Adopted: Family in a Million

She glanced around as a sixth sense kicked in. Zack was crossing the grass, a white bag held in one hand. His gaze was focused on her as he cut the distance swiftly. No sign of a limp today.

“Hi,” he said when he was close.

“Hi.” Susan felt fluttery inside. She had hoped to see him, but now that he was here, she felt positively shy. That was so not like her.

He lifted the bag a couple of inches. “I took a chance and brought coffee. If you don’t want any, that’s okay. I even brought some apple juice for Danny.”

“I’d love a cup of coffee. I’ve only had one so far today and sitting here in the sun was making me sleepy.”

He nodded and sat beside her. In seconds she was sipping the heavenly brew.

“I brought cream in case,” he said, rummaging around in the bag.

“No, I like it black.”

“Me, too.” He lifted a bottle of apple juice and a straw, setting them on the bench between them.

Susan was touched he’d thought to bring something for Danny.

“Thank you.” She caught Danny’s attention and waved him over. He ran all the way.

“Hi,” Zack said.

“Hi. Did you come to watch me play?” he asked.

Zack smiled and nodded. “I sure did.”

“Zack brought you some apple juice,” Susan said, opening the bottle and removing the wrapper from the straw.

“I love apple juice!” Danny exclaimed. He drank almost half the bottle and then stopped, gasping for breath.

“You don’t need to drink it all in one go,” his mother commented wryly. “What do you say?”

“Thank you for my apple juice,” he said to Zack. Then he turned and ran back to the swings.

“Does he ever get tired?” Zack asked.

“Oh, yeah. After lunch he’ll sleep for about two hours. Then be raring to go until bedtime. I’m glad you came today. I have a lead on a sublet, if you’re still interested.”

“I am. I spent the better part of this week looking.”

Susan reached into the backpack and pulled out the note with the information about the small apartment not too far from a subway stop. She handed it to Zack. She wished it had been closer to this neighborhood. It would take some effort to come to the park from that place.

He read the information she’d jotted down then reached into his pocket and pulled out his wallet. He extracted another business card, then put her note in its place. Taking a pen, he wrote a phone number and handed her the card.

“I also bought a cell phone this week. Here’s my number. Just in case.”

“In case of what?” she asked, taking the card.

He shrugged. “You find another place available, or just want to talk.”

She wondered if he was lonely. Though she couldn’t imagine any woman would resist long if he showed some interest.

Including her.

“Thanks.” She hesitated a moment. “I can give you our number if you like.”

Zack nodded and in a moment had her number on the same paper as the sublet information.

“What did you do all week?” she asked.

“Worked on the physical therapy on my shoulder and hip. Hurts like crazy. They didn’t tell me that when I started. Just some discomfort they said. Ha, I’d like to see them try it.” He rotated his shoulder and grimaced. “Then I called about vacancies. Everything was taken by the time I called.”

“You aren’t trying to get back in shape in a week, are you?”

“Hey, no pain, no gain. Besides, I’ve been working on this since last November. “

“You need to follow instructions exactly for maximum recovery,” she murmured.

“You a nurse?” He glanced at her. His dark eyes held amusement.

She grinned. It was fun to banter with him. “Better, I’m a mom. I know things. Didn’t your mother tell you not to argue back?”

His look became pensive and he looked across the playground to where Danny and his friends were climbing the bars. “I don’t remember my mother,” he said.

“Oh.” Susan was stricken. She couldn’t have known he had lost his mother early. “I’m sorry,” she said. She couldn’t imagine her mother not being a part of her life, even though she lived in Florida.

He shrugged. “Things happen.”

She longed to ask some questions, but didn’t want to pry. If he wanted her to know more, he’d tell her.

Seeking a safe topic, she remembered the sublet. “My friend said the apartment will be sublet fully furnished. They want less than six months. They’re taking a long tour of Europe, but not so long to tie up the place for a year. I thought it might work out.”

“The way places get rented around here, I’ll call this afternoon.”

Susan sipped her coffee, feeling happier than she had in a long time. The day was beautiful, a cloudless blue sky, just enough breeze to keep the temperature from climbing uncomfortably high. She was watching her son have a great time. And sitting beside one of the most gorgeous men on the planet. She even caught a glimpse of some other mothers staring, and then talking among themselves. She resisted the urge to glance at Zack. Did he feel awkward being the only male around? No, wait, there were two fathers with their children playing Frisbee on the grass. But Zack wasn’t with a child.

He took the last drink from his coffee and put the cup in the bag.

