Fresh Temptation

conversations that indicated he already saw a future with her, even though they had only known each other a matter of weeks. This was definitely one of those questions, and once again, she was caught off guard. “Um…maybe. I hadn’t really thought about it.”
    “If you met the right person, perhaps?” His arm tightened, pulling her a bit closer.
    Her heart pounded a fierce beat. She looked at Victor’s face, but his eyes were fixed on Isaac. For the first time, she felt her fear slowly begin to slip away in response to his sincerity. She momentarily thought of exploring the idea and asking how many children he wanted, and how soon. Instead, her logic took over, and she decided against it. That was a conversation for later. Much later. For now, she closed her eyes and relaxed against Victor’s chest with the knowledge that if she wasn’t watching Isaac on the playground, Victor was.
    An hour later they walked the three blocks back to Cara’s house. Isaac babbled excitedly with Victor, continuing as they walked through the front door.
    Cara bent down to pick up the letters that had been shoved inside their mail slot while they were gone.
    Along with a utility bill and some junk mail was a greeting card for Cara. It came in a bright yellow envelope with no return address, no stamp, no postmark.
    Since her birthday was three months away, Cara opened it with a strange curiosity as she listened to Isaac tell Victor about his favorite fast food restaurant, where he was absolutely dying to eat tonight.
    The card was pretty on the outside, with bright yellow roses and the word, “Greetings.”
    But the message written inside made Cara’s skin crawl.
    “I know what you’re hiding about his father. Will you tell V before I do?”
    That witch! Cara knew this had to be the work of Alexis, who had most likely been waiting for just the right time to drop off a message like this. The restraining order had been in effect for two weeks now, and Cara thought Alexis had given up. She took a deep breath to calm down. Not only had Alexis not given up, but she seemed to be back with ammunition.
    Briefly, Cara wanted to get Victor’s attention and show him the message. Get Alexis in trouble. Even though she didn’t sign it, any reasonable person would know who wrote it.
    But right then, she saw Victor get on his knees on the living room floor. He was engrossed in Isaac’s story of how he obtained his latest toy—a large red plastic race car—by behaving good all of Saturday afternoon. Cara almost teared up. Isaac was the kind of toddler who made friends everywhere he went, and yet he had never taken to anyone as quickly as he had taken to Victor. Maybe it was good for Isaac to have a good male role model in his life. Would Victor someday be Isaac’s stepfather? She had no clue. And, in spite of her fear and logic, she had started to like the idea.
    Cara slipped the greeting card into her purse, unnoticed. Tonight was not the night for a conversation about the man who had gotten her pregnant. Isaac was certainly too young to understand. And if Victor heard Cara’s side, she assumed he would see why she kept Isaac a secret from his father.
    Or would he? Cara’s stomach twisted as she thought about it.
    Alexis had gone too far this time, and Cara refused to be bullied. She took a seat on the couch, thinking about her own form of retaliation. How dare she stalk me and threaten me over my own son?
     
    * * *
     
    The next morning, Cara and Victor shared their usual “see you later” kiss in his office before he went off to attend the first of many meetings.
    As soon as she saw him turn the corner to take the elevator, she walked up to Gary’s desk.
    “Yes?” Gary smiled.
    “Do you have a number on file for Alexis Whitt? Cell phone, preferably.”
    His lips formed a scowl. He pushed his mouthpiece away and leaned forward. “Why?”
    “I just need to speak with her. It’s important.”
    “Does Mr. Barboza know about this?”
    “No. Does he have to?”
    He lifted one brow. “Yes.”
    Cara let out a groan. “Why?”
    “He made it very clear after the incident a few weeks ago that she was not welcome here under any circumstances. That includes phone calls.”
    “Well, yeah. She’s not supposed to call here. But did he say anything about one of us calling her?”
    His eyes rolled. “He didn’t really have to, did he? He will certainly want to know if you contact her and I won’t feel comfortable keeping it a