Everything shifted in the blink of an eye as the older man slowly shook his head from side to side and sadness stamped his face. On a heavy sigh, Sarge said, “I don’t have no friends. Not me, not one.”
Seth spoke quickly, “Hey, come on, you have me and Ben and Jake and Libby and Julia and most of the town. You have a truckload of friends.”
When his eyes turned to Seth again, the sadness had deepened, and it hurt Seth when Sarge said in a dejected whisper, “But I don’t have Maggie, I don’t. She’s gone, son, she’s gone.”
Seth felt his chest tighten, but before he could do anything, Quinn said, “Sarge, I’m new around here, and I don’t know many people. I really don’t have any friends, either. Do you think you could be my friend?”
There was total silence, then Sarge seemed to sit up a bit straighter and frowned at her. “I don’t know your name, do I?”
“I’m Quinn. I’m from California.”
Slowly Sarge’s face cleared and a flicker of a smile seemed to play around the corners of his mouth. “California?”
“Yes. Near Los Angeles. I’m sadly lacking in friends out here.”
Seth saw the smile on Sarge’s face grow. “Okay, Quinn from California, if it would help you out, I’d be honored to be your friend.”
“I’d be honored to be your friend, too,” she said.
He suddenly grinned at her. “Deal! Do you know if there’s any chocolate chip cookies around here?”
Seth couldn’t believe how easily Quinn had cut through the sadness and found Sarge’s smile. “I found a whole bunch of them in the pantry in a pink box. How many would you like?” she asked.
“Bring the box, and I’ll see about that,” he said with a chuckle.
Julia stood and Sarge looked up at her as she asked, “How about you give me a chance to redeem myself at cards? Quinn can bring the cookies in for you?”
“As long as she remembers,” he said as he pushed back from the table. Seth helped him to his feet, then Julia handed him his cane. Seth helped him across the room, then Sarge spoke over his shoulder. “Don’t forget those cookies, Quinn.”
“They’ll be there in five minutes,” she called back. Seth went along with Sarge and Julia, helped set up the cards and matchsticks for the game, then headed out. When he stepped into the entry, Quinn was coming toward him with the pink box. “Oh, good,” he said as he crossed to her by the cowhide bench and took the package from her. “Thank you for what you did for Sarge in there. He slips sometimes. He knows Maggie’s gone, but I’m not sure he understands why. It just makes him so sad.”
She shrugged slightly as she folded her arms over her chest. “I’m glad it helped. Besides, I got a new friend out of the deal,” she said with a shadow of a smile.
“I’ll take these in for Sarge and clean up in the kitchen. Go ahead and turn in for the night.”
She sighed. “That sounds very nice, thank you. What time is good for breakfast in the morning?”
“Oh, don’t worry about that. I’ll be gone most of the day, and Julia can take care of Sarge’s breakfast. Sleep in if you want to.”
She looked down, and her smile looked slightly forced. “Okay, then I’ll see you when I see you.”
* * *
QUINN LAY IN BED, tired, yet wide-awake and wishing she could sleep. Music that was muffled by the walls had been playing for a while, and she couldn’t quite make out the songs. She was bothered that Seth would be gone again tomorrow. She’d have no chance to talk to him, to get to know him better and figure out if he could do justice to Michael’s work. Another day was lost to her. She realized the chances of Seth being the one listening to music were pretty good. It was worth a trip out to the great room to check and maybe pick up some snacks, too. If she was lucky, maybe she and Seth could talk a bit.
She got out of bed, wishing she had a robe with her, but the red sleep shirt she was wearing fell to above her knee. It would have to do. Crossing to the door, she eased it open, and at the same time the music stopped. Quickly she stepped out onto the cold stone floor of the hallway, hoping she could still catch Seth if he was there. As she approached the arch and glanced into the room, she saw there were no lights on, and only embers glowed in the fireplace. The space felt empty.
