Zach grabbed his towel and reluctantly padded off to the cabana.
Wearing a white one-piece swimsuit printed with big pink flowers,her dark hair wet and slicked back from her face, Britt wrapped a towel around her hips and walked up to them.
“Thanks for coming over,” Carly said.
Britt smiled. “We had a great day. Thanks for letting us use your pool, Linc.”
“The pool doesn’t get much use. I’m glad you two had fun.”
“You ought to see Zach swim. He’s a regular fish in the water. He ought to go out for the swim team.”
“That’s a great idea,” Carly said. “Once we get things worked out and I enroll him in school, maybe he could do that.”
“So you’re planning for him to live with you?”
Carly glanced toward the cabana where Zach had disappeared. “I don’t know. This has all happened so quickly. I’ll do whatever’s best for Zach.”
Linc thought of the bachelor life he’d been living since his divorce. Could he handle a ready-made family? Would Carly even be interested in making a life with him and the boy?
It was a thought that should have sent him running. If Beau found out the notion had even crossed his mind, his best friend would make an appointment for him with a shrink. And yet when he looked at Carly, when he thought of having a son, maybe children of his own, something seemed to settle deep inside him.
“Zach’s the sweetest kid,” Britt was saying. “I can’t believe his father beat him the way he did.”
Anger snapped in Carly’s eyes. “He won’t get another chance. I can promise you that.”
Linc flicked a glance toward the cabana. “No, that’s never going to happen to Zach again. Ever.”
* * *
Brittany said her farewells and headed for the car she’d parked out front while Carly sat across from Linc and Zach at a table in the shade next to the pool. Mrs. Delinski brought a tray with a pitcher of lemonade and they sipped quietly as she walked away.
“What’s going on?” Zach asked as soon as the woman disappeared back inside the house.
“Since the night you left Austin,” Carly said, “the police have been looking for you. People are worried something bad will happen to you.”
“I’m safe here. This place looks like an army base.”
“Yes, but the police don’t know that,” Linc said. “They’ve been expending a lot of manpower searching for you. It wasn’t fair to let them keep doing that.”
Zach’s head jerked up. “You called them? You called the cops and told them I was here?”
Carly pushed back damp strands of his wheat-colored hair. She wanted to hug him, but she didn’t think he’d let her. “We had to, Zach. We didn’t have any other choice.”
The boy shot to his feet so fast, his chair tipped over and crashed onto the pool decking. “You said you’d help me. You said I could trust you. You said you’d keep me safe.”
“You are safe, Zach,” Linc said. “But staying here is only a temporary solution. We need a permanent solution. That’s what we’re trying to get.”
Zach glanced wildly around. “Are they coming here? Are the cops coming to get me?” He looked ready to bolt, and Carly’s heart went out to him.
“They aren’t coming here, Zach,” she said. “Linc’s lawyers are working to get me temporary custody while we figure things out. Until that happens, you’ll be in protective care.”
“You mean jail! I’m not going to jail! I can take care of myself !”
He turned to run, but Linc caught him in two long strides, pulled him back, and trapped him in his arms. The kid struggled, but Linc didn’t let go.
“Take it easy, son. We aren’t going to let anyone hurt you. We’re going to do everything we can to help you, just like we promised.”
“You have to believe us, Zach,” Carly said, desperate to make the boy understand. “My mom died when I was ten. They took me away the night I found her, so I know what it’s like. I know how alone you feel. And Linc had a father who beat him. Neither of us is going to let that happen to you again.”
