“Yum. Now, tell me more about meeting Isabelle.”
“There’s not much to tell. She didn’t seem keen on our being friends.”
“She wouldn’t.” Sarah hugged Jeannie closer and kissed her cheek. “But obviously you were.”
There was no denying it. If he hadn’t been, he wouldn’t have brought her up to a five-month-old and her doting mother.
“It’s just as well she wasn’t interested. I’ll only be here a week.” He was positive Isabelle wasn’t the type of girl to knowingly go into a relationship destined to only last a few days. Relationship? He wasn’t the type to knowingly go into a relationship, period.
Sarah eyed him, then gave a smile that made him as nervous as holding her baby had. “There’s no reason you can’t stay longer than a week, Zach. You’re off work until the new year. Bodie and I both want you to stay. Jeannie, too. Isn’t that right?” She glanced at the baby as if she expected an answer and wouldn’t you know, Jeannie cooed, making Sarah smile before returning her gaze to him. “See? She adores you. The timing couldn’t be better as there’s not anyone coming to stay in our Beds for Vets suite until January. The room is yours until she arrives. Please stay.”
“I can’t.” Clamminess coated Zach’s skin. His gut instinct said he should get out of Pine Hill as quickly as he could, while he still could.
“Why not? Bodie said you weren’t going to your family’s, but just headed to the Keys for some deep-sea fishing with Matt. Fishing over Thanksgiving and Christmas?” Her nose wrinkled as if that was the worst idea ever. “Seriously, who does that?”
Not him, but he’d thought to give it a go since his bachelor buddy had a boat he kept docked there and had invited him down for some single bro time on the water. Zach had thought it a good idea to not linger at any of his friends’ places too long. He’d considered visiting his parents, but he’d dismissed the idea almost as quickly as it occurred. If this vacation was supposed to de-stress him, he definitely needed to stay away from Atlanta.
“Why not spend the holidays with us?” With a determined look, Sarah lifted her chin. “You’ve a much better chance of a white Christmas here than in the Keys.”
“Sand’s white.”
Sarah frowned.
“I can’t stay, Sarah, but thanks for the offer.”
“You keep saying you can’t, but you can.” She glanced down at the gurgling baby in her arms, then back up at him with a resilient look. “And you are. I insist upon it. You deserve a magical Christmas surrounded by friends who love you, and you’ve come to the right place.”
Zac started to point out that Bodie was his only friend in Pine Hill, but that wasn’t the case. Apparently, any friend of Bodie’s was a friend of Sarah’s. Bodie had been partially right about the folks in Pine Hill treating you as if you were long-lost family. Sarah sure did. Isabelle, on the other hand…
“I’ll think about it,” he promised.
He would, but he’d leave as planned. Amongst his other reasons, he didn’t want to intrude on Bodie and Sarah’s first Christmas with their daughter.
Besides, he didn’t believe in magical Christmases, much less deserve one.
Chapter Three
Visiting at HamiltonHouse, Isabelle arranged Christmas tree cookies on a tray on the kitchen’s island countertop, admiring the colorful icing and containers of candy decorations as she summoned the question that had burned in her mind all week.
“So, that thing we were talking about Tuesday evening. Do you really think Bodie could find my father?”
Sarah turned from where she pulled mini poppyseed ham sandwiches from the oven. “Yes, but even better, Bodie has a friend visiting who works for iSecure.” Sarah paused to spatula the sandwiches onto the large Santa serving platter. “He’s a computer genius. He sure helped me set up my embroidery program fast right after he arrived at Hamilton House. I bet he’d love to help find your father.”
Isabelle was glad someone would love finding Cliff Davis. She wasn’t looking forward to the effort. Why, why, why did Sophie want their father at her wedding, much less to walk her down the aisle? Isabelle wondered for the thousandth time since Sophie’s dress fitting. As horrific as she found the idea of searching for the man who’d abandoned them, the tear that had run down her sister’s cheek haunted Isabelle.
Between that and the buff stranger with the awful pickup lines, Isabelle had slept very little. She’d barely done anything that one or the other wasn’t weighing on her mind. Stupid laughing man. Stupid runaway father. Stupid cookie she’d just accidentally broken and now had to eat to cover up the evidence. She poked a piece of the tree cookie into her mouth, letting the sugary sweetness comfort her. What if Sarah had been right and, by some miracle, Isabelle could arrange for her father to escort Sophie down the aisle? If that would make Sophie happy, and their mom was okay with it, then Isabelle would suck up all her misgivings. As far as their mom, she didn’t plan to mention it to her until she knew whether finding Cliff Davis was even a possibility. Why bring up past hurts if she didn’t have to?
Sarah rinsed off the now empty baking pan. “Plus, Zach really needs something to occupy his time while Bodie’s at work.”
“Zach?” The name clicked and, heart pounding, Isabelle blamed her lack of sleep for not putting two and two together sooner. “As in six foot plus, solid wall of muscles, laughing hazel eyes with melted gold flecks, hair too long, gorgeous Zach Dawson?”
Sarah turned from the sink, an amused look on her face. “That’s not exactly how I’d describe him, but yes, Zach Dawson.”
“Yeah, well, I’d rather him not be who helps track down my father.” Why did the idea of Mr. Annoying knowing her most humiliating and hurtful childhood memory bother her so much? The last thing she wanted washimprying into her past.
Drying the pan, then sliding it into a cabinet, Sarah arched a brow. “Am I missing something? Why would you turn down help to make Sophie’s wedding dreams come true?”
“I’d rather not talk to someone I don’t know about my father.”
