“Zack. I’ve missed having you in my life so much.”

Alaina smelled wonderful, as though she wore some delightful cologne, but he knew it was just her. Some invisible scent he had carried in his mind for years.

His chest expanded with excitement as he pulled her even nearer. He searched her face for some sign that he should turn her loose. He could not see one.

“Zack—”

“Shh.” He brought a finger to his lips. “Don’t say anything.”

Swept by desire, Zack lowered his mouth to hers. All the pain and frustration and longing of years past were channeled into his kiss.

Alaina’s lips were warm, welcoming. Sweet. A craving for more of her, for all of her, roared into his head, blocking out everything else.

He deepened the kiss. He did not want to stop. He couldn’t.

There was no other woman in the world he wanted to kiss more than Alaina Tillman. And this moment would be a fair price to pay for whatever came later.

Dear Reader,

When I wrote my last book, The Missing Mom, I had no intention of doing a sequel about the heroine’s sister, Alaina, and Zack, the childhood sweetheart she let get away. In spite of the fact that I’m the first one to complain if I don’t get my happy ending, I kind of liked the idea that some romances just can’t be fixed. I wanted Alaina to grow in the book, but I figured she didn’t necessarily have to get her man.

But as the book took shape, I began to like Alaina and Zack more and more, and as you might suspect, it was awfully hard to see them sent on their way without a new chance for romance. Especially when, as the author, I’m the one who gets to make that decision! So the idea of telling their story did begin to take hold.

Then, after the release of The Missing Mom, I got quite a few inquiries from readers wanting to know if I was going to give Zack and Alaina a second shot at love. Well, heck! What writer can resist an opportunity to keep readers satisfied? Harlequin agreed. I just had to give them the right story.

So here it is—Alaina and Zack’s journey to happiness. I think they’ve earned it.

Please feel free to visit my Web site, www.aboutannevans.com, and let me know what you think. I’m always listening!

Best wishes,

Ann Evans

BEST FOR THE BABY

Ann Evans

TORONTO • NEW YORK • LONDON
AMSTERDAM • PARIS • SYDNEY • HAMBURG
STOCKHOLM • ATHENS • TOKYO • MILAN • MADRID
PRAGUE • WARSAW • BUDAPEST • AUCKLAND

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Ann Evans has been writing since she was a teenager, but it wasn’t until she joined Romance Writers of America that she actually sent anything to a publisher. Eventually, with the help of a very good critique group, she honed her skills and won a Golden Heart from Romance Writers of America for Best Short Contemporary Romance of 1989. Since then she’s happy to have found a home at Harlequin Superromance. A native Floridian, Ann enjoys traveling, hot fudge sundaes and collecting antique postcards. She loves hearing from readers, and invites them to visit her Web site at www.AboutAnnEvans.com.

Books by Ann Evans

HARLEQUIN SUPERROMANCE

701—HOT & BOTHERED

752—THE MAN FOR HER

805—HOME TO STAY

870—DREAM BABY

957—THAT MAN MATTHEWS

1136—AFTER THAT NIGHT

1215—THE DAUGHTER DILEMMA

1262—HOME TO FAMILY

1331—MISFIT FATHER

1370—THE RETURN OF DAVID MCKAY

1468—THE MISSING MOM

For Debbie and Peter Chisholm.
The peace and comfort of your Cottontail Cottage
would be an inspiration to any writer, but it was
especially true for this one.

CONTENTS

CHAPTER ONE

CHAPTER TWO

CHAPTER THREE

CHAPTER FOUR

CHAPTER FIVE

CHAPTER SIX

CHAPTER SEVEN

CHAPTER EIGHT

CHAPTER NINE

CHAPTER TEN

CHAPTER ELEVEN

CHAPTER TWELVE

CHAPTER THIRTEEN

CHAPTER FOURTEEN

CHAPTER FIFTEEN

CHAPTER SIXTEEN

EPILOGUE

CHAPTER ONE

GOOD GIRLS—girls brought up to have the best table manners, taught to respect their elders and never to allow a boy to French kiss them on the first date—girls like that didn’t steal. They just didn’t.

Alaina was sure of it.

And she ought to know. She was one of those girls. Well…she had been one until about a year ago, when she’d ignored the pleading from family and friends and run off for parts unknown on the back of a Harley with a man she barely knew.

A year ago she hadn’t been desperate. She hadn’t been alone in the middle of nowhere with barely a cent to her name.

And she sure as hell hadn’t been pregnant.

Yeah. Desperation had a way of sending all those years of uptight, mind-your-manners behavior right out the window. It left you in a panic. And right now, in this greasy spoon of a diner in the North Georgia mountains, it left Alaina convinced that no one would notice if she slipped a day-old doughnut off the cake stand on the counter and sneaked it into her coat pocket.

She could do it. She just had to get up the nerve.

She eyed the doughnuts on the tray, and unbelievably, her mouth actually watered. Her stomach sent a message, too, growling a complaint. A cup of coffee wouldn’t be enough to carry her over until tomorrow.

The waitress, a sweet-faced blonde about the age of Alaina’s mother, caught her attention as she motioned toward the cup cradled between Alaina’s hands. “More coffee?”

Alaina nodded, though she could hardly take her eyes off the doughnuts, imagining how good one would taste.

“Where you headed?”

“Lake Harmony.”

“That’s still an hour away. You have family there?”

“Not exactly.”

“Long way to walk. Especially in the rain.”

Since there were few cars outside the diner, and Alaina was the only customer, she supposed the waitress had figured out that she’d walked or hitchhiked this far. Or maybe the knapsack and her rumpled jeans and jacket were a dead giveaway that she wasn’t just a tourist up to see the October foliage.

The knowledge that she must look to be in dire straits made a lump of misery rise in Alaina’s throat. Not so long ago in Miami, she’d had a six-figure bank account at her disposal for walking-around money. She’d driven a new Mercedes every year and had a separate closet just to hold all her shoes. She’d certainly never looked like a bum without a cent to her name. And she’d never, ever, have entertained the idea of stealing something to eat.

She shook off that moment of self-pity. Having all those material things back home had never brought her much happiness. Darn little, in fact.

The waitress used a pair of tongs to pluck one of the doughnuts off the dessert stand and drop it onto a saucer. She pushed the dish in front of Alaina and winked at her. “Go ahead. It’s on the house.”

“That’s not necessary. I’m—”

“We throw out the leftovers at the end of the night,” the woman explained. “Besides, our coffee’s kind of lousy, so something sweet might make it taste better.”

The knot in Alaina’s throat got bigger. “You’re very kind.”

“We girls have to stick together.” The waitress gave her a closer glance. “You remind me of my middle daughter. Blond, with those same deep-blue eyes and high cheekbones. Before she got married, she had to beat the fellows off with sticks.”

Alaina had to smile at that. “It’s been a long time since I’ve had to beat off any men. If anything, I can’t seem to hold on to the ones I catch.”

She hadn’t meant to say that, and frowned down into her coffee. Too much information. But this woman was the first friendly face Alaina had seen since this morning, when she’d awakened to find Jeffrey gone from their hotel room. Along with her wallet and her pride.

Stunned, she’d listened to Jeffrey’s Harley roar off into the distance. Last night they’d had a brief, heated discussion about the fact that she was pregnant and he was about to become a father. Could he handle that? she’d asked. Guess she had her answer now.

The waitress leaned against the counter. “You got man trouble? Some guy doing you wrong?”

Alaina shook her head, giving the woman a noncommittal smile around a mouthful of doughnut. Stale or not, it tasted delicious. “Not really,” she said after she’d swallowed it down with a sip of coffee. The waitress was right. It did make the brew taste better. “The only one doing me wrong is me. I’ve made some incredibly stupid choices in the past few years. And the more I try to straighten myself out, the more I seem to mess things up.”

“Don’t sweat it. It can happen to the best of us.”

“It never used to happen to me,” Alaina said, almost to herself. “I’m thirty-two. Is it possible to have a midlife crisis at that age?”

“I suppose it depends how much you hate the kind of life you’ve had.”

The front door swung open on a blast of rain-scented wind as a man in overalls came into the diner. The waitress left to offer him coffee from the pot she carried.

Alaina munched the doughnut slowly, savoring every bite.

How much had she hated the life she’d left?

She could imagine that many women her age would have been delighted to find themselves in her previous situation, the life she’d had before Jeffrey. Married to a prominent doctor. Living in a spacious mansion on the chichi side of Miami Beach. Doing whatever she pleased each day. Every day.

Eventually, that life of privilege and excess had led to boredom and complacency and the end of her ten-year marriage. Of course, finding out her husband, Gil, had not one, but two girlfriends on the side hadn’t helped. The divorce had been an embarrassingly public nightmare, nasty and full of recriminations. What a relief it had been to see the last of it. And Gil, too.

But was she really any better off now?

She brought her hand to her stomach, where her baby resided beneath the tiniest bump.

Yes, she thought. Yes.

By this time next year her lifelong dream of having a child would be a reality. It didn’t matter that she might have to be a single mother. It didn’t matter that the father, Jeffrey Balfour, apparently didn’t know whether he wanted to have anything to do with this baby or not.

None of that concerned her now. All she cared about was keeping this small scrap of life within her alive and safe.

And that meant she needed to get to Lake Harmony.

The waitress returned. Before she could ask more questions, Alaina slipped all the money she had onto the counter. Two dollars and twelve cents. She wished she could give the woman an outrageously generous tip, but those days were gone. At least until she could get to a bank in Lake Harmony on Monday.

“Thanks for the doughnut,” she said with an appreciative smile. “And the conversation.”

The woman put a hand on Alaina’s arm. “Don’t go anywhere. I’ll be right back.”

She disappeared down the counter, and Alaina watched as she spoke to the cook. He gave Alaina a quick glance, then nodded. A moment later, the waitress was back.

“You don’t have to walk or hitchhike all the way to Lake Harmony. Lester gets off at six. He can give you a ride as far as Blairsville.”

Alaina hesitated. The cook seemed agreeable enough, but these days you never knew. Gil had looked like quite a prize once upon a time, and Jeffrey…well, Jeffrey had looked like salvation. And yet here she was. Until today she’d never hitchhiked in her life, and she didn’t like it much. Of course, lately she’d done a lot of things she’d never done before.

The woman squeezed Alaina’s arm. “Lester’s harmless. He’ll talk your ear off about Star Wars, but that’s all you’ll have to worry about.”

“That’s awfully nice, but—”

The waitress plucked the sprinkle-covered doughnut off the cake stand and set it on Alaina’s plate. “Eat this and think about it. Important decisions shouldn’t be made on an empty stomach.”

AS IT TURNED OUT, Lester was a perfect gentleman.

Maybe if Alaina had looked like Princess Leia, she’d have had a wild man on her hands, but the waitress had been right. Lester’s life was devoted to Stars Wars. He spent the entire drive through the mountains talking about the movies and how unfair it was that George Lucas had decided to end the franchise. By the time Lester let her out on the road to Lake Harmony, Alaina, who had never been much of a sci-fi fan, had heard enough about Obi-Wan Kenobi, the Force and Darth Vader to last a lifetime.

Hefting her knapsack, she began to walk. In spite of the ever-darkening clouds that threatened to block the fading sunlight, she tried to enjoy the peace and quiet of the winding mountain road.

The last time she was in this area she’d been a teenager. From the age of nine, she and her sister, Maggie, had often been summer guests of the Davidson family. The Davidsons were their neighbors in Miami and owned a vacation home on the shores of Lake Harmony—a hundred-year-old, two-story cottage they called Heron Cove.

The summers Alaina had spent here were some of the happiest of her life. The Davidsons’ children—Zack and his sister Sandy—had been her best friends. The memories the four of them had made together were like priceless gems Alaina hoarded in her mind. When Jeffrey had left her high and dry this morning, and she had been filled with frantic uncertainty about what she should do next, she couldn’t help thinking that Heron Cove, only two hours away from Atlanta, could be the safe haven she needed so badly. A place she could rest and regroup.

A fat raindrop splashed on her hand. She looked up to see that what was left of the blue sky was fast turning a furious gray-green color.

She picked up her pace, but by the time she made the front porch of Heron Cove, it was dark and she was soaked to the bone. Mountain rainstorms could spin around the hills and valleys of this area like Tasmanian devils, ripping leaves off the trees and splitting the sky with thunder and lightning.

Alaina stood at the front door, shivering, trying to catch her breath.

She knocked, but got no answer. Years ago, the Davidsons had always closed the place after Labor Day when the kids returned to the city for a new school year, but sometimes they came up to see the fall colors.

Maybe not this year. The place looked vacant, unwelcoming. Weeds were high in the front yard, and Mrs. Davidson’s old garden was running wild over its borders. Peeling paint and a shutter hanging at an odd angle indicated that the house might be more than just temporarily vacant.

When Alaina saw Zack at her sister’s wedding two years ago, they’d hardly exchanged a dozen words. For all she knew, the Davidsons might have sold Heron Cove. They would never have allowed this place to fall to ruin. So what had happened?

A flash of lightning turned the gnarled trees around her into menacing ghosts. The hair on Alaina’s arms stood up with every crackle of electricity in the night sky.

Now what? She could hike on into town, but she had no money for a hotel.

The Davidsons had treated her like family. At one time, they might even have hoped that she’d be their daughter-in-law. But that had been so long ago. She shouldn’t have counted on finding them here, ready to welcome her with open arms.

She suddenly felt foolish and desperate and very cold. She couldn’t just stand here all evening. Praying the Davidsons would understand that she’d had little choice, Alaina tugged hard on the front door.

Nothing happened.

Which meant the only way to get inside would be to break in.

Wow. First she’d considered stealing a doughnut, now she was planning a B and E with the Davidsons’ cottage. This was turning out to be a red-letter day for lawlessness.

She glanced around the wide front porch, hoping to spot something heavy she could use. Heron Cove was three miles from the heart of Lake Harmony, down a narrow country road with no neighbors. That meant no witnesses, either. No one to catch her breaking the law in such a ridiculously embarrassing way.

Shivering, she hunched deeper into her jacket as a gust of cold air swept across her back. She trotted down the steps. Wiping rainwater from her face, she hunted until she found a good-size rock in the yard.

Back at the door, Alaina laid her free hand against her stomach, rubbing gently. “May the Force be with us, kiddo,” she whispered as she used the rock to break one of the panes of glass that bordered the entryway.

It shattered with an awful noise, and she made a mental note to repay the Davidsons once she got back on her feet.

Alaina cleared the glass from the frame with the sleeve of her jacket, then gingerly slipped her cold, nearly numb fingers through the opening so that she could manipulate the lock. A couple of turns and the doorknob moved under her hand.

Not bad for her first breaking and entering. Hopefully her last.

She withdrew her arm and almost fell inside the house on a fresh growl of thunder.

The foyer was pitch-dark, so she left the front door open. She fumbled along the wall, searching for the light switch. Nothing happened when she found it and flipped it on. Either the storm had blown the power or the house no longer had electricity.

It didn’t matter. In some ways, the dark felt warmer, protective somehow, and after all the summers she and Maggie had spent here as guests, she could still find her way around.

She moved slowly toward the kitchen, relieved when flashes of lightning revealed familiar items—the wooden bin in the hallway where muddy shoes were left, the pictures of long-departed Davidsons on the walls near the stairs. It was wonderful to see that some things hadn’t changed. Heron Cove must still belong to the family.

In the pantry, Alaina found the candles and matches that were kept there for emergencies. She sat down at the table, allowing herself a sigh of exhaustion as she held a match to a small candle.

Something dripped against the tiny flame, causing it to sputter. Not wax, she realized with a frown.

Blood.

She turned her hand and saw the neat cut along the side of her wrist. She must have sliced it on a piece of glass when she’d stuck her hand inside the broken window. She’d been so chilled she hadn’t even felt it.

Blood welled and continued to drip on the table, and after that first, stunned moment, Alaina jumped up to grab a kitchen towel. She twisted it around her wrist, which she pulled against her breast, then sat down again.

She was light-headed, and more tired than she’d felt in days. Making sure to maintain pressure on her wrist, Alaina dropped her head into her hands. She closed her eyes and tried to draw deep breaths. No need to panic. She was safe.

In a few moments she would locate a blanket. There probably wouldn’t be anything in the fridge, but she’d noticed cans of food in the pantry. She could sack out on the living-room couch tonight, then walk into Lake Harmony tomorrow and find a bank. Everything would be all right.

Waiting for her breathing to settle, she listened to the storm shake the windows. The wind whipped under the eaves, and she had to smile at the sound.

The first summer she and Maggie had been invited here, a storm had blown up in the middle of the night. Maggie had told her that the moaning sounds they heard were ghosts trying to break in to steal their souls.

Alaina, who had been a bona fide scaredy-cat most of her life, had charged out of the bedroom and straight into the shadowy solidness of Zack Davidson. He’d laughed to hear her reason for running around the cottage in the middle of the night. Didn’t she know by now that Maggie—with that benign form of torture all sisters loved—was just trying to scare her?

Then he’d taken her outside to the porch, where he’d explained in a very complicated, very sensible guylike way just how old wood reacted against the wind. They’d ended up sitting in the rockers, sharing the baloney sandwich he’d made, and watching lightning strobe the sky. Every time it did, every time the thunder boomed, Zack had squeezed her fingers, just to show her there was nothing to fear.

They’d both been nine that first summer, and long before the end of it, Alaina was half in love with Zack, though she’d previously thought boys were a complete waste of skin.

Now she crossed her arms and let her head drop onto them. It felt so good to rest, to just let the good memories of this place wash through her. Over the years, she’d fallen head over heels in love with Zack, and with the exception of one foolish argument that should never have happened, not a single day of the time she’d spent here had been anything but pure magic.

It was only later, when lazy summer vacations were behind them and real life in Miami had intruded, that Alaina and Zack’s relationship had run aground. When decisions were made that could not be reversed, when everything had gone horribly wrong.

Alaina groaned, refusing to think right now of those lost years without Zack in her life. No. She would rest. Just rest…

She must have dozed, because the next thing she was aware of was light. Blinding light. Shining into her eyes. She lifted her uninjured hand as a shield. Behind the beam of brightness there was movement, the silhouette of a man.

She was no longer alone in the kitchen.

Her heart raced. “Zack?” she said, still too groggy to think straight.

The light disappeared momentarily, and Alaina blinked. She realized that the man holding the flashlight wasn’t Zack at all. He was too thin, and he wore some sort of uniform. She saw the flash of a badge on his jacket. A policeman? Then her heart went into overdrive because she realized that he held a gun.

Pointed right at her.

CHAPTER TWO

FROM THE GAZEBO that sat in the center of the Pinar del Lago footbridge, Zack Davidson stared down into the midnight-dark waters of the lake. The night was eerily shrouded in fog, leaving the moon barely visible. But the gurgle of waves gently lapping against the pilings below was enough to make him smile.

He knew that sound. How many times had he and Alaina stretched out side by side at this very spot, two silly teenagers, and listened to the night settle around them?

The Pinar del Lago bridge was nothing but a span of wood and concrete that linked one side of the Miramar subdivision to the other. It went nowhere interesting, had no architectural marvels to recommend it and was now in sad disrepair.

All that didn’t matter to Zack. He loved this bridge. Which was why, in spite of the fact that his parents had moved out of the neighborhood years ago, and in spite of the work waiting for him in his office, he hadn’t been able to say no to the homeowners’ association when they’d asked him to help bring it back from extinction.

Stupidly sentimental, perhaps. But in spite of his father’s claim that he’d sold out his talent for the almighty dollar, this business decision didn’t have anything to do with money. The bridge represented a touchstone from his teenage years that he wasn’t willing to let slip away. Not just yet.

Tonight he hadn’t been able to explain that to Damaris. His girlfriend was a beautiful woman of Cuban ancestry who owned a string of nail salons in greater Miami. On the way home from dinner, she had actually accused him of being unfocused, unmotivated and poorly prepared to boost his career goals to the next level.

It had annoyed the hell out of him.

Especially the part about being unmotivated. That was rich. He could admit to himself that, for a long time, he’d been perfectly happy working for Maggie Tillman’s aquarium design firm. His innovative, functional cabinetry had been instrumental in the success of her business.

But eventually, it hadn’t been enough for him. And since going into business for himself two years ago, he’d established Dynamic Designs as one of Dade County’s top names in custom woodwork. He was on target to open up a fourth store by the first of next year. Perhaps not ambitious enough for a go-getter like Damaris, but the pace pleased Zack, whose opinion was the only one that should matter.

The fact that she thought she’d earned the right to tell him how to run his business irritated him even more, and he’d driven out here to cool off.

Now he had the vague, unhappy feeling that before he returned to his condo, he’d finally do what had been kicking around in the back of his mind for weeks. He’d swing by Damaris’s place. It was time to break off their relationship.

He was so wrong for her. She needed someone more attentive. Someone who liked to be coddled. And definitely someone who worshipped money as much as she did.

He ran his fingers along the bridge’s handrail, then down one of the badly rotted support posts. In his mind he began to work through the possibilities for this project. Maybe he’d suggest a nice mahogany-stained oak with coated metal balusters. It would be a more expensive way to go, but it would definitely outlast wood. Maybe he could cut some kind of deal with his suppliers for the supports.

He thought about the men in his employ, which ones could give him the best results for this type of work. Eddie, definitely. And maybe Arturo? He had a good eye. Maybe, if nothing else got in the way, Zack could work the project himself. It had been a long time since he’d felt the warmth of fine wood under his fingertips. He missed it.

Though it pained him to admit it, Damaris might be right, after all. In his heart, he’d always be a craftsman first and a businessman second. No matter what his father had thought.

The creak of wood caught his attention, and Zack looked up to find Damaris coming down the dock, moving out of the fog like a pretty ghost. Her hair flowed around her face like a dark, wispy veil. She wore her overcoat, though in October, South Florida nights were still far from chilly.

Although surprised to see her, and ready to end their relationship, Zack felt his gut react. She might be presumptuous, but she was still a damned beautiful woman.

“I thought this is where I’d find you.” Her voice drifted softly toward him.

“What are you doing here, Damaris?”

She smiled, as though they hadn’t exchanged harsh words only an hour ago. “I don’t like to fight. It upsets me.” She reached him, tilting her head up to meet his eyes. “I forgive you. Now come back to my place and let’s do something more…enjoyable.”

He caught her hand as she began to play with the buttons of his shirt. “You forgive me?” he said, amused in spite of his annoyance. The woman had a way of reinventing history. Really, he was almost going to miss her resourcefulness. Almost. “What makes you think I’m the one who needs forgiving?”

“Because this bridge project is foolish, and I know you’ll see that eventually. Helping to rebuild it will bring you nothing. No money. No publicity. It’s unworthy of your talent and a waste of your time.”

“Not to me, it isn’t.” He shook his head at her. “You’re the one wasting your time. My mind’s made up.”

“I didn’t come out here to continue our argument. I came to show you what you’re missing if you persist in being disagreeable tonight.”

Might as well get this over with, Zack thought. “I think we need to talk—”

“No,” she interrupted with a pretty pout. “No more talk.”

She stepped back. In a single, quick movement she pulled the edges of her overcoat away until the garment fell silently at her feet. Zack blinked in astonishment. With the exception of the diamond studs in her ears and the stiletto heels she loved to wear, Damaris was completely naked.

“What the hell…”

He’d seen her in the buff plenty of times. She was passionate, with a flair for the dramatic, but he’d never watched her strip naked in the moonlight. In public.

The next moment she surprised him even more. She slipped over the bridge’s handrail and dived into the lake like an Olympian. He reached the side as she bobbed to the surface, smiling up at him. Zack remembered that the lake was its deepest here at the gazebo, but the water was still very clear. He watched the pale blur of her legs scissor-kick to keep her body afloat, and her breasts were plainly visible.

He glanced around. The lake was large enough that it was unlikely anyone in the houses that rimmed it would have heard the splash and come to investigate. Still…

“Are you nuts?” he called down to her softly. “Come out of there.”

“Why don’t you come to me? Your old boss says your hands have magic in them. Show me.”

Two nights ago they’d had dinner with Maggie Stewart and her husband, Will. Damaris knew perfectly well that when Maggie had said Zack’s hands held magic, she’d meant his ability to work with wood. “Damaris…”

She grinned mischievously. “The water is cold. Come warm me up, mi vida.” She brought one hand to her breast, stroking herself, deliberately teasing.

Breaking up with her tonight wouldn’t be pleasant. She’d be embarrassed and furious, and she could be a fiery little witch when she felt thwarted. But he had to do it.

He watched her flip on her side and bring one leg up in an acrobatic turn. Damn, she was such a beauty.

At that moment, it was glaringly apparent to Zack that any other red-blooded male would have jumped in and joined her. Why the hell was he acting like a shrinking violet over a little skinny-dipping fun? He ought to be stripping off his clothes this very minute.

But the truth was, Damaris was not, and never would be, the woman he wanted to play this sexy, dangerous game with.

He thought about all the times he and Alaina had made out here in the gazebo as teenagers, all his sweaty, hormone-infused efforts to get to second base with her. What he wouldn’t have given to find Alaina, naked and hungry, beckoning him into the lake.

But Alaina, damn her uptight, good-girl upbringing, had never been willing to risk discovery. Not even for a guy she’d supposedly been in love with.

He realized in that instant that his cell phone was vibrating. Scowling, he jerked it off his belt. He didn’t recognize the number on the display. Definitely not local.

“Yeah, this is Zack,” he said absently as he glanced down at Damaris. She was scowling, too.

“Is this Zachary Davidson who owns Heron Cove cottage in Lake Harmony, Georgia?”

The male voice sounded familiar, but Zack couldn’t place it. No mistaking the authoritative tone, though. “Yes. What about it?”

“Well, hello there, Zack.” The caller’s voice turned friendly, but there was something about it that made him feel as though he’d just swallowed a mouthful of motor oil. “You might not remember me. This is your old buddy Whit Russell.”

Old buddy? Whit Russell? Old Nit Whit? Zack remembered him, all right. But not in a good way. Whit had been a full-time resident of Lake Harmony, and every time Zack had spent the summer there as a kid, he and Whit had managed to butt heads.

When he remained silent, Whit went on. “Actually, it’s Deputy Russell now.”

Zack frowned into the phone. The sheriff, an honorable, easygoing man named Pete Moran, had been friends with Zack’s late father. “What’s happened to Sheriff Moran?”

“He’s still here. Off on vacation for a couple of weeks. I’m in charge of keeping the peace while he’s gone.”

“Congratulations,” Zack said, barely managing to keep sarcasm out of his voice. Whit might be better looking than Barney Fife, but he had that officious, superior attitude down pat. A first-class jerk if ever there was one.

Zack cut a glance down at the water below. Damaris was floating on her back now, exposing herself as a way of enticing him to cut the phone call short. Truthfully, it didn’t require much encouragement. The last person he wanted to talk to was an old childhood pain-in-the-ass like Whit Russell.

He covered the phone’s receiver with his hand. “Come out of there, damn it,” he whispered harshly. “Do you want to be gator bait?”

Damaris just continued to smile.

Zack lifted the phone back to his lips.

“I’m afraid I can’t talk right at the moment,” he told Russell. “Maybe—”

“Oh, this isn’t a social call. I guess there’s no sense pretending we were ever friends. Right?”

“No, I suppose not,” Zack agreed.

In fact, the last time he’d seen Whit, the teenager had been sporting a busted lip and black eye that Zack had given him. The son of a bitch had dared to touch Alaina, tried to seduce her in one of the lake’s boathouses while the Fourth of July fireworks blossomed overhead. Whit deserved the nickname he’d been cursed with. He was an idiot. Why Zack should be wasting time talking to him…

“I’m sort of tied up right now, Deputy,” Zack told him. “Can we move this along?”

He should have known Whit wouldn’t like losing control of the call. If he was in charge up in Lake Harmony while Sheriff Moran was out of town, he’d want to savor every moment of power.

Sure enough, when Whit spoke, his tone was brisk and authoritative again. “I’m calling to inform you that your place got broken into tonight.”

That surprised Zack. Lake Harmony had always been a little pocket of sanity in a crazy world. Peaceful. Quaint. Even though he hadn’t been back for a visit in several years, not even to clean out the place after his father’s death, Zack still fondly remembered the cottage on Lake Harmony. Crime had been nonexistent in the town.

“Someone broke into the cottage?” he repeated, trying to absorb that fact and keep an eye on Damaris at the same time.

“Don’t worry,” Whit said. “I was able to catch the perp before any harm was done.”

The perp. Oh yeah, Zack thought. Deputy Do-Right had probably put the fear of God into the poor schmuck.

“Who was it?” Zack asked. “Kids?”

“Not exactly.” The greasy pleasure in Nit Whit Russell’s voice made the hair on the back of Zack’s neck stand on end. “In fact, you’ll never guess who I caught red-handed, and who’s now locked up in my jail.”

Zack wasn’t in the mood for games. “Enlighten me,” he said in a clipped tone. Tucking the cell phone against his shoulder, he scooped up the overcoat Damaris had draped over the railing, and waved it at her, another invitation to come out. She shook her head and splashed water in his direction.

“Miss Priss,” Whit Russell said.

“Who?”

“Your old girlfriend.” When Zack didn’t respond right away, Whit explained, “Alaina Tillman. With all the mooning you did over her in the old days, don’t tell me you’ve forgotten her?”

Zack repositioned the phone against his ear. He couldn’t be hearing right. “Alaina,” he repeated with a snort of disbelief. “You’ve got Alaina Tillman sitting in your jail.”

“Yes, siree. Though she hasn’t been sitting much. Mostly she’s making a ruckus, trying to get me to let her go.” The deputy emitted a harsh laugh. “As if that’s going to happen anytime soon.”

This had to be some sort of joke. Two nights ago he’d heard from Maggie that her sister, Alaina, was busy playing house with a wild-eyed environmentalist intent on saving some Texas river. Still hoping to figure out what she wanted out of life, he supposed. Still worrying the hell out of her family, too, because except for receiving an occasional postcard to let them know she was all right, no one heard much from her.

But while such unorthodox behavior wasn’t at all like the old cautious Alaina he’d grown up with, there was no way in hell she’d end up in some jail. Not even in a backwater town lockup like Lake Harmony’s.

Damaris caught his attention by splashing more water at him. He turned his back, speaking low into the phone. “What’s the deal, Russell? What’s going on up there?”

“Told you. She busted into your place. There’s glass everywhere.”

Russell’s words made Zack draw in a sharp breath. This was surreal. A beautiful naked woman swimming right below him. Alaina in jail. “Is she all right?”

“Aww, ain’t that sweet?” The deputy chuckled, and Zack thought his tone had become almost gleeful. “Why would you still care? I heard you two broke up after high school, and she married someone way out of your league.” When Zack didn’t respond, Whit continued. “I tell you, man, you got lucky. She’s not the pretty little thing she was back in the old days. She’s a mess. I almost didn’t recognize her.”

“Was she alone?”

“No accomplices that I could see.”

“Is she all right?” Zack repeated, more sharply this time.

“She is for now. Fit enough to pay for what she’s done. I’m going to book her. Judge Larabee comes through tomorrow, and by noon we’ll have her moved to the county jail over in Dahlonega. Spending a little time with the real lowlifes ought to take the Priss out of the Miss.”

“What are you charging her with?”

“Breaking and Entering for starters. Whatever else I can come up with. After the way we parted company years ago, I’m not predisposed to go light on her. Considering the fact that she ended up slamming the door in your face, too, I wouldn’t think you’d feel any different. Right?”

Zack heard the challenge in the deputy’s voice, the deep-rooted, petty meanness that had often been Whit Russell’s downfall as a boy.

His mind went back over two years, to the day he’d sat in a hotel coffee shop and listened to Alaina tell him that she was going to leave her husband, Gil. Working in Key West with Maggie, Zack hadn’t seen her for a long time. From everything Maggie had told him about that dry-as-dust marriage, Alaina wasn’t losing much, but it was still too late for them.

He’d told her that if she wanted to leave her husband, if she wanted to find a way to make her life count for something, more power to her. But she’d have to do it on her own. He wasn’t going to play the knight-in-shining-armor role for her any longer. He was through.

When he’d said that, he’d honestly meant it. Loving Alaina had been too hard. Too hurtful. He’d had to find some way to eradicate her from his heart, and a quick, clean cut seemed best.

He’d done just that. She no longer had any hold over him.

Taking Zack’s silence for uncertainty, Whit made a derogatory sound into the phone. “Oh, man. Don’t tell me you’ve still got the hots for her? Don’t tell me to turn her loose. That you’re not going to press charges.”

A weird blend of protectiveness and irritation spiked through Zack, but just as quickly he crushed it. He held no bitterness toward Alaina. He’d figured out a long time ago that he had to put their past behind him or it would do him in. So involving himself with her again, no matter what fix she had gotten herself into…well, that would be a monumental lapse of good judgment.

He knew with sudden clarity what he had to do. He pushed out a long sigh. “No,” he said firmly to Nit Whit Russell. “No, I’m not going to tell you to turn her loose. You caught her. You keep her.”

CHAPTER THREE

FOR A WOMAN WHO’D SPENT the first thirty years of her life as a by-the-book rule follower, Alaina found it a huge shock to be sitting in a jail cell, surrounded by olive-drab concrete walls, harsh lighting and no windows. Lake Harmony’s jail wasn’t exactly Alcatraz, but it wasn’t designed for comfort, either.

She figured she’d been locked up about eight hours. She was cold. She’d had nothing to eat. She was exhausted, but couldn’t imagine trying to sleep on the lumpy cot that pretended to be a mattress. In one corner were facilities for taking care of personal business, but even the simplest accommodations she’d shared with Jeffrey during their travels had looked like the Taj Majal compared to the inhospitable stainless steel.

Jail.

With real bars and the faint, chilly smell of desperation in the air.

It was humiliating. Scary. It made Alaina want to cry or retch or both. But she’d be damned before she’d let Nit Whit Russell think he had her on the ropes. Maybe this was an all-time low, but she still had some pride left.

In fact, it was time to make a fuss again.

Late last evening, Whit had hauled her into the sheriff’s office and delighted in taking her watch along with her backpack. Then he’d dumped her unceremoniously into the cell. At regular intervals throughout the night, she’d rattled the bars and yelled down the corridor until Russell had come through the cell block door and warned her to pipe down. She could just see him if she pressed her cheek against the iron, but she’d been gratified to note that every time he came within view, he’d seemed a little less poised and a lot more annoyed.

Good.

She hoped he was tired of dealing with her. Enough that he’d be reasonable about all this and let her go. If not…

She didn’t want to think about what a petty tyrant like Russell might do.

