The following morning, Zack patted his leg for Moses to come to him and rubbed the dog's head before sending Moses to his large comfy bed in the corner of the studio. Generally, the dog was better behaved than many of the kids brought to his studio for photos, but Moses' size had a tendency to make non-dog owning mama's nervous until they got to know Moses' personality.
The security system chimed that the front door had been opened and Zack braced himself for another run in with Becca, the first face-to-face meeting after their devastating conversation.
"Zack?" Kaity called.
"Back here."
Zack listened closely, discerning multiple sets of footsteps making their way toward the rear of the old house turned business.
"Nice place you have here," David said as he entered the room.
Zack thanked the man and turned, his gut clenching at the sight of Becca and her son hovering near the back of the house. "It's served me well."
Becca stayed quiet, her gaze on the many prints hanging on the walls throughout the waiting area, hall and back section of the room.
"You guys ready to start?" Zack asked.
"Actually, I wanted to show you something," Kaity said, motioning for him to step closer to her. "I know this is our engagement session, but I wanted to see if you would take a few of these shots as well--with my Maid of Honor."
Zack stared at Kaity's too-innocent expression. Leave it to her to come up with something to force Becca's presence on him. "I'm sure something can be worked out. What do you have in mind?"
While he looked at images saved on Kaity's phone, Zack tracked Becca's movements in his peripheral vision. She moved from image to image, staring at them like one would a work of art in a gallery.
Pride filled him along with the sense of accomplishment. Coming from nothing and building his business hadn't been easy but he was fully aware of the change in his life once he’d gotten himself on track. His behavior, training, church. Doors once closed to him were suddenly open and people treated him with growing respect for the direction his life had taken.
But how could he forgive her for leaving town knowing she carried his baby? He'd had a right to know. A right to be there when she--
"Zack? Are you sure you're okay?" Kaity asked, a worried pinch to her pretty features. "If you need to reschedule, we can."
He shook his head and forced his mind to focus. "No, I'm fine. Sorry. Just distracted. Let's get started."
Zack led the couple to a settee he had positioned in front of a backdrop. "Let's start with the formal ones. It will help you loosen up and get comfortable."
In short order he was snapping photos, aware of Becca behind him, watching, but able to concentrate on his task as he adjusted angles, lighting and the couple themselves.
After a few sitting and standing shots, Zack told David to recline on the couch and then had Kaity perch on the edge by David's side, arms resting on his chest leaning against him as David kissed her forehead. He tried a few other poses that Kaity had requested then moved on to ideas he'd had incorporating the theme she'd picked for her wedding.
"I think that should do it for you, David. You're free," Zack said to the younger man, noting the guy's visible relief. Zack smiled and clapped a hand on David's back as he stopped long enough to thank Zack and kiss his fiancé goodbye before heading out the door.
"Now it's our turn," Kaity said, clapping softly. "Bex, come on. Zack is awesome."
Zack turned and found Becca staring at her son. The boy had crawled onto Moses' large dog bed and sat leaning against Moses' chest while flipping through the pages of a kids' book.
Without a word, Zack lifted the camera and took several shots of the sweet moment.
"Bex?" Kaity whispered softly. "Is Eli reading?"
Zack tilted his head and sure enough he heard the boy whispering to the dog. But wasn't he a little young to actually be reading?
"It's his favorite book," Becca told them, her eyes sparkling with unshed tears. "I've read it to him hundreds of times."
"But he's speaking, right? I'm not just hearing things?" Kaity asked.
Speaking became too much for Becca because she pressed her fingertips to her mouth and simply nodded.
Kaity moved to stand beside her sister and wrapped her arms around Becca, leaning her head against her sister's. Realizing that the lighting was perfect, Zack quickly raised his camera and snapped several shots, including the one where the sisters shifted their gazes to him.
"Don't move," he ordered, slowly walking around them and taking shots from several different angles. He photographed them up close, capturing their beautiful faces. He zoomed in on their hands and how their fingers were laced and holding tight to the other.
Zack stilled, only then noticing the lack of rings on Becca's left hand. He lowered the camera, his gaze shifting to Becca's. His expression must have revealed the many questions racing through his mind because she shook her head slightly, a silent plea to leave things be for the time being. "Okay, come on, ladies," he murmured, the awareness of her ringless state giving him a burst of energy because it made him--what? Happy? Pleased that she'd removed the ring of a man unworthy of her or their son?
"What now?" Kaity asked, giving Becca one last squeeze before releasing her.
"How about we have some fun?" He moved to the opposite side of the room and flipped on the radio to his favorite station.
