But now Carol came to stand in front of her. “You’re so tiny, I bet you will. When will your baby be born?”
“The first of December, more or less.”
“Have you picked out names?”
“A few.”
Carol’s questions continued. “Is your nursery all decorated?”
“I’m working on it.” Which meant that she’d consulted a designer, but hadn’t made any decisions.
“Is your husband excited? Do you want a boy or a girl?”
Shelley closed her eyes for a second. “Um… either. As long as it’s—”
“Healthy.” Zach’s sister nodded. “That’s what everyone says. But don’t you have a preference, really?”
“Well…I already have a daughter. She lives with her father in Wyoming.” Carol looked puzzled. “We’re divorced,” Shelley explained. At least now she’d told the truth—just not in the right order. And not all of it. “So a boy might be nice.” A rambunctious little tiger with blue eyes and light brown hair and his dad’s killer grin.
The saleswoman came over. “You look wonderful in that skirt, miss. Can I wrap it up for you?”
Carol rolled her eyes. “My mother would die. My brothers would lock me in my room for a year. I don’t think so.” She vanished into the dressing room.
Shelley checked her messages again and found one from the sellers of the house, who would be home until seven. She stood up as Carol reappeared. “I’m afraid I have to go present the contract.”
The girl’s face fell. But then she smiled. “It’s been neat shopping with you. You go to some really great stores.”
Shelley stopped herself just in time from suggesting they might do this again. If she didn’t intend to see Zach anymore, she couldn’t see his sister, either. No matter how much she enjoyed the company.
In the car, Carol gave directions for getting to her house. After a short silence, she said, “So you don’t…get to see your daughter much?”
“Not as much as I’d like.” Shelley turned carefully, keeping her eyes on the road. “She’ll be down to visit in a couple of weeks. And we get time together at Christmas.”
“You must miss her.”
“I do.”
“I miss my dad.” The confession was soft, a little muffled.
“I know.” Oh, how she knew.
“I was just a little kid, but…”
Shelley sighed. “Little kids need their dads.”
“Yeah.”
“You remember him, though. You’ve got good times to look back on. I…I never knew mine.”
“I guess that’s true.” Tears choked Carol’s voice.
“And you know that he loved you. If he’d been given a choice, he wouldn’t have left. He would have stayed with your mother and his children.” Shelley blinked hard against her own desire to cry.
“Yeah.” Carol took a deep breath. “I do know that.”
The rest of the drive passed in silence. Once they reached her street, the girl pointed out a house about halfway down the block. “That’s it.”
Shelley pulled the car into the driveway. “I apologize again for the way today has turned out. I hope you don’t feel like your whole Saturday was a waste.”
“Oh, no. I loved the shopping!” Carol caught herself with a hand over her mouth. “I mean—the business stuff was neat, too.”
“No, it wasn’t. It was totally boring. I’m glad things got better, though.”
The front door of the house opened and a woman stepped to the edge of the porch. Slim and small, she looked young in the fading light.
“That’s my mom.” Carol opened the car door. “Thanks, Shelley.” She waved, then walked briskly up to the house. The woman on the porch said something, and Carol shook her head. Shelley started to put the car into Reverse, but when Carol’s mother came down the steps, Shelley braked and lowered the window.
“Miss…Mrs. Hightower. Thank you for taking such good care of my daughter.” Her eyes were blue and sharp, like Zach’s.
Shelley shook the offered hand. “My pleasure, Mrs. Harmon. Carol was a good sport today.”
“Will you come in for a cup of tea?”
“I’d love to, but—”
“Come on in. A cup of tea won’t take long.” Zach’s mother turned around and crossed to the front door, leaving Shelley very little choice but to follow.
And so she stepped into Zach’s family home.
The living room was slightly worn but tidy and neat, just like the woman who brought her tea and cookies. Mrs. Harmon looked only a little older in the light, more like Carol’s sister than her mother. “When is your little one due?” the woman asked.
