somewhere else.
Well, he was going to watch, and he was going to see. He could still run
if things got sticky. Though the idea of running made his stomach hurt
in a way it had never done before.
He wanted to be here. He wanted to run in the yard, throwing sticks to
the dogs. To crawl out of bed when it was still dark and eat breakfast
with Ethan and go out on the water crabbing. To work in the boatyard or
go down to Danny's and Will's.
To eat real food whenever he was hungry and sleep in a bed that didn't
smell like somebody else's sweat.
Ray had promised him all of that, and though Seth had never trusted
anyone, he'd trusted Ray. Maybe Ray had been his father, maybe he
hadn't. But Seth knew he'd paid Gloria a lot of money. He thought of her
as Gloria now and not as his mother. It helped to add more distance.
Now Ray was dead, but he'd made each of his sons promise to keep Seth in
the house by the water. Seth figured they probably hadn't liked the
idea, but they'd promised anyway. He'd discovered that the Quinns kept
their word. It was a new and wonderful concept to him, a promise kept.
If they broke it now, he knew it would hurt more than anything had hurt
him before.
So he waited, and when he heard the car--the not-quite-tamed roar of the
Corvette--his stomach jittered with excitement and nerves.
Simon woofed twice in greeting, but Foolish set up a din of wild,
half-terrified barking. When the sleek white car pulled into the drive,
both dogs raced toward it, tails waving like flags. Seth stuck hands
that had gone sweaty into his pockets and strolled over casually.
"Hi!" Anna shot him a brilliant smile.
Seth could see why Cam had gone for her, all right. He himself had
sketched her face a number of times in secret. He liked to draw above
all else. His fledgling artist's eye appreciated the sheer beauty of
that face--the dark, almond-shaped eyes, the clear, pale-gold skin, the
full mouth, and the exotic hint of cheekbones. Her hair was windblown, a
dark, curling mass. Her wedding ring set glinted, diamonds and gold, as
she stepped out of the car.
And caught him unprepared in a laughing, bone-crushing hug. "What a
terrific welcome party!"
Though the embrace had surprised him into wanting to linger there, he
wiggled free. "I was just out fooling with the dogs." He looked over at
Cam, shrugged. "Hey."
"Hey, kid." Lean and dark, and just a little dangerous to the eye, Cam
unfolded his length from the low-riding car. His grin was quicker than
Ethan's, sharper than Phillip's. "Just in time to help me unload."
"Yeah, sure." Seth glanced up, noted the small mountain of luggage
strapped to the roof of the car. "You didn't take all that crap with
you."
"We picked up some Italian crap while we were there."
"I couldn't stop myself," Anna said with a laugh. "We had to buy another
suitcase."
"Two," Cam corrected.
"One's just a tote--it doesn't count."