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Cody’s words hit Nathan like a baseball bat. A son.
Was Emma carrying a boy, too? His lungs constricted as he considered all the things he’d miss if he couldn’t convince her to marry him. He wouldn’t be around when she felt the baby’s first kicks. He wouldn’t be there to fetch her all sorts of edibles in the wee hours of the morning as cravings hit her. And what if she didn’t let him participate at the birth?
“Congratulations,” he garbled into the phone, reeling at the unexpected punch of reality.
Misery tied his midsection in knots. I love you. Her words drilled into his head. A wake-up call he couldn’t ignore.
She loved him. And he’d done nothing to deserve it.
She loved him. And all he’d offered her was a marriage based on logic and reason.
She loved him. And he’d not once admitted that he felt the same way. And he did. He loved her. Very much.
What a fool he’d been not to realize it before this. She’d enthralled his body and captured his heart, and he’d been too caught up in business schemes and ancient family history to see what was really important.
“Have you heard from Emma?” Nathan asked.
“She drove up last night.”
Then Nathan was heading for Dallas as well. “What hospital are you in?”
He jotted down the address and threw some things in an overnight bag.
Four hours later, he left the car in the hospital parking lot and took a deep breath before heading up to the maternity ward. Finding Jaime’s room, Nathan hesitated on the threshold and surveyed the tableau before him.
Cody sat on the edge of the bed, his back to the door, his attention split between the tired but radiant woman propped up by pillows and the bundle of blue cloth in a rolling bassinet. The pastel walls vibrated with the couple’s happiness and jealousy rocked Nathan hard.
Emma was not in the room, and he was about to see if he could go find her, when Jaime spotted him and nudged her husband. Grinning like a lunatic, Cody left his wife’s side to greet Nathan with a crushing handshake.
“How are you coping with fatherhood?” Nathan flexed his hand and scanned his friend’s appearance, noting the dark circles beneath his eyes, the spot of throw-up on his shoulder.
“I’ve got the diaper-changing thing mastered.”
“He’s sleep-deprived,” Jaime said, tossing her husband a fond smile.
Cody might be exhausted, but he looked happier than Nathan had ever seen him. Which said a lot. Cody embraced life with more enthusiasm than pragmatism.
“Nathan, I’d like you to meet Evan Michael Montgomery.” Cody scooped his son out of the bassinet, handling him with the same confidence he’d once handled a football. “Here, why don’t you hold him?” With a sly grin, Cody deposited the fragile bundle into Nathan’s hands. “Get in a little practice.”
Nathan’s stomach dropped to his toes at Cody’s reminder of his own impending fatherhood. He stared at the newborn, marveling over his tiny fingers and toes. Would his son or daughter be this perfect? With Emma for a mother, why not?
Cody wrapped his arm around his wife. The look Jaime bestowed on her husband was equal parts pride, contentment and desire. Love. Nathan recognized the expression. But more than love. Completeness. As if together, the two were stronger than either could be on their own.
Would Emma ever look at him that way? Or had he blown his shot at deserving her love a dozen times or more already? Caught up in protecting himself from hurt, he hadn’t wanted to admit that he needed her. He’d never let himself trust her the way Cody trusted Jaime.
From the beginning, he’d been the one to reject love and rely on more practical reasons to get married. But what Cody shared with Jaime wasn’t just passionate love or friendship. It was deeper, more elemental. Permanent and unshakable.
“You’re a natural,” Jaime said. “You’ll make a great father.”
Yes, he would. And he’d make a great husband as well.
“So, what do you think of my son?” Cody asked, smiling down at the sleeping infant.
Nathan had a lump in his throat as he observed his happy friend. “I think you’re the luckiest man alive.”
Emma stopped the car in front of her father’s house and braced herself for battle. The four-hour drive from Houston to the hospital in Dallas had given her plenty of time to sort through her jumbled emotions. She knew what to do about Nathan.
But first, she wanted to settle things with her father. She’d left the hospital after the briefest of congratulations because she wanted this confrontation behind her.
As she crossed the driveway to the front door, another car drove up. Nathan. What was he doing here? She waited for him at the foot of the steps, her heart bucking wildly as he advanced toward her.
