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“You don’t. But you do need a bank account. Then I’ll set up a meeting with my investment broker. After that, we’ll find you whatever red sports car you want.” As he thought through that paperwork, something else occurred to Beck. “Except…do you have a driver’s license? Or a birth certificate?”
Beck hadn’t stayed long enough in Messiah City to know if the townsfolk had submitted to the state’s laws. “I do. I carry my license. In Jed’s office, we found everyone’s birth certificates. Those leaving the sect got theirs, me included.”
“Good. We can get you hooked up with banking and investments right away. The question is, do you want to remain Zacharias Kimball? You can, but I have to warn you, everyone you meet will know where you came from.” And if they didn’t off the top of their head, a simple internet search would tell them. “If you want to avoid potential altercations and ensure your privacy, it might be better to change your name.”
“Like you did?”
“Exactly. But it’s your call.”
Zach fell silent and stared down into his coffee cup for a long moment. “If I changed my name, could I be a Beckman, too? We’re brothers. After so many years apart, I’d like to keep it that way.”
His words filled Beck’s heart with a love for family he’d never felt. But he had to be honest. “Sure. That’s Gloria’s last name, but if that doesn’t bother you…”
“It doesn’t. Before I met her, I simply thought of her as a whore. I also assumed she would be a bad person. After Jed and Mother attacked us and she comforted that grieving widow—”
“Ngaire.”
Zach nodded. “She had just suffered a terrible loss.”
“Like you had, yes.”
“Gloria was doing her utmost to hold the widow together. And I began to think… Why was I judging this woman? Who am I to believe I have the moral authority to do that? The only person I should stand in judgment on is myself. Everyone else? That’s God’s responsibility…whoever He is.”
Beck was proud that his brother was breaking out of The Chosen’s mindset so quickly and so well. “You’re damn right. Despite being raised by Esther and constantly exposed to Jed, you turned out good.”
“Thank you.” Zach flashed something that almost looked like a whole smile. “You did, too.”
Though Beck’s to-do list had suddenly grown longer, the grin lighting up Zach’s face was more than worth the work.
* * *
May
Acouple of weeks later, Heavenly piled her hair on her head in a messy bun and stepped back, casting a critical eye in the bedroom mirror at the pink high-cut bikini with its clinging bandeau top. A little frown wrinkled her brow. She was probably showing off more skin than Zach would be comfortable with, but this was the only swimsuit she owned…and the first time she’d ever worn it. Beck and Seth preferred her naked when they enjoyed the pool in the backyard. But today, Heavenly would be giving Zach the swim lessons she’d promised him at Seth’s apartment complex. Her only saving grace was that she and Zach would be in the water most of the day. He shouldn’t have time to look twice at her.
“You’re not wearing that in public, angel.” Leaning against the doorframe, arms crossed over his wide chest, Seth wore a disapproving scowl.
While she loved the times when he and Beck let out their inner cavemen, she frowned back at Seth now. Of course she’d been relieved he had opened up and explained the circumstances around Autumn’s and Tristan’s deaths. Yes, she suspected there was more to the story than Seth had revealed, but that was okay…at least for now. The three of them were on fairly solid footing again.
Except he hadn’t quite been himself since he’d come home. Mostly he was fine, and the three of them had slipped back into a daily rhythm that felt normal and wonderful. He still worked cases overnight more often than not—the nature of cheating spouses, she supposed. But the fuse on his temper seemed shorter than usual, and that edge often appeared when she least expected it.
“Of course not. I’m wearing this over it.” She slid on the gauzy, see-through cover-up.
“That doesn’t hide anything.”
“It’s fine,” she assured with a smile.
“It’s not. Wrap a blanket around you.”
Heavenly tried to hang on to her composure. “Seth, be reasonable. It’s hot out there.”
His scowl deepened. “Then use a towel. Better yet, use two.”
“I’ve already packed them.” She lifted the canvas bag she’d also filled with water, sunscreen, and her cell phone. “Let’s go. I don’t want to keep Zach waiting.”
Especially since she was hoping to see Jasmine for a quick pedi and hug before the woman left with Jane and Arthur for nearly a month back east. Now that their house had sold and their granddaughter was graduating college, they’d be gone for a while. Though she and Raine had only had a few outings with the sweet redhead, Heavenly already considered her a friend. She was going to miss Jasmine.
Grumbling something undecipherable under his breath, Seth slung his arm around her waist and escorted her down the stairs, through the garage, and into his SUV.
