by Skye Taylor
Zoe placed a hand on the railing and started to jiggle it. When the post broke without a whimper, she jumped back with a squeak of surprise.
Jake lunged to grab the railing as it toppled toward her. “That’s what’s wrong with it!”
“Oh, my!” Zoe eyed the railing in disbelief. “I had no idea it was so rotten. How did you guess?”
“Ava mentioned it. She said she was worried about you falling.” Not half as worried as he’d been after he’d found out Zoe was pregnant. Not that she couldn’t have been just as hurt without being pregnant, but somehow her condition just made it seem more ominous.
Zoe paled. “I guess I’m lucky someone didn’t take a spill and sue me.”
“Lucky,” Jake agreed. Lawsuits had never occurred to him when he’d contemplated the results of someone falling. But he supposed, with her father being a lawyer, that might be the first thing she’d think about.
“What can I do to help?”
“In that rig?” Jake took another thorough inventory of the sexy yellow dress and wagged his eyebrows.
Zoe flushed, as if embarrassed by his scrutiny. “I’ll go change.”
“No need.” The point was to look out for her, not get her involved in projects that could get her hurt.
“But I should do something . . .” Zoe made a face. “It’s my problem you’re fixing. And speaking about my problems, there’s something I need to talk to you about.” Zoe sat down on the second step and looked up at him. Her big eyes looked wary and worried.
Jake wanted to give her a big hug and tell her he already knew about her problem and that there was nothing to look so worried about. But maybe that wasn’t what she was going to tell him.
“I know about the baby,” he offered, trying to make it easier for her.
“Could you sit down? Please?” Zoe patted the step next to her. “It’s hard enough without having you looming over me like a disapproving judge.”
Jake plopped obediently onto the step. “I’m not disapproving. I’m hardly in any position to sit in judgment.”
Zoe pinched a pleat of yellow material and began twisting it. “I should have told you before. I’m sorry I didn’t.”
“I’m sure you had your reasons. Look, Zoe—” Jake reached over to stop her from destroying her dress. He pulled one small, yet capable hand back into his own lap and wrapped his other hand around it. “I know it’s probably none of my business, but where’s the father? How come he’s not here looking out for you?”
Zoe felt the warmth of Jake’s concern flood through her with the same calming effect as his big hand cradling hers. She’d tossed and turned all night for nothing. She hadn’t lost his friendship or his trust. He made her feel as if she could tell him anything.
“It’s kind of a long story, but the short version is that Porter doesn’t want to be a father.” Zoe recalled the day she’d told Porter and remembered the look of utter distaste on his face. She’d been dismayed back then. Afraid and uncertain. But she’d had time to realize she didn’t need Porter. In fact, didn’t want him in her life at all. Or her child’s.
“So he’s not taking any responsibility?” Jake sounded disgusted.
Zoe turned her head and met Jake’s troubled gaze. “He doesn’t love me, and I— I’m—” Zoe looked back at her lap, unable to face the concern in those quiet gray eyes. “I’m better off without him.”
“It’s not going to be easy being a single parent. I should know,” Jake offered gently. His thumb traced steady circles on the back of her hand as he spoke. “It’s really none of my business, and you don’t owe me any explanations. Not about Porter or about your decisions. But I just wanted you to know you’ve got friends next door. Ava was worried I’d think she shouldn’t hang out over here anymore, but—but she’s wrong. Unless she gets to be a pest. If she’s over here too much, just say the word and . . .”
Jake swallowed and his Adam’s apple bobbed. “. . . and I’m your friend, too. Anything you need. Just ask. I’m good at stuff like putting cribs together. I’m a good listener, too. And I know how to change a diaper and do some floor walking when you’re about ready to go out of your head, and you need a break. You just gotta ask because I’m not such a good mind reader. Okay?”
Tears stung Zoe’s eyes. She blinked them back and stared even harder at her lap. Jake might not want anything more than simple friendship, but for no reason at all, he seemed to care more about her welfare than Porter ever had. And he was offering to help out, no strings attached.
