CHAPTER TWENTY-FOUR
At noon the following day, Sean’s eighteen-year-old sister stood in her open front door and stared at Serena with big eyes. “Oh my God, I can’t believe you’re actually here. It’s so amazing to meet you!” She threw her arms around Serena, instantly welcoming.
“Serena, this is my little sister, Madison.”
“Maddie,” his sister quickly corrected.
“I told them all you were coming and not to freak you out,” he continued, “but you know how little sisters are.”
Maddie shot Sean a frown when she finally let go of Serena. “We’re awesome, that’s how we are. It’s not like I asked Serena to take a selfie with me, or anything.” Maddie looked back at Serena and gave her a slightly crooked smile. “Sorry, it’s just that I’ve seen you in like a million magazines and now here you are in my house.”
“Not quite yet, Mads,” Sean pointed out, “since you haven’t actually let us in.”
“Oh, sorry!” She jumped aside, and that was when she finally saw the box Serena was holding. The eggshell-blue box that could only have come from one store. “You didn’t need to bring me a present.” But from the way her eyes lit up, she was clearly glad that Serena had. Serena liked Sean’s youngest sister immediately. She was as tiny as her brother was big, and also bright and fun.
Serena had agonized over what to wear to Maddie’s party today. Her usual uniform of jeans and a baggy T-shirt would have been rude—plus she was feeling more and more ready to stop hiding who she really was—but she didn’t want to be overdressed, either. Finally, Abi had suggested a pair of slim black jeans and a fitted white crocheted top with a matching white tank. Simple, but pretty.
“I hope you like it, Maddie.”
She had handed the box to his sister just as Sean’s father stepped into the entryway. She could easily see the family resemblance in all three of them, but it was especially strong between the two men. But even with a welcoming smile, Michael Morrison couldn’t hide the grief in every line of his face, the too-deep hollows beneath his cheekbones and the lingering despair in his eyes.
“Mr. Morrison, thank you for including me today.”
“Mike, please. And it’s a pleasure to meet you, Serena. Come inside and let me get you a drink before you head into the backyard and meet everyone else.”
“Sean mentioned that you were a pretty serious gardener, so I brought these for you.” She reached into her bag and pulled out a bag of bulbs. “I’ve always loved the scent of freesias,” she said when he simply stared at her gift.
“My wife did, too,” he said softly, and Serena silently cursed herself for inadvertently causing him pain with her gift.
“I’m so sorry for your loss,” she said, her throat tightening more on every word.
And then, from seemingly out of nowhere, Sean’s other sister appeared, as if she had a radar for when her father was faltering and knew exactly when he needed her to save him. “Dad, I’m pretty sure Drew’s about to break the gas grill by lighting charcoal on it.” As their father headed out toward the backyard to deal with the situation, Olivia said, “You must be Serena.”
Sean’s arm around her waist tightened as she smiled said, “You’re Olivia, aren’t you? Sean has told me so many great things about you.”
Serena held out her hand and made sure to keep her expression as easy as possible, as if she hadn’t already picked up on all of the varied dynamics in their family. Because as far as she could see there was a lot going on, and she’d only met half of them so far...
Like any eighteen-year-old might have, Maddie looked caught between her older sibling’s silent tug of war over Serena’s presence and wanting to defuse the situation. “If you could point me toward something to drink,” Serena said to her, “that would be great.”
Maddie gave her a relieved smile. “Sure, come into the kitchen with me and I’ll show you what we’ve got.”
Leaving Sean and Olivia behind for a moment, Serena said, “Happy birthday,” and then asked, “How’s your senior year going?”
“Pretty good,” Maddie said with a grin that looked so much like Sean’s. “Although I’m pretty sure if I don’t get into Stanford everyone is going to freak.”
“Is that where you want to go?”
Maddie shrugged. “Six out of seven Morrisons either graduated from Stanford or are going to soon. It doesn’t have a culinary program, but I figure I can major in business or something and then at least I’ll know how to manage my finances when I open my own restaurant.”
“You want to be a chef?”
“For as long as I can remember.”
“Aren’t there amazing cooking schools in San Francisco and Napa Valley?”
“There are, and I’ve done some of their summer programs. In fact, I made most of the food we’re going to be eating today.” She opened up the fridge. “Here’s what we’ve got to drink. What looks good?”
