Read Falling For Zoe (The Camerons of Tide's Way #1) for Free Online

It was neither.
    Breanna Reagan surged into the house, wrapping Zoe in an enthusiastic embrace. The dogs began a merry dance around their legs, tails wagging in welcome. Bree bent to pet each eager head before stepping back to glance around the cluttered hall. “Still unpacking? Sorry I couldn’t help over the weekend. Some friend I am!”
    Zoe wiped a hand across her damp brow. “Family comes first. Was your grandmother surprised? C’mon into the kitchen. My pots and pans have gone AWOL, but everything else is unpacked, and I have a big jug of sweet tea in the fridge.”
    “Gramma’s a sly one, but she put on a good show. If you didn’t know her, you’d have thought she didn’t have a clue.” Bree followed Zoe down the hall with the dogs charging ahead. “So what have you been eating? Takeout?”
    “That and stuff I can stick in the microwave.” Zoe grabbed two tall glasses from the dish drainer beside the sink and the jug of sweet tea from the refrigerator and plunked them down on the island. As Bree hiked herself onto a stool, Zoe filled the glasses and claimed a stool opposite her friend. “Did you just get back? Where’s Sam? Did you drop him at school?”
    Sam was Bree’s seven-year-old son, born two months after his soldier-father’s death in Iraq. Zoe was his godmother and doting, adopted aunt.
    “He’s coming home with his cousins. He was going to miss a day of school anyway.” Bree grinned. “They were stopping in Kitty Hawk on the way, and Sam begged me to let him go with them so he could see the Wright Brothers’ plane. Again! A lot more interesting than riding home with boring old Mom, or sitting at a desk when he could get out of it!”
    Sam loved anything that flew and vowed he was going to be a pilot when he grew up. “You’re never boring, but I suppose I can’t blame him.” Zoe chuckled.
    “Has Porter been by?” Bree asked abruptly.
    “I doubt Porter will ever be by,” Zoe replied, shrugging. It was almost a relief to know she wouldn’t have to see him again. Having become pregnant because she’d been seduced into carelessness on a romantic weekend by the sea, Zoe had reconciled herself to marriage with a man she didn’t love and no longer found even mildly exciting. But Porter not only hadn’t suggested marriage, he’d disowned his responsibility for her condition completely. “And I’m not sorry. Not really.”
    “But the man’s going to be a father. He should face up to it and share the consequences. He should care at least a little bit.”
    “Oh, he cares.” Zoe plunked her glass down and refilled it. “He cares about his career. He cares about his car. And his money. He especially cares about who he knows, and getting a partnership in my father’s firm. I was just a convenience. Only once I got pregnant, I was no longer so convenient.”
    Bree shook her head, a disgusted look on her face. “The man’s a worm. He’s worse than a worm except I don’t use that kind of language. What about your father? Why isn’t he on Porter’s case? I mean, he hired the guy, and didn’t he introduce the two of you?”
    “Daddy probably is on Porter’s case, but Daddy’s still hoping that Porter and I can be maneuvered into getting married, so he doesn’t want to come down on him too hard. Daddy’s never gotten over the fact that none of his sons wanted to become lawyers and join the firm. He figures a son-in-law is the next best thing, and Porter’s a sharp litigator. Just the kind of up-and-coming guy Daddy admires.”
    Bree made a rude noise. “So I guess he hasn’t forgiven you for buying this house yet either?”
    “I don’t know. He let me take my bedroom set, and he gave me my great-grandmother’s dining room table and hutch, but he’s probably figuring I’ll change my mind once I get moved in and discover that running my own household on an office manager’s salary is more than I bargained for. Of course, while the movers were loading the furniture, I