Page 77 of Seducing Bran
Bran hugged Harlow tighter. He’d be the best dad he could, if it came down to it. But he didn’t want an unplanned child. He wanted to be able to give his kid and wife everything.
A few minutes later, Bran spied Wes talking to the manager, who was a good friend of Wes’s, and Bran spun Harlow in the opposite direction before Wes could take her away.
And came face to face with the girl whose life he’d ruined.
Woman—she was a woman now. Standing beside a man while she held the hand of a small child—three, maybe four years old?
“Bran.” Delaney turned to the man at her side. “Kevin, this is Bran. We went to high school together. It’s good to see you,” she said to Bran with a smile.
Bran shifted Harlow to his other side and shook Kevin’s hand. “Pleased to meet you.” He looked at Delaney, studying her face, sensing the disbelief on his own. She didn’t look miserable or damaged. She looked happy. “How are you?”
“Really well,” she said, and picked up the little boy. “This is my son, Miles.” Miles rested his head on his mother’s shoulder. “Miles, can you say hello to Bran?”
The little boy mumbled something approximating “hello,” and Bran introduced Miles to Harlow.
“Is she yours?” Delaney said.
Bran looked at Harlow, realizing how it must appear. “My niece. Wes’s daughter.”
Delaney asked how Wes was doing, and the man in question came up and stole Harlow, damn him.
“So this is where you took Harlow,” Wes said after meeting Kevin and greeting Delaney, whom he seemed to recognize from school.
Wes knew Bran had gotten a girl pregnant in high school, but Bran had never told him who.
“I better get going,” Wes said. “Kaylee is waiting at the golf shop to take this one to Music and Me class.” He hopped his daughter in his arms, and Harlow squealed. “Nice to see you again, Delaney. Kevin.” Wes shook Kevin’s hand, and then he and Harlow were off.
Bran glanced around. “Were you waiting for a table?”
Delaney nodded. “It’s my birthday and we wanted to go someplace special.”
Locals often came to Club Tahoe restaurants for special occasions. It was nice to know the hiccup this week hadn’t totally ruined their reputation.
Bran flagged a waiter, who made his way over.
“Put them at one of the reserved tables,” Bran said quietly to the waiter, and the waiter escorted Delaney and her family away.
Bran attempted to put in more work, but he couldn’t get his mind off Delaney. After high school, he’d never seen her again. He’d assumed she left town, and maybe she had. Running into her today felt like coming full circle, only worse. He’d been a teen when he got Delaney pregnant. Ten years later, and he wasn’t sure if he’d caused another unplanned pregnancy.
He had rules. Rules that ensured he never made that mistake again. And he’d ignored the rules to be with Ireland. Because he loved her.
Fuck.
On their way out, Delaney gestured for her husband and son to go ahead, and stayed behind.
“Thank you for lunch,” she said. “That was very generous.”
Bran had paid for their lunch, because it was the least he could do. “Happy birthday. I’ve always wondered how you were doing.”
She reached out and squeezed his arm. “Really well. Are you okay?”
It was a simple question with a simple answer. But for some reason, words wouldn’t come out. “I just wanted to tell you that I’m sorry. For any pain I put you through when we were in high school. I’m not sure I ever told you that.”
A sad smile crossed her face. “You did, actually. Several times. I was sorry too. But life has been good to me. I was given a second chance, and I hope you’ve been given one too.”
Hehadbeen given a second chance. With Ireland. And he’d botched it.
Bran had freaked the fuck out the other night. He hadn’t been there for Ireland, just like he’d panicked and not been there for Delaney a lifetime ago.