Alaina leaped up from the cot and went to the bars. She shook them hard, but kicking had brought better results, so she whacked them a few times with one booted foot. What she wouldn’t have given for one of the tin cups that made such a racket in those old prison movies.

“Russell!” she yelled. Her voice bounced around the corridor. “Russell, I know you’re out there. Get back here and open this door! You’ve made your point.”

There was nothing but silence for a few long moments. She knew he was still there. Whit had told her that any time they had a criminal locked up, someone had to spend the night on the office couch.

Criminal. As if he had somehow managed to snag Bonnie Parker, and Clyde might try to spring her. Alaina hoped he hadn’t found a moment’s peace on the sheriff’s old sofa.

Feeling her temper start to rise again, she pounded the bars. From the outer office she heard the sound of a door opening, then closing. She strained to hear. Maybe Nit Whit had gone out for breakfast, or to bring her back something to eat. Her stomach felt queasy and unsettled, but she was hungry, too.

A few seconds later, the sound of someone flipping through early morning television programs drifted back to her.

Damn him. He was determined to make her miserable. Did he intend to let her starve while he watched Good Morning, America? That would be just like him. He hadn’t changed a bit since the last time she’d had to deal with him, at age sixteen.

“Whit Russell,” she shouted, remembering at the last minute not to use his nickname. “I’m warning you. I know my rights. The Constitution says—”

“I know what the Constitution says,” Whit’s muffled voice hollered back. “And here’s what I’m saying. Shut up! I’ve had about all I’m going to take from you.”

“Good! Then come back here and let me out. I was a guest of the Davidsons’ every summer for eight years. I’m like a daughter to them. Do you think they give a damn about one broken window that I fully intend to pay for? They’ll have your badge for daring to treat me this way!”

Again there was no response.

Frustrated, Alaina plopped back down on the cot. She rubbed her stomach, wondering what consequences all this stress might have on her baby. Nothing good, she’d bet. She ran her hands up and down her arms, wishing she could lower her pride enough to ask Russell for a blanket.

Her head jerked up as she heard the cell block door open and close, then footsteps.

Alaina rushed to the bars. “It’s about time. Tell me you’ve finally come to your senses.”

She nearly gasped aloud. The man coming down the corridor wasn’t Whit Russell.

It was Zack Davidson.

She wondered if she looked as shocked as she felt. Her eyes must be as big as lunch plates. Had to be. The situation had suddenly gone from bad to worse.

He came right up to the bars. She swallowed hard because she knew there were some mistakes in your life you could never fix, and this was one of them.

Two years ago, right after she’d decided to walk out of her mirage of a marriage, she’d sat across from Zack Davidson and witnessed the death of their friendship, the most treasured one she’d ever had, next to her friendship with her sister, Maggie. Since that night, Alaina had seen him only once: at Maggie’s wedding to Will Stewart. Zack and Alaina had kept their distance as much as they could, polite and civil for the sake of the newlyweds.

But now, here he was, standing right in front of her. The man she’d once loved with all her young heart. The man whose love she had so foolishly tossed away.

Alaina’s breath caught in her throat as her entire body tensed. Their gazes connected, and she realized that she couldn’t step back from the bars, because the cold steel between her hands might be the only thing holding her upright.

He had always been good-looking, and nothing had changed much since she’d seen him last. In high school he’d exuded a raw, masculine sexuality made even more attractive by the fact that he didn’t seem to know it. The passage of time had chiseled away the boyish softness to create hard, precise planes and angles in his features. There were a few more lines around his eyes, but he was still tall and darkly handsome.

The silence had gone on too long, and Alaina rushed to fill it as Zack’s brown eyes scraped over her. Her cheeks were probably candy-apple red with embarrassment, but she refused to dissolve under the weight of it.

“Where’s Russell?” she asked, hoping she didn’t sound as unnerved as she was.

“You’ve pissed him off so much that he’s agreed to give us a few minutes alone. He thinks that somehow I can get you to behave.” The ghost of a smile lifted Zack’s lips. “I didn’t tell him that I’ve never had that kind of power over you.”

“Is he going to let me out or not?”

“I can’t imagine why he would. He says you’ve done nothing but berate him since you got here.” Zack cocked his head, as though seeing her for the first time. “Do you think it was wise to call him a power-hungry little weasel?”

She grimaced, feeling vaguely chastised. “I suppose not. But he’s acting like a complete jerk about this. He hasn’t changed a bit.”

“No, I can see that he hasn’t.”

“What are you doing here?”

There was a slight pause. “He called to tell me the cottage had been broken into.”

“He promised he wouldn’t.”

“When has that idiot ever been true to his word? He couldn’t wait to let me know who he’d caught.”

Frustrated, she shoved a hand through her tousled hair, knowing she must look like hell. “This is all so ridiculous. I just needed a place to get out of the rain. Someplace to rest a little while. I wasn’t going to run off with the Davidson family silver.”

“I guess Whit thought you looked like a real desperado.”

She could feel anger making her jaw twitch. “I told him I would make arrangements to pay for the damage. He didn’t have to lock me up. You know he only did it for spite.”

Releasing a long sigh, Zack crossed his arms. “Actually, I’m the one who told him to keep you locked up.”

“You?” Alaina gripped the bars even tighter. “Why would you do that? Do you hate me that much?”

“I don’t hate you,” he said calmly. “I just couldn’t believe what Russell told me. So I caught the first flight up here just to discover for myself what kind of trouble you’ve managed to get yourself into.”

Alaina lifted her chin. “So now you know.”

Zack shrugged. “I don’t know much of anything. But I’m willing to listen.”

“Your mother would never make a big deal about this,” she told him, defiance in her tone. “And your father—”

“Dad had a heart attack and died last spring.”

His words left her speechless for several seconds. Zack’s dad had been such a robust, salt-of-the-earth kind of guy. The sort of man people looked up to and admired. Zack, especially, had idolized his father. He must be devastated.

She knew that no words could make a difference, but she had to try. “I’m sorry, Zack,” she said, shaking her head. “I didn’t know.”

“No reason why you should.” His tone was brisk, and knowing him as well as she had, she heard the silent message. He didn’t want to talk about it. “From what Maggie tells me,” he added, “you don’t get in touch very often.”

“Probably not as often as they’d like,” she admitted. A sudden, horrible thought occurred to her. She looked up at him sharply. “Nit Whit didn’t call my parents, did he?”

“No.”

“And neither did you, right? Please tell me you didn’t.”

Zack gave her a look that was full of disappointment. “Don’t you think they’d want to know?”

“I contact them as much as I can. They know I’m doing fine.”

“Yeah. You look fine.”

She gave him a sullen glance, then wheeled away from the bars to perch on the cot.

Panic threatened to send her thoughts scattering like a flock of crows. If Zack had called her parents, they’d come riding to her rescue. Full of good intentions, but making everything so much worse. When her sister had shown up pregnant and unwed at nineteen, they’d almost lost their minds, and she’d been the wild child in the family. Now with Alaina—once so sensible and willing to do whatever she’d been told—in the same boat…? Oh God. Disaster.

The silence spun out. She didn’t look up at Zack, but she sensed that he hadn’t taken his eyes off her for a second. He must think she was completely nuts, landing in a fix like this.

“I know they’d only want to help,” she agreed, drawing a deep breath. She swallowed hard. Morning sickness reared its ugly head, and she could feel it trying to take hold in her twisting stomach. She didn’t need that, either. “But please tell me you haven’t called Mom and Dad.”

“I didn’t call them.”

“Thank you,” she said, with such relief that the words came out a mere whisper.

“Only because I couldn’t. Your parents left on a two-week cruise a couple of days ago. Maggie and Will and the kids went with them, too. Some big family celebration.”

“To the Mediterranean?”

Zack’s brows came together in surprise. “Yes. How did you know?”

“Not long before I left Miami, Mom was talking about the next family vacation. She said she wanted to see the Greek Isles before she got too old. Dad said he’d make that happen. That Maggie and I would go, too. Mom’s birthday is next week.” Alaina grimaced at Zack. “I guess they decided not to wait any longer, and went without me.”

To her annoyance, she felt tears sting the back of her eyes. In spite of the promise she’d made to herself—to get out from under the thumb of anyone who tried to tell her how to live her life—she couldn’t deny that she missed her parents and sister. Maggie’s daughter Amy would be ten by now, and her son Brandon no longer a baby. Did her little nephew look like his father? How strange it seemed not to know the details of her own family.

As though sensing her thoughts, Zack said softly, “An occasional postcard isn’t keeping in touch, Al. Do you have any idea how much everyone in your family worries about you?”

“I know. But I have to keep our conversations brief. If I don’t, everyone ends up crying and begging me to come home.”

“When did you decide home was such a terrible place to be?”

“When I finally realized that I didn’t have a home. All I really had in Miami was a pretty prison. First with Mom and Dad, and then with Gil. My entire life was spent making people believe I was someone I didn’t want to be anymore, and I was just so sick of it.”

He took a cursory glance around the cell. “Well, it looks to me like you’re not much better off now. Care to tell me how this happened? I know why you were arrested, but since when did you start roaming the countryside by yourself? What’s happened to lover-boy?”

His brittle tone irritated her. She seesawed up to her feet, giving him a sour look that matched the taste of bile in her throat. “His name is Jeffrey, and where he is right now is none of your business. Either press charges and let Nit Whit throw the book at me, or drop them so I can get out of here and be on my way.”

He scowled. “Maggie said you’re different now. I’m not sure I like this new Alaina Tillman.”

“Too bad,” she said, tossing her head and placing her hands on her hips. “Because I didn’t like the old one very much.”

Pointing toward the white bandage wrapped around her wrist, Zack asked, “What happened there?”

She slipped her hands into her jeans pockets. “I cut it on the broken glass. It’s nothing.”

“You look like hell.”

“Does that make you happy?”

“No,” he replied, his glance cool. “Why should it?”

“I know what you think of me. It must have been really difficult, having to be nice to me at Maggie’s wedding.”

“You don’t know anything. And considering our past, I think a certain degree of discomfort for both of us was understandable.”

The outer door opened, and Whit Russell moved into the corridor. He looked belligerent. “Time’s up, Davidson!” he called.

Alaina’s heart thumped wildly in her chest as Zack made a move to leave. She rammed one hand through the bars and caught the edge of his jacket. “Zack, please. Get me out.”

He stared at her a long moment, but didn’t try to remove her fingers. Her stomach rolled again unpleasantly. She wanted desperately to believe she could see his indecision floating between them like a fog.

He shook his head. “If I don’t press charges, you’ll walk out of here and disappear to God knows where.”

“I don’t know yet where I’ll go. But no matter what, it won’t be your concern.”

“You made it my concern when you broke into the cottage.”

“Listen, why does this have to be so difficult? I’m not hurting anyone. I’m not wrecking a marriage or breaking up a family. I just need to get out of here.”

The change in his expression was as sharp as a slap. “No.”

“Can you really be so cruel that you’d leave me in Nit Whit’s hands?”

“Okay. You want out of here, I want a promise.”

She frowned, suddenly suspicious. “What kind of promise?”

“That instead of heading off for parts unknown, you’ll sit down and talk to me. I want to know what’s going on. How you ended up like this.”

She released his jacket, her temper flaring once more. “You don’t have the right—”

“Don’t misunderstand. I’m not interested in your future plans. But I want to be able to tell your family something that will reassure them that you’re all right. You may not care about them, but I do.”

Seeing the determination in his eyes, she felt the strength leave her, like honey melting out of its comb. Her legs were so weak she had to find the cot quickly. She bent forward, her hair falling into her eyes as she brought her hand to her mouth to keep the contents of her stomach down.

“Why should you give a damn about Mom and Dad?” she asked, full of misery. “They worked hard enough to split the two of us up, didn’t they?”

“I don’t hold grudges. I move on. And I happen to care very much about Maggie. She’s ridiculously happy with Will and the kids now. Talking about you is the only thing that makes her sad these days.”

His words barely registered. Too late. What little was left in Alaina’s stomach was coming up, no matter what. “Just leave then,” she whispered, making a dash for the stainless steel sink in the corner. “Oh, damn…”

She was dimly aware of Zack extending his hand toward her through the bars. “Alaina, what’s wrong? Do you need help?”

Bent over the basin, she waved that suggestion away. This was humiliating enough. She didn’t want Whit Russell thinking he’d managed to upset her so much that she was sick. “Wait a minute,” she choked out between spasms. “Just wait…”

It was over almost as soon as it began, thank goodness. She didn’t have much food to lose. Still, she hated throwing up. The indignity of it. The acidic taste in your mouth.

She used the thin towel to wipe her face, then scraped both hands through her hair. Her cheeks were cold, and she wondered if there was any color left in her face.

She turned back to Zack, giving him a rueful smile. His brow was drawn down in a frown, but for the first time since he’d come into the cell block, he looked a little like the old Zack.

“Sorry,” she said as she approached the bars again. “All this stress has tied my stomach in knots.”

His head tilted, and then he said something unexpected. “Do you remember Sandy?”

Alaina stared at him, uncertain why he would bring up his family right now. “Your sister? Of course. How is she?”

“She’s fine. She’s still married to Rick. She’s going to have another baby after the first of the year. A boy.”

“That’s nice. I always knew she’d make a great mom. So…what’s the decis—”

“She came to stay with me for Dad’s funeral,” he stated, as though there was nothing more important than catching up on old times. “While she was there she couldn’t keep anything down. I can’t tell you how many times I woke to the sound of her throwing up in the bathroom.”

Alaina didn’t like this conversation. Feeling uneasy, she forced a smile. “I guess it’s always rough during that first trimester.”

“I suppose,” he replied. Then his eyes latched on to hers, probing so sharply that the tension that had worked its way into her spine threatened to snap her in two. “But I know one thing. After watching Sandy, I know what being pregnant does to a woman’s body. I’ve seen the changes that take place early on, and I can see them in you, Al.”

His words hit her in the stomach like a fist. She swallowed and stepped back. “I don’t know what—”

He shook his head. “Don’t bother to lie. You’re pregnant, aren’t you?”

CHAPTER FOUR

IT WAS NEARLY DAYBREAK by the time Alaina was released from custody. Whit Russell didn’t like the fact that Zack refused to press charges, but there wasn’t a damn thing he could do about it.

Zack escorted Alaina to his rental car, where she tossed her backpack into the rear seat and settled into the passenger side without a word. Since he was feeling tired and out of sorts, at the moment he was perfectly fine with her silence.

Except…where should they go from here?

Toying with several ideas, but unable to settle on any of them, he pulled out of the parking spot in front of the jail.

It had been years since he’d been back to Lake Harmony. His mother had pestered him for months to make a trip up here to take care of a few things at Heron Cove, but he’d put her off. He hadn’t wanted to return, and work had made such a convenient excuse. A new business needed your full attention, and he didn’t have time for walks down Memory Lane right now. Maybe sometime after the first of the year, he’d promised her.

But now, as he drove down the deserted main street of town, he could feel his gut clenching at all the old familiar sights.

The place looked as though it had been frozen in time. Given the early hour, not much was open except the Creekside Diner on the corner and the town’s only gas station. But the drugstore, the nail salon with its sun-faded posters in the windows, the tidy town square, even the salvaged train cars that had morphed into the visitor’s center—they all looked the same.

He had a rough moment as they passed the hardware store, where he and his father had bought lumber for the deck they’d built on the back of the cottage. And another when they passed Cookie Country, where people came from miles around just to grab a dozen of Emmaline Epperson’s melt-in-your-mouth snickerdoodles. Those had been his father’s favorite, and the pain of that memory was right there beneath Zack’s breastbone.

He wasn’t about to allow it to take hold. He glanced at Alaina. “So…start talking. I got you out of jail. Now I want to hear what happened. Why are you in this mess?”

Instead of answering that question, she asked one of her own. “I don’t suppose you’d have anything to eat? I’m starving.”

“We could go back to the diner.”

“I’d rather not.”

She swiped her bandaged hand through her tousled hair—which didn’t help a bit—then brushed a streak of dirt from her jacket sleeve. If she felt as washed out and worn down as she looked, Zack could guess that she dreaded being seen in public. The old Alaina had been a champion of order, the tidiest person he’d ever known.

Making a decision he might regret, he swung the car off Main Street and away from town. If he remembered right, a mile or two outside the city limits was an old market near the lake. Tourists had discovered its deli, which specialized in fried chicken lunches and sandwiches.

There wasn’t a soul in the parking lot, but plumes of smoke curled from the chimney, and Zack could smell apples cooking. He parked by some oak trees with picnic tables beneath them. Getting out of the car, he bent down to catch Alaina’s eye through the open window.

“Stay here,” he told her. “If you’re gone when I get back…”

She frowned at him, looking offended. “I won’t be gone. I promised.”

The place was deserted except for a teenager behind the counter. Zack was relieved that the old guy who owned the market and had been a friend of his father wasn’t there. Even this place held memories, and he was determined not to revisit them.

While the kid filled Zack’s to-go order, he grabbed items off the shelves. He wasn’t sure what a pregnant woman should eat, but he figured she ought to stay away from grease and sugar.

When he got back to the car, he was actually relieved to see that Alaina was right where he’d left her. She murmured a quick thank-you, then eagerly grabbed the sack he handed her, and dug into it while he removed the lid from the coffee he’d bought for himself.

She unearthed the turkey-and-cheese sandwich, an apple and a bottle of flavored water. Then she gasped as she took out a small cup of carrot-raisin salad, one of the market’s specialties.

“You remembered!” she exclaimed with a smile.

As Alaina Tillman smiles went, it was a little weak, but it still made Zack’s nerves vibrate, and he didn’t like that. “Yeah,” he replied. “Just eat.”

As he’d expected, she ate the salad first. Alaina loved the stuff. Personally, Zack thought raisins were a waste of perfectly fine grapes, and nothing she’d ever said had convinced him otherwise. But they were a good source of vitamin something or other, so he’d made the exception and bought the salad at the last minute.

He sipped his coffee while she ate. The morning mist had burned away, leaving scallops of sunlight upon the grass. In the distance, Zack could see Lake Harmony, shining like a long blue ribbon of silk on the horizon.

He couldn’t believe he was back here, where he’d spent so many wonderful, innocent summer vacations. He couldn’t believe he was sitting in a car, alone with Alaina for the first time in years.

When she’d finished the salad and half the sandwich, he turned in his seat to look at her. “Feel better?”

She gave him another smile, a stronger one this time. “Actually, yes. Thank you.”

No point in waiting any longer. The sooner he got some answers, the sooner he could get back to Miami. “So what’s the deal, Al?”

“There’s not that much to tell.”

“Look,” he said with a sigh. “I’ve been up all night, so I’m as tired as you are. I have a business that needs my attention. But I’m not going home without something. When your family gets back from their cruise, I want to be able to tell them you’re all right.”

“I am all right. I’m just…” she shrugged one shoulder “…alone at the moment.”

He tossed his empty coffee cup into a bag they were using for trash. “Alone and pregnant. Yeah, that will ease their minds.”

“This is just a temporary situation.”

“Because lover-boy is coming back?”

She jerked around in her seat and gave Zack a tough look. “Stop calling him that. I’m plenty mad at Jeffrey myself right now, but I’m willing to cut him some slack, because I know that deep down he’s a wonderful man. He cares about the world. He wants to make it a better place. He believes one person can make a difference.”

“Okay, I get it. He’s out to save the polar bears and the rain forest, but leaves the mother of his kid high and dry. He’s a saint, all right.”

“When did you turn into such a cynic?” she asked. “You were the first one to chain yourself to Wilson’s oak tree to keep it from being cut down.”

He couldn’t help laughing at that. “I was sixteen! When we were young I did a lot of things I should have thought twice about.”

She stared at him intently. “You mean, like having me for a girlfriend?”

“Absolutely,” he said, not missing a beat. “But stay on topic. Where’s…Jeffrey?”

She settled back in her seat with a huge sigh. He felt her resistance give way. She rubbed her forefinger along one eyebrow, a gesture that swam up through the years for Zack, old and familiar as his own name. “I don’t know,” she admitted in a soft voice. “We spent the night in Atlanta. We had a disagreement, and yesterday morning I woke up to find him gone.”

“No note? No goodbye kiss?”

She dug into the pocket of her jacket, retrieving a crumpled piece of hotel stationery. She handed it to Zack. “He left this on the dresser.”

Zack read the brief lines.

Alaina—

I’m sorry. I need time to adjust to the idea. Give me two weeks.

Love, Jeff

“He left because you told him you were pregnant?” Zack asked with a scowl.

“That’s not exactly the way it went.”

Great. Just about as bad as he’d feared. “Then what way was it?”

“I know it doesn’t sound very good,” she admitted. “And I could kill him for doing such a stupid, selfish thing.”

“A baby doesn’t fit his plans, so he’s off to save the whales, which are probably a lot less difficult to deal with than the idea of becoming a father.”

Her mouth thinned in disapproval at his assessment. “Honestly, he’s not like that. He’s idealistic and passionate. I just keep telling myself that the news was a shock. He needs time to think things through. Obviously plans may have to change, but he’s just confused right now. I can give him a little time to adjust. It doesn’t mean he won’t be back.”

Oh, sure. That could happen. “So what are you thinking? That he’ll come roaring back to town once he gets his head straight? Then what? Can you get two adults and a baby on the back of a Harley?”

“Why are you being so hateful?” she snapped. “When I told you I was leaving Gil you said I should do whatever I needed to in order to change my life. You just didn’t want to be involved in any way. I did as you asked. I didn’t bother you again. Now you want to lecture me about the choices I made after I divorced him?”

“No. I don’t want to lecture you.” What a hell of a mess this woman had managed to get herself into. Zack didn’t owe her anything. He ought to give her a ride to wherever she wanted to go, and be done with it. He wanted to kick himself for being too weak to do just that. “I guess I thought you’d have better sense than to chuck everything you had back home—”

“What do you think I had, Zack?” Her voice sounded as thin and tight as a wire. “A messy, public divorce. A job in public relations that I was good at but didn’t particularly enjoy. Living back home with two parents who mean well, but who can’t help meddling to the point that you want to scream. You know how they are, how they’ve always been. Especially when it comes to me—the perfect daughter who’s never disappointed them.”

Yeah. He couldn’t deny what a number Alaina’s parents could do on a person. He’d been victimized by their loving pressure a time or two himself.

“Even Maggie and I were starting to get on each other’s nerves again,” Alaina admitted. “She couldn’t resist trying to fix things that I didn’t ask her to fix. We’d become so close after she got came back to Miami. I hated to see how resentful I was becoming toward her.”

They were silent for several long moments. Time seemed suspended. Finally Zack said, “Okay, so you needed a change. This guy Jeffrey. It’s one thing to flirt with the free-spirited, vagabond lifestyle, but quite another to set down roots there. He wasn’t the answer, Al.”

Zack could see nothing more than her profile. He watched the muscles in her throat flex as she swallowed hard. “Maybe not,” she agreed. “But at the time, he felt like he could be. I needed the physical and mental space to get my head together. Everything was just so stifling. I don’t know what he’ll do once he’s had time to think. I’m not even sure what I want him to do about it. I just know one thing.” She turned to look at Zack. “In spite of everything, I’m not sorry that I’m pregnant.”

There had been a time in their lives when the two of them could have talked about anything. But for a moment, he honestly didn’t know how to respond to that. It felt as though glass had lodged in his lungs, making it impossible to breathe, much less speak.

When he didn’t say a word, she said, “Maggie must have told you that Gil and I really wanted children. I thought it would never happen. But now that it has, it’s all I want.”

She sounded so determined. He looked into her eyes and recognized a stone wall when he saw one. He wished he could think of something helpful to say, but nothing came to him. “You could end up a single mother. That’s not easy these days.”

She shook her head. “I don’t care, Zack. I’ll manage.”

He suddenly needed to close his mind down, give it a rest. “Okay. So in a few months you have the kid and everything’s roses and sunshine. But first you have to get there. The question is, what are you going to do now?”

WHAT ARE YOU GOING TO DO now?

Good question.

It would be lovely if she had an answer for that one. But the scary truth was, Alaina didn’t. Right now, she was a million miles away from knowing what she could possibly do with her life.

When she’d met Jeffrey shortly after her divorce, she’d been so certain that he was what she needed. Passionate about life and the environmental causes he believed in, yet surprisingly lighthearted and full of mischief. Sensitive. Undeniably sexy, with electric-blue eyes and shaggy blond hair like a young Redford. He was twenty-eight to her thirty-two, but he didn’t seem to care if she had a little extra on her hips or no longer had the confidence to wear a bikini. His enthusiasm for life was infectious, so different from the cold, bland world she’d shared with Gil.

When he’d asked if she wanted to go off to Texas with him for a few weeks so she could help to save a band of wild horses, she had said yes in a heartbeat. And when those weeks had turned into months, it hadn’t bothered her a bit. Jeffrey made her feel young again, made her feel as though her life mattered.

He’d been a thoughtful, caring lover. They’d taken precautions. This baby had definitely been an accident, the result of too much wine and a celebration over some small victory they’d managed. When she’d finally told him a couple of nights ago, he’d looked completely shocked.

“I can’t believe this,” he’d kept repeating. “Are you sure?”

The displeasure she’d sensed had made her less than understanding. They’d argued a little, then resolved to look at the situation again in the morning, though Alaina couldn’t imagine what would change in that amount of time. He’d held her in his arms, and there was no more mention of the future, no talk of marriage or the baby. Just a long, long silence, until it had become uncomfortable and Jeffrey had leaned over to kiss her forehead. “Go to sleep,” he’d said sweetly.

She had nodded against the wall of his chest and closed her eyes, but it was ages before she fell asleep.

When she woke the next morning, she couldn’t honestly say she was surprised to find him gone. Somewhere deep inside she’d known the news had hit him hard. Wouldn’t it stun any man who lived the carefree, unattached life that he did?

Right now she was still damn mad at Jeffrey for deserting her. If the rat ever did come back, he’d get a heck of a tongue-lashing from her. But, for the sake of the baby, they needed to sort things out. Would he ever assume any responsibility for the child they had created? After what he’d done, did she even want him in her life? She supposed she’d have a while to find out.

But in the meantime…

Zack was silent, staring out the windshield as they watched a young couple pull into the parking lot, then head down a path through the woods to the lake. A yellow Lab sniffed the ground occasionally as it ran beyond them, then doubled back, as though urging them to catch up. In the quiet you could hear the girl laughing as the boy leaned close to whisper in her ear. They looked as if they didn’t have a care in the world. Alaina envied them.

“I do love this place,” she said, almost to herself.

Zack glanced out the side window, as though trying to decide what to say. Then he turned to face her. “So what was your plan, Al? Why did you come up here and break into the cottage?”

She grimaced. “When I realized that I might be on my own for a while, I didn’t want to make any real decisions too quickly. I just wanted a place to rest.”

“You could have stayed in your hotel room. Waited a few days to see if Jeffrey had a change of heart and came back.”

“I couldn’t do that.”

“Why not?”

She wasn’t willing to tell Zack everything. “Look, I suppose I wasn’t thinking straight. Lake Harmony isn’t that far from Atlanta. It seemed like the ideal place to hunker down for a while.”

“How did you get here?”

Oh, damn. He wouldn’t let it go. “I…I hitchhiked,” she admitted at last.

His eyes narrowed. “Why would you do such a dangerous thing?”

“I didn’t have much choice.”

“Of course you had choices. What about a rental car? Or there are buses coming up here every day.”

“I didn’t have the cash.”

“You couldn’t find an ATM? Or use a credit card?” And then it came to him. He exhaled a large breath, tilting his head back. “Don’t tell me. Jeffrey not only left you to contemplate his pending fatherhood, he roared out of sight with your wallet, too.” He shook his head. “God, what a charmer.”

Zack didn’t seem angry. If she had to find a word to describe the look on his face, it would have been disgust. “It’s not the way you think. My wallet was in his backpack. He may not even realize he has it.”

“You’re dreaming.” When she swung around in the seat to grab her belongings, Zack caught her arm. “What are you doing?”

“I feel a lecture coming on, and I’m really not up to it right now.” She gave him a pointed look, determined to be pleasant, but firm. He had, after all, gotten her out of jail. “Thank you for helping me, Zack. Tell my folks and Maggie that I’m fine and will be in touch soon.”

He scowled and wouldn’t let go of her arm. “Wait a minute. Hold on. I’m just talking out loud, trying to absorb all this and figure out where we should go from here.”

She wondered if he was even aware that he had said “we” instead of “you.” She supposed that, in spite of everything that had happened in the past, old habits were hard to break. Once, it had been just the two of them, there for each other no matter what. A connection she could never have imagined breaking.

But things were different now. They were different.

Settling back down, she drew a deep breath. They were both silent for a while. The couple in the woods were mere specks. The dog was no longer in sight.

Finally Alaina said, “I’m not planning to go anywhere at the moment. I love Lake Harmony. In fact, I think it might be the ideal place to settle down. If things don’t work out with Jeffrey, it could be just me and the baby, living and loving small-town life. What’s wrong with that picture?”

He shrugged. “Nothing, I suppose. Though I’m not sure how realistic it is.”

He wasn’t taking her idea seriously. Just to annoy him, she added, “Maybe I’ll get a job. Or start my own small business.”

“What happened to that degree in interior design you were so hot after?”

“Didn’t Maggie tell you anything about me when you worked for her?”

He glanced down at his hands for a moment. “I wasn’t particularly interested in hearing the details of your wonderful life with Gil. And if you’ll recall, she was still pretty angry with your parents when we worked together down in Key West, so we skipped most of the details. To tell the truth, we kept Tillman family talk to a bare minimum.”

Alaina could understand that. With the animosity between Maggie and their parents, and Alaina’s own troubled past with Zack, there would be no reason for him to want to know anything but the basics about her life.

“I have my degree,” Alaina said. “After I came home from college I got a job in Coconut Grove with one of the design centers. It was a good place to start building a portfolio, and I loved it. But Gil thought the salary was an insult. The work was not nearly prestigious enough.”

“So?”

“So…he pushed me to quit.”

Zack gave her an incredulous look. “And you did? Just like that?”

“No,” she said with a frown. “Not just like that. He was making a name for himself at the hospital, and he wanted me to get involved with their volunteer programs. I didn’t mind. I liked working with the kids, and I was pretty good at increasing donations. After a while, I segued into public relations for pediatrics, and eventually I gave up the design job.”

“You let him browbeat you into giving up your dream?”

“He wasn’t as coercive as you make him sound. I did a good job in PR, and to tell the truth, it kept me so busy that it…it didn’t give me much time to think about how my marriage was falling apart.”

Zack shook his head, releasing a long sigh. “So what do you think you can do here? Lake Harmony probably doesn’t have much use for an interior designer or public relations experts.”

“You never know,” she said brightly, though she suspected he was right. But she just couldn’t start thinking along such gloomy lines. “This area is full of self-sufficient people who own their own businesses. There must be dozens of things I can do to make a living.”

One dark brow lifted. “Such as?”

“I don’t know yet. But I’ll think of something.” She watched him try to subdue a small smile. “What’s so funny?”

“You really have changed, haven’t you? You used to be so methodical, so unspontaneous. It used to take you a week just to decide whether to wear your hair up or down at dinner.”

She sniffed as though offended, but she couldn’t be mad. She had changed. In so many ways.

She brought one hand up to smooth her hair. Right after she’d taken off with Jeffrey, she’d cut it short. The new Alaina, she’d told herself as she’d watched the long blond strands hit the floor at the salon. “Well,” she said, “as you can see, I don’t have to give my hair all that much thought anymore.”

“It’s a shame. I like it longer.”

He spoke briskly, as though to strip the words of any emotional content, but his tone made her look at him more closely. Something passed between them, a little moment of awareness, but it was gone so suddenly she wondered if she’d imagined it.

She said quickly, “I had to simplify my life after I left with Jeffrey. You can’t carry much on a motorcycle, and we ended up in a lot of rustic places with very few luxuries.”

“That fancy address you lived in with Gil. Are you telling me you don’t miss the high life?”

“Surprisingly, no. That house—our life—that was all Gil’s invention, because of who he thought he had to be. But I hated every stick in the place. Everything was so darn perfect.” She lifted her chin. “I’m very adaptable these days. I’ve become a minimalist.”

He gave a tentative nod, as though testing that information. “That may be true,” he said, then motioned toward her stomach. “But you still have to take care of this latest development.” As though coming to some unexpected decision, he started the car and pulled out of the parking lot.

“Where are we going?” she asked.

“Just sit back and eat the rest of your sandwich. The baby’s probably hungry.”

She did as he told her, polishing off the last of the food while he swung the car down the back lanes of Lake Harmony that had once been so familiar to her. When they bumped onto the one that led to Heron Cove, she sat up straight in her seat, a little surprised.

After last night’s storm, the place looked fresher, cleaner, but in the morning light she could see further signs of what she’d noticed before—a lack of loving care that indicated the cottage wasn’t just closed up for the season. It didn’t help that shards of glass from the window she’d broken twinkled in the morning sunlight that bathed the front porch.

Zack stopped in front of the house and killed the engine. His hand gripped the steering wheel. He stared straight ahead for some time as she quietly waited. What was going through his mind?

At last he turned toward her as he dug in the back pocket of his jeans. He withdrew a set of keys, lifted her hand and dropped them into her palm. “These are the keys to the cottage,” he told her. “You can bunk here until you figure out what to do.”

“You’re going to let me stay?”

He frowned at her, probably because she sounded so incredulous. “I thought that’s what you had in mind when you came to Lake Harmony.”

“Well, it was. Sort of. I was hoping your folks would be here for the fall foliage. I didn’t think they would turn me away. But I wouldn’t expect you to—”

“Just because I’m not willing to be your lapdog anymore doesn’t mean I want to see you wandering around the country alone and pregnant, without the bare essentials for survival. Do you have any money?”

“I was going to the bank today. All my ID was in my wallet, but I’m sure I can work something out.”

He studied her until she felt like squirming in her seat. Then he took out his wallet, withdrew three one hundred dollar bills and held them out to her. “This is all the cash I’ve got on me right now. Take it.”

“I don’t need your money. I’ve called all the activists I know who work with Jeffrey. If he hasn’t found my wallet already, they’ll tell him he has it. He’s not a creep, Zack. He’ll send it back to me. Even if…”

“Even if what?”

“Even if he doesn’t end up coming back with it.”

She sounded calm, but the muscles in her jaw probably betrayed her, because she could feel them pulsing the way they always did when she was upset. Zack knew that about her, and for a moment he was silent.

