Although Graham didn’t seem to pay her any mind, he changed the subject. “So you’re going to be teaching at New Horizons?”

“I am.”

“How’d that come about?”

“My mother has some students she feels could benefit from the extra attention.”

“Then, you’ll be in town for a while.”

“Just one term, through February.”

“That’s asking a lot from someone who’s as famous as you are, isn’t it? Your time is valuable.”

“I’m happy to help. As you know, she’s done a lot for me.”

“A lot more than your real mother, eh? From what Shiloh told me, she was a piece of work. Who gives their children away? Do you ever hear from her?”

Now Seth understood why he’d been avoiding Graham and Lois. They knew too much about him, couldn’t help treading on sensitive ground. “No.”

“What about your brothers, the ones she took back?”

“No.” Seth could’ve elaborated, could’ve told Graham that Derrick and Brady had both tried to reach out to him in recent years. But Seth hadn’t been responsive. He couldn’t bring himself to associate with them. They had so many shared memories he wasn’t part of. Just talking to them took him back to a time when he’d felt completely unloved and rejected.

Even if he could get beyond that, he was afraid they might also try to bring Sandy back into his life.

“That’s too bad. I bet now they regret how they treated you, eh?”

Why now? Because he had more to offer these days? Seth couldn’t help cringing at the comment, because he knew what Graham was thinking: that they’d screwed up, not because he was a person worth knowing and loving but because they could not tap into his wealth. Graham looked at him and saw dollar signs.

“I think they’re happy enough with their own lives,” he said to get his father-in-law off the subject.

That seemed to work, but then Graham looked over at Shiloh’s senior picture, which was sitting on the side table, and his eyes filled with tears. “I sure miss her,” he said.

Seth didn’t want to feel what he was feeling. He didn’t want to be where he was. And he definitely didn’t want to think about Shiloh on a day when he couldn’t seem to forget Tia and that heated kiss in the pool. No matter how hard he tried, that kept coming to mind, even here.

Unable to stop himself, he shot to his feet. “I’m so sorry, but suddenly, I’m not feeling well. If you’ll excuse me, I think I’d better head home.”

Lois stepped out of the kitchen, a large mixing spoon in one hand. “You’re leaving?” she said in apparent shock.