Chapter 37
JANE
By the time Alex and I walked through the front door, the house was already loud in that familiar, chaotic way that made warmth bloom in my chest. All my brothers were finally here again, under one roof, and it filled our home in a way I’d been craving for months.
Holden was leaning against the counter, tall and broad-shouldered now in a way that still startled me, laughing about something Ryan was saying too fast and with too many hand gestures.
Ryan was twenty-two, almost finished with college and convinced he knew everything.
He had his jacket slung over a chair like he’d been here for hours already.
Colin stood near the stove with a spatula in his hand, looking exactly like the man who had helped me hold this family together when everything else had fallen apart.
Wyatt was perched at the far end of the kitchen counter, his arms crossed and his eyes sharp, but the first feeling I got from him when I walked into the room wasn’t tension, it was relief.
I barely made it three steps inside before Ryan looked up, spotted me, and grinned. “Holy shit. You’re alive.”
I laughed, dropping my bag on the table next to the door. “I texted you yesterday.”
“Texts aren’t proof of life,” Holden said, all nineteen-year-old bluster as he swooped in to hug me. “You could’ve been abducted by billionaires.”
I smiled. It felt so good to have them here, to hear them banter and see their suddenly too big frames filling the kitchen. It was a tiny spot of normal I’d missed more than life itself. “Speaking of billionaires.”
Four heads turned at once when I motioned toward Alex, as if they were only realizing now he’d even walked in behind me. I slid my hand into his without thinking about it, tugging him forward to introduce him.
“This is Alex Westwood, my husband.”
Husband. The word felt crazy rolling off my tongue, but not in a way that made it feel wrong. Just unexpected.
Ryan blinked once, then twice. “Your… husband?”
“Yes,” Alex said easily, offering him his hand. “It’s nice to finally meet all of you.”
“Holy fuck.” Ryan spun toward Wyatt. “You weren’t kidding. I thought for sure it was some kind of prank when you said she was married.”
“No.” Wyatt’s eyes settled on mine when he said it, a smug set to his jaw, like he thought he was finally going to have backup in whatever it was he had against me right now.
If that was what he’d thought though, he was sure to be sorely disappointed when Ryan spun back around and shook Alex’s hand. He sized him up in that older-brother way that made me want to roll my eyes because he was eight years younger than me, but he wasn’t rude or unfriendly about it.
“I’m Ryan. Middle child. Professional disappointment until further notice.”
Holden snorted. “I’m Holden, the second youngest of the disappointments and the best at it.”
Colin stepped forward last, smiling as he pumped Alex’s hand. “It’s good to see you again, man. Thanks for flying them in.”
Alex inclined his head. “I was happy to.”
For a moment after the introductions were done, I expected them to ask why.
To demand explanations or interrogate me about our courthouse wedding, but no one said a single darn thing about it.
Neither Ryan nor Holden accused me of running away or doing something impulsive.
In fact, Ryan leaned back against the counter and grinned at me. “Well, good for you, sis.”
I frowned, my grip on Alex’s hand tightening on instinct. “That’s it? You’re not going to subject me to the Thayer Inquisition over this?”
He shrugged. “You’ve always hated drama. You hate waiting. You hate letting people have opinions about your life. So you just went ahead and did it. It’s very efficient, which is totally on brand for you.”
Holden nodded his agreement. “Honestly? I think it’s kind of iconic.”
I blinked at them, stunned that they were taking this in stride the way they were. Alex glanced at me, one corner of his mouth lifting like he was holding back a comment. Wyatt made a low, unimpressed sound, but I ignored it.
Mostly.
Mom emerged from the hallway then, her smile a little too bright but real enough. “Is dinner almost ready? Jane, you look beautiful.”
“Thanks, Mom,” I said automatically.
She looked at Alex. “You too.”
He smiled, but Colin nodded from behind the stove before he turned the heat off. “You’re right on time.”
We all shuffled toward the table, the familiar choreography of chairs scraping and plates being passed around. Alex pulled my chair out for me without making a production of it, settling beside me like he belonged there.
And God, it really feels like he does.
Conversation picked up quickly while Mom and Colin brought the food from the kitchen and laid it out in the center of the table. Ryan and Holden started telling us about campus politics and professors they hated, Colin chiming in with dry commentary about Columbia that made Alex laugh.
I caught him watching them when he thought I wasn’t looking, absorbing the noise and movement like he was memorizing it.
Wyatt didn’t say much unfortunately, but every so often, I felt his glare like a prickle along my skin.
Whenever I looked his way, he’d drop his gaze to his plate, his jaw so tight, it was ticking.
At least the others were better. That had to count for something. Maybe Wyatt would even finally realize this wasn’t the end of the world if he saw them accepting it over the course of a whole dinner.
After heaping so much food onto his plate that I wondered if he’d eaten at all after he’d left here, Holden leaned across the table and looked at Alex. “So, tell us the story. How’d you convince her to put on the ring?”
Alex didn’t miss a beat. “I didn’t have to convince her. Have you ever known her to say yes to anything she didn’t want to do?”
Holden laughed. “Yeah, that’s fair.”
Ryan raised his glass. “To Jane. For escaping.”
