Page 80 of Private Tutoring
“But you would have done it anyway, even if you’d known I liked him.” There was no heat left in her voice. She looked over our group. “I’m sorry too. I took things too far.”
It was a bittersweet resolution. We’d come to terms of acceptance, but our friendship wouldn’t survive this level of betrayal. I ached for what could have been if Delilah had come to me from the beginning. She was right, I don’t think I would have been able to stop seeing Stephen even if I’d known.
Delilah moved toward the front of the theater hall. “Goodbye, Harmony.”
“Bye, Delilah.” It hurt more than I expected, but I let her walk away as I mourned the loss of her friendship. I took Stephen’s hand once again and turned toward his SUV. “Let’s go home.”
“We need to celebrate.” Roberto waved toward Delilah’s retreating figure. “I’m sorry this happened tonight, but I refuse to allow it to ruin the moment.”
“He’s right. We should celebrate. You had an amazing performance.” Matthew rubbed a hand up and down my spine.
I grinned and sniffed the roses Stephen handed me. “And I caught the eye of Broadway’s most renowned talent agent.”
“That you did.” Matthew chuckled and hopped into the back seat while Roberto helped me into the front passenger seat. “And that is definitely worthy of a celebration.”
“What did you have in mind?” I asked once I’d buckled in and set the flowers across my lap.
Matthew shrugged in my peripheral vision. “Oh, you know, the usual. A fancy dinner.”
“And then?” I turned in my seat to look at him. “Anything else?”
Roberto joined Matthew in the back seat. “I smell an idea brewing in that beautiful mind of yours. Why don’t you tell us what you have in mind.”
I did, in full detail. By the time Stephen pulled into the parking lot and we left the SUV, we couldn’t keep our hands off each other. I laughed when Stephen swept me into his arms and marched into the elevator. He didn’t put me down for the entire ride to the penthouse, and I couldn’t imagine anywhere else I’d rather be.
We fell into bed together in a tangle of arms and legs. Kisses rained down along my entire body, and I knew that no matter what happened, my baby and I were going to be taken care of by the three most incredible men I’d ever met.
EPILOGUE: STEPHEN
Eight months. How had time passed so fast? I paced the length of the waiting room, striding across the distance so fast I reached the end and turned often enough to make myself dizzy. I stopped and put a hand against the wall, rubbing my chest in an effort to ease the panic.
The breathing techniques Harmony’s pregnancy class leader had recommended for Harmony threaded through my mind. I tried one, taking a deep breath and holding it, then releasing it in a slow, measured exhale. It helped for about a minute.
“Get it together.” I admonished myself with enough harshness to make my spine twitch. Harmony was the one going through delivery. All I had to do was figure out how to be there for her without falling apart. The fear had grown over the last few months. Every time we went to a doctor’s appointment and I saw our sweet baby on the ultrasound, I fell a little bit more in love.
But the risk …
Harmony was perfectly healthy. So was our baby.
My wife and baby girl were also in perfect health, and I’d lost them both.
My lungs seized, and I bent at the waist, struggling to get air into my body.
“Stephen.” Harmony’s voice sliced the cables cinched around my lungs and lifted my head. She stood in the doorway, the hospital gown taut over her rounded belly.
“Harmony,” I whispered her name like a prayer. “You should be in bed.”
“Nah. Nurses said labor is easier and faster if I walk as long as I can.” She gave me a lopsided grin that almost hid her concern. “Want to walk with me?” She held out her hand and wiggled her fingers. “It’s not good for you to be out here alone.”
I could argue, but she made a good point. My thoughts were too loud when I stayed by myself. “Where should we walk to?”
Harmony took my hand and squeezed my fingers. “To the end of the hall. Roberto and Matthew are arguing baby names in the room.” She rolled her eyes without any real animosity in the motion. “The nurses think they’re hilarious. Especially when Matthew suggested Treble, like our child is an automatic music prodigy.”
I fell in step beside her. “Roberto would call them Trouble, just to get on Matthew’s nerves.”
“That’s what I said.” She paused, a wince tightening her features, and checked the clock at the end of the hallway. “Getting closer.”
My heart took flight from my body. “Should you go back to the room?”
