Expecting the Best by Lynnette Kent

Author:Lynnette Kent [Kent, Lynnette]
Language: eng
Format: mobi, epub
Tags: Contemporary, General, Romance, Marriage, Fiction, Pregnant Women
ISBN: 9780373708680
Google: 1B05DoqN4ewC
Amazon: 0373708688
Publisher: Harlequin
Published: 1999-01-01T05:00:00+00:00

CHAPTER ELEVEN

THREE WEEKS AFTER Carol’s day with Shelley, Zach caught the ring of the phone as he stepped out of the shower Friday afternoon. “Harmon.”

“Hi, Zach.” Claire Hightower sounded tired.

“Hello there, Counselor. How are you?”

“Wonderful and worn out. I’d introduce you to the new arrival but he is, mercifully, asleep.”

“You had your baby! A he?”

“We got home just this morning. Jackson Walker Hightower was born on Tuesday at 3 a.m. He’s beautiful.”

“Your kid couldn’t be anything else.” He sat down on the bed. “How’d it go?”

“Pretty well. Compared to, say, climbing Everest.”

Zach grinned. “So I hear. Is the little guy sleeping okay?” A boy. Claire had a son. Weird concept.

“Of course.” She sighed. “Jack sleeps peacefully from ten in the morning until five in the afternoon, naps from nine until eleven in the evening, then wakes up to play.”

“No problem, right? Just turn your whole life upside down, you’ll be fine.”

“Ah, but he’s worth it. Simply watching him sleep is a pleasure. Even hearing him cry makes me smile.”

“You’ve fallen in love. But I don’t suppose your husband minds.” And neither relationship bothered him, Zach realized with surprise.

Claire laughed. “Dex hasn’t gone out to the barn in three days. That has to be a record.”

They talked about the baby and traded stories about mutual friends in Denver, until a croak of sorts interrupted.

“I think you’re being paged.” Zach couldn’t help a laugh of his own as the croaking escalated to a full-throated cry.

“Definitely. Take care, Zach. I’ll call soon.”

“Congratulations, Claire. Give Dex my best.”

He set the phone down and pondered, still wearing just his towel. Claire had officially become a mom. A real baby lived with her now. Everything had changed.

As for the other pregnant woman in his life—nothing had changed. He’d never considered himself a quitter, but after almost three months of trying to convince Shelley to marry him, Zach had started to wonder if he was wasting his time. He’d backed off on his surprise visits in the last couple of weeks, and he hadn’t seen Shelley at all for seven days—maybe eight. He filled his time with extra shifts for friends at work, endless rounds of basketball and new books by some of his favorite authors.

Still, whenever he let his mind wander, she took control. Like right now—why wasn’t he thinking about Claire and her new baby? Or thinking about getting dressed—at least he could do that while he brooded over his conspicuous lack of success with the mother of his child.

Fifteen minutes later, he was on his way to pick up Carol for the Women’s Work Fair. Their sister Rachel would give a department demonstration on women in law enforcement at tonight’s session and he’d promised her an audience of two, at least.

Just as important, Carol had expressed interest when she received a notice about the Fair at school, and he wanted to take advantage of that. A recent lull in the activities of Crooked Women led him to hope that particular phase of adolescence had passed.

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