The moment Patrick took the lid off the pot Emma’s stomach clenched. Oh no, not now. Please not now! she silently begged. As the meaty aroma invaded her nostrils, nausea overtook her. The bile rose in her throat, and she clamped her hand over her mouth. “Sorry!” she murmured before leaping from the table, knocking her chair over in the process.
CHAPTER TWENTY
Aidan swept a nervous glance over to his father. He swallowed hard as Patrick stared at Emma’s retreating form. At the sound of the bathroom door slamming, Patrick raised an expectant brow.
His mind whirled with how he was going to possibly explain Emma’s behavior and keep their secret. He finally smiled apologetically. “I should have mentioned that she was a vegetarian, and that the smell of meat makes her sick.”
“Don’t bullshit me.”
“Excuse me?” Aidan demanded, leaning forward in his seat. That was certainly not the response he expected. His lie seemed pretty plausible to him. Well except for the small fact that Emma had happily accepted a lunch invitation for meaty pie not ten minutes ago.
Patrick shook his head. “She’s pregnant, isn’t she?”
Aidan’s own stomach churned, and he fought the urge to bolt from the table just like Emma. “What would possess you to think that?” he croaked. He sure as hell hoped Emma hadn’t mentioned something to Patrick while they were looking at the roses. If anyone was going to drop the bomb about his impending fatherhood, it was going to be him.
“Because of your mother. She couldn’t stand to be in the same room with meat when she was pregnant with you. Even the faintest smell would send her to the bathroom. The worst was when we were in the city and passed a hotdog stand.” Patrick smiled wistfully. “I haven’t seen anyone have that kind of reaction since her, not even your sisters.”
Aidan cast a glance down the hall. “Emma’s only about six weeks along. The morning sickness, or I guess I should say nausea, is hitting her really bad.”
“I assume the child is yours?”
“Of course it is,” Aidan growled.
“Surely you can see why I would question you. After all, you introduced her as a friend from work and now you’re telling me she’s pregnant with your child.”
“I didn’t quite know how to tell you.”
“Are you planning on marrying her?”
“It’s not that simple.”
Patrick’s eyebrows arched in surprise. “It isn’t? I thought when you got a woman pregnant, you did the honorable thing and offered to marry her. Why the hell were you sleeping with her if you didn’t love her or see a future with her? Or are you still hell bent on being the asshole who uses women for his selfish own purposes?”
Aidan narrowed his eyes and gripped the edge of the lace tablecloth. “Jesus Christ, Pop, don’t hold anything back. Tell me how you really feel!”
“I’m sorry, but you’re thirty-two years old. You haven’t had a single long-term relationship since you broke it off with Amy.” Patrick shook his head sadly. “If I’m being completely honest, I could say that Amy and Emma remind me a lot of each other. I certainly don’t want to see Emma get hurt like Amy did, especially if she’s carrying my grandchild.”
“Look, quit playing me out as the villain. Emma wanted a baby, so I agreed to help her.”
Patrick opened and closed his mouth like a fish out of water. Once he had a moment to adjust to the news, an amused smile curved on his lips. “Ah, you’re like her stud horse or something?”
“Not funny.”
“Sorry, son. I couldn’t resist.” He patted Aidan’s arm. “All joking aside, I just want you to think long and hard about what you’re doing. I can see you care deeply for Emma, and she does for you.”
Aidan shifted in his chair and stared down at his hands. “I don’t know how I feel.”
“You know what your mother would say, don’t you?”
Sinking fast in the quick-sand of his father’s words, Aidan swept out of his chair and went to pour himself a drink. He pulled the Scotch from the cabinet. “Don’t bring her into this. She badgered me enough herself. Always wondering why I broke Amy’s heart, or why I wouldn’t settle down, marry some nice girl from church, and punch out a bunch of kids.” He conveniently left out the part about how she had made him promise on her deathbed to have children one day.
“Don’t you realize son she knew that’s what would really make you happy.”
Aidan scowled. “But she never saw the real me—she only believed the good parts. If she had really stopped to think about it, she would have realized I never wanted to be tied down or be stuck with the same woman day in and day out.”