Then he made a dismissive sound. “Don’t be an idiot,” he said. “You can pay me back one day. Call MacAfee’s and have them send out groceries. And you’ll need a way to get around. Dad’s old car may still run. Do you know how to drive a stick?”

“I can manage.”

“The water and electricity should still be on. If it was off when you broke in, it must have been the storm. If there’s a problem, call my office and I’ll take care of it.”

A strange wave of warmth flooded through her at this unexpected generosity, but she nodded and slipped the money into her jacket pocket. “What are you going to do now?”

“I want to catch the first flight back to Miami.”

“You don’t want to come in?” she asked.

He took one quick look at the cottage, then shook his head. “No need to,” he replied, his voice flat and controlled.

She was oddly disappointed. Maybe he really couldn’t wait to get away from her, after all. This was one last favor for old times’ sake, perhaps.

But then she realized there was something else at work here. The way his face had closed up. The way he turned his head away as though the cottage didn’t exist. It surprised Alaina almost as much as the charity he’d offered.

What was wrong?

Curiosity killed all sense of caution. “Zack…”

“I have to go. I have things back home to take care of, and I’ve lost enough time.”

After that comment, she couldn’t get out of the car fast enough. He started the engine as she went around to the driver’s side, her backpack slung over one shoulder. “Thank you again,” she said. “Honestly, Zack. If you hadn’t come—”

He cut in abruptly. “Just take care of yourself, Al. No more crime sprees.”

Before she could say another word, he pulled out of the driveway without a single glance back. Perhaps without a single thought, without a twinge of sadness or regret that they might never see one another again.

CHAPTER FIVE

BY NOON, when Zack got off the plane from Atlanta, the lunch hour traffic in Miami was in its usual frustrating snarl.

It didn’t improve his mood any.

He had a 3:00 p.m. meeting with a vendor to renegotiate the cost of lumber, and should have been in his office right now, prepping for that battle. Instead, all he’d been able to think about for hours was the pregnant blonde he’d left back in Lake Harmony. The one who used to resemble sane, sensible Alaina Tillman.

Impatiently, he swung his car past a big Lincoln moving at a snail’s pace on the Tut Causeway. Miami traffic was a nightmare—always had been—and for just a flicker of time he thought about the winding, scenic drives of the Georgia mountains that had been so much a part of Davidson family vacations. During certain times of the year, you could wander all day and not see another vehicle.

Which reminded him, he needed to contact Lake Harmony’s service station and see if they could get his father’s Buick up and running. Since Dad’s death last spring, the car had been sitting in the garage at Heron Cove, but it was still in pretty good shape. Even if Alaina stayed at the cottage only a couple of weeks, she’d need transportation to and from town. In her condition, she shouldn’t have to walk the three miles into Lake Harmony.

In her condition.

God, he still couldn’t believe she was pregnant.

From what she’d told him, could she seriously believe there was going to be a happy ending to the relationship with Jeffrey the crusader? Zack knew that type. Charming and full of righteous indignation. Ready to take on the world for the greater good of the planet, but a regular louse in his personal life.

Running off. Leaving her to fend for herself while he “thought things through.” How did the bastard think she was going to manage in the meantime?

No. Wait. Better question: Why should Zack care?

The invisible cord that had once bound him to Alaina had snapped long ago. She was out of his life. Definitely out of his heart.

Dumb, Davidson. Dumb. After all the ways she twisted your insides into knots, why would you come within fifty feet of that woman? Why couldn’t you just let her sink?

He should have walked away from her without a second look, but even as he had that thought, he knew it wasn’t in his nature to just turn his back on someone in need. And right now, Alaina was definitely in need.

“You’re such a damn fool,” he said out loud.

The streetlight in front of him went red suddenly, and Zack hit the brakes.

His grip on the steering wheel was so tight that his fingers had started to cramp up. He warned himself to forget Alaina and her problems and concentrate on the traffic.

In the next moment he heard the squeal of brakes. His eyes flashed to his rearview mirror. The Lexus behind him was coming too fast, the driver clearly not paying attention.

Muttering a curse, Zack tensed, waiting for the impact.

In that split second before the crash, he wondered if the guy in the other car had an irritating female on his mind, as well.

ALTHOUGH HIS CAR WAS still in the shop two weeks after the accident, Zack considered himself lucky.

His sprained ankle was encased in a tight-fitting sleeve, but that was coming off tomorrow. The other driver hadn’t been hurt, and he had good insurance. So it could have been much worse.

Which made it all the more difficult to explain why Zack was still in such a treacherous mood.

Maybe it was work-related. Business was slow right now. Most people did their remodeling during the spring, not fall, and the market for new housing was down. There wasn’t a single project on the books that excited him. Even the Pinar del Lago bridge restoration was on hold while the homeowners’ association squabbled over his proposed designs.

Or maybe it was Damaris, the girlfriend who wouldn’t go away. He’d broken things off the night he’d gotten the call from Lake Harmony, but she’d been doing her best to get something started again. She’d shown up uninvited at his condo twice, offering invitations he had no interest in. She had even been foolish enough to suggest she move in—just to help until he was able to get around a little better. He’d rejected that idea politely, firmly, but he had a feeling that she hadn’t given up yet.

There was a knock on his front door. He limped over to answer it, and as soon as he saw through the peephole who it was, he suspected there was more trouble coming his way.

His former boss and good friend, Maggie Tillman Stewart, stood there. Alaina’s family had returned from their cruise two days ago, and he and Maggie had already had a telephone conversation about how fabulous the Mediterranean was. So why was she here now?

He opened the door, and Maggie didn’t waste time with pleasantries.

“Why did I have to hear from your mother that you’d been in an accident?” She pointed down at his sleeve-covered foot. “Why did you let me babble on about the cruise and not mention this?”

Zack shrugged. “Because it’s no big deal.”

He opened the door wider. She passed him to go directly into the living room, but didn’t sit down. Instead, she turned, offering him a sealed plastic bowl containing a mysterious red liquid.

“I brought you some soup,” she said.

He lifted the lid, then frowned down at the neatly diced contents. “This is store-bought.”

Maggie made a face. “Will said you’d know the difference. But it’s still good for you, so don’t be ungrateful.”

He glanced at her in curiosity. “You came clear across town to give me a can of soup?”

“I care about you. Next to Will and Dad, you’re the finest man I know. And…”

“And…?”

His senses were on red alert. Maggie only buttered him up when she wanted something. And she looked nervous, as though she didn’t expect him to be willing to comply.

She tossed her shoulder bag in a chair and raked a hand through her hair. “All right, here’s the thing,” she said quickly. “Alaina called me this morning. I haven’t told Mom and Dad, mostly because there wasn’t much to tell.” She cocked her head sideways, as though inspecting him. “She said she’d seen you recently. So now I’m coming to you for the details.”

“Details?”

“Why didn’t you tell me the other day that you’d seen her? Do you know where she is now? What’s she doing? Is that guy still in the picture? That Jeffrey?”

Zack held up his hand. “Whoa. Did you ask Alaina any of these questions?”

“I did. She clammed up. She just said she’s fine and plans to call Mom and Dad soon to have a long talk. When I tried to press, she said she had to go. Something about moving out of where she is today, and needing to hit the road again. But where is she, and how did she link up with you?”

Stalling, Zack set the soup down on the coffee table. Although he saw Alaina’s parents very seldom, he spoke to Maggie often. From the day Alaina had left Miami, Maggie had been beside herself with worry, trying to think of some way to get her sister to come home. But how much could he safely tell her? Especially when Alaina had clearly decided not to tell her family about the baby yet.

He dropped his head for a moment, thinking, before looking over at his good friend. “It’s really up to Alaina to fill you in, Mags.”

“Yes, it is. But since she won’t, I’m counting on you. You actually saw her. You wouldn’t keep me in suspense when you know I’m so worried about her.”

“She’s fine.”

Maggie was a tough lady, but he saw the fleeting glimpse of desperation in the blue eyes that were so much like her sister’s. “Please, Zack. If she won’t talk to the family…you’re all we have.” Maggie moved to his side to catch his arm. “I’m so grateful that we still have some contact with her through you, but please…give me something more than ‘fine.’ I’m so sick of hearing that word.”

He nodded slowly. He didn’t have to reveal all of Alaina’s secrets. They were hers to tell. But he couldn’t stand to see Maggie so tormented. They’d been friends for too many years.

“She needed a place to stay temporarily. I gave her the keys to Heron Cove.” Maggie’s mouth opened in surprise at that information. He added, “It was very brief. I saw her for about two hours, and considering where our relationship stands, I assure you, we didn’t sit around catching up on old times.”

It took Maggie a long moment to answer. “She’s at the cottage? I could be up there in no time….”

“I thought you said she was planning to leave there today?”

“Oh, damn. I’ve missed my opportunity to talk some sense into her, haven’t I?”

“Maybe you need to back off a little, Mags. Does she really need another Tillman lecture?”

“I’m her sister. I want—”

“What you want doesn’t count for a damn thing with Alaina right now. She’s a grown woman, and she can do as she pleases.”

Maggie didn’t take offense. Instead, she gave him an odd, speculative look. “Your mother is right,” she said unexpectedly.

“About what?”

“She says that lately you’ve been crankier than a bear in a cave. She thinks it’s because of your ankle, but I’m not so sure. Now I wonder if it has something to do with Alaina.”

“Wow,” he said, forcing out a laugh. “From police detective to psychologist in less than ten minutes. What else can you do?”

“Did you break up with Damaris?”

“Yes. Not that it’s any of your business.”

“Before or after you saw Alaina?”

“Before.”

“About time. Damaris wasn’t the one for you.”

“Thanks for the advice, but I came to that conclusion on my own,” he said, sounding more irritated than he intended.

“So what are you going to do now?” She tilted her head again. “Your mother says she has a friend whose daughter would be perfect for you….”

No way was he having this conversation. He shot her a deliberate grin and went over to pick up the container of soup. “I’m going to have lunch. Want to join me?”

She made a disgusted sound and scooped up her purse. “You’re impossible. I’m leaving.” But as she headed for the door, she glanced back over her shoulder. “Just promise me, if Alaina calls you again—”

“She’s not going to.” He followed her to the door. When she turned to say goodbye, he leaned against the frame and made a conscious effort to look encouraging. “She’ll be okay, Mags. By now she’s probably off on another adventure. When the time is right, she’ll be in touch. Just give her some breathing room.”

Maggie nodded slowly. “I’ll try. It’s just that…She was so miserable with Gil, and I want her to be as happy as I am. But I’m afraid for her. For years she’s kept all her frustrations inside. Now that she’s had some freedom, I don’t want her to do anything foolish.” Her mouth lifted in a small smile. “I’m just so glad you were there when she needed you.”

Zack wasn’t sure he felt the same way, but for Maggie’s sake, he didn’t mention it.

After she left, he cast a baleful glance at the soup she’d brought. It held no appeal, but neither did anything else in the pantry. He settled on a ham-and-cheese sandwich, but before he could open the package of lunch meat, the phone rang.

Caller ID indicated it was Damaris.

He muttered a gruff curse. The woman hadn’t become successful in the business world because she was shy about going after what she wanted. And for some strange reason, she seemed to want him.

Letting the call go to the machine, he listened to her message. Sure enough, it was another invitation, to a party on South Beach. She ended by playfully threatening to show up at his door tonight to personally drag him back into the real world.

God, no. Was every woman he knew part of a conspiracy to badger him into insanity? Maybe he really was like a bear in a cave. He didn’t want to be jollied, seduced, set up or guilt-tripped. He just wanted to be left alone.

But what were the odds of that?

When she hung up and the condo was silent once more, Zack stood suddenly and returned the ham to the fridge. He flipped the light off in the kitchen and went to his bedroom. Pulling a suitcase out of the closet, he began tossing clothes into it with little thought. He bent and stripped off the Ace bandage from around his ankle.

He felt a claustrophobic desire to escape Miami. He was antsy and annoyed with everyone these days, and he didn’t feel like trying to fend off Damaris one more time without being cruel. He didn’t want to sit around, waiting for work to pick up. Months ago he’d promised his mother he would go to Heron Cove to tie up loose ends, and right now, today, seemed like the opportune time.

Since his father’s death, he’d avoided returning to the cottage. Lake Harmony held the best, most cherished memories of his childhood, but also the grief and guilt of the mistakes he’d made last year. Maybe this was an opportunity. Maybe he should try to sort things out while he was up there. Put a few of his demons to rest.

It was worth a shot, wasn’t it?

He didn’t have to worry about running into Alaina. At the beginning of the week, she’d left a phone message for him that she’d be gone by Friday and would put the cottage key in the mail. Today was Saturday. And according to Maggie, Alaina should already have hit the road.

He wondered briefly where she was headed, and if she was alone or back in Jeffrey’s company. It didn’t matter much. Either way, he had given her the breather she needed.

She was no longer his problem.

LAKE HARMONY WAS CLOSED up tight by the time Zack reached the outskirts of town. During the fall foliage season, “leaf peepers” could turn these lanes into long snakes of nonstop traffic, but tonight there seemed to be few people on the roads.

The mountains were pitch-dark. There were no streetlamps to guide him, so he went slowly around the curves, not willing to send his car into some ravine. Over the years, developers had left new scars all along the valley, and the soft glow of lights from dozens of cabins and cottages winked like low-lying stars against the ridges of Dogwood Mountain.

He swung into the driveway at Heron Cove. As expected, the cottage was nothing more than a dark lump, surrounded by even darker trees and shrubbery badly in need of trimming. He sat quietly for a moment, glad the trip was over. His ankle ached from the long hours of driving.

Grabbing his suitcase, he limped up the porch steps. To the right he saw the two-seater swing that his father had hung there years ago. His parents had loved sitting out here on cool summer nights, drinking iced tea or coffee, swatting at an occasional mosquito.

After his father’s death, his mother had asked Zack to take it down. She couldn’t bear to think of it hanging there, as empty as her heart now felt. Maybe that was one of the things he should take care of on this visit.

As he let himself into the cottage, the moonlight revealed that the glass panel beside the door had been replaced. Alaina’s break-in might never have happened.

Fleetingly, he wondered where she was at this moment, if she was safe and happy, looking forward to a life with Jeffrey and the baby. How long before Zack saw her again? Months? Years? If she was determined to avoid her family and their loving interference, she might never return to Miami. That was fine with him, but he’d hate to see Maggie and her folks so estranged.

He had no sooner entered the hallway and lowered his suitcase than he noticed that a light had been left on. At the far end of the central hallway, an eerie, flickering glow came from the living room.

A night-light, perhaps? Then he heard the muffled sound of conversation. Laughter. And a woman’s soft voice, rising and falling. Nothing he could make out. When Alaina had left, had she forgotten to turn off the television?

He stopped in the doorway of the living room, surprised.

Alaina sat a few feet away on the floor, cross-legged, her back to him. She appeared completely absorbed in the program, and didn’t seem to realize she was no longer alone.

The television was on, but it wasn’t a sitcom babbling into the room. She’d evidently popped one of his father’s videos into the VCR to watch home movies. The tapes might be considered antiques by now, but back when Zack had been a teenager, Tom Davidson had carried his camera everywhere, capturing even the most mundane of family adventures.

He recognized this footage. The night of Lake Harmony’s Fourth of July celebration. It was the year he and Alaina had turned sixteen, and the day they had their first real argument.

They’d been having such a wonderful summer. The usual fun—just the four of them—although Zack was already in love with Alaina and couldn’t have cared less about spending time with his sister, Sandy, and Maggie. Over the years, he and Alaina had grown so close. They were well-suited for one another. Like two halves of the same person. It had never crossed his mind that Alaina might not feel the same way.

But that July, she was enchanted with the idea of exploring her budding womanhood. Even though Zack had thought it was a foregone conclusion she would go with him to the town dance, she’d informed him that he had dragged his feet too long. She’d already agreed to be Whit Russell’s date. She’d chided Zack for assuming too much about their relationship, taking her for granted.

Stunned and hurt, he took refuge in insults. “Whit Russell is a liar and a cheat,” he told her. “How can you be so stupid?”

“At least he doesn’t have an ego the size of Mount Rushmore,” she’d snapped back at him. “He’s always been nice to me, and he actually listens to what I have to say. He’s cute. And he says he’s a good dancer.”

“A good dancer? If that’s all that’s important to you, then you deserve each other.”

The argument got worse from there, but neither of them gave an inch, of course. They spent the rest of the day in sulky silence. Maggie and Sandy were mortified by their stubborn behavior, by this blip that seemed to destroy the complete harmony the four of them had always shared. They’d all cringed when Zack’s mother had hustled them to line up for pictures, and his father, manning the camera, had insisted they link arms.

His poor, clueless parents. Hadn’t they noticed the way Zack and Alaina eyed each other with mutual disgust? As Zack watched that old footage now, his mother straightened his tie, then admonished him to smile. He remembered that he couldn’t wait to be out of her sight so he could rip off that stupid tie and throw it into the lake. He couldn’t have given her a more frosty response if he’d been frozen solid, but she didn’t seem to notice.

Alaina hadn’t behaved much better. As he watched the video, she acknowledged his mother’s compliment about her party dress. But she was so quiet and listless, she might as well have been wearing a burlap sack.

Zack remembered that dress vividly. All lavender and blue, with wispy sleeves that made Alaina look like an exotic princess. Later, she had come to him in tears, showing him where Whit had ripped one of those sleeves when he’d clumsily tried to seduce her.

Zach had been clutching a piece of that material in his fist when it eventually connected with Russell’s jaw.

It had been a messy, ungraceful fight in one of the boathouses, but there had been no way to keep it from happening. Whit had ended up with two black eyes—the one Alaina had already landed, and the one Zack had added for good measure—and two loose teeth. Whit’s version of the story had, of course, conveniently omitted his caveman antics, and Zack ended up grounded by his horrified parents. Unpleasantness all around.

But in the end, Zack and Alaina had reconciled, and at the time, that was all that mattered.

He shook his head now as he watched his younger self on the screen. A guy could twist himself up pretty good over a girl. Had he really been that foolish?

Yes. Because that girl had been Alaina Tillman, and for so long, he had loved her.

His gaze slid from the television to the floor as Alaina moved, unwinding her legs and drawing them up to her chest. He heard her sigh heavily. She dropped her chin to her knees and wrapped her arms around them. The droop of her shoulders spoke volumes.

Without warning, she snatched up the remote control and killed the sound. The figures on the television marched silently to the front of the cottage, where his mother herded them to sit on the porch steps while the camera rolled. The four kids in that film had never looked so miserable.

The cottage was old, constantly settling into the red Georgia earth. Tiny creaks were common, or maybe Zack made some small sound. Whatever the reason, Alaina turned her head to look over her shoulder. Right at him.

Her face, bathed in the light of the television, seemed etched in silver, but he saw the faint trace of tears on her cheeks. He felt his breath catch in his throat.

“You were always there for me, weren’t you?” she said simply, a soft, choked sound that cut through the silent room. “Even when I didn’t deserve you.”

He knew she was remembering that day, too. The way it had started off badly between them, ending with anger and fists, and Alaina weeping in the circle of his arms while fireworks exploded over their heads. That night he had kissed her gently on the mouth, even though his lips stung from where Whit had managed to get in one weak blow.

After that, things were different between them. They’d gone home from that vacation thoroughly in love, and that’s the way it had stayed. At least until the end of high school, when it had come time to finalize decisions about college. By the time they’d both turned twenty, a thousand miles separated them, and any ridiculous ideas they’d entertained about building a life together had evaporated like morning mist.

Now he looked at her and knew he was as big a fool for her as he had ever been. He didn’t know why she had decided to watch these old movies, or why she wasn’t gone from the cottage as she had told Maggie she would be. But he didn’t care.

A saner, more practical man might have called up all the grievances he had against this woman and found a way to stay right where he was. But he was not that saner, more practical man tonight. Instead, he crossed the room.

He held out a hand to pull her to her feet. She rose in one fluid motion and came into his arms without hesitation.

She stared up at him with stricken eyes. “Zack,” she said, her voice cracking. “Oh, God—Zack. I’ve missed having you in my life. So much…”

In the dim light, he was aware of her tracing his jaw with her fingertips, tentatively, softly, barely grazing his skin. She smelled wonderful, as though she wore some delightful cologne, but he knew it was just her. A scent he had carried in his mind for years.

His chest expanded with excitement as he pulled her even nearer. He searched her face for some sign that he should turn her loose. He couldn’t see one.

“Zack—”

“Shh.” He brought a finger to his lips. “Don’t say anything.”

It shocked him how little conflict there was inside him at this moment. Swept by desire that was as swift and hot as it was untimely, Zack lowered his mouth to hers. All the pain and frustration and longing of years past were channeled into his kiss.

Alaina’s lips were warm, welcoming. Sweet. A craving for more of her, for all of her, roared into his head, blocking out everything else.

He deepened the kiss. He did not want to stop. He couldn’t.

There was no other woman in the world he wanted to kiss more than Alaina Tillman. And this moment would be a fair price to pay for whatever came later.

CHAPTER SIX

ALAINA COULDN’T FIGHT IT. She didn’t even want to try.

Zack’s arms were tight around her, a warm haven. It felt so good to be held, to be cherished. He always made her feel so safe. There was no one like Zack, and there never had been. How could she stop touching him?

She felt him wanting her. Eager for more than kisses, eager to draw her to a place without restraints or regret.

His fingers caressed her face, tilting her chin upward so he could find her eyes in the darkness. “Do you know how long I’ve waited for this?” he asked, as though he had found a deep dream, a hidden hope.

There had been a riot inside her, but suddenly, she was calm. She had been traveling to this exact moment all of her life. Unbelievably, she and Zack had never been lovers, but that was about to change. The sweet anticipation of it was enough to leave Alaina short of breath.

He kissed her again, and her blood heated to a dangerous degree. He slipped her sweater from her shoulders, sliding it down her arms until she could shake it free. He helped her pull her blouse over her head. She yanked at the buttons of his shirt, clumsy in her haste to feel his bare flesh against hers.

His hands rubbed along her back with slow, ardent strokes, and moments later her bra had been tossed into a chair. She pressed her breasts against his chest, enjoying the soft, tickling feel of her nipples against his hair, the way it left them erect and sensitive. Under her palm, his heartbeat was like a fist, pounding to be heard.

Zack lowered her to the rug. Alaina wasted no time in wiggling out of her jeans. When he didn’t immediately lie down beside her, her eyes sought his. She didn’t want him to stop. She didn’t want the world to come back.

She rose on one elbow and realized he was favoring one foot as he tried to slip out of his khakis. He cursed, then he was free.

“What’s wrong with your foot?”

“Later,” he said.

“But—”

She lost her train of thought as he came down on top of her, deftly stripping away her panties with one hand. He was so much broader than she remembered, and yet there had always been a tantalizing mix of strength and gentleness about him. A sliver of sound escaped her as he slipped his tongue into her mouth at the same time that his hand found the juncture of her legs. His fingers, hard and clever, went deep, and she pushed against that pleasure, hearing her breathing change, feeling her own trembling response. He stroked, soothed, finding her inner warmth until Alaina wanted nothing in the world but to go on like this forever.

A sensual thrill went through her, lighting up every part of her. Zack sensed her response. She knew he did, because he growled low in his throat and shifted his body so that his erection lay hot and pulsing against her thighs. Then he slid inside her.

He began to move, slowly at first, effortlessly, then with increasing haste as she followed him, raising her hips to meet every thrust. It was embarrassing how quickly her body became liquid, wanting nothing more than more. Tremors built within her, a wonderful, agonizing tension that wouldn’t turn her loose, and made her want to scream.

Above her, Zack was clearly no better off. For just one second, the meeting of their eyes was as close as a kiss, then he was going over the edge, taking her with him. This feeling of being turned inside out and upside down was one they shared, as though they had melted together and re-formed into a single being.

“Zack…” she gasped out.

“I know.” He surged harder. “I know.”

Just when she thought they could stand it no longer, Zack jerked against her. His release triggered hers. She cried out, shuddering beneath him as sensation after sensation swamped her uncontrollably. She had a momentary feeling of floating, of becoming unmoored from herself, but an instant later Zack’s arms were pulling her close, gathering her into his embrace as though he would never let her go.

“Just give us right now,” he whispered against her ear.

She knew she should get up, put some distance between them if she was ever to regain her senses. But it felt so wonderful here, nestled against his chest. How could she let this go? How could she let him go?

What they had just experienced together was the fulfillment of a fate that had been chasing them since childhood.

IF ONLY SUCH A STATE OF bliss could have continued indefinitely.

By midnight, Alaina had slipped back into her clothes and retreated to the kitchen, while Zack still slept on the living-room rug. She made a couple of telephone calls, then stood over the sink, drinking the last of the orange juice from the fridge.

Pearly shafts of moonlight streamed through the window. The view from the kitchen was lovely. The lake sparkled as the moon’s glow danced on the rippling water, as though spreading a carpet of diamonds.

Alaina hardly noticed. She was too busy trying to figure out what had happened to her better judgment. Trying to piece together a plan. What could she do now? What should she do?

It was just sex, Alaina. Don’t make a big deal out of it.

She supposed there were some women who could sleep with a man and not think a thing about it an hour later. But in spite of her wild, unplanned flight with Jeffrey, she’d never been that kind of girl. What she and Zack had shared had been so special, and she knew she’d remember every gasping, heated, erotic detail forever. Even now, it made her stomach tighten to think of some of the things they’d done. But the problem was, none of it should have happened.

All her fault, of course. Zack might have pulled her into his arms, but she hadn’t resisted for even a nanosecond. If anything, she’d welcomed his touch.

How could she have been so foolish? By now, he must think she was certifiable.

Being able to stay at the cottage these past two weeks had been a huge relief, but her personal situation hadn’t improved much. She still hadn’t worked up the nerve to tell her family about the baby.

As for Jeffrey, his two weeks to adjust had come and gone, and not a single word from him. None of his friends had seen him, and though she’d left Lake Harmony’s general post office address with them, nothing had shown up. Not even her wallet. She’d been so miserable last night, filled with despair.

And instead of cheering her up, popping in those video tapes from happier times had only made her despondency worse. When she’d realized Zack was in the room, it seemed like the most natural thing in the world to walk into his arms. And to stay there.

But there were plenty of reasons why she mustn’t let it happen again. She had to find a way to stop this now without damaging her relationship with Zack. A relationship that was already shaky to begin with.

Damn, damn, damn. Why hadn’t she gone into town when she’d originally planned? Better to have slept on a park bench than to end up in the arms of the one man she never, ever wanted to hurt.

Would he understand? Suppose he didn’t…?

“Al?”

Alaina nearly dropped the glass of juice as she realized that Zack had entered the kitchen. She turned quickly, offering a small smile.

Oh, God. How was it possible to look that attractive in the middle of the night? Bare-chested, those long legs once more encased in khakis. A dark lock of hair had fallen over his forehead, giving him a sweetly boyish look that made something flutter in her stomach all over again. Not good. Not good.

She dragged her attention away, extending her nearly empty glass. “I’m afraid I cleaned out the fridge yesterday, and this was the last of it. There might be some coffee in the pantry if you’d like me to make a pot….”

“No, thanks. I’m fine.” He yawned and scrubbed one hand over his bare chest. He didn’t look as if he had a care in the world.

She turned on the tap, fussing as she cleaned the glass. It was so much easier to concentrate on that than to think of spoiling everything between them.

She felt Zack’s warmth as he came up behind her. His hands cupped her shoulders and he nudged aside her hair to nuzzle her neck. His touch sent shivers down her spine, and she tried not to notice.

“You smell nice,” he said. “Like a wildflower meadow warmed by the sun.”

That soft, rumbling voice near her ear threatened to melt her resolve. To keep from dissolving completely, she slipped out of his embrace and leaned against the counter. “Did you have dinner on the way up?” she asked, trying not to sound as nervous as she felt. “Are you hungry?”

He grinned and lifted one brow. “Yes. But what I’m hungry for isn’t in the fridge. What I’d really like—”

She licked her lips as she felt a hot blush rise up from the collar of her blouse. “Zack, about last night…”

He frowned and held up one hand. “Stop. Surely you’re not going to turn what we did into a romantic cliché?”

“No. Of course not. But I think we should talk about it.”

“Okay. Here’s my take on what happened. I think it was long overdue. I think we both enjoyed it. And I don’t think we should overthink it.”

“It’s not that simple.”

“It doesn’t have to be complicated, Alaina. We’re two healthy, perfectly normal adults who—”

“That’s just the problem. We are adults. We shouldn’t have…” She moved farther away, putting the kitchen table between them. She should have known this wasn’t going to be easy, and Zack’s scowl made her fear that nothing she said would sound right.

She sighed heavily and scraped a hand through her tousled hair. “This isn’t coming out the way I wanted it to. But I…I don’t want you to think that I blame you in any way for what happened. I don’t. I’m the one who should have stopped things before they got out of hand, but I didn’t.”

“So why didn’t you?” he asked quietly.

“I don’t know,” she admitted. “I don’t know. Last night, before you showed up, I was feeling so alone and unhappy. I thought watching those old movies would make me feel better. They didn’t. They just made me realize how much I’ve missed having you in my life. And then suddenly, there you were…and it just…it just seemed so right.”

“Damn it, it was right.” He stepped forward, planting his balled fists on top of the table so he could lean closer. “Don’t, Al. Don’t ruin this because you’re afraid. We can work something out.”

She shook her head. “I’m sorry. Please don’t make this any harder than it already is. I’m trying to be sensible. I have to be. I’m pregnant with another man’s baby, a man who may or may not want to be involved in his child’s life. I have no job, no home—at least, not one I want to go back to—and very limited resources. The future is just one big question mark.”

“Then let’s sit down and see if we can come up with some answers.”

“You’ve always been willing to help me, and I’ve always relied on that, but not this time. I have to come up with the solutions. I don’t know how to fix things yet, but I do know that I can’t complicate both our lives right now by having an affair. No matter how lovely that might be, it wouldn’t be fair to either of us.”

He straightened as she watched her words strike home. “So we’re going to retreat back to discussions about the weather and the price of gas?”

She hated that tone in his voice, the way he was already distancing himself from her. But this had to be done.

“No. I don’t…I don’t think I can do that.”

“Then what do you want from me, Al?”

“I want our friendship back.” He shook his head. She wondered how she could manage not to hurt him any more. “What we shared, Zack…It was as wonderful as I’ve always dreamed it would be. But for both our sakes, it can’t happen again.”

“So we’re just supposed to remain friends. Nothing more.”

She nodded. “I’ve called a cab. It should be arriving any minute.”

“To do what?”

“I’m going into town. I was scheduled to check in to a hotel yesterday, but they accidentally gave my room away. That’s the only reason I was still here when you showed up. But I’ve made arrangements with another place that can get me in right off.”

She had stuffed her things into her backpack. As she reached to take it from the table, Zack came around and caught her arm. He turned her quickly to face him, and she saw that his eyes had lightning in them. “Don’t do this, Alaina. Don’t run away from us.”

“There is no ‘us’.” She whipped the word back at him in desperation. That jumping sensation was in her stomach once more.

“Of course there is. There’s always been a connection. Don’t deny it.”

“That was a long time ago, Zack. Things change. I’ve changed. It isn’t you and me anymore. It’s me and the baby. That’s the only ‘us’ there can be in my life.”

He stared at her. They spent several long seconds studying each other in strained silence. The twist to his mouth was not pretty, and his features were full of reproach.

Then, luckily, she heard the cab’s horn, letting her know it had come. Alaina grabbed up her backpack and hurried out the door without looking back.

ZACK’S TEMPER LASTED all the way through the day, right into dinner and three beers at Merle’s Hideaway Bar on the lake.

But by the time he finished his fourth Dos Equis, he’d come to the conclusion that anger was a wasted emotion that never brought a person one moment of satisfaction. Picking a fight with the jerk sitting on the bar stool next to him would probably get him tossed out. Snapping at the bartender wasn’t going to get him anything but poor service. Nothing was going to change the situation.

Finally, by the time he paid his bar tab, he was left with just a bellyful of self-loathing. He’d made a fool of himself. Once again he’d allowed Alaina Tillman to get to him. Only this time, he’d let it go way too far. Wild, uninhibited sex on the living-room rug, for God’s sake. What had he been thinking?

He had to laugh a little. He and Alaina had spent a fair amount of time doing a lot of things last night, but thinking wasn’t one of them.

He had to agree with her about one thing. An affair between the two of them wouldn’t be good for either of them. He had a pretty full life back in Miami, and a new business to run that needed so much of his time. In this economic environment, he couldn’t afford to take his eye off the ball for a minute. Indulging in a relationship with a woman getting ready to be a single mom—even if that woman was Alaina—just didn’t make sense. Not right now. Maybe not ever.

He supposed that she had done them both a favor. He’d wanted her for a lifetime, and there was no way, now that they’d crossed that line, that he could ever voluntarily go back to being just friends.

But Alaina, ever practical and reasonable, had a valid point. Her focus had to be her baby. Maybe she was even hoping that Mr. Environmentalist would turn up one day, full of apologies and remorse. Would she throw herself at him, covering him in kisses and forgiveness? Although Zack hated the idea, it was possible she was in love with the guy.

So how would she explain a lover?

And how would Zack be able to let her walk into the man’s arms? He couldn’t stop her, but he didn’t want to watch her leave, either.

By midnight he was stone-cold sober as he headed back to Heron Cove. His brain kicked in for one last protest where he damned her to hell, then settled into a stagnant peace with the realization that worse things could happen.

He would survive.

He had before.

A light rain had fallen while he’d been in Merle’s Hideaway. He slipped around the puddles in the cottage driveway, feeling resolved, lighter. The air seemed clear and expectant. Full of possibilities.

As he unlocked the front door, an icy raindrop ran down the back of his neck and under his collar.

Hell. Now what?

He looked up, catching sight of a wide water mark spreading across the porch ceiling. A leak from the roof. Definitely bad news.

But not surprising. He’d known for some time that the roof needed work.

His weakened ankle might make it difficult, but he ought to tackle the problem before he left for Miami. There were so many things that needed to be taken care of, and he should spend a few days doing them. It might even keep his mind off how annoyed he was with Alaina.

Of course, if he stayed, there was a good possibility he’d run into her. Well, maybe that would be a test of his resolve. Besides, why should he let her run him out of town before he was ready to go?

For a few days he could manage the business long distance, since things were so slow. And Rod, his assistant, had been begging for more responsibility. Maybe it was time to see what he could really handle. Then Zack would return to Miami, where his life could get back on that neat, tidy track he could barely remember.

