Inner Harbor Read Free Page B

evening at the theater or a concert, and if the chemistry was right, a quiet Sunday brunch in bed.
    He’d get back to that, Phillip promised himself. Once all the details were in place, he would have his life back again. But, as his father would have said, for the next little while . . .
    He turned into the drive. The rain had stopped, leaving a light sheen of wet on the leaves and grass. Twilight was creeping in. He could see the light in the living room window glowing in a soft and steady welcome. Some of the summer flowers that Anna had babied along were hanging on, and early fall blooms shimmered in the shadows. He could hear the puppy barking, though at nine months Foolish had grown too big and sleek to be considered a puppy anymore.
    It was Anna’s night to cook, he remembered. Thank God. It meant a real meal would be served at the Quinns’. He rolled his shoulders, thought about pouring himself a glass of wine, then watched Foolish dash around the side of the house in pursuit of a mangy yellow tennis ball.
    The sight of Phillip getting out of his car obviously distracted the dog from the game. He skidded to a halt and set up a din of wild, terrified barking.
    â€œIdiot.” But he grinned as he pulled his briefcase out of the Jeep.
    At the familiar voice, the barking turned into mad joy. Foolish bounded up with a delighted look in his eyes and wet, muddy paws. “No jumping!” Phillip yelled, using his briefcase like a shield. “I mean it. Sit!”
    Foolish quivered, but dropped his rump on the ground and lifted a paw. His tongue lolled, his eyes gleamed. “That’s a good dog.” Gingerly Phillip shook the filthy paw and scratched the dog’s silky ears.
    â€œHey.” Seth wandered into the front yard. His jeans were grubby from wrestling with the dog, his baseball cap was askew so that straw-straight blond hair spiked out of it. The smile, Phillip noted, came much more quickly and easily than it had a few months before. But there was a gap in it.
    â€œHey.” Phillip butted a finger on the bill of the cap. “Lose something?”
    â€œHuh?”
    Phillip tapped a finger against his own straight, white teeth.
    â€œOh, yeah.” With a typical Quinn shrug, Seth grinned, pushing his tongue into the gap. His face was fuller than it had been six months before, and his eyes less wary. “It was loose. Had to give it a yank a couple of days ago. Bled like a son of a bitch.”
    Phillip didn’t bother to sigh over Seth’s language. Some things, he determined, weren’t going to be his problem. “So, did the Tooth Fairy bring you anything?”
    â€œGet real.”
    â€œHey, if you didn’t squeeze a buck out of Cam, you’re no brother of mine.”
    â€œI got two bucks out of it. One from Cam and one from Ethan.”
    Laughing, Phillip swung an arm over Seth’s shoulders and headed toward the house. “Well, you’re not getting one out of me, pal. I’m on to you. How was the first full week of school?”
    â€œBoring.” Though it hadn’t been, Seth admitted silently. It had been exciting. All the new junk Anna had taken him shopping for. Sharp pencils, blank notebooks, pens full of ink. He’d refused the X-Files lunch box she’d wanted to get him. Only a dork carried a lunch box in middle school. But it had been really cool and tough to sneer at.
    He had cool clothes and bitching sneakers. And best of all, for the first time in his life, he was in the same place, the same school, with the same people he’d left behind in June.
    â€œHomework?” Phillip asked, raising his eyebrows as he opened the front door.
    Seth rolled his eyes. “Man, don’t you ever think about anything else?”
    â€œKid, I live for homework. Especially when it’s yours.” Foolish burst through the door ahead of Phillip, nearly knocking him down with enthusiasm. “You’ve still