24. Garrett
CHAPTER 24
Garrett
Pregnant. Harper was pregnant.
I stood in my living room, staring at nothing, while those words ran through my head. I repeated them, over and over, as if I needed the repetition to wrap my mind around what she’d said.
How the fuck had that happened?
Obviously I knew exactly how it had happened. But I still couldn’t believe it. Having a baby hadn’t been anywhere near my radar. It had been clear my ex didn’t want more kids, and I hadn’t pushed it with her. After my divorce, I’d convinced myself I didn’t want another relationship, so a bigger family was out of the question. I hadn’t even thought about it.
The conversation with Jack had left me reeling, but this was on another level. I was so shocked, it was hard to think straight.
I shouldn’t have let her leave.
She hadn’t seemed angry. It wasn’t as if she’d stormed out and slammed the door behind her. Her willingness to give me what she thought I needed—space to process this news—hit me square in the chest. That had been a sacrifice on her part. A big one .
Shaking myself out of my stupor, I went to the kitchen to grab my phone and called her.
Straight to voicemail. She must have turned it off.
Damn it.
Maybe she was right. Maybe I needed time to process this. If she’d answered, what would I have said?
I didn’t know what to say. What to think. How to react.
The walls felt like they were closing in on me. I raked a hand through my hair and, without really thinking about it, grabbed my keys and headed out the door.
The next ten or fifteen minutes were something of a blur. I drove by Harper’s house, but her car wasn’t there. After that, I found myself at the Timberbeast Tavern without any clear memory of how I’d gotten there. Autopilot, apparently.
I got out of my car, wandered inside, and parked myself at the bar.
Rocco came over, drawing his thick eyebrows together. “Hey, Garrett. You all right?”
“Not really.”
He grunted and poured me a bourbon. He wasn’t the type of bartender to listen to your problems, but he was the type who remembered your drink of choice. I appreciated that.
“Thanks.”
It was early evening and there were only a handful of people in the bar. Classic rock played low in the background and Rocco disappeared into the back. I took a sip of my drink and set it down, hunching over my glass like the grizzled old-timer down the bar from me.
Pregnant. Harper was pregnant.
My phone buzzed and I almost fumbled it onto the floor. But it wasn’t her. It was my brother, Luke.
Luke: Dropping off Owen at home. Where are you ?
Me: Timberbeast
Luke: He just said that tracks. What’s going on?
Me: Long story
Luke: He says he’s fine by himself. Going to do homework. Good with you?
Me: Yeah, that’s fine. Tell him I’ll be home in a little bit. He can text me if he needs anything.
Luke: Got it.
I was about to set my phone down, when I decided to try Harper again. As expected, it went to voicemail, but this time I decided to leave a message. “Hey, Harper. I’m sorry. I messed up before. I shouldn’t have let you leave. Call me when you get this, okay?”
I sat in silence for a while, taking idle sips of my bourbon, not really tasting it. That cliff I’d been anticipating had been a hell of a lot closer than I’d thought. It still felt as if I were free-falling, hurling through the air with no idea how far it was to the bottom.
Or how much it was going to hurt when I hit.
What were we going to do? How was this going to work? What did Owen think about it? There I was, trying to set a good example for my kid, and I go and get my very new girlfriend pregnant. What kind of a father did that?
A hand clapped on my back, jolting me from my thoughts. Someone did the same thing on the other side.
“Hey, man,” Luke said and took the stool to my right.
Theo sat on my left.
“What are you guys doing here? I thought you were dropping off Owen.”
“I did. Then I came here.”
I blinked, trying to clear the haze in my mind. It felt like he’d texted me ten seconds ago, but I’d probably been sitting there brooding for a while.
“Why are you here?” I asked, turning to Theo .
“He called me. Said he might need brother reinforcements.”
Rocco wandered over and tipped his chin. “Drink?”
“We’ll take a round of whatever he’s having,” Luke said. “Thanks, Rocco.”
He poured their drinks and slid them across the bar, then poured me another.
“So what’s going on?” Luke asked. “Owen was suspiciously not surprised that you’re here, but he claimed he didn’t know anything.”
“Is Harper okay?” Theo asked.
“Yes. And no.” I took a deep breath. “She’s pregnant.”
“Whoa,” Luke and Theo said simultaneously.