TWO DAYS LATER Zack was on the back porch, replacing rotted railings, when he heard the crackle of fallen leaves as someone shuffled through them. Turning, he saw Sheriff Moran approaching.

The older man didn’t look as if he’d aged a bit since Zack had first met him. The sheriff and Zack’s dad had been buddies for years. Moran was a widower with three daughters who had sometimes played with the other kids at Heron Cove while he went fishing with Zack’s father. The sheriff had even come down to Miami for his old friend’s funeral last spring.

The sheriff stopped at the porch, placed one foot on the bottom step and grinned up at Zack. “Heard you were back in town, but I had to see it for myself.”

Zack straightened. “Hey, Sheriff. How have you been?”

“Can’t complain. How about you?”

“Never better.”

“So…” Moran said. “I was talking to Barry at the hardware store this morning. He says you came in to get a load of stuff, and that you’re going to fix up the place. That true?”

“Yep.”

“Does that mean we’re going to be seeing more of you and your family now?”

“No.” Zack laid his hammer on the railing and picked up one of the new balustrades he’d had cut at the lumberyard. He suspected his news wasn’t likely to sit well with the sheriff, but decisions had been made and plans had been set in motion. He looked the older man in the eye. “I’ve spoken to Mom and she agrees with me that it’s time we sold the cottage. I’m just trying to make a few improvements before I put it on the market.”

As expected, Moran frowned. “I’m sorry to hear that,” he said. “And a little surprised. This cottage has been in your family a long time. Even with your dad’s passing, I would never have guessed you’d sell it.”

Zack shrugged. “Mom’s getting older and doesn’t really want to come up here by herself. Especially with so many memories of Dad everywhere. You know it was more his favorite getaway spot than hers.”

“You used to be pretty fond of it, too, if I remember correctly.”

“I suppose circumstances are just different now.”

Moran squinted up at him. “Are they? That’s too bad. I’ve always thought Lake Harmony spoke especially to the hearts of the Davidson men. You, your dad, your grandfather.” He looked around the exterior of the cottage, as though seeing it for the first time. “Lot of good times tied up in this place.”

“That’s true,” Zack admitted. He ran his hand down the length of wood, wishing they could manage a quick change of subject. He didn’t want to think about Heron Cove belonging to someone else, but as many happy memories as there were tucked in every nook and cranny of the cottage, he still hadn’t been able to walk into the boathouse.

He felt the sheriff’s scrutiny and used the wood in his hand to motion toward his toolbox at the bottom of the steps. “Would you mind handing me that tape measure?”

Moran did as he asked, and for just a moment, their eyes met again. The older man’s were bland, but Zack knew Moran was no fool.

“So how are your girls?” Zack asked.

“They’re fine. All grown up. Trying to boss me around now, telling me what to do, trying to get me to stop eating red meat. Women sure like to take on projects, and I think I’m theirs.”

“I’m sure they mean well.”

The silence between them grew. Abruptly, Zack walked over to the gallon jug of ice water he’d left on a nearby railing. He took a couple of swallows, then wiped his mouth with his arm. The sheriff had turned and stood staring at the lake, his hands hooked into the back of his belt.

Finally, Moran said, “You know who else used to love coming up here?”

Zack wasn’t sure he wanted to ask. “Who?”

The man swung around. “Those two sisters—the Tillmans. In fact, I saw Alaina Tillman in town just yesterday.”

“Did you?”

“Yeah. I asked her how long she’d be staying, but she didn’t tell me anything definite. One thing kind of surprised me, though.”

“What’s that?”

“That she’s not staying here with you.”

Zack gave him a tight smile. He leaned one shoulder against the porch support post. He stared down at the man and pumped ease and disinterest into his voice. “No reason why she should. We’re not kids anymore. We kind of grew apart over the years.”

“Really? That’s not what my deputy says. Whit claims you came up here and rescued her after she broke into this place.”

Zack’s smile grew wider, almost challenging. So that’s what this visit was all about. The sheriff was on a fishing expedition. “No offense, Sheriff, but Whit Russell is an ass who wouldn’t know the truth if it was engraved on his forehead by God.”

Moran chuffed out a short laugh. “Now, go easy on the boy. I realize he can be kind of rough around the edges, but he takes pride in the work he does, and people here know they can count on him to enforce the law and keep a close eye on things.”

“I’m sure he’s got a lot of fine qualities. Unfortunately, I’ve just never seen any of them.”

“So if you don’t mind me asking, why did Alaina Tillman break into Heron Cove?”

“She needed a place to stay for a while, and when she couldn’t get in touch with me to find out where we hide the key, she just broke in. I heard there was quite a storm going on at the time. I guess she was desperate.”

“Made quite a mess, according to Whit.”

“Nothing that couldn’t be fixed. It would have been ridiculous to press charges. At one time, she was practically a member of the family.”

“Then why isn’t she staying here?”

“I think I’ve already answered that question, Sheriff,” Zack replied in a carefully neutral tone. Retrieving his hammer, he used it to pop a board up from the railing so that it could be replaced.

Moran’s gun belt creaked as he settled his hands along the leather. “Alaina claims she’d rather be on her own. But I can’t believe she’d find where she’s staying right now a better situation. Coachman’s Court doesn’t seem like her kind of digs. Of course, if you two aren’t on the best of terms anymore…”

Zack swung back to face the sheriff. “She’s staying at Coachman’s Court?” he asked, trying not to sound half as surprised as he felt.

“That’s what she says.”

Lake Harmony was dripping with small-town charm, but it wasn’t above having a few hard-scrabble places. The kind of areas that would never show up in any visitor’s center brochure. “Is that the motel out by Route 30? The one we used to call Cockroach Court back when I was a kid?”

“That’s the one. Same broken-down furniture and lumpy mattresses. The county health inspector shuts them down about twice a year. Same clientele. Overnight truckers, drifters passing through on their way to someplace else. Right now all the B and Bs and hotels in town are full, but I’d rather sleep in a campground than stay at Coachman’s.”

Zack ordered his pulse to slow down. So Alaina wasn’t staying in a four-star resort. So what? He’d given her a roof over her head for two weeks, and considering the way she’d shut him out of her life, he didn’t figure he owed her anything more than that.

The sheriff was watching him, as though waiting for some sort of explanation.

Zack shrugged. “Alaina’s been roughing it around the country this last year with some environmentalist group. She’s probably used to a little discomfort.”

“If you say so,” Moran said, though he didn’t sound convinced. “Still don’t seem right, though. ’Specially since I understand she’s pregnant.”

“Did she tell you that?”

“No. You know small towns. Word gets out. She made an appointment with Doc Linderman. Becky Swiger at the diner says Alaina had breakfast there the other morning, then lost everything in the bathroom. Becky thought it might be the food—not something I want to hear, since I eat lunch there almost every day—so she followed her into the restroom to make sure she was all right. Alaina claimed it was just a touch of morning sickness. I remember what that was like with my daughter Lauren, and I’d say Alaina Tillman has the same look about her.”

Zack said nothing to that. He removed the pencil from behind his ear and concentrated on marking the piece of wood in his hand.

“So are you the father?” the sheriff asked suddenly.

“No! Hell, no.” The words popped out of Zack’s mouth before he could stop them. He was a little shocked at how violently he’d responded. He forced his mind to go blank, offering a grim smile to Moran, who didn’t look at all as though his question had been out of line. “You’re damn lucky I consider you a family friend. I feel like I’m being interrogated.”

“Sorry. Old habits, I guess. But I’m just curious. This is my town, and I like to know what’s going on in it.”

He continued to look up at Zack.

“Alaina Tillman is nothing to me,” Zack said, only because he felt compelled to set things straight. “I’ve hardly spoken to her in ten years.”

“Humph.” Moran ran his fingers along his chin as though mulling over that response. “Kinda funny is all, that the two of you should be staying in Lake Harmony at the same time.”

Feeling more in control, Zack slid his hammer back into his tool belt. “Stranger things have happened, Sheriff. Life’s funny sometimes. A regular hoot.”

“That it is, boy,” the sheriff said with a nod. “That it is.”

CHAPTER SEVEN

ALAINA STOOD IN FRONT OF the kitchen cupboard and rubbed her belly with one hand. It was probably silly, but she liked to think that the tiny life within her was aware of her touch.

“Okay, kiddo, what would you like for dinner?” She pulled a small bag out of her grocery sack and sat it on the counter. “Chicken and yellow rice? Or…” She withdrew a box and shook it. “Mac and cheese?” Boxed pasta would be quick and easy, and she was all about keeping things simple these days. Besides, she’d been craving something gooey all week. “Macaroni and cheese it is,” she said, smiling down at her stomach.

She’d been at Coachman’s Court for two days. It was a long, one-story motel left over from the sixties, badly in need of a fresh coat of paint and a little greenery. Her unit was pretty basic, though she did have a decent kitchenette. The water was hot, if you let it run awhile. The sheets were worn, but clean. Most of the residents seemed harmless—a little down on their luck, perhaps. But as far as Alaina was concerned, the best thing about it was the price.

Well, the price, and the fact that she didn’t have to worry about giving in to any insane impulses to have sex with Zack Davidson. Definitely safer to be clear on the other side of Lake Harmony. Especially when you had emotions that wouldn’t cooperate and hormones that went off the leash when you least expected them to.

Alaina had just filled her only saucepan with water and was about to turn on the gas stove when she heard a knock on the door. She frowned, hoping it wasn’t one of her fellow residents. She’d been pleasant to them, but she wasn’t trying to bond with anyone. Mostly she was perfectly happy to keep to herself and be left alone.

She looked through the peephole and caught a glimpse of Zack. He didn’t look happy.

“Oh, great,” she whispered.

For a moment she considered not answering, but knowing him as well as she did, she doubted Zack would give up and go away. Feeling her back stiffen as if for battle, she swung the door wide.

He didn’t bother with a greeting. “What in God’s name are you thinking?” he asked. His voice was vibrant with disbelief.

She supposed she ought to be annoyed at his abruptness, and she was, but mostly she was aware of how great he looked. His thick, dark hair was tousled, and if there was ever a man’s body designed for wearing jeans it was Zack’s.

Determined not to lose control of the conversation right off the bat, Alaina smiled at him. “Hello. Nice to see you, too.”

He pointed in the direction of the parking lot. “There’s a guy out there who smells like a brewery.”

“That’s Timothy. He’s harmless. Although I hope you didn’t buy one of his knockoff watches.”

Zack scowled. “I think I got propositioned by one of your neighbors.”

Alaina feigned mild interest, knowing that it would infuriate him. “You must have met Elaine. And yes, she’s a working girl, but she’s very nice. She’s trying to save up enough money to go to Hollywood.” Alaina stepped aside, offering an invitation. “Did you want to come in, or are you just going to stand at the door and yell? Either way is fine with me, although I should warn you, someone’s likely to call the cops.”

He came in. There was a table and two chairs against one wall, but he didn’t move to sit down. Instead, after glancing quickly around the room, he turned to face her, his arms crossed in a combative posture.

“Would you like some coffee?” she asked.

“No.”

“Iced tea?”

“No.”

“So, then. To what do I owe the pleasure of this visit?”

“I’ve come to get you.”

“Get me?”

“I’m taking you back to Heron Cove. Pack your things.”

That decree surprised her—and set her temper on simmer. “I’m not going back to the cottage,” she said, shaking her head. “I thought you understood that I—”

“I understood every word you said, and believe me, I’m good with going back to the way things were before we…Just friends, not lovers. The bottom line is, you can’t continue to stay in this…this fleabag.”

“It’s not a fleabag. It’s a perfectly respectable…Well, okay. Maybe it’s not the Ritz-Carlton, but it will do.”

“No, it won’t. Where’s your bag?”

He moved toward the closet. Suddenly furious at his presumptive attitude, Alaina stalked across the room to catch his arm. She had tried to be pleasant, but he’d crossed a line. “Hey! What gives you the right to come in here and start ordering me around? Last time I looked, I was over the age of consent, and I don’t need anyone’s permission, including yours.”

“I’m serious, Al. You’re checking out of this dump.”

“No, I’m not. For right now, this is fine. When Jeffrey and I were traveling, I assure you, we stayed in plenty of places that had a lot less to offer.”

His jaw was clamped shut in a sullen, angry way that said he wouldn’t be denied. “I don’t care where you and Jeffrey stayed. Is this your idea of getting your life together? Is this the kind of place you think is good for the baby? What would your parents think?”

Her eyes burned into his. She was so furious now that she could hardly see. She stepped aside, indicating a clear path to the door. “I think you should leave,” she snapped.

Zack’s features darkened as she stared at him in mutinous silence. He appeared so emphatic and uncompromising. He opened his mouth to say something, then swore instead and sighed deeply. “Look, I apologize. I…” He swore again, shaking his head. “Let me start over. I actually came here for a reason.”

“It had better be a good one.”

“I think it is. It still involves leaving here….”

“I told you—”

He lifted one hand. “Just hear me out. I have an idea I want you…I’d like you to consider.”

“What kind of idea?” she asked, full of suspicion.

“I’d like you to come back to Heron Cove to stay for a few weeks. I’d like you to work for me.”

She hadn’t expected him to say that. What was he up to? “Work for you? Doing what?”

“I’m going to put the cottage up for sale, but I need help. I can handle anything on the outside, any handy-man kind of stuff. But the inside needs updating. It hasn’t had a makeover since the sixties.”

At this news, some of her anger dissipated like summer storm clouds. Selling Heron Cove? The idea seemed impossible to contemplate. “You’re going to sell the cottage?”

“Yeah. Some of the furniture can stay, but I’m thinking new wallpaper and paint. Pack up some of the kitschy junk that’s been collecting dust for years. Maybe new kitchen and bath fixtures. You’d be the best judge of what it needs, I suppose.”

“But Heron Cove has always been so special to your family. There are so many—”

Zack cut her off sharply. “Things change.” She could see by the look on his face that he didn’t want to talk about it. “Will you take the job?”

“Why me?”

“Why not you? Until Gil convinced you otherwise, you would have made a career out of interior design. And I’ve seen Maggie’s new place. She said it was completely your doing. I like it, and I think you could bring some of that expertise to Heron Cove. You take care of the inside, while I work on the outside.”

“So we’d both be there at the same time.”

“Yes.”

She shook her head. “Then I can’t do it.”

“Why not? Are you already working someplace else?”

“No, but I might be soon. Do you remember Heather, Sheriff Moran’s daughter? She has a shop on the square that needs some extra help for the season.”

“My offer comes with room and board.”

“I can’t.”

“Why not?”

“You know perfectly well why not.”

“I’ve given that some thought, too,” he replied. His tone sounded so reasonable now. As though he really expected her to see his side of this. “All right, so we acted on some long suppressed feelings we once had for each other. But it’s over. Finished. You made it very clear it was a mistake and it’s not going to happen again.”

“That doesn’t mean it would be easy to work side-by-side every day.”

“As you pointed out, we’re adults. We don’t have to give in to those…impulses. You wanted to remain friends. This is one way to do it.”

Her mind was doing a rabbit run. The idea had merit. It even made some sense. And no doubt about it, it would definitely be a better environment than Coachman’s Court. But there was always the possibility…. She grimaced. “I don’t know, Zack….”

“Look, this isn’t charity,” he said in a rush, as though sensing her hesitation. “You’ll earn your pay. I could get someone else to do the job, but I don’t want to spend a lot of time interviewing designers and checking out their work. I’ve seen what you can do.”

“How long do you think it would take?”

“A few weeks at the most. I might have to make a trip back to Miami for business, but that shouldn’t take much time. There will be plenty of things to keep you busy up here in the meantime.”

She rubbed her forehead, wishing she had time to think this over. But what good would that do? She’d spent her whole life playing by the rules, and where had it gotten her? “This is so unexpected….”

“Have you heard from Jeffrey?”

For a split second she was tempted to lie, but she couldn’t do it. “No,” she admitted, then added quickly, “But that doesn’t mean anything.”

Zack’s lips thinned a little and Alaina knew what he was thinking. That Jeffrey was long gone from her life and not likely to be in touch ever again. But she just couldn’t give in to that fear. Not yet.

She watched Zack flex his shoulders, as though trying to work out tension. “Come on, Al. You know it’s a solution for both of us. I get someone whose judgment I trust. Someone who loves Heron Cove and can help me whip it into shape. You get a better place to stay. Decent food and a way to pay a doctor. You have to admit, picking out bathroom fixtures is going to be a lot easier on the baby than being on your feet all day in some tourist trap in town.”

“We might both go into this with the best of intentions, but suppose—”

He came to her, took her shoulders in his hands until she was forced to meet his gaze. “There won’t be a repeat of the other night. I give you my word.”

He said that with such quiet, simple sincerity that it took Alaina a moment or two to realize what he had said. She found herself all tangled up in those dark brown eyes of his, wondering why the heck she couldn’t just show him the door. But the harsh reality was he was making her an offer she’d be foolish to refuse.

As long as she kept her head.

Which she could do.

Couldn’t she?

As though sensing her inner turmoil, Zack said, “So what do you say?”

She gave him a small, hopeful smile, and jumped in, heart and soul. “I say, when do you want to start?”

ALAINA MOVED BACK into Heron Cove and in no time was up to her elbows in books borrowed from Lake Harmony’s library and catalogs from the local home furnishings store. There were so many brochures and pamphlets on the kitchen table that she had been forced to start building towers of paper at one end, separating them into categories of paint, wallpaper, woodwork, furnishings, fixtures and miscellaneous decorating ideas.

It was hard to believe she’d been here four days. Hard to believe how easily she’d embraced the mission Zack had hired her for. He was right—as capable as she’d turned out to be in PR, her passion was interior design.

As Zack had promised, he left her to make most of the decisions regarding changes to the interior, while he spent the day working outside in the crisp autumn air. As much as she loved this project and the fact that it kept her so busy she had little opportunity to think about the errant Jeffrey, she liked the evenings best.

Sometimes she and Zack ate dinner together at the kitchen table, talking over the day’s accomplishments or revising to-do lists. Occasionally they drifted into the living room to spend the evening reading or watching television.

There were moments—just flickers of time—when Alaina felt as though she was living a domestic fantasy. A handsome husband she’d loved from childhood, a lovely home in the most peaceful place on earth, a baby on the way. All so perfect, a blueprint of countless teenage dreams.

But none of it was real, of course, and she was reminded of that every night when she went to bed. Alone.

She and Zack were polite to one another. But their agreement to keep the relationship strictly platonic made the hours they spent together feel a little unnatural, strained. As though there was an invisible line between them that neither one wanted to cross. Sometimes she felt a tension in the air as they experienced a slight shift in awareness. Murmuring the excuse that she was tired, she would often escape to her room—the same bedroom she had shared with her sister so long ago—but it would be hours before she fell asleep.

Many times she lay in the dark, breathless, her heart hammering, when she heard Zack’s tread upon the stairs. Once, she even imagined that he had stopped outside her door, but when she turned over to see if there were shadows moving in that hem of light from the hallway, there was nothing.

She wondered what she would have done if he had been out there. Invite him to open the door? Unthinkable.

She decided she must have imagined it and scolded herself for such a flight of fancy. Zack seemed perfectly capable of keeping a lid on his emotions and thoughts. Why couldn’t she?

Now, as she stood at the kitchen counter and put the finishing touches on the grilled lemon chicken and salad she was making for dinner, she heard Zack come in from outside after working on the porch all day. She knew his routine by now. He’d head straight up the stairs for a shower and clean clothes. Then he’d check to see what she’d been up to.

In a few minutes she heard water running through the pipes overhead. Immediately, images of Zack naked and wet zipped into her mind, and just as quickly she shook them loose. It was embarrassing how often she had such thoughts, and how infrequently she called up memories of Jeffrey.

A part of him was growing inside her, and while she didn’t have one moment of doubt or regret about the baby, she wondered how she could ever have thought of him as father material. Well…that had been part of the problem, hadn’t it? They hadn’t been thinking much at all that night.

Suppose she never saw him again? Then what—

“Something smells like it’s burning.”

Alaina jumped as Zack spoke behind her. How long had she been standing at the sink, drifting into daydreams? It always seemed as if her head was somewhere else these days.

She rushed to the stove and discovered that the water had boiled out from under the broccoli. She ran more into the pan, then checked out the damage. The pieces on the bottom were singed, but salvageable.

“How do you like your broccoli?” she asked, tilting the pan toward him.

“Well done?”

“Good answer.”

While Alaina finished preparing the meal, Zack filled iced tea glasses and set the table. He always placed their plates across from one another, as though establishing another invisible barrier between them.

He filled the silence with news from home. The Pinar del Lago bridge project in the Miramar subdivision where they had both once lived had been approved, and his building crew had been given the go-ahead to start the reconstruction. She wondered if that meant he’d have to go back to Miami sooner than she was prepared for.

Finally, dinner was ready, and they both sat down.

As Alaina unfolded her napkin, she looked up and offered Zack a vague smile. She saw him rub his fingers along his knee. He’d told her about his car accident. He’d been on the ladder earlier, and no doubt his ankle ached. He looked tired.

“How did it go today?” she asked.

“Good. I finished replacing the back steps that were rotted, and rescreened the porch.”

“No problem managing the ladder with your ankle?”

“You get very inventive when you have to,” he replied, forking up a piece of the lemon chicken.

Her gaze dropped to his mouth as he chewed. Butterflies fluttered in her stomach. She forced her eyes up, hoping for distraction.

No luck.

Zack’s hair, still slightly damp from his shower, had caught the light. It was so thick, so luxurious. Alaina could almost feel the silky wet texture of it against her fingers. The tanned skin of his neck would be smooth and enticingly warm if she were to place her hand to the back of his head….

She pushed the unsettling image away. Concentrating on cutting her salad into smaller bites, she said in a stilted voice, “I think I’ve nailed down the right look you need for the downstairs bathroom. And you wouldn’t have to replace the sink or toilet, just the mirror and lighting.”

“Great. I’m all for easy.” He motioned toward his plate with his fork. “The broccoli is a goner, but you make a mean lemon chicken. But then, you always were a pretty good cook.”

“Thanks,” she said softly, and then spent a ridiculous amount of time pouring on more salad dressing as a way to keep from making eye contact.

The silence spun out uncomfortably. There was the clank of silverware, the clink of ice melting in the glasses, but no other sound. This wouldn’t do. This wouldn’t do at all.

Desperately, Alaina pulled a paint brochure from the nearby stack. She unfolded it, then twisted it around so that Zack could see the samples she’d circled.

“What do you think of using one of these three colors for the downstairs bathroom? Which do you like? Moss Green, Woodland Forest or Sage Glen?”

Zack tilted his head, reviewing the colors several long moments. Then he grimaced. “They’re green. Would you be offended if I said I couldn’t tell the difference between the three?”

“No, but I’d have to ask if you were color-blind.”

He jabbed his finger down to indicate his choice. “I like that one.”

Alaina leaned across the table, then looked up at him in surprise. “Really? I was sure you’d pick Woodland Forest.”

“Then go with that.”

“You’re not helping.”

“I trust you to know what would work best,” he said with a shrug. Flipping through the brochure, he stopped and frowned down at one of the pages. “Unless you pick something like this.” He swung the pamphlet around so that she could see it. “These I hate.”

She saw instantly that he had found the section of paint samples meant for a little girl’s room—Bubblegum Pink, Strawberry Fields. Leaning back in her chair, she had to laugh. “I love those colors! They’re sweet and sentimental and—”

“I am not painting a single room in this cottage anything called…” he squinted at the paint names “…Cotton Candy Summer. Don’t even think about it.”

She pretended to give it real consideration. “I don’t know, I think it’s light and fun….”

“Perfect if you want to paint a dollhouse.”

“That’s what it reminds me of!” she said, clapping her hands together. “The dream house I had for my dolls. Gosh, I loved that place.” She gave him a narrowed glance. “Until a certain someone decided to desecrate it for Halloween.”

Growing up with Zack next door had been terrific, exciting, fun. Most of the time. But the year Alaina and he were eight, he’d been an absolute devil, tormenting her for becoming obsessed with her dolls. For being what he considered “too girlie.”

“I gave it character,” he claimed.

The day before Halloween, Zack had slipped into her bedroom and covered the dollhouse with black theatrical makeup and fake cobwebs. He’d hidden tiny rubber spiders everywhere, even under Barbie’s pillow.

“It was vandalism,” Alaina said with a shake of her head. “Mom worked all afternoon to scrub off the black, and I cried the whole time. When Dad found out what you’d done, he wanted to march over to your house and make your dad buy me a new dollhouse. Lucky for you I begged him not to.” She cocked her head, scrutinizing him. “Why did you do such a horrible thing?”

He set down his iced tea glass. He didn’t seem contrite at all. “Because you were ignoring me,” he said simply. “I wanted you to come outside and do guy stuff with me, and all you wanted to do was play Barbies.”

“All you had to do was ask,” she said lightly. “No Barbie I ever had could take your place.” The words were out before she could stop them. Heat rushed to her cheeks because she knew how that had sounded. She turned her attention back to her plate. “I mean, you had all the cool boy junk—the kinds of things little girls never get to play with.”

She flicked one quick glance his way and saw that he knew exactly what she was thinking. He gave her that lazy one-sided smile that any woman would find irresistible. She made a determined effort to be immune to it, even though the nervous twitch along her insides told her she was not.

After that, the silence between them got worse, unbearable. The meal she’d prepared was good, but she couldn’t take any enjoyment in it, and spent the next ten minutes pushing the food around on her plate. As for Zack, he found sudden interest in some of the decorating pamphlets that lay nearby. Alaina suspected he was faking it just to keep from talking to her anymore.

Finally, she scraped her chair back and carried her plate to the kitchen counter. While she ran water into the sink, Zack sat at the table, seemingly absorbed in creating some list. When he got up to bring her his dirty dishes, she had to find a reason to move away. He was just so darn close.

“Do you want some help cleaning up?”

“No,” she said a little too quickly. Definitely not a good idea. “I can manage.”

“Then if you don’t mind, I think I’ll sit on the porch awhile. It’s cool out, and the stars should be good tonight. It would be a shame to waste them.”

Was he hinting that she should join him? She searched his face, but could find no invitation there. Better not take any foolish chances.

“All right,” she said, doing her best to stifle a phony yawn. “I’ll probably go to bed early.”

“Sleep well, then.”

She heard him head down the hallway, then the squeal of the front door as it opened. Remembering that she still had a small favor to ask before he could disappear completely, Alaina hurried to stop him.

“Zack,” she called from the kitchen doorway. “One more thing…”

With his hand on the knob, he swung back around.

“Do you mind if I take the car into town tomorrow?” she asked.

“Are you picking up supplies?”

“No. Actually…I have my first doctor’s appointment.”

“Oh.” After a long hesitation, he nodded. “Then you have to go. In fact, I’ll drive you.”

“That isn’t necessary.”

“No sweat. I need to make a run to the hardware store, anyway. What time?”

“Eight.” Inexplicably, she felt awkward discussing this with him. “Since it’s my first visit, it may take a little longer. But I need to get on a regular schedule of appointments while I’m here.”

“Of course you do,” he agreed quickly, and something in his tone told her that he was choosing his words carefully. “The baby. That’s the only thing that should matter right now.”

Grabbing a jacket off the coat tree, he turned to head out the door. In another instant, the night had swallowed him whole.

CHAPTER EIGHT

ZACK SAT AT A CORNER table in the crowded Creekside Diner, toying with his coffee cup. It was almost ten, and the large room was nearly full of tourists looking for a late breakfast. Lake Harmony’s annual fall festival had brought a lot of people into town. The season was in full swing.

He was waiting for Alaina to join him after her appointment with the doctor, and he was getting hungry. His gaze traveled around the room, returning every few seconds to the front door. Anticipation hummed through him, but it had nothing to do with his appetite. At least, not his appetite for food.

He could still see her striding away from the car this morning as he had dropped her off at Dr. Linderman’s office. The curves of her body were beautifully molded by the cut of her slacks. The peasant blouse she wore made her look as graceful and free-spirited as a woodland nymph. He hadn’t been able to take his eyes off her.

Zack’s lips quirked briefly in a self-mocking grimace. It had been naive to expect that being around Alaina would be manageable. Working most of the day on the outside of the cottage helped, but damn, those hours after the sun went down were tough.

There were evenings when everything seemed normal. But there were also times when the air felt charged, filled with tension, making even the most mundane conversations, the simplest shared look seem dangerous.

At night, he lay awake long hours, trying not to remember that evening in the living room. But it didn’t matter. He only had to close his eyes to recall the way it had been—Alaina’s flesh silky and warm as he had aroused her, until tiny ripples moved through her body under his hand. How clearly he had committed to memory the matching hunger in her eyes.

Every day he told himself that it was enough to have her close to him again. It was true that he longed for their old friendship. They didn’t have to be lovers. But now that she was back at Heron Cove, he knew his need for her was stronger than ever. Stronger maybe than he could handle.

But what—if anything—could he do about it?

He shifted restlessly in his seat, sending another glance toward the door. As though his thoughts had summoned her, Alaina stood at the diner’s entrance. He raised his hand to catch her attention, and she began weaving her way among the densely packed tables.

“Sorry I’m late,” she said in a rush as she joined him.

She settled in the chair beside him to keep from blocking the aisle. The sharp-eyed waitress named Becky appeared at their table, offering to fill her coffee cup. Alaina shook her head. The woman topped off Zack’s, left them menus and scurried away to see to other tables.

“How did it go?” he asked.

He thought he knew the answer to that. Alaina’s cheeks were flushed with excitement. Her smile was the brightest he’d seen since they’d reconnected.

She leaned closer, as though passing on secrets. “Oh, Zack, it was wonderful. Dr. Linderman was very kind and thorough. He made me feel so good. And his office staff seems really efficient and nice.”

“And how are you?”

“I’m fine, and so is the baby. There are a million things I have to start doing differently, of course. Like the vitamins I’ll need to take. A, B12, K. I don’t even know what folic acid is, but I’m supposed to start taking it. And the food! No more caffeine if I can help it. But there are no restrictions I can’t live with.”

“What about the nausea? Did you tell him you’ve thrown up every day this week?”

She sat back, giving him a surprised look. “How do you know that?”

He smiled. “I’m starting to think of it as my morning wake-up call.”

“I’m sorry.”

“It’s fine, Al,” he said, dismissing the need for an apology. “I just hate to see you feeling so miserable.”

“He says it should start tapering off soon. I’m almost three months along.” She dug into a small plastic sack that carried the name of the doctor’s office on it. “He gave me so many pamphlets to read, and a book about what I can expect these next few months.” She made a soft exclamation of delight as she grabbed something in the bag. “Oh, I almost forgot the sonogram! Do you want—” She released her hold on the object and tapped her menu instead as she made a face. “Never mind. Let’s order breakfast.”

“What were you going to say?”

She looked at him uncertainly for a moment, but her happiness was so great, it seemed as if she might explode if she didn’t share it. Finally, she dug back into the bag and pulled out a piece of paper. “I was going to show you my sonogram,” she said. “But as a guy, you probably don’t want to see it. And I know you don’t approve of all this—”

He plucked it out of her hand. “I’ve never said I didn’t approve of you having a baby. I just think there are better ways to do it. Let me see.”

She leaned closer. He tried to concentrate on the image on the page, the little blob of something that was supposed to be the baby, but the picture blurred as his body reacted to her nearness. The pleasant shampoo smell of her hair. The fragile turn of her neck. He gritted his teeth and tried to ignore the insistent signal he was getting from his loins.

“I know it’s hard to make out,” she said. She pointed to a pale oval that didn’t look like much of anything. “See? That’s his head, and here’s his hand—”

“It’s a boy?”

“I don’t know. I told them not to tell me yet. But I keep thinking it will be a boy. Either way, it doesn’t matter.”

His brow lifted. “It might to the father. Have you heard from him?”

“No,” she said in a small, quiet voice.

He couldn’t tell if she was disappointed by that fact, or merely embarrassed. He supposed that, even after such neglect, she still might want the guy. After all, he was the kid’s father.

Becky had returned to take their orders. As soon as she saw the sonogram image in Zack’s hands, she made a sound of delight and grinned at Alaina. “So Doc Linderman made it official, huh? Congratulations! How far along are you?”

The two women talked for a few minutes. Alaina shared most of the information the doctor had given her. Becky had two young children of her own and was full of advice.

Zack sat quietly and watched Alaina.

Her features seemed to take on a new life as she spoke to Becky about the baby. Her eyes sparkled. Her skin glowed. Everything about her seemed brighter somehow.

It hit him then—the full weight of it. Whatever farfetched dreams he had been entertaining about the two of them only minutes ago disappeared like water through cupped hands. He wanted her, but the foolish fantasy he carried in his head could not happen. This woman had found purpose. No boyfriend, no lover was going to shake her from it.

The baby was real to her now.

The baby was everything.

Eventually Becky took their orders and drifted away.

Alaina sighed. “I know you must be bored to tears. I can’t help it. I still can’t believe it’s going to happen. After all these years, I’m finally going to be a mother. It’s my own little miracle, Zack.”

He looked directly into her eyes. “I’m happy for you, Al.”

She blinked, as though she couldn’t be sure she’d heard correctly. At last she said, “Thank you.” She cleared her throat, avoiding his gaze as she fussed with her napkin. “There’s a reason I was late getting here. I finally called my folks and Maggie to tell them about the baby.”

The news stunned him. “How did they take it?”

“The way you’d expect. Full of reasons why I should come home immediately. Maggie even tried to bribe me.”

“So why don’t you go? Surely you could use some help with the baby, and Jeffrey would know where to find you.”

The way her mouth tightened, he could tell she was unhappy with that idea. “I don’t need to run back to Mommy and Daddy, and Jeffrey can find me here just as easily if he ever bothers to look.”

“Did you tell them you were with me at Heron Cove?”

“Yes. I had to make Maggie swear on her kids’ lives that she wouldn’t get in the car and come up here. She finally agreed to back off, but only because she trusts you to keep me out of trouble.”

He snorted at that comment and glanced away. Her hero. What a joke. How many white knights took one look at their damsel-in-distress and wanted to rip her clothes off?

Alaina seemed to sense his discomfort because she began playing with her silverware. “Besides,” she said, “I have things to do in Lake Harmony, and I’m perfectly happy doing them. I don’t want to go home and have to explain every decision and listen to a million words of wisdom that are probably right, but that I don’t want to hear just now.” He watched her force a smile. “Did you order the new tile for the bathroom?”

“It’s being shipped from Atlanta and should be here in a couple of days.”

