Page 80 of Max's Mission

He’d needed the solitude this morning. It gave him some time to process the gamut of emotions from the last couple of days. Yesterday went by in a whirlwind of preparation. Though he’d carved out some time to swim with the twins. And to put them to bed with Margot. But he hadn’t given himself time—or permission—to think.

But in the water this morning, he’d given his mind free rein and sorted through the events of the last forty-eight hours. It took about twenty laps of the pool before it clicked that his entire life was about to change. His time as a bachelor, whether Margot was pregnant or not, was coming to an end.

And he was fine with that. He’d meant what he told her. For the right woman—her—he’d make the commitment.

As soon as he could, he planned to buy her a ring. He didn’t want to wait another minute to make them a family.

A towel appeared next to his shoulder. He took it, words of thanks on the tip of his tongue, expecting to see Margot. But it was Tad.

Max frowned and wiped his face. “What are you doing up so early?”

Tad lifted a shoulder, slipping out of his sandals to sit down beside Max. His feet dropped into the water. “I don’t sleep much. Never did. Came in really handy in med school.”

Max gave a soft grunt of agreement, but otherwise stayed silent. He sensed Tad had something on his mind.

The man didn’t make him wait long to find out what.

“Hey, um, I wanted to thank you.” Tad cast him a quick look, then trained his gaze on the far side of the pool.

“For?”

“Watching out for Margot and the girls.”

“I didn’t do it for you.”

“I know you didn’t, but I still appreciate it. I’d be lying if I said I didn’t worry about what would happen to them when I left.”

Max clenched his teeth, anger simmering below the surface now. “Then why did you? Not that I’m complaining. Your loss is my gain.” He knew it was a jerk thing to say, but Tad Gaultier didn’t rate niceties after what he’d done.

Tad flinched. “I deserve that.” He glanced away, staring off in the distance at the ocean visible over the jungle. “I left because I knew if I stayed, I’d just cause even more pain for them. Margot’s strong. I knew she’d be okay. That she’d bounce back. And the girls were so young, I knew it would be unlikely they’d miss me for long.” He paused, then turned to Max, self-deprecation twisting his face. “I didn’t want my children to have the dad who was in prison. Who’d had everything and gambled it all away. Literally.”

Max drew a knee up, wrapping his arms around it, and considered that. “Why’d you start gambling?”

“Do you know how expensive it is to raise a kid? I suddenly had two. Plus, my student loans from medical school.” He shook his head, shrugging his shoulders. “I felt like I was drowning.”

“Did Margot know how you felt?” She’d never mentioned any of this. But they hadn’t talked too much about Tad and what went wrong.

Tad shook his head. “Not really. Not to that extent. She knew I was worried about the future. I brought up her inheritance once. Said we might need to tap into it as the girls aged. She shut that line of talk down quickly. Told me we’d find another way. I never understood why she was so adamant about not touching what her parents gave her.”

“Did you bother to ask?”

“Of course I did.” Indignation colored his voice and brought a slight glare to his face.

“Did you listen to what she said?” Because if he had, he’d know why she wanted nothing to do with it.

Tad huffed. “It would hurt her parents more to see her flaunt it in their faces.”

Max wasn’t so sure about that. From what Margot said of her parents, he doubted they’d even notice. And even if they did and took offense to her flaunting it, that wasn’t Margot’s style.

“It doesn’t matter now. It’s all water under the bridge.” Tad filled his lungs, then slowly let the air out as he stared at the ocean again. “I know I screwed up.” He looked at Max. “I won’t stand in your way. Even if I thought she’d choose me over you, I’m in a lot of trouble. I left to keep her out of my mess and in a misguided attempt to protect them.”

It was Max’s turn to look out at the sea. “You know, I admire what you were trying to do.” He held up a finger. “Not what you did or how you did it, but the sentiment behind it. But it’s stillfucked up. You should have sought help long before you got into the situation you did with Owens.”

“Yeah.” Tad’s voice was soft. “Hindsight’s twenty-twenty.” He paused for a long moment. “Anyway, I just wanted to tell you that. And to say, please don’t hurt them. They’ve been through enough.” He turned to Max. “Maybe one day, tell my daughters I’m not a bad guy. Just misguided and royally stupid.” Lifting a hand, it hovered above Max’s shoulder for a moment. He let it drop in a brief touch before standing.

Max watched him scoop up his shoes and walk back to the house.

Heaviness settled into his heart. On the one hand, he was happy he was with Margot. That he had the chance to be Emily and Lily’s dad. But on the other, he was sorry the girls would miss out on having Tad be the father Max now saw he could have been.

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