“Well, weren’t you just saying last night that you are done dating emotionally unavailable men? Maybe that means you are ready for more. I mean how old were you when you and Seth…um…when the night happened?” Haley asked.
“I was twenty-two.” Amber remembered at the time how very old and mature she had felt. But now, looking back, she realized how young she really was.
“See!” Haley exclaimed. “Now you’re thirty! That’s a big difference!”
“Thanks for pointing that out, Hales,” Amber said dryly.
Haley just smiled at her. “Aren’t you even a little bit excited about the fact that you now know Mystery Man’s identity? And he’s here. In Harper’s Crossing.”
“And he’s related to you,” Amber pointed out.
“Okay that parts a little weird, I’ll give you that,” Haley chuckled. “I used to be upset about the fact that you wouldn’t tell me the good stuff, but now I have to admit that I am glad I don’t have that information floating around in my head. I would have had to go to a counselor or a hypnotist to get rid of it!”
Sophie leaned forward in her chair, “But come on, you have to be a teensy, weensy bit excited that you know his name and he’s here.”
“I guess a little bit,” Amber begrudgingly admitted for their sake.
All the girls started talking at once about how romantic and amazing the whole thing was. Amber didn’t want to be the wet blanket (or ‘party pooper’ as Chelle was so fond of calling people) and ruin everyone’s fun. But really, if she was being completely honest, she wasn’t excited. She was scared. Totally one hundred percent terrified.
Chapter Four
Before his first day at Titan Security, Seth had agreed to meet his brothers at Gerard’s Diner for breakfast. Pulling into the dirt parking lot he was stunned by how little the diner had changed. He hadn’t recognized a lot of the town he had seen so far, everything looked so much more built up. But this place looked exactly the same as it always had.
He had mixed feelings about coming here - to Gerard’s. When he was growing up, before his mom Cheryl’s bi-polar disorder had gotten severe, she had taken him and Riley here every Saturday for breakfast. The time they spent here were some of the best memories he had with her.
Part of him was hoping that the building would have changed. Maybe they would have added to the structure or something. At the very least, that it would have been painted differently. And, although Seth realized they must have painted the building since the last time he had been there, it was still tan with a forest green trim. His chest felt tight.
He stepped in through the front door that had the Gerard’s Diner decal etched into the glass. The smell of pancakes, syrup, and coffee hit him smack dab in the face. Sure, over the years he had been to dozens of diners in several different countries and they all smelled of pancakes, syrup, and coffee. But there was nothing like this. This smelled like home.
Seth easily spotted his four brothers waiting for him at a large round table in the back of the restaurant. He was having a hard time adjusting to the fact that his brothers weren’t kids anymore. They were grown men. It was odd.
“Okay, what’s the deal with you and Amber?” Jason asked abruptly, his brow lifting as Seth took a seat between Bobby and Riley. There was a plate of pancakes, eggs, sausage, and bacon with a cup of coffee waiting for him.
After Jason’s blunt question Seth stared at the plate full of food and realized he should have just grabbed a bagel and coffee and skipped the ‘family’ breakfast.
“Look,” Jason continued, “I wouldn’t ask, but Katie won’t let it drop.”
“Chelle’s pretty curious, too,” Riley added.
Bobby, who Seth had noticed over the last few days didn’t say much, chose this time to speak up, “Sophie won’t stop asking.”
“Is this why you guys invited me here?” Seth asked, feeling a little ambushed.
His brothers just stared at him.
“I just came for the show.” Alex smiled happily as he shoveled pancakes into his mouth. “Jamie hasn’t said a word about it.”
Seth wanted this conversation over. “Nothing is going on.”
“But you remember her?” Jason lifted his coffee cup to his lips.
“Yes.” Seth could not believe his brothers weren’t dropping this.
“And...” Jason gestured for Seth to elaborate.