Disappointed, she stepped down into the room to go to the pantry and find something to snack on. When she got there, she took four small bags of caramel popcorn and an unopened bag of marshmallows. Going back out into the shadows of the kitchen, she filled a glass with cold milk, then started back toward her room.
She’d almost made it to the archway when a lamp by the couch flashed on, startling her, and the bags in her hand fell to the floor at her feet. Thankfully, she held a grip on the glass of milk as her eyes adjusted to the sudden brilliance. Seth was standing by the couch, then he came toward her. Before she could retrieve the small bags, he was crouching to gather them up and standing to face her.
“I… I was just… I couldn’t sleep, and I…” she stammered, totally caught off guard that she hadn’t noticed him earlier. She took the bags from Seth and held them to her chest.
“I thought you’d be sound asleep by now,” he said.
It took her a moment to get past her initial shock to realize she had what she’d hoped for. Seth was there. It was just the two of them. “Well, that was the plan. I heard the music earlier.”
“I was playing some old songs that Sarge likes, and he wants them played on his equipment out here. Sorry if it was too loud.”
“No, it was fine.” When he glanced at the things she was holding,” she said, “I needed a snack. Julia said I could help myself.”
“Lots of sugar.”
“It sure is. That’s why it’s called junk food, and why it tastes so good.” Then she jumped in with both feet. “Do you want to share it?”
He took a moment before he said, “Thanks, but no thanks.”
She wouldn’t settle for him walking out right then, even if she was a bit embarrassed that he’d turned down her offer. “Darn. You do know it’s illegal to eat junk food alone at midnight, don’t you? Especially marshmallows and caramel corn. Can I tempt you to stay just awhile so I don’t break the law?”
He was almost smiling, and she felt close to success, but he still hesitated. “I’m not much for eating sweets at any time of the day or night.”
She had a feeling she might not get many chances to be with Seth alone, and she kept pushing, hoping he wouldn’t get fed up and leave just to get away from her. “There’s lots of cold milk in the fridge,” she said as she passed him to go to the ottoman. She put the milk and bags down on the stretched leather, then she hurried back to the kitchen. “Just stay there and don’t move,” she said, then quickly poured another glass of milk. With it in hand, she went back to Seth still standing where she’d left him.
She handed the drink to him, and he took it. “I appreciate it, but I should get up to bed.”
“Okay,” she said. “I really didn’t want to break the law. It goes against my nature, but I know it’s late.”
Unexpectedly, Seth stepped toward her. “That junk food law sounds serious, so maybe I could stick around for a few minutes.”
CHAPTER FIVE
QUINN DIDN’T HESITATE to sit on the couch at the end closest to the lamp. She exhaled with relief when Seth sat down by her. “About that law, well, most people don’t know it exists.”
“I wonder why,” he asked with a good-natured chuckle.
She shifted, tucking one foot under herself, then tugged at the hem of her sleep shirt in a vain attempt to get it over her knees. “Could you please open the marshmallows for me? I’ll destroy the bag.”
He put his glass of milk on the ottoman, then reached for the snack and managed to open it. He held it out to Quinn, and she slipped her hand inside and took a handful of marshmallows. “Thank you,” she s
aid. “Cold milk, salty caramel corn and marshmallows. Does life get any better than this?”
“Well, that’s open for debate,” he said.
“Then try it,” she urged, and as she dropped the fluffy white puffs of sugar into her lap, she reached for a bag of caramel corn and tore the top off. After popping a few pieces in her mouth, she chased them with a whole marshmallow and watched Seth’s reaction. She loved it that his smile was growing. She’d like a talk with him to be easy and not forced.
“That’s a lot of sugar, isn’t it?” he asked as she reached for her milk.
After chewing, she took a drink, then finally answered. “I told you. This is perfect junk food. Try the popcorn. It’s delicious.”
He actually reached for a bag and tore it open. “Here’s to junk,” he said as he took out a couple of kernels and put them in his mouth.
