“Poor Julian.” Tessa put a hand against her lower back. “When I get home, all I’m going to want is a back rub and sleep.”
Natalie gave Tessa a nudge. “Julian is so crazy in love with you, I don’t think he’ll be disappointed.”
“I think I must be the only woman in the world who feels sexier when I’m pregnant.” Kat took a drink of bottled water. “I want sex all the time now.”
“No, you’re not the only one.” Kara sipped her chocolatini. “My labors with Caitlyn and Brendan were brought on by sex.”
“So was mine with Alissa,” Kat confessed.
Natalie found herself looking forward to the day when she would be part of this sisterhood of women who’d given birth. Then she caught sight of Zach toward the back of the room. He seemed to be arguing with a man whose face Natalie couldn’t see. He grabbed the man by his jacket and marched him toward the foyer.
“What is it?” Sophie followed the direction of Natalie’s gaze.
“I don’t know. Trouble of some kind.” She hurried after her husband, arriving just in time to see Zach step out the front door, pushing the man ahead of him.
“You weren’t invited,” he was saying.
“I shouldn’t need an invitation. I’m your father.”
Natalie stopped in her tracks.His father?
“How did you get in?”
“I told them I was the groom’s father, and they let me in.”
“So you bullied your way through the door. You need to leave.”
“You’re not going to introduce me to that beautiful young woman you married?”
“I told you when Mom died that I didn’t want to see you again.”
Natalie knew why Zach didn’t want to be around his father, knew his father had mistreated his wife and his elected office. But something about this situation tore at her, and she found herself hurting for both men—the father who seemed to want to be reconciled to his only living relative and the son who had been disappointed so many times that he’d lost all respect for his father.
Then Zach’s father’s voice took on a resigned tone. “Why do we do this? Why do we always fight? That’s not why I came here. I wanted you to know I’m not the man I was, Zach. I left the senate. I resigned.”
“What?” Zach sounded stunned. “Why?”
“I wasn’t doing anyone but myself any good. I realized it was time for me to leave. I’m no leader. I’m not a hero. You showed me what a hero really is.”
Zach had only begun to take this in when he saw Natalie standing in the foyer, her face flushed from champagne and dancing.
She came to stand beside him. “Is something wrong?”
“No. My father was just leaving.”
Her gaze shifted from him to his father. She graciously held out her hand. “I’m Natalie, Zach’s wife.”
Zach’s father’s face split in a wide smile. “Hi, Natalie. I’m Robert McBride. I’m so pleased to meet you. You’ve very beautiful—and very brave, from what I’ve read.”
“Thank you, Mr. McBride. That’s very kind of you. Do you mind if I speak with Zach for just a moment?”
Uh-oh, McBride. It’s your wedding night, and already you’re in trouble.
Zach let Natalie draw him deeper into the foyer, leaving his father on the manor’s front steps. “He wasn’t invited, Natalie.”
She turned, took his hands. “I know he wasn’t. If you want to send him away, that’s your decision. He’s your father. I’ll support you, no matter what you choose. I just wanted to say that it took courage for him to come here, knowing he wasn’t welcome. It would have been easier for him to stay away.”
Zach looked into Natalie’s eyes, just being near her taking the edge off his anger. “He says he resigned, left his senate seat.”