents lead you around by the nose, you might wake up and realize what you’d thrown away.”

No surprise there. Alaina had come to that conclusion a long time ago. She gave Heather a rueful smile.
“Actually, I
did
wake up years ago. But by that time, it was too late. I was married to someone else.”

“If you don’t mind me asking, what
did
happen?”

Something inside her stiffened. Funny how, after all these years, it still hurt to remember what a complete fool she’d been. “After high school Zack was going to the University of South Florida. I thought I’d go there, too. Maybe eventually we would even get married. But my parents had other ideas. They wanted me to go to Vassar. My grades were good enough that I was eligible for a pretty large scholarship.”

“Vassar. That’s impressive.”

“I suppose. But I was always the kind of girl who played it safe. I was horrified by the idea of living that far away from home. But mostly, I didn’t want to leave Zack.”

“When you’re young, parents do have a way of throwing a wrench in all your plans.”

“My parents mean well, but they’re very persuasive people. They liked Zack, but they didn’t want me to tie myself down so soon. I needed to…‘explore my options’ is the way they put it.”

“That sounds like something a parent would say.”

“They spent days wearing me down, and didn’t let up until I said I’d seriously think about it. But when I told Zack, he was furious. He didn’t want me to give an inch to my folks, and he hated that I wouldn’t stand up to them.”

“It probably hurt him to realize that your mom and dad didn’t think he was good enough for you.”

Alaina glanced out the window, where Zack was cementing a line of new bricks in the barbecue. In her mind she pictured the way he had been the day of their final argument—full of a young man’s fury and yet so
hurt, too. “Looking back at it now, I can see how he probably drew that conclusion,” she told Heather. “But honestly, I don’t think they had any real beef with Zack. They just wanted me to see more of what life had to offer before I settled down.”

“So you broke up.”

“To this day I’m not sure who broke up with whom, but the next thing I knew, we were done.”

“And you went off to Vassar.”

Alaina nodded. “Zack went to college and ended up working with my sister in Key West. Between the two of them, they built up quite a reputable business. Aquarium design. Maggie’s artistic talent and Zack’s ability to build just about anything finally put them on the map. I didn’t see him for years, but by that time, I had met and married Gil, my ex-husband.”

“Did you love your ex?”

“I suppose I convinced myself I did. In the end, Gil just replaced my parents. I let him run my life.” She thought of all the years she had spent trying to make her marriage work, trying to breathe life into a relationship that was DOA by their second anniversary. “It was only when Gil’s cheating got to a ridiculously embarrassing extreme that I said enough was enough. He was completely shocked when I finally stood up for myself.”

“Good for you!” Heather exclaimed. “No woman should put up with a bastard for a husband.”

Something in the way she said those words made Alaina turn to look at her. For just a millisecond they seemed to be speaking the same language. She wondered if Heather had suffered her own misery in the past.
Maybe, if their friendship continued to grow while she was here, she’d get up the nerve to ask.

“Believe me, my rebellion wasn’t graceful or admirable,” Alaina said. “Maggie’s always been the tough one in the family. I was a mess during the divorce. I was determined not to let my family interfere, and I’m afraid I wasn’t very savvy in some of the decisions I made.”

“Well, you’re free now. So how about it?”

“How about what?”

“Get back in the game, girl!” Heather said, wiggling one finger toward Zack. “He’s out there, looking hot and sexy. So why are you in here talking about flower arrangements?”

Alaina laughed and rubbed her stomach. “Because at the moment I’ve got more important things to worry about than how to get a good-looking guy to notice me.”

Heather smacked her forehead. “Oh, right. Dad told me. The
bambino.
” She frowned, but it wasn’t long before she smiled again. “So what? Lots of guys hook up with women who have children.”

“Of course they do. But with a baby on the way and my life in such turmoil, the last complication I need is a man, good-looking or not.”

“Zack was always so protective of you. I’ll bet he’d make a wonderful daddy.”

“I don’t think that’s an option.”

Briefly, she told Heather about meeting Jeffrey after her divorce and taking off with him to parts unknown, desperate to make significant changes in her life. She didn’t gloss over the circumstances that had brought her to Lake Harmony. To Heather’s credit, she wasn’t judg
mental at all. She listened politely. Since she had two younger sisters, she’d probably heard her share of horror stories about men.

At last she sighed heavily. “What a fix to be in. Do you love this guy? Do you want him to come back?”

