THEO
Theo’s head was spinning.
If you’re going to be a father, Max had said — but how could Max possibly have come to terms with that information so quickly? How could he have processed it so fast? To Theo, it still didn’t feel real at all. Of course he wasn’t going to be a father. That wasn’t a part of who he was. He was Theo Davenport, owner of the Houston Stallions. He was an island of a man, with few connections in the world. On his most agreeable days, he could say that he was a good older brother, a good son.
But a father?
He couldn’t be afather.
And yet, if Harper was really pregnant with his baby…
An image of Harper cradling a baby appeared in his mind. He couldn’t make himself feel as if it had anything to do with him. It felt as though she’d stopped off at the store and picked up a new accessory that he didn’t really want or need, as if she now came with this extra thing. And it was a thing that alarmed him.
He’d had a terrible father. His father had left their family to fend for themselves, and it had been horrible. And now…
No. He couldn’t be a father.
He rose slowly from the bench. Max had gone back inside, and Theo couldn’t blame him for that — this was still his wedding day, after all. He needed to be with his bride and the rest of his guests. Theo felt awful that this announcement had distracted from Max’s day, but he consoled himself with the thought that it had been Tara who had spilled the beans, not him. If she was willing to talk about it, they must not be that worried about other people drawing focus.
But there was still the matter of Harper.
Max was right. She’d been devastated. Humiliated. And he had certainly made matters worse for her by walking away the way he had. He knew he shouldn’t have done that. It had been cruel and heartless, and he owed her an apology.
She owes me an apology too, though. She shouldn’t have let me find out the way I did! How could she not have told me the moment she knew? What does she want me to do now?
He thought about walking to his car and driving away. The idea of going back into that reception was painful.
But it’s worse for Harper. After all, nobody knows that I have anything to do with what Tara just said. Max is the only one who could possibly have figured it out. The rest of the guests won’t know I’m the father.
Unless they’d pieced things together from the fact that he had walked out, of course. He shouldn’t have done that.
But even then, they could only guess. They could only suspect his involvement. No one could know for sure.
And the bottom line was, Theo couldn’t walk out of his own brother’s wedding. Of all the selfish things a person could do in a situation like this, that one topped the list. Max had done nothing wrong, and he deserved better than that.
With a sigh, Theo turned and went back inside.
He looked around for Harper, but she was nowhere to be seen, and for a moment he found himself questioning whether she was still there at all. Maybe she had chosen to leave. What had happened had been pretty dramatic, and it wasn’t as if she could rely on the possibility that no one would connect her with the big news the wayhecould. It was all about her.
He shouldn’t have run out on her like he had. He should have stayed.
Theo looked around for his brother. Max had found his way to his children and was sitting beside them at the table with Tara’s parents. His daughter had lined up several fondant flower buds on the table and was eating her way through them one by one while Max watched indulgently, the baby cradled in his arms.
Theo felt a twisting in the pit of his stomach. Max looked so happy, so content. Maybe that was what it meant to have a child. Maybe this was what he was saying no to.
I never wanted to be a father. I never wanted any of this.
That was true. But had he really thought about it? It wasn’t something he would have planned for himself, but if there was going to be a baby… oh, hell. He shouldn’t have to decide this right now! He should have more time to think about what hereally wanted. He should get to make this decision slowly, not all at once.
But it wasn’t that way for Harper, was it?
“Uncle Theo?”
He looked down. There was his niece, Jenna. She had a smear of frosting on her face, but she was smiling up at him expectantly.
“What is it, kiddo?” he asked her, glancing over at his brother. Max was now looking pointedly in the other direction, as though to indicate that Theo was on his own when it came to Jenna, and that he would not be coming to the rescue. Theo almost had to laugh at how obvious the tactic was.
“Do you want to dance with me?” Jenna asked. She held up her hands to him. “Daddy said that you might want to. He said that you were lonely with nobody to dance with, and that I should come and ask you.”
