nodded at Jessica, wishing the woman wasn’t present to hear this interchange between him and his brother. It was humiliating.
Grasping in desperation, Nate switched tactics. He didn’t want to argue with Vince, especially in front of a woman who was nothing more than a stranger to him. “Don’t you want to meet your new niece?”
Vince’s expression instantly went from angry to astonished, his eyes widening to enormous proportions as he looked at the baby with new eyes. His mouth opened and closed several times without sound.
“My what?” Vince squeaked, his voice a good octave over its usual deep tone.
Nate chuckled. He hadn’t planned to spring this news on his brother in quite this way, but it was worth it just to see the look on his face. “Your niece. Vince, this is Gracie.”
“I didn’t know you had a child,” Vince grated, but he reached out a tentative finger, which Gracie promptly clasped and pulled toward her mouth. Vince smiled at the baby.
“She’s not mine,” Nate amended. “I mean, she’s mine. But she’s not mine.”
Vince’s eyebrow shot up in surprise. He reached for Gracie, softly cooing to her. Nate was surprised at how easily and naturally Vince held little Gracie. Nate always felt like a big, uncoordinated gorilla with the baby in his arms.
He shrugged as emotion welled in his throat. Explaining the situation to Vince was going to be the most difficult part of an entirely excruciating exchange.
“Hi there,” Vince said, directing his words to the baby. “I’m your uncle Vince. I’m afraid your daddy didn’t tell me anything about you.”
Daddy. Nate wasn’t sure he was ready for that word yet—or if he ever would be.
“Like I said, she’s not mine. She is my friend Ezra’s daughter. Ezra was my battle buddy in the marines—and my best friend. He had my back in Iraq. I would be dead a dozen times over if it wasn’t for him.”
Nate paused when his voice cracked. Shaking his head, he cleared his throat and tried again. “When Gracie was born, Ezra and his wife, Tamyra, asked me to be Gracie’s godfather. Two weeks ago, Ezra and Tamyra were involved in a fatal car accident. Tamyra died on the scene. Ezra was in critical condition for twenty-four hours before he passed.”
Vince frowned, his blue eyes surprisingly empathetic. “I’m sorry to hear it.”
When Nate didn’t immediately continue his story, Vince pinched his lips together for a moment, debating, Nate thought, on whether or not to ask the question that was obviously plaguing him. “I still don’t understand. Why do you have Gracie?”
“I was at Ezra’s side when he passed on,” Nate explained tightly, absently brushing Gracie’s dark, curly hair back from her forehead. He felt the need to touch the baby even as Vince continued to hold her. “Ezra was an only child, as was Tamyra. He…” he swallowed hard “…asked me to raise her.”
Vince whistled low and shook his head.
“Wow. That’s quite a story.” He kissed Gracie’s forehead. “But I have to ask—why didn’t you just tell him you wouldn’t do it? I’m sure you’ll agree you aren’t exactly father material, Nate.”
The woman laid a hand on Vince’s forearm as if to restrain him. Her gaze darted to Nate before she flashed Vince a cautionary warning glance.
A nice gesture, Nate thought sardonically, but decades too late.
He glared at Vince. Nate privately agreed with his brother’s assessment of his character, but he still didn’t like it that Vince had voiced his opinion aloud, especially with a beautiful, smiling stranger present.
Besides, the man Nate was now didn’t even remotely resemble the boy who’d run off and joined the U.S. Marines ten years ago. It took him a moment to collect his thoughts enough to voice them.
He could argue, but really, what was the point? Vince wasn’t going to change his mind.
“Be that as it may,” Nate growled at last, “it was Ezra’s dying wish that I take Gracie’s guardianship. They even wrote me into their will. To be honest, I’m not sure there were any other living relatives who could take Gracie. The bottom line is that I made Ezra a promise, and I’m not going to go back on it.”
Vince scoffed and shook his head again. “That would be a first.”
“Vince,” Nate warned with a hiss, his eyes narrowing. “Lay off.”
How dare his brother question his honor? Nate was a marine now. Or at least he had been. He’d been honorably discharged at the end of his last tour of duty in order to take care of Gracie. It had been his own decision. The life of a military single father wasn’t what he wanted for the baby girl.
Besides, he didn’t know how he would be able to properly care for Gracie if he was gone all the time. He finally had the time and opportunity to return to his childhood home and see his ailing father, and at the time, it had seemed the right thing to do.
Now he doubted his own wisdom.
His father no doubt expected the worst from him, and would not care one way or the other whether Nate showed up. Why was he trying so hard?
Because, he mentally amended, answering his own question, it was the right thing to do. And Nate respected himself, even if his family didn’t extend him the same courtesy.
Nate eyed Jessica’s hand, which was still on Vince’s forearm. Maybe the best thing to do was just change the subject.
“Did you get married and forget to send me the invitation?”
Jessica colored brightly and withdrew her hand from Vince’s arm as if she’d touched a burning stove top. Nate couldn’t help but chuckle at the mortified expression on her face.
Vince just rolled his eyes and snorted.
“Hardly. When would I have had time to get married? I can’t even make time to date. You left me to take care of everything around here, remember? I didn’t have the luxury of doing whatever I wanted with my life the way you did, bro. I still don’t.” Bitterness rolled off of every syllable.
Nate clenched his fist. So Vince viewed him as a problem already, did he? Why was Nate surprised? He surreptitiously glanced at his watch. He had only been here for five minutes.
Vince hadn’t changed one bit since Nate had left all those years ago.
Nothing had changed.
Chapter Two
Nate wanted to punch the sneer right off his brother’s face, but he restrained himself, with effort. Maybe later, when Jessica wasn’t there to watch.
Vince smiled at Jessica and shrugged an unspoken apology to her, and then slipped the suddenly fussy baby into her arms.
Nate would normally have felt a bit uncomfortable with a stranger holding the baby, but he observed the natural way the woman cuddled Gracie to her shoulder and wished he had some of whatever
