Zack stared at the numerous images on the screen in front of him, all of them having one thing—person—in common.
Over the course of the last couple of weeks, he'd spent a lot of time taking photographs for the upcoming magazine spread as well as for Kaity's wedding album. But it was the photos that wouldn't make it into either of those things that kept him fascinated more than they should.
You're getting awfully close to stalking.
He released the mouse and sat back in his home office chair with a disgruntled sigh. He'd actually been accused of stalking once as a teenager trying to teach himself the techniques he'd read about in books and magazines. Then, his subject had been his blind, court-ordered boss. At the time, however, she'd simply been the person he had access to in all shades of light, and he'd been desperate to learn.
But what was his excuse now?
He stared at the many images of Becca on the screen in front of him, studying the play of light and shadow, the angles, the openness and honesty on her face when he managed to catch her unaware. The pain and heartbreak she hid from so many but the camera revealed.
His phone buzzed with a text message he ignored. As great as technology was, he hated the feeling of always being available. Sometimes people needed to check out of reality for a while. Take time to sit back and recharge and not be at the world's instant call.
The phone buzzed again. And then again.
Eyes shut, he ignored the irritating device. I still love her. Doesn't that mean anything?
The constant buzzing of a phone call ended his prayer and he picked up the phone with a jerk of his arm. "Dupre."
"Zack? It's Becca."
He sat forward in the chair with a snap, the irony of the situation not lost on him. "Hey. What's up?"
"Is Eli over there?" she asked quickly, noise crackling over the phone as though she was in motion.
"What? No. Why? What's going on?"
"His sleep schedule has been so messed up since we got here so when he fell asleep playing, I just let him nap. I left the room to make some phone calls and when I came back he was gone. I've searched the entire apartment and he's not here."
Her panic sent adrenaline racing through Zack in response. "I'll be right there."
He sent the rolling chair flying backward when he stood and left his spare bedroom office. He hurried through his apartment, not even taking the time to don the shoes he'd left by the door.
Becca waited for him in the hallway.
"Where can he be?"
"He's got to be around here somewhere. He probably just fell back to sleep."
"But where? The apartment is empty."
"Did you check the closets? Kitchen cabinets?" He'd spent plenty of time hanging out in closets and cabinets as a kid. Playing, hiding from his drunk step-father. Getting locked inside when the old man simply didn't want to deal with raising a couple kids on his own.
Becca followed him back into her sister's apartment and they began to search for the child, but with every empty space they found, Zack's panic grew. The kid didn't talk. Would he scream if he'd wandered out of the apartment and got snatched up by some perv?
They looked under the beds and in the linen closets, anywhere and everywhere a small child could be.
"Eliiii?"
He turned to find Becca standing in the middle of Kaity's apartment, her arms wrapped around her front and a look of stark terror on her beautiful face. Zack crossed the room and pulled her into his arms, against his chest. He hugged her tightly, kissed the top of her head. "Stay calm. He's here. We just have to keep looking. Panicking isn't going to help."
"I know but--"
He released her long enough to raise his hands to her face, gently tilting her head so that she had to look at him. "He's fine. I'll help you find him."
A low whine sounded and Zack recognized it as belonging to Moses. But where was he? The dog usually didn't let Zack out of his sight whenever they were home and all the while they'd been looking for Eli, Moses would normally have been right there... "Moses."
"What?"
Zack whistled and called Moses' name and once again the dog let out another low whine. "Come with me."
Becca followed closely behind him as Zack hurried back down the hall to his apartment. "I've been in the spare bedroom working for hours. Moses was with me but then disappeared."
"You think they're together? How did Eli get inside?"
Zack glanced over his shoulder. "I don't lock my door. Compared to where I grew up, this place is Fort Knox."
He smiled at the way Becca's eyes widened and hurried into his apartment to scan the room. "Moses?"
A soft snuffling sound came from the direction of the kitchen. The open concept apartment was spacious but the kitchen was tucked back into a corner with a small seating area that shared a fireplace with the living room. He hurried around the couch and sure enough Moses was curled up on his big bed--around a sleeping Eli.
Zack stopped in his tracks when he spotted the two of them, the overwhelming amount of tension and fear leaving his body in a rush of air. "Look."
Becca gasped softly and he turned to see her hand over her mouth, the tears sparkling in her eyes turning the orbs into liquid aquamarine.
He put his arm around her and hugged her close to his side. "He's fine. Breathe."
She nodded, blinking hard to rid herself of the tears, and wrapped her arm around his waist. They stood there like that a long time, marveling over the dog and how Moses didn't move as though afraid he would wake Eli.
"That dog is amazing," Becca whispered.
Unable to help himself, Zack leaned over her and kissed the top of her head once again. "So are you."
Maybe it wasn't wise, Becca mused, but when Zack had invited her to stay at his apartment and hang out while Eli napped, she'd accepted, more than a little exhausted by the scare and more than a little comforted by Zack's presence.