“I remember her. End of story.” Seth did not want this to become a running theme, that his brothers felt like they could ask him about his personal life. He was an extremely private person and that was not going to change because of his unexpected homecoming. Yes, these were his brothers, but that didn’t make this any more their business.
“Sadly,” Jason said looking almost apologetic, “It is not the end of the story. Because if I don’t go home from this little pancake ‘intervention’ with some answers, I will never hear the end of it from Katie. So, sorry, bro, but you need to start talking.”
Looking around the table, it seemed that Bobby and Riley were both backing Jason up. Alex might as well have been holding a bucket of popcorn as he watched the proceedings. He seemed very entertained.
Seth didn’t want to talk about Amber, about their night together, but obviously his brothers weren’t going to let it go. Since there wasn’t much to tell anyway, he decided he might as well get it over with.
“I want to make it clear that this is the one and only conversation we will have on this subject. Understood?” Seth looked around the table; his brothers all nodded their heads in agreement.
Seth inhaled deeply through his nose. “On August 14th 20…”
“August 14th?” Bobby interrupted his brow creasing.
“Yes. On August 14th 2005 I was at the Four Seasons in DC…”
“That’s the hotel where the police found you and Mom, when you were in fourth grade and your class was on that field trip to DC, right?” Riley interrupted.
“Do you want to hear this or not?” Seth asked his brothers sharply. They just silently stared at him so he continued, “I had just had dinner and wanted a drink.”
His brothers nodded in understanding and he saw them glancing at each other, probably silently communicating the importance of the date.
“I went to the bar and sat down. There was a girl seated to my right. An asshole came over and started hitting on her. She stood to leave. Asshole grabbed her hand. She kneed him in the balls.” The corners of Seth’s mouth twitched as he remembered how impressed he had been with the gorgeous stranger. “The idiot called her a bitch, I made sure he apologized. She was upset. I got her out of there. We went to my room. She left sometime in the middle of the night. The next time I saw her was yesterday. I tried to speak to her. She left.”
“Yeah. We knew all that,” Jason said as if that story was common knowledge.
“You knew what?” Seth asked, not really comprehending the statement Jason had just made.
“Not the date, and not the exact hotel, that was all new info but the other details, yeah. Your Amber’s Mystery Man,” Jason said matter-of-factly. “I’ve known about it for years.”
“Years?” Seth clarified.
“Yep, about five years,” Jason explained. “But I’ve known Amber longer than everyone else. We went out a few times back in the day.”
“You did what?” Seth’s jaw clenched as he felt a surge of anger spread through his chest.
“Wow! Soooo nothing’s going on with you two, huh?” Alex smiled from ear to ear. “That reaction was for nothing going on. Interesting.”
Seth ignored his brother. He had always maintained that Alex thought he was a lot funnier than he actually was. He continued staring at Jason.
“It wasn’t serious.” Jason’s eyes grew wide as he raised his hands in mock surrender. “When she first moved to town we went out a couple of times. That’s all. But we quickly realized we would be better off as friends. No chemistry.”
No chemistry. What the hell? They could no
t be talking about the same girl. Amber was the sexiest woman Seth had ever laid eyes on. How could any man be in the same room with her and not have ‘chemistry’? Still, it made him feel better to know that Jason and Amber had not really dated.
Although the tightness in Seth’s chest was lessening, he still didn’t like the feeling that Jason’s information had caused to riot through him. He figured he would just get through this ‘breakfast’ and deal with that later.
Seth began to eat. The sooner he was out of there, the better.
Jason must have sensed his fight or flight response because he quickly said, “Look, I’m just gonna ask you all the things Kit Kat has been asking me and then I won’t bring it up again. Deal?”
“You still call her that?” Seth asked. He seemed to remember that when they were kids Katie had hated that nickname.
Jason just smiled a mischievous smile. “Yep.”
Okay, whatever. It was none of Seth’s business. Just like anything between himself and Amber was none of his brothers' or their wives' business.
