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it.”
    He took a cursory glance around the cell. “Well, it looks to me like you’re not much better off now. Care to tell me how this happened? I know why you were arrested, but since when did you start roaming the countryside by yourself? What’s happened to lover-boy?”
    His brittle tone irritated her. She seesawed up to her feet, giving him a sour look that matched the taste of bile in her throat. “His name is Jeffrey, and where he is right now is none of your business. Either press charges and let Nit Whit throw the book at me, or drop them so I can get out of here and be on my way.”
    He scowled. “Maggie said you’re different now. I’m not sure I like this new Alaina Tillman.”
    “Too bad,” she said, tossing her head and placing her hands on her hips. “Because I didn’t like the old one very much.”
    Pointing toward the white bandage wrapped around her wrist, Zack asked, “What happened there?”
    She slipped her hands into her jeans pockets. “I cut it on the broken glass. It’s nothing.”
    “You look like hell.”
    “Does that make you happy?”
    “No,” he replied, his glance cool. “Why should it?”
    “I know what you think of me. It must have been really difficult, having to be nice to me at Maggie’s wedding.”
    “You don’t know anything. And considering our past, I think a certain degree of discomfort for both of us was understandable.”
    The outer door opened, and Whit Russell moved into the corridor. He looked belligerent. “Time’s up, Davidson!” he called.
    Alaina’s heart thumped wildly in her chest as Zack made a move to leave. She rammed one hand through the bars and caught the edge of his jacket. “Zack, please. Get me out.”
    He stared at her a long moment, but didn’t try to remove her fingers. Her stomach rolled again unpleasantly. She wanted desperately to believe she could see his indecision floating between them like a fog.
    He shook his head. “If I don’t press charges, you’ll walk out of here and disappear to God knows where.”
    “I don’t know yet where I’ll go. But no matter what, it won’t be your concern.”
    “You made it my concern when you broke into the cottage.”
    “Listen, why does this have to be so difficult? I’m not hurting anyone. I’m not wrecking a marriage or breaking up a family. I just need to get out of here.”
    The change in his expression was as sharp as a slap. “No.”
    “Can you really be so cruel that you’d leave me in Nit Whit’s hands?”
    “Okay. You want out of here, I want a promise.”
    She frowned, suddenly suspicious. “What kind of promise?”
    “That instead of heading off for parts unknown, you’ll sit down and talk to me. I want to know what’s going on. How you ended up like this.”
    She released his jacket, her temper flaring once more. “You don’t have the right—”
    “Don’t misunderstand. I’m not interested in your future plans. But I want to be able to tell your family something that will reassure them that you’re all right. You may not care about them, but I do.”
    Seeing the determination in his eyes, she felt the strength leave her, like honey melting out of its comb. Her legs were so weak she had to find the cot quickly. She bent forward, her hair falling into her eyes as she brought her hand to her mouth to keep the contents of her stomach down.
    “Why should you give a damn about Mom and Dad?” she asked, full of misery. “They worked hard enough to split the two of us up, didn’t they?”
    “I don’t hold grudges. I move on. And I happen to care very much about Maggie. She’s ridiculously happy with Will and the kids now. Talking about you is the only thing that makes her sad these days.”
    His words barely registered. Too late. What little was left in Alaina’s stomach was coming up, no matter what. “Just leave then,” she whispered, making a dash for the stainless steel sink in the corner. “Oh, damn…”
    She was dimly aware of Zack extending his