“Great.” Her eyes wandered around the room as she took a sip from her water glass. “Lots of people in town,” she observed. “I guess they’ve come for the festival.”

“Probably.”

“I’ve seen the flyers everywhere. Sounds like fun.”

“Would you like to go this afternoon?” he found himself asking, though his head told him it was foolish. The less time they spent together, just the two of them, the easier it would be to get into the car and go back to Miami.

“Why not? The walking would probably do me good.”

“Then it’s a date.”

After a lengthy silence, she caught the edge of her mouth with her teeth and looked up at him. “There’s one more thing I’d like to talk to you about….”

“What?”

“Us.”

Zack flinched. He wasn’t expecting that. “Aren’t you the one who said there was no ‘us’?”

“I did. But I want you to know that I’m so glad we’ve been able to keep it friendly. That we haven’t acted on any of those…impulses we were so afraid of. Overall, I think we’ve done remarkably well, don’t you?”

“God, Al. Were we supposed to keep score?” he asked. He felt like throttling her. “You want to put your hormones and my testosterone in the ring together and see who can come out the winner? How ’bout this? No one’s winning.”

She must have heard the bite in his tone because dusky color bloomed on her cheeks. “That’s not true. I know there have been a few awkward moments, but…” Her nervous smile asked for understanding. “Anyway, I just wanted to say how thankful I am that we’ve been able to salvage our friendship, and how much I appreciate your efforts to…to…”

“Ride herd on my libido?” he offered.

Alaina glanced around, as though worried someone might have heard. “That’s not a very subtle way to put it.”

“You want subtle? Pick a different guy.”

Becky showed up at their table at that moment, her hands full of dishes. She slapped plates down in front of them with expertise if not much grace. She refilled Zack’s coffee, then was gone again.

He lifted his fork, but his appetite had nosedived. He took a swig from his coffee cup, then grimaced. The brew must be from the bottom of the pot. It tasted like rocket fuel. Beside him, Alaina was pushing her omelet around on her plate.

Finally, she set her fork down and looked at him. “Are you angry with me?”

Yes, he wanted to say. Yes. And damn it, I still want you.

He was tempted to tell her that he’d spent days trying to get a handle on things, and it wasn’t doing a bit of good. He’d had hours of shockingly erotic daydreams. His body was in rebellion every time they were within ten feet of one another. No matter how he bullied his emotions, he couldn’t stop thinking about her.

But none of that would have served any purpose except to intensify the awareness between them and make them both more miserable.

Instead, he breathed deeply and tried to will himself to relax. He allowed the corner of his mouth to lift, and even if it wasn’t a very convincing smile, it was the best he could do at the moment. “No, I’m not mad at you,” he told her. “You’re right. We’re all grown up now, and there isn’t a single reason why we can’t continue to keep a leash on things.”

“That’s what you told me when you came to Coachman’s Court, remember? And I know it’s been difficult sometimes, but we’ll get through it, don’t you think?”

“Yeah. I remember what I told you. And we’re doing great. Just great.” He settled back in his seat with a sigh. “Finish your breakfast. Then let’s hit the festival. I’m ready for some uncomplicated fun.”

LAKE HARMONY, like most communities in the mountains of North Georgia, put on an annual harvest celebration that coincided with the changing color of the leaves.

Two blocks from the heart of town, next to one of the largest cornfields in the area, temporary tents had been set up to offer everything from homemade furniture to pony rides for the kids.

There were food and craft vendors, local merchants hawking their best sale items, a bluegrass group playing every hour, and one of the local apple farms offering tractor-pulled hayrides through their orchards. A complicated image of an eagle clutching an American flag had been cut into the dried cornfield, presenting a challenging maze, and though Halloween was still two weeks away, a pumpkin carving contest was going on under the watchful eyes of the Creekside Diner folks.

Alaina loved these home-grown festivities, and she was delighted by Zack’s suggestion that they should go.

With his hand resting lightly on her elbow, he led her down the length of the festival grounds. They stopped to sample boysenberry pies, pumpkin butter and sweet honey still in the comb. Alaina bought a hand-painted door hanger that said Shhh, Baby’s Asleep! even though she recognized that technically she had no door to attach it to. Zack stopped to admire the work of a local photographer who had captured the sunrise over Dogwood Mountain through every season.

Around midafternoon they took a break, finding two seats on a haphazard stack of hay bales under a huge red maple that gave their skin a rosy glow. They drank bottled water and watched the crowd for a few minutes. There were several people carting items from the big tent at the end of the field. An auction that had begun just before lunchtime was still going strong.

A man went by carrying a framed picture of a beach at sunset. It had obviously been hand-painted, and not by anyone with great talent as far as Alaina could tell.

Zack must have agreed. He leaned closer to her. “Whatever he paid for that fiasco, it was much more than it was worth.”

Alaina giggled, then sat up straighter. “Oh my gosh! Does that picture bring back memories? Remember that beach scene that used to hang in my parents’ family room?”

“The one your mother painted when she took those lessons?”

“Yeah. It was so dreadful, with those palm trees that looked like toilet brushes.”

Zack grinned. “And she caught us laughing at it, and wanted to know what was so funny, and I panicked.” He shook his head, clearly remembering every painful moment. “No wonder your folks didn’t like me.”

“They never disliked you. They just thought you weren’t a good influence on me. Your sister was so much more…sensible. But you were always up to some mischief, trying to get Maggie and me to go along, that it scared them. Especially since when you weren’t around, I was always the good, reliable daughter who did whatever she was told.”

He gave her a sideways glance. “Even to the point of ditching me after high school just to please your mom and dad.”

Alaina had been about to take a sip of water, but lowered the bottle so she could give him her full attention. “Zack. You can’t still believe that’s the way it was.”

“No? I must have missed something then, because that’s the way it sounded to me.”

“How would you know? You were yelling too loud to hear anything.”

“I admit I was immature,” he said with a self-deprecating shrug. “But you caved to them, instead of being willing to take a chance with me. That pissed me off big time.”

Alaina slid forward so she could rest her chin in one hand. “I know. And you’re right. Our breakup was mostly my fault, because I couldn’t stand up to Mom and Dad. Not when they were willing to spend so much money for my education. And at the time, they made very valid arguments to all my objections. Including the fact that you were only eighteen years old and had no idea what you wanted out of life.”

Zack looked down at the hay-strewn ground, a contemplative expression on his face. “I know what I want now.”

Alaina was just about to ask him what that might be when a large shadow fell across her. She looked up to find Nit Whit Russell standing in front of them, wearing the same cocky grin she remembered from her time in jail.

“Well, if it isn’t Lake Harmony’s own little burglar,” he said, loudly enough that several people nearby turned to look. “Casing the place for something to steal?”

Alaina was determined not to let anything spoil this day. “Good afternoon, Whit.”

“Deputy Russell,” he corrected. One of the vendors happened to be passing by, and Whit thumped him on the arm, drawing his attention. “Hey, Buck. Watch this one when she hits your booth. She looks harmless, but she’s likely to run off with half your stuff when you’re not paying attention.”

By this time Zack had risen. Apprehension zipped up Alaina’s spine to see the dislike for Whit on his face. “Don’t you have anything better to do today than harass women, Deputy?” he said with steely politeness. “Surely Sheriff Moran needs someone to direct traffic out on the road.”

Russell’s lip curled with equal dislike. “I heard you were still sniffing around Miss Priss here. What’s the deal, Davidson? You like screwing pregnant chicks so you don’t have to worry about getting them knocked up? Or maybe you’re the papa, so it doesn’t matter.”

Alaina stood so quickly that the bottled water fell off her lap. She made a dive for Zack’s arm as he stepped closer to Whit, and thought she could actually feel him buzzing with anger. “Zack…”

“Listen to me very carefully, Whit,” he growled softly, ignoring her. “I like Sheriff Moran, and I like Lake Harmony. But if you keep bothering me or Miss Tillman without just cause, I’ll sue you and this town until there’s not a penny left in the city coffers and you’re living under the bridge by the interstate. You want everyone in Lake Harmony on your ass just because your mouth keeps overshooting your brain?”

Whit went beet-red, but a touch of fear glistened in his eyes. “I’m an officer of the law. There are a dozen ways I could have you arrested.”

“Pick one. But plan on one thing. Before I end up in a jail cell, I’m going to rearrange your face. I remember what your weaknesses are, and this time, I won’t hesitate to exploit them.”

Whit blinked uncertainly, and his breath was coming faster now. “You two think you’re pretty special, don’t you?”

Zack backed away to retrieve Alaina’s things. In the most pleasant voice she had ever heard him use, he said, “I think we’re just trying to enjoy a nice day in the October sunshine. Why don’t you do the same, Deputy?”

In no time Whit decided this was his opportunity to step away from what was sure to be an unpleasant incident. Without another word, he spun on his heel and stalked off.

Relieved that the two men hadn’t come to blows, Alaina settled back on the hay, and Zack soon rejoined her. She felt the heat of his anger as if a blanket had been tossed over her.

After a while, she looked at him. “Would you really sue Lake Harmony?”

He grimaced. “No. But I’d take a great deal of pleasure in rearranging that son of a bitch’s nose.”

“How many times have you been in a fight, Rocky Balboa?”

“Counting the time I decked Nit Whit in the Connors’ boathouse?”

“Yes.”

“One.”

They both laughed at that answer, and suddenly, the pleasure of the gorgeous October day was back.

“I’m sorry that jerk spoiled things,” he said at last.

“He didn’t.”

“Do you want to go?”

“Honestly? No. I know there are things that need to be done back at the cottage, but it’s so lovely here. I could sit forever.”

“Then we will,” Zack said, and he settled back against the hay.

After a bit of people watching, Alaina spotted Heather Moran. She gingerly carried a child’s antique high chair against her side, and when Alaina called her name and waved her over, she cut through the crowd to join them.

“Hi, you two!” Heather exclaimed, setting down her burden.

“Hi. Zack, you remember Heather?”

He rose and shook her hand. “Sure. Nice to see you again.”

Heather was the sheriff’s oldest daughter, nearly Alaina’s age, and had been a friend to both Tillman girls when they’d come up to Lake Harmony on vacation. She owned an antique shop called Memory Keepers, and had offered Alaina a job before Zack had shown up at Coachman’s Court with his plans for the cottage.

“Why aren’t you at the main tent for the auction?” Heather asked. “We’ve still got a lot of cool stuff to bid on.”

“I don’t think either of us needs any more stuff,” Zack said.

“Nearly every merchant in town has donated, and the money goes to the recreation center.”

Alaina motioned toward the high chair. “Is that what you’re donating?”

“This is already sold. Eighteenth century tigerwood. Pretty rare.”

Alaina stroked her hand along one of the arms. The wood felt warm, like satin, and though there were nicks here and there and worn places along the footrest, it was still a beautiful piece of early American furniture. “It’s lovely,” she murmured.

“I think so, too. Unfortunately, it’s been in my shop for two years without a single nibble. But the director of the museum over in Dahlonega picked it up for one of their farmstead exhibits. So I’m happy to give it a new home.”

“Think of the children who have sat in this chair.”

“It’s amazing it’s held up, considering it’s tigerwood. You don’t get craftsmanship like this anymore. But I know it’s a little primitive for most tastes.”

Alaina looked at Heather and frowned. “How can anyone say that? Can’t they see the love that went into making it?”

“I guess not. Today, most new mothers want something very modern. God forbid it should have been handed down.” Heather picked up the chair and carefully hitched it against her side again. “Well, I’d better get this over to the delivery truck so I can return to the auction. Come over and see what else we have if you’ve got time.”

Alaina watched her go. A moment later, she was aware of a touch against her knee. She turned to see Zack looking at her closely. He hadn’t said a word while she and Heather conversed about the high chair, and she wondered if he was bored by talk of babies and everything that went along with them.

He surprised her, though. “What are you thinking?” he asked quietly.

“That the director of Dahlonega’s museum made a wise choice.”

“That’s not all,” he said skeptically. “You look too sad for that to be the only thing on your mind. Tell me.”

Alaina grimaced. “I was thinking about Gil.”

“Your ex-husband?” Zack scowled. “God, whatever for?”

“Are you sure you want to hear it?”

“I’m a big boy, Al.”

She still wasn’t sure this was a smart idea. The more she shared with him, the more she’d want to, and that spelled disaster. But the compelling look in his eyes made her feel so safe, she couldn’t help it.

“I’ve always wanted kids,” she began. “When Gil and I were first married we tried desperately, but nothing seemed to work. Then about two years into our marriage, I got pregnant, and we were both so thrilled.” She remembered the day she and Gil had found out. Even after all this time, it was still painful to think about. “Our doctor said we should be cautiously optimistic,” she continued. “I wanted to wait until the baby was further along before we said anything to anyone.”

“That makes sense.”

“I thought so. But two weeks after the doctor confirmed I was pregnant, I came home to find Gil in the room we had decided to turn into a nursery. It was filled wall to wall with everything you could imagine. Crib, changing table, rocking chair. Baby clothes in every color of the rainbow. All of it was horribly expensive, and none of it was to my taste—Gil loved modern, and I hated the way our house looked like a high-end showroom. But he was so enthusiastic about it that I couldn’t help being charmed.” Forestalling any derision from Zack, she added quickly, “He wasn’t always a first-class jerk.”

“So you were thinking that Gil would have bought that high chair if you had asked?”

That actually got a smile out of her. “Not in a million years! Gil hates antiques, no matter what their value. But I was just thinking about how happy I would have been to come home and find that little high chair waiting for me. No big fuss or show. Just something beautifully simple and lovingly made.”

A long silence stretched between them. Nearby, people laughed and chatted, enjoying the warmth of the sun and savoring the day like good wine.

Beneath the red-colored maple, Zack and Alaina sat still and silent.

“What happened with the baby?” Zack asked in a low voice, after what seemed like forever.

“I miscarried about a month after Gil’s surprise. We were both devastated.”

The next silence was deeper. Fuller.

He turned to look at her. “I’m sorry, Al.”

“I guess it just wasn’t meant to be,” she replied with wistful regret. “I had two other miscarriages. After the last one, I can’t honestly say we had any hope. Once we got to that point, I think we both lost faith in the marriage. I started resenting Gil for being such an aloof, stifling taskmasker, and he began to…look elsewhere. It stopped being a marriage and ended up being two strangers living in the same house.”

“Why didn’t you leave?” he asked, no hint of rancor anywhere in him.

“I should have. But I’d been an overachiever all my life, and for once, it was just easier to drift.” She raked a hand through her hair. “Gil wasn’t cruel or stingy. I certainly had all the creature comforts any woman could ask for.” She shook her head, remembering those dark days of her marriage. “But then he started getting careless with his affairs, and I began to hate myself for having so little self-respect, for allowing myself to be turned into some sort of Stepford Wife just because it was less trouble to remain passive and complacent.” She sighed, feeling as though her chest was sore and empty. “Eventually I had to break free.”

Zack’s gaze swept over her. “So you ran in the opposite direction and took off with Jeffrey the environmentalist?”

“I know it’s difficult to understand. But after being a zombie for so long, it was wonderful to be with someone who could make me feel alive and young and…and valuable. In spite of what you might think, in spite of how angry I still am with him over deserting me, Jeffrey’s really an idealist. He isn’t a spoiled little rich boy playing at being a concerned activist. He believes in what he’s doing. He made me believe I could help. And he made me feel special.” She tried for a smile, but it felt weak and unconvincing. “At least, for a little while.”

CHAPTER NINE

ON THE OTHER SIDE of the lake, Sheriff Moran had a small house and unattached garage among a stand of yellow poplars and oaks ablaze in autumn colors.

Zack parked under them, removed a bag of supplies from the backseat of his car and trudged up the gravel path that led to the garage. He had been coming here every night since the harvest festival three days ago, so he knew his way around.

Moran’s patrol car was missing. It was only about 7:00 p.m., so it was possible the man was still in town.

The side door to the garage was locked. Zack lifted the roof of a nearby bird feeder. The key was there, right where Moran had said it would be. In another moment, Zack had the door open and had flipped on the lights.

The sheriff’s shop wasn’t nearly as extensive as the one Zack was used to working in, but it would do for what he had in mind. And though he could only manage to slip away from his work at the cottage—and Alaina—in the evenings, he didn’t think it would take more than a couple more visits here before his project would be done.

From the bag he’d brought he pulled out supplies from the hardwood store—yellow wood glue, support brackets, fresh sheets for his sander and a new pair of safety goggles.

He dug in to the job eagerly. Though it had been a long time since he’d made anything by hand, this effort was shaping up nicely. His father had been right about one thing. Zack did have the Davidson way with wood. He just didn’t have much excuse to use it anymore.

With his band saw and the templates he’d made, he cut gently curving sides in the wood and settled on a series of scalloped edges that would act as decoration. Because Alaina already seemed racked with curiosity about what he did with his evenings, he knew he didn’t have much time to improvise anything fancier. He just hoped she would like it.

He’d already been at it about two hours when Sheriff Moran came through the door. When Zack had asked if he could borrow the space, Moran had said yes without hesitation or question, but he seemed surprised to see Zack here again.

“So you’re back, huh?” the sheriff asked as he approached the workbench. “Must be a pretty important project to make you want to spend every night this week in my pitiful excuse for a workshop.”

Zack straightened to relieve a kink in his back. “I want to get it done, and I have to work it in between everything that needs fixing at the cottage.”

The older man walked around the table, eyeballing the work in progress while Zack continued to drill pilot holes for the wooden pegs he’d made. Finally he said, “Mind if I ask what it’s going to be?”

Zack slid the paper template he’d drawn across the table. It was a rough design, but any man with the kind of tools Moran owned would be able to figure it out. The sheriff turned it this way and that, then nodded slowly as if in approval.

“What do you think?” Zack asked.

“Makes sense. Does she know?”

“No. I want it to be a surprise, so please, not a word to anyone.”

“No problem.” Moran picked up one of the pieces of wood Zack had yet to cut. “This is nice. Did Barry have this in stock?”

“No. It’s Burmese rosewood. I had my guy in Miami overnight it to me. We use a lot of it for high-end cabinetry.”

The sheriff picked up one of the finials Zack had worked on last night, jiggling it in his hand. “This will be a nice touch.”

“I hope it comes out the way I want. It’s been a long time since I’ve cut wood for anything this intricate.”

“Guess you took after your daddy more than you thought.”

Zack offered a tight smile. “Not enough to make him happy, I’m sure.”

Not wanting to talk about his father, he started up the drill again. Moran watched silently for a while, then went over to an old refrigerator that stood in the corner. He plucked out two bottles of beer, screwed off the tops and wordlessly handed one to Zack.

Zack cut the power to the drill and downed half the bottle in a few swallows. He placed the beer on the far corner of the table. “Thanks.”

“My pleasure. You know…putting this much work into this piece might suggest that your feelings for Alaina Tillman go a lot deeper than you’ve let on.”

Zack felt the beer zip along his insides. If he didn’t want to discuss his father, he sure as hell didn’t want to talk about his relationship with Alaina. But the sheriff had been like a member of the family at one time. Too close to be blown off thoughtlessly. “We’re good friends,” he admitted as he wiped wood glue from the end of a peg. “She’s hit a rough patch in her life right now. I just want to help out where I can.”

The older man straddled a nearby stool, then took a sip from his bottle. “Did I ever tell you that my Jenny and me were good friends here as kids until her dad got a better job in Charleston? We kept in touch for years, but eventually she married another guy and got pregnant with Heather.”

“No,” Zack said. “I didn’t realize you were Heather’s stepfather.”

“Yep.” He gazed into his beer as if it held the answer to a thousand questions. “Jenny’s first husband got killed in a car accident shortly after she found out she was pregnant. I went up to see her. By that time, her parents were dead, too, so I convinced her to come back to Lake Harmony and stay with me. Eventually, our friendship sort of took off again, and a couple of years down the road, we got married.”

Zack tried very hard not to scowl, but he felt really uncomfortable. “I see where you’re going with this, Sheriff, but it’s not the same with Alaina and me.”

The man’s smile was just a shade too amiable. “Why couldn’t it be?”

“For one thing, the father of her baby isn’t dead. He’s just making up his damned mind to see if he can be a proper parent. If he comes back, Alaina might try to make it work with him.”

“And if he doesn’t, why couldn’t you step in and fill his shoes?” Moran asked, eyebrows lifting.

Zack laughed. “Have you become the town match-maker in your spare time?”

“I just know from personal experience that a wonderful friendship can turn into a wonderful marriage. There isn’t a day goes by that I don’t miss Jenny.”

“I’m sure it can work out that way. But Alaina’s not in love with me. And since she still seems to be hoping this Jeffrey character will come back, I think that’s a pretty good sign she’d like to make it work with him.”

“Not necessarily. She could just be wanting to know what his future involvement with his child is going to be.”

“Well, that’s another good reason to give them the chance to work it out. Isn’t that better for the kid? Doesn’t a baby deserve a shot with his real dad?”

“I thought that with Heather, too. But here’s the thing…. If you come in early enough, you are the dad.”

Zack almost told Moran to mind his own business. Hell, he almost ran. But somehow he sat right where he was while the sheriff continued to look merely curious.

“I don’t know that I’m all that willing to raise another man’s child,” he finally admitted. “A ready-made family isn’t how I saw my life playing out.”

“I don’t think you’re giving yourself enough credit.”

“Even if I wanted to, I have too many things going on right now to think about settling down and raising a family.”

Moran slipped off the stool and tossed his empty bottle into the trash. “And yet here you are, spending time on this project.” He came up to the table, his bright, inquisitive eyes meeting Zack’s. “I think you ought to ask yourself why you’re willing to do what you’re doing for this woman.” After a long moment, he sighed and headed for the door. “Well, don’t forget to lock up when you leave. Good night.”

After the sheriff had gone, Zack sat at the workbench, staring at his project on the table, his hands still. He felt old and achy and washed out. Damn, he wanted to argue, but the truth was, the sheriff had a point. Even Zack could see the intimate implications in his making this surprise for Alaina.

But he also knew that he wasn’t completely fooling himself about the way he felt. He couldn’t see himself stepping in to take Jeffrey’s place, watching her nurse another man’s child. A child who might look exactly like its father. Zack wouldn’t want to be wondering if, while she was in his arms, she ever longed for her passionate lover with the flashing blue eyes.

He hated the idea of her sleeping in another man’s bed, but in the end, it had to be better for both of them if they just kept to the original plan.

Friends, not lovers.

And certainly not husband and wife.

ALAINA SAT ON THE FLOOR of the back porch at Heron Cove. Shadows reached across the wooden boards like the fingers of a giant, and the setting sun was a huge orange ball, starkly outlined by a deep-purple sky.

She’d spent most of the day cleaning out closets. The one nearest the back porch had been stuffed to the rafters with junk, some of it salvageable for charity, some of it destined for the trash and a handful of items that Zack might want to keep for the family. Boxes surounded her, along with miscellaneous papers, receipts, Davidson photos and one rusty watering can.

Her shoulders ached a little, her fingers were stained with ink from a pen that had leaked all over her hand, but Alaina thought she’d made considerable progress. She was eager to talk to Zack about an idea she’d come up with while she’d been knee-deep in Davidson memorabilia.

If she saw him before she went to bed tonight.

Lately, after he spent the day working on the cottage, he went to town and didn’t come back until after midnight, when she heard him walking slowly up the stairs. She knew she couldn’t tell him what to do, but she wished he’d stick around in the evening. Eating dinner and watching television by herself, even reading in an empty room, didn’t hold much appeal. Normally, she was fine being alone, but frankly, she missed his company.

But she was relieved and happy that somehow they’d managed to rekindle the best parts of their friendship—the moments when they both knew what the other felt, the shared laughter over silly things, the comfort she took in just knowing he was around.

Maybe he was having the same problem she was in maintaining a distance, or maybe he wasn’t around much because he found her too boring these days. Had she talked too much about the baby? She could hardly think of anything else, but she knew that most men weren’t all that interested. In years past, she and Zack had been able to talk about everything, even those old bugaboos religion and politics. But maybe now they had run out of things to say to one another.

She’d had one revelation that surprised her a little. At first she’d thought she had eliminated Jeffrey from conversation simply to accommodate Zack. But now she was faced with the realization that she seldom thought of Jeffrey at all. Well…except to curse his rotten hide for abandoning her.

She heard the faint sound of the front door opening and closing. Zack had gone to town a couple of hours ago. Maybe this meant he intended to spend the evening with her. Inexplicably, she felt a lavish sweep of happiness go through her.

“Alaina,” he called out.

“I’m back here,” she answered. “On the porch.”

She heard the wood floorboards creak along the hallway, then he came through the French doors that led to the screened porch overlooking the lake. Since she was seated with her back against the wall, beside one of the Adirondack chairs, it took him a moment to spot her.

He approached her quickly, frowning. “Why are you on the floor? Are you all right?”

“I’m fine. I was cleaning out the back closet and it was just easier to spread things on the floor. What have you been up to?”

He shrugged, but something in the way his brows drew together made her wonder if he objected to her asking. “Nothing much. Just running errands.”

A little evasive, but what could she say? She decided to move on to more pertinent matters. “Take a look,” she said, motioning toward the paperwork surrounding her. “I don’t think this stuff has been gone through in ages. There are receipts for bird seed in here from twenty years ago.”

Zack didn’t join her on the floor. He turned the nearest chair and perched on the edge of it, letting his hands dangle between his knees.

Alaina opened one of the small boxes she’d unearthed. It was filled with brochures about things to do in the area—forty years out of date. “I’m putting these in the trash pile,” she said, handing him a few samples. “All right with you?”

“Definitely,” he replied, barely looking at them. He reached down to tap the top of another box. “What’s in here?”

“Family photos. You should take them home to your mother. She may want to keep some of them.”

“Maybe.”

It surprised her when he didn’t lift the lid to check out the pictures. It seemed to Alaina that natural curiosity would have demanded he do so. But Zack appeared completely uninterested.

Remembering the idea she’d come up with, she reached behind her. “Oh! Check this out.” She slid a battered metal box across the floor until it lay between his feet.

There was a moment of perfect stillness as Zack stared down at it.

“You recognize it, don’t you?” she asked when he said nothing.

“Dad’s fishing tackle box.”

“Uh-huh.” She scooted forward until she could unlatch it. The metal hinges creaked as it swung open, revealing several tiers of fishing supplies, including a whole row of colorful lures. Alaina plucked one out of its nest, holding it up to the fading light. “I remember your father sitting in the family room, making this one. Don’t you?”

“No.”

She scowled at him. Most guys weren’t sentimental, but somehow she wasn’t expecting that answer from him. She reached for another lure and held it out. “What about this one, then?”

Ropy muscles flexed in his forearms, but he didn’t try to take it from her. “No. Afraid not.”

His lack of interest puzzled and irked her a little, but she refused to let his attitude dampen her enthusiasm. “Well, I think some of them are quite beautiful. What if we framed a few and hung them in the family room? And maybe another set for your mother. What do you think?”

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 interest. 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?”

CHAPTER TEN

THE 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 judgmental 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.”

HEATHER’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.”

He manipulated the metal device with the skill of a master magician. Unearthing a pencil, he made small marks on the wall. The measurements were finished in no time.

Alaina leaned back against the kitchen table. She crossed her arms, admiring Zack’s work. “You’re very good.”

He came to stand beside her. Giving her a cryptic glance, he said, “You’re being sarcastic, right?”

“No. I’m really impressed.”

“You’ve never hung pictures before?”

“Sure, but not with any expertise. Mostly I just keep pounding nails until it looks right. If you were to lift any picture I’ve ever hung, you’d see a lineup of nail holes like a woodpecker’s been at the wall. Ask Maggie.”

Zack laughed. “It’s not that difficult once you get the hang of it. And I’ve spent a lot of years measuring things.”

She turned her attention to the three pictures behind her. They were colorful vintage crate labels that she’d found stuck in a drawer upstairs. They would look great on the wall beside the fridge.

She scooped up the plastic box of nails and a small hammer that sat beside them. “I can take it from here,” she told Zack.

He plucked the hammer out of her hand. “After what you just confessed about your ability? I don’t think so.”

“Fine.” She withdrew three nails from the box. “But I’m not hopeless. You hammer, I’ll hold.”

She went to the wall, reached up and placed the nail at the highest pencil point Zack had made. He came up behind her. She moved closer to the cream-colored stucco.

“Hold it still,” he said.

His breath, soft and warm, puffed against the back of her neck. He seemed to loom over her, powerful and insistently male. It came again, that unbearable skittering of her pulse. This might not have been her smartest suggestion.

He pounded the nail in with a couple of good whacks. “Next one,” he said.

She gave a vague nod and placed a nail on the second pencil mark. Maybe the best thing to do was get this over with as quickly as possible. At least this nail would be at eye level, and Zack wouldn’t have to stand over her.

Oh, but he was still so close. Her heart rate quickened even more. His skin exuded heat, and deep inside her body, desire unfurled like soft flower petals opening to the sun.

What was taking him so long? Why didn’t he just hammer the damn thing? Tucking in her chin, she closed her eyes, wishing she had the nerve to push him away, and knowing that wasn’t what she wanted to do at all.

Do it, she wanted to shout. Finish it.

Finally he tapped the nail head a few times, then banged it in with a final blow.

Instantly, pain shot through her fingers. “Owww!” she yelped, and dropped her hand to her breast protectively.

Zack swore. “I’m sorry, Al. But damn it, you moved at the last minute. You should have let me do this by myself.”

“I did not move,” she retorted. “You might be good at measuring things, but you’re lousy at hammering.”

“Are you hurt?”

“Yes!”

“Let me see.”

He tried to take her hand, but she snatched it away. “Don’t touch me.”

He caught her wrist and wouldn’t let go. She opened her hand. Both the thumb and forefinger were red, but there didn’t seem to be any real damage.

“It didn’t even break the skin,” he said, sounding relieved, and a tiny bit amused.

“It still hurts.”

He smiled at her as he rubbed her fingers gently. “Better?”

“No. I’ll probably never be able to knit again.”

“I remember the scarf you made for me that Christmas. I don’t think it will be a huge loss.”

She sniffed to show her displeasure, but mostly she wished he’d release her hand. It was a mistake, letting him touch her like this. She would rescue her fingers from him. Any moment, she would pull away.

She felt mesmerized. She blinked as she watched him slowly lift her hand to his lips. He placed a kiss against the pad of each injured finger, and she did nothing to stop him.

“How about now?” he asked in a soft voice that sounded like a caress.

She couldn’t say a word. His gaze held hers for long, thick moments of silence before dropping to her mouth. He brought his hand up to brush one finger across her lower lip. Something inside her felt pulled in two directions, slowly being ripped.

“Zack…”

“Damn it, Al,” he whispered. “How am I supposed to stop wanting you?”

“This is just physical,” she said a little desperately.

“I don’t see the problem with that.” He lowered his head until his lips hovered over hers. Dropping a kiss against the corner of her mouth, he slid away the hair at the side of her face. His breath came against her ear. “Physical can bring a lot of pleasure.”

Barely able to think straight, Alaina dipped her head away. “It would be a mistake. Like the other night. And you said there wouldn’t be a repeat of that,” she reminded him. “You promised.”

She heard him chuckle. “That’s right. There won’t be a repeat of the other night. We were both in too much of a hurry. This time we’ll take it slow and easy. This time we’ll savor every moment.” He nudged aside the collar of her blouse so that he could kiss her shoulder. “How is it possible that I don’t remember this little freckle?”

“You know I won’t stop you. But if we do this—”

“It will be wonderful. Stop thinking about the future. Just think about me, touching you in all the right places.” He tugged her close to his body, cupping her rear end, urging her upward until she felt his arousal. “God, you are so beautiful. Do you feel me wanting you, Al? Say you want me, too.”

Her heart was pumping, and she knew she could not let him go. The life she had once wanted with him and the loss of it reached her in waves. “Yes…” she said in a trembling voice. “Zack, I do. Yes…”

She felt his mouth stretch into a smile against her throat. “That’s my sweet girl. Let it go. Let it all go….”

He pushed her slowly until her spine was against the wall. She tightened her arms around him. There was nothing in the universe except her body and Zack’s mouth, filling her with such acute and perfect pleasure that she wanted to purr. She ducked her head, nipping at his shoulder through his shirt, and was rewarded when she heard him suck in a sharp breath.

The sound of the doorbell ringing brought both their heads up. Alaina’s heart was thudding, and Zack’s frustrated groan seemed to come all the way from the bottom of his feet.

“That’s probably the tile delivery,” Alaina gasped out. “They’re late.”

“Let them come back.”

“No, we can’t do that. They’ll take it back to Atlanta and we’ll have to reschedule.”

“I don’t care.”

“Zack.”

“Damn it!” he growled, swinging away from her. “Why do you have to be such a practical woman in the most impractical times?” He gave her a playfully threatening glare. “Don’t go anywhere. I’ll make this the fastest delivery they’ve ever had.”

She nodded, but knew that it didn’t matter how long the delivery might take. The insanity of letting Zack kiss her, the possibility of where it might have led—that window had slammed shut the moment the doorbell rang.

And maybe that was a good thing.

CHAPTER ELEVEN

WHILE ZACK OVERSAW the tile delivery, Alaina scooped up the keys to the car. She had to get out of the cottage. She had to put distance between them. It might be the only thing that could keep her from making another huge mistake.

She had already opened the back door when she glanced over her shoulder and saw Zack at the end of the hallway. “I’m going into town for a while,” she called. “I’ll be back late.”

“Al!” Zack said. “Wait.”

“No need to stay up.”

Leaving became more of an escape than an exit, but she wasn’t going to let anything stop her.

EVEN IN TOURIST SEASON, Lake Harmony rolled up most of its sidewalks by dusk.

The Creekside Diner was open. So were a few coffee shops and bars on the outskirts. But in the town square, where Alaina found a cool, empty bench, the stores were already dark. The plants and clearance merchandise had been taken in.

In the center of the grassy park stood the statue of an anonymous World War II soldier. He looked appropriately fierce and brave, but his efforts were wasted tonight. Except for Alaina, the square was empty.

She closed her eyes and let her head fall back. Drawing a deep breath, she tried to will herself to relax, to take in the subtle sounds and sweet breezes of small town America. She and her sister had always come up to Lake Harmony in summer, never in fall, since school was going full tilt by then. But since she’d been here she’d realized that autumn in the Georgia mountains was spectacularly beautiful.

Gold, red and orange leaves lay piled in corners like forgotten confetti, or skittered down lanes and driveways. Scarecrows stood stiff-legged guard duty in most yards and doorways.