“December.”
The blue eyes softened. “My twins Stefan and Jessica were born in December. The fifteenth. We had a very merry Christmas that year.”
Shelley smiled. “I imagine I’ll be trying to catch up on my sleep at Christmas.”
“Just take the baby to bed with you, nurse it to sleep and then go back to sleep yourself.”
“That’s a good idea.” She’d thought about nursing. Allyson had been fed with bottles, so Shelley could get back to work as soon as possible. “But what if I roll over on the baby?”
Mrs. Harmon smiled and shook her head. “Eleven children, and I never rolled over on one of them.”
Experience was hard to argue against. “Thanks for the suggestion, then. And now I really do need to go. I have some work to do.”
Carol joined her mother at the door. “Thanks again, Shelley.”
“You’re welcome, Carol. It was good to meet you, Mrs. Harmon.”
“Take care of yourself. Eat plenty of vegetables!”
“I will.” Shelley went down the steps, smiling at the motherly advice.
As she hurried along the walk, a police car pulled up at the curb. Zach unfolded from the vehicle to lean his arms on the top of the door. “Well, hello. You’re even earlier than I thought you’d be. How’d the day go?”
After a second of shock, Shelley found her voice. But she didn’t move any closer. “I don’t think the business stuff was too interesting, but Carol and I did some shopping and that was fun.” She started toward the Mercedes again. “I’m on my way to present a contract. Have a good evening.”
Again she made it into the car and got her seat belt on before someone—Zach this time—appeared in the window, motioning for her to roll down the glass. Shelley cranked the engine and pressed the button.
He put an elbow on the windowsill, bringing their faces close. “Thanks for taking her on. I really appreciate your help.”
“I’m not sure I did much good—things didn’t go the way I planned and she spent a lot of the afternoon bored out of her mind.”
“But she saw you working, and that was the whole idea. Can I take you to dinner?”
The breath stopped in her throat. “I…I told you. I’m going to present a contract. I could be working until midnight.”
“Even better—I’m going back to work for another three hours, myself. We could share a midnight snack.”
He wore what Allyson called his “cop costume,” though in the twilight, Shelley could only see the dark shirt, with the glint of gold on his chest and shoulders. She suddenly understood the appeal of a man in uniform.
Or maybe it was just Zach.
With a rueful laugh, she shook her head. There was no maybe about it. “Thanks, Zach. But…no, thanks.” She put the car in Reverse. He stepped back without a word.
Then, reluctantly, she escaped temptation one more time.
CHAPTER ELEVEN
THREE WEEKS AFTER Carol’s day with Shelley, Zach caught the ring of the phone as he stepped out of the shower Friday afternoon. “Harmon.”
“Hi, Zach.” Claire Hightower sounded tired.
“Hello there, Counselor. How are you?”
“Wonderful and worn out. I’d introduce you to the new arrival but he is, mercifully, asleep.”
“You had your
baby! A he?”
“We got home just this morning. Jackson Walker Hightower was born on Tuesday at 3 a.m. He’s beautiful.”
“Your kid couldn’t be anything else.” He sat down on the bed. “How’d it go?”
“Pretty well. Compared to, say, climbing Everest.”
Zach grinned. “So I hear. Is the little guy sleeping okay?” A boy. Claire had a son. Weird concept.
“Of course.” She sighed. “Jack sleeps peacefully from ten in the morning until five in the afternoon, naps from nine until eleven in the evening, then wakes up to play.”
“No problem, right? Just turn your whole life upside down, you’ll be fine.”
“Ah, but he’s worth it. Simply watching him sleep is a pleasure. Even hearing him cry makes me smile.”
“You’ve fallen in love. But I don’t suppose your husband minds.” And neither relationship bothered him, Zach realized with surprise.
Claire laughed. “Dex hasn’t gone out to the barn in three days. That has to be a record.”
They talked about the baby and traded stories about mutual friends in Denver, until a croak of sorts interrupted.
