Total pages in book: 188
Estimated words: 182255 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 911(@200wpm)___ 729(@250wpm)___ 608(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 182255 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 911(@200wpm)___ 729(@250wpm)___ 608(@300wpm)
“Who was I going to tell? Mom would have had a stroke. Matt was finishing college, and you were busy with your PI business. Besides, I didn’t see the harm.” Danny shrugged. “I shared a woman or two with other guys before I married Maggie—not that she’ll ever know. That would blow her modest little mind.”
“Looks like we all have.” Seth clapped his brothers on the shoulder. “This kink must be genetic.”
They all burst into laughter.
Then Seth sobered. “I talked to Carl today. He agrees that Mom needs to let this go. He’s going to try talking to her before she carries out her threat to kick Jack and Connor out of the family. I’ll do the same.”
“Good. I’m not losing my brothers because Mom can’t handle their love life.”
Danny nodded. “And she can’t cast us all out of the family.”
“Amen,” Matt seconded.
Seth felt a surge of relief so strong it nearly knocked him over. When the time came to tell the family about Beck and Heavenly, he’d have his brothers’ support. Mom would have to cave when she realized all her sons stood against her, right?
Grace called them to dinner, interrupting his thoughts. The three brothers agreed to share intel before they headed to the dining room.
Dinner that evening felt like stepping back in time. The table was crowded with family, full of laughter and conversation, though he was keenly aware of the twins’ absence.
“So…California treating you well?” Matt reached for another dinner roll while Anna tried to grab his glasses off his face from her high chair.
“It is. Weather’s perfect, work’s steady, and I’ve made some great friends. And so far, no major earthquakes.” He laughed self-deprecatingly.
“Still can’t believe you left New York for good.” Danny speared another morsel of Grace’s famous pot roast.
“LA is home now.”
“Because of Heavenly?” At his nod, Maggie smiled. “Tell us more about her. I’m dying to meet her. Grace said her father died in April. Did you get to meet him?”
Seth felt his chest tighten. “Briefly, right before he passed away. Heavenly and Abel were really close. Losing him broke her heart.”
Grace reached over and squeezed his hand. “Oh, that poor girl.”
“What about Heavenly’s mom?” Maggie pressed gently.
Every time he thought about the woman, he got angry. “She left when her dad got his diagnosis… Heavenly was fifteen, and she hasn’t had any contact with her mom since. She doesn’t even know where to find the woman.”
If Heavenly ever wanted to know, Seth would find Lisa Young. But honestly? He hoped she didn’t.
Grace frowned. “You never told me that. Bless her heart. She’s endured so much loss.”
“She has, but she doesn’t like to talk about it, especially after losing her dad.”
“That’s terrible,” Maggie murmured. “She have any siblings?”
Seth shook his head. “She’s an only child, and she has no other family to speak of.”
Maggie gaped. “So she was alone when you came along?”
Except for Beck. “More or less. The minute I met her, I wanted to protect her.”
Among other things…but I can’t share my other urges with the family.
“Sounds like she’s been through a lot for someone so young,” Carl observed.
“She has. But she’s stronger than she knows.”
So unlike Autumn.
As the evening went on, filled with conversation, baby giggles, and the familiar rhythms of family dinner, Seth felt an ache settle in his chest. He loved these people. Loved the chaos, the warmth, the sense of belonging.
But he loved Beck and Heavenly more. And he was secure in the knowledge that moving to LA, pursuing Heavenly, and building a life with her and Beck had been the right choice. The only choice for his heart.
The question that haunted him as he laughed at Danny’s terrible jokes and watched Carl clear the table was simple: Once his mother knew the truth, would there be any more easy family meals like this? Or would the life he’d chosen force everyone to draw battle lines and shatter the close-knit Cooper clan?
After arriving at the twins’ apartment on campus, Seth climbed the narrow stairwell of the converted brownstone, stepping over a pile of takeout containers someone had left rotting on the third-floor landing and trying not to inhale the stench of secondhand weed. The building reeked of stale beer, puke, and irresponsibility—exactly the kind of place college kids ended up when their parents were footing the bill but wanted to teach them about “real-world budgets.”
Fortunately—or not—it didn’t take him long to find his youngest brothers. Were they in their apartment studying? Or atoning for last weekend’s fuck fest under Mom’s roof? No. They were loitering in their open doorway, taking turns kissing goodbye a petite blonde in short shorts.
“Text me.” The barely legal girl smiled before hurrying toward the elevator, her athletic shoes squeaking across the nuclear-war-proof industrial carpet.
Both twins leaned, watching her ass sway down the hallway, completely oblivious to Seth’s approach.