I rolled my eyes. “I didn’t escape.”
“Yeah, it wasn’t quite as dramatic as escaping.” Alex’s knee pressed lightly against mine under the table. “She chose.”
The quiet certainty in his voice made something twist warmly in my chest, and I caught myself wondering if maybe Alex’s family had a point. If arranged marriages, unorthodox as hell and wildly impractical on paper, worked because they cut through the noise.
This way, there were no endless what-ifs or years of circling the same fears. You chose, then you showed up and did it. It sure seemed to be working well for us.
By the time I’d finished my first glass of wine, the edges of my earlier nerves had worn smooth. Alex seemed to have that effect on rooms. He didn’t dominate the conversation, didn’t posture or flex the kind of power people expected from his last name.
He listened, asked questions, and remembered answers. Somehow, without trying, he made everyone feel seen, and my brothers, who were allergic to bullshit, responded to that immediately.
“So you’re finishing up at Columbia this spring?” Alex asked, leaning back in his chair like he’d been coming here every Saturday night for years.
Ryan nodded, trying and failing not to sound proud. “Undergrad in business management. I’ve been debating a master’s, but I’m not in a rush to chain myself to more tuition just yet.”
Alex’s eyes lit with genuine interest. “Have you ever thought about coming home to Chicago once you’re done?”
Ryan cocked his head. “I mean, sure? In theory, but it all depends on where I get the best offer.”
Alex smiled slightly and my heart skipped because I knew that smile by now.
It was the one that meant he was already five steps ahead.
“I’m not sure if you know about this, but Westwood and Sons runs a summer internship program.
It pays well and it’s real work, not just coffee runs and making photocopies.
If you’re interested, I’d be happy to set you up with a spot.
There’s no pressure, but it could give you a clearer sense of whether a master’s is worth it. ”
The table went quiet and Ryan stared at him like he’d just offered him a winning lottery ticket. “You’re serious?”
“Completely. Only if you’re interested, though. No pressure.”
“Yes,” Ryan said immediately, then laughed, rubbing a hand over his face.
“Yes, I’m interested. This is awesome, man.
Half the people I’ll be graduating with have been killing themselves trying to get into that program and the other half just aren’t trying because they know they’ll never get it. Of course, I know about it.”
I felt warmth bleeding through me again, pride, relief, and gratitude all tangled together. Alex caught my eye and lifted an eyebrow at me like he was asking permission after the fact. I gave him a small nod in response.
Thank you. Right now, I didn’t even mind the touch of spontaneous nepotism.
After what my father had done, the Thayer name was the equivalent of a giant black mark on our records.
I’d been worried for years about whether anyone would hire him if he didn’t choose to come and work for us, and just like that, Alex was giving him the opportunity to prove himself for who he was, not just as a Thayer.
Holden leaned forward next, curiosity clearly getting the better of him. “What about engineers? Any internships for those? Even if it’s coffee runs and photocopying.”
Alex turned to him with an easy smile on his face. “Well, we don’t really employ those, but what kind? Maybe I know someone.”
“Structural. I’m halfway through my freshman year.”
Alex hummed, thoughtful for a beat before he refocused. “Do you know the Shepard family?”
Holden’s eyes widened. “As in Trent Shepard? Yeah, I mean, I’ve heard of him. I don’t know him, though.”
“His father’s firm is always looking for engineers. If you want, I can make an introduction. A good reference goes a long way and Troy knows me well. He knows I wouldn’t give someone a reference if I didn’t believe in them.”
Holden actually slammed back in his chair, completely shocked. “That would be insane, man. In a good way, obviously.”
“I’m happy to help,” Alex said simply.
Across the table, Colin watched the exchange with a quiet, assessing look.
Nora looked relieved. Maybe even hopeful.
Alex was making a stellar impression on everyone.
He wasn’t just offering career opportunities.
He was offering hope, which was something our family had desperately needed for a while.
Everyone was smiling except Wyatt. He still hadn’t said much since dinner had started, but now his irritation was no longer subtle.
He stabbed at the last few bites of his food, his chair angled slightly away from the table, his gaze flicking between Alex and me with something ugly and closed-off in his expression.
When Alex asked him how school was going, he just shrugged. “Fine.”
I tried to catch Wyatt’s eye, silently asking him to ease up and to not do this tonight, but he didn’t listen. When the plates were cleared and people started shifting in their chairs, Wyatt pushed his back abruptly and stood. “I’ve got to go.”
Mom frowned. “So early?”
“I have a thing with my friends,” he said, already grabbing his jacket. His eyes flicked to me then, as hard as they’d ever been.
My stomach dropped and I stood immediately. “Can I talk to you for a second?”
He shook his head. “Sorry. I’m already late.”
He slung his backpack over one shoulder and Alex stayed seated, but I could feel his attention on us, steady and alert as Wyatt fled the room. For a long moment after, I just stood there, frozen with heat creeping up my neck.
My chest felt tight, like I’d missed a step on the stairs. I didn’t know what exactly was going on with him now that he knew I’d never been having an affair, but whatever it was, it seemed Wyatt hadn’t forgiven me yet, and at this point, I wasn’t sure he ever would.