Falling For Zoe (The Camerons of Tide's Way #1) (8 page)

“Ta-da!” Ava whisked the sheet off and stood back. “What do you think?”

Slowly Zoe got up and approached the mirror. Cautiously she ran her fingers through the curls, fluffing them a little. The result was so unexpected. Ava had been so right. The curls were perfect for her face. Then she turned back to Ava to express her amazement and thanks and found Ava staring at her with a tight expression clouding her face.

“You don’t like it?”

“I—” Ava swallowed. “I like it. I like it a lot.”

“Then why are you looking at me like I’ve sprouted horns?” Zoe had a pit of dread settling into her stomach and didn’t even know why. It couldn’t be the hair. The curls were everything Ava had promised. Zoe ran her hands through her newly-shorn hair again, loving the way it felt. But Ava looked so distressed.

“Are you—” Ava glanced down, then back up. “Are you pregnant?”

Chapter 13

ZOE’S BREATH CAUGHT in her chest with painful suddenness. Zoe had begun to really show about three or four weeks ago, but the judicious choice of clothing had hidden it. Just now, when she had reached up to touch her curls, her shirt must have hiked up and revealed the unmistakable swell of her growing belly.

“I am.” No use denying it. Ava would have found out eventually. Jake would know next.

“But there’s no Mr. Callahan.”

Zoe couldn’t decide if there was condemnation in Ava’s question, or just curiosity. She decided to be honest and treat Ava as an equal. That was the advice she’d given Jake not so long ago—accept the fact that Ava was growing up and treat her accordingly. Ava would make her own judgment about Zoe, but at least she’d know Zoe hadn’t treated her like a child.

“Porter didn’t want to be married. He didn’t want to be a father either.”

Ava sank down on the side of her bed and gazed up at Zoe with open curiosity. “Did you mean to get pregnant? Or was Porter one of those guys you were talking about who only want one thing and don’t spend much time worrying about the consequences?”

“No and yes. No, I didn’t mean to get pregnant. And apparently yes to Porter and his motivations.”

“Well, if you didn’t mean to get pregnant, how did you let it happen? I mean, you’re old enough to know how to get stuff.”

Zoe turned the desk chair toward the bed and sat down. Innocent though she was, considering the discussion they’d already had about boys and sex, Ava deserved the truth. “I am, and you’re right. I should have been protecting myself. I thought I was in a different kind of relationship than it turns out I was. I got careless, and . . . well, here I am. About to become an unwed mother. I guess I’m not the best example of how to conduct one’s personal life and relationships.”

“But what about this guy, Porter? Don’t you love him?”

Zoe took a deep breath. Confession was supposed to be good for the soul, but looking into the guileless eyes of this young woman, Zoe wondered if she should be confessing to her at all. Now that she’d started, though, there seemed no reasonable way to end the inquisition.

“I wanted to love him. My father wanted me to love him. But it just didn’t happen.”

“Then how come you were—you know . . . ?”

“Intimate?”

Ava nodded, a fiery flush surging up her neck and into her cheeks.

“It’s kind of complicated. I shouldn’t have let it happen, but I did. Porter was the first man who really seemed interested in me, and it was exciting. I was flattered, and I really wanted to fall in love, but . . .”

“But, what?” Ava’s brows puckered. She folded her hands in her lap, waiting for Zoe’s explanation.

“Like I said, it’s complicated. First off, you have to understand that my father always planned for my brothers to become lawyers and join the firm. Only none of my brothers wanted to be lawyers, and my father was pretty disappointed. Then Porter came to work for him, and when my dad brought him home for dinner, Porter met me. Before long, he asked me out on a date. I never figured my dad for a matchmaker, but I think he got the idea that if Porter and I got married, Daddy would finally get to add
son
to the company name.

“I know it’s not an excuse, but I let my father’s attitude convince me that Porter and I were meant to be. When Porter invited me to spend the weekend with him at a classy resort in Hilton Head, it seemed—” Zoe hesitated, remembering how it had felt to be treated like someone’s princess. “It felt special and very romantic. And it was. Or would have been if we’d really been in love, but we weren’t.”

“Is that when it happened?” Ava glanced at Zoe’s belly, then back to her face.

Zoe looked away from the assessing, questioning eyes. It hadn’t happened then. Not until weeks after that disappointing weekend. But how could she tell this young girl about those other nights she had let Porter follow her to her bedroom, take his pleasure, then leave her to stare into the dark, feeling used and empty? How could she admit to being such a total fool for thinking Porter loved her and that one day she would learn how to love him back?