Zack had insisted on making dinner while she waited. She'd offered to help cook but Zack had claimed his kitchen to be his own. He now stood behind the granite-topped island dressed in jeans and a t-shirt with a kitchen towel slung over his shoulder for convenience. The image was... appealing, to say the least.
Had Elliot ever made her a meal? Cooked for her after a long, hard day?
Don't compare the two. That isn't right.
It wasn't. And she forced her thoughts away from her ex and her... what? Friend?
"You look awfully serious in there. What's going through that pretty head of yours?"
She scrambled for a response, unwilling to share the fact she pondered their relationship status. "Nothing. Just thinking."
"About?"
Remembering his earlier words, she focused on them. "What made you think to check the closets?" she asked, staring into the flames of the fire from her position on his couch.
Christmas carols played on his big screen television, the music a soothing balm to her raw nerves.
"Looks like someone's waking up."
She fixed her attention on Eli and saw her son roll onto his stomach, his head still propped by Moses' large body. Eli looked sleepy-eyed but calm and more content than when he'd finally crashed earlier.
Zack turned his back to her as he flipped the steaks over on the stove-top grille.
"Experience," he said, keeping his voice low and even. "Spent more than a little time there for one reason or another."
A reference to his past. Another small hint of what had gone on behind closed doors. "You never said much about your life at home. Not when we were together."
"Not much to tell."
She shifted to settle more comfortably on the large leather couch, not fooled for an instant. "Oh, but I think there is. Especially if you're bringing it up now."
He turned his head and shot a look over his shoulder in her direction, their eyes meeting and holding for a long moment until he refocused his attention on his tasks.
"Maybe I have a reason."
"Oh?"
He nodded, winked at her. "Being the tough kid from the wrong side of the tracks didn't work back then. Now it's time for a new plan of attack."
A thrill jolted through her because of his words and the interest visible in his eyes. "A plan of attack? I think you might be spending too much time with the military people in your family."
He grinned, the smile transforming his features. He was a handsome man, no two ways about it.
"The easy answer is that I know what I want for my life, and I know what not to do because of how I grew up. Some people wind up following the same path as those who raise them, and that's their choice, but there are others, like me, who veer the opposite direction out of the sheer determination to be different. Better. No kid of mine will ever be in a closet unless it's to play there by choice."
Her heart broke over the pain of his childhood but she also knew that he wouldn't be the man standing before her if not for that pain. "I admire that." The words appeared out of nowhere but they were no less true. Ten years ago, her father had angrily filled her in about Zack's home life and reputation so she knew about the arrests, the drinking, the domestic violence calls and CPS checkups. But to compare that angry, sullen teenager to the man before her...
"Come and get it," he said, wiping his hands on the towel.
"It smells wonderful." She got to her feet and padded across the room, earning a head lift from Moses who was still in position with Eli.
"Let's eat in there," he said, indicating the table with a nod of his head.
Before long all three of them were settled into seats with Moses sitting pretty by Zack's chair waiting patiently for a handout.
She picked up her fork, only then realizing Zack had stretched both hands across the table for her--and Eli--to grasp.
“I’m feeling thankful. Okay if we say grace?"
Her heart picked up speed at the sweetness of it all, and she had to swallow hard as she nodded. "Yes. Eli? Let's pray first."
She waited until Eli lowered his head and shut his eyes before doing the same, feeling Zack's scrutiny for several seconds.
"Lord, thank you for the blessing of this food and the company I share it with," Zack said. "Thank you for watching over Eli when he left his mother's care, and for Moses keeping track of the boy and out of harm's way. Thank you, Lord, for bringing Becca home to Stone River. Amen."
"Ah-men," Eli whispered.
Becca gasped and looked at Eli only to find her son engrossed in stabbing a piece of his already-cut steak. She turned to Zack and saw him staring at her son until he gave his head a slight shake, indicating, she believed, that she shouldn't make a big deal out of Eli speaking. But it was a big deal. And yet another sign that her son was bonding with Zack.
She and Zack talked about the wedding plans and Christmas as they ate. Zack's half-sister held a gathering at her home atop a mountain. The younger sister he had been raised with was married and living in San Antonio with her military husband so she and Zack would be sharing a phone call instead of hugs.
Since Kaity and David would be leaving for their honeymoon, Becca told Zack she and Eli would remain in Kaity's apartment until the holidays were over.
"And then? You still haven't answered the question I asked about staying in Stone River."
"I'm not...sure," she said, torn between the two worlds in which she lived. She loved spending time with Zack here in his apartment by a cozy fire, but the reality of staying in Stone River... Dealing with her family...
"It's not an easy decision."
"No. It isn't. Thank you for understanding that."
"I do. And I'll abide by whatever you decide--so long as you make the decision based on your feelings and no one else's."
He knew. Zack knew being with him would cause her to have words with her parents, but the decision was hers to make and one she would have to fight to defend should she decide to stay.
But was she ready? Was she prepared for that on top of everything else?
Or would it be best to go back to Charleston and live her life without the man sitting across from her?