Chapter 9
JESSE
Colin wasn’t here yet, and I was going to stick around until he showed up, which was a little dull.
The great thing about my brothers having kids now was not only that I got to be the cool uncle, but the little ones also gave me a fantastic excuse to avoid the actual grownups in the room.
Cameron, for example, was having a ball turning me into his personal climbing frame, squealing every time I grabbed him to tickle him or turn him upside down.
Since his father was the grownup I was trying to avoid most, I knew I was safe with him.
Alex wouldn’t dare lose it on me in front of his son.
Was it wrong to use my nephew as an emotional human shield?
Probably. But the kid was having a great time and seeing his cute little laugh made all my burdens a little lighter.
I hadn’t seen Nate, our second oldest brother yet, but since his wife, Kate, was here, I was assuming Nate had taken their daughter to someplace else in the house. Maybe changing her diaper or something. Maybe they had fallen asleep in one of the bedrooms. Parenting seemed exhausting.
Once he brought her back, however, Emma would be mine too. She and Cameron were going to be my tiny, fun little buffers tonight.
Kate and Jane’s conversation turned toward my sister, Charlotte, and her husband, Trent. As soon as I heard Charlotte’s name, my ears perked up, and when Kate added something about her being eight weeks along, my eyes widened.
“What?” I jumped up instantly, scooping Cameron into my arms and carrying him to the kitchen with me. “What was that?”
Kate sighed but gave me an indulgent smile. “Since when do you actually pay attention to anything we say?”
“Since now.” I smirked, but curiosity tugged at me. “So, are they having a kid?”
Charlotte and Trent had been trying for several years to start a family, and I knew how devastating it had been for her that it just didn’t seem to be happening for them.
My sister was super family oriented and Trent, who was a good friend to all of us, had been doing everything in his power to give Charlotte what she wanted and needed, but so far, nothing had worked.
The whole family had been rooting for them.
Alex appeared around a corner into the kitchen, and my instinct was to run. But he was grinning like he’d just received the news that he was going to be a father again himself. There was also a fair amount of relief etched into his features instead of annoyance at me, so that was great.
“It’s true,” he said happily. “Charlotte is pregnant.”
A round of cheers, laughter, and applause broke out, even Emma joining in when she came toddling toward us from the hallway with Nate hot on her heels. I hoisted Cameron into the air, including him in the celebration.
“They should name this one after me, too,” I said, joking to hide the gratitude swelling in a spot deep inside where my true feelings lived. It didn’t get that much action, but I was genuinely happy for them.
“I just got off the phone with Trent,” Alex said, ignoring me. “They were thinking about flying in from Texas to celebrate with us but decided to give it a few weeks and come for the Westwood Autumn Gala instead. Trent doesn’t want her flying too often.”
I blinked hard. “We’re reviving that old tradition?”
Alex glanced at me. “The gala? Sure. Jane and I decided it was time to bring it back.”
That was surprising news. Back in the day, that gala had been the event of the year. Presidents used to attend, but there hadn’t been one since the year our mom had died. It wouldn’t have been the same without her.
Nate looked as shocked as I felt. Kate slid her hand into his as she took a step closer to him, but no one argued. It was time to bring it back, I guessed. Mom would’ve been pissed if she knew we’d let it fall away simply because she wasn’t here anymore.
As hard as it was going to be, attending without her, I felt my resolve swell to make her proud. Even if I doubted Alex would give me any real responsibility around the planning at this point. That was fine with me.
I nodded slowly. “It is about time we bring it back. That’s a good idea, bro. She’d love it.”
For the first time today, he looked at me like my brother instead of a disappointed employer. Jane grabbed her phone to call Charlotte and Alex pulled me aside. “Can we talk?” he asked.
“Only if you offer me a drink before ripping me a new one,” I said. “It’s only polite, man. We’ve barely even finished celebrating the good news.”
Alex chuckled, but to my surprise, he also nodded. “Alright. One drink coming up.”
My brow furrowed. “What the hell’s going on? Are you feeling okay? You’re much nicer tonight.”
“Charlotte is pregnant, bro. That’s good news,” he said, clapping me on the shoulder.
Then he led me out of the kitchen after Nate, who’d already disappeared.
“Trent said that it’s been getting harder and harder on her.
Whenever I spoke to her, she just kept telling me that it was fine and that it would happen when it happened, but she cried to Nate about it one night, not understanding why everyone else got pregnant if they just looked at each other for too long, but not her. ”
My stomach twisted. While I’d known that they were trying, my sister hadn’t told me any of that.
More and more, I was starting to realize how badly I’d damaged my bond with my siblings by staying away so long.
They were still a close group, but I’d ended up putting myself on the outside looking in, and it wasn’t a great feeling.
Nate was already holed up in Alex’s study when we walked in, looking over paperwork as usual. His expression was weirdly serious, though. A couple minutes ago, he’d been in the kitchen with us, happy about Charlotte’s pregnancy and surprised by Alex’s announcement, but all of that was gone now.
I frowned. “What’s this all about?”
“It’s actually about Zach,” Nate said and my stomach tumbled to my shoes. “It’s his turn to step up.”
Fuck, they’re actually going to do it. They’re about to shove him into the marriage corner.
“He isn’t ready,” I said. “He’s not over Adeline, guys. I know she was his college sweetheart and that she broke his heart into a million pieces, and I also know that it’s been six years, but it was a tough breakup. I really don’t think he’s over it.”