“I was careless and stupid.” Zoe avoided answering the question.

“Why stupid? You’re old enough to get married and have a family.”

“I know. And I would have married Porter if he’d asked. But he didn’t. When I told him about the baby, he got upset and insisted I get an abortion. Then, when I refused, he said he wanted nothing more to do with me, or the baby, and if I tried to insist it was his, he’d sue me for entrapment or something along those lines.”

Ava gasped, her eyes widening in outrage. “What a bastard!”

Zoe nodded. “Yeah, he’s that. But he’s a boring one so I’m better off without him messing up my life any more than he already has. I guess I should have told you about the baby the day we went shopping, but . . .”

“Are you happy about it? The baby, I mean?”

“I am now. Actually, I’m kind of excited about it now that I’m used to the idea.”

The frown lifted from Ava’s brow. “Then I’m happy for you.”

Unconsciously, Zoe curled her hand about the firm little mound of her growing uterus. Her mind flitted back over the last few months and the myriad feelings this pregnancy had filled her with. First dread, then panic, and finally acceptance. And with acceptance, once she’d stood up to both Porter and her father, had come happiness.

“Can you feel it moving yet?” Ava glanced toward Zoe’s middle, her eyes alight with interest.

“For a few weeks now. Just a little flutter. Like a butterfly.” And that sign of life had blossomed instantly into a love like Zoe had never expected or felt before.

“Is it moving now?” Ava’s glance was more pointed and less self-conscious this time.

“No, not at the moment. I guess she’s sleeping.”

“Wow, so you already know it’s going to be a girl. Do you have a name?”

“Molly Ann.”

“Molly Ann,” Ava repeated softly. “So, what did your father say? Was he really angry with you? For—for getting pregnant, I mean? He must be totally pissed at Porter.”

Zoe’s pleasant moment of shared wonder jerked to a halt. Jake thought she was a good influence for his daughter, but that was about to come to a screaming stop. How could an unwed mother possibly be considered a proper role model for a teenager on the verge of exploring her own sexuality? Jake would probably ban her from his daughter’s life all together. Just when she’d begun to feel like the Cameron family was becoming friends she’d enjoy for a lifetime.

“I didn’t tell my father what Porter said. I didn’t think it was fair to Porter to get fired over it. I mean, the whole thing is more my fault than his, and—”

“That’s a load of crap!” Ava leapt to her feet and paced toward the door, then back. “You didn’t get pregnant by yourself. He should get fired at the very least! Especially for the way he treated you!”

“But Porter never once mentioned marriage, and I knew he wasn’t keen about kids. I should never have slept with him at all. It’s my mess, and I have to live with it.” Might as well be totally honest. Make sure Ava got the message that safe sex was the woman’s responsibility, regardless of the circumstances. And that abstinence was even wiser. “Bottom line, it’s my responsibility.”

“Is your father good with that?”

“He thinks I should give the baby up for adoption.”

“But you can’t do that!”

“No. I can’t.” Zoe covered her stomach with both hands. “I could never do that.”

“Can I be like”—Ava paused, pursed her lips, and then rushed on—“like an honorary aunt? Or something?” She reached out and grasped Zoe’s hands and squeezed. “I feel like we’re sort of like sisters. You know? So, that would make me sort of like an aunt. Right?”

Zoe hesitated, thinking of Jake’s reaction, but then saw the first hint of disappointment in Ava’s eyes. Ava felt rejected by her own mother, and Zoe wasn’t going to let her feel rejected again. Not if she could help it. She returned the pressure of Ava’s hands firmly.

“Oh, Ava! That would be so much fun. I love having you for a friend, and a woman can never have enough sisters. Molly will be so lucky to have an honorary aunt living right next door. As long as it’s okay with your father.”

WOULD JAKE BE okay with it? Zoe wouldn’t blame him if he wasn’t enthusiastic about his very impressionable teenage daughter hanging out with an unwed mother-to-be. Zoe wasn’t exactly the kind of role model a conscientious father would choose for a girl he was having a hard enough time just acknowledging was becoming a young woman. Zoe would understand if he did his best to discourage it. But it would hurt.