Fall in Miami was dull, uninteresting. Florida was usually brown or brilliant green, with very little in between. But here, everything brought such a visceral reaction.

With her eyes still closed, Alaina rubbed her stomach. “What do you think, kiddo?” she asked softly. “Do you think we could live here?”

If Jeffrey never came back, what then? When the cottage project was over she’d have to make some decisions. Was she really going to be able to go back home, throw herself on the mercy of her parents or Maggie while she got back on her feet? With a new baby to care for, how long would that take?

A cool breeze swirled around her legs, bringing goose bumps for a moment. She should go. But where? Somehow it just seemed like too much work to come up with an answer. She felt overwhelmed, overcome with some debilitating inertia that kept her right where she was.

“Mind if I join you?”

Alaina opened her eyes to see Sheriff Moran standing in front of her. He was in uniform, and the badge on his breast pocket flashed under the streetlamp.

She patted the bench beside her. “Not at all.”

He was silent for a while as they both stared up at the sky, watching the last of the light disappear behind the mountains.

“This should be a nice, clear night,” the sheriff said. “Should be able to see plenty of stars.”

“It’s very pretty already.”

“You out here by yourself?”

“Yes. Just me.”

“Humph. I kinda got used to seeing you and Zack traipsing around town together. Just like old times.”

She gave him a vague, noncommittal smile. “Not tonight.”

“Shame about him selling the cottage. Doesn’t seem right somehow.”

“I agree. But he’s determined.”

The sheriff sighed and settled back on the bench. “One thing the Davidson men have never lacked is determination. Years ago, when Zack’s dad and I were kids, he became convinced that there was gold—” Moran flung a hand toward the World War II soldier “—buried under that statute.”

“Why would gold be buried there?”

“I probably should have asked that question myself,” he said with a grin. “But Tom was certain. He’d read all about the gold strike we had in the 1820s, and he was just sure of it. We snuck out of our houses three nights in a row to dig for it.”

“I take it you never found anything.”

“Oh, we found things. A boot, a plastic spoon and the skeleton of a mouse. Pretty exciting stuff. But we also both went home and found our parents waiting for us. I never got my allowance back, and Tom—his dad made him chop so much wood he had blisters on his hands for two weeks.” The sheriff chuckled. “And don’t you know, the next year when he came up here for the summer, he tried to make me believe we’d been digging under the wrong statue? He wanted to start the hunt all over again down by city hall. Under that old bust of Chief Nahatchee.”

“He sounds a lot like Zack when we were teenagers. He always had some adventure he was trying to talk us into.”

“Zack’s cut from the same cloth, all right. That’s why there got to be so much fussing between them the last year of Tom’s life.”

Alaina frowned at Moran. “What do you mean? Zack worshipped his father.”

“Nothing says you can’t love someone and still not see eye to eye.”

She turned to face the sheriff. “What happened to his dad? Zack told me he died last spring, but never seems willing to talk about it.”

Scratching his cheek, the sheriff glanced away, as though debating whether he should share what he knew. At last he looked back. “Tom came up here to do some repairs. The boathouse roof was in bad shape, and he climbed up there to nail some new shingles in place. He lost his balance and fell, which brought on a heart attack. Died shortly after that, from what the county coroner says. Zack tried to call his dad most of the next day, and when he couldn’t get anyone, he asked a neighbor to go over and check.” Moran shook his head sadly. “They found Tom, but it was way too late.”

“How horrible,” Alaina said with a shudder.

“He shouldn’t have been on that roof. And that’s part of the problem, I suspect. Maybe even the reason Zack’s so interested in selling the place now.”

“Why do you think that?”

“Tom and I had dinner two nights before he died. He was madder than a rabid raccoon, because Zack was supposed to come up here with him to help, but had canceled at the last minute. He told Tom they could do it the following weekend, but Tom—he was always such an impatient cuss—he didn’t wait.”

“So if Zack had been here, he might have kept his father from getting on the roof. Or at least he might have gotten him to a hospital in time.”

The sheriff grimaced. “That’s one theory, I suppose. And I suspect it’s one that keeps circling in that head of his. Though why it should, I don’t know. The coroner said Tom had years of heart damage just waiting to catch up to him. That heart attack was going to happen, probably sooner rather than later.”

With an inward sigh Alaina said, “I think you may be right. Zack never seems to go near the boathouse, even though he’s mentioned that it needs almost as much work as the cottage.”

“That boy has no reason to be all twisted up inside over what happened. Tom had no business being up on that roof.”

“Let me ask you something, Sheriff. Last night I found a tuxedo in the hall closet. It had your name on the inside, but when I asked Zack why it was there, he had no idea.”

“I completely forgot about that penguin suit!” the man said with a look of surprise. “It’s mine, all right, though more and more I wonder why I keep it. I lent it to Tom.”

“Why?”

“Zack won some big award from the city of Miami—something about being a rising new entrepreneur. The banquet was that same weekend he and Tom were supposed to come up here. Zack asked him to postpone the trip so they could go to the banquet together. But Tom told him no. Said it was just another example of how Zack had sold out his talent in his quest for the almighty dollar.”

“Sold out? How so?”

“You know that Zack’s father was a carpenter, a woodworker, like his father before him. Tom thought Zack should have kept the family business alive.”

“But I’ve seen the beautiful custom work his company in Miami does. He knows wood every bit as well as his father did.”

“Not the same thing as far as Tom was concerned. Too mass-produced. Too sleek and impersonal for his tastes. He felt Zack went after the money and forgot all about making individual pieces that could be handed down by a family. Told him so, too, and that didn’t set well, from what I gather.”

Alaina could imagine how that rejection must have bitten hard into Zack’s pride. “For his sake, his father should have gone to that banquet.”

“That’s what I pointed out to him the night we had dinner, but he was so mad he couldn’t hear a word I said. That’s the way it is sometimes,” Moran added wryly. “When two people won’t meet each other halfway.”

She looked at the man sharply, but his features gave nothing away. She had a feeling he’d be a deadly poker player. Her heart contracted at the thought of how unpleasant it must have gotten between Zack and his father.

“But here’s the funny thing…” Moran said, tilting back his hat. “The next day, I got a call from Tom asking if I still had my tuxedo, ’cause he wanted to borrow it. He was still sounding plenty grumpy, but I sent it over to him anyway. Not too many places around Lake Harmony where you need a tuxedo, so…”

“You think he was planning to go to the banquet, after all.”

“Yep. But I never found out, because the next day he was dead.”

Alaina regarded the sheriff with quizzical interest. “Does Zack know any of this?”

“Not that I’m aware.”

“It might make a huge difference in the way he remembers those last few days of his father’s life.”

“Maybe. I don’t know. Anytime I’ve mentioned his dad, Zack changes the subject. But you know, sometimes a person gets it fixed in their head that they’ve done somebody wrong, and blaming themselves begins to feel right. Like wearing a hair shirt.”

She looked at him closely, wondering if there was some pain in his past he wished he could undo. The old-fashioned streetlamps had come on now. They were like pearl brooches against a dark velvet sky. The light etched the lines in the sheriff’s face even deeper.

He stood, resettled his hat and his gun belt, then took a quick glance around the empty square. When he looked back at her, his expression was solemn, all business. “You plan to stay out here much longer?”

Alaina felt herself basking in the warmth of his concern. “No. I’m just clearing my head a little.”

“Your head need clearing much?”

“All the time, I’m afraid,” she answered with a smile.

“Heather says you and Zack make quite a couple.”

“I’m not sure I’d put it that way. We’re working on the cottage together, getting along pretty well, but we’re hardly a couple.”

“You still hoping that baby’s father will show up?”

She hadn’t expected the question, but she wasn’t afraid to answer it. She made a face. “Would I sound completely foolish if I said yes?”

“Not necessarily,” Moran replied. Then he gave her a twinkly-eyed smile. “But you know, there’s nothing wrong with grabbing the fruit you can reach.”

She knew what fruit he meant. She tried to affect a casual air as she smiled up at him. “Thanks for the advice, Sheriff. But that particular fruit may be long past picking.”

AFTER LEAVING THE SQUARE, Alaina ate a leisurely late dinner at the Creekside Diner. Then she drove slowly up Dogwood Mountain, found a scenic spot overlooking the valley below, and spent a long time staring into the darkness. Finally, she had no choice but to go back to Heron Cove. She couldn’t stay out here all night.

When she pulled into the cottage driveway, it was a little after midnight. Except for the front porch light, Heron Cove was silent and black. Instead of going inside, Alaina used the moonlight to guide her around the side of the cottage, down the mulch-covered pathway to the lake. Just before she reached the boat dock, she stopped, crossed her arms and gazed out into the night again.

Darkness kept her from seeing the boathouse clearly, but she’d been there often enough to remember how it should look. It definitely needed work, but she thought she understood now why Zack had avoided tackling it. Why he’d been so reluctant to talk to her about any item she found that could remind him of his father.

It didn’t require too much imagination to picture that fall from the boathouse roof. The pitch was steep, the shingles probably just loose enough to be dangerously unstable. She envisioned Tom Davidson lying on the dock after he’d fallen, alone and hurting, already moving beyond anyone’s help.

She pushed the images away, lifting a hand to her throat because her mouth had gone so dry she couldn’t swallow. She focused beyond the dock and the lapping waves to where the mountains brooded over Lake Harmony.

Sheriff Moran had been right. The stars were as bright as diamonds tonight, and beneath them, the lake looked like liquid mercury. It was the kind of breathtaking combination of water and sky and land that you saw only in movies, and inexplicably, tears clouded her vision.

She knew it had to do with Zack, with the knowledge that their kiss in the kitchen had been leading in a dangerous direction. Sexual tension had been circling them for days, and Alaina supposed she ought to have been grateful for the delivery truck’s interruption.

So why wasn’t she?

God, life was so slippery, and she was so clumsy in negotiating all its twists and turns. How much more mixed up could her life get? She started to laugh at her own foolishness, but the sound cracked midway and turned into something else.

Disgusted by such gloomy thoughts, she swiped a hand across her eyes. Enough. She was tired, and it was starting to turn colder. There were lots of things she had to do tomorrow.

Rubbing her bare arms, she turned to head back to the cottage.

Zack stood in the middle of the path.

CHAPTER TWELVE

IT WAS TOO DARK to see Alaina’s features well, but Zack caught the sharp angle of her cheekbones, the way moonlight bounced off her fair hair so that it seemed almost colorless. She looked ghostly, not like a real person at all, and yet just catching this shadowy glimpse of her was enough to make his heart feel loose in his chest.

A long silence, thick and awful, spun out. The night air felt much too intimate and threaded with tension. He had no idea how many seconds they stood there, looking at one another.

Finally, he took a step toward her. He’d made some decisions tonight, and he intended to see them through.

She shook her head, and he stopped.

“I heard you drive up,” he said softly. “When you didn’t come in, I took a chance you might be down here.”

“I went into town,” she replied. Her voice sounded tight.

“You didn’t have to go.”

“I thought it would be best.”

“Best for whom? Those guys interrupted what was turning out to be a very lovely evening.”

When he took a step closer, she backed away. “Zack…don’t.”

“Al…”

“No, really. Don’t.” Her features were so pale, and there was no mistaking the thin, determined line of her mouth. “I care about you so much,” she told him. “I want to be in your arms. But I just can’t let you get involved in my life right now. There’s so much the baby needs from me. So many things that have to be decided if Jeffrey doesn’t come back.” A moment passed. “Or if he does.”

At the mention of her lover’s name, Zack felt all his thoughts solidify into one hard, black mass. “Are you telling me you still want him?”

“That’s not the point,” she said. She put her hands out, almost beseechingly. “I’m telling you that when you touch me, I can’t keep my balance. All my best intentions go right out the window. But it’s not fair to either of us.” He caught a glimmer of tears in her eyes, shining under the moon. “Please tell me you understand.”

“I do,” he said quietly.

She drew a deep, shaky breath. “Good. Now I suppose we have to figure out how we can fix this.”

“No. We don’t.”

She tilted her head at him. “I thought you said—”

“You’re absolutely right, Al. We don’t seem to have any common sense when we’re around one another. I’ve wanted you for so long, and I still want you. Most of the time I don’t give a damn about agreements and what’s best for either of us. I just want to make love to you. I’d do it right now, right here in the moonlight, and screw the consequences. But I know that wouldn’t make either of us happy.”

“Zack, I’m sorry—”

“Let me finish. What I’m telling you is that I don’t want to go on this way. I can’t. So I’m going to try to wrap up things here. Hopefully I’ll need no more than a couple of days. Then I’m returning to Miami.”

“Oh,” she said in a small voice. She straightened, and he knew that he’d caught her off guard. “What about the deliveries you’ve scheduled, and the tile work you want to do in the bathrooms? I haven’t finished the dining room or kitchen yet.”

“You can stay to finish up and receive any shipments. I’ll contract the work out to someone in the area. It will cost more than doing it myself, but…”

“It will be worth the extra money just to keep from being around me?”

“Yes.”

As though the cool night air had finally gotten to her, she crossed her arms over her chest. “You don’t have to do this. I’ll leave in the morning.”

He heard the practical, unemotional tone of her voice and thought how warm and eager she could sound when she was in his arms, whispering his name in his ear an instant before he kissed her.

Dumb mistake, Davidson. Stay focused.

“No,” he told her firmly. “There’s no reason for you to leave. I hired you to do a job. I like what you’ve done, and I want to see it finished. Besides, if you can’t stand the idea of going home, and Jeffrey doesn’t ever come back, this is the best place for you to be while you’re pregnant, and you know it. I just can’t be here with you.”

She nodded slowly, as though road-testing his words.

“I have to get back to my real life in Miami,” he added when she said nothing. “It’s time I stopped playing house up here with you. All right?”

He barely heard her muffled agreement.

“Good. Then let’s turn in. We have a lot to do tomorrow.”

He headed back to the cottage and she fell into step beside him. Neither of them said a thing. They crunched through the fallen autumn leaves that littered the path. Together, and yet as far apart as if they’d been on separate planets.

THE NEXT MORNING they drove into town, polite but silent, each absorbed in their own thoughts. Zack dropped Alaina off at Heather’s antique shop, while he went in search of a local contractor looking for work. They agreed to meet back at the square in an hour.

As Alaina watched Zack pull away from the curb, she wondered if he was as tired as he appeared, if he had slept as poorly as she had last night.

She’d tried to lull herself to sleep by reciting today’s to-do list in her head. She’d counted the dollops of moonlight that filtered through the lace curtains of her bedroom window. She’d even tried to regulate her breathing, controlling the rise and fall of her breasts, until her heart rate settled. But that only brought images of Zack, who could shred her breath like silk as he ran his hands along her body.

In the end, she just couldn’t sleep. In forty-eight hours, perhaps less, she would see the last of him. Maybe forever.

It seemed impossible to believe. Now that he had come back into her life, how could she let him slip out again? She was still asking herself that question when the sun finally came up.

You have to let him go. You can’t mess with his life when your own is still so out of whack.

The knowledge that she had no choice made her breathing hitch. Before she could give in to self-pity, she turned and went into Memory Keepers.

The place was charming and bright and crowded with stuff. She’d already figured out that Heather had a keen eye for antiques, but could be a little disorganized. The practical, creative side of Alaina itched to get behind some of the displays and do some rearranging.

Heather looked up as the bell over the door rang. When she saw it was Alaina, a welcoming smile lit her features. “Hi! I wondered if you’d come in today. I think I have just the thing for that spot on the sideboard.”

From the back room, Heather brought out a pretty, flowered plate server that would beautifully pick up the sunny colors of the dining room. It was old, but not an antique, and Alaina liked it immediately.

“Perfect,” she declared. “Can I take it with me?”

“I’ll get a box.”

While Heather disappeared into a stockroom, Alaina wandered around the shop. So many treasures salvaged from so many lives. Crystal and pewter. Clocks, silver, mechanical banks and a child’s rocking horse. It must be wonderful to find new, appreciative homes for these things.

She stopped in front of a tray of jewelry, a haphazard gathering of brooches and bracelets and earrings. The gemstones were only semiprecious, but they might as well have been paste for all the attention they’d been given.

As Heather began packing up the plate server, Alaina turned to her. She pointed down at the tray. “There are some pretty things here. Do you mind if I rearrange them a bit to give them a little more pizzazz?”

“Have at it,” her friend said as she stuffed a box with foam peanuts.

Carefully, Alaina swept up the jewelry and set it aside. After glancing around, she slipped a black velvet shawl from a nearby rack and draped it over the tray. Then she began grouping the jewelry on the velvet—a fan of ivory combs; a trio of fancy jet brooches; peridot, garnet and topaz rings in arches of color like fireworks.

Heather came over as Alaina finished. “Why didn’t I think of that?” she said admiringly. “I wish I had that kind of talent.”

“You just haven’t had time to think about how they should be displayed.”

“Ha! I might have a knack for spotting great antiques, but I’m hopeless when it comes to knowing how to attract a buyer.”

Alaina was pleased with her handiwork. “I’d be happy to come by sometime and give you a few pointers about display and showcasing merchandise.”

“I’d love that. But when are you going to have time? Doesn’t Zack still have you slaving away up at Heron Cove?”

Alaina sighed and lowered her eyes. It was depressing to think about how soon all that would change. “We should be finished soon.” She lifted her face to Heather. “In fact…is that job you offered me awhile back still available? I might decide to stay in Lake Harmony, and I’d need something.”

Heather gave her a close look. “Seriously? I thought maybe you and Zack…”

“No.” The word came out sharper than she intended.

“Well then, yes. I’m still looking for someone. Someone who can do more than ring a register and who doesn’t think antique means anything before iPods. I’d love to have you here, though I can’t pay very much,” she said with a grimace. Then she brightened a little. “But on the plus side, my father has a spare room at his house he used to rent out. He’d probably love the company, and you and the baby couldn’t be safer than living with the town sheriff. It might work, don’t you think?”

WHEN ALAINA LEFT THE SHOP ten minutes later, she headed for the square. She was way too early to meet Zack, but she didn’t mind. She could use the extra time to think about Heather’s suggestion.

Working at Memory Keepers would be interesting and satisfying. Heather would probably make a great boss. Even the idea of living with Sheriff Moran had possibilities. These were nice people, and Lake Harmony was the kind of town you could fall in love with. The sort of place you could raise a child by yourself if you had to.

And you may have to.

The idea scared her almost as much as it depressed her. She wished she could talk to Zack about all this. The future. What she should do about it. But she knew he didn’t really want to talk about Jeffrey, and she’d already burdened him with enough of her problems. If she had to talk to someone about things, he wasn’t the one. Once you took overwhelming sexual attraction out of the equation, he’d probably had enough of her to last a lifetime. So, no. Not Zack.

She passed a pay phone, one of the few she’d seen since cell phones had become so common. She stopped and came back to it.

Almost before she knew it she was dialing, and when the call went through and Maggie answered, Alaina had to stop a moment and catch her breath before she could speak.

“Hello?” Maggie said a second time.

“Maggie, it’s me.”

“Alaina!” her sister exclaimed. Then she added quickly, “What’s wrong?”

“Nothing. Why do you think anything’s wrong?”

“Well, for one thing, you sound out of breath, and for another, you haven’t phoned since you gave us the news about being pregnant. Has something happened? Is the baby all right?”

“I’m fine. So’s the baby. I just…wanted to talk to you. I miss you.”

“Oh, honey, I miss you, too.”

A lump formed in Alaina’s throat. For so long she and Maggie had not been close. Maggie had been busy in Key West, turning her aquarium design company into a real business. And since she and their parents hadn’t really gotten along, there had been few trips back to Miami to catch up on old times. Alaina, of course, had been occupied in making Gil happy. But in the past few years they’d finally made their peace with one another, and she missed her.

“Are you all right?” Alaina asked. “How are Will and the kids?”

“We’re all fine. Mom and Dad are driving me nuts. All your fault, of course.”

“How’s that?”

“They ask me every day if I shouldn’t drive up there and try to talk you into coming home. I’m holding them off the best I can, but you know them. Mom’s already started knitting booties, and Dad—you won’t believe it. He’s jotting down every name he comes across that he thinks you might want to consider for the baby.”

“That’s kind of sweet.”

“You think so? Right now he’s rereading Hamlet. How do you feel about Polonius?”

Alaina laughed, and it felt so good. Her sister could always make her feel better. “Oh, Maggie,” she said with a shaky breath. “What the hell have I done?”

“You mean you still don’t know how it happened? After all those pointers I gave you when we were teenagers?”

“Not that. I mean, what have I done to my life? It’s so screwed up.”

“Hey, what happened to the woman who was so excited about becoming a mommy? Your life isn’t screwed up. Not really. It’s just different now from all those years with Gil. If you ask me, you stopped being bored and subservient and afraid, and gave your life a good shake.”

Clutching the receiver, Alaina leaned her head against the glass. She felt very weary. “I didn’t give it a good shake. I put it in a blender. Now it’s just…mush.”

“Oh dear. We’re having a bad day, aren’t we?”

“No. Yes. It’s just hormones or something. Don’t pregnant women cry a lot for no reason?”

“Are you crying?”

“No,” she said, her eyes filling even as she said it, and then she was crying. Big gulping sobs that made her feel foolish and confused. She hunched closer to the phone, cupping her hand over the receiver.

Maggie waited until Alaina’s sobs finally tapered off to a few sniffs of misery, then said in a calm, firm voice, “Alaina, do you want me to come up there?”

She had to swallow, hard, to keep her voice steady. “No. Everything’s fine. Everything’s swell. Except…except…I’m losing Zack.”

“What’s that supposed to mean? Where did you lose him?”

“He’s going back to Miami in a couple of days. I’m staying to finish up the inside of the cottage, and then I’m not sure what I’m going to do. But the thing is, he’ll be gone, and I might never see him again.”

“Are you two fighting?”

“No, that’s the problem,” Alaina said, wiping the back of her hand across her wet cheek. “All we want to do is have sex.”

“What’s wrong with that?”

“I’d expect you to say something like that.”

“Hey! You called me, remember? Do you want my opinion or not?”

Alaina sighed. “I’m sorry. It’s just that I’m so…so miserable when I think of not seeing him again.”

“Of course you’re miserable. You’re in love.”

“No, I’m not,” she said, shaking her head even though Maggie couldn’t see her. “Yes, I want to touch him, and let him touch me. The sex is wonderful. But that’s not love. He’s like a brother to me.”

“Eew!” Maggie said with a chuckle. “Last time I heard, having sex with your brother was still a no-no.”

“You know what I mean.”

“No, I guess I don’t. You and Zack grew up together. You were in love almost from the day you met. You may have been separated from one another for a lot of years, but your feelings for him never changed.”

“Yes, they did. They had to because I changed. I’m not that silly teenager anymore, and I’m not that pathetic zombie I was with Gil. And even if I were, Zack is different now. There are times when he looks at me that I’m not sure he even likes me.”

“Trust me,” Maggie replied with a hint of long-suffering tolerance in her voice. “Down deep where it counts, neither one of you is different. You still love him with all your heart, and I’m willing to bet he cares a lot more than you think. Are we talking marriage? Maybe not. But don’t discount what you shared in the past. It’s still there.” When Alaina didn’t respond right away, Maggie said, “Do you know how I know?”

“How?”

“Because Will and I spent a lot of years running from our pasts and the way we felt about each other. But when we finally stopped denying it in our hearts, we found out that our love was there all the time, just waiting to be rediscovered.”

That may have been true for her sister, but was it really that simple? “I don’t know, Maggie….”

“Just give it some thought.”

“I will,” Alaina promised. Surprisingly, she did feel a little better. “This is awful. Once upon a time, I was the one with all the right answers.”

“Well, I’ve learned a lot since I’ve been married to Will.” There was a pause, then the sound of a soft oath. “Listen,” Maggie said in a tight tone. “I have something to tell you. I don’t want to. I seriously thought of keeping this to myself. But I realize it’s the right thing to do.”

“What are you talking about?”

“Your guy called here a little while ago. Jeffrey.”

Alaina jerked, feeling as though Maggie had reached right through the phone and slapped her. “Jeffrey called? Is he in Miami?”

“No, but he left a number where he can be reached.”

Her heart hammered in her chest. Had Jeffrey finally made contact with his friends, who had given him the post office address in Lake Harmony? “What did you tell him?”

“I didn’t tell him where you were. I just couldn’t.”

“Maggie…”

“I know I should have,” her sister said in quick defense. “But I couldn’t get the words to come out of my mouth. I didn’t like him when he was here, and I like him even less now. I couldn’t be completely evil, though, and not tell you he called.”

“It’s all right. At least he called.”

“Are you going to take him back?”

Alaina felt herself freeze. Her stomach was tumbling erratically now, as well.

There was another long pause, and Maggie must have sensed how much this news had unsettled her. “If you want his number, I’ll give it to you,” she said. “But if you tell me to throw it in the trash, I’ll do it in a heartbeat, and that guy and his motorcycle can ride off the nearest cliff.”

“That’s not a very mature response.”

“As far as I’m concerned, if you hurt my sister, you need to pay. But you may have a higher tolerance level for bastards. Just tell me what you want to do.”

CHAPTER THIRTEEN

AN HOUR LATER ZACK, tired and out of sorts, picked Alaina up at the square. She sat silently in the passenger seat like a stone idol, staring out the side window. When she did speak, it was mostly small talk. She asked if he had found a contractor to continue work on Heron Cove, and mentioned how enjoyable she found Heather Moran’s shop, Memory Keepers.

When they pulled into the driveway of the cottage, she seemed to come out of her withdrawal a little. She scooped up her purchase from the backseat, then set it on the front porch.

“I thought I’d see if I could finish up the kitchen today,” she told him as she walked around to the trunk to help him remove supplies he’d bought at the hardware store.

“Sounds good.” They lifted out bags containing three light fixtures with dimmer switches, a new level, and a box of wire shelving he intended to put up in the pantry. “I like the way it’s coming together.”

“Thanks. What are you going to do today?”

He motioned toward the low line of ragged hedges that bordered the front of the cottage. “I thought I’d clear away some of those dead bushes.”

She chewed the inside of her cheek, a clear sign something was on her mind. “Maybe you should start working on the boathouse.”

Zack’s brow lifted. “Why would I do that?”

She shrugged, then settled against the side of the car. The remaining three bags were cement, too heavy for her to lift. “It needs a lot of attention.”

“It’ll wait,” he said, realizing that the words sounded more curt than he intended.

He withdrew the first bag of cement and placed it on the bottom step. He wished Alaina would go inside and stop pestering him, but she seemed determined to talk. Where was the woman who’d been so uncommunicative on the way home?

He returned to the car for the second bag.

She watched him silently as he hefted the cement onto his shoulder and stacked it on the first. When he came back to the car for the last one, she tilted her head to look at him.

“So why don’t you want to tackle it?” she asked.

“Is there some reason you think I should?”

“It’s all got to be done sooner or later.”

He tossed the last bag on the stack, shut the trunk, then splayed his hands across it as he looked at Alaina. He felt a muscle twitch in his jaw. He resented the fact that she didn’t seem to know when to let go of a conversation he clearly had no interest in. “Actually, I was thinking of having it demolished.”

Surprise crossed her features, followed by wary concern. “Why?”

“Lots of rotted boards.”

“Wood can be replaced. It seems to me that if you’re planning to sell the place, a boathouse would be a real draw for a house on the lake.”

“It’s old-fashioned. Most of the newer homes have bigger boathouses to hold bigger boats. Just like the cottage, it needs updating.”

He headed for the porch, but her voice brought him up short. “Are you sure that’s the reason you don’t want to tackle it?”

He swung around. Suddenly, his belly felt as if it were a mass of angry knots. “What’s that supposed to mean?”

“Are you avoiding it?” she asked. “Because that’s where your father died?”

Gut twisting, he returned to her. “It doesn’t have anything to do with Dad,” he said.

“You can’t let the ghosts of people you loved—”

“Don’t talk to me about ghosts,” he snapped. He had thought she would back down by now, but her eyes were inscrutable as she continued to hold his gaze. “I don’t believe in them. But even if I did, my father’s spirit isn’t hanging around the boathouse ready to put a hex on me.”

“You know that’s not what I’m talking about.”

He’d had enough. “No, I don’t know what the hell you’re talking about. I’ve got a game plan for today, and those bushes are getting cleaned out no matter what. The boathouse will wait.”

“Zack…”

He walked away, heading toward the toolshed without a single glance back.

But once he got there, he realized she was probably right. The boathouse did need to be looked at and a decision made about repairs or rebuilding so he could inform the contractor he’d hired. Zack didn’t want to get ripped off because he’d have to take someone else’s word about what had to be done.

Since he didn’t want to go back to the cottage and have a fight with Alaina, he went down to the boathouse. He hadn’t entered the building in over a year—maybe no one had—but that didn’t mean he had actively avoided it.

The door creaked loudly as he opened it.

He glanced around the interior.

The space was cool and dim, the only light coming from the opening that led out to the lake. The walls were bare boards, hung with various items you’d find in any boathouse on the water. The boat well, holding his father’s bow rider just above the gently lapping waves, was nothing special, nor was the boat. The building, and everything in it, were completely unremarkable.

There was a boatman’s wooden chest against one wall, where extra life jackets, bait buckets and other supplies had always been kept. Zack sat down on it, letting his anger fade. He didn’t want to be irritated with Alaina—this might be the last two days they’d ever have together—but he couldn’t help it. What had she been trying to imply?

After a while, he looked up, spotting with no effort at least half a dozen places that needed repair. The roof had been leaking for a couple of years. Even in the slightest rain.

He remembered the day his father had called him, wanting to come up here to make a project of it. A couple of days at most, he’d said, then they could get in some fishing time. Just the two of them on the lake until they got tired or the fish stopped biting.

But none of that had happened.

Zack’s pulse had started to settle, but in a blink, it began to skitter away from him again. An emotion so dark and violent that it shook him made it difficult to breathe for a moment. Pressure built in his chest, the pain sharp with images of what his father’s death must have been like.

He forced himself to take slow, deep breaths until the crushing weight eased.

“Zack…”

His head shot up. Alaina stood in the doorway, her hands clenched at her sides. She looked tense and a little miserable, but nothing he could see in her eyes suggested she’d come to apologize.

“Let it be, Al,” he said in a harsh tone. “I don’t want to spend our last couple of days fighting about something that was over a long time ago.”

She took a jerky step forward. “I don’t want to fight, either, but it’s not over. Not for you. And that’s precisely why I do think we should talk.”

“Well, I don’t.”

“Then just listen,” she said as she came to stand in front of him. “Ever since I got here, you’ve been unwilling or unable to talk about your father. You bristle every time his name comes up. But I remember how much he meant to you, how much you loved him, and I don’t want to leave here until I understand why that changed. Because maybe there’s something that can be done to fix it.”

He took an impatient breath. “There’s nothing to fix. Dad was a stubborn, critical old fool who brought about his own death. He wouldn’t listen to anyone, especially me. So now you know, and you can stop worrying about it.”

“That’s not an explanation. I want to know what happened between you two.”

“Nothing happened,” he said, enunciating slowly and carefully. He’d about reached his limit. “We grew apart, started seeing things differently. That’s all.”

Her fingers gripped his arm. “Why are you so reluctant to talk about the past? Running from it—”

“Look who’s talking about running from the past,” he said suddenly, shrugging off her hand. “What were you doing when you took off on the back of that Harley with your tree-hugger? Searching for a bright new future? Don’t kid yourself. You just didn’t want to face the life you ended up with after the divorce.”

She didn’t respond the way he expected. He thought for certain she’d hightail it out of the boathouse, full of wounded anger. Instead, she turned and sat beside him on the boatman’s chest. Not a word passed between them for several long seconds. They both simply stared straight ahead.

Finally, she asked quietly, “Is it me you’re really mad at, Zack?”

He snorted, then shot her an exasperated glance. “You are the most infuriating woman.”

She didn’t smile, but he could tell she wanted to by the way her mouth twitched at one corner. “So you’ve told me before. More than once.”

He felt himself relax. This was just Alaina. Nonjudgmental. Someone who knew him far too well, and who never hesitated to ask the tough questions. But someone who had always known how to listen, too.

His expression sobered. “What do you want to know?”

“When did it start to go wrong?”

There was another pause before Zack sighed. “Two years ago. When I bought the franchises and set up my own company. He told me I’d sold out.”

“On the family business?”

“And my talent. Dad claimed that it wasn’t what I was meant to do with my life. That woodworking was a gift I’d gotten from him and his father before him, and I should have stuck with it. There was no reasoning with him. He wouldn’t let up, until sometimes we were barely speaking.”

“Isn’t it odd,” she said, almost to herself, “how the people we love the most are given the least margin for error?”

“I tried hard to make things right between us. But he was just so unreasonable, right up until the day he died.”

It got very quiet for a little while, with no sound but the gentle lap of lake water against the boathouse to break the stillness. Finally Alaina turned her head to look at him. “Sheriff Moran told me about your father’s fall. How he died.”

Zack felt his insides tighten, and breathing took more effort than it should. “It didn’t have to happen,” he said roughly.

“No, it didn’t.”

“He acted like a damn fool.”

“You’re right. It was very foolish. Is that why you’re so angry with him? Even now?”

“I’m not angry with him.”

“Really? I wish I had a mirror so you could see your face.” She gave him a questioning look. “So then…if you’re not angry with your father, then who are you mad at?”

He felt the muscles in his face harden into stony resistance. He hopped off the boatman’s chest and turned to face Alaina. He spread his hands on either side of her thighs so that they were eye to eye.

“You seem determined to tell me something,” he said. “So why don’t you just spit it out?”

She didn’t flinch or fidget or look away. In fact, the corner of her mouth lifted slightly again. “Okay,” she replied mildly. “If you’re too stubborn to admit it, I’ll tell you. The person you’re mad at is you. You’re eaten up with guilt and remorse over your father’s death. You think that if you’d been here instead of getting your award in Miami, you could have saved him.” She shook her head. “But that’s not true. Sheriff Moran told me about your dad’s heart, how that attack was just waiting to happen whether you were around to help him or not.”

“You don’t understand,” Zack informed her with a husky note of irritation in his voice.

“You’re right,” she said quickly. “I don’t understand what it’s like to lose a parent. But I know what avoidance looks like, because I spent years perfecting it when I was married to Gil.” She blew out a long breath. “That’s not you, Zack. You’ve always met things head-on. So for you to ignore the way you feel about your dad’s death, to pretend that everything’s just fine when it isn’t…”

He straightened and backed away from her. His stomach felt lined with lead, and suddenly he needed some space around him. He turned and stared down into the shadowy water. Almost immediately he heard Alaina jump down from the chest, and a second later she came up beside him, placing her hand on his arm.

