Carrying the Lost Heir's Child (13 page)

When the first spark and boom lit up the sky, Emily squealed and jumped to her feet. “Look! Look!”

Nash watched the adorable toddler with bouncing blond curls. Her infectious laughter had everyone watching her reaction as opposed to the show in the sky.

“She is precious,” Lily said.

Cassie grinned. “Thanks. I was afraid the noise would scare her, but obviously not.”

With each colorful burst, Emily clapped or jumped up and down. Nash caught Tessa’s glance to Grant, a smile tugged at her lips and Grant’s hand came around to her stomach, as well.

Interesting. Looked as though they had their own announcement to make.

Yeah, he needed to finish revealing his identity sooner rather than later because he wanted to be part of this family with no lies hovering between them. If they would accept him after all was said and done. He also had to have a long talk with his mother. Lily wasn’t the only one who needed to share news about her pregnancy. Nash hadn’t wanted to tell his mom over the phone, either.

“I’m going to grab a bottle of water.” Lily came to her feet and looked down to him. “Want anything?”

A do-over? A chance to make this all right from the beginning? A lifetime to make it up to her?

“I’m good,” he told her. “I would’ve gotten your water for you.”

Lily laughed. “I’m perfectly capable of getting my own water.”

As she moved around him, he saw Tessa hop to her feet as well and head in Lily’s direction. Within seconds, Cassie and Linda followed.

Emily settled onto Ian’s lap and Damon turned toward the others. “Looks like our ladies have deserted us.”

The fireworks continued, the thunderous sound filling the warm night.

“I’d say Tessa is telling our news,” Grant replied with a wide grin.

“She told me this afternoon,” Damon said, his smile matching Grant’s.

Ian’s head bounced back and forth between the two men. “Well? Do I get to know what’s going on?”

“We’re having a baby, too,” Grant said.

Ian leaned over and slapped Grant on the shoulder. “That’s awesome, man. Congratulations.”

Nash nodded in agreement. “I’m happy for you guys.”

“I’m sure they’re all back there chatting about babies and pregnancies,” Damon said, leaning back on his hands. “Linda has treated my girls like her own since Rose passed. I’m sure she’s all over Tessa, asking about her eating habits and if she’s resting enough.”

“Oh, I’m making sure of it,” Grant supplied. He raked a hand through his hair and sighed. “But her emotions are all over the place.”

“Dude, they’re not going to settle down anytime soon,” Nash informed him. “Lily can go from crying to laughing in seconds.”

Ian smoothed Emily’s curls down, as they kept blowing in the wind. “Cassie has been wanting another baby,” he said. “I’m sure all this baby talk will only speed up the process. We’d discussed waiting another year.”

“My family is growing.” Damon beamed, glancing up when Linda came back and settled down next to him. “These are exciting times.”

“Indeed they are,” Linda said as she patted Damon’s leg.

Oh, yeah. Something was definitely going on there.

Cassie, Tessa and Lily came back and took their seats. Lily clutched her water bottle and leaned back against him.

Nash leaned over and patted Tessa on the arm. “Congrats on the baby.”

Tessa lit up, just like Lily did when they discussed their baby. “Thanks. I’m so excited.”

Chatter ensued as the fireworks came to an end. An hour later they were all still discussing babies, due dates, baby showers and growing families. Emily had long since fallen asleep in Ian’s arms and Nash felt a tug on his heart. He couldn’t wait to cradle his own child to sleep, to know that he was a comfort and security for someone.

Lily tipped her head, kissed him slightly on the lips. “Thank you for bringing me here.”

“I didn’t bring you,” he replied, hugging her tighter against him. “Your movie brought you here.”

She ran her hand along his arm. “You know what I mean. You’ve included me in your life, in your new family even though we’re still new ourselves. I feel like I belong here, like I belong with you. You don’t know how much that means to me.”

Yeah, he did. He knew she valued family just as much as he did. He knew she wanted their baby to have that special bond.

But would Nash sever that bond once he revealed himself?

Nash kissed the end of her nose and squeezed her tight again. “You deserve this.”

And he just had to find a way to convince her he wasn’t purposely deceiving her and that she belonged there. She belonged with him.

Fifteen

T
aking the first step in getting his life back under control was long overdue. He loved Lily. There was no denying the fact anymore. Now with her in Arizona visiting her mother, he was at the Barrington estate about to confront his father and put one hell of a kink in their newfound relationship.

He should’ve let this out earlier, but he’d just not been ready. Since falling so hard for Lily, Nash knew putting it off any longer would be an even bigger mistake. Starting now, he was going to set things straight and take control of his life.

Here all this time he’d thought he’d been in control. He’d only been controlled by his own lies and selfishness.