“I thought about seeing the sights, showing myself New York so to speak. Would you and your son like to go to the zoo with me tomorrow? I’ve seen nothing but sand and more sand in the last few years. It occurs to me that kind of outing would be more fun with a child along who would really be captivated by the animals.”

Susan drew in a breath, surprised at the strong inclination to accept on the spot. She’d love to spend more time with him. Yet—she wasn’t sure she was ready to date. She’d tried it twice and hated both outings. Was this a date? She didn’t know the man, but they would be in a public place. How dangerous could going to the zoo be? Danny loved the zoo. They’d gone twice last summer.

“Let me check my calendar when I get home,” she said, stalling. She wanted to think this through before making a decision. “It is fun to visit the exhibits with a little boy who’s fascinated by everything. He’s a bundle of energy and won’t settle for a sedate pace.”

“I checked—the zoo opens at nine, so I thought an early start to see as much as we can. I warn you, I may not have the stamina to last all day.”

“Sounds like fun. I’ll let you know. Thanks for inviting us to join you. Danny loves animals.”

Zack nodded. He had asked. It was up to her. His gaze was drawn again to his son. The wonder was hard to accept. When Danny’s laughter rang out, Zack wanted to scoop him up and hug him. He could watch this child for hours, fascinated to know he and Alesia had produced such a darling boy.

Anger simmered at his former lover for keeping this miracle from him. He would have dropped everything to return to the States if she’d only told him. Now he’d missed the opportunity to be a part of his life.

When Danny got in line for the large, curved slide, he was hidden from view for a few moments. Zack glanced back to Susan. She was not what he expected. Instead of being a nebulous figure, she was a pretty woman with soft looking honey-gold hair and grave gray eyes. She wasn’t tall, reaching only to his shoulder. She kept her eyes on Danny, watching out for him, ready to spring to the rescue if needed.

She obviously loved him. That was one lucky little boy. Zack wondered how his own life might have been different if his parents had lived. If they had expressed the love he could see shining so clearly in Susan’s expression.

Looking back at the little boy, Zack watched every move, every expression that crossed his son’s face. Soon Zack would be healed and returning to the Middle East—or another project in a foreign land. For a few weeks he might get the chance to know Danny. He wished for him a better childhood than he had experienced.

“How long is your leave?” Susan asked.

“I have at least two more months.” Two months to regain his strength and range of motion in his shoulder. He would do all the exercises the PT insisted upon. And walk the entire island of Manhattan every day if it meant full recovery. He didn’t know what he’d do if he couldn’t pass the company physical. Look for a new kind of work, he supposed.

“Wow, I love it when I get two weeks off in a row,” Susan said.

“Yeah, vacation is far different from medical leave. When I had time off before, I’d visit different European countries.”

“We’ll be lucky to get to Europe once before Danny leaves home,” she said wistfully.

“Who watches Danny when you’re at work?” he asked. “I assume you work normal business hours.” Careful, he warned himself. You shouldn’t know anything about her. She needs to tell you herself or you’ll give away the fact a detective investigated her.

“It’s nine-to-five most of the time. Sometimes if something big is going on, I’ll be on call for weekends or late night sessions. I do get three weeks vacation, but depending on what’s going on in the world, I might not get it all at once,” Susan said.

“Does Danny go to a child care center?” Zack racked his brain for what limited knowledge he had about children. Some of the men who rotated into the field for the chance to make extra money had families. He’d listened to their tales of woe regarding children and child care while their wives worked. Most of the time he’d wandered away, seeking time alone. He hadn’t related before.

“There is a lovely retired schoolteacher who lives in our building and watches him for me. It works out perfectly. She needs a bit of extra money to supplement her retirement pay. Danny gets to stay in our apartment with his own toys and books. She takes him for walks here in nice weather. I was so lucky to connect with her.”

“Is it hard to get good child care?” Zack asked. There was so much he didn’t know about this family. His foster mothers had all stayed at home to be there for the children. How did a single working parent manage?

“The hard part is leaving him for so many hours. I wish I could work nights and be home with him during the day. He’s growing so fast. Edith gives me a report each day—how he liked preschool, when he napped, what he had for lunch, if any little friends from the neighborhood came to play. Things like that. It makes me feel more a part of his daily activities. But I miss the actual being there.”

Zack nodded. He hadn’t planned to get involved with Danny and his adoptive mother. But now that the opening had been made, Zack was intrigued with the mother of his child. He liked being with her. Would she consider expanding her circle of friends to let him in? He’d made the first step by inviting them to the zoo. He hoped Susan would accept. If not, he’d take one day at a time. He’d already attained more than he ever expected regarding his son.

