He had to concede that point. He couldn’t even imagine how terrible it would be to lose his career. He’d had only two great loves in his life: art and Shiloh. Or maybe three. He loved his adopted family, too. But he couldn’t survive losing his ability to create. “I don’t know,” he admitted.

She put down her wine and began to shove her pasta around her plate. “I appreciate your honesty.”

He topped off his glass and offered her a refill, but she refused. “So...you’re from Iowa?”

“I am. What about you? Did you grow up here?”

“I was born in Denver.”

“What brought you to Silver Springs?”

He ripped off a piece of bread, which he dipped in olive oil and balsamic vinegar. “New Horizons.”

“That’s a school, right?”

“It’s a reform school.”

Sitting back, she folded her arms. “What’d you do to get shipped off to a reform school?”

He didn’t care to remember those years, so he quickly summarized. “Anything and everything I could to cause trouble.”

“Then, it was nice of your mother to move here, too.” Her eyebrows came together. “Or...wait. I think Maxi told me your mother founded the school.”

“My birth mother put me up for adoption when I was six. Aiyana Turner, the woman who runs New Horizons, adopted me when I was a freshman.”

“So where were you between the ages of six and however old you were as a freshman?”

“I was being bounced around the system—when I wasn’t in juvie.”

She seemed a great deal less defensive than she’d been so far when she said, “You seem to have recovered nicely.”

“I owe that to Aiyana.” Maybe his experience growing up was why he was so concerned about Tia. He’d been that person who needed someone—definitely wouldn’t be where he was without the care and concern of the woman who’d taken him in and given him the love and structure he’d needed to build a better life.

“She must be quite a woman.”

“She is.”

The security system announced activity at the front door, startling them both. He wasn’t expecting anyone...

He got up to go see what was going on, but his oldest brother strolled into the kitchen before he could get more than two steps from the table. “Eli, what—”

“Well, hello,” Eli said to Tia, his eyes widening in surprise as soon as he saw her and realized that he’d interrupted dinner.

Seth felt Tia cringe. He was surprised she didn’t try to duck under the table the way she’d tried to hide in his room last night. The last thing she wanted was to let other people know she was in town, which was why he didn’t introduce her.