A beautiful blonde smiled out from one picture. The same woman laughed in two other pictures. She and a much younger Zach were together in a fourth.
“She’s stunning,” Katie said, a question in her voice.
“David’s mother.”
“Oh. She’s really lovely.”
“On the outside. On the inside-” He shrugged. “She walked away from David when he was four, and I don’t think she’s seen him more than twice since.”
Katie’s gold-flecked brown eyes widened. “I don’t understand. How could she not want to be with her child?”
“She never wanted children.”
He hesitated, more to figure out how much to tell than because he was reluctant to share his past. He didn’t usually spill his guts to people he just met, but extraordinary circumstances called for extraordinary measures. He needed Katie as an ally, but he had to be careful.
He motioned to the sectional sofa. Katie sank down onto the cushions. Zach settled across from her. He schooled his features into his “I’m concerned but I’m okay” look.
“I met Ainsley in high school. She was the head cheerleader, prom queen. You know the type.”
“I’ve met one or two,” Katie said with a slight smile.
Zach nodded. “I thought Ainsley was a princess. So I wooed and won her. Boy meets girl, boy falls for girl, boy gets girl pregnant.”
Katie winced. “How old were you?”
“Just seventeen. We got married. David came along nine months later. It wasn’t how I planned to spend the summer after graduating from high school. But we learned how to be parents. It wasn’t easy.”
He didn’t go into details. There was no point in discussing the fights, the anger that had flared between them as they struggled to take care of their son. They’d both felt trapped. Whatever infatuation they’d once shared had quickly burned away.
“I had some money from a trust fund,” he continued. “That paid for our living expenses, although there wasn’t much left over for more than basics. Ainsley’s parents paid for her college. I had a scholarship. Both our moms helped out with daycare. It was still tough.”
Tough didn’t begin to describe what it had been. Ainsley had made his life a living hell. She’d resented David and being married. She had been young and beautiful, and she wanted to be out in the world.
“The day I graduated from college, Ainsley had me served with divorce papers,” he said flatly. “She’d hired one of the best lawyers in the city. My lawyer had been recommended by a friend. He wasn’t in the same league. Ainsley got everything. I fought for custody of David, which turned out not to be a problem. Not only did she not want to see her son, she wanted compensation for the pain and suffering of having to have a child in the first place. She claimed she’d wanted to have an abortion and that I’d talked her out of it. She even had notes from a clinic visit she’d made while she’d been pregnant.”
Katie frowned. “I don’t understand. Had she wanted an abortion?”
“I don’t know. She never said anything to me. In the same breath she told me she was pregnant, she announced we were getting married. I’d been raised to believe a man took his responsibilities seriously, so I never thought otherwise.”
He rested his elbows on his knees. “Let’s just say Ainsley got her pound of flesh and then some. I was to come into the lump sum of my trust fund when I turned twenty-five. She got all of that and didn’t have to pay child support. When it was over her lawyer took me aside. He slapped me on the back and told me next time I needed to get a better lawyer. At that moment I vowed to be a better lawyer.”
Katie looked stunned. Zach knew it wasn’t a pretty story, but every word of it was true.
“So Ainsley simply disappeared from your life?”
“She showed up to collect her checks, but once she had all the money she was due, she disappeared. I heard she moved back East. I don’t care where she is.”
“Why do you keep her pictures out?”
“They matter to David. I packed them away once, but he asked me to let them stay. He has trouble remembering her and the photos help.”
Katie had never had a child, so she was unable to comprehend the depth of Zach’s feeling for David. Still, there wasn’t a doubt in her mind that this man loved his son with every fiber of his being. His intensity, his steadfastness, not only made her quiver on the inside, they confirmed her belief that Mia had made a good choice. David Stryker had an amazing role model guiding him through life.
Now that she’d heard Zach’s history, she understood his concerns for the engagement. She approved of his concern, even if she didn’t appreciate his tactics.
“Did you tell me this to explain your position or to win me to your side?” she asked.
“Both.”
“Because threatening me didn’t work? Now you’re going for the heart?”
“Am I getting close?”
“No, but I have extreme respect for your skill level in court. Can you see the other attorneys trembling or do they hide it?”
He grinned. “They try to act cool.”
Katie leaned back in the sofa. “So if you’re so smart, why did you tip your hand with me?”
“I told you, I wanted to see if you would call my bluff.”
“If I’d caved in, you would have accepted the victory.”
“Of course. And solved the wedding problem.”
Katie didn’t appreciate her sister’s engagement being referred to as “the wedding problem,” but she knew what Zach meant.
“Have you considered that I could rally the entire family to my side?” she asked.
“It crossed my mind, but I’m not worried.”
“Why?”
He smiled slyly. “You can’t risk your grandmothers and mother resenting me. What if the wedding goes through? I’ll be a part of the family. You wouldn’t want to be responsible for screwing up that relationship.”
Her mouth dropped open. She closed it with a conscious thought, but that didn’t stop her from being stunned. “How did you figure that out?”
“Men get over things. Women remember forever.”
He was right, she thought, still amazed. About all of it. Her first instinct had been to call home and let everyone know what he was planning. But she’d reconsidered when she’d realized her mother and grandmothers would hate Zach from that moment on.
He was good. Maybe too good. She was out of her league with him in more ways than one. He was also annoying, what with always being one step ahead of her.
Zach stood up suddenly and held out his hand. “Come on. I’ll buy you a drink and we’ll talk about your plans for the party.”
It took her a second to decide if she wanted to switch gears. But what was the point in arguing? “Actually you’re supposed to tell me that everyone loved my ideas, that they think I’m so incredibly brilliant that they might have to pay me more, and they’re waiting breathlessly for the event to occur.”
“How’d you guess?”
After telling herself not to do anything stupid, Katie placed her hand in his.
Despite having braced herself for the impact, she still felt it all the way down to her toes. Her heart rate quadrupled, her skin flushed, and rational thought fled. She might not trust him, but that didn’t mean there wasn’t chemistry between them.
Zach led her back into the kitchen. He released her hand, which allowed her to catch her breath and try to remember what it felt like to be an adult. While he cleared the table, she pulled the paperwork out of her briefcase.
The good news was that alternating between being annoyed by Zach and being turned on by him kept her from being nervous about planning the party.
“What will you have?” he asked, opening a cupboard and revealing several bottles of liquor.
“I’m driving, so I’ll pass, but please have something yourself. If you pour me ice water in a pretty glass, we can pretend I’m drinking hard stuff.”