The Chase

Like this morning after the discussion about the bed. The surgeon was fucking right.

“It’s my impatience that makes me want to bypass the baby steps, delve straight into her psyche, and press her to decide whether she’s staying with us for good.”

“Considering all she’s been through, it will take time before it feels like second nature for her to share more than surface stuff with us—”

“And stop keeping us in the fucking dark about major shit.”

“If she does that, we’ll have to be prepared to hand down some harsh punishment,” Beck growled.

“Could you really walk away from her?” Seth hoped it never came to that. He didn’t know where he’d find the will or the strength to leave Heavenly for good.

“It would be the hardest thing I’ve ever done, but if she left us no choice? Yeah.”

* * *

An hour and a half later,Seth paced long strides between the back door and the front. He’d forgotten to turn on the location services on Heavenly’s phone last night. Thankfully, she was still wearing her necklace this morning, so he knew precisely where she was.

Unfortunately, that information wouldn’t help him if she either decided to leave him and Beck…or put him in a corner where she forced them to walk away.

Fuck, he couldn’t let that happen. If he was climbing the walls without her after ninety minutes, he wouldn’t last a lifetime.

Beck had his plan for keeping them all together—and it was good. But Seth’s gut instinct told him they were going to need more. He just had to figure out what.

Finally, he heard Heavenly pull into the garage and rushed out to meet her. “Open the back, angel. I’ll help you.”

Dutifully, she pushed the button to pop the hatch. “It took a little longer than expected. Beck was out of everything, and I’m not familiar with that store.”

Because she’d always been a bargain shopper, and Beck had sent her to some upscale organic food market.

“Find everything?”

“Finally.” She climbed out of the SUV and met his stare with a frown. “You look nice all dressed up. Where did you go?”

“To meet River for coffee.” He grabbed more than half the groceries in one big fist. “He had some surveillance footage to show me.”

“And you put on a suit for that?”

He shrugged. “Work is work. If I’m on the clock, I like to look the part.”

With a nod, she took the rest of the sacks into the kitchen. Seth followed.

“Everything okay?” she asked as she tucked some lettuce in the fridge.

Translation: was he still upset with her?

“I’m good.”

Not exactly. Seth was unsettled—and he was distinctly aware he wasn’t being honest. The double standard wasn’t lost on him. But Heavenly wasn’t going to give him the magic code to unlock her heart. He and Beck would have to figure that out. Since he had the afternoon alone with her, he intended to use this time to follow his gut and hopefully pick the goddamn lock.

As they quietly unloaded the groceries, she scanned the kitchen. “Where’s Beck? The hospital?”

“Yeah. About twenty minutes after you left, they called him in for surgery. He said he probably wouldn’t make it home for dinner.”

Her shoulders slumped. “I bought all the stuff to make a big chicken casserole.”

“You still can,” he encouraged. “I’m sure he’ll warm some up when he gets home.”

“True. It’s good reheated.” Seemingly happy for the reminder, she tucked the rest of the canned goods and meats away. “I’m not totally sure where anything goes…”