“Drink some milk with it,” Quinn said. “That’s a great combination, the salty and the sweet and the milk.”
He reached for his glass, took a long drink, then sighed. “Okay, I admit the milk is great, but I’m not touching one of those marshmallows.”
“Words no other human being has ever said,” she murmured.
He shook his head ruefully. “You either haven’t been listening or haven’t been around the right people.”
She ate some more caramel corn followed by another marshmallow. “So, so good,” she said after another drink of milk.
“I don’t know how you’ll sleep after that stuff.”
She leaned forward to put her almost-empty milk glass down on the ottoman, then she rested her hands on her bare knees. There was a single marshmallow in her lap. “I’m already getting a bit sleepy.”
He looked genuinely surprised. “You’re kidding?”
“No. When I can’t sleep, I binge on sugar, and I get tired. That’s why I came out here to raid your pantry.” She studied him for a moment. “I’m sorry I kept you up. I just…” She shrugged. “Thanks for the company.”
“You’re welcome,” he murmured and twisted the popcorn bag shut before he tossed it over to her. It landed in her lap with the lone marshmallow. “That’s all yours.” Seth stood, obviously ready to leave without her finding out anything about him, except that he seemed good-natured and he didn’t like marshmallows. Nothing that would help her at all later on.
She looked up at him. “Before you go, is there a television I can use?”
“No. Sarge always said it’s better to speak with real people instead of watching actors talking to each other with words someone else wrote for them.”
She tried to keep him talking. “Okay, well, if it was warmer and there weren’t any wild animals lurking in the shadows, I’d go outside and just enjoy the stars and the moon. The sky looks beautiful from my bedroom window.”
“I can’t promise warmth, but I promise you it will be worth your while in another week or so to go out to moon watch.”
She cocked her head to one side. “I thought there wasn’t any eclipse coming soon.”
“There isn’t. But there’s going to be a full moon, a super moon actually. It’s usually called a harvest moon in October. But Sarge and Maggie called it their Wishing Moon. Maggie always made a wish on it for the boys in the house. She’d never say what she wished for, but she insisted the wishes would come true.”
“That’s so romantic,” Quinn said on a sigh. “I like the idea of a Wishing Moon.”
His smile was almost wistful when he said, “Maggie would come back with Sarge, walk in the house and announce she’d made the wishes for her boys. She seemed totally sure that those wishes would become reality.”
She was wishing he’d sit back down, but she was afraid if she asked him to, he’d take that as a cue to leave. “I wonder if they did?” she asked, fascinated by the idea of wishing on the moon.
“We’ll never know, because she never shared what she wished for. But watching the heavens from here is special. We’re not only directly in the perfect path of eclipses, but we have the bonus of clear views of rising super moons and the stars and constellations. They’re all spectacular in their own way.”
“You’re really into astronomy, aren’t you?”
“No, but I have a terrific app that’s flawless at tracking the heavens around here. It gives information about the moon stages and folklore about the moon and stars.”
Quinn stopped breathing for a moment. He had an app? She knew his company didn’t do that. They were dedicated to perfecting cybersecurity. She sat forward, shifting to put her feet on the floor, and tipped her head back to look up at him. She had to keep calm and not push. “Julia said something about you being a genius in computer technology. But I thought she said you work in security stuff.”
He nodded. “We develop cybersecurity on the international corporate level.”
She sat straighter. “Then that app isn’t one of yours?”
“Legally it is, but we didn’t set out to develop it. It came to us from a third party who offered it to us with a couple of glitches they couldn’t iron out. Once we ran it, we agreed to take it on. We made it operable and covered the joint marketing.”
Quinn wanted to jump up and down and cheer at what he’d just told her, but she made herself sit very still. “You must have been impressed by it.”
“We were. It was a real risk that happened to pay off. Something like that hardly ever works.”
