Henry (The Beck Brothers) (10 page)

"Eventually,
”
Henry replied evenly while
inside he was livid.

"I can go,
”
Claire whispered to him.

Henry's head snapped
around to look at her.
 
"No,
”
he bit out. He would not let
his mother run Claire off. Claire glanced at his mother then back at him and
opened her mouth to protest, but Henry cut her off before she could speak.
"No,
”
he said firmly,
giving her his best don't-argue-with-me-face.

Claire rolled her lips
in like she always did when she wanted to argue but wouldn't. Henry turned back
to his mother to find her watching him, her face hardened and her eyes narrowed
at him. Henry narrowed his eyes right back at her.

"Fine, you don't
need me, I'll go find Sebastian,
”
Anne snapped, making Henry feel only a twinge of guilt.
 

Anne leaned down,
kissed his forehead then left without a word. Henry slumped back against the
headboard and banged his head a couple times against the soft leather. Shit,
that had sucked, but not as bad as some other times. And he was a bit confused
by how easily his mother gave in. She usually fought harder than that. Maybe
she was preoccupied by why Sebastian was here.

"Not that I ever
really expected to meet your mother Henry, but that was definitely not how I
saw it going,
”
Claire said
quietly, as if afraid his mother was listening in.

Henry couldn't stop
the laugh that bubbled out of him. Claire, too, started to giggle. Henry rolled
his head against the backboard so that he could look at her. Claire brushed her
strawberry blonde hair out of her face as she turned to smile at him. Henry's
damn heart fluttered. She was just so beautiful.

She nodded at the bowl
of soup. "Finish up so you can go back to sleep."

Henry nodded and went
back to eating the delicious soup Claire made.

Chapter 6

Sebastian sat on the
couch in the living room, looking for a job on his iPad. There weren't a lot of
gunsmiths needed. He put a couple applications in but hadn't heard anything
back yet. He was hoping that his mother was too busy babying Henry to worry
about why he was here. He hadn't told her about Victoria yet and he really
didn't want to.

"Oh, there you
are,
”
came his mother
Anne's voice as she entered the room.

Sebastian stifled a
groan and hung his head. Lifting his head back up, he looked at his mom as she
walked into the living room. "I thought you were torturing Henry."

"Ha ha, very
funny.
 
He's got that little twit
up there with him and apparently doesn't need me,
”
Anne sneered.

Sebastian felt his
hackles rise. He liked Claire. And he liked Claire for Henry. She was good for
him. He would not let his mother ruin another one of Henry's relationships. For
whatever reason, his mom was especially prickly when it came to the women Henry
brought around, and ran them off.
 
Sebastian wasn't going to let her do that with Claire.

"Claire is sweet.
She cares about Henry and Henry cares about her, you should at least give her a
chance,
”
Sebastian said,
trying to keep his tone light.

His mother gave him a
dry look that pretty much said "Yeah right" before changing the
subject. "So what are you doing here my darling son? Why didn't you tell
me you were coming? And where is Victoria?
”
Anne asked, looking around as if she expected Victoria to walk into the room at
any minute.

Sebastian raked a hand
through his hair. "She's not here."

His mother raised a
curious eyebrow at him. "Really? You two usually don't go anywhere without
each other."

Sebastian shrugged.

"How long are you
staying?
”
Anne asked, her
eyes narrowing on him.

Shit, shit, shit! He
had to tell her. No matter how much he didn't want to. "Mom, sit down,
I've got something to tell you,
”
he mumbled.

Anne set her hands on
her hips and pursed her lips. She wanted to argue, he could tell. But she
eventually went and sat on the wing back chair that sat across from him.
"Okay, what is it?"

Sebastian put his iPad
on the couch next to him then turned to his mother. "Victoria wants a
divorce,
”
he sighed.

Anne sputtered and
shot up out of her chair. "What?
”
she screeched.

"She's been
cheating on me with some male model named Julian, and she wants to be with him,
not me, so she wants a divorce,
”
Sebastian said.

Anne's face turned
red, her fists clenched at her sides. "That bitch!"

"Yeah, that's
what I said,
”
Sebastian snorted.

"You told her to
forget it right? That you won't divorce her?"

Sebastian frowned.
"Uh no, I told her to send me the papers asap."

"Sebastian! How
can you just give her what she wants so easily? At least make it hard for her!
”
Anne snapped, stomping her
foot.

Sebastian shook his
head. "No, I just want it done and over with.
 
I don't want to see her again; I just want her out of my
life."

"This is
unacceptable!"

Sebastian sighed and
stood up. "It's not up to you mom,
”
he said and started for the kitchen. And of course his mother followed,
jabbering on about how he needed to make this hard for Victoria, for him not to
give in so quickly, blah blah blah.

