“I know this is impossible,” she said, voice soft. “I don’t want to make this any harder on you than it’s already been. And I don’t want to keep you out of her life. But at the end of the day, everything has to come back to doing what’s best for Sophia. That’s what I promised Corinne, what I promised myself, and it’s the unspoken promise I’ve made to Sophia.”
Zach nodded. “I get it.”
“Will you be able to come out to DC after filming here ends? Before you start the series?”
“I don’t even know if I’m going to get the job.” He forced his mind to engage and tried to remember his plans. He repositioned Sophia’s warm weight. “I’ve got a board manufacturer’s advertisement to shoot before I head to California for the Mavericks competition. I’ll be surfing there for four months. After that, I’m not sure. I need to look at my calendar, see what I can move around.” H
e shook his head, at a loss for an adequate remedy and bleeding inside. He couldn’t talk about this anymore. “We should get her home.”
16
Tessa watched the night pass out the window. Her stomach hurt, her shoulders were tight, and a thick dread coated her throat.
All her concerns over Zach had been dispelled over the last several hours. He’d kept Sophia safe in the water. He’d helped her achieve in a new environment. And both he and Sophia had fun doing it. He’d also been infinitely patient with her moods and willing to alter his own plans to meet her needs without anger.
That didn’t mean he could raise her, but it might mean he had the capacity to be a decent dad.
And now Tessa had to figure out how to include that dad in Sophia’s life, while keeping her own together.
Zach’s hand covered her knee and squeezed. “You’re quiet.”
Before she could respond, her cell rang. Tessa pulled it from her pocket and saw Gordon’s name on the screen. Tessa glanced at the clock on the dash. It was 7:30 p.m., which made it 1:30 a.m. in DC.
Her stomach dropped. “Damn, this can’t be good.” She connected. “Hi, Gordon, what’s going on?”
“I’m so sorry to bother you.” He sounded tired and exasperated, which meant he’d done everything within his power not to bother her, but it had failed. “Calvin is lowballing Denise. Denise is digging her heels in, and Al’s got one foot out the door.”
Tessa closed her eyes. “Nooooooo,” she groaned. “No, no, no.”
“Bryon’s been all over me since noon,” Gordon said. “I put Gail on it, but no one calls her back, and now Bryon’s demanding to meet with you.”
No. She wasn’t ready. She wasn’t ready to leave Zach or Hawaii. She wasn’t ready to go back to work. Wasn’t ready for the stress of it all. “That’s a problem.”
“I made some calls,” Gordon said. “There is a firm about two miles from where you’re staying with full services, and they’re willing to loan you the paralegal in the conference room for two hours. Bryon’s standing by with his staff for a videoconference. Just let me know when you can be at the office there, and I’ll set it up.”
“Shit.” She closed her eyes, rubbing her forehead. “Abby left this morning. Sophia is asleep…” She glanced at Zach, then looked over her shoulder into the backseat, where Sophia was passed out. “Hang on a second.” She covered the mouthpiece. “I’m really sorry to ask, and it’s a long story, but do you think you could stay with Sophia for a few hours?”
His brows rose in surprise. “Me? Alone?” He glanced back at Sophia, and a spark of uncertainty lit his eyes. “Is she going to stay asleep?”
“If she does, she’ll be awake at four a.m. And if that happens, I’m sending her over to your place and going back to bed. So, no, she shouldn’t stay asleep.”
“I guess that answers the question of where we’re all sleeping.” He glanced at her with a sidelong grin. “If you’ll reconsider letting me stay with you, I’ll watch Sophia.”
His humor lightened her irritation. Tessa really shouldn’t sleep with him again. On the other hand, this was the last little bit of time they had together. Then Tessa would go back to Washington, Zach would move on with his glamorous life, and they’d stay in touch only for Sophia.
Tessa removed her hand from the phone. “Tell Bryon I’ll call him in thirty minutes.”
“Yes,” Zach hissed in a low tone, his face lightening with a grin.
“I agreed to reconsider,” she told Zach, who gave her a narrow-eyed, that’s-not-fair look. To Gordon, Tessa said, “Okay, go ahead and set it up. I’ll reassure Bryon.”
When she got off the phone Zach asked, “What’s going on?”
“Typical bull.” She sighed and rested her head back against the seat. “The veterans lobbyists and the Association of Hospitals are on board with our revised guidelines to provide access to health services for veterans. But the Veterans Administration is giving the lobbyists a lowball figure of how much money they have to pay for services. Everyone else who matters has approved the bill as it stands. These players are the last holdouts for the bill to go through smoothly and quickly. And they’re big players. If these three can’t find common ground on what services the veterans will receive and how much those services cost, the bill won’t go through.”
Zach glanced at her. “Isn’t it, like, 4:00 a.m. in DC?”
“Yep. And the senator’s chief of staff, that’s Bryon, is demanding a meeting with me to hash things out.”