by Tiana Cole
“It’s the only thing I ever got that I really wanted.” Zara was the other thing, and he realized he hadn’t given up on her. On them.
The waitress returned with the bottle, bending and wiggling her breasts right in his face, hardly sparing a glance for Zara. “Would you like to taste it first?” Her voice was husky, leaving no doubt what she was offering.
Fuming, Caine sat back in the booth and smiled at Zara. “Honey, why don’t you taste it? Tell me how it feels on your tongue.” His own voice was deep, thick with lust. Her brown eyes darkened and he smiled. She felt it too.
“Sure, babe.” She gave him a sweet smile so powerful he felt it all the way down to his toes. Looking up at the waitress, she nodded. “Go on, pour some.”
Caine smirked at the waitress’ unhappy expression. She poured but she made sure the wine sloshed down the side of Zara’s glass and he sat forward, but Zara’s quick shake of the head kept him seated.
“Is there a problem?” Zara looked as calm as could be but he could see the rapid pulse thumping at the base of her neck. She was not happy.
“No.” The challenge was clear in the young woman’s blue eyes.
“Good,” she smiled. “I’d like to see the manager.”
“That’s not necessary, lady. I’m doing my job.”
Zara nodded. “So your job is to flirt with my man while ignoring me and pouring wine like you have no bones in your wrist? If that’s how you do your job, maybe I’m doing you a favor.”
The waitress paled and looked to Caine to rescue her. He shrugged. She was on her own with this one. He remembered very clearly the last time this had happened with Zara. They’d snuck off the mountain for a romantic evening in the city and they’d gone to this great old school Americana restaurant. Unfortunately, the food and ambiance hadn’t been the only thing old school. Another waitress had behaved the same way and before he could intervene, Zara had handled it. She was small, but she was fierce.
There was no better woman to protect his child. Keep her safe.
“Look, lady, just because your boyfriend looked at my tits doesn’t mean you can get me fired.”
Zara nodded thoughtfully without saying a word as a man with a thick salt and pepper mustache approached the table. “Dr. Brown, you stop into my restaurant and you don’t say hello?” He pouted. “I’m hurt.”
She laughed and stood. “Rudy, how are you?” She wrapped her small arms around his bulging belly with a wide smile.
“I am good, as is Savannah, who can’t seem to stop talking about you. Thank you,” he told her sincerely, and kissed her cheek.
“No need for thanks, she’s wonderful. And I hear she’s playing Penny in the high school production of Hairspray.”
Rudy nodded and clapped his hands. “Yes, and there will be tickets for you and the little one at the ticket booth.” Finally noticing Caine, the older man smiled. “And who do we have here? Your young man?”
Zara laughed and made introductions. “Caine is an old friend and pediatrician, and Rudy is the best pasta maker in the state.”
Rudy shook his hand and Caine took a moment to gush. “This is my favorite place in town.”
Rudy smiled. “Then let me make something special for your date. You don’t worry about anything, okay?” Finally, he noticed the waitress. “What’s the problem here, Ann?”
The girl stuttered and shot a terrified look at Zara, who’s face gave nothing away. “No problem, I was just, uh…”
“She was just flirting with Caine and ignoring me, isn’t that right, Ann?” The girl stomped off with a squeal and Zara smiled. “Rudy, she needs to learn not to try to fuck all her customers, especially those with female companions. It’s not good for business if wives don’t want to go to the place with the slutty waitress.”
With an apology, Rudy rushed off to prepare the promised dishes. Caine turned back to her. “You handled that well.”
She shrugged. “It’s not the first time it’s happened and it won’t be the last.”
He nodded. “You’re amazing, Zara.”
“I’m not,” she assured him with a sad smile. “So, what did you want to talk about?” And the polite, distant Zara was back.
“Plenty. Cassia. Her transplant. Us.”
~
Us. He said the word so simply as though it wasn’t loaded with a history that was painful. Heartbreaking. “Oh good, easy stuff, then.”
