Aria squeezed her shoulder. “No. As much as I want to kick him, I know he never wanted you gone, but you terrified him. The thought of you having a baby made him go slightly insane.”
“How?”
“I was told that after you left your house, he spent ten days alone. Part of it was in the office, and the rest in his bedroom. From what Faith told me, he went crazy and trashed his office. There was glass everywhere. He didn’t eat and only slept when he passed out from the alcohol he was drinking. When Faith saw him, she didn’t recognize him. He’d lost weight because he hadn’t eaten in so long. His family has turned against him. His father won’t even talk to him. Graham and a few other brothers or cousins have to work with him, but the girls say they do the work and leave instead of talking like they usually do.”
Beth’s heart hurt for him. “I don’t want them to do that. I don’t want him hurt.”
Kit smiled and tapped her shoulder. “You are amazing. You have such a wholesome, pure heart, and I rarely see people like you.”
“But I’m weak,” Beth murmured.
Both women shook their heads.
“You are one of the strongest people I’ve met,” Kit said.
“Out of all my girls, I depend on you to keep the rest of them out of trouble. They listen to you. Have you noticed that?” Aria asked.
Beth thought about that for a moment, and Aria was right. They even stopped bickering if she asked them to.
“I hadn’t realized…”
Aria squeezed her hand and smiled. “You’re the one that keeps me sane. I would add Sara and Rebecca to the list of helpful people in my life, but I see them already start to turn into devils.”
Beth smiled. She loved all her sisters and Mom so much. Her thoughts went back to Alastair. “What should I do?”
“Do you want to see him?” Kit asked.
“Yes, but I’m afraid he’ll hurt me more.”
“So, if he promised not to be a jackass, you want him to come up to the room?” Aria told her.
“Then yes.”
Aria bent and kissed her on the forehead. “I’ll go talk to him. If I feel he’s safe for you, I’ll send him up. Kit and I will be outside the door, or we can stay in the room if you’d like.”
Beth inhaled. “I think I’d like you out in the hallway, but close.”
“You got it. I’ll stay here until Aria brings him up.”
“I’d like that,” Beth said.
Kit and she discussed mundane things to pass the time. It seemed to take forever before the door opened, and Aria walked in, followed by Alastair. She couldn’t take her eyes off him. He looked more broken than she felt.
“We’ll be out here,” Aria said.
Beth nodded at them, but then her attention was solely on her husband.
Alastair stood at the end of the bed, clutched the frame, and cleared his throat. “God, I don’t know where to start.”
Beth still felt the hurt he caused but was compassionate enough to hate he was in pain. “I didn’t send the papers, but I knew Aria was going to. They weren’t real.”
“Fuck, they looked real.”
“She knew how not knowing about the future was bothering me.”
Beth cataloged all the things different about her husband. He looked a decade older and had deep groves around his mouth, eyes, and forehead.
“I don’t like how your family is treating you.”