Best for the Baby by Ann Evans Page B

that woman? Why couldn’t you just let her sink?
    He should have walked away from her without a second look, but even as he had that thought, he knew it wasn’t in his nature to just turn his back on someone in need. And right now, Alaina was definitely in need.
    “You’re such a damn fool,” he said out loud.
    The streetlight in front of him went red suddenly, and Zack hit the brakes.
    His grip on the steering wheel was so tight that his fingers had started to cramp up. He warned himself to forget Alaina and her problems and concentrate on the traffic.
    In the next moment he heard the squeal of brakes. His eyes flashed to his rearview mirror. The Lexus behind him was coming too fast, the driver clearly not paying attention.
    Muttering a curse, Zack tensed, waiting for the impact.
    In that split second before the crash, he wondered if the guy in the other car had an irritating female on his mind, as well.
     
    A LTHOUGH HIS CAR WAS still in the shop two weeks after the accident, Zack considered himself lucky.
    His sprained ankle was encased in a tight-fitting sleeve, but that was coming off tomorrow. The other driver hadn’t been hurt, and he had good insurance. So it could have been much worse.
    Which made it all the more difficult to explain why Zack was still in such a treacherous mood.
    Maybe it was work-related. Business was slow right now. Most people did their remodeling during the spring, not fall, and the market for new housing was down. There wasn’t a single project on the books that excited him. Even the Pinar del Lago bridge restoration was on hold while the homeowners’ association squabbled over his proposed designs.
    Or maybe it was Damaris, the girlfriend who wouldn’t go away. He’d broken things off the night he’d gotten the call from Lake Harmony, but she’d been doing her best to get something started again. She’d shown up uninvited at his condo twice, offering invitations he had no interest in. She had even been foolish enough to suggest she move in—just to help until he was able to get around a little better. He’d rejected thatidea politely, firmly, but he had a feeling that she hadn’t given up yet.
    There was a knock on his front door. He limped over to answer it, and as soon as he saw through the peephole who it was, he suspected there was more trouble coming his way.
    His former boss and good friend, Maggie Tillman Stewart, stood there. Alaina’s family had returned from their cruise two days ago, and he and Maggie had already had a telephone conversation about how fabulous the Mediterranean was. So why was she here now?
    He opened the door, and Maggie didn’t waste time with pleasantries.
    “Why did I have to hear from your mother that you’d been in an accident?” She pointed down at his sleeve-covered foot. “Why did you let me babble on about the cruise and not mention this?”
    Zack shrugged. “Because it’s no big deal.”
    He opened the door wider. She passed him to go directly into the living room, but didn’t sit down. Instead, she turned, offering him a sealed plastic bowl containing a mysterious red liquid.
    “I brought you some soup,” she said.
    He lifted the lid, then frowned down at the neatly diced contents. “This is store-bought.”
    Maggie made a face. “Will said you’d know the difference. But it’s still good for you, so don’t be ungrateful.”
    He glanced at her in curiosity. “You came clear across town to give me a can of soup?”
    “I care about you. Next to Will and Dad, you’re the finest man I know. And…”
    “And…?”
    His senses were on red alert. Maggie only buttered him up when she wanted something. And she looked nervous, as though she didn’t expect him to be willing to comply.
    She tossed her shoulder bag in a chair and raked a hand through her hair. “All right, here’s the thing,” she said quickly. “Alaina called me this morning. I haven’t told Mom and Dad, mostly because there wasn’t much to tell.” She