Nash paced the living room. He’d already gone into the kitchen and said hi to Linda, who was washing up dishes from breakfast. She’d invited him to stick around for lunch, but Nash didn’t make any promises. He highly doubted he’d be welcome at that point.

Nerves curled deep in his gut and a vulnerability he hated to admit he had threatened to consume him. But he wouldn’t back down. He wouldn’t take the coward’s way out.

“Nash, I was surprised to hear from you today.” Damon crossed the room and Nash came to his feet. “Not that you aren’t welcome anytime. What brings you here on a Saturday morning? Is Lily with you?”

Nash shook his head. “She went to visit her mother in Arizona. I needed to talk to you about something important.”

Damon laughed and smacked his hand on Nash’s shoulder. “Last time you said that you announced you were my son. What else could you have to tell me?”

Raking a hand through his long hair, hair that he couldn’t wait to cut off so he could get back to looking like himself, Nash gestured toward the chair. “You may want to have a seat.”

Damon’s smile faltered. “Is something wrong with your mother?”

“No, no. She’s fine.” Nash sank to the sofa, resting his elbows on his knees. “I actually drove down to see her yesterday after Lily’s plane took off. She’s excited about the baby.”

Nervous chitchat would only postpone the inevitable for so long. He’d come here on a mission and he refused to let nerves take over.

“I actually came to tell you that I can’t accept Don Pedro from you.”

Damon’s silver brows drew in as he eased forward in the leather chair. “If you’re concerned about the money I could make by selling him, don’t be.”

Shaking his head, Nash clenched his fists. Damn it, he hated this. “I know you’re not concerned with the money. I know this because I’ve been offering to buy him for nearly three months now.”

Confusion settled onto Damon’s face as the elderly man drew his brows together in confusion. “I’m not following you.”

“You’ve been getting phone calls from Barry Stallings.”

Damon’s back straightened. “How do you know this?”

Holding firm to his courage, Nash leveled Damon’s gaze. “Because Barry is my assistant.”

Damon stared, studied for a minute, then gasped as realization dawned on him. Jerking to his feet, he started shaking his head.

“How can this be?” he whispered, as if to himself. “You—you’re...what the hell game have you been playing? The long hair, the beard. You’re a bigger man than I remember. Then again I haven’t seen you in person in years. How long have you been planning to come here and spy on me? Was the son angle just a convenient reason? Or are you even my son?”

For once in his life, Nash remained seated, wanting Damon to feel in control. Nash had never relinquished power to anyone before, and certainly not to his longtime rival, but right now, rivalry was gone and this was about so much more.

“I haven’t lied about the fact I’m your son,” Nash began. “I did find out when my mother had a stroke several months ago.”

“Jake Roycroft is my son.” Damon’s jaw clenched. “So, you came in deceiving us from day one with this fake name, long hair and a beard. Your clothes are all worn and even your truck is dated. You sure as hell thought this betrayal out down to the last detail.”

There was no other angle to look at it. Damon was dead-on.

“I did,” Nash confessed. “I wanted to come in, find out what you had planned for your horses after retirement. I needed a prizewinner to breed with mine and I wanted the best.

“Finding out I was your son was like a slap in the face,” he went on, putting everything on the line for the family he’d come to love...the rival he always thought he’d hate. “I couldn’t believe it. But my mother’s gut-wrenching confession was all the proof I needed. She’d kept the truth from me, from you, because she knew it would tear us up. She’d watched this feud for years, but when she had her stroke, she couldn’t keep the secret anymore.”

“And what was your plan when you first arrived?” Damon asked, his tone anything but that of a loving father or the cheerful man who’d walked into this room moments ago.

Now Nash did rise. He needed to pace, needed to get out of here, but he had to stay and continue to unravel this damn web he’d caught himself in.

“I was hoping if I got a good idea of what your plans were for the horses, I could get my assistant to offer enough money to take them.”

Nash crossed to the mantel where a new photo of Tessa, Cassie and Damon sat. The trio stood in front of Don Pedro after the historic win of the Triple Crown. Nash hadn’t been there, he’d been here at Stony Ridge taking care of the other horses.

Other photos showed Rose holding her two young daughters in front of a waterfall, a teen Tessa atop a Thoroughbred, Cassie in a ring with another horse. The family was tight and Nash wondered if he’d ever truly be able to break in where he longed to be.

“I was also battling whether or not to tell you the truth about being your son.” Nash turned back around. Damon hadn’t moved, except to cross his arms over his chest. “But the more I got to know you all, the more I learned as the film was being shot, I realized you weren’t the enemy I knew over the years. You were a ruthless businessman to me, but with your family...you were a different person.”

