Chapter 32
thirty-two
EDEN
When we’re back on Liberty, we drop Bennett at the North House, before West turns the car toward Hudson’s place.
My stomach gives a slow roll when I spot the line of cars in the drive, cutting through the dusk.
They’re here. My family. Well, most of them.
Zach and Wyatt will have to find out by phone, but it’s not their reaction that I’m worried about.
While Bennett was packing up at the hotel, West had asked me if I was still ready to tell the truth. And the strange thing is, I am. Despite my freak-out earlier, despite everything Selena stirred up, right now I feel steadier.
So I messaged my family and told them to meet us at Hudson’s because I have something to tell them.
We take the turn to the Captain’s House, overlooking the bay, and West pulls into a space on the graveled driveway and cuts the engine.
“Are you ready for this?” he asks me.
“Not even.” Our eyes lock and I smile. “But let’s do it anyway.” Because if I’m lecturing him about keeping secrets from me, I should stop doing it to my family.
Before he can reply, the front door is wrenched open, and Autumn walks out onto the step, shading her eyes as she looks at West’s car. I’m barely out of it before she’s running down the stairs, her expression a mix of concern and excitement.
“Hudson’s already thinking the worst,” she tells me, as she throws her arms around me and hugs me tight. Her bump is firm against my abdomen.
“He knows?” I ask, my stomach turning.
She shakes her head. “He thinks you’re planning to leave for some godforsaken place that needs irrigation systems and that West is here to ease the blow.
“Asher thinks you’re pregnant with some Himalayan monk’s baby. And Francie is trying to figure out how to fit it all into a book.”
West puts his palm firmly against my back and Autumn’s eyes widen even more. “You’re going to walk in like that?” she asks. Then she sees the rings on our fingers. “Oh Jesus on a pogo stick, I picked a bad time to be pregnant and unable to drink alcohol.”
West presses his lips against my brow, cool and calm. The man may not be able to do emotion, but he doesn’t shirk away from the hard things. And the rest is teachable, I think.
“Come on,” he says. “The sooner we do this the sooner I can take you home.”
He slides his hand tighter around my waist as we walk up the stairs. By the time we get to the top, Hudson is in the doorway, a frown on his lips as he takes us in.
“What’s going on?” His voice is sharp, with the kind of edge that used to make me stop dead when he caught me sneaking home after curfew.
“Hey.” West pulls me tighter against him. He’s so damn sure of himself. “Eden and I have something to say.”
“Is that them?” Asher stops dead next to Hudson, his eyes narrowing as he takes in the way West is holding me. Autumn lets out a low whistle. “Why are your hands on my sister like that?” Asher asks.
“The same reason your hands were on my best friend,” Autumn tells him gleefully.
“Hey, you started it with Parker,” Asher shoots back. “You two snuck around for months without telling any of us.”
“Can you both shut the hell up?” Hudson thunders. “I’m not talking about you.” He turns his gaze back on me and West, and I can see the annoyance in his eyes. “Do you want to tell me what’s going on?”
“I’ve come to ask for your sister’s hand in marriage,” West says, his tone cool, like he’s in a business meeting, not dropping a bomb on my brother’s front step.
“Can we go inside?” Autumn asks. “I’m getting cold out here.”
There’s no chill in the air. I know it’s because she can’t see all of our faces, and there’s nothing she hates more than feeling left out.
Still, Hudson nods, his face impassive, and we all traipse in.
West laces his fingers through mine and squeezes them tight.
I squeeze back, letting him know we’re in this together.
Francie and Skyler are standing in the kitchen hallway, straining to listen to what’s happening.
“You two, in my office,” Hudson barks at West and me. West lets out a chuckle, but he does what his best friend asks. Of course everybody follows, so we’re all squeezed into Hudson’s oak paneled room.
“You think he’s going to make me write lines on the chalkboard?” West murmurs low enough for only me to hear.
Hudson lets out a long breath then turns slowly around to look at us. “What’s going on here?” he asks. “Why are you already wearing wedding rings? Are you two…” he shakes his head, like the thought pains him. “Intimate?” He sinks into his desk chair like that thought’s too much for him.
Autumn coughs loudly. Parker steps back, like he’s trying to get out of the line of fire.
“I’m in love with your sister,” West says. “So yes. Very intimate.” He glances at me, like he’s trying to check if I’m okay. “And we’re also already married.”
“Oh my God,” Skyler shouts. Then she, Francie, and Autumn start whispering to each other furiously.
“You knew?” Francie asks her. “Why didn’t you tell me?”
“What the hell?” Asher asks. He’s looking straight at West, a hurt expression pulling at his features. “You and Eden? That’s…” He shakes his head. “That’s disgusting.”
It’s funny, because I expected Hudson to be the furious one. Maybe he is, but Asher’s the one who looks physically gutted.
“You’re supposed to be our friend,” he says, his voice cracking. “And you went after our baby sister?”
“Correction,” Autumn cuts in. “Your grown-up sister. Who doesn’t need your permission.”