He smiled and gave a shrug that was all boyish charm. “We can start with easy. I’ll get started on the tests to make sure I’m healthy to donate, okay?”
“Thank you, Caine.” A few tears slid down high cheekbones. “I know it’s asking a lot, but you can stay with us while you recover.” She’d been thinking about this nonstop since he told her she wasn’t healthy enough to be a donor. She would take care of him and Cassia when they were released from the hospital.
He smiled. “Really? You can handle that?”
She nodded. “Sure, why wouldn’t I when you’re doing such a big thing for us?”
He frowned and she didn’t understand it. “She’s my daughter too, Zara. I get why you’d think that before, but now you know that I didn’t know about her, so what gives?”
Zara sighed and looked him straight in the eyes. “This isn’t what you signed up for, and I get that. It is a lot to ask and I am grateful that you’re going to do it.”
“What didn’t I sign up for?”
“Fatherhood. Organ donation. You pick.”
“I don’t think anyone signs up for either of those, but I would have used that pregnancy to marry you and make you mine had I known, Zara. Why do you think Mother sent you away?”
Because she’s a stuck up bitch? That’s what she wanted to say, but one couldn’t say that kind of thing about their child’s grandparent, right? “I don’t know and I really don’t want to think about it, alright?” She couldn’t think of all the things that nasty woman had taken from her. Confidence. Trust. Pride.
“Fine, but stop acting like I’m some stranger doing you a fucking favor!” He was upset and she didn’t get it, but Zara shrugged and nodded her understanding.
“Fine, but you stop acting like I have no right to mistrust you or the pretty words you spout. The fact is you still forgot me and made no effort to contact me, Caine. Not for eight years. If Cassia hadn’t gotten sick, you never would have thought about me again.” She wasn’t fooling herself that this was some fated reunion between lovers torn apart by forces beyond their control.
“Not a day goes by that I haven’t thought of you.”
“Yet we’re only hearing from you now. Convenient.”
“I thought you’d left Alaska!”
She shook her head, refusing to let his response affect her in any way. “A quick check would have told you otherwise, Caine. You’re a damn millionaire. If you wanted to find me, it wouldn’t have been that hard.”
“You broke my heart, okay?”
If he thought those words would soften her, he was dead wrong. “And what about mine? Do you think it was easy being eighteen and pregnant and alone? Do you think I had an easy time starting and finishing college with a small child? Or do you think my heart wasn’t broken when your mother basically called me a gold digging whore and slammed the door in my face?” She stood and yanked her purse from the back of the chair. “Because I can assure you that my heart and my soul was broken by all that.” Zara made her escape to the bathroom.
She returned minutes later with a shaky smile and took her seat. After a calming sip of wine, her brown gaze slammed into his green one. “So was there, ah, anything else you wanted to talk about?”
A tiny smile played around the edges of his mouth. Caine held up a hand and counted off. “I’m giving our daughter a kidney. I want to take you out on a date. My mother is the worst person alive.” He still had two fingers remaining.
“I don’t know if I’d go that far. I mean, Cheney is still alive.” That pulled a smile from him, but not a big one.
“So,” he said ignoring her outburst, “that was pretty much it.”
“Good, because I’m not sure if I can take any more serious conversation.” She hadn’t intended to go off on him like that but Zara hadn’t been able to stand to hear him talking about his broken heart. Not that their heartbreak was mutually exclusive, but she was the pregnant teenager abandoned just before she was set to start college. Water under the bridge, she tried to tell herself until it was true.
“Fair enough.” He gave an affectionate smile. “So, you’re a child psychologist.” He must have seen surprise flash in her eyes because he explained, “Your mom told me about the kid you had to help when she brought Cassia in.”
Zara nodded and told him all about struggling through undergrad with a small child. “Between her energy, school and work, I was mostly exhausted. My parents helped so much. If I ever hit the lottery, I’ll just sign the check over to them.” She shrugged. “The Ph.D. program was a blur of reading studies, writing papers and research between play dates and doctor’s appointments.”
