She turned to find him leaning against the doorframe, his dark hair mussed from running his hands through it. The stress lines around his eyes had deepened since Hudson’s bombshell arrival, and she wanted nothing more than to smooth them away.
“Seth was fifteen when Hudson was born. Just a kid himself. I don’t know how he’s going to take this as an adult.”
He joined her at the window, wrapping his arms around her waist. “I don’t, either.”
“Just as I thought our lives were coming together…they’re going to get really complicated.”
“Nothing about our lives has ever been simple, but we’ve made it work. Don’t worry, little girl, we’ll figure this out, too.” As he turned her to face him and pulled her in close, she melted against his chest, breathing in his familiar musky scent.
“Hudson is so angry. That ‘sperm donor daddy’ comment was awful and heartbreaking at the same time.”
Beck stroked her hair, clearly trying to soothe her. “His whole life, Hudson has believed that his father knew about him and just didn’t give a shit.”
“Seth finding out he has a sixteen-year-old son he knew nothing about will be shocking enough, but when he realizes the kid hates him…”
“Yeah.” Beck nodded. “It’s going to shock the fuck out of him.”
“Totally. And what will this news do to his relationship with his mother?” Heavenly closed her eyes. “If it’s already strained, that will make him telling her about us even harder. What if she never accepts us?”
That might kill him.
“Don’t borrow trouble, little girl.”
They stood in silence, their concerns hanging heavy in the air. She closed her eyes and imagined how Seth would react when he walked through the door, expecting some sort of normalcy…only to be blindsided by a son he never knew.
“You’re right, but the timing couldn’t be worse.” She sighed. “Seth is still coming to terms with his guilt for Tristan’s and Autumn’s deaths, and it’s like the universe is conspiring against him. Against us. What if he can’t handle a teenager in his life? If he rejects Hudson? Or leaves us?”
“Shhh.” Beck placed a finger against her lips. “Seth might shut down. But it’s also possible that he’ll take one look at Hudson and see all the opportunities he lost with Tristan. Then?” Beck gave her a sanguine shrug. “Knowing Seth, he’ll get so overprotective he’ll annoy the hell out of the kid.”
“You’re probably right.”
“Seth may need the chance to be the father to Hudson he hardly got to be with Tristan.”
Beck’s observation made her throat tight. She loved that he had the ability to really see people and the insight to understand them.
“What if Hudson refuses to listen? What if he’s determined to hate Seth?”
“The kid wouldn’t have flown across the country just to tell Seth to shove it up his ass. He would have stayed in Cromwell, used the money he spent on plane fare to buy video games, and kept bad-mouthing his ‘sperm donor dad’. He’s going to lash out, but under all that anger? He secretly wants Seth to care about him.”
“I hope you’re right.”
“I promise you, that boy is desperate for a father, even if he’d rather die than admit it. And despite whatever his mother told him, Hudson needs the truth.” His voice was steady, certain. “We just have to make sure he gets it. The bigger question is, what happens next? Hudson brought more with him than a change or two of clothes. I’m not convinced he had any intention of going home. I don’t think he has a lot to go back to—at least in his head.”
She hadn’t thought of that, but Beck had a point. The kid’s backpack and duffel were both bulging, and his relationship with his mother sounded strained at best. Fair or not, he seemed to resent his stepfather and their new baby.
“You’re right. He feels invisible there. Do you think he’s hoping to…stay here?”
Beck shrugged. “That’s my guess. He might not admit it, but he came to see if he could salvage anything with Seth. If not…I think he intends to strike out on his own.”
Heavenly gasped. “Sixteen is too young.”
“I managed at that age…but barely.”
“If you hadn’t found Gloria?—”
“I’d be dead.”
Heavenly’s heart caught in her throat. “If anything happened to Hudson, it would destroy Seth. We can’t let that happen.”