                                                 
~~~~~

Claire took Henry's
empty bowl and glass back down to the kitchen. She rinsed them and put them in
the dishwasher. She jumped when she heard Sebastian let out a sharp curse
before stomping into the kitchen with his mother in tow.

"See, this is why
I don't tell you shit!
”
Sebastian snarled.

"You can't let
her get away with this Sebastian,
”
Anne snapped.

Sebastian rounded on
his mother. "What the fuck do you want me to do?
”
he cried, gesturing wildly with his hands.
"She doesn't want me anymore; I can't make her love me!"

The pain on
Sebastian's face was almost too much for Claire. She wanted to go over and hug
him, tell him it would be okay. Claire looked to Anne, hoping she would see
what this conversation was doing to her son. But Anne looked furious, her light
green eyes sparking with anger, which Claire understood. Someone hurt her baby
and she wanted revenge.

"Call a lawyer,
take her for everything she's got, she made you move out there and...
”
 
Anne argued.

"No!
”
Sebastian snapped, cutting her
off.
 
"No, I just want to
forget about her. I don't want some long drawn out divorce, I just want it done
and over with,
”
Sebastian
sighed heavily, shoving both hands into his blonde hair and closing his eyes.

"Well, I'm going
to call her and give her a piece of my mind,
”
Anne said furiously, her fists balled at her sides.

"You will not,
”
Sebastian bit out. His head snapped
up to look at her. "Do not call her; just let it go,
”
he pleaded.

"Damn it,
Sebastian,
”
Anne barked,
stomping her foot. "I have to do something!"

"Why? Why do you
have to do something?
”
Sebastian demanded.

"I cannot stand
by while some bitch rips my son
’
s
heart out and gets away scot-free. She's not going to mess with my family
thinking that no one will say anything to her. She needs to know that what
she's doing is wrong!"

Claire remained silent
where she stood at the sink. She wasn't even sure if they knew she was there.
Henry had said on many occasions that his mother was overbearing and always in
their business. Well Claire was seeing that first hand. And she felt horrible
for Sebastian.

Sebastian looked about
ready to hit something. His jaw was clenched and bulging. Claire was surprised
that she hadn
’
t heard his
teeth cracking. His nose was flaring and his eyes were rimmed with unshed
tears. Damn Anne, she was really doing a number on him. Claire couldn't take it
anymore.

Claire filled a glass
with water and grabbed the ibuprofen. She walked over to Sebastian and held
them out."Sebastian, can you please bring these to Henry?"

Sebastian's green eyes
flicked to hers. He took the glass and pill bottle as he blinked, the tears
slipping down his cheeks; his face closed off as he turned and headed out of
the room. Claire watched him leave, knowing that when she turned back to Anne,
she was going to get an earful.

"And just who do
you think you are?
”
Anne
squawked.

Claire sighed and
turned to face the older woman. "I'm sorry, but he's heartbroken right now
and doesn't need you getting involved,
”
she said softly.

Anne sputtered,
"You think I don't know that my own son is heartbroken?"

"I'm sure you do,
Mrs. Beck, but I don't think you can see how much you're hurting him with what
you're saying."

Anne's eyes flashed.
"Oh you've got a lot of nerve! How dare you tell me what to say to my
son?"

"I'm not telling
you what to say. I just think it'd be better if you didn't say anything at all,
other than being supportive of his wishes.
”
Claire frowned, this was not going well.

Anne stared daggers at
her for a few moments before turning, grabbing her purse off the counter, and
storming out of the house. Claire was shocked. She expected to have to argue
with her some more to get her to understand. She didn't know if this was a good
or bad thing, and she didn't know how Henry was going to take it.

                                                 
~~~~~

Henry was just
returning to his bedroom from using the bathroom when Sebastian burst through
his bedroom door. He had a glass of water in one hand and a pill bottle in the
other. He had tears running down his face and he kept sniffing. Damn, mom must
have got a hold of him.

"Hey, you
alright?
”
Henry asked
gently, going over and taking the glass and pills from him.

Sebastian covered his
face with his hands as soon as they were free and shook his head.
 
“
She
wants to call Victoria"

Henry groaned,
"Shit."

"Your woman
fucking saved me, man.
 
She told me
to bring you the glass and pills, and then threw herself to the shark,
”
Sebastian said in awe, wiping
the tears from his face.

Henry stared at
Sebastian. "You left Claire with mom?
”
he asked dryly.

"She saved me,
”
Sebastian whispered, his eyes
wide.

"Jesus Christ,
”
Henry bit out, raking a hand
through his hair.

"Claire is
amazing, you know that right?
”
Sebastian murmured.

Henry climbed back in
bed, his body still achy and tired. "I do know."

"I think she
cares for you,
”
Sebastian
said quietly.

"We're friends,
”
Henry sighed, closing his eyes,
wishing they were more than that.

"No, I think she
really cares for you, like more than a friend,
”
Sebastian replied.

Henry had no reply.
Nothing could be done about it anyway. She worked for him. He didn't date
people who worked for him. It was extremely unprofessional, even if she was
totally perfect and absolutely gorgeous, and made him chicken soup.

"I approve, just
so you know. I think she's perfect for you,
”
Sebastian said quietly just as Henry drifted off to sleep.

                                                 
~~~~~

Henry was woken by his
bed being jostled. He'd been out of work for a week just like Claire had said.
He was finally starting to feel better but it was now Saturday. Claire had
spent the whole week taking care of him; she made sure his fever stayed down,
that he ate and drank enough. She was amazing, just like Sebastian said. And
Henry was falling for her hard. Henry heard a little giggle, as a small body
climbed all over him. Henry smiled. Ethan.