Page 46 of Snowed In With the Maverick
Seth felt her finding his hand again under the table.
“So what, you’re Jack Horner now or something?” said Thaddeus. “Explain to me where’s the money in that.”
Seth bristled.Not everything has to be in service of making a fortune,he wanted to say, but he was determined to keep the peace over what had so far been a nice family meal. “Well, if we can find any more bones, and really get Tenacity on the map nationwide, I’m investigating the feasibility of building a park. A destination for families to come. Fun and educational. We’re meeting with potential investors right now.”
He didn’t even need to look at Thaddeus to know the expression on the man’s face. Skeptical. Dismissive. Patronizing.
“That sounds awesome, actually,” Allison said. “Remember all those figurines you used to have in your room?” She turned to look at Andrea. “I stole the pterodactyl once, just to see if he’d notice. He was banging on the door to my room only an hour later.”
Seth took a sip of his drink and shook his head.
“Not sure why you’d waste your time and money on such a thing,” said Thaddeus. “No one wants to go to Tenacity. There’s no infrastructure to support tourism. The place is barely a speck on the map.” He looked at Andrea. “No offense.”
Seth was just about to stand up and ask his father to speak with him outside, but before he could open his mouth, Daniel spoke up. “Not sure Mike here would agree with you,” he said.
“I think it’s an ‘if you build it, they will come’ type of situation,” said Mike. “Plenty of people in town are excited by the idea. I think it’s a good one.”
“Agreed,” said Imogen. “It’s been a while since I’ve seen you excited about something like this, honey,” she said to Seth. “Or maybe it’s something else.” She raised an eyebrow and smiled at Andrea.
Seth felt his shoulders relax a bit at the quick support of his family members. His dad was his dad. He wasn’t going to change. But Seth would prove him wrong.
“You in on this too, Daniel?” Thaddeus said. “Or are you too busy these days, batting your eyelashes and playing house?”
“Dad,” Daniel said, a hint of warning in his voice.
Thaddeus picked up his glass. “Can’t say I saw this one coming, but at least you’re in a committed relationship,” he said. “I was worried you were both going to be eternal bachelors.” He looked at Seth pointedly. “Now I only have you to worry about. Or do I? You’re in your forties, for Pete’s sake. What are you waiting for?”
Despite the antagonistic nature of Thaddeus’s words, suddenly Seth felt a warm clarity he’d never experienced before. He wanted to be the one announcing an engagement at the next family dinner, the way Daniel and Mike would be. “I’d marry Andrea right now if she’d have me,” he heard himself saying.
But when he turned to look at Andrea, instead of the same glimmer in her eyes he’d seen only minutes before, she looked, well, a subtle shade of green that told him what a huge error he’d made speaking so openly.
“Excuse me,” she said, pushing her chair back from the table, and all but beelining it from the dining room.
* * *
Andrea waved away Lina’s offer to get her jacket as she escaped through the front door into the courtyard, the frosty air a blessed foil to the suffocating lump in her throat. Her pulse raced as she struggled to take deep breaths.
Everything had been going so well up until the moment those words escaped Seth’s lips. She still felt the eyes of the entire Taylor family on her like a weight. Why couldn’t she have just smiled and laughed it off, or made a playful comment? She’d caused a scene for no reason other than her own inability to manage her emotional reaction to what was, on paper, something that was actually a good thing. The fact that Seth Taylor felt strongly enough for her that he was comfortable proclaiming it in front of his whole family? She should be celebrating. But all she could feel was the familiar suffocation of being under someone else’s control that she’d only recently started to move on from.
Her shoulders jerked involuntarily as she let out a sob. She covered her mouth with her hands, then squeezed her eyes shut to try to stop the tears from flowing.
“Andrea,” she heard behind her. She almost couldn’t look. She opened her eyes to find Seth, her jacket in hand, his expression a mixture of hurt and concern.
“I’m sorry,” she sputtered. “I’m so embarrassed.”
“Hey, hey,” Seth said. He draped her coat over her shoulders, then stood back for a second. “You don’t have to apologize. That was stupid of me to blurt that out.”
Andrea shook her head. “It’s…” But she didn’t know what else to say.
“I shouldn’t have said it. We’ve never once talked about our future like that. The conversation shouldn’t have started in front of a live audience.”
Andrea stayed quiet.
“I guess I just…” Seth paused. “Is it really that objectionable of an idea?” His voice was laced with hurt.
She was still struggling to breathe steadily and reached for the right thing to say. A frosty breeze made her pull her coat tighter around her shoulders. Why hadn’t she driven herself here? Would a Bronco cab drive her as far as Tenacity? An Uber, maybe?
“Does this have something to do with Harold Davies?” Seth said.