She stood in the dark, gazing out her bedroom window at Jake’s house, wishing she’d told Jake about her pregnancy earlier instead of trying so hard to hide it. All the reasons she’d had for not wanting him to find out before seemed stupid now. After all, they were just friends, so why should it matter to him personally if she was pregnant?

But as friends, she should have been the one to tell him, not Ava. Wearing oversized shirts and not saying something when she’d had the chance seemed so dumb in retrospect, because she’d known he’d find out eventually. She couldn’t hide it forever. And now she might have jeopardized the friendship that had grown so quickly between them. Trust was so important, yet so terribly fragile.

If only she hadn’t fallen in love with him. That’s why she’d been reluctant to say anything. She hadn’t meant to fall in love, but it was like trying to un-ring a bell. And in spite of all evidence to the contrary, she’d continued to hope he might feel a spark of attraction in return.

Except that men didn’t fall in love with women who were carrying another man’s baby. Zoe wiped angrily at the tears that had begun to dribble down her face.

“But I should have told him,” she whispered into the darkness of her lonely bedroom.

Chapter 14

“DADDY? I KNOW Mom was already pregnant, but was that the only reason you got married? I mean, you were going to get married anyway. Right?”

Jake had just come down from tucking the twins into bed and found Ava curled up on the couch with a paperback novel in one hand, a can of soda in the other, and the dog sprawled beside her. Her question stopped him in his tracks.

“We talked about it. We talked about getting married after we graduated college, that is. But then you happened.” He moved to the chair across from the couch and sank into it.
Where is Ava going with this question?

“So, you would never walk out on a woman you’d gotten pregnant, right?”

Jake’s heart began to thud in painful apprehension. “I cared about your mother very much. I would never have walked out on her, pregnant or otherwise.”

“But if you hadn’t loved her, would you still have gotten married?”

“Of course I would have offered to marry her. Why all the questions?”

“And you definitely wouldn’t tell her to just go get an abortion. Right?”

“What is all this about?” Jake’s heart clenched painfully. Was his baby pregnant? Had everything Zoe told him been wrong? Had Travis worn Ava’s resistance down, and then told her to get lost once he’d had his way with her? When was the last time he’d seen Travis, anyway? The facts were adding up, and Jake didn’t like the sum. “Ava, are you pregnant?”

Ava gaped at him. Then a look of indignation flashed across her face. “Daddy!”

“Well, are you?” He had to know. He didn’t want to know, but he had to. Jake tried to calm himself. It took a moment for him to realize that Ava was shaking her head
no
. Relief flooded through him so quickly he thought he might faint.

“Travis and I were never really
that
together. I don’t know why you’re jumping to all the wrong conclusions. Considering that Travis thinks I’m such a baby, and all.” A cloud of unhappiness came into Ava’s eyes, leaving Jake even more confused than before.

“I’m sorry, kitten. I didn’t mean—look, if you’re trying to get back at me for something, it’s working. So please, tell me what this is really about.” Jake still felt lightheaded, and his heart jerked erratically as it slowed to something closer to normal.

Ava looked at her hands and fiddled with her book. Then she patted the dog and cleared her throat as if she’d gotten something lodged in it. “I didn’t mean to scare you, Daddy. I’m—I’m still a virgin, if that’s what you’re dying to know.”

Zoe was right after all! Thank God!
“I’m sorry. I shouldn’t have jumped to such a thoughtless conclusion.” He took a deep, steadying breath. “So who
are
we talking about? Your mother and me, or one of your friends?”

“A friend.”

“Has your friend told her parents?”

Jake’s hands trembled.
Must be the aftermath of shock. Some other father is going to go through that roller coaster I’ve just been on, only his ride won’t have as happy an ending. Poor bastard.
It only took me all these years to understand how Richard Jolee must have felt when I got Marsha pregnant when we were just seventeen years old
.

“Yeah, she did,” Ava admitted carefully. “But her father told her abortion would be compounding a sin, and she should put the baby up for adoption so she could get her life back on track.”

“Is he forcing her to have the baby?”

“It’s Zoe I’m talking about, Daddy. She’s old enough to tell her father to take a hike.”

For the second time that night, Jake’s heart jumped into his throat. Zoe pregnant? Beautiful, funny, sexy Zoe? Pregnant? How had he not noticed?

“You’d have found out sooner or later anyway, but I told you because Zoe thinks you won’t want me hanging around with her anymore. I really like her, and I know she likes me. She listens to me, and she cares about what I think.” Ava leaned toward Jake with eager intensity in her young face. “Please, Daddy. We can still be friends, can’t we? Just because she’s having a baby doesn’t have to change anything. Does it?”