“Stay out of this, Autumn,” Asher snaps.
“Don’t you dare talk to her like that,” Parker warns, stepping between Asher and Autumn.
Hudson slams his palm flat against his desk, and the sound makes everyone freeze. “Enough.” His eyes cut to West, cold and sharp. “You’d better start talking, because right now I’m wondering if I even know who the hell you are.”
All their eyes are on us, sharp and accusing, and my stomach knots so tight I swear I might throw up.
Hudson’s glare could cut glass. Asher looks like somebody kicked him in the gut.
And for a second, I almost want to take it back.
To tell them we were joking, to drag West out of this office, and never look back.
But then his fingers tighten around mine. Grounding me. Anchoring me.
“You do know me,” West says, his voice even but firm. “You always have. And I know I’ve fucked up more times than I can count, but don’t ever think this is one of them. I love your sister. I married your sister. And I won’t apologize for that.”
The words sit in the air like a bomb.
Autumn lets out a low “wow.” Francie gasps. Skyler covers her mouth with her hand.
“Eden.” Hudson’s voice is thick. “Is this what you want?”
I look at him, the man who’s always protected me. The one who took care of us when our parents didn’t. The one who got our home back after I lost it.
“He’s everything I want,” I tell him. “And don’t be mad at him. This isn’t his fault. If it’s anybody’s fault, it’s mine.”
“Of course it isn’t.”
I put my hand up. “You asked me a question. I haven’t finished.
” I squeeze West’s hand, wanting him to know that I’ve got this.
I want this. Maybe I even need it. “I’m in love with him, too.
He’s everything.” I look up at West, his warm gaze on mine.
“He makes me laugh, he holds me when I cry. He’ll do anything to take care of me.
I want you all to be happy for me. For us. ”
“Of course we are,” Autumn says quickly. “Especially if that means you’re staying. That’s what you said, right?”
I’m still looking at West. I nod briefly. He lets out a soft sigh, like even he wasn’t sure that I wouldn’t run again, then pulls me into his arms, his hand brushing my face, his eyes so full of emotion it hurts.
“You’ve got to be kidding me,” Asher says. “Are we really letting him do this? The man who’s never been able to keep it in his damn pants?” He looks at Hudson. “For God’s sake, do something. Stop this.”
“Asher!” Francie sounds appalled. “You can’t talk about our friend like that.”
“If he’s sleeping with my sister he’s no friend of mine.”
“Looks like we’re breaking up,” Parker says mildly, reminding us all that he’s also having relations with our sister. Her stomach bears the evidence of that.
“I’m not talking about you,” Asher says, shaking his head. His face is red. “West doesn’t do relationships. He’ll sleep with anybody that offers. We know this. Hell, we laugh about it. Why are we all okay with letting him near Eden?”
My throat tightens. West shakes his head, like he’s telling me it’s not true. None of it. “I don’t care about his past,” I say, narrowing my eyes at my brother. “It’s his future I care about. And that future includes me.”
“Eden’s not a little girl anymore,” Autumn says, her voice slicing through the tension. “She doesn’t need you to play gatekeeper.”
“Gatekeeper?” Asher explodes. “I’m trying to stop her from getting hurt.”
“Except, you’re the one hurting me right now,” I say softly, my voice trembling but clear.
His gaze jerks to me, wounded, but I don’t back down.
“You think you’re protecting me, but you’re not.
You’re making me feel small. Like what I want doesn’t matter.
And West… West never makes me feel that way. ”
The silence that follows is suffocating, broken only by the creak of Hudson shifting in his chair. His eyes move between us, weighing, judging, deciding.
“Then I guess that’s the difference,” he says finally. “Because whether we like it or not, Eden’s chosen him. And I’d rather stand behind my sister than push her away and lose her.” He stands and steps forward, holding out his hand.
West exhales, almost imperceptibly, but I feel it in the loosening of his shoulders.
For a man who’s built his life on control, it’s the smallest slip, and it guts me.
When he clasps Hudson’s hand, his grip is steady, but his eyes find mine, and in them I see it.
Relief. Gratitude. Maybe even the faintest shimmer of finally belonging.
“Let’s sit down later this week,” Hudson says, his gaze flicking between West and Asher. “Call it a reverse bachelor party. Clear the air. No excuses.”
“Does that mean we get a bachelorette?” Autumn asks breathlessly.
“You already had one,” Francie points out. “We didn’t recover for days.”
“For Eden, I mean.”
Hudson groans. “Christ. One thing at a time.” He waves us all out, clearly done with the circus.
Asher mutters something under his breath, his expression still full of anger, but he doesn’t stop us when West laces his fingers through mine and leads me toward the door. His thumb strokes the back of my hand, steady, sure.
“Okay?” he mouths. I nod and that’s all it takes for him to smile.
And even with all the tension, all the questions that are still hanging in the air, I smile back. Because everything’s out in the open, and somehow, the world didn’t end.