Page 20 of Falling

8

BOOKER

“As long as it’s not the kind of cake a stripper jumps out of, I don’t care what kind it is,” I said, watching Seth shove a forkful of pancake into his mouth, cheeks bulging like a chipmunk. I’d invited him to the café for breakfast ostensibly to talk birthday plans. He’d politely chosen to accept that excuse. He knew better, of course, and he’d get my real reasons out of me eventually.

For the moment, though, he was enjoying his pancakes. Enthusiastically and without restraint, maple syrup dripping down his chin. Uncaring about who might see it. That was Seth all over. I’d never once known him to give a damn about anyone else’s opinion—either you were with him regardless of what he did, or he didn’t care.

It was times like this that I could see what Mark saw in him.

Well, no, that was unfair. I could always see it. I could see the way Mark looked at him. He’d never looked at anything in his life like Seth before. And I could see the way Seth looked at Mark, with the enthusiasm of a kid in a candy store.

It would’ve been so easy to dismiss Seth as a gold-digging sugar baby, but I’d never been able to. He loved Mark. He would’ve loved Mark anyway, no matter how he’d found him.

“You’re planning on inviting Miles, right?” Seth asked between mouthfuls of breakfast. “Because I will if you don’t.”

“I…”

I looked around the not-quite-bustling café for a distraction. Nothing stood out, which seemed rude. It was normally more crowded in here around this time, but I’d clearly picked the one Saturday brunch time when everyone else in town had decided to do something else instead. Which left me with no easy escape from the conversation.

I had been fantasizing about inviting Miles to my birthday. Planning was too strong a word. I liked the idea of doing it.

But what if he said no? What if he only said yes because he thought he had to?

I didn’t want him to feel obligated to me. I got the feeling he was the kind of man who felt like he had to earn his keep for anyone to want to spend time with him.

Not that a birthday invitation was a demand, or anything. It was just…

“Okay, well, in that case, I’ll⁠—”

“Don’t,” I said before Seth could set the decision in stone.

He raised an eyebrow, holding my gaze as he poured enough syrup to drown himself in on his pancakes. For the second time.

“I’ll do it,” I said, resigning myself to my fate with a sigh. “I’m turning forty, I’ve gotta be old enough by now to hand out my own birthday invites.”

“Speaking of which,” Seth said, wiping his fingers on a napkin and grabbing the tote bag he’d brought with him, pulling out a stack of envelopes. “I’m planning to write most of them myself, but I figure there are a few people you’ll want there that I might not think of. Or have just been banned from inviting.”

I ran my thumb over the thick paper of the top envelope before flipping it open to find a beautiful, gilded invite inside.

“These are incredible?” I said, looking up at Seth again in surprise.

Seth shrugged. “Anything for my big brother.”

I smiled at that. I’d always been the little brother, but now I had Seth as well. The in-law part never seemed to matter. It was exactly like I imagined having a little brother would be, as though we’d been family all our lives.

I already had so much to be grateful for. A family who loved me, a successful business, a community where I belonged. Asking for more felt greedy.

Not that I was asking. I was just… starting to think about wanting.

“Well, if you’re in the mood to do me a favor…”

Seth broke into a broad grin. “I knew you didn’t invite me to brunch just because you wanted my company while you ate your scrambled eggs.”

“I like your company,” I said. I did like Seth’s company. I would’ve been happy to have brunch with him every morning-slash-afternoon.

But he was right, I hadn’t asked him to meet me just for the pleasure of his company.

“You’re really good at this whole… design, thing,” I said, nodding to the envelopes I’d set down on the table.