AllFreeNovel
Share Us
CHAPTER THREE
The recognition in Zach’s eyes showed that he remembered her. The grim set of his mouth told her that he wished he hadn’t.
Well, fine. She’d recovered nicely, thank you. Married a kind, loving man, and had become the loving stepmom to his two beautiful kids. She hadn’t given Zach a second thought in years.
Except for the occasional wish to meet him again someday to let him know how cruel he’d been.
After that first wrenching heartbreak had come anger, but after the anger faded she’d been left with a hollow ache that kept her watching for tall, dark-haired strangers long after she’d accepted the fact that he would never come back.
How many times had she relived that magical night of the senior prom, wondering what she’d said or done to make him disappear from Fossil Hill without a trace the next day? Her fragile teenager’s heart, filled with the wonder and thrill of first love, had been defenseless. A surgeon’s scalpel couldn’t have done a more thorough job of destroying it.
“It’s quite a surprise seeing you back in town,” she finally managed, eyeing the splint on his right arm. Had he been in an accident? A fight? “Are you looking for a job in town?”
“Nope.” He met her gaze squarely. “I’m...a sales rep for a software company, and I’ve got a few months leave. Thought I’d just get away from city life for a while.”
“I gotta go potty.”
The shy voice from behind his knees startled Dana back into the present. Her gaze fell to a small hand gripping a fold of his faded jeans. He’s married? But even as the thought twisted her heart, she knew her reaction was ridiculous. In fifteen years she’d finished college, married, and had been widowed. Why wouldn’t he have found love?
She dusted her hands on the backside of her jeans and shoved the past back where it belonged, with childhood memories and things that didn’t matter anymore. “The bathroom’s down the hall, first door on the left.”
The little girl edged farther behind Zach, a faded rag doll clutched against her chest.
“Can you go yourself, Katie?” he asked, his gentle voice achingly familiar, yet so different. It was now the deeper, testosterone-laden baritone of the man he’d become.
The rugged timbre of it danced up Dana’s spine like a caress, bringing back all of the sensations she’d felt in his arms so many years ago.
He bent and scooped the little girl up with one arm, drew in a sharp breath—of pain?—as he lifted her, the fabric of his white polo shirt molding the bulk of his muscular shoulders, the color a sharp contrast to his dark tan.
The child hid her face against his shoulder as he strode down the hall. At the door, he flipped on the light and whispered something to her, then awkwardly hunkered down and set her back on her feet.
She stood frozen—a frightened cherub with a nimbus of white-blond curls framing her delicate face—and then edged into the bathroom. Dana and Francie exchanged glances. The child’s obvious fear went beyond a typical toddler’s shyness. Why was she so afraid?
Zach stayed motionless until she finished, then stepped into the bathroom to help wash her hands. The moment her hands were dry she scrambled up into his arms again.
He shifted her into the curve of his left arm, and again she dropped her head to his shoulder, hiding her face.
The contrast of a powerful, protective male and a fragile child couldn’t have been greater. And when he dropped a gentle kiss on Katie’s forehead, nothing could have touched Dana’s heart more.
“Do you have that key?” He met Dana’s gaze, his eyes betraying turbulent emotions she never would have expected.
Perhaps there were marital problems or looming custody battles that accounted for the child’s emotional state. “Of course.”
Dana stepped past him and went down the hall to her office, then rummaged around in the top drawer for the extra set of house keys Martha had given her years ago.
When she stepped back into the hall, she found Zach idly scanning the framed diplomas and certificates that hung there.
“Impressive,” he said, tipping his head toward the framed summa cum laude degree from Colorado State. “You’ve done well.”
She dropped the keys into his hand. “I loved school. I was tempted to go on, and maybe teach veterinary medicine, but I wanted some years of practical experience first. And then, well...” Shut up, she told herself sharply. He’d barely acknowledged that he’d met her before. Why would he care to hear about what she’d done since?