Jake bent to peer up into her face. “You okay?”
Zoe lost the battle with her tears. “I’m not usually such a watering pot.” She sniffed and dashed the tears away with her free hand.
“Pregnancy does things like that to a woman,” Jake answered with easygoing acceptance. He let go of her hand and dug in his pocket, then produced a clean white handkerchief. He handed it to her and waited while she dried her eyes. “Now there are a few other things we need to discuss. Like paint fumes and mowing the lawn and—”
Zoe’s phone rang. She jumped to her feet, and Jake stood as well. She hesitated. The phone rang again. “I’ll be back,” she mumbled and hurried up the stairs.
“Yeah, you and Schwarzenegger.” Jake watched her go.
Finally, he glanced down at the fallen railing and started to figure out where to begin.
Chapter 15
THE REPAIR OF the railing on Zoe’s front stairs led to replacing the railing around three sides of her wraparound porch. Shortly after that project was completed, Zoe was gathering bags of groceries from the bed of her truck when one of the garage doors pulled loose from its hinges. It crashed into the back of her pickup, causing Zoe to drop the bags as she jumped backward with a squeal of startled fright. Jake, who’d been wheeling his rubbish bin back up his drive, came running, a look of horror on his face. After they’d both calmed down, he surveyed the problem and took on another big project, toiling away in the evenings after work.
The rotten doorjambs had been replaced first, then the doors rehung. With that repair completed, Jake had stalked through the house, poking into every nook and corner, assessing, muttering to himself and taking notes on a clipboard. Over the next few weeks, he replaced several shelves in the pantry because he claimed they were loose and could easily tumble down with everything on them. Loose boards on her back porch had been nailed down. A railing was installed on her cellar stairs. A new lock replaced the faulty one Jake had discovered could lock all by itself and could have resulted in Zoe being trapped in her own bathroom.
And every repair had been accompanied by a lecture on safety. Jake had begun to sound like Zoe’s father, except that Jake was clearly more concerned with Zoe’s physical safety than his own convenience. His insistence that the chemicals in fresh paint weren’t good for her baby meant the kitchen walls remained a faded shade of green. But when she’d protested that the spare room was too dark and dingy for a baby, Jake had taken over that project after banishing her from the house one whole Saturday. He even confiscated her old lawn mower and added her lawn to his whenever he got on his ride-around mower.
Jake treated her like a concerned and bossy older brother. Zoe appreciated his caution and admitted she’d have had a hard time getting any of the projects done without his help, but she didn’t want an older brother. She wanted him to notice her as a woman. She wanted one of those charged moments when they seemed to become suddenly, physically aware of each other to turn into something more. She wanted to feel his lips on hers. She wanted him to take her into his arms and make her feel desirable in spite of her growing belly. In spite of her too-big mouth, the detested freckles, and the fact that she’d never be beautiful.
Plain and simple, she wanted him to want her as much as she wanted him.
Zoe hadn’t expected to fall in love. Not the heart-s
topping, melting kind of falling in love she’d read about in novels. She’d tried, really tried to be in love with Porter, but they’d never really clicked, and she’d given up hoping she would ever know the wonder of being in love. Then she’d met Jake, and everything had changed.
Falling in love hadn’t been filled with romance, kisses that burned her soul, or the euphoria all her favorite heroines experienced. The depressing truth was that Jake obviously didn’t feel the same way about her. Fixing up her house could hardly be classified as romantic. For her, falling in love had brought a longing that grew harder to hold inside every day.
She was going to have to get over it. Mooning after a man who wasn’t interested wasn’t attractive. Or healthy.
Lunch over, Zoe hauled herself out of the rocker and straightened her shoulders.
Her dogs ambled up the stairs and came to see if there was anything left on her tray. Zoe shared the bits of crust she’d deliberately saved for them and gave each a scratch behind the ears.
“Time to stop daydreaming about the impossible and get back to work, guys.” Zoe gathered her lunch dishes and headed into the house. She deposited them in the sink and climbed the stairs to the guest bedroom where she had set up her sewing machine.
