Chapter Eight #3
“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.
“When you’re done eye-fucking your way into more trouble, think you can invite me in so we can talk?”
Both brothers jolted and spun around like they’d been electrocuted.
“Seth?” Connor’s face went pale. “What the hell are you doing here?”
“Well, look what the California breeze blew in,” Jack drawled, his trademark smirk sliding into place. “You’re here to lecture us, right? That means Mom called, and you came running. Son-of-the-year recipient right here, folks…”
“Can the sarcasm. Someone has to be the adult in this situation.” Seth pushed past them into the apartment and immediately understood why they’d taken Gia to Grace’s house.
What a fucking disaster. Granted, he was a neat freak, but holy hell.
Empty pizza boxes littered the card table that served as their dining room.
Their couch looked as if it had survived more than a few frat parties and possibly a small war.
The kitchenette consisted of a mini-fridge, a hot plate, and a sink full of dishes that might qualify as a biohazard.
But hey, the TV was state-of-the-art, currently flashing a collection of photos of scantily clad bikini babes.
“Charming place,” Seth said dryly, settling into the only chair that didn’t look like it would stain his pants. But he sure as hell wouldn’t want to take a blacklight to it.
“It’s not that bad,” Connor mumbled, but his face said he knew better.
Seth snorted. “Sure. That’s why you took Gia to Mom’s instead of…impressing her with this palatial penthouse. Speaking of your girlfriend, is that who just left?”
“No.” Connor looked pissed. “After Mom started her fire-and-brimstone routine, Gia was done.”
“She wanted nothing to do with our ‘family drama,’” Jack added bitterly, making air quotes. “Having your boyfriends’ psycho mother scream about eternal damnation kinda kills the mood.”
Seth felt a stab of sympathy. He remembered being young and stupid, thinking physical chemistry equaled love. Laura Clarke and the summer he’d turned fifteen came to mind… “So the blonde I just saw wasn’t Gia?”
“No. That’s Hannah. Or Holly. Something with an H.” Jack shrugged like it didn’t matter, but Seth caught the slight tightness around his eyes. “Met her in Physics. I put her in my contacts as ‘Horny’. She’s… uncomplicated.”
Seth tried not to roll his eyes. “Were you two ever serious about Gia?”
Both brothers stared at him like he’d spoken in tongues.
“Define serious,” Jack shot back with a bit less bite than usual.
“Were you in love with her? Seeing a future? Ready to fight for her?”
Jack huffed. “Dude, we’re twenty-one. We’re supposed to be having fun, not planting white picket fences.”
“Besides,” Connor added, “if she couldn’t handle one bad episode with Mom, what kind of future would we have?”
There it is. The fundamental difference between his brothers’ casual approach and the love he’d found sharing Heavenly with Beck. When Grace inevitably lost her shit about their relationship, they wouldn’t run. They’d stand with him, their hands in his, and weather whatever came.
“You know why I’m here, right?” Seth braced his elbows on his knees and glared their way.
“To give us another lecture about responsibility and discretion?” Jack’s snark was back full force. “Save your breath. We heard your little ‘Do as I say, not as I do’ lecture the first time.”
“Not well enough, or I wouldn’t be trying to talk sense into you now.”
Connor gulped. “We thought you’d be too busy playing house with Beck and Heavenly to come.”
“You mean you hoped. But here I am…”
“Nobody’s making you stay,” Jack shot back.
“Don’t be a disrespectful shit. I can still put you down with one punch.
” Seth studied his brothers’ faces—near replicas of his a decade ago, but filled with a wariness that hadn’t been there last summer.
Beneath their defensive postures, he caught glimpses of the boys who used to climb into his bed during late-night thunderstorms.
Connor stomped to the fridge and snagged a couple of beers. “Want one?”
Seth shook his head. “No, thanks. Tell me precisely why you two rocket scientists decided to take Gia to Mom’s house?”
“She and Carl were supposed to be away all weekend,” Connor explained. “We wanted more room so we could spread out. At home, the TV is bigger, the beds are more comfortable, and the kitchen is prime.”
“Yeah, Mom always stocks the good food,” Jack added. “We figured we’d throw some steaks on the grill and make a weekend of it. No harm, no foul. Until Mom came home early.”
Seth stared at his brothers, seeing so much of his younger self in their cavalier attitudes. Before Autumn and Tristan. Before he’d learned that the universe could rip away everything he held dear in a single heartbeat.
“I’m here because Mom isn’t just upset. She’s threatening to disown you both.”
Seth’s announcement seemed to suck the air from the room. Connor, clutching his beer, actually staggered back. Jack closed his eyes and cursed.
“Seriously?” Connor demanded. “Would she really—”
“In a heartbeat. No more tuition, no more rent money, no more grocery allowance. Kiss your degrees goodbye unless you can suddenly afford to finance the rest of your senior year yourselves.” Seth gestured around the apartment.
“And judging by this disgusting place, you don’t seem responsible enough. ”
Jack’s face had gone parchment white. “She’s that pissed?”
“She’s that ashamed,” Seth corrected, watching the twins flinch. “Every time she replays what she walked in on, she worries about nosy Mrs. Patterson from church finding out. Or Father Heasley asking pointed questions about her sons’ moral character.”
Seth paused, the weight of his own hypocrisy settling in his chest like a stone.
When he eventually came clean about Beck and Heavenly, Grace would face the same gossip he was warning the twins about.
The same whispered conversations after church, the same pointed looks from neighbors with moral sticks up their asses.
“Jesus, it’s not like anyone got hurt,” Connor protested.
“You were hurting her. When you flaunt your arrangement in public, you’re risking her reputation.
Her standing in the community—which she’s spent decades building.
While you two are picking up your flavor of the week, Mom’s at home weighing whether or not to pull the plug.
Unless you do something fast, you’ll be on your own. ”