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“But Carmen was pregnant.”
“Yes. I’d given her my number before we spent the night together, and she told me. She swore I was the father, and I had no reason not to believe her.”
I paused. “You are Vincent’s dad, aren’t you?”
His eyes twinkled. “Yes, I am. Don’t worry. One of the conditions I set out for marriage was that we would get a paternity test as soon as he was born.”
“Oh, okay, good. I wasn’t sure I could deal with another bombshell today.”
“Your mother handled everything with grace. She already had the divorce papers prepared. She didn’t want anything, not even child support. I told her she was stupid, and I wasn’t going pay any attention to those papers, and she was going to sign the ones I would draw up or we were staying married.”
“I think I know what they were.”
“I paid for everything,” Dad confirmed. “She might have wanted it, but I didn’t, and it was my own stupidity that had us in that situation. I granted her the divorce she wanted in exchange for me ensuring neither of you would want for anything. It was a condition for Carmen, too. She would have to accept that I had another family who were equally as important to me, and in exchange, she, too, would never need to want for anything.”
“Did she know why you were marrying her?”
“Yes. She knew I didn’t love her at that point, and I knew she was only marrying me for the status it would give her. It was purely transactional when we married.”
I looked down.
“I hated it,” he said. “I’ve grown to love Carmen, and she has me, and of course I would never regret Vincent. I love you both dearly, but that doesn’t mean I wish things were different. Your mother was—is—the love of my life, Gracie.”
“Is that why you were there? At the end?”
“Yes.” Dad swallowed and looked away. “It was where I should have been. I promised her I would be there until death parted us. I broke many promises, but I kept that one.”
Tears stung my eyes.
“I don’t want you to think badly of her. She did what she thought was right, even if we disagreed about it. She was the most selfless person I’ve ever known, and if anyone deserved to live a long life, it was her.”
“Do you think things would be different?” I asked. “If she was still alive?”
He inhaled deeply, then slowly let the breath out.
He knew what I was asking.
If she’d survived, would he still be married to Carmen?
“I can’t answer that question, and you know that,” he said after a moment.
“Can’t?” I asked. “Or won’t?”
Dad caught my gaze long enough to tell me it was the latter. “I will be having stern words with your grandmother about sharing that information with you.”
“Like she’ll care. She told me she thought Mum was stupid.”
“I came home to more than one blazing row between the two of them about it,” he said, bobbing his head. “They could hurl the most creative insults at each other, slam doors, then be baking together five minutes later. It was quite remarkable.”
I smiled. “Sounds like me and Granny.”
“I think that’s just Olive with everyone, to be honest. She usually yells at me. It’ll be nice to change it up and yell at her for once.”
A small laugh escaped me. “Dad? I’m sorry I ever believed what I did—and said all those horrid things to you when I was younger. That I ever thought you believed she wasn’t good enough for you.”
“Oh, Grace. Believe me when I tell you that I asked myself every single day how I ever tricked such a wonderful woman into falling in love with me.” His lips pulled into a smile. “It was very much the other way around.”
“I don’t know,” I replied softly. “Maybe, in a weird way, you were just perfect for each other.”
