Page 71 of Private Tutoring
Shock had almost rendered me speechless, but there was no way I’d let Delilah win, even if it was all in her head.
“This is your last chance, Stephen,” she called out to me from the middle of my classroom. “One word from me and this all blows up in your face.”
“I’d rather eat shit and die. I’ll take my chances.” I turned in the doorway and let her see the full force of my anger. She blanched and took a step back. “That’s right. That is what you’re up against. I will protect Harmony at all costs, and there is nothing you can say or do to change my mind.”
I’d lost one woman and child. No way I’d let another slip through my fingers.
Harmony was pregnant. The more I let those words spread through me, the more sense everything made. Delilah blackmailed Harmony, or the threats themselves had been enough. Put that in with Leighona’s reaction and her accusations, and the fear of an unexpected pregnancy, and the whole situation turned into a powder keg ready to explode at the slightest spark.
That spark came in the form of Dean Carpenter. Harmony did more than take the fall for us. She hid her pregnancy. Why? One thing I’d learned from being married to an amazing woman, they had reasons for everything.
And the fault for this one came back to me. I understood it as I ran from the building at a dead sprint. Matthew would be in class. I checked my watch. Rossi should be free. I’d tell him first, then we’d talk to Matthew together. I had to make this right. By demanding we all keep our feelings out of the equation, I’d unintentionally made Harmony feel like she could not come to us when she found out about the baby.
My heart took flight as the weight of it all settled on me. Happiness spread with the same heady sensation I’d felt when I found out about my first child. I was going to be a father. It didn’t matter that biologically the father might be Matthew or Roberto. We were all in this together.
Pain lanced my side before I made it halfway to Roberto’s classroom. I slowed to a jog and sent him a text to meet me outside.
Minutes later, I spotted him running my way, his face pale and eyes tight. “What’s going on?” He grabbed me by the shoulders and shook me. “You mentioned Harmony. Have you heard from her?”
I filled him in on what Delilah said, ending with the most important information. “Harmony’s pregnant.”
Roberto sucked air so hard he coughed. “What? For real?”
“I don’t trust Delilah at all, but she was all too happy to admit that to me. Maybe she thought I’d be appalled.” Some men would be. Was I worried about Harmony? Yes. I also wanted to be there for her in any way she allowed.
Roberto regained his color an instant later. “Does Matthew know?”
“Not yet.”
We turned at the same time and headed toward the theater hall. “We might have to wait a bit. He’s in the middle of class.”
Our strides slowed enough that we didn’t look frenzied. When we reached the trees outside the theater hall, we stopped and took a minute to catch our breath. “You think Delilah will really try to talk Harmony into an abortion?” Roberto spoke my worst fear aloud.
I tensed without meaning to, and he clapped a hand to the center of my back. “If she does, I hope Harmony says no.” We’d respect her decisions, but if she didn’t want the baby, I hoped she at least offered us a chance to raise the child ourselves.
If it came to that. Now that we knew the truth, we had a chance at finally showing Harmony how much she meant to us. I’d been prepared to let her go, but that was before I realized that she’d been forced to walk away and maybe she still wanted us but had been too scared to say anything.
35
MATTHEW
Well, it was all going to shit exactly how I thought it would. I stood with both hands out in front of me, waving them back and forth. “Stop. Stop. Stop.” For the fifth time, I halted Leighona when she tried to convince me her voice hadn’t given out.
She huffed and chugged water, which she’d been doing all week. It hadn’t helped. Nothing had, because she simply did not have the vocal range required to keep up with the strain.
Two days into production and we were at risk of having it all fall apart.
Leighona opened her mouth. “Please.” The strained whisper grated on my last nerve.
This was what I’d been talking about. She’d gone from screeching to having no voice at all. “I told you this was going to happen. Did you see the doctor?”
She nodded, a shamed look crossing her face.
“And?”
She shrugged, dug into her pocket, and pulled out a slip of paper.
I read it quickly, my forehead tightening with my frown. “And you decided to keep this from me? Even the doctor said you needed to be on complete vocal rest. You shouldn’t even be talking, much less trying to sing.”
