studied Ethan now, owlishly, he thought he understood. And he felt safe.
"Where you going?"
"Back to the boatyard. I got some things I want to finish up." Ethan let
the door ease closed again. There was something in the boy's eyes, he
thought. "You okay?"
"Yeah. Can I go out on the workboat with you tomorrow?"
"If you want."
"If I went with you, we'd finish sooner and be able to work on the boat
with Cam. When Phil comes down on the weekend, we can all work on her
together."
"That's how it goes," Ethan said, puzzled.
"Yeah. That's how it goes." All of them, Seth thought with a flash of
pure joy, together. "It's hard work because it's hot as a bitch in
heat."
Ethan bit back a chuckle. "Watch the mouth. Anna's in the kitchen."
Seth shrugged, but aimed a wary glance behind him. "She's cool."
"Yeah." Ethan's smile spread. "She's cool. Don't stay up half the night
drawing or bugging your eyes out at the TV if you're working with me in
the morning."
"Yeah, yeah." Seth waited until Ethan was outside, then snatched up the
bag sitting beside the chair. "Hey!"
"Christ, boy, are you going to let me out of here before tomorrow?"
"Grace forgot her purse." Seth pushed it into Ethan's hand and kept his
face bland and innocent. "I guess she had something on her mind when she
left."
"I guess." Brows knit, Ethan stared down at it. Damn thing weighed ten
pounds if it weighed an ounce, he thought.
"You ought to take it over to her. Women go nuts if they don't have
their purses. See you."
He raced back inside, pounded up the stairs and straight to the first
window that faced the front of the house. From there he could watch
Ethan scratch his head, shove the purse under his arm like a football,
and walk slowly to the truck.
His brothers sure could be weird, he thought. Then he grinned to
himself. His brothers. Letting out a whoop, he raced down the steps to
head for the kitchen and nag Anna for something to eat.
Chapter Twenty
grace intended to cool off and calm down before she stopped by her
parents' house to pick up Aubrey. When she was this emotionally churned
up, there was no hiding it from anyone, much less from a mother or a
very perceptive child.
The last thing she wanted was questions. The last thing she felt capable
of giving was explanations.
She'd said what needed to be said and done what needed to be done. And
she refused to feel sorry for it. If it meant losing a long-standing
friendship, one that she had always treasured, it couldn't be helped.
Somehow she and Ethan would manage to be adult enough to be polite when
in public and not to drag anyone else into their battles.