the maid and the maid’s husband.
“To each his own,” he muttered as he checked a few minor points of law.
Sometime later David turned off the music. Zach barely noticed. However, he did look up when he heard footsteps on the hardwood floor. The kids trooped toward the front door. A couple paused to yell out thanks for allowing them to visit.
“No problem,” Zach told them.
David came downstairs last, a pretty redhead walking with him. They were deep in conversation.
Zach made a few more notes in the margin. He and David were going to go grab an early dinner, then take in a movie. Mia had some plans with a club on campus, so he and David were just going to be a couple of wild guys on the town.
Real wild, Zach thought with a grin. Dinner and a movie, home before ten.
A soft giggle caught his attention. He glanced up and saw David still talking to the redhead. She leaned against the wall by the front door. One hand toyed with a long strand of hair, the other rested on his son’s chest. David stood pretty damned close and looked cozy enough to make Zach feel as if he were spying.
Zach swore. What the hell was his kid up to?
He slammed the law book shut and they both jumped. David glanced at him over his shoulder, then opened the front door. “I’m going to walk Julie to her car, Dad. Be right back.”
Zach watched him go. This wasn’t his business, he told himself. Except David was supposed to be engaged- something Zach was still trying to change-and if there was another young woman in the picture, then there were even more reasons the marriage shouldn’t take place.
Indecision held him in his seat for nearly fifteen seconds, then Zach rose and crossed to the front window. Julie had already climbed into her car. The door was open and David had crouched next to her.
They were talking, Zach could see that much, but he had no idea about what. Nor was he sure what happened when David leaned forward slightly. Shit. Had he kissed her? Was David cheating on Mia? Was his problem solved? Or was David going to take after his grandfather and be a cheating spouse? The possibility of the latter made Zach’s stomach clench.
Annoyed with both David for acting like an ass and himself for witnessing it, Zach returned to his seat. David strolled back into the house a minute or so later and slumped down on the sofa across from Zach’s seat.
“How’s work going?” his son asked, jerking his head at the pages on the table.
“Slow, but I’m getting there.”
“I don’t think I’d want to be a lawyer. Too much boring reading.”
“There’s a lot of that.” Zach couldn’t decide if he should say anything or not. If he pushed, David could dig in his heels. Maybe a more neutral topic would be safer.
“Have you given any thought to what you
David shrugged. He wore a UCLA sweatshirt and jeans. As usual, his hair was too long. At least the kid had never been into earrings or tattoos. He thought briefly of Francesca in her fake tattoos and shuddered. Going around dressed up like that was a strange occupation for a woman in her late twenties.
No. It was a strange occupation for anyone.
“What classes do you like?” Zach asked. “I was never interested in math, but your mother’s father was an engineer. You might have inherited some aptitude from him.”
“It’s okay.” He shifted in the sofa, stretching out. His head practically rested on the arm of the sofa. “Biology has been kinda interesting, but I hate the lab. I dunno.”
Zach picked up a pen and turned it over in his hands. “You still have a lot of time to decide.” He glanced back at David. “Is Mia pressuring you to pick something?”
“What?” David straightened. “No. Not really.”
“Okay. I just wondered. Katie said Mia has known what she wanted from school for years.”
“Mia’s like that.”
“What about Julie?”
David grinned. “She’s like me. She doesn’t have a clue.”
“She seems nice.”
David glanced out the window. “She is. We’re friends. We were just talking about some stuff.” He cleared his throat. “You know, I’ve been thinking.”
Zach wondered if he should pursue the “Julie” line of conversation, then decided to let it go rather than tip his hand. “About what?”
“About school and stuff. I’ve been thinking that I might want to transfer to a different school in a year or two.”
It took Zach a couple of seconds to realize what he’d heard. “You want to leave UCLA?”
Leave? But that was the only college David had ever wanted to attend. They’d been going to football games and basketball games together for years. Now David went with his friends more than his father, but he still went.
“I don’t understand,” Zach said. “Don’t you like your classes?”
“They’re okay.”
“I know you’ve made friends. What’s the problem?”
David looked as if he’d just tasted liver. “Why does there have to be a problem? I’m doing great. I really like UCLA. I don’t want to leave, I just-” He studied the floor. “Mia is going to be graduating next year, and she really has her heart set on going to Georgetown for her master’s.”
David wanted to change his life for one girl while possibly screwing another? Damn it all to hell.
Zach told himself that exploding at his son would only end the conversation and put them on opposite sides of the issue, but it was hard to keep from shouting in frustration.
Instead he forced himself to sound calm as he said, “Why doesn’t Mia get her master’s at UCLA? If it took her two years, you’d both finish at the same time.”
David looked uncomfortable. “We’ve, um, you know, talked about that. The thing is, she wants to go into the State Department and being in Washington will make that easier. She’ll meet people, get an internship, that sort of thing. We had dinner with some guy she met last summer. He works there now and he’s gonna help her.”
David shrugged again. His hair fell across his forehead, hiding his expression. “Mia really wants to do this.”
Zach drew in a deep breath. “Mia’s fortunate to have such a clear view of her future,” he said, trying for light, and not sure he was succeeding. “What do you want?”
David grinned. “It sort of seems like under the circumstances that not having a major is a good thing, huh?”
Zach mentally grabbed on to his self-control with both hands. “If you’re talking about transferring at the end of your sophomore year, you’ll have to declare a major to be accepted, won’t you?”
“I guess. I could just take poli sci, like Mia. It might be fun.”
“Fun? David, we’re talking about your future. What do you want to do with your life? While I’m not suggesting you pick a career that’s boring, I would think you’d want to put a little more thought into a major than the fact that it’s what your girlfriend is studying.”
David’s head snapped up. “You said it didn’t matter that I didn’t have a major.”
“It doesn’t. Not now. But it will matter soon. It will matter a lot if you switch schools. What if what you want to study isn’t available at Georgetown? I don’t object to you transferring, if it’s in your best interest. But simply to follow Mia?”
“We’re getting married. I can’t marry her and live on the other side of the country.”
Something snapped. Zach heard the audible sound as his frustration and concern exploded into temper.
“Dammit, David, this entire situation is crazy. You’re barely eighteen years old. You don’t have a clue as to what you want for your future, so why are you so fired up to get married? If you and Mia are so hot to be together, then move in with her. Sharing an apartment for a few months will take the bloom off the rose. You’ll both figure out that there’s more to love than sex.”
David flushed, but he didn’t look away. Instead he slid forward in his seat and jerked out his chin. “I thought you’d be proud of me wanting to marry her instead of just living together. Isn’t marriage the right thing to do?”
“Sure. If you’re ready. If you’re sure. You and Julie looked chummy. Want to tell me what’s going on