He frowned. “Was Cassia sick as a child?”
“No.” She shook her head. “But she’s very smart so we had to do tests to see how smart, what to do about it and how to parent her.”
“You’re amazing.”
She could almost believe he meant that, the way his green eyes sparkled with affection and something that looked a lot like admiration. “Thanks, but I’m just doing what I have to do.”
“That’s why you’re amazing. You don’t expect praise but you deserve it. Trust me.” He let out a long breath just as Rudy and two waiters arrived with more wine and several plates of delicious Italian food.
“Now I want you two lovebirds to enjoy everything. Sit and have fun and let Steven here know if you need anything. When you’re ready for dessert, let me know. Ciao.”
“This looks better than anything I’ve ever had here,” he said with shock in his voice.
“Rudy is the best.” She grabbed some of the porcini risotto and groaned. “So good.”
“I’m sorry, Zara, for everything you had to go through because of me and my family.”
Closing her eyes just as a tear fell, Zara nodded. “Thank you, Caine, I appreciate that.” And just like that she felt an immense sense of relief. Maybe they could get past this and become effective co-parents. Or more. She shook her head. No, not more. There wasn’t a more as far as Zara was concerned. Looking up, his green eyes held a question, and she knew she was in trouble. “Don’t give me that look.”
He gave her that look even more and she shivered, steadfastly ignoring the way her body responded. “What look?”
She pointed at him, fighting the smile that eventually won the battle. “That look, dammit, just stop.” He laughed and she shoved a bite of lobster fettuccine in his lush, delicious mouth.
~
“So, dessert?” The past few hours made up the most emotional meal of his entire life. But he learned more of what life had been like for Zara without his resources or his help, but still she’d done everything she said she would. Damn, she was special.
“I’m not sure where I would put it, but if its tiramisu, then yes. Hell yes.”
Caine laughed at her serious expression. “A woman who knows what she wants. Copious amounts of mascarpone, amaretto and cocoa powder.”
She laughed again and he felt like he’d accomplished something major and he knew he would do anything to hear that laugh again. It was her real laugh, the one not many people got to hear. But he had.
“Exactly.” Her index finger swirled in the condensation left by a glass of water.
“What?” She’d done the same thing years ago when she asked him if he wanted to sleep with her.
Her brows furrowed. “What what?”
He laughed again. “Do you remember that night you asked me why I hadn’t done more than kiss you and feel you up?” She nodded and ducked her head in embarrassment. “Me too. Vividly.” Caine chuckled and it only grew at her scowl. “My point is, you were wearing the same expression then as you are now. So go ahead and ask me whatever it is stomping through your pretty little head.”
Rolling her eyes, Zara gave him a tight smile. “I don’t know how to ask this without sounding horrible so I’m not going to worry about it. Do you plan to be involved in Cassia’s life outside the hospital?”
That was the million dollar question, wasn’t it? The truth was he had no idea. The idea of not seeing her again, of not watching her grow and teaching her things like how to throw a football or ride a bicycle. “Does she know how to ride a bike?”
Zara looked at him like he’d lost his mind, which Caine conceded he might have. “Yes, but she’s scared to take off her training wheels. Why?”
“Yes.” He couldn’t walk away again. Not from Zara, and not from Cassia. “I would like nothing more than to be a father to Cassia. She’s wonderful, Zara, you’ve done a great job with her.”
She smiled. “She’s too smart for her own good, but in a really great way. She’s not anti-social and she has patience for those who aren’t as smart as her.”
Caine listened, feeling his heart race at the way her face lit up when she talked about their daughter. Her love and admiration were clear to see. She regaled him with stories about their daughter over dessert until he was sure she’d forgotten juts how much she hated him. “You like being a mom, Zee, it looks good on you. Really good.”
“Thanks, Caine.” She sighed when they reached her car and turned to face him again. “I had a good time tonight. Mostly anyway.”
