Practicing Parenthood. Cara Lockwood

But he’d messed up badly—because the car had had a baby in the back seat. That automatically made it a felony.

      The teenager wasn’t a bad kid, just rudderless; he’d spent his life in an impoverished neighborhood. Nevertheless, his carelessness had left a mother in a panic, and worse, he’d abandoned the car with the baby still inside. Thankfully, a cop had spotted it, but if that hadn’t happened...the baby could’ve overheated, could’ve died. Poor decision-making and bad luck meant he was going away for seven years, and he’d come out harder. Maybe even more violent. There was nothing reforming about the prison system.

      And then, in the afternoon, she’d had to represent a white supremacist—her! Madison was about as brown as a person could get. But Jimmy Reese was a KKK member who’d tried to shoot a black man and hit a white twelve-year-old instead. She couldn’t imagine getting a worse case. She’d lost the one case and then gotten another that she hoped very much to lose.

      “You planning to cut a deal for Jimmy?” he’d asked her.

      She slowly shook her head. Jimmy had made it abundantly clear that he didn’t want to cop a plea. “No, he wants to tell the whole court how patriotic he is for trying to kill anybody who isn’t white.”

      Collin just rolled his eyes. “You gonna defend that?”

      “No,” she said, shaking her head again. “It’s indefensible.”

      “I say we both need a drink,” he said. “Come on, let me buy you one. A drink can make you feel better,” he promised. “Or it’ll make you feel much, much worse. Either way, you won’t be where you are right now.”

      She’d had to laugh at that.

      That was why she’d accepted Collin’s offer of a drink. And the second. And the third.

      And that led to...a night she wouldn’t forget. Boy, the man had skills. He was gorgeous and he possessed a magical touch. It almost wasn’t fair.

      Her phone rang. She picked it up.

      “You still want me to stall this guy?” Yvana asked. How long had it been since she’d called the first time? Half an hour?

      “I don’t know what to do,” she admitted.

      “Well, this Collin guy has been in here twice, asking me when his ride is coming, but you and I both know there ain’t no ride. Not unless you say so.”

      “Where is he now?” Madison bit her lip. She didn’t want to see him, and yet how long could she really stall?

      “Waiting on that bench, but he’s going to start walking soon, and you know how this island is for newbies... He’ll be wandering around for days trying to find your house.” Yvana clucked her tongue.

      “I know, I just...” Madison hesitated. Her mind whirled like an old computer with long outdated software. She couldn’t decide. Talk to him and get it over with? Should she do that?

      “He’s cute. You didn’t mention that.”

      Madison felt a blush creep up her cheek. She knew he was and that women noticed him, but hearing it confirmed didn’t help.

      “I mean, I can see why you knocked boots. He’s got muscles that go on...forever.”

      “Yvana!” Madison cried. Yvana cackled her delight into the phone.

      “Just stating the obvious,” Yvana said. “Don’t worry, sugar. He’s far too young for me. So, it’s not his looks that are keeping you away. Why not let this fine man—the father of your baby, I assume—come see you? What’s wrong with him? Aside from the fact that you could bounce quarters off those abs. Which isn’t a problem unless you want a softer man to snuggle with.”

      Madison laughed. “He doesn’t know. About the baby.”

      “You sure about that, honey?” Yvana sounded suddenly very skeptical.

      “Thought I was. I didn’t tell him.”

      “Well, he sure is anxious to see you, and I don’t think it’s got anything to do with asking you out for drinks.”

      Madison considered this. She glanced out her uncle’s kitchen window. Since the house stood on stilts, even the first floor was raised. She could see the tops of some shorter palm trees swaying in the breeze outside. “I just... He wasn’t very nice to me.” Ignoring her wasn’t nice. Not nice at all. And now, he’d shown up out of the blue... He had to know about the pregnancy. There could be no other explanation. “And there’s no way he’s ready to be a parent.” She remembered how easily he’d fought to have a nineteen-year-old put behind bars. What kind of father would he make? A heartless one, probably. “He’s full of himself, so how can he even focus on a baby?”

      “Hmm, well, that could be trouble,” Yvana agreed. “But maybe he’s turned over a new leaf. He’s been waiting in the sun for half an hour, so that gets him points in my book. Why don’t you let me bring him to you? I’ve got a feeling you’ll want to hear what he has to say.”

      What could that be? Madison wondered.

      * * *

      COLLIN GOT TIRED of waiting, so he set off down the sandy path in what he hoped was the right direction. He glanced back at the office once, but Yvana wasn’t moving fast enough for his taste. Patience had never been his strong suit. He would wait for a golf cart no more. Collin pulled up the address on his phone, but the signal was weak and the map kept spinning—and at one stage, his phone told him he was walking in the ocean when he was a good twenty feet from the bay. He adjusted the heavy backpack on his shoulders, now second-guessing the idea of bringing his laptop. What “work” was he going to do? He’d said goodbye to the office before he left, and they’d had a send-off with cake and everything, and he was now happily enjoying all those vacation days he’d stockpiled but never used. Yet, he’d never been without work for so long in his whole career that he’d packed the laptop as a matter of course.

      The hot North Captiva sun beat down on him. Sweat poured from his forehead and dripped into his eyes, making them sting. He wished he’d had the foresight to bring a hat. Or some sunscreen. But when was the last time he’d been on an island? On a vacation of any kind? He thought a moment. It had been before law school. Ten years without a proper vacation. He spent what little time off he took during holidays at his sister’s house with her family. His sister was expecting again, and he’d be an uncle soon—for the second time.

      Collin trudged down the sandy path, singing birds flitting from tree to tree beside him. Sweat continued to sting his eyes, and he squinted at his phone. It was useless. He’d have to ask someone for directions. He came to the first fork in the road, and paused, swatting at a mosquito buzzing around his face. This was beginning to get silly. He’d have to turn around and head back to the front office, or maybe flag down someone who might know where he needed to go. He couldn’t believe an island that was just four miles long and a half-mile wide could be so confounding.

      That was when he heard the whirl of a small engine behind him. He turned to see Yvana driving a beige golf cart with the green logo of the North Captiva Club on the hood.

      “Well, Lord, aren’t you in a hurry?” she cried. “You want to get heat stroke out here? Get in.”

      Glad to have a lift, Collin climbed into the cart, his shirt damp with sweat. “Thought you forgot about me.”

      “Oh, there’s no way I could, believe me.” Yvana eyed Collin as she drove down a path that led them by a large lagoon. A big white crane stabbed at a fish in the middle of the water, coming up with a mouthful and gobbling it down. “So, you plan on getting down on one knee or...”

      Yvana let the question hang there.

      Collin hadn’t thought about it.

      “I don’t know,” he said because he hadn’t thought much about that part.

      Yvana slammed on the brakes, nearly sending him out the open front