Rising Tides
Page 32

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."
"Okay." Cam popped the trunk, pulled out a generous dark-green suitcase. "You carry the one that doesn't count."
"Putting your bride to work already?" Phillip crossed to the car, waded through the dogs. "I'll take that, Anna," he said and kissed her with an enthusiasm that had Seth rolling his eyes at Cam.
"Turn her loose, Phil," Ethan said mildly. "I'd hate for Cam to have to kill you before he even gets in the house. Welcome home," he added and smiled when Anna turned to give him as enthusiastic a kiss as Phillip had given her.
"It's good to be home."
the tote, it turned out,contained gifts, which Anna immediately began to dispense, along with stories of each one. Seth only stared down at the bright-blue-and-white soccer shirt she'd given him. No one had ever gone on a trip and brought him back a present. The fact was, if he thought about it, he could count the gifts he'd been given—something for nothing—on the fingers of one hand.
"Soccer's big over in Europe," Anna told him. "They call it football, but it's not like our football." She dug deeper, then pulled out an oversized book with a glossy cover. "And I thought you might like this. It's not as good as seeing the paintings. It really grabs you by the throat to see them in person, but you'll get the idea."
The book was filled with paintings, glorious colors and shapes that dazzled his eyes. An art book. She'd remembered that he liked to draw and had thought of him.
"It's cool." He muttered it because he couldn't trust his voice.
"She wanted to buy everyone shoes," Cam commented. "I had to stop her."
"So I only bought myself a half a dozen pair."
"I thought it was four."
She smiled. "Six. I snuck two by you. Phillip, I stumbled across Maglis. I could have wept."
"Armani?"
She sighed lustily. "Oh, yeah."
"Now I'm going to cry."
"You can sob over fashion later," Cam told them. "I'm starving."
"Grace was here." Seth wanted to try on his shirt right away but thought it would be too lame. "She cleaned everything—made us wash up in the Bay—and she fried chicken."
"Grace made fried chicken?"
"And potato salad."
"There's no place like home," Cam murmured and headed for the kitchen. Seth waited a few seconds, then followed.
"I guess I could eat another piece," he said casually.
"Get in line." Cam pulled the platter and bowl out of the fridge.
"Don't they give you stuff to eat on the plane?"
"That was then, this is now." Cam heaped a plate with food, then leaned back against the counter. The kid looked tanned and healthy, he noted. The eyes were still wary, but his face had lost that rabbit-about-to-run look. He wondered if it would surprise Seth as much as it had himself to know he'd missed the smart-mouthed brat. "So, how's it been going?"
"Okay. School's done, and I've been helping Ethan out on the boat a lot. Pays me slave's wages there and at the boatyard."
"Anna's going to want to know what you got on your report card."
"A's," Seth muttered around a mouthful of drumstick, and Cam choked.
"All?"
"Yeah—so what?"
"She's going to love that. Want to make more points with her?" Seth jerked a shoulder again, narrowing his eyes as he considered what he would be asked to do to please the woman of the house. "Maybe."
"Put the soccer shirt on. It took her damn near half an hour to pick out the right one. Major points if you wear it the same night she gives it to you."
"Yeah?" As easy as that? Seth thought and relaxed into a grin. "I guess I can give her a thrill."
"he really liked hisshirt," Anna said as she meticulously tucked away the contents of one suitcase. "And the book. I'm so glad we thought of the book."
"Yeah, he liked them." Cam figured the next day, even next year, was soon enough to unpack. Besides, he liked stretching out on the bed and watching her—watching his wife, he thought with an odd little thrill—fuss around the room.
"He didn't freeze up when I hugged him. That's a good sign. And his interaction with Ethan and Phillip is easier, more natural, than it was even a couple of weeks ago. He was anxious to see you again. He's feeling a little threatened by me. I change the dynamics around here just at the point where he was getting used to how things worked. So he's waiting, and he's watching for what'll happen next. But that's good. It means he considers this his home. I'm the intruder."
"Miz Spinelli?"
She turned her head, arched a brow. "That's Mrs. Quinn to you, buster."
"Why don't you turn off the social worker until Monday?"
"Can't." She slipped one of her new shoes out of its bag and nearly cooed at it in delight. "The social worker is very pleased with the status of this particular case. And Mrs. Quinn, the brand-new sister-in-law, is determined to win Seth's trust, and maybe even his affection." She slipped the shoe back into the bag and wondered how long she should wait before asking Cam to customize their closet. She knew just what she had in mind, and he was good with his hands. Considering, she studied him. Very, very good with his hands.
"I suppose I could finish unpacking tomorrow."