“Of course, not!” Jake assured his daughter, his brain still reeling. In the short time Zoe had lived next door, she had become more than just a friend to his little girl. Actually, as Zoe had so strenuously pointed out, Ava wasn’t a little girl anymore, even if he still thought of her that way. And Zoe listened to Ava’s teenage dreams and angst. Ava was always welcome in her house. And he knew from his conversation with Zoe that Ava felt comfortable going to Zoe to ask difficult questions about things Ava couldn’t come to him with. Pregnancy or not, he suspected Zoe would continue to be a good influence on his daughter, giving her things he couldn’t and filling the gaping hole where her mother should have been.

“Friends should stick together,” he finally said, dragging his attention back to his daughter’s worried expression. Ava probably needed Zoe more than Zoe needed a teenager adding to her problems, but who was he to make that decision? “Especially now.”

Ava grinned in relief. “I know she’s got Bree and her sisters, but Zoe told me she likes doing stuff with me. ’Cause we’ve both been through the same kind of stuff, and we understand what it’s like. Not having a mother, I mean. And she’s going to need all the friends she can get when the baby gets here. Being a single parent and all. But I guess you know all about that part.”

Jake opened his mouth to make an observation about how Zoe had gotten into such a pickle and then shut it. Another thought had just occurred to him. Maybe there was more upside to this than down. Maybe watching Zoe grow big and uncomfortable would highlight the less pleasant results of careless, unprotected sex. And after the baby arrived, being around Zoe when sleep was hard to come by and any semblance of her former life disappeared would be an eye-opener. It would give Ava some very strong reasons to stick to her guns the next time Travis or some other randy kid wanted to get into her pants.

“We haven’t known Zoe all that long, but she really has become a good friend, and friends don’t take off when you need them most. I’d have been disappointed in you if you didn’t stick by her.”

“And can I borrow your credit card again? I want to take Zoe shopping this time. I want to help her pick out some really cute maternity clothes.”

Only half thinking about it, Jake pulled out his wallet and slid out the credit card. He offered it to his daughter. “Just remember I’m not made of money. Okay?”

Ava snatched the card, then surged off the couch and wrapped her arms about Jake’s neck. Just as quickly, she backed off and kissed him on the cheek. “Thanks, Daddy.” Then she grabbed the book she’d been reading and headed for the stairs.

Jake watched her go, feeling like he’d just gone a few rounds with a punching bag that fought back. He tucked his wallet back into his pocket and thought of Zoe. How was she going to manage pregnancy and all that entailed as well as keep that big old house together all by herself? Jake wondered about Mr. Callahan. What kind of father was he? Jake knew he lived in the historic part of Wilmington, which wasn’t that far away, but so far as Jake knew, the man had not even been to Zoe’s house. In spite of his disapproval, would he be there for his daughter if Zoe really needed help?

Well, one thing was certain. Jake knew how to be a good friend, too. As his daughter had pointed out, Zoe was going to be a single parent, and Jake knew what that was like. At least, he knew what it was like to be a single dad. That had to count for something. Besides, there were things he could do that Ava couldn’t. He made up his mind to do what he could to make sure things ran smoothly at the old Jolee house, fixing anything that needed fixing. Maybe fixing things that didn’t. And another thing was for sure—Zoe definitely wasn’t going to do any more painting. Paint fumes weren’t good for a pregnant woman or her baby. If he couldn’t convince her to put the rest of her painting projects off until after her baby was born, then he’d just have to find time to do them himself.

Jake reached out to run his hand down the silky head of the retriever. Taffy licked his hand, then put her head back on her paws and stared at Jake with her liquid dark eyes.

“Friends hang together,” Jake told the dog. “Right?”

ZOE WAS FOLDING laundry in her bedroom with afternoon sunlight streaming across the floor when the dogs began their routine: Scotch barking his fool head off, Hoover scampering for the door with his tail wagging, and Jet began hunting for a toy to present to whatever friend was headed her way. Polly squawked just because the dogs were barking. Zoe figured it must be Danny, who loved coming over to play with the dogs, but when she crossed the hall and stuck her head out the front window, it wasn’t Danny after all.

