Best for the Baby by Ann Evans Page A

and have them send out groceries. And you’ll need a way to get around. Dad’s old car may still run. Do you know how to drive a stick?”
    “I can manage.”
    “The water and electricity should still be on. If it was off when you broke in, it must have been the storm. If there’s a problem, call my office and I’ll take care of it.”
    A strange wave of warmth flooded through her at this unexpected generosity, but she nodded and slipped the money into her jacket pocket. “What are you going to do now?”
    “I want to catch the first flight back to Miami.”
    “You don’t want to come in?” she asked.
    He took one quick look at the cottage, then shook his head. “No need to,” he replied, his voice flat and controlled.
    She was oddly disappointed. Maybe he really couldn’twait to get away from her, after all. This was one last favor for old times’ sake, perhaps.
    But then she realized there was something else at work here. The way his face had closed up. The way he turned his head away as though the cottage didn’t exist. It surprised Alaina almost as much as the charity he’d offered.
    What was wrong?
    Curiosity killed all sense of caution. “Zack…”
    “I have to go. I have things back home to take care of, and I’ve lost enough time.”
    After that comment, she couldn’t get out of the car fast enough. He started the engine as she went around to the driver’s side, her backpack slung over one shoulder. “Thank you again,” she said. “Honestly, Zack. If you hadn’t come—”
    He cut in abruptly. “Just take care of yourself, Al. No more crime sprees.”
    Before she could say another word, he pulled out of the driveway without a single glance back. Perhaps without a single thought, without a twinge of sadness or regret that they might never see one another again.

CHAPTER FIVE

    B Y NOON , when Zack got off the plane from Atlanta, the lunch hour traffic in Miami was in its usual frustrating snarl.
    It didn’t improve his mood any.
    He had a 3:00 p.m. meeting with a vendor to renegotiate the cost of lumber, and should have been in his office right now, prepping for that battle. Instead, all he’d been able to think about for hours was the pregnant blonde he’d left back in Lake Harmony. The one who used to resemble sane, sensible Alaina Tillman.
    Impatiently, he swung his car past a big Lincoln moving at a snail’s pace on the Tut Causeway. Miami traffic was a nightmare—always had been—and for just a flicker of time he thought about the winding, scenic drives of the Georgia mountains that had been so much a part of Davidson family vacations. During certain times of the year, you could wander all day and not see another vehicle.
    Which reminded him, he needed to contact Lake Harmony’s service station and see if they could get his father’s Buick up and running. Since Dad’s death last spring, the car had been sitting in the garage at Heron Cove, but it was still in pretty good shape. Even if Alainastayed at the cottage only a couple of weeks, she’d need transportation to and from town. In her condition, she shouldn’t have to walk the three miles into Lake Harmony.
    In her condition.
    God, he still couldn’t believe she was pregnant.
    From what she’d told him, could she seriously believe there was going to be a happy ending to the relationship with Jeffrey the crusader? Zack knew that type. Charming and full of righteous indignation. Ready to take on the world for the greater good of the planet, but a regular louse in his personal life.
    Running off. Leaving her to fend for herself while he “thought things through.” How did the bastard think she was going to manage in the meantime?
    No. Wait. Better question: Why should Zack care?
    The invisible cord that had once bound him to Alaina had snapped long ago. She was out of his life. Definitely out of his heart.
    Dumb, Davidson. Dumb. After all the ways she twisted your insides into knots, why would you come within fifty feet of