“I think you’re being paged.” Zach couldn’t help a laugh of his own as the croaking escalated to a full-throated cry.
“Definitely. Take care, Zach. I’ll call soon.”
“Congratulations, Claire. Give Dex my best.”
He set the phone down and pondered, still wearing just his towel. Claire had officially become a mom. A real baby lived with her now. Everything had changed.
As for the other pregnant woman in his life—nothing had changed. He’d never considered himself a quitter, but after almost three months of trying to convince Shelley to marry him, Zach had started to wonder if he was wasting his time. He’d backed off on his surprise visits in the last couple of weeks, and he hadn’t seen Shelley at all for seven days—maybe eight. He filled his time with extra shifts for friends at work, endless rounds of basketball and new books by some of his favorite authors.
Still, whenever he let his mind wander, she took control. Like right now—why wasn’t he thinking about Claire and her new baby? Or thinking about getting dressed—at least he could do that while he brooded over his conspicuous lack of success with the mother of his child.
Fifteen minutes later, he was on his way to pick up Carol for the Women’s Work Fair. Their sister Rachel would give a department demonstration on women in law enforcement at tonight’s session and he’d promised her an audience of two, at least.
Just as important, Carol had expressed interest when she received a notice about the Fair at school, and he wanted to take advantage of that. A recent lull in the activities of Crooked Women led him to hope that particular phase of adolescence had passed. The extra credit Carol would get with her history teacher confirmed this trip as a deal too good to miss.
A respectable crowd filled the convention center. Mostly women, of course. Several of the men Zach passed appeared to act primarily as baby-sitters—they pushed strollers, carried knapsacks front and back and hoisted toddlers on their shoulders. Sometimes all three at once.
Modern fatherhood apparently called for an even heavier time commitment than Zach had realized. Was he ready for that?
Carol tugged on his jacket sleeve. “What time does Rachel’s talk start?” Her nails were purple tonight, and she’d streaked her hair with yellow.
Still, he welcomed the distraction. “Eight We’ve got about an hour to browse.”
They cruised the rows of booths—weavers and crafters and musicians tucked in side by side with lawyers, engineers and architects, all of them female. Local hospitals provided information on women in health care—nurses, doctors, administrators, therapists and lab workers, just to name a few.
“This is pretty wild,” Carol commented. “I never thought about a lot of these jobs.”
“There’s a world of interesting work out there. You can choose a career that appeals to you and then focus on achieving it without rejecting everything else.”
Carol stuck her tongue out at him. “You’re always on my case.”
Zach shrugged. “I’d rather be on your case this way, instead of working your case when I’m on duty.”
His sister rolled her eyes. “Why me? Why did I have to get born into a family of cops?”
“Maybe because you’re so hard to handle?”
She gave him a wicked grin. “Or maybe so you could bother me all the time and keep yourself out of trouble?” Without giving him time to answer, she turned away and blended into the crowd.
Zach followed, trying to keep her in his sights, with that last comment bouncing in his brain. Keep yourself out of trouble… If that was the plan, he reflected, the strategy had failed. With Shelley and the baby and their current situation, he could hardly be in more trouble.
Muttering a rude word, he stopped at the end of an aisle, realizing he’d lost Carol in the crush. The flow of people buffeted him like a rock in a river as he stood still, deciding how to proceed. The best bet would be to park himself at the exit. She’d come through there sooner or later…
As he stepped forward, a man with a little boy on his shoulders passed by. The kid had tears on his cheeks, as if he’d recently thrown a tantrum, but he was laughing now, playing with his dad’s Stetson.
Zach chuckled…and at the same time got hit in the chest with a shoulder. He reached out to steady his assailant…and found himself holding the very woman he’d been thinking about.
SHELLEY HAD BEEN listening to a child cry for what seemed an eternity. Finally she saw a tall man in a cowboy hat cut through the crowd to arrive at the booth across the aisle. Over the noise, she couldn’t hear what he said. But she saw the little boy’s mother smile in relief as the man swept her son high onto his shoulder.