Jake strode up her front walk with a stack of boards balanced easily on one shoulder. Zoe stretched out the window in an effort to see below the overhang of her porch roof. Jake’s toolbox sat on her bottom step. What on earth was he up to now? She hadn’t reported any new malfunctions.

Quickly, she retreated back into the room, then hurried down the stairs and yanked the front door open. Jake was nowhere in sight. She stepped out onto the porch, but he wasn’t there either. The toolbox, however, still sat on the bottom step, and the stack of boards leaned against the railing.

Zoe sat down on the top step to wait for Jake to show up and explain. She had some explaining to do herself, she was sure of it. Because by now Ava must have told him about the baby.

Zoe was glad that she’d chosen to wear a dress to church that morning, one that made her feel at least halfway pretty. With her new hairdo and the sunny yellow dress with a flare to the skirt, she’d studied her reflection in the mirror and been pleasantly surprised. The cut of the dress didn’t show off the growing belly. At least not too much. But it did highlight her breasts and legs. Two of her more attractive attributes.

When she saw Jake loping across the lawn with a pry bar in his hand, Zoe got up to go meet him.

Jake spied Zoe coming down the stairs and jerked to a stop halfway up the front walk. She looked fantastic. How could she possibly be pregnant and still look so sexy? When had she cut her hair? He loved the way it curled about her face. It made her eyes seem even bigger than they had appeared before. And that dress!

“Hi, Jake.” Zoe turned to gesture toward the lumber he’d stacked against her railing. “I came down to see what you were up to. I don’t remember calling you to report any new disasters.”

Jake looked from the lumber to Zoe. She looked gorgeous. He wondered if she had any idea how terrific she looked. No wonder he hadn’t noticed. Pregnancy looked good on her. Her skin had a fresh, healthy glow to it, and the new haircut just added to the allure.

“Jake?” Her eyebrows repeated the question.

“I . . . um . . . Your railing needs fixing.”

“My railing?” Zoe spun on her heel and returned to the steps. “What’s wrong with my railing?”

What’s not wrong with it?
The whole thing was so loose he’d spent half the night worrying about her grabbing it for support and falling, hurting herself and the baby being born too early. Babies born too early didn’t have a chance, and he wasn’t about to have another little life get snuffed out before it had a chance. Once was enough to last him a lifetime.

Zoe placed a hand on the railing and started to jiggle it. When the post broke without a whimper, she jumped back with a squeak of surprise.

Jake lunged to grab the railing as it toppled toward her. “That’s what’s wrong with it!”

“Oh, my!” Zoe eyed the railing in disbelief. “I had no idea it was so rotten. How did you guess?”

“Ava mentioned it. She said she was worried about you falling.” Not half as worried as he’d been after he’d found out Zoe was pregnant. Not that she couldn’t have been just as hurt without being pregnant, but somehow her condition just made it seem more ominous.

Zoe paled. “I guess I’m lucky someone didn’t take a spill and sue me.”

“Lucky,” Jake agreed. Lawsuits had never occurred to him when he’d contemplated the results of someone falling. But he supposed, with her father being a lawyer, that might be the first thing she’d think about.

“What can I do to help?”

“In that rig?” Jake took another thorough inventory of the sexy yellow dress and wagged his eyebrows.

Zoe flushed, as if embarrassed by his scrutiny. “I’ll go change.”

“No need.” The point was to look out for her, not get her involved in projects that could get her hurt.

“But I should do something . . .” Zoe made a face. “It’s my problem you’re fixing. And speaking about my problems, there’s something I need to talk to you about.” Zoe sat down on the second step and looked up at him. Her big eyes looked wary and worried.

Jake wanted to give her a big hug and tell her he already knew about her problem and that there was nothing to look so worried about. But maybe that wasn’t what she was going to tell him.

“I know about the baby,” he offered, trying to make it easier for her.

“Could you sit down? Please?” Zoe patted the step next to her. “It’s hard enough without having you looming over me like a disapproving judge.”

Jake plopped obediently onto the step. “I’m not disapproving. I’m hardly in any position to sit in judgment.”

Zoe pinched a pleat of yellow material and began twisting it. “I should have told you before. I’m sorry I didn’t.”

“I’m sure you had your reasons. Look, Zoe—” Jake reached over to stop her from destroying her dress. He pulled one small, yet capable hand back into his own lap and wrapped his other hand around it. “I know it’s probably none of my business, but where’s the father? How come he’s not here looking out for you?”