His tension ratcheted up as he growled, “What?”
“I, um…I may have invited—”
“Stop with the might and may. You either did or you didn’t.”
She looked up, a strange combination of remorse and defiance in her blue eyes. “I did.”
His pulse ticked faster as he shot an alarmed glance around the gallery. He froze when he saw his dad holding the front door open for his mom. Behind them were his brothers and sisters and spouses. Practically his whole damn family.
Merit jerked his ha
nd from Mae’s. “What the fuck?”
“I only invited them. I didn’t say anything yet.”
“Yet?” He glared at her, hands fisted at his sides, his heart thumping so hard the whole room probably heard it.
“Now that they’re here…” Her voice quivered. “It’s the perfect time to tell them. Just rip the Band-Aid off.”
“This isn’t exactly a Band-Aid ripping scenario.” He clenched his jaw when he heard his voice rising. He was so pissed off right now, he was ready to explode. Grasping her elbow, he pulled her toward the back. “Sonofabitch, Mae. I can’t believe you did this knowing how I felt about everything.”
“Merit, please, slow down.”
He stopped completely and whirled around, ignoring the looks they were drawing from nearby gallery guests. Betrayal burned deep as he glowered at her. “I trusted you.”
“I’m sorry, but—”
“No,” he bit out in a low undertone. “You don’t get a but. You promised you wouldn’t say anything to anyone.”
“And technically, I still haven’t,” she argued, that familiar determined glint lighting up in her eyes. “But you can’t keep going on like this. It’s been months, Merit, and you refuse to fix this thing with your dad. Won’t even talk to anyone about it. Well, I want the baby to know its grandparents.”
“It’s not your decision to make!”
“I tried talking about it with you over and over.”
“And I told you to leave it alone.” He thrust his arm out toward the gallery in a wide gesture. “This was mine to tell. When I want, on my terms. It means more than anything to me, and you just went and did whatever the fuck you wanted.”
She drew back as if he’d struck her.
He sucked in a huge breath while running both hands through his hair. Stopping mid-rake, he fisted his fingers until pain bit at his scalp, then he dropped his arms. “How the hell am I supposed to trust you with anything after this?”
“Merit, please, you have to understand—”
“I have to understand? Really? I’ll tell you what I understand, Mae. You gave your word and then broke it. I don’t know how this can work if I can’t trust you to keep your word on something this important to me.”
Her eyes narrowed as she frowned. “What does that mean?”
“It means…I don’t know exactly.” He was pissed and recognized that in this moment, he wanted to hurt her as much as she’d hurt him. But it was not the time. He’d only end up saying something he’d regret. He lifted his hands, palms out, shaking his head as he took a step back. “I can’t talk about this right now. I need to get out of here.”
“Of course. Run. That’s what you always do when you don’t want to face what’s in front of you.”
“I’m not running.”
“Whatever you gotta tell yourself, Merit.”
She brushed past him to the back, and he whirled around to watch her disappear, disbelief slackening his jaw. Where did she get off being mad at him? He grit his teeth as he took a step to go after her.
“Run. That’s what you always do…”