Susan softly closed the door to Danny’s room. He was already asleep. Amazing how he could go from full speed to instant sleep. She felt tired enough to fall in bed herself, but still had some cleaning to do and another load of laundry. She’d dust and vacuum the living room to give Danny a chance to wake up if he were going to. Then she’d quickly run the last basket of clothes to the laundry area. Danny would stay asleep all night and she’d only be gone a few moments. She normally took him with her, but this weekend would prove to be different. If she were going to spend the day at the zoo tomorrow, she needed to get a load done tonight. When he’d been younger, she had never left Danny alone, even to dash down to the laundry room. Now she felt better about leaving him for a few minutes. She carried a baby monitor that would alert her if he awoke before she returned. It wasn’t ideal, but working single parents made do.

As she tidied the living room, she thought about Zack Morgan. How involved did she want to get with the man? He was only in New York to recover from injuries. Once he was fit again, he’d return to the Middle East and she’d likely never see him again.

It wasn’t as if she were planning a long-term friendship. But he was at loose ends and she had not been so intrigued with a man since her husband. What harm could it do to go to the zoo? Danny would love it.

And she’d love to spend the day with Zack.

Guess that meant she’d decided to accept the invitation to the zoo. Danny would be thrilled when she told him. And it would be more fun for her to see it with another adult. Not that she didn’t delight in her child. But sometimes she just wanted adult conversation.

When she returned from the laundry room, she’d call Zack and let him know they’d be happy to join him. Glancing at Tom’s picture, she almost apologized. “It’s not a date,” she explained. “Just an outing with Danny. He seems nice.” She wasn’t telling her husband how she’d felt a surprising attraction to Zack. She wasn’t interested in remarrying. How could she when Tom had been the love of her life? They had made such grand plans—all dust now that he was gone. She couldn’t risk that kind of heartache again. Love made a person hostage to all the bad things that could happen.

“He’s just a new acquaintance.” Was she trying to convince herself or Tom?

“Maybe he’ll become a friend. But he’s only here for a short time. Once his convalescence is up, he’ll move on and I’ll probably never see him again.” The thought disappointed her.

As Susan was inserting her key into the lock upon her return from the laundry room, she heard the phone ringing. She rushed to answer it hoping it hadn’t wakened Danny.

“Susan? This is Zack.”

“Hi.” She suddenly felt as shy as a schoolgirl when a boy called. “I was going to call you later.” She took a breath. “Danny and I would love to go to the zoo with you. We can be ready before nine if you want to get an early start.”

“Sounds good. I’ll swing by your apartment about eight-thirty if that suits. Thought we’d take a cab rather than the subway. I could have rented a car for my stay, but the traffic is too much to deal with. And I’m not sure I could find parking anywhere.”

She laughed. “That’s one of the reasons I don’t have one.” Susan felt oddly nervous about the outing. It wasn’t a date. She was merely going to the zoo with a new friend. And Danny would love it.

“Is Danny asleep?” Zack asked.

“Yes. We have a schedule. He does better with set times for things. So we’re up every morning before seven. He eats lunch at noon and we usually eat dinner at the same time every evening. Then it’s bath and bed by eight. Kids like routine.”

She’d admit to a rampant curiosity about the man. If she was planning to spend the day with him tomorrow, she could devote a bit of time tonight to get to know him better.

“So, tell me about working in the Middle East. What happened with the land mine?” Susan said, settling in on the sofa.

Zack began telling her about the land mine accident that had killed one construction worker and injured him. It had only been the heavy earthmover that had shielded the other workers from harm.

Glossing over his time in the hospital, he soon turned the topic to heavy construction projects outside of the U.S. He told her about the heat and dryness of the desert. How for the most part the people were grateful for the improvements made— especially when dams afforded water to heretofore barren land.

A buzzer sounded. Susan jumped. “My clothes are ready for the dryer,” she explained. “I’ll need to put them in.” She hated to end the conversation. But if she waited too much longer, she’d have to stay up later than normal waiting for the clothes to dry. With a full day planned for Sunday, she wanted to get a good night’s rest.

“How long does it take to do that? I can call back.”

“Great. Give me ten minutes.”

Zack hung up. The last forty minutes with Susan on the phone had been unexpectedly nice. His friends were still on the job site. He knew no else in New York except the private detective he’d hired. She was easy to talk with, but he wished he’d learned more about Susan. She’d kept the conversation clearly on him, which made sense. She wanted to know more about him if she was seeing him in the morning.