“Hold up,” Luke said. “Are you serious?”
I nodded.
“Pregnant?” asked Theo.
“That’s what I said.”
They both leaned back. Probably exchanging a look behind me.
“What happened to just seeing if you’re compatible?” Luke asked.
“They were seeing if they’re compatible all right.” Theo made a circle with his thumb and forefinger and moved his other finger in and out of it.
Luke snickered.
I elbowed Theo in the ribs.
“What?” Theo did it again. “It’s the universal symbol for discovering compatibility.”
I glared at him.
He patted me on the back. “I’m just giving you shit.”
“You forgot, Garrett doesn’t have a sense of humor,” Luke said.
“Yes, I do. But this isn’t funny.”
“I mean, it’s kinda funny,” Theo said.
I glared at him again .
“I’m not saying it isn’t a big deal. This is huge. But if any of us were going to unintentionally get a girl pregnant, it’s funny that it’s you.”
“Why is that funny to you?”
“Isn’t it obvious? You’re the boy scout. Always prepared, always responsible.”
“You say that like it’s a bad thing.”
“It’s not. This is just… I don’t know, an amusing reminder that you’re human.”
Blowing out a breath, I shook my head. “I’m an asshole. That’s what I am. I knew I was moving too fast with her. I knew I needed to hold back. And what did I do?”
Theo made the “compatibility” motion again.
I elbowed him. Harder.
He laughed. “Sorry.”
“Unlike football brain over there, I think this is serious,” Luke said.
My gaze shifted to him.
“Don’t look so skeptical. I’m not going to make a joke.”
I lifted my eyebrows.
“But I am wondering when you had time to make a baby with your busy crime fighting schedule.”
“Crime fighting? I’m not a comic book character.”
“You could be. You’ve got that Captain America thing going on.”
“Except I don’t think Cap got anyone pregnant,” Theo said.
“True.”
“You two are so helpful,” I deadpanned. “I’m glad you stopped in.”
“Hey, jerks,” a voice said behind me. “What’s going on?”
I glanced over my shoulder at my brother, Zachary. He strolled over to the bar looking entirely too full of himself. I smirked at the smudge of what looked like red lipstick on his upper lip .
“What’s on your face?” Theo asked.
Zachary swiped his nose. “Where? Did I get it?”
Theo mimicked wiping his upper lip. “There. It’s either Marigold’s lipstick, or you should probably see a doctor.”
Grinning, Zachary rubbed his thumb across his lip. “What can I say, my wifey is hot.”
“What are you doing here all by yourself?” Luke asked.
“There’s a bunch of girl stuff going on at home. I figured I’d give them space.”
That got my attention. “Girl stuff? Is Harper there?”
“Yeah. Audrey, too. Wouldn’t be surprised if Josiah shows up here.”
Some of the panic hovering in the back of my mind eased. At least I knew where she was.
As if on cue, Josiah walked through the door, his red flannel and jeans covered in splotches of paint. He had wide shoulders and a thick beard—looked a lot like a younger version of our dad.
“See?” Zachary jerked a thumb over his shoulder. “Told you.”
Josiah studied us through narrowed eyes, as if deciding whether or not he wanted to stay. He wasn’t the most social of the Haven brothers.
“Audrey doing girl stuff?” Luke asked.
Josiah grunted. “She’s with Mari.”
“Come on.” Luke nudged me with his elbow. “Let’s get a table.”
We moved to a table and Zachary bought drinks for himself and Josiah. He also bought me another. I was pretty sure that was a bad idea, but I finished off my other glass in one swallow and took it.
Theo and Luke exchanged a look and Luke shrugged his shoulders.
“What’s that about?” Zachary asked.
“Nothing,” Luke and Theo said simultaneously .
Zachary’s gaze moved around the table. “Why do I feel like we missed something?”
“Why do you care if we missed something?” Josiah asked.
“Because I want to know what’s going on.”
Luke and Theo both turned toward me. Zachary raised his eyebrows at me, as if to say, go ahead. Even Josiah looked mildly interested.
I was surprised they didn’t already know. They would soon enough. This wasn’t going to stay quiet, and I didn’t expect their wives to keep it from them.
“Harper’s pregnant.”
Josiah’s eyes widened slightly, but Zachary looked like he might fall out of his chair. He slammed his palms on the table and leaned forward. “What?”