Sensing Maddie wanted to move on from their talk about her future, Serena had just taken out a bottle of San Pellegrino when the side door into the kitchen opened and a man she hadn’t yet met walked in.
“Want another one of these?” Maddie held up a beer bottle for him.
“Nope, water’s good. I’ve got to head back to the office later.” He held out his hand to Serena. “I’m Sean’s brother Grant.”
“Nice to meet you. I’m Serena.”
Grant Morrison was a very good-looking man. Tall and ridiculously handsome like Sean, and yet, he wasn’t having anywhere near the kind of effect on her that Sean had from the very first moment she’d met him. In fact, despite what she suspected was Grant’s naturally high level of intensity, she actually felt quite comfortable with him. Immediately sensing what a serious and focused businessman he was, she thought about how she’d met many men like him over the years and had actually liked quite a few of them. At least, the ones who hadn’t secretly hit on her when they thought her mother’s attention was elsewhere.
Something told Serena that Grant would never hit on her in a million years. It was a very comforting thought.
“Serena,” Maddie said, “come on outside and you can try the blue cheese bacon dip I made as a starter.”
Smiling at Grant as she passed him, Serena nearly ran headfirst into Sean coming in through the kitchen door. Only...it wasn’t Sean standing in front of her, but a really close copy of him.
“I’m Justin,” he said, “and you must be the reason why my brother is finally happy again.”
He said the words so easily that she might have missed the serious intent behind them if she wasn’t already so attuned to Sean’s happiness. What’s more, Justin gave her a grin that was such a perfect replica of the way Sean looked at her that it should have set every cell in her body to tingling...only it didn’t. Not at all.
But hadn’t she always known that what was on the surface didn’t make up the whole? She was more than her face. And so were Justin and Sean. Just because their outsides were so similar didn’t mean they were the same inside. Although at the very least, she could tell from nothing more than Justin’s smile that he was nice. Sizzling hot like his other brothers, certainly, and with a kindness that radiated even from the way he held the door open for her.
She almost second-guessed herself before replying, but decided that if she didn’t have to be guarded with Sean, then she wouldn’t be guarded with his family, either. “Sean is making me really happy, too.”
“He always was the lucky one of the two of us,” Justin said with the same easy grin that Sean and Maddie had. “Can I get you anything?”
“No, I was just heading outside to try Maddie’s dip.”
“Whatever you think of it,” he said in a low voice, “tell her you love it.”
“Isn’t it good?”
“It’s great,” he said, but he’d clearly felt he had to warn Serena anyway, to make sure that no matter what happened his sister came away feeling good at the end of the day. Without siblings, Serena hadn’t had a chance to see into a family dynamic like this. It was as fascinating—and fantastic—as she’d always thought it would be. At the same time, though, it was so much more complicated than she’d ever realized.
On the one hand, Maddie clearly felt pressured by her family’s expectations, but on the other, she was obviously totally supported in her dreams. Grant was likely needed in his office this afternoon, but he’d chosen to take these hours off to celebrate his sister. Olivia was wary of Serena and wanted to protect Sean from being hurt because she loved him so much. And Justin...well, Serena didn’t have a handle on Sean’s twin yet, beyond sensing that he was really nice in addition to being ridiculously good looking.
She could only imagine how the Morrison house must have been overrun with phone calls and visits from all the people wanting to date them over the years. Surely, she thought, as she finally headed outside, Sean wasn’t the only one dating someone. But when she looked around the backyard, there was only one other person she hadn’t met.
Drew Morrison turned to her with the look of a man who knew precisely the kind of effect he had on women. And yet, though he had BAD BOY written all over him, from his black jeans to his spiky hair and tattoos, she was really happy to find that he didn’t put her on edge the way so many other musicians did. Especially those creeps she’d filmed the video with.
“Great to finally meet you,” he said as he came across the grass to say hello, even the way he moved rock-star sexy.
He wasn’t putting on an act. Drew Morrison just was a rock star. He owned it from the inside out and clearly had found his perfect career fit. Whereas Serena had never been doing more than pretending to be a supermodel.
“You, too.” Again, though she felt more than a little shy, she didn’t let it stop her from telling him, “I really like your music.”
“Thanks. I appreciate that.” And she got the sense that he really did.
A moment later, Sean’s arms slid around her waist from behind. “Holding up okay? I don’t have to beat Drew up for hitting on you, do I?”