How terrible it was to realize she couldn’t answer yes right away. “I’m still furious with him for reacting the way he did, of course,” Alaina stated. “But every child should have two parents, and if Jeffrey could just…come to terms with the idea of being a father, he might make a good one.”

“You didn’t answer my question. Do you love him?”

She inhaled deeply. Her throat felt constricted as she released the trapped air. “I don’t know,” she finally admitted.

Heather pursed her lips. “Well, if things don’t work out with Jeffrey…” She cut a glance out the windows. “There’s always the possibility of another solution.”

Alaina frowned. “You must be a hopeless romantic. Zack and I have a wonderful friendship, but that’s about it. I hurt him, and I don’t think he’ll ever be able to forget it.”

“Why don’t you let him be the one to decide that? He doesn’t have to forget it, but that doesn’t mean he can’t forgive it.”

Alaina offered a vague smile, but she wasn’t sure she could really believe that. She slipped a look at Zack, wondering if they could ever move beyond the past. They were still attracted to one another, but…No. Not now. It was too late.

She felt the weight of regret spread across her chest. Beside her, she heard a gasp, and turned to look at her friend.

Heather was grinning. “Oh my gosh!” she said. “You
are
still in love with him, aren’t you?”

“No!” Alaina exclaimed, feeling heat rise in her cheeks. “Why would you say that?”

She rolled her eyes. “Honey, I’ve been in love a few times myself so I know what it looks like. I’ve got two sisters who could write a book about falling hopelessly in love.” She stabbed a finger toward Alaina. “And you, my dear, should have seen your face a moment ago. Trust me. You’re head over heels.”

H
EATHER’S DECLARATION
ruined Alaina’s afternoon. Even as she tried to take measurements in the kitchen for a trio of pictures she intended to hang on one wall, her mind kept going back to the woman’s startling pronouncement.

Heather was flat-out, dead wrong, of course.

Yes, Alaina loved Zack—as a close friend. But that’s all he could ever be, and she had to be satisfied with that. She had to be logical. Clear-headed. She had to do what was best for her baby. And getting involved with
any
man would be a huge mistake right now.

Besides, she couldn’t be positive that Zack wanted anything more to do with her after this project was finished. Maybe not even as friends. Though sometimes they still danced around one another, a careful choreography that made Alaina feel as though her stomach was being wrung out, most of the time he seemed perfectly happy to avoid her. That night on the living room carpet might never have happened.

Did he ever think about it? Probably not. He was a guy, after all, and men didn’t agonize over sex, they just
did it. It was horrible to consider, but maybe he had found someone else to provide that kind of excitement.

So why couldn’t Alaina stop the memories from colliding in her brain every time she let her guard down?

The metal measuring tape she was using to help hang the pictures twanged and bent in two. She had borrowed it from Zack’s toolbox, but truthfully, she hated the darn thing. Using it required a dexterity she didn’t seem to have, and once, when the metal had snapped back and rewound unexpectedly, she’d barely missed cutting her finger.

She started over, trying to keep the ribbon of metal flush against the wall as she walked along it. “Stay put, damn you,” she said.

“Got a problem?”

Alaina jumped. The opposite end of the tape buckled with a loud crack and slid to the floor. She turned her head to see Zack leaning against the kitchen door. He’d put his polo shirt back on, and the vivid blue of it made his eyes seem to sparkle. Coupled with that dark hair all mussed from being outside in the cool breeze, and the sexy slant to his mouth, it was a pretty potent combination.

Damn it! Heather was right. He
was
a distracting man.

Annoyed that her heart seemed to be bouncing around like a Ping-Pong ball, Alaina reeled in the measuring tape with a snap. “I hate this stupid thing. I can’t ever get it to cooperate.”

“It’s a poor mechanic who blames his tools.”

She made a face at him. “You’re the expert. Don’t just stand there. Come help me.”

“What are you trying to do?” he asked mildly as he reached her side.

He was close enough now that Alaina could smell the soap he’d used when he’d come in to wash up after cementing the barbecue pit. He looked charmingly boyish, and before she could notice anything more wonderful about him, she decided to move away, toward the kitchen table, where the three framed pictures waited.

“I want to center these on the wall and hang them an equal distance apart from each other, vertically.”

“Easy,” he said, and held out his hand for the measuring tape. “Watch and learn.”