Her black tomcat, whom she’d named Vicar because of the little square patch of white on his throat, had parked himself smack in the middle of the carefully folded sewing project. She shooed him away, and he retreated to the bed where he sat glaring at her with arrogant disdain.
“Oh, don’t look so put out,” she told the cat as she brushed black cat hair off the pink and white fabric.
Zoe hummed as she hemmed the new curtains for the baby’s room. She’d already finished a quilt for the crib she hadn’t yet purchased and matching cushions for the old rocker she’d found at a yard sale. She paused and admired the pattern of flowers and teddies that ran along the border of the pink-striped material. Maybe she should try making a teddy bear, too. She’d never tried sewing a stuffed animal, but it might be fun.
“Zoe!” Jake’s shout came out of nowhere and was just as abruptly joined by Scotch’s frantic barking. Vicar leapt off the bed and darted beneath it. Jake sounded angry. “Zoe?”
Zoe rose hastily from her chair and headed for the hall with Hoover shoving his way past her, beating her to the stairs. “I’m up here, Jake.” In her rush to find out what Jake wanted, Zoe turned the corner too fast, and the little braided rug at the top of the stairs skidded sideways. The last thing she saw as she lost her footing and began to fall was the horrified look on Jake’s face.
If Jake hadn’t already let himself into the house and been standing at the foot of her stairs, Zoe would have tumbled headlong all the way to the bottom. He scrambled up the last few steps and caught her in mid-flight.
Heart pounding, he sank onto the step with her in his lap. “Da—” he bit off the cuss he’d been about to utter. “You scared the crap out of me.”
“I—I don’t know what happened.” Zoe sounded shaken.
“It’s my fault.” His blood pressure must be off the charts. He should have gone looking for her instead of shouting as if the house were on fire. If she got hurt and went into labor way too soon, this time, it would be his fault.
His breathing still came in ragged gasps, and his heartbeat thrummed erratically when Zoe slid off his lap and made her way to the bottom of the staircase. She was blushing furiously. “S-sorry. I’m not usually such a klutz.”
“Are you okay?” Jake took a visual inventory. Looking for what, he wasn’t sure.
“I’m fine.” Zoe glanced down at herself, then back at him. “I’m fine,” she said more firmly.
Jake prayed she was right.
Zoe’s brows knit into a frown. “Why were you shouting?”
“I—” Why had he been shouting? Crap! Celia! “Celia’s gone missing. I need you to watch the twins. Are you sure you’re okay?”
“I’m fine.” Zoe put heavy emphasis on the fine. “What do you mean Celia’s gone missing?”
“She’s wandered off, and I can’t find her.”
“Oh, no! Jake!” Zoe’s eyes widened in concern. “Why didn’t you say so right away?”
“When you fell, it pretty much went out of my mind.”
Zoe headed for the door. “How long has she been missing?” She was clearly less affected by her tumble than Jake. He already knew he was going to have nightmares about it.
He caught up to her in two strides while he explained that he’d just gone out shopping for new sneakers for the twins and that Ava had gone to a friend’s house. Celia had never wandered away before, except over to Zoe’s house, and it hadn’t occurred to him to worry about leaving her this afternoon.
“But how long?” Zoe asked again as they hurried up Jake’s front stairs.
“I don’t know.” Jake tried to recall exactly what time it had been when he’d left Celia sitting in her rocker with a crossword puzzle book in her lap. “An hour maybe.”
In the living room, Jake squatted beside his daughters where they were busily putting on their new sneakers. “I’ve got to go out for a bit. Miss Zoe’s here. You be good, okay?”
“Yes, Daddy,” they chorused in unison.
He planted a quick kiss on the top of each head and stood up again.
On the verge of asking her yet again if she was sure she was all right, he stopped himself. “Thanks, Zoe.” He turned to leave.
“Jake?” Zoe’s voice stopped him as he was just about to hurry out the door. “Do you have your cell with you?”
