Secrets in Summer(101)

“Okay,” Darcy said slowly.

“She’s pregnant.”

“Okay,” Darcy said again. “I don’t see the problem, Boyz. You always wanted children. You’re the heir, the future patriarch of the Szweda family.”

Boyz released Darcy. He turned away. With his back to her, Boyz muttered, “The child can’t be mine.” He sounded as if he were about to cry.

The name popped right into her mind. Otto Brueckner.

“Oh, Boyz,” she said, restraining herself from going to him. “What a ridiculous thought.”

“No. Not ridiculous at all. I had myself tested this spring. I have something called idiopathic oligospermia. It means I don’t have a huge concentration of sperm in my semen. I mean, I’ve got some, but not the million like I should have.”

“Oh, Boyz, I’m so sorry,” Darcy said, and she truly was. “Is there a cure?”

He shook his gorgeous silver-blond head. “I’m taking vitamin C and zinc and eating a high-protein diet. I was planning to try some serious drugs, but Autumn’s already pregnant and the chances are low that I’m the father…” He was on the point of tears. “And Darcy, you never got pregnant when we were married.”

He didn’t need to say it: Autumn was probably pregnant with another man’s baby. Boyz turned to face her. Tears shimmered in his eyes.

Darcy’s thoughts raced. What responsibility did she have here?

Maybe her responsibility was simple: She could tell the truth.

“Boyz, I have a confession to make. It’s important.”

“Tell me.”

“When we were married, all the time we were married, I was on the birth control pill.”

Boyz stared at her, blank faced.

“I mean, I never stopped taking the pill. I didn’t get pregnant because I took that pill every day.”

Boyz lifted his head. His face cleared. “So if you didn’t get pregnant because you were on the pill, then maybe I do have enough sperm to make Autumn’s baby.” He rubbed his forehead, looking thoughtful. “The doctor said I have some sperm…so this baby could be mine?”

“I don’t know that. I can’t say that. All I can do is tell you the truth about why I didn’t get pregnant.”

“Why didn’t you stop taking the pill?” Boyz asked, but he didn’t speak with anger or pain. What Darcy had done in their marriage wasn’t compelling; what mattered was his marriage to Autumn, the possibility of Autumn carrying his own child.

Darcy was glad for that, glad she’d revealed her secret. “I’m not sure, Boyz. At first, I suppose, in the early months, I didn’t want to get pregnant until I sort of got my sea legs in your family. I wanted to be part of your family, but you are all so powerful, so convinced of your own importance, and so tangled together. I couldn’t find a way to get in. As time went on, I realized I didn’t love you, not really, and you didn’t really love me. We were young, we had dreams, but we were so different, you and I. We wanted such different things.”

“Okay. I guess I can understand. Although people do have babies when they aren’t prepared for them. Babies can come at inconvenient times.”

Darcy smiled at Boyz. “That’s true. They can also come at convenient times.”

“So you’re saying since I want a child, I should stay with Autumn and let her go through the pregnancy. There’s a chance the child is mine.”

“I’m not saying anything,” Darcy insisted. “Whatever you decide is for you and Autumn to discuss, and by the way, I believe it’s Autumn’s decision about going through with this pregnancy, not yours. Or not yours alone.”

“I know, feminist blah-blah-blah,” Boyz muttered.

Darcy watched her ex-husband struggling to come to terms with it all. “I suppose another option you have is to divorce Autumn. After all, she’s been unfaithful to you.”

Boyz’s face cleared. “I couldn’t do that, Darcy. I love Autumn.” All of a sudden, he looked strong and sure. “Darcy, thank you for telling me about your, um, secret. It helps me a lot to know that.”

“And no hard feelings?” Darcy asked.

He grinned. “I could have some very hard feelings if you’ll give me a minute.”

Darcy laughed. “Oh, for heaven sake. You’re ridiculous.” She couldn’t help but wonder what Boyz would do if she took him up on his offer. If she wrapped herself around him and kissed him…how would he respond if truly put to the test?

She’d never know, she decided, because truly, she didn’t care.

But she did care about someone else.