Seth (Casella Cousins #2) - Kathryn Shay Page 0,1
from head to toe. “You have to be kidding me! I finally got out from under my love for you. Do you honestly think I’d ever take you back?”
Stung, he leaned against the wall, insolently. “You have before.”
The slap came hard on his face. “Go to hell, Seth.” And she stormed out.
He rubbed his cheek. Everybody in his family thought he was the nice one, the giving and forgiving one. But they were wrong. At least where Julianne Ford was concerned.
With her, he’d been a real bastard.
* * *
Julianne strode into the house she’d lived in all her life. Two years ago, she’d bought it from her mother when Celia went to Florida to move in with her sister.
Jules didn’t slam the door, though. She didn’t stomp her feet. But above all, she didn’t cry. Years ago, she’d promised herself she would never cry over Seth Casella again. Three months ago, she’d even made up a steady boyfriend, Jordan, so Seth would leave her alone. The ruse made her feel foolish but she had to protect herself.
She was dating, though. She picked up her cell phone from the counter, checked her texts and punched in a number.
He answered. “Hey, there, Julianne. You said you couldn’t get together tonight.”
“Yeah, my plans got aborted.” She’d hoped to spend time with Carmella, without Seth hovering around them.
“Then are you free to meet?”
“Yes. How about The Hidden Cove Inn for cocktails at six?”
“Great. See you then. I’ll be the one with the big smile.”
She disconnected and looked out at the back lawn, not as big as the Casella’s but beautifully landscaped with bushes and trees. She and her mother had planted flowers which bloomed all summer, and now, at the very end of August, the geraniums and impatiens were even bigger and fuller than before. And on the deck, she’d put multi-colored ones in pots. The view soothed her.
But with the calm came sadness. As if in a trance, she climbed up the stairs, crossed into the closet and pulled out an album. She put the brown leather book on her bed and stood before it. The insert on the front read, Happily Ever After.
As if.
The first page depicted her and Seth as babies, with both their moms. Then preschool, entering the building holding hands.
The next was a play, where she was Cinderella and he was the Prince. He was always the good guy. She leafed through the elementary grades and junior high, and finally the prom pictures for eleventh grade.
She’d been so happy that night. They’d talked about sleeping together afterward so she’d put on her best underwear, used some of her mother’s perfume and smoothed down the as-sexy-a-dress as her parents would allow. She and Seth had danced the night away, totally in love. Or so she thought. At the end of the prom, he’d gone to get the car, and when he didn’t show up by the time he should have, she went to look for him.
And found him kissing the daylights out of Sandy Baker, who’d attended with a group of girls…
Suddenly, Julianne came out of the Seth-spell and said, “What the hell am I doing?”
Damn, damn, damn. It was what she did when memories of them got to her. When he got to her. She rolled to her feet, spread the album on the bed, and proceeded to viciously rip out the pages. Then she tore each of them into pieces.
She wouldn’t wallow like this again. After disposing of the mess, she crossed to her closet and picked out a dress to wear tonight. Thinking about someone else was just what she needed.
* * *
Seth waited for his supervisor from work to arrive. He hated having to put her out, but his doctor forbade him to drive for another week and she offered to come here to talk to him in person.
He was going stir crazy.
The doorbell rang at four. He crossed to the foyer and let Ellen Danner in. They weren’t close friends but he liked her. About forty-five, married with two kids, she was tall and attractive. “Hey, Seth. You look better than I expected you to.”
“Thanks. Following doctor’s orders.”
“As if you’d ever do any harm to yourself or others.”
Having been hurt by Julianne’s remarks, he basked in Ellen’s view of him. They took seats on the sofa in the adjacent living room and made small talk for a few minutes. Then, Ellen gestured to the bag she placed in front of her. “So, we’ve got a