Page 69 of The P Arrangement

I threw my hands up in disbelief. “It’strue.”

“Because you stopped loving her, Preston. What the hell was she supposed to do?”

All the air left my lungs as I felt physically taken aback by this news. “I didn’t stop loving her. When she left, it tore me apart.”

Natalie snorted. “Right. You loved her so much that you stopped showing her any affection—she told me it felt like she went from having a husband to a roommate. You loved her so much you did sneaky things behind her back. Oh, wait, I know. You loved her so much that you gave her everything she wanted in the divorce so you could get rid of her. If that’s your definition of love, it’s no surprise she left.”

By the time she was finished, I was grinding my teeth. “You don’t understand what you are talking about. I gave her everything in the divorce because I didn’t want to drag it out for months and months and put her through all that.” My voice had started to rise. While I was trying to remain calm, it pissed me off that she was twisting things around. “And I didn’t touch her because I struggled a lot after Paxton’s birth. You weren’t in that hospital room, Natalie. It was just me.Me.”

I was glad Delaney’s sister had been spared from everything, but she had no right to judge me.

Natalie studied me, and her face softened. “I knew it was serious but Delaney never said how serious.”

“That’s because she doesn’t know. Not the extent of it anyway. I didn’t want to scare her.”

“Preston”—Natalie’s eyes turned caring—“you need to tell her.”

I nodded. “I know.”

“Good.”

I narrowed my eyes. “But what the hell are you talking about, me sneaking behind her back?”

Some of the anger had left Natalie, but she wasn’t ready to give in yet. “She found out about your vasectomy. You’d left your computer on the kitchen table, and your email was open. She had seen the appointment confirmation. Even if you didn’t want any more children, you should have told your wife instead of going behind her back to get one.”

She looked away and back to me. “You know, she knew you weren’t going to be happy about the pregnancy since it had been obvious you didn’t want any more kids, but I’m sure the doctor explained to you that it’s not one hundred percent effective.” She wrinkled her nose. “Did you even go back for the check to make sure there wasn’t any sperm left?”

I shook my head back and forth in confusion. “I never got a vasectomy.”

“What?” She threw her hands up. “For Christ’s sake. No wonder she got pregnant.”

“I asked her if I had anything to worry about.” It was a weak argument, but it spilled out of my mouth anyway.

“She probably thought you were asking about diseases because she thought you couldn’t have more kids.”

She was probably right, but that wasn’t the most important issue I needed to address at the moment. “Does Delaney really think I stopped loving her?”

Natalie’s expression softened. “Yes, Preston. You can’t go from being unable to keep your hands off your wife to not touching her anymore and expect her not to think something is wrong.”

I felt sick. I had failed Delaney. In so many ways. I couldn’t stand the thought of her hurting.

I needed her to know how I felt.

“Do you know where she is? I need to talk to her.”

Natalie pursed her lips, but a few seconds later, she relaxed and nodded. “I do. She’s at the Iron House restaurant.”

“Would you mind watching Paxton for a little bit longer? I need to go and see your sister and tell her I love her.”

She rolled her eyes. “I suppose I could manage.”

I pulled her into a hug. “Thank you,” I said and shoved her back so fast that I almost knocked her off her feet. “Sorry. I gotta go.”

“Preston,” she said as I spun around.

I stopped and looked over my shoulder.

“If Paxton’s birth had gone well, would you want the baby Delaney is carrying?”

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