Cold River - Carla Neggers [82]
“Watch it,” Beth said good-naturedly, “Hannah can turn your bedroom into a sewing room while you’re gone. What if all that winter warmth and sunshine gets to you?”
They just grinned at her. After she and Dominique left, Devin turned serious. “Toby and I have to ask you something before we leave,” he said.
Hannah sank onto the couch. “All right. What’s on your mind?”
Devin remained on his feet, rubbing the back of his neck. Toby rubbed his thumb on a scratch on a bike helmet in his lap. Whatever they needed to talk to her about, it was making them uncomfortable.
Finally Devin plopped down on a chair opposite her. “Hannah, were you and Bowie O’Rourke ever—are you now—you know…” “He squirmed. “Romantically involved?”
Of all the things that had run through her head, that was one of the least intrusive and upsetting. They could, for instance, Hannah thought, have asked her about Sean Cameron. She shook her head. “No. No romance. Never in the past and not now. I haven’t seen that much of Bowie in recent years, but he’s more like an older brother to me than anything else.”
“The Camerons don’t trust him,” Toby blurted, looking up from his helmet.
“The Camerons are hard on everyone,” she said, then added diplomatically, “but they’re hardest on themselves.”
Devin was watching her. It would be a mistake, she knew, to think his slumped posture meant he was disinterested—or satisfied with her answers. Her brother noticed everything. “A.J., Elijah and Sean were all three at O’Rourke’s when Bowie—”
“Yes,” Hannah said, “they were.”
Devin’s pale blue eyes stayed on her. “We’ve heard stories about what happened.”
Meaning stories about what Derek Cutshaw and his friends had said. She’d never discussed the specifics of that night with Devin and Toby and had no intention of doing so now. “People love to tell stories,” she said, rising. “I’ll get dinner on the table while you two finish up in here.”
Both Toby and Devin got to their feet. “Hannah,” Toby said, “Devin and I have talked, and we’ll postpone California if—”
“No. No cold feet. I’ll get out there to see you. I have some money saved. I’ll take a break from studying.” She smiled at them. “Even if Judge Robinson is watching me like a hawk and won’t want me to.”
“I’m glad he doesn’t live far from here,” Devin said.
“Don’t worry about me. After yesterday, I’ll be on Cameron radar for a while.” She suddenly noticed everything in the room that belonged to her brothers and would remind her of them when they were gone. “If you hate California, I’ll get you back here.”
As she headed for the kitchen and unloaded shepherd’s pie, chili, salads and cupcakes, she knew they wouldn’t hate it. Sean had never come back to Black Falls to live once he got out west. Why should her brothers?
Devin and Toby were up at six and on the sidewalk in front of the house before seven. It wasn’t yet light out. They’d set all their stuff in the hall before they’d gone to bed. Devin just had the duffel bag he’d borrowed from Elijah. Toby had all his biking paraphernalia—helmets, gloves, goggles, repair kits—as well as his racing bike, a full-suspension model he’d saved for.
“It’s a good thing Sean’s taking you with him,” Hannah said, grinning at the pile of equipment. “It would have cost a fortune to ship all this out to California with you.”
“I probably would have sold some of it and just bought new out there.” Toby shivered in the frosty air. “I am definitely not going to miss zero-degree weather.”
Their excitement was palpable as Sean and Elijah pulled up to the curb promptly at seven, as promised. They were in the lodge van, Elijah behind the wheel to drive them to the airport where Sean’s plane awaited them. Hannah helped her brothers load up their stuff and didn’t embarrass them by