“I freaked out,” Tyler said, barely able to focus on Georgiana’s sister crouched next to him. “People kept telling me all these marriage and new-daddy jokes, and I just started downing one drink after the other, and I lost it…” What a pathetic excuse. He was pathetic. If he couldn’t keep it together for a few hours, how was he going to manage a lifetime? “I don’t know what I’m doing.”
“Fair enough. Listen.” Vicky paused until Tyler’s eyes focused on hers. “I know you didn’t ask to be a father, but you’re going to become one, anyway. As our nephew or niece’s dad, you’re part of the family now no matter what.” Vicky was talking in a calm, polite voice that surprised Tyler. “Now, you can be a good father even if you’re not married to our sister,” Vicky continued. “Was this a last minute case of cold feet, or is it how you plan to behave from now on?”
Tyler’s pulse raced. What did he want? He wanted to be a good dad, and for his child to grow up with two parents. So what was he doing here?
“Th-this is not…” he stuttered. “It wasn’t… I want to try.”
“Okay. You get this one pass.” Vicky raised one finger eye-level between them. “And that’s it.”
Ethan emitted a disbelieving grunt from his corner. Tyler didn’t dare look at him. Of all the people in the world, why did it have to be he and Rose who had walked in on him? Still better than my pregnant wife, Tyler thought. The weight of what he had almost done to his wife made him sick. What if Ethan and Rose hadn’t been here? Would he have had sex with Georgiana’s cousin? Probably, yes. What the hell was wrong with him?
Vicky stood up. “Go wash your face and pull yourself together.” She offered him a hand and helped him up off the floor.
Tyler did as he was told and disappeared into the en-suite bathroom. He didn’t dare meet anyone’s eye, particularly not Rose’s. In one look, he’d be able to read all her thoughts, and he couldn’t cope with the reproach and disappointment he was bound to find written in her dark eyes. Tyler gently closed the door behind himself and braced his arms on either side of the sink. He stared in the mirror.
Someone he didn’t like stared back. Georgiana wasn’t perfect, but she didn’t deserve this. More than everything, his unborn child did not deserve to come into the world in a broken family. He’d been stupid and weak. Tyler shook his head. How had this whole mess even started?
During the banquet, Tyler remembered shuffling around the tables alongside Georgiana. She’d made him take turns greeting all the guests. His relatives, her relatives, friends from Boston, friends from Texas, there had been so many. Every group ready to offer advice or words of wisdom. Tyler had smiled and endured it. They had drunk a toast at each table—well, Georgiana hadn’t, she was sticking to virgin mimosas—but Tyler had downed one glass of champagne after the other. He’d needed the alcohol to endure jab after jab about married life, newborns, and shrinking bank accounts. His anxiety had grown with every new joke. He had another year left in school, and yet he was already expected to provide for a wife and a child. Tyler came from a wealthy family, as did Georgiana, so money wasn’t a problem—in theory. Provided he kept asking his parents for support. With Georgiana’s expensive tastes, he couldn’t buy a bigger home, repay student loans, and sustain a family without economic help from his parents. So that was his independence flying out the window, and it sucked.
When the meal finally ended, Tyler had left his table with the excuse of needing some air. He had gone to hide behind a tall hedge that shielded him from view. The girl, Madison, Georgiana’s cousin—he hadn’t known she was her cousin at the time—was there hiding, too. They’d started talking, then he’d asked her if there was a place he could wash his face. She’d shown him to the downstairs bathroom, but there was a line so they’d gone upstairs. Madison said he could use one of the guest rooms, and before he knew what was happening, they were kissing on the bed instead. He was cheating on his wife three hours after they got married.
Never again.
He’d be a father soon. It didn’t matter if Georgiana had tricked him, that he hadn’t asked for this, and that he was scared as hell. He already loved this child with all his heart; nothing else mattered.
Tyler stared hard at himself, vowing not to be the kind of d-bag who cheated on his wife. Turning on the tap, he splashed cold water on his face. This had been his wake-up call. Vicky was right—the situation sucked. But since he had decided to marry Georgiana, he had to give the marriage a fair shot.
Tyler finished washing his face then straightened his spine, his jaw set with determination. He buttoned his shirt, adjusted his cuffs, and re-did the knot of his bowtie until it looked impeccable. There, the image of the perfect groom. One pass, Vicky had said. That’s all he needed; he would not screw up again.