Growing up in the home of an abusive alcoholic, Zack had seen and heard things no kid should ever witness. He hoped, if nothing else, playing the uplifting music would raise some spirits while in his studio. After all, no one ever knew what went on behind closed doors and the music coming out of his sound system might be the only good thing his clients heard that day.
He paused, his mind shifting to Eli. Had the boy experienced bad things in his home? Had his sad excuse for a father said horrible things to Eli and his mother? Was that why the kid didn't speak?
Zack positioned the sisters back to back looking toward him. He loved the play of big sister to little sister in that Becca stood two inches taller than Kaity, Becca's hair dark to Kaity's light. From there he moved them from pose to pose, setting aside his thoughts of Becca's ex to concentrate on the present.
One of his favorite songs came on and in unison the sisters stated their love for it as well. Kaity laced her fingers with Becca's and began dancing, earning smiles and laughter from her too serious elder sibling.
Zack captured the moments as they came, loving the spontaneity of the photographs over the standard poses. Eventually Moses' left his bed to join the fun and Eli followed the dog, staring up at his mother and aunt with more than a bit of bemusement as they wrapped a prop scarf around Moses' neck and danced around him.
The silliness prompted smiles from Eli and eventually a shy-sounding chuckle.
Hearing Eli, Becca and Kaity increased their antics in an obvious attempt to get the boy to laugh full-out, tugging the child onto the backdrop and giving him an old hat to wear. After a while, Zack sat back on his haunches, camera lowered, and simply watched the silliness, the sight too special not to experience it in the moment rather than secondhand from behind a lens.
A tone sounded from the direction of the ladies' purses and Kaity whirled around, rushing toward her bag.
"Oh, that's my alarm! I have to go so I'm not late for work. I'll see you in the morning, monkey," she said to Eli. "And, Zack, thank you so much for making this fun."
"Kaity, you drove us," Becca said. "Did you forget?"
"Oh, sorry! Zack, you'll see them back to the condo, right?"
Whirlwind Kaity didn't wait for his response. She grabbed her bag and raced out the door with a flighty wave. Becca stared after her sister like a deer in headlights.
He wasn't much better. Kaity had obviously hoped the time alone with Becca would help settle some things, but he wasn't sure that was possible. If it would ever be possible.
He'd been able to lose himself in his work while taking the pictures, but now all the tension and anger boiled to the surface like lava.
"I'll call a cab," she murmured. "Eli, grab your toys, please. We have to go."
"I'll drive you," he said, sounding less than gracious even to his own ears. One of the last things the minister had told Zack was to put himself in her shoes and imagine how she'd felt at the time. Imagine what had driven her to make the decisions she'd made.
"I don't want to take you away from your work. Eli?"
"Becca, let him play. Give me a few minutes to shut everything down and we'll go." He didn't give her a chance to respond but stalked away to his office for a much needed break from the thoughts tumbling through his head and the awareness of his ongoing attraction to Becca despite their past issues.
He packed up his computer so he could get caught up on some editing and turned when he heard a noise in the doorway of his office. Eli stood staring at Zack with his big eyes, his small hand holding onto Moses' fur like a lifeline. "You like him, don't you?"
Eli nodded.
"Well, I can tell Moses likes you, too," he said, grabbing a couple of items from the desk drawer before approaching the boy and the dog. Zack knelt before them and ran his free hand over Moses' head. "You wanna know how I can tell?"
Another nod from the child lifted the weight of Zack's anger from his shoulders and eased the fist in his stomach. "I can tell because Moses brought you in here to get his treat. See, if he behaves himself all day while I'm working, he gets a special treat before we leave. And since you've been so good while I took all those pictures, he thinks you deserve something special, too. Would you like that?"
Zack waited, hoping to get more than a nod from the boy.
Eli nodded shyly and lifted his hand to take the small digital camera Zack revealed but Zack pulled back and held it just out of reach. "What was that? Did you say something? I couldn't hear you."
"Thank you," Eli said again, this time using his voice instead of simply mouthing the words.
Such a simple thing and yet the sound of Eli speaking--knowing how precious an act it actually was--ripped through Zack.
So much had happened between him and Becca but in this moment, none of it seemed as important as this.
Becca was silent on the trip back to Kaity's condo, her thoughts jumbled and chaotic. Eli sat in the backseat of Zack's large SUV with Moses, both looking happy as larks as Eli carefully played with the small, older camera, Moses at his side devouring his treat.
Earlier in Zack's studio she'd taken a phone call about a potential job in Charleston, but during those brief minutes on the phone Eli and Moses had disappeared. When she'd found them...
Eli had talked to Zack. He'd talked!
So why did she feel so angry? Hurt? Almost... betrayed?
It made no sense. Eli had spoken to someone other than herself and she was beyond thrilled at the fact. But why did it have to be Zack? Why not Kaity or her parents?