“Yeah.” He checked the holster on his belt to make sure.
“Good. I’ll call you if she wanders home on her own.” Zoe placed a hand on his forearm and squeezed. “Good luck.”
Without thinking about it, Jake bent his head and touched his lips to Zoe’s. Thankful for her instant understanding of the urgency that gripped him. Thankful that he wasn’t alone in his worry and panic. “Thanks.”
ZOE SET GRILLED cheese sandwiches in front of Danny and the twins and filled three glasses with milk. She’d made a sandwich for herself, as well, but didn’t really feel like eating it. It had been almost three hours since Jake had dashed out the door. He’d called several times to see if Celia had come home on her own and report his own lack of success. In spite of his obviously growing alarm over his mother-in-law, he continued to ask how Zoe was feeling. Each time she reassured him she was okay and tried to find words to encourage him with regards to Celia. It had been a long three hours.
The Cliffords had pulled into their driveway an hour ago, and Bill and Carrie had joined in the hunt, leaving Danny to entertain the twins. Zoe wanted to be out there herself, but she was in charge on the home front. She’d just have to wait and pray. But waiting was hard.
She imagined Celia, confused and lost and becoming more bewildered as time went on. Zoe knew that Celia got confused easily, often forgetting names and sometimes faces. But she hadn’t known that Celia’s problems were perhaps bigger than just old-age forgetfulness.
Zoe chided herself for not knowing. For not having discussed it with Jake before now. Now that she thought about it, their conversations always seemed to be about what Zoe needed except when they were comparing notes on teenagers and discussing Jake’s concerns about Ava and her crush on Travis. Zoe felt guilty that she hadn’t been more aware.
She’d been too absorbed in how alive Jake made her feel when he was around that she hadn’t paid the slightest notice to his problems with his mother-in-law whom he clearly loved. Friendship was a two-way street, and now it seemed like all the traffic had been coming all her way.
“Hey, Zoe!” Ava rushed into the kitchen. “What are you doing here? Hi, Danny. What’s up? Where’s Daddy?” She plopped down in a vacant chair. “Can I have a sandwich, too?”
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��Celia’s wandered off. Your father, Danny’s parents, and your Aunt Kate are out looking for her.” Zoe pushed her untouched sandwich across the table.
“Oh, no! Where is he? Do you know where he’s looked already? I’ll go help.” Ava ran an agitated hand through her blond locks, the sandwich ignored.
“He’s got his cell. Why don’t you call him before you go charging off?” That’s all Jake needed—to finally find Celia and then come home and discover his daughter was out somewhere alone in the descending darkness.
Ava fumbled her cell out of her shorts pocket and hit a speed dial number. At that same moment, the phone on the kitchen wall rang. Zoe snatched the receiver out of its cradle. “Cameron residence.”
“It’s me. We found her.” Jake sounded exhausted, but enormously relieved.
Zoe sank back into her chair, overwhelmed with relief. “Thank God. Ava just got home, and she was about to rush off to join you. If you hear a beep, it’s her trying to call you.” Zoe touched Ava’s arm. “It’s your father.” She pointed to the house phone. “They’ve found your grandmother.”
Ava turned her phone off and sat down. This time she did pick up the sandwich and take a bite.
With Celia safe, Zoe discovered she was hungry as well. But now she might as well fix a real meal because the search party was likely to be just as famished. She hauled out a pot and began filling it with water. Spaghetti would be easy and quick.
By the time Jake, Celia, Kate, and the Cliffords had returned to the house, Zoe and Ava had the table set and dinner ready to serve. They invited Kate to stay, but she said she needed to get home and fix dinner for her crowd. She gave Jake and the girls a hug and disappeared out the door while Zoe began setting out the food.
As everyone bowed their heads, Jake offered up thanksgiving for having protected Celia on her solo ramble and for directing Bill and Carrie to the spot where Celia had chosen to stop for a rest. Once the food was passed about, the general chatter of a convivial supper began.