He laughed. “Better than you thought?”
“Definitely.”
He stepped closer until his hands rested on either side of her waist and their chests smashed together. “Thank you. For everything.” He brushed a light kiss against her lips and stepped back, unwilling to risk their reluctant truce.
“Caine,” she called out, and he turned back to her. “Let’s go out again next week. With Cassia so you both can get comfortable with a personal relationship before we tell her.”
His smile beamed down her. “I like that plan. A lot. I’ll call you real soon, Zara.” She mumbled something he didn’t understand but Caine was pretty sure she’d said something about his “handsome smug face.”
Watching her drive away, Caine had a feeling his life had just changed in ways he couldn’t imagine.
Chapter 8
“Where are we going today?” Cassia kicked her feet as she ate her cinnamon and peaches oatmeal.
Zara’s face was buried in her giant coffee mug, mostly because she needed every ounce of caffeine she could ingest before their day with Caine, but also because she didn’t want to answer. “We’re going to the planetarium and then out to eat.”
Her sweet face was ever sweeter when she smiled, like she was now. “Is Grandma coming with us?”
Here we go. “No, she and Grandpa are going to some estate sale at a ranch up north.” Zara rolled her eyes because her parents always found a way to keep busy. Even in Alaska. “We are going to meet Dr. Faulkner though.” She drank her coffee and waited for Cassia to say something. Anything.
“Okay.” She went back to her oatmeal, humming quietly as she ate. If Zara thought that was the last of it, she quickly got over it. “Do you like Dr. Faulkner, Mommy? Grandma says he’s handsome.”
This time she couldn’t stifle the groan that came from somewhere down deep. “Of course I like him, honey, he’s a nice man.”
“Mommy,” she moaned. “Answer the question.”
Zara laughed. “And to think I was happy having such a smart daughter.” Arms crossed with a mock scowl on her face, she cracked up at the sound of Cassia’s giggling.
“You’re stuck with me too,” she teased.
“Well, then I guess I’d better answer the question, huh?” Cassia gave an exaggerated nod and she sighed. “He’s nice, yes.”
Her smile widened. “You like him.”
She
pointed a finger at her daughter, taking in her wild curls that were flattened on one side and her nightgown that was really an oversized t-shirt with the constellations on them. “You go get washed up while I clean up in here. And hurry.”
Thirty minutes later they walked out of the house in a hurry to meet Caine when she spotted him leaning against his car. In her driveway.
“Dr. Faulkner!” Cassia carefully walked down the steps as fast as her little legs would carry her and wrapped her arms around his legs. “Good morning. I’m glad you’re coming with us.” She motioned for him to squat down to her level. “Do you know where we’re going? Mommy won’t tell me.”
Zara bit back her smile as she walked up behind her sneaky daughter. Caine winked at her and leaned in close. “I’m not sure but I heard something about the planetarium.”
Cassia jumped up and down, clapping excitedly. “Really? Let’s go, then.”
Zara laughed. “You heard the girl, let’s go.” She let Caine help the little girl into the car and hopped in the front seat. As the car took off, all Zara could think about was just how closely this matched every one of the dreams she never let herself have over the past seven years. She listened while Caine and Cassia talked about their favorite constellations and planets.
“Do you know the story of Orion and the seven sisters?”
Cassia shook her head. “I know Orion’s belt.”
Both parents gave her an indulgent smile, but it was Caine who’d left her enthralled by the story of the man forced to carry the world on his shoulders and his seven daughters who were turned to doves and then into stars. By the time he finished, Cassia’s green eyes were wide with excitement. “That’s it. They’re called Pleiades.”
Cassia tried it out a few times until she said it right. “That was the coolest story I have ever heard!”
Sharing a laugh, they all exited the car and walked into the planetarium. Zara’s heart leapt again at the sight they made as they walked up to the glass doors. This could have been them for real, instead of a forced outing so Caine could meet his daughter for the first time. She looked away from the image of them and swiped at a tear.