He liked that. When he called her back, though, he’d make sure to ask her questions. He considered the possible complications of getting to know them while he was in the States. Would he develop a bond with his son? Or just know him these few weeks, and keep the knowledge of his paternity a secret? He wasn’t sure how things would play out. But for the time being, he was content just to get to know Susan and Danny.

Ten minutes later he called again. She answered at the first ring. He pictured her rushing back to be there when he phoned. It was a nice feeling—and he wouldn’t ask for confirmation. He wanted to hold on to those feelings.

“So tell me a bit about you—I dominated the conversation before,” he said.

“That’s because your life is more exciting. I fight the crowds to go to work. Come home and spend time with my child until he goes to bed. Stay up as long as I can keep awake then go to bed myself.”

Zack tried to think like a man who knew nothing about this woman, instead of knowing most of the facts of her life, thanks to the detective. “What do you do on weekends?”

“In nice weather I always take him to the park. It’s our only grassy area. During the winter, we often visit museums so he can run around without getting cold. Sometimes in the summer we take a ride to the beach. Must sound pretty boring to a man who vacations in Europe.”

“It depends on whom I’m doing it with. One appealing part of your lifestyle is the stability you have. I’m a nomad.”

“By choice.”

“Maybe.”

“So by that do you mean you might be interested in settling down at some point?”

“I hadn’t considered it. First I was going to make my mark on the world.”

Zack didn’t go into how he’d wanted to leave something behind to mark his being alive. He had no family so he built structures that would endure for decades and beyond. Now things had changed. Whether he ever let Susan and Danny know who he was, he knew. He had a son.

“It would be a change. But at some point surely you want a family?” she said.

“And if I die and they had to go into foster care? Too risky.”

“Whoa, where did that come from?” she asked.

“It happened to my parents. I was raised in the foster care system in Chicago.”

“Oh.” Susan was taken aback. She remembered he said he didn’t remember his mother. For some reason she’d thought his father was still alive.

“Hey, it’s not a recent thing. I never knew either of my parents. I’m still in touch with one foster family,” he said.

“That must have been tough.” Susan wondered what Danny would do if something happened to her. She knew her mother would step in, but with her father in frail health, it would mean total turmoil for a long time. She couldn’t bear the thought of not being there to see her son grow up.

“But what if you didn’t die? What if you lived to be an old man and then had no children, no grandchildren? Wouldn’t that be worse?” she asked.

Zack tried to envision himself old, with lots of little children racing around yelling and laughing while he sat on some nebulous porch and watched. They would play in a big yard with old trees shading the grass. He would have his wife of many years beside him.

For a moment Zack wondered if he was losing it. The image popped and he was back in the small hotel room.

“I’ll keep that under consideration,” he said. “I called about the apartment sublet. It’s still available and I’m going over on Monday to look at it,” he said. “It’s not close to your place.”

“No, but a much better section of town. If they were subletting for longer, I might be tempted. But they want a short-term tenant. It sounds nice.”

“I’ll let you know if it works out.”

They talked for another half hour. Susan finally said she had to get her laundry now that it was dry and gave Zack her address for the morning. He said good-night. After replacing the phone, he gazed out into the dark night. He’d see her again in a few hours. How did he feel about that?

Susan hadn’t opened up to someone like Zack in years. She felt awkward now that the evening’s companionable conversation had been broken. Riding down the small elevator, she wondered if she was being wise in going out with Zack. What if she grew attached—or worse, what if Danny did. He still searched for his father everywhere. She didn’t want him doing the same for Zack if the man became part of their lives for the weeks he was recovering and then left. Little children didn’t understand.

She and Tom had known from the first they were meant for each other. To think about another man felt odd. But she’d done it! She’d accepted a date for Sunday. She and Danny would spend several hours with Zack. Her heart gave an unexpected skip. It was just for the day. Neither she nor Danny would grow too attached in such a short time.

When Zack rang the bell the next morning, Danny ran to the door. His mother had told him about the visit to the zoo at breakfast and he was raring to go. Flinging open the door he beamed up at Zack. Susan entered the living room in time to see her son open the door without even asking who was there. She was trying to instill some common sense in him, but he was too excited today to pay attention.

“Hey, there, Danny,” Zack said, stooping down to smile at the small boy at his level. “Ready to go?”

“Yes!” Danny flung himself at Zack, his arms going around his neck. “The zoo is my bestest place. I love the elephants!”

Susan smiled at the stunned look on Zack’s face. He hadn’t planned on her exuberant son. “Danny, you’re probably strangling Zack. Let go.”

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