The boy laughed and gripped the cowboy hat. “Dada go!” he squealed, as the tall man bore him away.
Shelley dropped back against her chair. Just a typical outing with a two year old. Not for the first time, she wondered if she was really up to the job. There would be no one to turn to—except her mother, who had her own job and lived across town. No instant relief, no privacy. Nobody else to wake up in the middle of the night. Nobody close by to share worries with, or the joys.
How in the world was she going to manage all alone? What was she thinking?
Almost blindly, she stood and moved to the end of the table, then stepped out of the booth. Someone bumped her on the left, someone else on the right. Shelley sidestepped, turned toward the nearest exit, and bumped into someone else. A pair of hands gripped her arms. A familiar cologne tantalized her. And then a voice—Zach’s drowsy lion voice—sounded in her ear.
“Hello there, lady. Haven’t seen you for awhile. How’s it going?”
DAMN, she looked good.
Zach allowed himself the luxury of staring. Shelley wore a suit in bronzed green that set off sparks of light in her hair. Her face was full and soft.
But her eyes were terrified.
He tightened his grip. “What’s wrong? Are you okay?”
She put a hand to her head, effectively blocking his view of her face. “Of course I’m…fine. It’s just a little crowded in here, that’s all.”
“More than a little. Why don’t we go outside for a few minutes?”
Her shoulders straightened and she looked him in the eye. “Maybe because it’s below freezing?”
Zach approved of her spirit. “Details, details. We won’t stay long.”
“I don’t know…”
But he wouldn’t let her get away, at least not right now. He made way for both of them through the press of people and steered Shelley to a quiet corner of the lobby, where two folding chairs waited, as if by design.
“Sit.” He pushed her gently into the chair. “Can I get you something to eat or drink?”
“No, thanks.” She looked around and sighed. “You were right—this is much less congested. Just being out of the craziness helps
.”
Zach straddled the other chair and rested his arms across the back, enjoying the chance to look at her. “What are you doing here?”
“The company has a booth.” She cocked her head. “I could ask you the same question.”
Was that a sign of interest? “My sister, Rachel, is speaking about women in law enforcement in a few minutes. And Carol wanted to come. She’s here somewhere—I lost her in the crowd.”
A surprised smile crossed Shelley’s face. “Things are going better, then? Not so much trouble?”
“Not so much.” Her pleasure pleased him, although he didn’t know quite where to take the conversation. The subjects they really needed to talk about were off limits. “How’s Ally Cat? Wasn’t she coming down soon?”
“I talked with her on Tuesday. She called to say—” her hands twisted together in her lap “—to say that Claire and Dexter’s baby was born. We decided this wasn’t the time for her to leave home.”
“I guess not.” The hurt in her eyes twisted his heart. “Claire’s on top of the world.”
“Dexter sounded pretty proud of himself when I spoke to him.”
They could only go one place from here. “Shelley, I—”
“There you are!” Carol strode toward them across the polished floor. “I looked around and you had disappeared.”
Zach fought back impatience. “You’re the one who disappeared.”
His sister barely noticed him. “Hi, Shelley! I saw your booth—picked up lots of brochures.” She held up her gift bag full of papers. “I figured I could give some to friends at school.”
“Great idea, Carol. I’m glad you came.” Shelley stood up, not quite as easily as she had even ten days ago. “I’d better get back to the booth, myself.” She glanced at Zach, and he could have sworn her cheeks flushed.
He got to his feet. “Are you working here all weekend?”
“Pretty much. It’s a good place to make contacts for sales.” She backed away. “Thanks for the breather. You two have a good time.” Turning around, she retreated quickly into the madhouse.
Zach stared after her, thinking fast. She hadn’t seemed so resistant this time. Not so determined to push him away. Maybe…
Expecting the Best (Harlequin Superromance) Page 12