She laughed as she shook her head, then smiled up at him. “You have a great family.”
He smiled back at her even though she knew what he’d really been seeing since they walked in to Maddie’s party was a family minus one very important person. She could see that same expression in all of the Morrisons’ eyes in varying degrees. Some of them were probably just better at hiding, at bottling up, their grief. For now, at least.
Even though they were standing in front of his entire family, it was pure instinct to slide her arms around his neck. “When will everyone else be getting here?”
“We’re all here.”
“But...it’s just your family and me.”
“Maddie’s going to blow it out with her friends later tonight in the city while Olivia drives her crazy by chaperoning. Today is for the family.”
“But if it’s just your family—”
Sean’s mouth on hers stopped the rest of her protest. “I wanted you to be here today. We all do.”
Just then, a small bundle of fur pushed against her legs and she looked down to see the cutest little black and white dog looking up at her with big brown eyes. “Oh my gosh, who are you?”
“Don’t worry, buddy,” Sean said as he scooped up the dog and handed it to her, “I was just about to introduce you. This is Bailey. And something tells me he’s going to fall in love with you, too.”
The way the cute dog started licking her made her think that maybe Sean was right. She couldn’t stop laughing, even as she tried to dodge his tongue.
“Hey,” Sean said in a gentle tone to the dog, “coming on too strong is no way to get a girl to love you back.” He gave the furball a quick cuddle then put him down on the grass, where he scurried after a piece of food that had just fallen off the table.
“Sorry about that. He can be a little too friendly sometimes.”
“Impossible,” she said through her laughter as she watched Bailey stare greedily at the plates of food on the table. “No dog can ever be too friendly.”
Sean took her hand and brought her over to the table set up in the middle of the lawn beneath the big magnolia tree. “Come sit down with me.”
She knew everyone must be able to see that she was glowing from just being with Sean, and she hoped Olivia was the only one who disapproved of her. It had never been so important for people to like her.
“So, Serena,” Mike asked, “what year are you at Stanford?”
“It’s my freshman year.”
“Got your major picked out yet? Or are you still trying things out?”
Clearly, Sean’s father didn’t have much of a clue about what she’d done before attending college, and she was extremely glad. “I’m planning to major in English.”
His eyes shuttered. “My wife was an English major. She ended up going on to teach third grade.”
Oh God, how did she keep hurting Sean’s father with every word that came out of her mouth? To make things worse, she felt Sean stiffen beside her, too. Each of his siblings also shifted slightly in their seats.
“Is teaching what you want to do, too?” Maddie asked.
Trying to answer as normally as possible, given the fact that she wanted to cry for every one of them, Serena said, “Maybe. Although at this point anything’s possible, just as long as it involves books and libraries.”
She was so incredibly glad when Sean smiled at her and said, “Serena’s on a first-name basis with the entire Green Library staff. And actually, since I’ve started going so much to meet her there, I’ve started to think that someone should do some time-release photographs of the architecture and the way the light passes over it throughout the day. Somehow it manages to look different every hour.”
“You should do it,” Olivia said.
Serena held her breath along with the rest of them, but Sean only shrugged and said, “We’ll see,” before turning to Grant and asking, “How’s the new product launch going?”
She was so amazed by Sean’s response to Olivia that she was only able to listen with half an ear to Grant’s response. Was he really thinking about doing photography again? It felt like such a big thing—and she knew from his siblings’ expressions that she wasn’t the only one who thought so.
Had she had something to do with the change? Or was it simply that the passage of time was finally starting to heal him?
Whatever the reason, knowing that Sean was coming alive again filled her with so much happiness, Serena wanted to dance around the yard. By the time she was able to pull her gaze from his gorgeous face, she realized that her plate was loaded up with some of the best-looking food she’d ever seen or smelled.
“You made all this?” she asked Maddie while Sean, Grant, and Mike talked business.
“I hope you like it.”
“She will, Mads,” Drew said from the far end of the table, ruffling his sister’s hair so that she gave him a little mock growl of irritation.
“How many hearts have you broken on this tour?” his little sister asked him.
“Lost count in Miami,” he teased her back.
“I’m glad you were able to come home for my birthday.”
“Wouldn’t have missed it,” he said, “even if you’re blowing me off to go hang with your friends tonight.”