“None of what happened was your fault. It was just life. Unfair and unkind, but it gets messy sometimes, and there’s not a damn thing you can do about it. But look at those old home movies. Can there really be any doubt in your mind that your father loved you? He wouldn’t want to see you carrying this burden of guilt.”

He gave her a tight look, trying to find an extra measure of patience. “I’m sorry, Al. I know you mean well, but I really don’t want—”

“Okay,” she said swiftly. “I won’t push anymore. But will you agree to do something for me?”

“That depends on what it is.”

“Call Sheriff Moran. Tell him you want to bring back his tuxedo.”

The request was so unexpected Zack had to take a moment just to be sure he’d heard her right. “What?”

“Just do it. Ask him his theory about why it was hanging in the closet.”

“You’re not making sense.”

“Please. Just do it for me. Soon. Today if possible.”

“I have a lot of things to do around here, as you just pointed out a few minutes ago.”

“Trust me,” she said, giving him a smile that never failed to make his heart gallop. “There’s nothing you can do here that will be more important.”

ZACK TOLD HIMSELF that it was just to get Alaina off his back, but he had to admit to a certain curiosity about her insistence. He was surprised when Sheriff Moran took his phone call and suggested they have lunch at the Creekside Diner. With the older man’s tuxedo in hand, Zack left Alaina working in the downstairs bathroom, and headed into town. While he drove into Lake Harmony, he wondered why he was doing this, and what it could possibly accomplish.

He and Moran camped out in one of the diner’s back booths. After a reasonable amount of small talk over cheeseburgers and fries, Zack mentioned the tuxedo, and the fact that Alaina seemed to think he ought to ask how it had ended up in the cottage’s hall closet. From that point on, the conversation unspooled.

Sheriff Moran had been friends with Tom Davidson too many years not to know the man inside and out. He spoke lovingly of him, but plainly, pulling no punches. There were stories he told that Zack had never heard, not even from his mother, and in spite of the times the two men had disagreed, through every tale ran the thread of respect and fondness they had shared.

“I’ll tell you one thing about that stubborn old coot,” the sheriff said. “Yeah, he was disappointed when you didn’t immediately want to take over the family business. But he was coming around, and he was proud of your accomplishments.”

Zack wanted to close his eyes against the sensation that he couldn’t breathe. Was it really possible that his father had been proud of the man he’d become? “Sheriff,” he said, not even sure what to say, “Dad lived two miles away from my office in Miami, yet he never paid a visit. Not once.”

“I didn’t say it was easy for him. Or that he’d ever admit he was wrong. But the last time we went fishing, he seemed to know an awful lot about your new business. Complaining the whole time, of course. But pretty clued in to what you were up to. For a man who supposedly resented what you did with your life, he seemed awfully interested in the details.”

“I don’t know….”

In an odd, dispassionate corner of his brain Zack could see his father building a wall around his heart to keep his disappointment with his son at bay, and yet unable to keep from wondering. From caring. Tom Davidson had been a decent man. An intrinsically honorable man. What the sheriff said made sense. Complete sense.

Moran settled back in his chair. “I guess you can believe what you want. But the day he asked to borrow my tuxedo, he said he wanted to look like royalty. That he was making a quick trip back to Miami because he had someone he wanted to look his best for. Who else would that someone be if not you?”

No arguing with that logic. Zack sat still. Perfectly, utterly still…the racing thunder of his heart the only sound he could hear. Damn it, Dad. How did we get so far from where we started?

But gradually, the heavy, hot rock of grief and guilt that sat on his chest began to shift a little and wobble dangerously. Zack couldn’t say much after that, and by the time he shook Moran’s hand on the sidewalk outside the diner, he thought he understood a hell of a lot more about Tom Davidson than he had when he’d walked into the restaurant two and a half hours earlier.

Understood and accepted.

Part of him was still hurt with his father for getting on that damn roof, and for never being willing to openly see Zack’s side of things. The last year of his life should not have held so much friction. But another part of Zack had begun to realize how difficult it had been for Tom to accept that his son was never going to follow in his footsteps. Sheriff Moran had given him new insight into his father’s irascible personality.

And he never would have known any of it if Alaina hadn’t insisted on giving him her little pep talk about facing life’s setbacks.

He thought about seeing her in just a few minutes, her features full of concern for him. There would be hope in her eyes, and that compelling female warmth that he found so distinctly unsettling. God, he loved the way she looked when she was passionate about something.

Alaina excited and fascinated him more than any woman he’d ever met. The way she made him laugh. That funny habit she had of holding the tip of her tongue against her upper lip when she concentrated. The faint blush that caressed her cheeks when she caught him looking at her.

He loved those things about her and more, and he would miss them after he left. All those feelings he had tried to ignore for so many years…How was he supposed to go back to Miami and bury them once again?

It caught him off balance then. The crashing realization that he couldn’t do that. Alaina was in his blood and always had been. Because he loved her.

Love.

The idea took hold, and he knew it without a doubt.

Their friendship had been a treasure they had lost and had to recover. But he wanted more than that. He couldn’t go on like this. Needing her so desperately.

Now the question was what could he do about it? Was he just supposed to shut up and stop wanting?

He wouldn’t.

It was time for her to know how he felt. That what they had wasn’t just friendship or great sex, but so much more than that. He loved her, and he suspected that she felt the same. Maybe she just wasn’t ready to acknowledge it. Maybe, for the sake of the baby, she thought she had to hold out for that son of a bitch Jeffrey to make a reappearance. But that wasn’t going to happen, and she’d accept that eventually.

As for raising another man’s baby, loving it as his own…Zack could do that. Because a part of that child would be Alaina.

If he just told her. If he just made her see that they could work out anything, as long as they could be together…

By the time he pulled up in the cottage driveway, he felt lighter than he had in days. He went up the porch steps quickly, feeling the sudden, sweet and mindless need to be near her. Now. When there was so much to be said.

“Al,” he called out as he banged the front door behind him. “Where are you?”

“In the kitchen,” she replied.

He strode into the room and went directly to the sink, where Alaina seemed to be waiting for him, wiping her hands on a kitchen towel. Dimly he was aware of the sound of something boiling on the stove, and the pungent smell of tomato sauce, but he had no interest in it.

He grabbed her arms in his hands. “You were right,” he stated quickly. “I’ll tell you all about what Moran said. Later. Right now, I need to talk to you.”

“I need to talk to you, too,” she said.

The betraying tremor in her voice, the lines in her forehead spelled trouble. Instantly he frowned, as well.

Alaina slipped out of his arms. “I’d like you to meet someone,” she said, and her glance slid sideways.

He turned.

A man sat at the kitchen table. He was scruffy, with a sheepish smile on his handsomely boyish face.

No one had to tell Zack that this was Jeffrey, the absentee boyfriend.

CHAPTER FOURTEEN

IT WAS THE HARDEST introduction Alaina had ever made, but somehow she managed it. “This is Jeffrey Balfour,” she told Zack. “Jeffrey, this is the man I told you about. My best friend, Zack Davidson.”

Jeffrey rose from the table. Zack, standing so ramrod straight he might have been part of a military parade, extended his hand, but she knew him so well. She knew without a doubt that for one red instant he considered decking her baby’s father.

It was in the hard line of his jaw, his quickened breathing, the slight flare of his nostrils. A bull pawing the earth couldn’t have made his feelings any clearer.

Fortunately Jeffrey did nothing to encourage hostility. He shook Zack’s hand and gave him that smile that had first caught her notice. “Nice to meet you,” he said. “I appreciate your looking after Alaina the way you have.”

“She needed someone to.”

Alaina winced at the accusation so evident in those words. Jeffrey seemed to take it in stride, however. He glanced down, then back up, as though asking for mercy. “Yeah, I know. I’ve had finer moments. But I’m hoping that from here on out, I can make it up to her.”

It was not what she wanted him to say. Not to Zack. “Jeffrey got here just before you arrived,” she interjected quickly.

“Where’s your motorcycle?”

“The ignition was about shot, so I left it in that one-horse garage in town and hitchhiked.” Jeffrey inched closer to her, gave her a proprietary smile and let his fingers trail along her vertebrae. “After Alaina called me, I was desperate to get here, and I didn’t want it cutting out on some deserted country road.”

Zack’s eyes slid to hers. He looked as if he’d never seen her before. It was almost beyond bearing. “You called him?” he asked in a colorless tone.

She had a perfect right to call whomever she wanted, but inexplicably, her senses swam with panic. She took a breath, trying to find her equilibrium. “I talked to Maggie this morning. Jeffrey left his number with her.”

“I was going crazy trying to track her down from Atlanta,” Jeffrey added.

When Zack replied, his words were cold, measured. “Maybe if you’d left her with something more than the clothes on her back—”

“Zack.” Alaina cut in. Jeffrey had a way of paying little attention to insults, but she was afraid the conversation would deteriorate completely from here. “Would you mind leaving the two of us alone for a little while? We need to talk.”

A quiet that was both potent and dangerous descended. He didn’t move, but she could guess that he wasn’t about to go anywhere unless she really wanted him to.

“Please,” she added. “I’ll be fine.”

Even Jeffrey seemed to realize that something more was needed. “Look, man,” he said to Zack. “I know you think I’m a real bastard, leaving Alaina on her own the way I did, and I won’t argue that. I was. I didn’t know for the longest time that I had her wallet, as well, but as soon as I did, I tried to get it to her. I’ve come back to make it right between us. I wouldn’t hurt her for the world.”

For what seemed like hours, Zack continued to look at her. Then, abruptly, he turned and strode out of the room. A moment later she heard the front door open and close, and a car pull out of the driveway.

The suddenness of his departure left her feeling deflated, but it also brought a sharp pang of relief. She’d handled this all wrong. She should have told Zack she’d called Jeffrey this morning. She knew that in spite of the way he felt about what Jeffrey had done, he was generous enough to help her figure out the best way to handle this. But she’d never expected her ex-lover to show up so quickly, and had barely had time to think about what she intended to say to him.

Now here he was. Looking full of regret and sweetness. Running his hand along the back of her neck as though he had every right to touch her.

“I’d say that guy isn’t crazy about me,” he told her.

Alaina slipped out from under his arm and turned to face him. “I’d say he’s not the only one.”

“Babe, let me explain….”

She leaned back against the table and stared at him, arms crossed over her breasts. “I’m not sure there’s a suitable explanation for what you did. When you said you needed time to adjust to the idea of being a father, I didn’t think that meant leaving me alone and pregnant in some hotel room. With no idea where you’d gone.”

He had the decency to look ashamed. “I know I acted like an ass. I can’t offer any excuse, except to say that I was scared. Terrified at the thought of being tied down. So I ran.”

“Did you even think about me?”

“When I found your wallet inside my backpack, I realized that would put you in a jam. I tried calling the hotel, but you’d checked out.”

“But you didn’t come back.”

“I couldn’t. I was already in Dallas, trying to organize a picket on a stockyard there.”

“And that was more important than what might be happening to me and your baby.” It was a statement, not a question. She couldn’t help it. All the agonizing days and nights of wondering if she would ever see him again rose up in a wave of resentment.

He looked suddenly irritated. “Come on, Alaina. Don’t make it sound worse than it was. You’re a resourceful woman. You have a family that would have sent you the money to come home in a heartbeat. You weren’t playing hobo in a train car.” He glanced around the room. “In fact, if you ask me, it looks like you’ve managed pretty well. Nice roof over your head. A guy who would clearly do anything for you.”

“You don’t have to tell me what Zack Davidson would do for me,” she said, goaded to annoyance by his attitude. “Yes, he gave me room and board. He also drove me to my first doctor’s appointment, and made sure I took my vitamins and brought me ice cream when I’ve had cravings.” She felt as though there was a stone as big as a boulder pressing against her lungs, hampering her ability to breathe. She stopped for a moment, swallowing hard. “And where were you, Jeffrey?” she asked more calmly. “At one time, I imagined that you and I might be the ones to do those things. Together. Like a real couple.”

“I would. I will.” He looked down at the floor, and Alaina wondered if he was framing an apology or more explanations. Finally he brought his head up to meet her eyes. “Look, I know I was a first-class bastard for running off. I’ve apologized, and I’ll say I’m sorry a hundred more times if it will make any difference to you. But the bottom line is, I’m back. I’m willing to face up to my responsibility as the father of this baby. Isn’t that what you want?”

“I’m not sure anymore.”

He crossed the distance between them to grab her hands and give them a slight squeeze. “Alaina, look at me. Be angry. I deserve it. But believe this. I want to do right by our baby.”

For a moment, she couldn’t even speak. Once she had yearned for something more from him. But what did she want now? “Do you remember when we were in Baton Rouge, trying to keep the bulldozers from tearing down that historic house on the river?”

“Yeah. What about it?”

“There was a day care next door, and the kids were all out on the playground. You said, ‘I don’t know why anyone has them. They kill any hope for adventure even more than getting married.’ Do you remember saying that?”

“Yes. But things are different now.”

“How?”

“Because I’m going to make them different,” he said with a pained smile.

“A child should have a home and two loving parents, Jeff.”

“I know. That’s why I’m prepared to give up everything I do, everything I am, just to make this right.”

“What are you talking about?”

“I’ll give up the causes. I’ll sell my bike and settle down.”

“And do what?”

He raked a hand through his hair, clearly frustrated. “I don’t know yet. I know it won’t be easy for me. But I’m not without potential, you know. I have a degree in business administration.”

Alaina scanned his face. He looked much younger than she remembered. She shook her head. “You’d hate sitting behind a desk.”

“Sure,” he admitted. “Maybe for a while. But I’ll get used to it. Millions of people have to grow up and get serious about life. It’s just my turn.”

A hollow feeling settled in the pit of her stomach. His turn. Was that how Jeffrey would approach raising a child together? A duty. An obligation. Where was the excitement of becoming a father? Poor Jeff, she thought. So passionate about his causes. He would hate having his freedom restricted in any way.

She flinched as he took her face in his hands. “Please, babe. Give me a chance to prove that I can be everything you want. Marry me.”

Somewhere in the distance, another world maybe, she heard the sound of a boat motor on the lake, sputtering to a standstill. Then she could hear nothing except the pounding of her own heart.

“What…? Marry you?”

Jeffrey nodded. “You and me and the baby. We’ll get a little place anywhere you want. We can make this work. What do you say?”

“I say…why?”

He looked genuinely confused. “Why what? Why do I want to marry you?”

“Are you in love with me?” she asked, searching his face for the truth.

He grinned, then brought his hand against her flat stomach. “I thought you were the sexiest, hottest babe I’d ever seen when I met you, and you can get as big as a house with this kid and I’ll still think that.”

“That’s not love. Really, you don’t even know me.”

“Of course I do,” he said with a frown. “I made a baby with you, didn’t I? Together we’ve traveled half the country and back again.”

She shook her head. “That’s not knowing me. And even though we traveled together all those months, did we ever really talk about anything but the latest cause? And this child…? That was just the result of one insane night of passion.”

“One heck of a terrific night of passion,” Jeffrey said, wiggling his eyebrows.

She pulled out of his grasp and moved away. “Will you be serious? A marriage has to have more going for it than sex. It has to have friendship and trust, and the feeling that you can’t be truly happy unless the person you love is happy, too. It’s like the relationship I—”

She stopped and looked down, stunned and momentarily speechless. Had she really been about to say marriage should be the kind of relationship she had with Zack?

Yes.

Yes.

Was she really going to try to kid herself one more time? Was she going to deny what had been in her heart for so long? She had thought she had banished her love for Zack years ago. After her divorce from Gil, she had tried to reshape her life, hoping Jeffrey might be the answer. But could she lie to herself any longer?

She didn’t want just a great friendship with Zack.

She didn’t want just a few nights of great sex.

She wanted him.

She was still in love with Zack Davidson.

Jeffrey was suddenly in front of her again. “I’m not saying I’ll be very good at it. But I’ll get better as I go along.”

“What’s my favorite color?” she asked suddenly.

“What?” Then quickly he added, “Yellow.”

“My favorite ice cream?”

“Butter pecan.”

“My favorite movie?”

“I don’t know, Ghost, maybe?”

“It’s blue, cherry vanilla and Pride and Prejudice.”

She felt his annoyance now. He crossed his arms over his chest. “Let me write that down in case we’re ever on a quiz show. What’s your point?”

“My point is that when you’re in a relationship, you want to know those things about the other person because suddenly that person is yours. In a way, they belong to you. Everything good and bad and silly about them…”

He shook his head. “This isn’t making any sense.”

“I’m saying that you don’t know me, and I don’t think I know you. Not really. I know you care about global warming and saving the spotted owls in Oregon and making some tire plant in Michigan stop dumping pollutants in the rivers. But I don’t think we’ve ever had a real, personal conversation. How can two people who may not even be compatible make a home together and raise a family?”

He almost groaned out loud. “Look, I think my showing up here has freaked you out. You just need some time. I’m going to hike into town and check on my bike. Maybe find out what’s so fascinating about this little burg that brings all these tourists up here. But just promise me…say you’ll consider my proposal.”

She gave a vague nod, trying not to make things any more difficult than they were. “I will,” she promised.

“That’s my girl,” he said with a grin, then patted her cheek.

She opened her mouth to speak, then closed it. There was nothing more she could say to him now. Better to give them both some breathing room for a while.

And yet the moment after he’d left the kitchen…

She couldn’t help it. Her mind turned to thoughts of Zack. Did she dare tell him how she felt? Soon he would be leaving, and the friendship she’d come to cherish, the companionship she had grown to depend on, the love she had carried in her heart for years—all of it might be lost forever.

If that happened, it would be her own fault. They’d admitted to each other that the sex was great, but as she’d already pointed out to Jeffrey, there had to be more than that. If she told Zack how she really felt, it would be mortifying to find out that those feelings weren’t reciprocated. He was kind and caring, even protective of her, but that didn’t mean it went any deeper than that.

He had seemed so annoyed to find Jeffrey here. Perhaps she should talk to him about it, try to get a feel for what he really thought.

What a mess to be in.

IT TURNED OUT TO BE an awkward evening.

Zack didn’t show up for dinner, nor did he call to say he would be back late. Jeffrey returned on his motorcycle—now fixed—offering to take her on a ride around the mountains. He seemed surprised when she turned him down.

“Sorry,” she said. “I’m not quite over getting nauseated every so often.”

He gave her an odd look.

“What?” she asked.

“Life is really different for you now, isn’t it?”

“Yes. But I’m not sorry about it.”

Jeffrey was smart enough to ask if he could sleep over instead of just assuming that he’d share her bed. Hoping Zack wouldn’t mind, Alaina put him in the third bedroom, and he made no complaint, though it was obvious that the room wasn’t hers.

She made dinner, a simple salad and trout almandine, a local favorite. Neither of them mentioned the subject of marriage, and Jeffrey seemed subdued and disinclined to ask her questions about the baby. Was that a sign, she wondered, of how shallow his interest in the child really was? Or simply that he felt awkward discussing her pregnancy?

After dinner they watched television for a while, a few silent, dull hours that began to feel like enforced companionship. As soon as it was reasonable, Alaina indicated she was tired and ready for bed. After showing Jeffrey where to find towels and extra pillows, she escaped toward her bedroom.

He caught her door before she could close it. “Alaina…”

“I’m really tired, Jeff,” she said quickly. “Let’s talk tomorrow.”

He might have objected, or reached for her to give her a good-night kiss, but she shut the door before he could do either.

He didn’t stay up much later. She heard him moving around in the room next door, the sound of water running through the pipes, an occasional cough. Soon even those sounds faded into the night.

If Zack came in sometime later, she never heard him, no creak on the stairs, no softly closing doors. It was as though he’d already left the house for good. She stared up at the ceiling, listening for the clues she’d grown so used to. Sounds that never came.

Eventually the house settled down, and she lay awake in the dark, feeling alone. More alone than she ever had in her life.

CHAPTER FIFTEEN

ALAINA AWOKE WITH A START, certain that she’d felt the baby kick. She didn’t suppose it was possible this early in her pregnancy, but she couldn’t resist placing her hand against her stomach, eager to find if it would happen again.

“Come on, kiddo. Let me know you’re there.”

He didn’t.

She checked the bedside clock. Nearly 2:00 a.m.

With a sigh she rose and slipped into her robe. She went down the stairs lightly, hoping there was enough milk in the fridge for a drink. Her throat felt bone dry and almost sore, as though she might be catching something.

The milk was icy cold and hit the spot. She drank half the glass over the sink, watching a full moon play games on the dark lake. It was so beautiful tonight. No doubt about it, she would miss this place once she left here.

She walked barefoot toward the living room, curious to see if Zack’s car sat in the driveway. Peeking through one of the blinds, she spotted it…and something else.

“Zack.”

Seated in one of the Adirondack chairs on the porch.

His name was a whisper on her lips, and almost without knowing it, she went to the front door. Was it completely foolish to want more time with him, to harbor any hope for them at all? Her chest ached with the knowledge she could no longer ignore. She recognized it for what it was, and let herself feel the power of it in her heart.

I love you, Zachary Davidson. I always have and I always will.

She opened the door carefully. The last thing she wanted was to wake Jeffrey and have him come downstairs.

Zack turned to look at her as she stepped outside. The moon made his features look almost ghostly, and the light winked off the bottle of beer he held loosely in one hand. He didn’t say anything. In fact, his features looked completely passive.

“When did you get back?” she asked softly.

“A few minutes ago.”

“What are you doing out here?”

He lifted his bottle. “Getting quietly drunk.”

“On one Miller Lite?”

“I’m hoping that’s all it will take.”

She didn’t have the nerve to ask him to explain that statement. There was no welcome in his voice, and as she came toward him, she saw that his face wasn’t nearly as passive as she’d thought. His features looked grim and set. She probably should have turned around and gone upstairs, but her brain didn’t seem to be listening to common sense these days. “Mind if I join you?”

“You usually do what you want, don’t you?”

That definitely didn’t sound good. But determined not to be chased off, Alaina lowered herself into the chair beside him, hugging the robe tighter around her body as she lifted her face to the sky. She caught the smell of wood smoke in the air, and the slight undercurrent of earthy pumpkin from the patch down the road. “It’s a nice night.”

“Uh-huh.”

So much for chitchat. Zack clearly wasn’t in the mood to talk. At least, not to her. She tucked her bare feet under her and took another sip of her milk, wondering where to go from here.

They lapsed into silence, but unlike most of their quiet times, there was nothing comfortable about it. She cleared her throat. “How did it go with Sheriff Moran?”

He nodded, but didn’t glance her way. “Good. I’m glad I went. Someday, when you’re not dealing with major, life-changing decisions, I’ll let you know how it turned out.”

Someday. When would that day come? Next week? Next year? Never? She tried to imagine what it would feel like—the loss of him. No easy companionship and shared laughter. Certainly no sudden, harsh aches for the feel of him in her arms. No curious mix of pleasure and anticipation just from the sound of his voice. The thought of never having that again was unbearable.

Her voice was a little smaller when she said, “When you came in this afternoon, you said you wanted to tell me something.”

“It’s not important. I was just going to let you know that I’m leaving a little sooner than I originally planned. I’ll be heading back to Miami first thing in the morning.”

The news made her pulse jump. “But I thought you were going to be here long enough to make sure everything got done. For the remodeling, I mean.”

“It’s taken care of,” he said nonchalantly. “I hired a contractor today. Now that Jeffrey’s here, you won’t be alone. So there’s no reason for me to stick around.” He did look over at her this time. “Is there?”

“No,” she replied, unwilling to have him think she couldn’t manage by herself. “I guess not. If you’re really eager to get back…”

“I am.”

How terrifying those two words were. It was a battle to get past the unshed tears that were suddenly behind her eyes. Something tight and heavy seemed to blanket her.

“Do you want to talk about the fact that Jeffrey’s come back? It was quite a surprise.”

“Why?” Zack asked, glancing toward her. “He said you called him.”

“I mean, I’d just about given up thinking he would ever return. I was sort of adjusting to the idea of raising the baby by myself.”

“And now you don’t have to.”

She looked at him, hearing something new in his voice, something she couldn’t quite identify. “What makes you think that?”

“He said he’s come back to make things right. Wouldn’t that mean some sort of commitment?”

“He says he wants to be a father to the baby.”

“Good for him,” Zack said, in a jovial way that didn’t ring true to her. “Every kid ought to have a dad.”

“I agree. But it needs to be the right dad.”

“You don’t think Jeffrey fits the bill?”

She studied her glass intently, as though it held some magic potion. “Right now the most important thing isn’t what I want. It’s what’s best for the baby. My capacity for being wrong has reached sublime heights at times.”

“You’re a clever woman. Get him to make a bigger commitment.”

Her stomach heaved with dread. What was the likelihood that a man who had feelings for you would suggest you try to make another man deepen his relationship with you? None. “You mean marriage?” she asked, just so she could have time to think. “Some little house in the suburbs where the three of us could live happily ever after?”

“That’s usually what women want.”

His attitude hurt, and made her want to strike back in some small way. “As a matter of fact, he’s proposed.”

Zack raised his beer bottle. “Congratulations! At least he’s not the complete son of a bitch I thought he was.” He glanced at her again and scowled. “Why the frown? I thought that’s what you wanted.”

“He says he’s ready to settle down, to have a wife and raise a family. He’s being ridiculously accommodating.”

“But?”

“But he’s been fighting for a better environment since he was in college. If he wants to continue the life of a nomad, I suppose I could do that for a while, but I doubt if that’s the best situation for a child. And if he settles down, somehow I can’t envision him being content to come home and read about other people making a difference in the world.”

“There’s more than one way to help a noble cause than firsthand involvement.”

“I don’t know. You should see him when he’s in the middle of the fray. He loves it. He’s totally committed to whatever cause he’s fighting for.” She sighed, resting her cheek on her fist. “I’m just not willing to make any more mistakes. I can live with them, but I don’t want the baby to suffer because of my stupidity…. Really, Zack.” She raised her head, trying to find his eyes in the shadows. “If you were me, what would you do?”

He laughed harshly. “Uh-uh, there’s not a chance in hell I’m going to answer that question. This has to be your decision.”

“Since when did you become unwilling to give me advice?”

“Since I discovered that sometimes I’m an even bigger fool than you are.” He took a last swallow of beer and held the empty bottle up to the light. “Dead soldier. Time to call it a night. I want to get an early start.”

He stood, heading for the door.

“Zack…”

He turned back. Even in the dim light, his face was so dear to her. There were furrows in his lean cheeks she hadn’t noticed before, and stubble on his chin. He waited for her to speak.

“What’s my favorite movie?” she asked.

After one quick frown he said without hesitation, “Pride and Prejudice. Not the new one. The old version with Olivier. Why?”

He stared at her, expecting her to explain herself.

“Just wondered if you still remembered.” It was all she could manage.

“Good night,” he finally said.

This time when he turned away, she didn’t try to stop him. If there was any hope for them, why would he seem so eager to get back to Miami? He’d practically been encouraging her to give Jeffrey a chance. Why didn’t Zack tell her how he really felt?

She watched him go back inside, feeling nothing but gut-wrenching despair.

A FEW HOURS LATER, Alaina lay in bed and listened to the sound of Zack’s car pulling out of the driveway.

So that was it, then. No matter what her future held, it was possible he would not play a role in her life ever again. Maybe not even as a good friend she occasionally visited. In time, the weeks they had spent here would turn into half-remembered dreams. They would fade from her memory. She’d move on. Make a new life. That wasn’t such a bad future, was it?

No, of course not.

She just wished she could believe it.

Refusing to give in to self-pity, she slipped out of bed. Jeffrey was an early riser, but by the time he came downstairs, she was already waiting for him. His eyebrows rose questioningly.

She gave him a weak smile. “I think we have a lot to talk about, and we might as well get started.”

They sat down at the kitchen table. Foregoing any morning small talk, Alaina dug into the only topic that mattered—their future and the baby’s. At first, Jeffrey tried to persuade her once more that a life together was possible. His words were as rapid and sharp as gunfire, as though he’d spent the night rehearsing them. They could make a marriage work. He was ready to settle down. But nothing she heard made her truly believe it.

As she rose to get juice from the fridge, she told him, “I don’t know who you’re trying to convince more, Jeff. Me or you.”

Before he could reply, his cell phone rang. He spoke to Bill Vernon, a young activist who had joined them on several of their past missions. Bill was currently at another Dallas stockyard protest, trying to keep everyone focused and enthusiastic, but Alaina knew from experience that even though the man was dedicated, he was uninspiring. He couldn’t have persuaded a person to renew his or her library card. From the way Jeffrey responded, she knew Bill was having difficulty controlling things.

Even from Georgia Jeffrey had a better grasp of the situation. He rattled off suggestions, boosted Bill’s confidence. Jeffrey might be young, but he was a born negotiator and problem solver. It was one of the things Alaina had found attractive about him—that ability to organize quickly under pressure, without ever losing his cool.

As he closed his cell phone and gave her an apologetic smile, Alaina suddenly realized that it was time to be blunt.

“Can’t we just be honest with one another?” she asked him. “I don’t want to marry you, and I don’t think you want to marry me. Am I wrong?”

“Alaina…”

“No, Jeff,” she said sharply. “Be honest.”

After a long pause, he said, “No. I love my life the way it is. But I want to be fair to you and the baby, too. So what do we do now?”

It took nearly three hours of hard discussion, but they did it.

At ten-thirty she was still in the kitchen, wrapping the last of the sandwiches she had packed. She heard Jeffrey make another trip down the stairs, and turned, wiping her hands on a dish towel. He stood in the doorway, his backpack slung over one shoulder and a small duffel bag at his feet.

“I’m all set,” he said.

“Still traveling light as ever, I see.”

“Makes it easy to keep track of things.”

She scooped the paper bag off the counter and held it out to him. “I made sandwiches for the road. Your favorite.”

He opened the top for a sniff. Then he smiled at her. “Peanut butter and banana? God, you’re my angel.” His smile became a grin. “See? You do know me.”

“Only because I’ve heard you order it at every coffee shop we stopped at.”

“Ha! Like that did any good. But one day, it’s gonna be as popular as a hamburger. You mark my words.” He stared down at his stuff, as though he’d run out of things to say. Now that real decisions had been made, Alaina was surprised to see how forlorn he seemed, like a little boy who wasn’t sure what his next move should be.

“So,” he said at last. “I guess this is it, then.”

“I guess it is.”

He grimaced. “It’s not too late to change our minds, is it?”

“No. But you know that neither of us wants to.”

Jeffrey dropped his pack and grasped her hips so he could look her in the eye. “I’m sorry, Alaina. I really would have tried my damnedest to make you happy. To be a good father.”

“I know you would have,” she assured him. “Everything you do, you do with such passion. I hope the baby inherits a little of your enthusiasm for life. I’d really like that.”

“I hope he gets his mother’s understanding.”

She smiled up at him. It was so much easier to talk now that they were no longer trying to fool one another or themselves. “I’ll let you know. Assuming you remember to let me know where you are from time to time.”

“I’ll stay in touch…sooner or later.”

“If I know you, it’ll be later.”

Together they walked out to the front drive. Jeffrey had wanted to get back to Dallas as quickly as possible. The Harley gleamed in the crisp morning sunlight. The ride would be pleasant in this weather, but she couldn’t honestly say she would miss hanging on to the back of the bike as he zipped down the highway.

After he stowed away his gear, she asked, “How far will you try to get today?”

“I hope I can ride straight through.”

“All the way back to Dallas? Why? Bill can manage until you get there, can’t he?”

“He’ll do what he can. But I’m really the one who knows the lay of the land on this one, so I’m eager to get back, just to make sure there are no slipups.”

She glimpsed the familiar excitement in his eyes and knew once again that they had come to the right decision.

She grasped the edges of his jacket, pulling them together in an almost maternal gesture. “Be careful,” she told him. “I don’t want to read the morning paper and find out you’ve been shot full of holes by some wild-eyed Texas rancher who thinks you ought to mind your own business.”

“Nah,” he said with a laugh. “That’ll never happen. I’m very good at what I do.”

She nodded. “Yes, you are.”

“With the exception of being a daddy and a husband, I guess.”

“Maybe someday.”

“Another thirty years or so.” He took her by the shoulders, his expression serious. “Thank you for letting me off the hook. I didn’t want to let you down again, but honestly, can you see me—”

She cut him off by placing a finger against his lips. “It’s going to be fine, Jeff. I’m just glad we didn’t make a bigger mistake by pretending anymore.”

“If you need anything…”

“I know.”

“Would a goodbye kiss be out of line?” he asked, with the same naughty grin that had gotten her in this jam in the first place.

“I don’t think so.”

He bent and kissed her full on the lips, and though it was sweet and sexy, there were no sparks, and they both knew it. He frowned as if to say that he’d had better responses, then positioned his helmet and straddled the Harley.

Raising a gloved hand, he waved goodbye. In the next moment he was roaring down the old country road that led to Lake Harmony, sending fallen leaves into whirling funnels of yellow, orange and gold.

Even after he was long gone, she stayed in the driveway, staring off into the distance. She didn’t have any doubts, really. Raising her child alone was better than bringing it into a world where its parents didn’t love one another, where resentment and disappointment might eventually poison any home they might have made together.

The right decision. The mature decision. Maybe she really had grown up a little.

But now what? She was on her own again, and very soon she’d have to see what she was really made of.

No, that wasn’t true. She wasn’t alone. She had the baby.

She glanced down at her stomach, giving it a little rub. “Just you and me, kiddo,” she whispered. “Got any suggestions?”

She supposed there wasn’t anything left but to finish up what she could at the cottage, walk the new contractor through the jobs Zack had hired him to do, and then…what?

In spite of Zack’s suggestion that she stay at the cottage as long as she wanted, she couldn’t envision spending months here by herself. It would be horrible to see Zack everywhere she turned, and if he managed to sell Heron Cove quickly, she’d have to find another place, anyway. Maybe it was time to ask Sheriff Moran about that extra room. Or was it better to return home, where her parents would smother her child with love and drive her crazy in the process?

She made herself soup and a sandwich for lunch, not because she was hungry, but because the baby should have nourishment. Halfheartedly, she cleaned up the kitchen, then decided she might as well tidy up the rest of the downstairs for the contractor, who was scheduled to come at one.

Because of the oaks that sheltered the house, the living room lay in deep shadow. As she stood in the doorway, she closed her eyes for a moment, recalling the night she and Zack had made love here, those few hours when delight and passion had bubbled inside them like champagne. Her heart cramped inside her. It was foolish to dredge up that memory. It could never be recaptured.

