Sybill’s fork clattered onto her plate. As casually as she could, she lifted it again. “That must have been very difficult for him, for all of you.”

“Difficult isn’t quite the word for it. She claimed to have been a student here years back and said that at that time he had demanded sex for grades, intimidated her, had an affair with her.”

No, she couldn’t swallow, Sybill realized, gripping her fork until her fingers ached. “She had an affair with your father?”

“No, she said she did. My mother would still have been alive,” he said half to himself. “In any case, there was no record of her ever attending the university. My father taught on that campus for more than twenty-five years, without a whisper of improper behavior. She took a shot at destroying his reputation. And it left a smear.”

Of course there’d be no truth to it, Sybill thought wearily. It was Gloria’s usual pattern. Accuse, damage, run. But she herself still had a part to play. “Why? Why would she do that?”

“Money.”

“I don’t understand.”

“My father gave her money, a great deal of it. For Seth. She’s Seth’s mother.”

“You’re saying that she . . . she traded her son for money?” Not even Gloria could do something so appalling, she told herself. Surely, not even Gloria. “That’s difficult to believe.”

“Not all mothers are maternal.” He jerked a shoulder. “He had a check for several thousand made out to Gloria DeLauter—that’s her name—and he went away for a few days, then came back with Seth.”

Saying nothing, she picked up her water glass, cooled her throat. He came and got Seth, Gloria had sobbed to her. They’ve got Seth. You have to help me.

“A few months later,” Phillip continued, “he drew almost all his savings out into a cashier’s check. He was on his way back from Baltimore when he had an accident. He didn’t make it.”

“I’m so sorry.” She murmured the words, recognizing their inadequacy.

“He hung on until Cam got in from Europe. He asked the three of us to keep Seth, to look out for him. We’re doing everything we can to keep that promise. I can’t say it wasn’t rough for a while,” he added, smiling a little now. “But it’s never been dull. Moving back here, starting the boat business, not such a bad deal. Cam got a wife out of it,” he added with a grin. “Anna is Seth’s caseworker.”

“Really? They couldn’t have known each other very long.”

“I guess when it hits, it hits. Time doesn’t factor in.”

She’d always believed it did, vitally. To be successful, marriage took planning and dedication and a strong, solid knowledge of one’s partner, an assurance of compatibility, an assessment of personal goals.

Then again, that portion of the Quinn dynamics wasn’t her concern.

“That’s quite a story.” How much was true? she wondered, sick at heart. How much was slanted? Was she supposed to believe that her sister had sold her own son?