Sea Swept by Nora Roberts Page A

the hell they were supposed to do about it.
    Then they’d tell him to get back to bed.
    Oh, God, he wanted to stay. He just wanted to be here. Seth pressed his face against the screen, yearning with all his heart to belong.
    When he heard Ethan’s long, laughing oath, the loud splash that followed it, and the roars of male satisfaction that came next, he grinned.
    And he stayed there, grinning even as a tear escaped and trickled unnoticed down his cheek.

Five

    A NNA GOT IN to work early. Odds were her supervisor would already be at her desk. You could always count on Marilou Johnston to be at her desk or within hailing distance.
    Marilou was a woman Anna both admired and respected. When she needed advice, there was no one whose opinion she valued more.
    When she poked her head around the open office door, Anna smiled a little. As expected, Marilou was there, buried behind the files and paperwork on her cluttered desk. She was a small woman, barely topping five feet. She wore her hair close-cropped for convenience as much as style. Her face was smooth, like polished ebony, and the expression on it could remain composed even during the worst crises.
    A calm center was how Anna often thought of Marilou. Though how she could be calm when her life was filled with a demanding career, two teenage boys, and a house that Anna had seen for herself was constantly crowded with people was beyond her.
    Anna often thought she wanted to be Marilou Johnston when she grew up.
    “Got a minute?”
    “Sure do.” Marilou’s voice was quick and lively, ripe with that Southern Shore accent that caught words between a drawl and a twang. She waved Anna to a chair with one hand and fiddled with the round gold ball in her left ear. “The Quinn-DeLauter case?”
    “Right the first time. There were a couple of faxes waiting for me yesterday from the Quinns’ lawyer. A Baltimore firm.”
    “What did our Baltimore lawyer have to say?”
    “The gist of it is they’re pursuing guardianship. He’ll be pushing through a petition to the court. They’re very serious about keeping Seth DeLauter in their home and under their care.”
    “And?”
    “It’s an unusual situation, Marilou. Up ’til now I’ve only spoken with one of the brothers. The one who lived in Europe until recently.”
    “Cameron? Impressions?”
    “He certainly makes one.” And because Marilou was also a friend, Anna allowed herself a grin and a roll of her eyes. “A treat to look at. I came across him when he was repairing the back porch steps. I can’t say he looked like a happy man, but he was certainly a determined one. There’s a lot of anger there, and a lot of grief. What impressed me the most—”
    “Other than his looks?”
    “Other than his looks,” Anna agreed with a chuckle, “was the fact that he never questioned keeping Seth. It was simply fact. He called Seth his brother. He meant it. I’m not sure he knows exactly how he feels about it, but he meant it.”
    She went on, while Marilou listened without comment, detailing the conversation, Cam’s willingness to change his life, and his lifestyle, his concerns that Seth would bolt if he were taken out of the home.
    “And,” she continued, “after speaking with Seth, I tend to agree with him.”
    “You think the boy’s a runner?”
    “When I suggested foster care, he became angry, resentful. And afraid. If he feels threatened, he’ll run.” She thought of all the children who ended up on the mean streets of inner cities, homeless, desperate. She thought of what they did to survive. And she thought of how many didn’t survive at all.
    It was her job to keep this one child, this one boy, safe.
    “He wants to stay there, Marilou. Maybe he needs to. His feelings about his mother are very strong, and very negative. I suspect abuse, but he’s not ready to discuss it. At least not with me.”
    “Is there any word on the mother’s whereabouts?”
    “No. We have no idea where she is, or what