I wasn’t sure what Sadie had told him, but it was time to come clean.
“Jack put your fists down – you look like the damn Fighting Irish mascot!”
He regarded his hands as if there might’ve been something wrong with them. I needed to talk him out of fighting. There was no doubt in my mind that I, with fifteen centimeters and twenty or so kilos on the man, would be able to take him down handily.
That wasn’t an option, however. Not a chance in hell I’d further humiliate him by dropping poor Jack if it were to come to blows. So, I’d have to let him wail on me a bit, let him think he’d done some damage. It was the least I could do after what had happened between Sadie and me.
A better option would be to get him to calm down at least to the point where I didn’t have to worry about him trying to hit me.
“Jack, before you take a swing – which you’d be well within your rights to do ? let me tell you something that might change your mind.”
“Change my mind? What the hell would change my mind?”
“I didn’t know it was Sadie when it happened.”
I wasn’t sure how persuasive I was being. Maybe he was just confused. Whatever it was, he slowly lowered his fists to his sides.
“What the hell are you talking about?”
“What did Sadie tell you?”
His hands were still in fists, but at least they were down. The comment seemed to have been confusing enough that it gave me a chance to talk some sense into him.
“I asked why we were here, why she was acting so strange. And she let it all out. She told me that you were the father and that you’d brought us here to tell us tonight.”
“And…that’s it?”
He narrowed his eyes as if he thought that I was trying to pull some sort of trick on him.
“Yeah. That’s it.” His eyes flashed with anger once more, as if he were coming to his senses. “What the hell were you thinking? She’s achildcompared to you! And on top of that, she’s your daughter’s best friend. Was it that important to get your rocks off, Doc?”
I shook my head. “It wasn’t like that.”
“Then tell me what it was like.”
“It happened at a masquerade ball. Everyone was wearing masks, and I had no idea who she was. I guess Sadie was able to spot me and figure out who I was.”
He said nothing, his eyes still narrowed.
“She came over and hit on me. Then one thing led to another and…”
“And then there were twins.”
Never in a million years did I ever think I’d be forced to explain to a father the specifics of how I’d ended up in bed with his daughter.
“I swear, I had no idea it was her. She never took off the mask, never letmetake it off. Had I known it was Sadie, Ineverwould’ve done it.”
I heard the front door open in the distance, followed by the crunch of feet on gravel. Sadie stepped around the corner, a worried look on her face.
“I’m sorry.” She mouthed the words.
“Sadie?” asked Jack. “Is what he’s saying true? That you didn’t let him know it was you? Or is this more bullshit?”
“It’s true, Dad. I…I’ve had a crush on Noah for a really long time. And I knew that if he knew who I was, he’d never go along with it. Noah’s not that type of guy – he’s too good for that.”
Jack kept his eyes on me, fire burning still behind them.
“I tricked him. I know it’s crazy and immature and everything else. But I never thought it would end up with me being pregnant.”