“You know they’d be thrilled if you came,” Maddie said.
“Gonna have to take a pass on that one, thanks.” His look of horror at hanging with a bunch of eighteen-year-old girls made Serena laugh. “Besides, I’ve got that meeting tonight with my professor about the student who wants to go on tour with me as part of her business major.”
Olivia shook her head. “Do you really want to let some stranger on your tour bus?”
“My professor basically asked me to do it as a favor. Turns out she’s his daughter and she really wants to get an insider’s view of the music industry for some project she’s working on.”
“You can’t be serious,” Justin said, laughing. “This professor wants to send his daughter on tour with you? Does he know anything about your track record with the ladies?”
“I wouldn’t touch the guy’s daughter,” Drew said, as serious as he’d been so far. “Not in a million years.”
Olivia abruptly shifted in her seat to face Serena. “Has it been difficult to fit your modeling and acting commitments around your classes?”
Trying not to act too surprised by the sudden question, or too flustered by the way everyone was now looking at her, Serena said, “I’m not modeling or acting anymore.”
Olivia frowned. “But I read just this morning that you—”
“She’s done with that,” Sean said, cutting his sister off.
“Do you miss it?” Maddie asked.
“No.” Serena didn’t even have to think about it. “Not at all.”
“That’s cool,” his youngest sister said. “I was just thinking it must be kind of weird to go to college and live in a dorm and go to classes after all the things you’ve probably seen and done.”
“It was weird at first,” she admitted. “At least until I met your brother.” Knowing she couldn’t pretend the tabloid story hadn’t come out online with pictures of the two of them, or that there wouldn’t be similar things coming in the future, she said, “I know it must have been strange for all of you when those pictures of the two of us came out.”
“It wasn’t a big deal,” Sean immediately said.
Grant, however, was only a beat behind him with, “Actually, it was a surprise, but I don’t imagine it’s anything you can control, is it?”
“Unfortunately,” she said with a little shake of her head, “it isn’t.”
She could feel Sean bristling beside her, not nearly as bad as he’d been when he’d caught his friends looking at her video the night before, but definitely not pleased with the way the conversation had gone. She wished she knew how to fix things, but before she could figure anything out, help came from the most unlikely quarter.
“Serena, do you want to come help me bring out Maddie’s birthday cake?” Olivia asked.
Beyond grateful, Serena nodded and was sliding out of her seat when Sean slid his hand to the nape of her neck and kissed her, long and hard and in front of his entire family. Her head was spinning by the time he let her go, but she somehow managed to make it to her feet without tripping and into the kitchen, where his sister was waiting for her.
“When those pictures of the two of you came out,” Olivia said, point-blank, “I told him to be careful.”
Serena had barely closed the door behind her, and between the kiss and the roller coaster of a conversation during their meal, she didn’t quite have her bearings. “You love your brother. Of course you would want him to be careful.”
That was right when Olivia shocked her, yet again, by saying, “You love him, too, don’t you?”
Whatever Serena could have imagined that she and Olivia would talk about in the kitchen, it wouldn’t have been love. And yet, now that she’d met Sean’s family and saw that love was the core of everything the Morrisons did, of everything they were, she realized it couldn’t have been anything else.
“I do.”
Olivia’s smile flashed so quickly that Serena almost missed it. Especially when she followed it up by saying, “Losing our mom...it was hard. So, so hard. But she and Sean had a really special connection.” Serena badly wanted to reach out to her as she added, “He’s finally starting to come back to life, and I hate the thought of him getting hurt.”
“I won’t hurt him,” Serena promised.
“Now that I’ve met you,” Olivia said, “I know you wouldn’t do it on purpose. But what about when you leave to film that movie?”
Serena’s chest clenched tight for a split second. “I’m not doing any movies.”
“Didn’t Smith Sullivan pick you to be in his new movie?”
“He did, but then the project was shelved this past summer.”
Olivia stared at her, confused. “But I just read today that it’s back on. And that you’re in it.”
Serena shook her head. “No, I haven’t agreed to anything. It must just be old news that someone is circulating again. I’m going to stay at school, not leave to do a movie or model.”
Sean came in through the door. “Everything good here?”
Olivia stared at Serena for another few seconds before she seemed to make up her mind and smiled. “Everything’s great. I’m glad you came today, Serena.”
Serena smiled back at his sister. “I am, too.”