“Exactly,” Luke said.
“That explains Audrey,” Josiah said. “I knew there was something going on.”
A big grin stole over Zachary’s face. “Congratulations.”
I stared at him. “Excuse me?”
“Congratulations, man. I’m happy for you.”
My other brothers looked at him with similar expressions of confusion.
“What?” he asked. “I get it, this probably wasn’t planned, but it’s still kind of awesome. Finish that drink, we need another round.”
“We just got this round,” Josiah said.
He stood up. “I know, but we need to celebrate. Rocco! Another round for the table.”
My brothers tossed back their drinks, so I went ahead and swallowed mine. It burned going down, but I was starting to feel better. Warm, loose, calm. Maybe even a little bit happy?
Zachary was happy for me. Could I be happy too?
That was probably the bourbon, but I couldn’t help the half smile on my lips .
Theo got up to help Zachary bring the drinks over from the bar. They sat and Zachary lifted his glass.
“To Garrett and Harper. And to the crazy fucking curve balls life throws at us.”
I could drink to that. I lifted my glass, then drank it in one swallow.
That one didn’t even burn.
“Lissen,” I said, vaguely noticing my speech was a little off. “Don’t tell Dad and Mom yet. Or anyone.”
“We got you, bro,” Luke said.
“This wasn’t supposed to happen,” I continued. “I’m a cop and responsible father. Or I thought I was.”
“That’s why this isn’t the worst news,” Zachary said. “You’re a great father.”
I had the most insane urge to get up and hug him. That was definitely the bourbon. Instead, I lifted my empty glass, as if to toast again. “Thanks, Z.”
“Need another?” he asked.
“Sure, why the hell not?”
“Rocco, my good man,” Zachary called as he stood. “Another round.”
My head was getting increasingly fuzzy, but I couldn’t seem to make myself worry about it. There was a part of me, buried beneath the alcohol, trying to remind me that drinking lowered inhibitions and led to poor decision making. That while another drink sounded like a great idea, it was anything but.
Unfortunately, I was already too drunk to listen.
Another drink turned into two. Or maybe three. I lost track. We gave each other shit, like we always did, and laughed our asses off. I had no idea which one of us was staying sober or how we were all getting home.
Or maybe I was the only drunk one. That was a solid possibility.
They gave me crap about Harper, repeating the “compatibility symbol” with their hands. We teased Josiah and Zachary about going soft for their wives, but we didn’t really mean it. There was something unexpected and a little bit awesome about seeing Josiah and Zachary both happily married.
If I was being completely honest, I was jealous.
I’d never had what they did, even when I was married. Was that what Harper wanted? Was I crazy for thinking about it?
Probably.
But she did something to me. Filled a void I didn’t like to acknowledge. I’d fallen hard and fast for that woman, and maybe it wasn’t the worst thing in the world that we were having a baby together. Maybe it was meant to be.
I picked my head up, realizing I’d put it down on the table.
“Come on, my dude.” Zachary and Luke hoisted me up between them.
“I this got.” I shook my head, trying to clear it. “I got this.”
“Yeah, you do.” Zachary draped my arm around his shoulders. “Let’s go. Time for bed.”
“Drank too much,” I muttered. “Blood alcohol above limit legal. No, above legal limit. Too high.”
“Definitely too high,” Z said as we started to walk out of the bar. “That’s probably my fault. Don’t worry, bro, you’re not driving.”
For some reason, that made me laugh. “Harper’s pregnant.”
Luke held the door for us, and Zachary led me to his truck.
“I know, man. You can crash on the couch at my place, okay?”
“You got him?” Luke asked.
“Yeah. I figure we should spare Owen the sight of his dad blind drunk. And if he passes out in the truck, he can sleep it off there. It’ll be a warm night, he’ll be fine.
“Sounds good. I’ll crash at his house so Owen isn’t alone all night.”
“Good call. Night, Luke.”
I lifted my hand, trying to wave goodbye, but it threw off my balance and I stumbled into Zachary. “Oh, shit.”
“One foot in front of the other, my dude,” Zachary said. “There we go, in the truck.”
Somehow I ended up in the passenger’s seat of his truck. I ignored the fact that my car was in the parking lot and that I had to work in the morning. Problems for future Garrett.
Although future Garrett was going to be pissed.