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)
“I’m so happy for you. You love him?”
“So much.” Her smile turned wistful. “I never dated because I never met anyone who made me feel the way your father did…until Carl. Now, I can’t imagine life without him. His kids are thrilled he’s happy again, years after losing his wife to breast cancer. I haven’t met them yet, but they’re both coming to the wedding. His son is a couple of years younger than you. He’s currently living in Tokyo. His daughter was an oops baby. She just turned nineteen, and she’s going to Notre Dame.”
So she was a good Catholic girl. Figured...
“And while you’re here, I was hoping you could get fitted for your tux. I know your general sizes, but I want everything to be perfect. You’re still planning to walk me down the aisle, aren’t you?”
“Of course. I wouldn’t miss it for the world.”
“Thank you.” She squeezed his hand and sent him another misty smile. “I need to finalize seating arrangements. I’m putting Heavenly beside you.”
“Perfect.” Seth’s belly clenched with nerves, but his mom had given him the perfect opening. “Do you have room for one more? My friend Beck will be in the city that week on business. Rather than leaving him alone in his hotel room, I’d hoped you wouldn’t mind if I invited him. I’d love to introduce him to everyone.”
She frowned. “Hammer’s friend? Wasn’t he pursuing Heavenly, too?”
Shit. He’d forgotten he’d told his mother about Beck when they’d been fighting over their girl. “It was a misunderstanding. We’re good now. In fact, he’s one of my best friends.”
“Then of course he’s invited. Would you like him to sit with you and Heavenly?”
“That would be great.” Seth couldn’t miss the irony. His mother wanted to honor Beck by seating him with family, not realizing that he actually was family in every way that mattered. “I appreciate it. When he said he was scheduled to speak at a medical conference in the city the same week as your wedding, inviting him just made sense.”
“Oh, he’s a doctor?”
“Yeah. A vascular surgeon. Pretty renowned.”
“Is he single?” Grace perked up even more. “If he is…Mary Hagaman’s daughter, Celeste, isn’t married.”
That didn’t surprise Seth. Celeste had always been bat-shit crazy. And his mom trying to hook up his future co-husband to Heavenly with another woman was priceless.
“Mom, they live on opposite coasts. And Beck is far too busy for a serious relationship.”
“You never know…”
“Actually, I do. We’ve talked. He’s not looking.”
“Well, Heavenly is all yours. That’s what’s important.” His mother beamed. “So…any plans to make her more than your girlfriend? Do I hear wedding bells in your future?”
Seth’s chest tightened. He had to be careful. “Proposing to her has crossed my mind.”
Grace’s eyes widened, then filled with happy tears. “Really? You’re ready to get married again?”
“Maybe.” What else could he say since Heavenly was already wearing an engagement ring? He fucking hated having to lie to his mother, but it was temporary. “She’s everything I never thought I’d find. She’s nothing like Autumn.”
That would be a relief to his mother, who had never truly liked his wife.
“Does Heavenly know?” Grace asked, her voice gentle but pointed. “About your first wife. About Tristan?”
“Yeah. Since April. It was a lot for her to process at first. But she knows how much losing them affected me. She’s very supportive and understanding.”
“That tells me everything I need to know about her. If she can handle your past with such compassion, she must be very special.”
“She is.” Seth’s voice was thick with emotion—and guilt. Time to change the subject. “So…are Jack and Connor back at their apartment near campus?”
“I assume so. I threatened to stop paying their tuition if they don’t focus on school and curb their…behavior.” Grace’s grip tightened on the steering wheel. “I only have so many ways to influence them these days. I mean, they’re twenty-one. But I still pay their bills, and I can make their lives more difficult if they don’t walk the straight and narrow.”
Seth tested the waters carefully. “But…what if they really care about this girl? What if she cares about them both?”
“Care?” Grace’s voice pitched higher. “That’s not care. That’s perversion. And it doesn’t justify breaking God’s laws, Seth. It’s supposed to be one man, one woman, joined in holy matrimony. If they keep thumbing their noses at that, I’ll have no choice but to disown them.”
The words hit Seth like a physical blow. Disown? His mother—who’d cried for weeks when he’d moved to California, who still sent care packages and called frequently—was willing to cut her youngest sons out of her life?
Seth’s mouth went dry. If his mother couldn’t even entertain the possibility that love might take different forms without threatening to rip apart their family, how the hell was he supposed to find an approach that would save his own relationship with her?