Best for the Baby by Ann Evans

posture.
    “Would you like some coffee?” she asked.
    “No.”
    “Iced tea?”
    “No.”
    “So, then. To what do I owe the pleasure of this visit?”
    “I’ve come to get you.”
    “Get me?”
    “I’m taking you back to Heron Cove. Pack your things.”
    That decree surprised her—and set her temper on simmer. “I’m not going back to the cottage,” she said, shaking her head. “I thought you understood that I—”
    “I understood every word you said, and believe me, I’m good with going back to the way things were before we…Just friends, not lovers. The bottom line is, you can’t continue to stay in this…this fleabag.”
    “It’s not a fleabag. It’s a perfectly respectable…Well, okay. Maybe it’s not the Ritz-Carlton, but it will do.”
    “No, it won’t. Where’s your bag?”
    He moved toward the closet. Suddenly furious at his presumptive attitude, Alaina stalked across the room to catch his arm. She had tried to be pleasant, but he’d crossed a line. “Hey! What gives you the right to come in here and start ordering me around? Last time I looked, I was over the age of consent, and I don’t need anyone’s permission, including yours.”
    “I’m serious, Al. You’re checking out of this dump.”
    “No, I’m not. For right now, this is fine. When Jeffrey and I were traveling, I assure you, we stayed in plenty of places that had a lot less to offer.”
    His jaw was clamped shut in a sullen, angry way that said he wouldn’t be denied. “I don’t care where you and Jeffrey stayed. Is this your idea of getting your life together? Is this the kind of place you think is good for the baby? What would your parents think?”
    Her eyes burned into his. She was so furious now that she could hardly see. She stepped aside, indicating a clear path to the door. “I think you should leave,” she snapped.
    Zack’s features darkened as she stared at him in mutinous silence. He appeared so emphatic and uncompromising. He opened his mouth to say something, then swore instead and sighed deeply. “Look, I apologize. I…” He swore again, shaking his head. “Let me start over. I actually came here for a reason.”
    “It had better be a good one.”
    “I think it is. It still involves leaving here….”
    “I told you—”
    He lifted one hand. “Just hear me out. I have an idea I want you…I’d like you to consider.”
    “What kind of idea?” she asked, full of suspicion.
    “I’d like you to come back to Heron Cove to stay for a few weeks. I’d like you to work for me.”
    She hadn’t expected him to say that. What was he up to? “Work for you? Doing what?”
    “I’m going to put the cottage up for sale, but I need help. I can handle anything on the outside, any handy-man kind of stuff. But the inside needs updating. It hasn’t had a makeover since the sixties.”
    At this news, some of her anger dissipated like summer storm clouds. Selling Heron Cove? The idea seemed impossible to contemplate. “You’re going to sell the cottage?”
    “Yeah. Some of the furniture can stay, but I’m thinking new wallpaper and paint. Pack up some of the kitschy junk that’s been collecting dust for years. Maybe new kitchen and bath fixtures. You’d be the best judge of what it needs, I suppose.”
    “But Heron Cove has always been so special to your family. There are so many—”
    Zack cut her off sharply. “Things change.” She could see by the look on his face that he didn’t want to talk about it. “Will you take the job?”
    “Why me?”
    “Why not you? Until Gil convinced you otherwise, you would have made a career out of interior design. And I’ve seen Maggie’s new place. She said it was completely your doing. I like it, and I think you could bring some of that expertise to Heron Cove. You take care of the inside, while I work on the outside.”
    “So we’d both be there at the same time.”
    “Yes.”
    She shook her head. “Then I can’t do it.”
    “Why not? Are you