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“I don’t want to fight with you,” he said, drawing close enough to touch her.
She took a half step back, afraid if he took her in his arms, she would dissolve. “I don’t want to fight with you, either.” Side by side they climbed to the front door. “What are you doing here?”
Nathan opened the door so she could enter. “I know your father didn’t give you back your trust fund.”
“Cody.” She shook her head as they crossed the grand hall, their footsteps echoing in the cavernous space. “Just once I wish my family would let me take care of things my way.”
“Like telling me about the baby as soon as you knew you were pregnant?”
Grinding her teeth had become an all-too-frequent habit since Nathan had come back into her life. “Okay, I should have come to you sooner.”
“You’re damn right.”
She cocked her head and regarded his stern expression and the uncompromising glint in his gray eyes. “But I had things I needed to think over.”
“Such as reconsidering your refusal to marry me?”
“Can we have this discussion after I’ve gotten my father to agree to give me back my trust fund?”
“Let me help you with that.”
“I can take care of it myself.” They neared the hallway outside her father’s study. She whirled on Nathan and put her hand on his chest. “You stay here. This is between my father and me. I need to do it alone.” She emphasized the last word and hoped Nathan would stay put.
He captured her fingers and brought them to his lips for a quick kiss. Releasing her, he leaned his back against the wall and crossed his arms. “I’ll be right here if you need me.”
Heart tripping unsteadily, Emma gave a satisfied nod and walked on. The speech she’d prepared for her father vanished from her mind as she neared his study. The door stood open so she stepped in.
“Hello, Daddy.”
Her father looked up from the papers on his desk. “Hello, Emma.” He came to her, took her hands, and kissed her cheek. “How are you?”
“I’m fine.” The words slipped out automatically. “I was at the hospital visiting your first grandchild. He’s beautiful.”
“I’m heading over in a few minutes,” her father said, surveying her with a slight frown. “Are you sure you’re all right?”
“I’m fine.”
“Cody told me about the baby.”
She was going to kill her brother.
“I hope you’re here to tell me you’re going to marry Nathan.”
“I came by today to talk to you about our wager. I won. I want my trust fund back.”
Silas frowned. “I don’t want my grandchild growing up illegitimate.”
“That’s for Nathan and me to decide, not you.” She met her father’s gaze, letting him see her determination. “I had the money by the deadline.”
“But it wasn’t in your account. So you forfeit. Now, what have you and Nathan decided about getting married?”
“That it’s none of your business.”
“But it is my business. I’m your father and I say you need someone to take care of you and the baby.”
Emma kept her voice level. “I don’t. I am perfectly capable of taking care of myself but you’re too stubborn to see that.”
“You think so? And how do you think you’re going to do that without money?”
“I have money.”
“Bah. The hundred thousand I gave you? How long do you think that’s going to last?”
Emma shook her head. Stubborn old man. “Quite a long time, I imagine, since I’m not planning to live off it.”
“No? Then how do you plan to support yourself?”
Emma braced herself against a wave of frustration and pulled the newspaper article about the Baton Rouge show out of her purse. She slapped it on the desk in front of him.
“This is about my jewelry. The article calls me ‘brilliant’ and describes my work as some of the finest around. I’ve worked hard for this recognition, and you’ve never given me any credit.” She ran out of breath. With her heart pounding fiercely, she inhaled and spoke with deliberate force. “I’m good.”
“You can’t seriously expect to live on what you make from it.”
Resentment injected steel into her voice. “I can. And I’m going to.” She clenched her hands into fists so he wouldn’t see how hard she was shaking. “You can keep my money. I don’t need it. I’m going to make a go of my jewelry business. I’m going to take care of myself and my baby.”
“Our baby.” Nathan spoke the words softly from the doorway behind her, but there was no denying the determination in his tone. “The baby is as much mine as it is yours, and you are going to marry me and let me take care of both of you.”
