The Sparkling One

me.”

“He dumped you?”

She raised her eyebrows. “Thank you for putting it so delicately, but yes.”

“Are you okay with that?”

“It’s been about ten years. I’ve managed to get on with my life.”

“Without getting married.”

She put down her fork. “Marriage is one of those topics we should probably avoid.”

She held her own with him-he liked that. “So let’s talk about me.”

“Your favorite subject?”

“Absolutely. Ask me anything.”

“Who do you prefer to represent in your work?” she asked, leaning back in her chair. “The husband or the wife?”

“I take on whoever asks me first.”

“So you don’t care about being on the side of right?”

“We’re talking about divorce. There’s almost never a ’right’ side. I’ve yet to see a marriage fall apart all because one person is inherently evil. Usually both parties have some claim to the blame. In the case of drugs or alcohol, the nonabusing spouse doesn’t usually deal with his or her problems because the substance issue is bigger than both of them, but that doesn’t mean it’s not there.”

“I never thought about it,” Katie admitted. “There hasn’t been any divorce in our family. I guess we’re just lucky.”

“Luck helps. In my line of work I don’t see very much of it.”

“Why a divorce lawyer? There are a lot of ways for a lawyer to make a living in this town. Why’d you pick that specialty?”

“Let’s move to the living room first,” he said easily, rising, then pulling out her chair for her. “It will be more comfortable.”

She reached for the empty plates on the table, but he brushed her hands away. “I’ll get that later.” At her look of surprise, he shrugged. “I can be domestic when the situation calls for it.”

He put his hand on the small of her back. She didn’t move away. Score one for his side, he thought, pleased that she liked being close to him. He didn’t find her nearness a hardship, either, which meant being charming to get his way had plenty of perks. Pleasant working conditions always improved his attitude.

The sunken living room had west-facing, floor-to-ceiling windows. Katie walked toward them.

“You must see amazing sunsets,” she said, staring into the darkness.

“If I’m home in time.”

“If I lived here, I’d make sure I was home.”

“The hacienda overlooks the Pacific. You see the sunsets from there.”

“That’s where I grew up, so it’s different.”

She started toward the sectional sofa. As she passed a hip-high table, she paused. He saw that her gaze had settled on several framed photographs. Zach shoved his hands into his pockets and waited for the questions. So far everything was going according to plan.

A beautiful blonde smiled out from one picture. The same woman laughed in two other pictures. She and a much younger Zach were together in a fourth.

“She’s stunning,” Katie said, a question in her voice.

“David’s mother.”

“Oh. She’s really lovely.”

“On the outside. On the inside-” He shrugged. “She walked away from David when he was four, and I don’t think she’s seen him more than twice since.”

Katie’s gold-flecked brown eyes widened. “I don’t understand. How could she not want to be with her child?”

“She never wanted children.”

He hesitated, more to figure out how much to tell than because he was reluctant to share his past. He didn’t usually spill his guts to people he just met, but extraordinary circumstances called for extraordinary measures. He needed Katie as an ally, but he had to be careful.

He motioned to the sectional sofa. Katie sank down onto the cushions. Zach settled across from her. He schooled his features into his “I’m concerned but I’m okay” look.

“I met Ainsley in high school. She was the head cheerleader, prom queen. You know the type.”

“I’ve met one or two,” Katie said with a slight smile.

Zach nodded. “I thought Ainsley was a princess. So I wooed and won her. Boy meets girl, boy falls for girl, boy gets girl pregnant.”

Katie winced. “How old were you?”

“Just seventeen. We got married. David came along nine months later. It wasn’t how I planned to spend the summer after graduating from high school. But we learned how to be parents. It wasn’t easy.”

He didn’t go into details. There was no point in discussing the fights, the anger that had flared between them as they struggled to take care of their son. They’d both felt trapped. Whatever infatuation they’d once shared had quickly burned away.

“I had some money from a trust fund,” he continued. “That paid for our living expenses, although there wasn’t much left over for more than basics. Ainsley’s parents paid for her college. I had a scholarship. Both our moms helped out with daycare. It was still tough.”

Tough didn’t begin to describe what it had been. Ainsley had made his life a living hell. She’d resented David and being married. She had been young and beautiful, and she wanted to be out in the world.

“The day I graduated from college, Ainsley had me served with divorce papers,” he said flatly. “She’d hired one of the best lawyers in the city. My lawyer had been recommended by a friend. He wasn’t in the same league. Ainsley got everything. I fought for custody of David, which turned out not to be a problem. Not only did she not want to see her son, she wanted compensation for the pain and suffering of having to have a child in the first place. She claimed she’d wanted to have an abortion and that I’d talked her out of it. She even had notes from a clinic visit she’d made while she’d been pregnant.”

Katie frowned. “I don’t understand. Had she wanted an abortion?”

“I don’t know. She never said anything to me. In the same breath she told me she was pregnant, she announced we were getting married. I’d been raised to believe a man took his responsibilities seriously, so I never thought otherwise.”

He rested his elbows on his knees. “Let’s just say Ainsley got her pound of flesh and then some. I was to come into the lump sum of my trust fund when I turned twenty-five. She got all of that and didn’t have to pay child support. When it was over her lawyer took me aside. He slapped me on the back and told me next time I needed to get a better lawyer. At that moment I vowed to be a better lawyer.”

Katie looked stunned. Zach knew it wasn’t a pretty story, but every word of it was true.

“So Ainsley simply disappeared from your life?”

“She showed up to collect her checks, but once she had all the money she was due, she disappeared. I heard she moved back East. I don’t care where she is.”

“Why do you keep her pictures out?”

“They matter to David. I packed them away once, but he asked me to let them stay. He has trouble remembering her and the photos help.”

Katie had never had a child, so she was unable to comprehend the depth of Zach’s feeling for David. Still, there wasn’t a doubt in her mind that this man loved his son with every fiber of his being. His intensity, his steadfastness, not only made her quiver on the inside, they confirmed her belief that Mia had made a good choice. David Stryker had an amazing role model guiding him through life.

Now that she’d heard Zach’s history, she understood his concerns for the engagement. She approved of his concern, even if she didn’t appreciate his tactics.

“Did you tell me this to explain your position or to win me to your side?” she asked.