“You must be very good at your job,” Sybill said after a moment.

“I’m damn good at it. Go talk to him. If I manage to get out of this chair in this lifetime, I’ll put some fresh coffee on.”

It wasn’t easy. But then Sybill supposed it wasn’t meant to be. Crossing that lawn toward the boy who sat in the pretty little boat, so obviously dreaming of fast sails.

Foolish saw her first and, alerted, raced toward her, barking. She braced herself and put a hand out, hoping to ward him off. Foolish skimmed his head under it, turning the defensive gesture into a stroke.

His fur was so soft and warm, his eyes so adoring, his face so fittingly silly that she relaxed into a smile. “You really are foolish, aren’t you?”

He sat, batting at her with his paw until she took it and shook. Satisfied, he raced back toward the boat, where Seth watched and waited.

“Hi.” He stayed where he was, pulling on the line and making the small triangle of sail sway.

“Hello. Have you taken it out yet?”

“Nah. Anna wouldn’t let me and any of the guys go out in her today.” He jerked a shoulder. “Like we’d drown or something.”

“But you had a good time at your party.”

“It was cool. Anna’s a little pissed—” He stopped and looked toward the house. She really hated it when he swore. “She’s pretty steamed about Jake barfing in her car, so I figured I’d hang out here until she levels.”

“That’s probably very sensible.”

Then silence fell, heavy, as they both looked out over the water and wondered what to say.

Sybill braced herself. “Seth, I didn’t say good-bye to you last night. I shouldn’t have left the way I did.”

“It’s okay.” He shrugged again.

“I didn’t think you remembered me. Or any of the time you stayed with me in New York.”

“I thought I’d made it up.” It was too hard to sit in the boat and look so far up. He climbed out, then sat on the dock to dangle his legs. “Sometimes I’d dream about some of it. Like the stuffed dog and stuff.”

“Yours,” she murmured.

“Yeah, that’s pretty lame. She didn’t talk about you or anything, so I thought I’d just made it up.”

“Sometimes . . .” She took the risk and sat beside him. “Sometimes it was almost like that for me, too. I still have the dog.”

“You kept it?”

“It was all I had left of you. You mattered to me. I know it may not seem like that now, but you did. I didn’t want you to.”

“Because I was hers?”

“Partly.” She had to be honest, had to give him that, at least. “She was never kind, Seth. Something was twisted in her. It seemed that she could never be happy unless the people closest to her weren’t. I didn’t want her back in my life. I’d planned to give her a day or two, then arrange to have the two of you moved to a shelter. That way I would fulfill my family obligation and protect my own lifestyle.”