Page 33 of The Wish List
“You scared me half to death.”
“Let’s go, Doc.” Declan stepped toward the couch. By the set of his jaw and rigid shoulders, Beth could tell he was not pleased with this development. “We’re going to get you to where you belong.”
Beth felt her jaw drop as Greg burst into loud, sloppy sobs. “I don’t know where I belong. I don’t know what I’m doing. Beth, I don’t know how to be a father. Not without you. I mean I’m happy about it, and Lucy is great. Also really, really hot.”
Beth rolled her eyes.
“Which doesn’t change the fact that I don’t know what I’m doing.” He listed to one side and curled up into a ball, yanking the quilt that always rested on the back of the couch over him.
“Greg.” Beth moved forward, shaking her head at Declan when he stepped closer. “You’re going to be a great dad with Lucy. This is what you wanted. You need to pull it together, both for Lucy and the baby.”
“It came so easy,” he said, covering his eyes with his forearm. “After how hard things were for us. For you. Everything you went through. How can it be so easy now?”
Once again, Beth searched inside herself for pain. Surely, she was due a little self-pity indulgence in this situation, but she couldn’t find any desire for it. She didn’t wish Greg and Lucy anything but happiness.
Maybe things would have been different in her marriage without the infertility struggles, but there was no way to know that now.
Revisiting the past would only lead to unhappiness in the present. If her mother’s situation and the return of her sisters had taught Beth anything over the past few weeks, it was that she wanted a chance to be happy. She didn’t know whether she’d find that in Magnolia or in Nashville pursuing her dreams, but she wanted to find a way.
“You’re going to be a great dad, Greg,” she repeated.
Greg blew out a sniffly breath. “You promise?”
“I promise.”
“Thanks, Beth. You’re the best.”
“Now you need to go home,” she said.
Greg shifted, and she thought he was going to stand, but instead, he turned on his side, wrapped the blanket more tightly around himself, and almost immediately began to snore.
Declan let out a disgusted grunt. “Years of working in bars, and I still can’t tolerate a sloppy drunk. I’ll get him out of here if I have to carry him over my shoulder.”
Beth appreciated the offer but shook her head. “It’s fine. Let him sleep it off.”
“You’re not responsible for your ex-husband.”
“I know.” She did know. Her sisters had told her the same thing. Heck, even her mom had said it before the stroke changed things. As much as Beth didn’t feel responsible, she continued to care about Greg.
Declan gestured to the book she held in her hand. It was her mother’s. “Were you going to try to bore a potential burglar to death?”
Beth grinned and placed the hardcover on the coffee table. “That thing has been on my nightstand for almost a decade. I still haven’t brought myself to read it. Too many unwanted associations from when we were kids.” She sighed. “Now she’s coming out with the twentieth anniversary updated and revised edition. I guess I should wait for that.”
He quirked a brow. “Or you could read something for pleasure.”
There were a lot of things Beth wanted to do for pleasure. Most of them involved Declan. Then her ex-husband let out an audible fart, and Beth pressed her fingers to her mouth when a giggle threatened to escape. She was afraid it might sound hysterical.
“Thank you for getting him home safely.”
“This isn’t his home anymore,” Declan reminded her.
“You’re right. Looks like a trip to the hardware store for new locks is in my future.”
He nodded. “I can help with that.”
She shrugged. “I’m not your responsibility.” She didn’t like how the words felt on her lips, but they were true enough.
“I can help.”