“Do you plan on seeing Amber?” Jason asked.
“No,” Seth answered honestly.
“Let me rephrase. Do you want to see Amber?”
“No,” Seth said flatly.
Jason just stared at him, doubt written all over his face. “Why?”
Bobby and Riley had been fairly quiet during this interrogation, he appreciated it.
He just wanted to eat and get to work. No more talk about Amber. Him seeing Amber. His night with Amber.
“Is it because she left? Twice?” Bobby asked. The question hit Seth right square in the chest like a punch, knocking the wind out of him. Where the hell had this kid come from? His balls hadn’t even dropped the last time Seth had seen him, now he was coming out with shit like this.
Seth didn’t answer, just took a drink of coffee.
“That’s not what she’s like Seth,” Jason defended Amber. “She’s not like mom.”
“Who the hell said anything about mom?” Seth couldn’t believe his brother had actually just brought up their mom in this conversation.
“I’m not trying to piss you off,” Jason quickly said. “But I just want you to know Amber’s not a flake. She’s brilliant. She owns her own business. She has a lot of friends. She volunteers at the women’s shelter. Sure, she’s got issues like anyone else, but not like that. She doesn’t just leave.”
Could have fooled me, Seth thought to himself. This conversation was just getting worse and worse. He could feel the tension radiating off of him in waves. He was normally so controlled. He didn’t let things get to him. He never let things affect him this strongly. Except, it seemed, when it came to Amber.
“Okay, one more question - and this one is all me, not Katie,” Jason prefaced, and from the look in his eye Seth, was pretty damn sure he wasn’t going to like the question that was to follow.
Seth nodded at him to continue.
“You really didn’t even know her name?”
Seth hated to admit it, but...“No.”
“Damn,” Jason shook his head slowly.
“Well, kids,” Alex said as he stood, “as fun as this has been, I’ve got to get to the station. Seth, glad you’re back. Amber’s one of the good ones. I wouldn’t count her out just yet.” Alex slapped him on the back as he left.
As he watched his brother leave his chest constricted with another emotion. This time it was pride. Although Seth didn’t really know how to tell Alex – or, actually, any of his brothers - how proud he was of them without sounding condescending or patronizing, it didn’t change the fact that he was, very proud of them. They had all made good lives for themselves. They were successful in both their personal lives and their professional lives, and that was more than Seth could currently say for himself, if it came right down to it.
Jason and Bobby had both gone into the family business. Sloan Construction was his dad Bob’s first baby. He had started the company a year before Seth was born. Jason was in charge now and Bobby was a foreman. Jason and Bobby were both happily married to great girls who they had each loved most of their lives.
Riley had recently gotten out of the Marines, but unlike Seth, had planned ahead for his civilian life. He had opened a bar that was quite successful down in New Orleans with a couple of the guys he had served with. His plan had originally been to head down there to live, but he and Chelle reconnected and now they were married with a baby on the way. Riley was able to handle a lot of the bar’s business from Harper’s Crossing thanks to the wonders of technology.
And Alex - who was the only brother that Seth had ever really worried about, due to his romantic history and seemingly blasé attitude about life - was a firefighter and engaged to a girl Seth had just met but could instantly tell had her head on straight. Jamie was a nurse and a waitress, she had a six year old son, she was stunningly beautiful and seemed to adore his brother, sordid past and all.
Seth had carried around a lot of guilt over the past decade for taking off on his dad and brothers. He had left the second he could and basically hadn’t looked back. Months at a time would go by and he would have zero contact with them. He had never really dealt with the loss of his mom, or even her absence when she had left when Seth was ten. Being around his brothers brought up a lot of things that Seth had pushed down into the darkest places of his soul. He didn’t really want them coming to light.
A young waitress that looked to be a little intimidated by Seth and his brothers came by to refill their coffee cups and Seth took out his card to pay the check. Jason and Riley tried to argue that they had invited him so they would pay. Seth made it clear that it wasn’t negotiable. He was paying. His brothers wisely backed down. They all made plans for Thanksgiving, since it was less than a week away, and said their goodbyes.