Nash refused to succumb to those damn emotions that he was nearly choking on. He wouldn’t show weakness, not now. Remaining strong was the only way he would get through this.

“Between sneaking around with Lily and battling how to tell you who I was, I was torn. I decided to tell you everything after the film crew left, after Lily and I were finished and after you’d hopefully sold the horse to my assistant.”

Damon’s eyes narrowed. “That all changed when Lily became pregnant. Right?”

Nash nodded, disgusted by the look of hatred he’d put in Damon’s eyes.

Being cut off from the Barringtons would kill Nash, but he would take it like a man. He’d done all of this to himself and had nowhere else to place the blame. Every downfall that was about to happen was nothing less than what he deserved. Nash just prayed the people he’d come to care about had mercy on him.

“Have you been lying all this time to Lily?” Damon asked.

The man may as well have punched him in the gut. Nash rested his hands on his hips, glanced away and nodded.

“So she knows you’re my son, but she has no clue you’re a millionaire with your own estate, your own spread of horses,” Damon repeated as if to drive that knife deeper. “She thinks she’s fallen in love with a simple, hardworking, honest groom. You waited until she left town to confront me and, what, you expect this to all be tidied up for when she returns?”

Damn it, why did that explanation make Nash sound more like a bastard than a man who’d started off with good intentions?

“I’m telling her everything when she comes back,” Nash replied, forcing himself to hold Damon’s angry gaze. “I love her. I didn’t come into this expecting to get wrapped up personally with anybody at all, least of all Lily. Then our affair started and spiraled out of control. Then I got to know you all even more and I started wanting more than what I came here for. I started out with a goal to get Don Pedro at any cost. Now, though, I don’t want him. I just want Lily, I want my father. You have all the power. You can cut me out of your life or we can try to make this relationship work.”

Damon continued to stare through that narrow gaze.

“I understand if you don’t want anything to do with me.” Nash had laid it all out there, had even offered a meager defense. Now he had to finish up and get the hell out before he started sobbing like some damn fool. “I wouldn’t blame you for cutting me out of your life. I mean, I haven’t been part of your life for very long, so you could just go back to the way things were before I ever came around. Nothing would change for you, really.”

Linda stepped into the doorway. “Damon—”

“Not now, Linda.”

She moved farther into the room until she was standing beside Damon. “Don’t make a decision you’ll regret later.”

Nash jerked his attention to the elderly woman who was gripping a kitchen towel in her hands, her knuckles white. He’d never guessed he’d have an ally in any of this, but having anybody at all on his side was a blessing he didn’t deserve.

“Linda, you don’t know what you’re talking about,” Damon said between clenched teeth. “This is between me and Nash. Damn it. Jake.”

“Nash is my real middle name,” he replied, as if that made any of this easier to swallow.

Linda laid a hand on Damon’s arm. “I know you’re hurt, but if you’ll put your pride aside for two minutes, you’ll see he’s hurt, too. And, he’s still your son. That’s something he never had to reveal.”

Damon’s eyes flashed toward Nash’s. Odd, now that everyone had been calling him Nash for months, he’d come to think of himself as Nash, the groom, as opposed to Jake, the billionaire.

“I don’t want to make this harder for you,” he explained. “I wanted to get everything out and I did. I’ll go and leave the next step up to you.”

Leaving with so much hurt between them, leaving with so many questions still left unanswered would kill him. But Damon needed to come to grips with this just as Nash had. Realizing his rival was also his father had taken Nash months to digest and he couldn’t expect Damon to do so in the span of a few minutes.

Silence filled the room as Damon continued to stare at Nash in disbelief. Linda still clutched the towel as her eyes darted back and forth between the two stubborn men.

“You know how to reach me.” Nash raked a hand over his jaw, the beard he’d become so familiar with bristling beneath his palm. “I won’t contact you again.”

Damon said nothing as Nash headed toward the foyer, but there was one last thing his father needed to know. One last bit of his heart he’d lay on the line, even though he would surely damn himself later for being so open and vulnerable.

Gripping the door frame, Nash turned to look at his father for what would probably be the last time. “For what it’s worth, I enjoyed the past several months. I’d wondered about my father my entire life and even though I was shocked that it turned out to be you, I wouldn’t trade my time here with you and the girls for anything.”

Those threatening emotions choked him as Nash headed out the door, leaving Stony Ridge and his father behind.

That part was over, and as hellish and gut-wrenching as it had been, Nash knew what had transpired between his father and himself was absolutely nothing compared to the hurt and the anguish that awaited him when Lily returned. The thought of causing her pain was killing him.

She deserved to know the truth once and for all. And he deserved nothing less than watching her walk away. Now he had to figure out a way to keep the inevitable from happening.