She was so close. “But it could happen again,” she managed to say nonchalantly, then realized she was kneading the last marshmallow in her hand as if it were a stress ball.
He shrugged. “Sure. I never say never about anything.”
The impact of his simple statement hit Quinn and she thought she might cry. Maybe she’d done the right thing after all, picked the right company and the right man and maybe this was all going to work out. The idea of an actual victory was so stunning, validating all that she’d done so far. She felt as if it was within reach.
She looked down at the distorted marshmallow in her grip. “Messy,” she said softly, then picked up her glass. She drank the last of the milk, dropped the ruined marshmallow into the glass and slowly stood, trying to kill an urge to hug Seth for what he’d just told her. But she quietly went around him as he stood back to give her room to go to the kitchen.
When she got to the double sinks, Seth was there, putting his glass down by hers on the counter.
While Quinn rinsed both glasses and put them in the dishwasher, she was trying to make her heartbeat slow to a more normal rhythm. She had to think and be very careful. She had to plan her next step, a time when they could talk more and she could try to bring up his company and what they did or didn’t do. “I think I’m ready to sleep now,” she said as she turned to Seth. “Thanks again.”
“Glad I stayed,” he said through the kitchen shadows and headed back across the room.
Quinn went with him, and they parted in the foyer. He took the stairs up to the second story, and she headed to the guest room.
Once inside, she brushed her teeth, then climbed into bed. She was still wound up, thoughts flying through her mind about where to go from here on out. As she reached to turn off the sidelight on the nightstand, a soft knock sounded on her door. “Come in,” she said as she pushed herself back against the pillows piled at the headboard.
The door opened, and she was surprised when Seth stepped inside. “Sorry, but I thought you might need these.” He was holding the bag of marshmallows and the remaining bags of caramel corn and crossed to hand them to her.
“Thank you,” she said as he dropped them in her lap. When she glanced up at Seth, he was looking at the picture of her and Michael she had propped against the lamp base.
He surprised her when he said, “Santa Monica Pier.”
“How do you know that?”
“The Ferris wheel in the distance.
That’s iconic. I was there a couple of years ago, and the sun had a golden glow. It’s the only place I’ve noticed that.” He exhaled as he looked back at her, hesitated, then said, “I’ll let you get to sleep while the sugar’s working. Good night,” he said and left.
“Good night,” she said as the door closed after him.
After she heard the door to his office open and close, silence blanketed the house. But she’d lost the edge that would’ve helped her get to sleep. She hesitated at eating more marshmallows, then gave up and reached for the bag when another knock sounded. She called, “Come in,” and was surprised to see Julia this time.
“Just checking to make sure everything’s okay,” the nurse said as she came over to the bed.
“Yes, fine.” When Julia looked at the bag of marshmallows in her lap, Quinn explained about her encounter with Seth and held the bag out to Julia. “Do you want one?”
“Oh, no thanks.”
“Can I ask you something?”
“Sure,” Julia said, coming closer.
“Is Seth really as nice as he seems to be?”
The other woman smiled and nodded. “He’s a good guy, loves Sarge and would do anything for him. Jake and Ben would do anything for Sarge, too.” There was a muffled thud. Quinn looked around, but Julia said, “It’s okay. It’s Seth. He’s in his exercise room off the office. Sometimes he’s in there in the middle of the night and those weights clang.”
Quinn had a flash of Seth by the car, shirtless. She’d thought he looked strong, which didn’t seem to jibe with a sedentary profession like computer coding. Now she knew how he got those muscles.
Julia was talking to her and she caught the last of her question. “…you and your husband?”
She was looking at the picture by the lamp, the way Seth had. “Yes, me and Michael.”
“Quinn, Seth told me about Michael, and I’m so sorry. I can’t pretend to know what you’ve gone through, but if you ever need to talk or anything, I’m here.”
Harlequin Heartwarming March 21 Box Set Page 74