As Seth got on his bike and looked at the diner one last time before pulling out of the parking lot. He had a gut feeling that this was going to be a long day.
Chapter Five
As Amber drove down the frontage road that ran alongside the picturesque Riverwalk on her way to Bella, she tried to wrap her brain around the fact that it had been three days since she had seen her Mystery Man. Three days and she hadn’t seen hide nor hair of Seth Sloan.
Every time her phone had rung or someone came to her door, she had just known it was him. It wasn’t. When she was at the shop, she kept expecting him to walk through the door. He hadn’t.
It was driving her a little bit crazy! She felt off balance. The brief conversation they had had in Katie and Jason’s kitchen kept playing in her head. Not just the words but also every look, every movement, every breath he had taken was on constant repeat in her brain. She was trying desperately to dissect the exchange, to find some concrete meaning in each second of their brief reunion.
So far, she hadn’t come up with that much.
Could she have handled it better? Yes. Did she wish she would have stayed at Jason’s and spoken more than a handful of words to Seth? Yes. Did her behavior warrant his complete and total dismissal? No.
Granted, Amber may have a better memory than most, but Seth had obviously remembered their night together. I mean come on; he had asked her to say his name…again. That wasn’t something you did with people that didn’t have any impact on you. Right?
Their night must have meant something to Seth for him to remember her all these years later. Look at the facts. He had followed her into the kitchen, leaving behind a house full of family and friends that had gathered for his homecoming.
When she had tried to make small talk – granted it was awkward small talk, but whatever - the first words out of his mouth were ‘why did you leave?’- so he must have wondered about her from time to time. You don’t ask a question that specific if you barely remember someone.
And if Seth had felt even one-tenth of the same heat that Amber had felt when they were in the kitchen, face to face, a foot away from each other, then he had to still feel the insane attraction
that was sizzling between them.
Their chemistry was almost like a living, breathing thing. It was not harness-able. It was wild and unforgiving. It was scary.
Seth did not strike her as the type to be scared off easily.
Granted, normally the same could be said for Amber - but this situation was not normal by any stretch of the imagination! This situation was unique unto itself. If it weren't happening to her, in fact, she wouldn’t even believe it to be possible.
Now, pulling into the back parking lot of Bella, she tried to pull her scattered brain together. She needed to get some sort of a reign on her current emotional state. She wasn’t going to suffer through another day without having some sort of a grip on her sanity.
Amber had always prided herself on being logical. She had an I.Q. that was higher than most. As a child she had excelled in G.A.T.E. (Gifted and Talented Education). She had graduated from high school with a 4.0 GPA. And, unlike some of her other intellectual contemporaries, she was actually street smart, and not socially awkward in the least.
These qualities had served her well in life. These natural-born gifts had given her an inner confidence that she could handle anything that came her way. She had never doubted herself.
Until Mystery Man. Until now. Until Seth.
Amber was at a loss as to how to internally deal with the volcanic eruption of emotions Seth's (aka Mystery Man’s) appearance in Harper’s Crossing had caused. She was equally uncertain as to what she should do externally about the situation. She knew their paths would inevitably cross. Then what?
That was part of the reason she was so frustrated by his non-appearance over the last few days. She had, in a way, been banking on the assumption that Seth would seek her out. Take charge. That he would take control of the situation just like he had done all those years ago in room #511 of the Four Seasons.
Unfortunately, that had not been the case, which was the main reason for her unbalanced and somewhat foul mood. Never one to rely on others' actions for her own happiness, Amber decided that after work today, she would make a game plan. She would find out where he was staying (how hard could that be, after all, she knew his whole family), and then she was going to go and have a little chit-chat with Mr. Seth Sloan.
My Everything - Seth & Amber Page 4