She opened her eyes, deliberately making a beeline for the sections of yesterday’s newspaper still scattered around a nearby chair. But as she moved farther into the room, she realized there was something in front of the fireplace, in the very spot where she and Zack had lain in one another’s arms.

Switching on a lamp to see better, she went toward it, then stopped abruptly, stunned and silent as she realized what it was.

A cradle.

Gleaming like rich, rosy satin in the light. With delicate finials. Graceful, curving lines along the head and footboard. A handmade work of art. Alaina touched one of the side rails that would keep a newborn safely confined. The cradle rocked gently, perfectly balanced.

A note lay on the bottom where a baby mattress would go. Still somewhat undone, she picked it up and held it toward the light.

Al—

I thought you might need this. Try not to worry.

You’re going to make a wonderful mother.

Z.

Zack had done this.

Her heart reeled with the sweetness of his gesture. The temptation to read significance into this gift was too great to ignore. Maybe it was simple friendship. But maybe…it wasn’t.

She didn’t know how long she sat there, but by the time the contractor rang the front bell and she went to let him in, a grin was working its way across her lips, and there was nothing she could do to stop it.

CHAPTER SIXTEEN

ALAINA SAT IN THE front passenger seat of Maggie’s car. She had been in Miami for a week, staying with her sister, waiting for the time to be right to approach her parents with the news that she’d returned.

According to Maggie, that day was today. She’d paved the way for Alaina, “scoping out the territory,” as she called it. Supposedly, James and Connie Tillman had told her they were delighted that Alaina had come home to raise her baby.

She suspected that Maggie had edited out all the more objectionable parts of that conversation, but it didn’t matter. She had to reconnect with her parents. With Jeffrey out of the picture, it would be more important than ever that her child know its grandparents.

Besides, after leaving Lake Harmony, she’d reaffirmed the vows she’d made to herself. No more running from problems. No more allowing anyone to push her around. No more letting people assume she’d defer to their decisions. She had a perfectly good brain, and it was long past time that she used it. If she intended to be tough enough to raise a baby by herself, she had to be tough enough to handle her parents’ well-meaning interference.

So today was the day.

She just wished her heart would get the message that she was brave, and stop trying to escape from her chest.

As Maggie pulled into their folks’ driveway and killed the engine, Alaina glanced down at her outfit. Should she have worn a dress instead of slacks and a loose blouse? She still had only the tiniest “baby bump,” but she didn’t want to appear slovenly.

No, she told herself. No. You look good.

“Why are your legs shaking?” Maggie asked her.

Alaina glanced down at her knees. Good grief, they were shaking. She grimaced. “Why do you think? I’m nervous.”

“For Pete’s sake, it’s just Mom and Dad.”

Alaina gave her a narrowed, sideways glance. “That’s sort of amusing considering you once called our father Rasputin.”

Maggie made a face at her. “I’ve matured. Take it easy. It’s going to be fine.”

“Isn’t that what the captain of the Titanic said to the passengers right after they hit the iceberg?” They both laughed a little then, though Alaina thought her voice sounded shrill. “I keep telling myself I can do this,” she added, trying for more calm. “But I’m having a hard time believing it. You know how it was for me. The good daughter. Miss Perfect.”

“So now they can call you Miss Late Bloomer. The fact is, they love you and they’re glad you decided to come home. They’ve been so worried.”

“Zack took good care of me.”

“Believe me, knowing you were with him was the only thing that kept me from charging up to Georgia to bring you back. When are you going to realize that he’s the only guy for you and always has been?”

“I do,” Alaina admitted bleakly. “I just hope it’s not too late.”

“Well, I’m living proof that it’s never too late. Look at Will and me. In the end, we found a way to get back to one another. Maybe you two can, as well.”

“I guess I’ll find out soon enough.”

She hadn’t spoken to Zack since that night on the porch. She had to acknowledge the extraordinary gift he’d made for her, but the cradle was too personal for a thank-you over the phone. It needed to be done face-to-face. Once she got up the nerve…

Maggie nudged her shoulder. “Hey. I’ve seen you get fired up when your back’s against the wall. If anyone can make that stubborn lunkhead cry uncle, it’s you. Have you talked to him recently?”

“No.”

“Does he at least know you’re back in Miami?”

“No.”

“Why not?”

“I’ve been waiting for the right time.”

Maggie looked incredulous. “Hello. What about now? Don’t you think he’ll want to know how you liked the cradle? To know what’s happening with you?”

“Any true friend would want to know, right?” Alaina asked with a weak smile.

“Who said anything about friendship? He doesn’t want to be your friend.”

“He doesn’t?”

Maggie frowned at her, as though she was completely hopeless. “If ignorance is bliss, then why aren’t you happier? No, he doesn’t want to be your friend. Not in the real sense of the word. If what you told me is true, he wants to be the father of your children. The man in your bed every night. Your lover. Your main squeeze.” She threw out a hand expressively. “And what’s wrong with that? You still love him, don’t you?”

“Yes, but—”

“Then why not tell him and see what he has to say about that? Now that Jeffrey’s no longer an issue…” She stopped, giving Alaina a glance full of doubt. “Zack does know you and the tree hugger are kaput, right?”

“No.”

Maggie rolled her eyes. “And Mom and Dad always considered me the slow one. I thought you came back a changed woman. You’re bold and fearless—”

“I’m only working up to fearless. I’ve got to practice with Mom and Dad first.”

“Maybe I should call Zack and tell him—”

Alaina caught her arm. “Don’t you dare!”

Her sister laughed. “I was just kidding. I won’t.”

“Swear it, Maggie,” Alaina said desperately. “Not one word to Zack about me.”

“Why? What are you so afraid of?”

“I’m not afraid. I just want it to be right. I don’t want to mess up. If anyone talks to him about me, I want it to be me. There are things I want to say to him, but not just yet. Okay?”

“I still see him sometimes. Your name is bound to come up, and I can’t be rude.”

“I’ve known you to be rude plenty of times,” Alaina told her. When Maggie just stared, she added, “All right. If he asks, tell him the baby and I are fine. Tell him I’m home if you have to. But only if he asks. Swear.”

“Whatever,” Maggie said with a sulky pout, and lifted her hand. “I swear. Now, can we please go in and face the folks, or did you want me to sign something in blood?”

As her sister hopped out of the car, Alaina took one last look at herself in the visor mirror. The eyes that met her gaze were more troubled than she liked, her lips too pale. She compressed them hard to draw color, then took a deep, calming breath.

Her parents were two loving people. But they could also be strong, opinionated and downright pushy.

“This is it, kiddo,” she whispered. “We can do this.”

She had made a promise to her child from the very beginning. The fragile life that had so utterly changed Alaina’s was all that mattered now.

“Are you coming?” Maggie called.

Alaina got out of the car. She plastered a smile on her face, determined to meet any challenge head-on. She could manage this. She had her dreams and her future, and together, she and the baby would make a life, alone if they had to. This child was longed for, welcomed, her own miracle, and nothing would ever change that.

A FEW DAYS LATER the Pinar del Lago Homeowners’ Association hosted a party to celebrate the grand reopening of their Pine Lake bridge. The restoration was part of Miami’s Communities That Care project, so every homeowner in the Miramar subdivision was invited to attend, along with various local dignitaries, charities and the press.

Even former residents of the neighborhood were welcome, and since both the Tillmans and the Davidsons had been next-door neighbors there years ago, Maggie went with her husband, and Zack escorted his mother. As the man who had donated so much of his time, money and company’s efforts to the restoration project, Zack was practically considered the guest of honor.

The designation embarrassed him, and the fact that Maggie had talked him into wearing a tuxedo annoyed him even more. He hated formal wear, and no matter how many other men in the subdivision’s clubhouse were wearing monkey suits, he still felt out of place and as foolish as Paris Hilton’s Chihuahua.

He swirled the champagne in the flute he held between two fingers, wondering when he could legitimately hit the road. The speeches were over, nearly everyone had shaken his hand, and he’d mingled as much as he could honestly stand. He had thought he would enjoy this night—after all, restoring the bridge had been his pet project—but now he just wanted to go home.

“You look so handsome tonight,” his mother said for about the fourth time that evening. She stood beside him, appearing much younger than she was, a woman who had begun to embrace life again after the loss of the man she’d been married to for almost thirty-six years. “Your father would be so proud.”

He thanked her for the compliment, though being his mom, she was prone to saying things like that. Still, Zack found it odd to hear those words and not feel the familiar sting of guilt.

That conversation with Sheriff Moran in Lake Harmony had begun the change, sabotaging all Zack’s efforts to hold pain and bitterness at bay, and forcing him to reevaluate everything he’d thought about his father. It was funny how healing came. Not in a flash or in a swelling symphony of strings, but in a whisper of quiet peace that could settle over you, shifting a person’s world back into place.

He knew he had Alaina to thank for that. For breaching his defenses. Refusing to let him get away with any unwillingness to discuss the past. The way she could figure him out had always amazed him.

He gritted his teeth, cursing himself for thinking about Alaina at all. He’d never been fond of chaos, and he was glad that the battering, burning, breath-stealing ups and downs of living in Alaina Tillman’s world were over.

He didn’t want to think about her anymore. He didn’t want to try to second-guess one more time those moments in Heron Cove’s kitchen, when the words I love you had been on the tip of his tongue.

Instead of releasing them, he had clenched his teeth once he realized they were not alone. After he got past his shock at finding the father of Alaina’s baby in the room, he had known he couldn’t complicate things even more with a declaration of love.

No matter how wrong-headed he might think Alaina was, if she wanted Jeffrey, who was Zack to try to step in and change things? Her baby needed a father—Zack had only to recall his own childhood to know that—and while he thought he would have made a pretty good one, he couldn’t deny the kid’s right to its real birth parent.

But Jeffrey, for God’s sake. How could she want a guy like that?

Of course, none of that was important now. After Zack had gotten over being pissed, after he’d stopped feeling as though his heart had been clawed right out of his chest, what he had told her on the porch was the truth. The decision to accept the bastard’s marriage proposal had to be hers and hers alone. Zack had entangled himself enough in her life, and every visit had woven another strand into the web, but now he was free, finished.

He peered down into his glass, as though to calculate how much solace it could offer.

“For a man who’s at the top of his game tonight,” a male voice said behind him, “you look pretty grim.”

Zack turned, realizing that Maggie and Will Stewart had joined them. Since Maggie had finally married the man she was meant to be with, he and Will had formed a solid friendship. The guy was smart, tough and totally besotted with his wife and children.

Maggie touched Zack’s mother’s arm. “How are you, Mrs. Davidson?”

“Very well, dear. Don’t you look lovely tonight?”

“Thank you. So do you.” She grinned up at Zack. “And doesn’t your son—”

“I know, I know,” he interrupted, raising a hand to stop Maggie. “Don’t I look handsome? God, I feel like I’m eight years old again.”

They laughed and chatted for a while. Zack and Will discussed how irked they were to be missing the Dolphins game, though at least Will had the latest score on his BlackBerry. The two women talked about the new shops going up on South Beach, who they recognized from the crowd of people in the room, and some project they were both involved in to clean up the beaches at Surfside.

After a few minutes, Maggie touched the older woman’s arm again. “Do you think we could slip away from these two and talk privately? I’d like to get your opinion on something.”

“Of course,” his mother agreed quickly, though she did toss Zack a questioning glance as Maggie led her away.

Zack frowned at his friend. “Something wrong?”

Will took a swallow from his own champagne glass. “No. It’s a ruse. It’s Maggie’s cue to me. I’m supposed to talk to you.”

“About what?”

“My darling wife thinks she’s being very clever,” he replied with a smile. “Evidently she’s not allowed to talk to you about something, so I’m elected. I’d have told her no, except I’ve discovered that I’m putty in her hands.”

“So tell her you did talk to me—we can discuss the Dolphins’ chances this season instead.”

“Afraid not. You know how persuasive Maggie can be. She’ll want to know how it went, and I’ll crack under the pressure.”

Zack grinned. “Still hopelessly in love, I see.”

“Yep. You ought to consider it. It’s not a bad gig.”

It suddenly hit Zack what this was all about. Maggie was a determined woman when she wanted things her way. He took a closer look at Will. “Something tells me you’re supposed to talk to me about Alaina.”

“Bingo,” he said, with a quick wink. “Have you spoken to her since you came back?”

Zack scowled. He didn’t really want to have this conversation, but he had a feeling he couldn’t avoid it. “Why would I? There’s nothing more to say. She’s got her life. I’ve got mine. They don’t intersect.”

“Doesn’t mean they couldn’t.”

He swore under his breath. “It was just sex, Will. Nothing more than that.”

One corner of his friend’s mouth lifted. “I’m not buying that. Anytime it was just sex for me, I never looked as unhappy as you do right now.”

“Please tell me you’re not going to lecture me on romance?”

“God forbid!” Will said with a laugh. “But I have to tell Maggie I tried to pound sense into your head.”

“Why?”

“Because she loves her sister and she thinks of you like a brother, and she wants the two of you to be happy. What I want is for Maggie to be happy, so here I am. Just tell me this, do you love Alaina?”

“Damn it, that’s nobody’s business!” The words came out harshly, and louder than he intended. A couple of senior citizens nearby looked his way. He sighed heavily and turned toward Will so they could talk without anyone overhearing. He gave his friend a small nod. “Yes. I’m crazy about her. Always have been.”

“Then what’s the problem?”

“I’d explain it, but you wouldn’t understand—”

Will laughed again. “I’ve got news for you, pal. I do understand. Know why? Because I’ve been where you are. I know all about keeping secrets and being afraid to risk getting hurt. But sometimes you just have to.” He polished off the last of his champagne. “I don’t consider myself to be a stupid man, but I lost a lot of really wonderful years with my wife and child because I was too stubborn, too afraid to look like a fool about love. Now I’m making up for lost time, and let me tell you, life is pretty damn sweet.”

“I’m happy for you,” Zack said with a touch of sarcasm. This was one of the most embarrassing conversations he’d ever had in his life. “Are you finished?”

Will didn’t seem to take offense. He just grinned even more. “Almost. One last piece of advice. Take a hard look at the situation and ask yourself how long you’re willing to be miserable just because you won’t take a chance.” His eyes connected with Zack’s, completely serious for a moment. Then he placed his empty glass on a nearby table and clapped Zack heartily on the back. “Well, mission accomplished. Now I’m going to find Maggie and see if I can talk her into sneaking off somewhere and being naughty. She owes me.”

Zack watched his friend blend into the crowd. On the far side of the room he caught sight of Maggie, still talking to his mother. As though she’d guessed she was being glared at, she cut a glance toward him, then had the audacity to lift her brows hopefully and give him a broad smile, as if to beg forgiveness. He shook his head at her.

Great. Just great. Now he was getting lectures on love from his friends. How pathetic was that?

Suddenly he needed to move. To pace away the frustration that bubbled within him. Zack deposited his empty glass on a waiter’s tray and headed for the door that led out to the bridge.

Nearly everyone who planned to admire the reconstruction results had already done so. Very few people were strolling along the bridge, although it was close to sunset and one or two couples had stopped along the span to enjoy the view. He moved past them, offering a tight smile, and stopped when he got to the gazebo.

Even though Thanksgiving was only a few weeks away and the weather was still warm, there was a fair breeze off the water. To celebrate the coming season, the homeowners’ association had placed yellow mums at various points along the railing. They offered a pleasing contrast to the rich, dark wood Zack had used to reconstruct the gazebo.

He tore the knot out of his tie and dropped down on one of the benches, letting his head rest against the framework. Closing his eyes, he tried to refocus his thoughts.

He had to find a way to keep going. He needed to channel his energy into hard work and good deeds, and forget about Alaina. He couldn’t go on this way, thinking that he had lost all that was valuable—the possible chance for real happiness—and had been left with the dregs of a life bitter with disappointment.

Feminine laughter drifted toward him, and he opened his eyes to find the source. Farther along the bridge’s walkway stood a casually dressed couple. He couldn’t see their faces, but their body language couldn’t have been clearer. They were touching each other, teasing—young and in love.

He remembered the times he’d been on this bridge, long before the restoration had begun. With Alaina, lying on a blanket in this gazebo late at night. Two teenagers whispering in the dark a thousand dreams and wishes, their imaginations painting a future together that would never stand the light of day.

Alaina…

Ah, hell. He didn’t need to go down that path again.

He turned slightly to stare out across the lake through one of the gazebo openings. The sun was melting into the water now. The sky had become an artist’s palette of pink and lemon-yellow and purple, drenched in color and light. He tried to let the peacefulness of his surroundings penetrate his taut nerves.

When the light was almost gone, he blew out a sigh and decided it was time to return to the clubhouse. It would be dark soon, and his mother was probably wondering where he’d gone.

He swung up off the bench, brushing at his trousers. When he straightened, he saw that Alaina stood at the entrance to the gazebo.

Instantly he froze as shock ripped through him. How could she be here? But a moment later he told himself it didn’t matter, and drew himself up in tight control.

She was as beautiful as always, wearing a short, flowing dress the blue of wisteria blooms. Her pregnancy was still barely obvious. She seemed healthy, her skin the color of apricots. The dying sunlight had spun a hundred different shades of gold into her loose hair.

Her features gave nothing away—the mouth tight-lipped, her chin lifted in determination. Her hand on the banister revealed uncertainty, however. It was bone-white. She looked both familiar to him and different. She looked, he realized, the way she had when he had walked into Lake Harmony’s police station and seen her in that cell. Lost.

Something warm unfurled in the pit of his stomach. Annoyance, he told himself. Why had she come? Where was lover-boy? And what more could she possibly want from Zack?

“You did a wonderful job on the bridge,” she said softly.

He stiffened even more, unwilling to fall under this woman’s spell again. “You came all the way from Georgia to tell me that?”

“I also came because I wanted to thank you personally for the cradle you made. I couldn’t have imagined anything so beautiful. You really do have a gift, and I’ll always treasure it, Zack.”

“It seemed like something you could use. There’s no need to make a big deal about it.”

He saw her swallow hard at his brisk, unemotional response. “It is a big deal to me.”

He resisted the urge to mutter a rude obscenity. He couldn’t help it. Being around Alaina was a risk to his heart he felt he could no longer afford. “If you’ve come to give me an invitation to your wedding, do me a favor. Don’t. It won’t matter if Jeffrey single-handedly reverses global warming. I can’t stand the guy.”

“I’m not marrying Jeffrey.”

She’d ditched Mr. Do-gooder? While the news that she wasn’t a complete fool was welcome, he didn’t feel inclined to cut her any slack. “Wonderful. Glad to hear it.” He started to leave the gazebo. “If you’ll excuse me…”

She crossed the distance between them quickly, to grasp his arm. “Zack, please. Just give me ten minutes.”

He swung his head around, his patience ebbing fast. “Why? What more could we possibly have to say to one another?”

She gave his arm a hard shake. “Damn it, Zack! It’s taken me almost three days to get up the nerve to come see you, so sit down. You’re making me angry.”

“I’m making you angry? Lady, you don’t know how close you are to getting tossed over the railing of this bridge.”

“You wouldn’t do that.”

He huffed out a short laugh. “Don’t bet on it.”

“You wouldn’t,” she said again. “You’d never hurt me. Not intentionally.”

The sudden, strained silence between them was suffocating. He pulled away from her, raking a hand through his hair distractedly. “What do you want, Al?” he asked, going for cool indifference and falling far short. He flicked a deliberately dismissive glance toward his watch. “Your ten minutes have started.”

She chewed the inside of her cheek for a moment, then took a couple of steps toward him. “Well, for one thing, I want to tell you why I’m not marrying Jeffrey. When it came right down to it, he didn’t love me any more than I loved him, and once I convinced him I was all right with that, we were able to reach a reasonable arrangement for the future. I’m going to raise the baby alone. We’ve contacted an attorney to make it official.”

She’d made the decision not to marry that jerk? The knowledge pleased Zack far more than it should have, but he hardened his heart against the feeling. He didn’t need or want a postmortem on that relationship. “Anything else?”

She seemed determined not to be chased off by his attitude. He watched her square her shoulders. “Yes. I wanted you to know that I’m finally getting my act together. I’ll be out of Maggie’s house and into my own apartment by next week.” When he said nothing to that news, she swiped her tongue across her lips and drew another deep breath. “I’ve been applying for jobs with design firms, but of course, when I tell them I’m pregnant, I’m not sure I’m that marketable right now. But as soon as the baby’s old enough, I think I’ll be able to find something. In the meantime, I’ll have to live off the last of my settlement from the divorce. But that’s all right. I’ll like having time with the baby.”

He made a point of looking at his watch. “Great news.”

A little line of worry cropped up between her brows. “My relationship with Mom and Dad has been much better since I came back. We don’t always agree on things, but when they push, I push back just a little, and they’ve started to respect that. For the first time, I feel comfortable with them, and with myself.” She gave him a weak smile, and when she spoke her voice was hoarse. “So I think…” She stopped and cleared her throat. “So I think that’s progress, don’t you?”

“Sure. Are you done?” he asked gruffly.

“How much time do I have?”

“Three minutes,” he said.

“Okay.” Her jaw flexed, and he saw the way her fingers tightened on the clasp of her purse. “I came here to tell you all those things because I think it’s important you know how far I’ve come in getting my life on the right track.” She came up to him. Her blue eyes never wavered from his. He wished he could just walk away, but while his head might know she was bad news, his heart didn’t seem to be listening. “But I still have one last thing to take care of, and that’s you.”

“Alaina, don’t,” he said tersely.

“I know I’ve been very careless with your feelings. I know I’ve taken advantage of your kindness and generosity. I’ve given this a lot of thought, and I know that I need to leave you alone, to let you get on with your life while I get on with mine. You deserve to be happy.”

Damn this woman! Why couldn’t she let him be? Was he supposed to stand here now and listen to her tell him one more time how much she valued his friendship and wanted to keep it? He had to get away before he lost control completely.

He shifted his feet. “I don’t need this—”

She grabbed his arm with surprising strength. “No! Please. Let me get this out before I lose my nerve.” She glanced at her own watch. “I still have two minutes, and you promised.”

He realized that tears glistened in her eyes. He cursed his weakness but gave her a short nod, hoping that this could be over and done with in another moment.

“I want you to be happy,” she said again. “But I can’t help it. I’m trying to face up to a lot of things in my life, and selfish as this is going to sound, I want you to know the truth. I love you. I will never stop loving you. Whether that matters to you or not, I don’t know. I’d like to believe that the man who made that lovely cradle for my child could care about me more than as a close friend. That’s why I had to tell you.”

“What are you—”

“It doesn’t have anything to do with the great sex we shared,” she said quickly. “Or the fact that I think of you as my best friend. I just love you. I don’t expect you to love me back. I just…I just wanted you to know how I feel.”

Her chin trembled and tears spilled down her cheeks. “I’m sorry. I have to get out of here.”

“Wait just a minute!” he ordered, his hand closing over her wrist as she swung around to hurry away. He pushed her against one of the gazebo walls, blocking her in with a hand on either side of her. She wouldn’t look at him, but he saw her pulse jumping in her throat.

“Zack—”

“Be quiet,” he told her. “Give me time to think.”

He ducked his head, drawing a deep breath. None of this seemed real. And yet some ridiculous hope inside him refused to die.

After a long moment he lifted his head. “So that’s it?” he said levelly. “You’re done now that you’ve told me how much you love me?”

She nodded, clearly wanting to escape, but unable to.

He turned his arm so he could see his watch. “There’s still one minute left.”

“I—I’ve run out of things to say.”

“Well, I haven’t.”

Her eyes flew up to his then, full of confusion. He tilted his head at her. “Do you really like the way this bridge looks?”

She blinked, not expecting that question. “It’s beautiful, Zack. It’s just the way I remember it.”

“Do you know why?”

She shook her head.

“Because every time I came out here, all I could see was the two of us, sitting in this very place. We spent so many hours here that there isn’t a single board or bracket that I can’t visualize in my head when I close my eyes. The memory of it was imprinted in my brain years ago.”

Her face was just inches from his hands. He let his fingers wander along her cheek gently. A part of him was almost afraid that this was all an illusion and it might vanish at any moment. Alaina sucked in a breath, but didn’t move.

“There are some memories I don’t think I can ever dislodge,” he confessed in a husky whisper. “Like memories of you. For every time you drove me crazy, there were a dozen times I just wanted to hold you or kiss you. You’ve given me laughter and whimsy and madness. I can’t get away from those memories.”

“I’m sorry,” she said softly.

“Don’t be. I’m not.” Tenderly he ran his finger along her cheek, wiping away a tear. “You think you love me?”

“I know I do.”

“Well…I guess you’re out of luck then, because I have it twice as bad for you and always have. It scares the hell out of me, because you’re the only woman I’ve ever known who can hurt me.”

Surprise flashed in her eyes. Then she reached up to guide his hand to her mouth, giving his palm a sweet kiss. Her gaze was locked on his. “I swear to you,” she told him in a shaky voice. “I will do my damnedest not to hurt you ever again.”

Just the feel of her skin against his palm was delicately erotic, reminding him of how it could be between them. How it would always be. His body ached with need. Over the constriction in his throat, he said, “I love you, Alaina.”

The smile started deep in her dark blue eyes and spread to her lips. “I think I’m very glad we took this extra minute. I love you so much, Zack.”

He stared at her for long moments, then hid the giddy grin that wanted to break free, because she started to look annoyed.

“Well?” she said.

“Well what?”

“How come when we were dead set on not acting on our impulses and not touching one another, we ended up kissing? Now, when I do want you to kiss me, you’re just standing there.”

Something like a groan escaped him, and he brought his mouth down to hers. All the cold, hard fear within him gave way, letting the warmth of Alaina’s love rush in. Their kiss was deep, passionate and free, and when he pulled her against his chest, her arms twined around his neck as if she’d never let him go.

Somehow, a long time later, he managed to pull back just far enough that he could meet her eyes. He had one more thing to say. “I don’t want minutes. I want years. I want marriage and kids, the whole package.” He placed his hand against her stomach, looking down for a moment. “This child deserves a family. A real one. I don’t know how to be a father, but I’m willing to learn.” He dropped his forehead to hers and closed his eyes. “Let me into your life, Al,” he whispered.

She laughed, and brought his head up with her hands. “You’ve always been in my life, Zack. From the first day we met. And in my heart, too.” She planted a soft kiss against his lips. “Yes, I’ll marry you. I can’t wait to find out what comes after ‘I do.’”

He swept her hair aside to nibble her throat. “Only good things, my love. Wonderful things.” She gasped, then shivered as he trailed his fingers along the top of her dress, then followed with his lips. “We should find a blanket,” he suggested huskily. “This new gazebo needs to be christened, and I know just how we can do that.”

“Oh, if only we could,” she replied in a thready whisper. “But we don’t dare. This won’t do. It won’t do at all.”

As his lips wandered, he chuckled. “My love. It’s already doing.”

EPILOGUE

SPRING CAME TO north Georgia a week earlier than usual. Wildflowers bloomed in the meadows, and dogwood petals littered the ground like snow, perfuming the air with their fragrance.

But at Heron Cove, Alaina was frustrated, uncomfortable and a little nervous. Her baby was a week late. Dr. Linderman had told her there was no need to worry, and she trusted him enough that she’d asked Zack to bring her up to Lake Harmony to deliver at the local hospital. But as happy as she was to be back at the cottage, she was so eager to have this pregnancy behind her that she’d started to harangue the baby.

“Come on, kiddo,” Alaina crooned, looping tiny circles over her stomach with her fingertips. “Don’t you want to come out and meet everyone?”

One of the bedrooms had been turned into a nursery, a pastel of rainbow colors that were predominately pink. Strawberry Fields paint—once one of Zack’s least favorites, now perfectly acceptable.

She’d been dead wrong about the baby’s sex. It was definitely a girl. A stubborn little girl who just wouldn’t make an appearance.

“Don’t you want to see what your daddy made for you?” Alaina asked.

The rosewood cradle held a special place in the nursery. Every time Alaina looked at it she was reminded of how loving a gift it had been.

There were a dozen other ways Zack had shown her he would be a good father. A great father. She was so touched and pleased by how quickly and easily he had embraced Jeffrey’s child as his own.

It had relieved her that Jeffrey had kept his word and was allowing Zack to adopt the baby. And why not? They’d received a postcard from him last week. He was thrilled with his life in Brazil, a five-year project working to save the rain forests.

Most of all, Alaina loved being married to Zack. Sometimes they fought, but in the old way, with laughter and love and the complete freedom to be themselves. But mostly, life with him was a world of joy and contentment, an ongoing parade of excitement and bliss. She felt at peace, in some unimaginable haven.

Now if only this sweet, delicious burden she carried would just cooperate.

“You can’t hide up here forever,” a male voice said behind her.

She turned to find Zack leaning negligently against the door frame, his arms crossed over his chest. He was so handsome in jeans and a red polo shirt. His lopsided smile was as intimate and possessive as a caress, and even as huge as Alaina felt, that same small jolt of desire went through her every time she looked at him.

“I’m not hiding,” she replied. “It just takes me longer to get ready these days.”

He came up behind her, and his arms tightened around her as he pulled her back to rest against him. She felt the feathery touch of his lips against the nape of her neck and trembled with delight.

“You look beautiful,” he told her.

“I look huge.”

“It looks good on you.”

“That’s very nice, but you’re prejudiced.”

“Nobody cares, Al,” he said, and she could hear the smile in his voice. “Stop fretting and come down. Everyone’s waiting. If you don’t come down, I’ll bring them all up here.”

“Back off, Davidson,” she teased. “I’m bigger than you.”

He just laughed and slid his hand down her arm until his fingers found hers. “Come with me.”

She let him lead her out of the room. Downstairs on the patio were her parents, Maggie and Will, and Zack’s mother. Everyone had made the trip up from Florida for a long weekend, hopeful that sometime during their visit Alaina would go into labor. They wanted to be part of the big event. Unfortunately, it was Sunday afternoon, and so far, no baby. Now they were going to have one final get-together, a barbecue, before heading home. Alaina felt practically guilty, as if she’d called everyone here under false pretenses.

As Zack led her through the French doors, he said, “Here’s our little mother.” He drew her against him so that his lips were pressed against her ear. “Try to relax. I love you.”

She gave him a weak smile, and the group on the patio surged forward. In another moment she was lost in the happy, careless shuffle of the family, people who wanted only the best for her and the baby. Some of her anxiety faded.

After a while, the group settled into different roles to make a family barbecue happen. Her father took over the grill when Zack brought out steaks and chicken. Maggie and their mother, comfortable to be in charge of the food, were busy in the kitchen. Zack’s mother, Rachael, hummed happily as she set the picnic table and Will brought out more chairs. As for Alaina, the family made it clear that she was expected to scoot back in one of the chaise longues, put her feet up and concentrate on being calm and stress-free.

She closed her eyes, breathing in the mingled scents of food and flowers on the breeze and listening to the trill of birdsong from the nearby oaks that shaded the patio. It was so lovely to be here, with all the people she loved.

Zack had decided not to sell Heron Cove, a decision that had made her heart swell with relief and delight. Already they had begun talking about future vacations at the cottage, beginning new traditions, rediscovering old ones. She couldn’t help thinking that somewhere Tom Davidson must be very pleased.

A butterfly-light touch made her open her eyes. Zack had knelt beside her chair and was running the back of his hand along her arm.

“You all right?” he asked softly.

She nodded, feeling saturated in perfect pleasure. “Don’t ever let me forget one thing about these moments.”

He placed his lips against her forearm. “Can you make room?” he asked. “I want to hold you, Mrs. Davidson.”

She felt her heart do a slow cartwheel. Mrs. Davidson. The words still gave her goose bumps. She couldn’t imagine anything better, this feeling of being safe and supported and so lucky.

She was about to move closer, sneak a kiss, when suddenly her mother and Maggie came back onto the patio. “Everything’s ready!” Maggie called out. “Dad! What’s the ETA on the meat?”

“Done!” James replied, waving a juicy bit of steak on the end of his long grilling fork.

“Maybe later,” Zack whispered, giving her a regretful glance. He held out his hand, and she placed her fingers in his, allowing him to help her slowly out of the chair.

As Alaina rose, she felt something within her give. A moment later, she gasped as a warm wetness drenched her thighs. She plucked her flowing skirt away from her legs. “Zack…”

He turned to her. They had acquired a full code of signals between them, and his smile died instantly when he saw the look on her face. Their eyes met in the briefest flash of surprise, then he went into action.

“It’s time!” he shouted, sounding far less confident than Alaina had ever heard him. “The baby’s coming!”

“Now?” her father said. “But what about—”

“James!” her mother snapped sharply as all three women hurried in Alaina’s direction. “Turn off the grill and put the meat in the refrigerator. Will, bring the car around. Maggie, call the hospital. The number’s by the phone in the kitchen.” Connie put her arms around her daughter, and Rachael moved to Alaina’s other side. “Do you have a bag packed, dear?”

“I’m on it,” Zack said, and in the next moment Alaina heard him pounding up the stairs.

There was surprisingly little pain, but she had to admit she was nervous. She’d read so many books, but suddenly she felt as if she couldn’t remember a thing. All around her was a flurry of activity, her family loving and concerned and efficient. But what she really wanted as she was led through the house and out into the driveway was Zack.

She was panting by the time they helped her into the back of the car. Will jumped into the front seat and she was vaguely aware that Maggie had planted herself on the passenger side, that their parents were talking about which cars to take and who would ride with whom.

A little panicked, Alaina said, “Zack! I need Zack.”

“Right here, sweetheart,” he said as he slid into the rear seat with her. His arms cradled her, and it felt so good. “You’re going to be fine,” he assured her, though she could hear his heart hammering against her ear, obviously racing with adrenaline. “It’s about time our little girl made her appearance.”

Alaina bit her bottom lip, clinging to him. The need to touch him had become more desperate than she could resist. “I’m scared, Zack. I can’t remember a damn thing I’m supposed to do.”

“I’m right here,” he crooned as his hand lightly swept her hair out of her eyes. “Just take deep breaths. All you have to remember is how much I love you.”

Yes, that was right, she thought. Calm down.

Zack was with her. As it was always meant to be. She would have this baby, and he would help her get through it. She would be surrounded by a circle of people she cared most about in the world.

A new life, a new beginning, with the man she had loved forever.

And in a very short time, that is exactly what happened.

ISBN: 978-1-4268-3487-5

BEST FOR THE BABY

Copyright © 2009 by Ann Bair.

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