“I don’t understand,” she murmured.
"What was that?" Zack steered the large vehicle onto the condo's lot but instead of pulling up at the front entrance and letting them out, he drove to a spot and parked.
"You don't have to see us in," she told him, hurrying to open the door and exit. She opened the rear passenger door as well and unbuckled Eli from his booster seat, which Kaity had oh-so-thoughtfully left behind in Zack's SUV before taking off for work, unfastening the seat from the buckles and straps and hauling it out only to have Zack take it from her to carry. "I can..."
Only then did she notice Zack had also shouldered the oversized backpack containing his laptop as well as a camera--and held Eli's hand while Eli grasped Moses' leash.
Kaity's comment about getting to know Zack the last two years blasted through her head with dawning awareness. "You live here."
A hint of a smile tugged at the corners of his firm mouth and he nodded.
"For the last five years or so."
In unison they moved toward the complex and the crazy thought of what they looked like struck Becca. How many families looked just like them?
But they weren't a family and never would be.
Once they crossed the parking lot onto the concrete walkway, Moses tugged at his leash to go to the bushes. She wasn't sure if Eli followed or was tugged along for the walk by the big dog but he went as well.
"He's really taken to Moses," she said softly. "I think I'll have to check into getting him a pet when we return home."
Zack remained quiet for several long seconds.
"Dogs are great. I never had a dog until I worked for Emma. Now I can't imagine life without one."
Zack turned and stared down at her, leaving Becca struggling with the urge to squirm. Zack was so handsome, always had been. Why couldn't they have met now? They could have had a fresh start without the baggage and emotional heartbreak dividing them.
"You're angry," she whispered. "And you have every right to be. But please know I thought I was doing what was best for all of us."
"That wasn't your call to make."
Zack was careful to keep his voice just as soft and low as hers and she was thankful for the consideration. Little ears had good hearing and this wasn't something Eli would understand at his age. "I know. In hindsight, I see that now."
"If you just would have told me..."
"I wanted to. Zack, you have no idea how much I wanted you to show up at my door. How much I needed you with me, especially when things... went wrong. I was so scared," she whispered. "But I can't go back in time. I don't even know if I would change things." In her heart of hearts, she knew that different decisions would still have had the same outcome. She'd inadvertently spared Zack the pain ten years ago, but he felt it now. "We weren't ready for that kind of responsibility. If we had been... maybe I wouldn’t have had the miscarriage. Maybe something would've happened to alter our lives but--"
"But we'll never know because you didn't give us the chance. Moses," he called, patting his leg. "Let's go."
The ride up the elevator was even more uncomfortable than the drive home had been and once the elevator doors opened, she stepped off and turned to retrieve the car seat only to nearly run into Zack. "I'll take that."
"I'll leave it at the door," he said.
His long legs quickly ate up the distance down the hall and she dragged her feet as she followed, Eli and Moses' jogging behind Zack to try and keep up.
Zack left the car seat outside of Kaity's door and said goodbye to Eli by ruffling Eli's hair, earning a smile from Eli and a look of adoration.
"Take care of that camera now. It's old but it takes really good pictures."
Eli nodded solemnly.
"Let me know when you've filled up the card and we'll sort through them and print a few of them for you to keep."
Becca leaned against Kaity's door, trembling internally because of the kindness and generosity Zack showed her son. She wasn't surprised by it. Tough guy Zack had always had a soft side. That's one of the things that had drawn her to him in the first place.
And yet she'd been so sure they would crash and burn as a couple. Sure that it was only a matter of time until Zack got fed up with her attitude and insistence on secrecy because of her parents' snobbishness toward him, and walked out.
Was she wrong? Could they have made it even scraping by dollar by dollar and trying to raise a baby when they were kids themselves?
She faced the door and dug the key Kaity had given her from the zippered pocket of her tote bag, unlocking the door and setting the heavy tote and her purse inside while Zack said goodbye to Eli.
When she went to retrieve the car seat she expected to find Zack and Moses at the elevator but instead they had walked further down the hallway and Zack was in the process of unlocking a door. Not only did Zack live in the complex, but right next door to Kaity?
And right next door to you until this wedding is over. If you want something to change, you have to try.
"Zack, do you have plans for dinner?" She wasn't sure who was more surprised by her question, Zack or herself. But once the words emerged from her mouth it wasn't like she could retract the offer. "You and Moses are welcome to join us," she said, desperate enough to forge a bond of forgiveness that she used Eli's hopeful expression as leverage. "I've become a decent cook."
Eli reached out, snagged Moses' leash from Zack's hand and hurried toward Kaity's apartment.
Zack stood silent for a long moment as the two disappeared inside and then sighed.
"Guess that means we accept."