“A tough breakup is understating it,” Alex said dryly. “It was a complete and total shit show. We know he hasn’t recovered yet, Jesse. That’s why we’re talking to you about it.”
“Okay, I’m confused again,” I said, looking back and forth between them.
I honestly didn’t understand. Adeline was a Morris. One of the many, many grandchildren of Robert Morris, the current reigning king of an absolutely untouchable international banking dynasty so impressive, it made W&S look like a rural grocery store by comparison.
While Adeline’s family wasn’t extraordinarily wealthy, her father still had influence as a local politician. Zach had been convinced he was going to marry her, even if everyone had thought he was too young and not thinking straight.
In the end, she’d left him for some bigwig her grandfather had preferred. None of which explained why they wanted to talk about that now.
“It’s a high-profile divorce,” Alex said, handing me his phone.
I glanced down at the screen, finding myself looking at an email from one of the Morris lawyers essentially reminding Alex of an NDA, of all things. An NDA that apparently forced the Westwoods, especially Zach, to stay quiet about his past relationship with Adeline.
“What does the divorce have to do with Zach?” I asked. “I don’t get it.”
“That’s because you weren’t here for the fallout,” Nate said. “You were already in Miami, ignoring the drama if I remember correctly what you told me when I called you about this back in the day.”
I swiped my tongue across my lips. Unfortunately, as much as I wanted to fire back at him, I couldn’t. Because I had, in fact, been ignoring my little brother when I should’ve been here to help. Exhaling slowly through my nose, I focused back on Alex.
“Okay. I was an asshole. I’ll accept that, but can someone please tell me what happened so that I can understand what we’re actually talking about here? I feel like you’re talking in circles.”
Alex exchanged a look with Nate, then sighed before he crossed his arms over his chest. “Okay, fine. The bottom line is that we need you to get engaged as soon as possible.”
“What?” I looked directly at Alex and laughed. “You cannot be serious. Just this morning, you said any marriage of mine would end in infidelity. So unless you’re drunk right now, I don’t understand what could have changed between then and now. Like at all.”
“This Adeline shit is what changed,” Alex said, raking his hands through his hair and looking decidedly unhappy.
He dropped into the chair behind his desk.
“Once the news of Adeline’s divorce hits the press, which could be days or weeks, depending on how her family chooses to handle this, Zach is going to be dragged in.
Again. He’s the one who needs to keep a low profile for a while, at least until we see how this situation shakes out. ”
“So that means it’s your turn,” Nate said. “Ignore whatever Alex told you this morning.”
“Not all of it,” Alex said. “And the Gala will be the perfect time to announce your engagement, and with a little bit of luck, you’ll become infinitely more interesting to the media than Zach’s ex getting divorced.”
I frowned at both of them. “You suddenly think I can keep it in my pants and commit to just one woman? Because I’m the same man I was this morning.”
“You could just try to keep it your pants?” Nate suggested lightly. “That could work.”
Alex leveled his gaze at me. “You said you wanted to help your brother. You said he’s not ready. So we’re going to find you a wife. Give me a few days to put together some names.”
I shook my head in disbelief. “Where’s the romance? Where’s the passion? I can’t just pick names out of a hat.”
“That’s not how I’m planning to do it,” Alex said. “If you can find someone suitable, by all means, do it. If not, we’ll find someone for you.”
He turned and strode out of the room like that hadn’t been a conversation about changing my life forever. For a long minute after he disappeared, I just stood there, so shocked and confused that I couldn’t think straight.
I finally looked at Nate. “How bad was Zach’s breakup, Nate?”
His head shook again. “You weren’t around, Jesse. Just don’t go scratching at old wounds, okay?”
With that, he walked out too, that final comment about how I hadn’t been around stinging more than I wanted to admit. Especially because it was true.
After that conversation, however, I definitely wasn’t sticking around for dinner. I was pretty sure I had a mild case of whiplash after how completely Alex had changed his tune between this morning and now. I was stunned, to say the least.
When I opened the door a few minutes after Nate had disappeared, I heard laughter coming from the dining room, but no voices emanated from anywhere else in the house.
That meant I had a straight shot to the front door.
Sneaking away wasn’t usually my style, but I needed space right now and there was no way Jane would just let me leave without feeding me.
Relief sped through me when I slipped out the front door unnoticed, but just as I was about to head for my car in the driveway, I saw someone walking down the street toward a taxi. That dark hair was branded on my mind, and I went after her immediately, calling out her name. “Jacqueline?”
She stopped moving completely, her spine straightening. She turned to face me, obviously shocked to have been caught. I jogged over, wondering why the universe kept putting this woman in my path.
“What are you doing?” I asked when I reached her, desperately trying not to check out how long her legs looked in those heels. “I would have stayed if I knew you were coming.”
“I’m not,” she said flatly. “I was going to, for about a minute, but I changed my mind.”
“Right, so you’re not interested in going inside?”
“No.”
In that moment as we stared at each other, I knew the night could end here.
She could get in her cab and I could drive back to my place.
But I wasn’t ready to let go of her just yet.
“Do you want to grab a drink with me instead? There’s a pretty cool bar a few blocks over.
Dark, dingy, and not pretentious at all.
So what do you say? Let me buy you a beer? ”