“Jules is pregnant,” he blurted.
I smashed the brakes, lungs clamped in a vise.
We looked at each other, holding our breath. Me, because, well… what the heck? And him because he was probably afraid I was going to deck him.
Was he telling the truth or making it up to stop me?
Theo wouldn’t do that. Even if he’d been adopted into the family, he believed in the Dupree Creed more than anyone. And the first rule was: Duprees never, ever lie.
“You better be telling the truth,” I growled anyway.
“Would I make that up?” he asked.
“Why didn’t you tell me?”
He deflated against the seat like he hated himself for cracking. “I wasn’t supposed to say anything. She wanted to tell you right after you got home from the game. She’s thirteen weeks. Barely out of the first trimester.”
Stupidly, like the weak-willed sucker I was, I felt hope. Hope that it was true. Hope that he was right and there was some other explanation for what Liam had seen. Hope that if she was pregnant, it would bring her back. I don’t know why. It wasn’t like I could be with a woman who would do what she’d done.
No more of this.
I had to cut the line. I couldn’t afford to hope.
But she’s pregnant.
Even if Jules was the biggest fraud who ever lived, I couldn’t help it; I pictured a baby. A little boy. With our red hair, chubby cheeks, and a dimple.
I pressed my palms into my eyes. “How long has she known?”
“Two months,” he said. Which, when I calculated it, was about right.
I sat up, jaw rolling. “How long haveyouknown?”
“I figured it out a month later. She was crying at everything, and I meaneverything. At first, I thought she was just emotional because you’d left—and I think that was part of it. But when I picked up the dinner she’d ordered from Lucy’s one night, and they’d forgotten to add mushrooms to her pepperoni pizza, and she had a literal breakdown—sobbing, wailing, snot running out of her nose—I knew.”
“Seriously?” I stared at him. “I can’t believe you didn’t say something.”
“She asked me not to. She didn’t want the baby to be the reason you came back. She wanted to know that if you came, you did it because you loved her, not out of duty.”
“So she was planning to divorce me, knowing she was pregnant.” I stared out at the ranch. “Unbelievable. It’s probably not even mine. Or maybe it’s just another lie. For all you know, she’s not pregnant at all.”
“Don’t do that. She’s pregnant, Griff. Why would she make that up and then not tell you? And it’s yours. It has to be—her due date is July 7th. Which means she got pregnant when you were here for Sage’s funeral.” Theo’s eyes turned down. “She’s hoping it’s a boy so you can name him Weston.”
I sank into the seat, my head falling back, as I closed my eyes. My wife, who was likely a professional ho and secretly wished she’d married my cousin and former best friend, had vanished like she’d been raptured and I’d been left behind. Because apparently that’s something people can do when things get inconvenient.Andshe was pregnant with my baby?
Somebody just cut my heart out with a rusty spoon. I couldn’t take any more.
Theo faced me. “That’s why she was so adamant about staying. She fell in love with all of us and wanted Weston—or baby girl—to grow up around cousins. Because she never had that. I’m sure she wanted to keep the baby safe, away from DayGlow, too.”
He went quiet for a couple of minutes, letting me process. I didn’t know what to do with this information. Especially now that Jules had disappeared. What if she never came back, and I never got to raise my kid?
The anxiety that thought brought on was worse than the pain of losing her.
“Just… maybe… give her a little more time,” Theo whispered. “Maybe just a few weeks?”
I let out a long breath, sat up, and put the truck in reverse.
Chapter Thirty-Seven
