be a family? You’ve only known the woman for a few weeks.”
“Try ten months.”
He blinked a few times while processing what I told him. “Ten months. That’s funny because she thinks, as we all do, that you met her at Nathan’s birthday party. Which, I may add, you made a terrible impression on her because you were acting weird. I explained you weren’t normally like that. But now, with what she said, maybe I was wrong.”
I shook my head. “Yes, I acted strangely at Nathan’s party because Nathan is my son.”
He barked out a laugh. “Okay. Sure.” Then his smile faded. “Monty. Do you really believe you’re the father?”
“Yes.”
“Have you been drinking? Please, you can tell me.”
I scratched the back of my neck and stood, placing my hands on his desk. “Why is that so hard to believe? Let me ask you, do you know who the father is? Does Laura?”
Rock opened his mouth, but nothing came out. He shut it and then pointed at me. Finally, he tilted his head and said, “No, we don’t. She won’t say who the father is. Why would she not tell us it was you?”
“Because she has no idea it was me.”
The color drained from Rock’s face. “Did you, uh . . . roofie her?”
“No. Why does everyone think I did that?”
“Who thinks you did that?”
“Hamish. I told Hamish what happened last week. He came to that conclusion to. But once I explained the details, he told me to tell her I was the father.”
“I’m listening.” Rock sat back in his chair, clasping his hands together.
“It was at the Jingle Balls Ball. Remember, I told you James locked me naked in that closet?”
“Oh yeah. I called your phone, but he answered. Hamish had shown up at The Blue Spot unannounced, directly from a trip in Aspen. I told him you two needed to get back as soon as possible so we could discuss the investment with Hamish.”
“That’s when James finally let me out of the closet. Before that, I was stuck . . . but I wasn’t alone.”
“I don’t understand.”
“Julia was working the coat check for the ball. If you don’t believe me, ask Laura; she got her the job because she was helping cater that night. I know this because Julia told me while we were both locked in the closet.”
He held up his hands. “Even if you were both locked in together, how does she not know it was you? Did you wear a mask the entire time?”
“No, it was pitch-black in that thing. I caught a glimpse of her as she came in the closet; that’s how I know it’s her. Besides, she told me in the closet her name was Julia. But she never got my name, and based on the fact there wasn’t a hint of recognition on her face at Nathan’s party, I suspect she never saw what I looked like.”
“And you two had sex?”
“Yes.”
“But she didn’t know what you looked like. That just seems unusual.”
“You obviously don’t know Julia that well. She’s rather carefree when it comes to sex.”
Rock stared past me, contemplating my story. “Why haven’t you told her?”
I walked to the fire, staring at the flames, trying to come up with an answer that didn’t make me out to be a coward. “I’m scared of losing her.
There was no other reason for it. If I told her now, she’d hate me for not being honest. She made it clear that lying wasn’t tolerated at dinner the other night.
“I understand,” Rock remarked.
I turned in surprise. He was loyal, hard-working, and would do anything for the people he cared about, but he was rarely sympathetic. Rock was one of the most judgmental people I knew.
“You do?”
He nodded. “I wasn’t the most honest person with Laura when we first met. I was afraid if I told her how I felt, she’d hate me for it. The last thing I wanted to do was hold her back. If you tell Julia, you’re afraid she’ll be angry you didn’t say something from the beginning, that she’ll never let you see Nathan.”
I had only seen him once, and I worried that would be the only time I ever got to lay my eyes on him. What would he look like at one year of age or five or ten? Would he look more like me or Julia? Or perhaps a combination. I feared I’d never know.
“I was so shocked at the birthday party that I said nothing. And then each