My Everything - Seth & Amber (8 page)

The officer seemed to ignore the irritation
in Amber’s tone, continuing, “How about personally? An ex who feels
like they have a score to settle, maybe?”

Seth chose this exact moment to reappear.
Great. Just what she needed.

“No. No ex,” she replied quickly and
decisively.

She wanted this line of questioning over as
fast as possible.

“How about professionally? Any rival shops
that would be upset at your success?”

Seriously? He was really just grabbing at
straws now.

“No,” Amber answered curtly.

“Okay, well, here's my card in case you think
of anything that could help.”

Lovely. She would just add that to the five
other cards she'd been given.

“We're going to clear out of here now. You’ll
want to get that door fixed sooner rather than later. And I would
recommend that you get some kind of a working security system in
here,” the officer said in a somewhat condescending tone.

Yeah, ya think? Amber wasn’t an idiot. She
knew what needed to be done.

“Got it. Thanks.” Amber smiled tightly at
him.

She knew that Officer Williams was just doing
his job. It wasn’t his fault her store looked like this. It wasn’t
his fault her head felt like this. He was just trying to help.

As he moved away, letting everyone know to
clear out, Amber looked up at Haley, “Would you mind calling the
locksmith before you go?”

“Go? I’m not going anywhere. I know you.
There's no way you’re going to leave with the shop looking like
this. And if you know me, you know that there's no way you're
cleaning it up alone.”

Amber warmed a little bit inside from the
fierce protectiveness she heard in Haley's voice, even as she
replied, “Really, Hales. You don't have to. It's not your
responsibility.”

Haley snorted, “Responsibility my ass! We
just love you!”

“We?”

“Oh, yeah,” Haley replied brightly, “Didn't I
mention that part? Sophie and Katie were just waiting for me to
give them the green light when the cops were gone. They're coming
to help too,” Haley said.

“Jason is sending someone over to fix the
door and the light in the back.” Seth’s deep voice resonated
throughout her body, causing her to shiver.

Damn. That voice. The voice that had haunted
her for years.

“You called Jason?” Amber asked looking up at
him.

“Yes,” he confirmed, his steel blue eyes
laser focused on her.

Amber wanted to argue with him, with
everyone. She wanted to say that she could handle all the clean-up
and repairs herself. But who was she kidding? Physically, she felt
exhausted. Emotionally, she felt exhausted. Mentally, she felt
exhausted. Normally in tough situations, she drew on her reserves
of strength, but there was not an ounce of strength left in her
reserves right now.

Amber’s fiercely independent spirit didn’t
make it easy for her to accept help from anyone, but on this
occasion her logic overruled her spirit. She knew that sometimes
she needed people, and luckily, she had made some really great
friends who were willing to help out.

“Thanks, guys,” she said as she started to
stand and begin cleaning up. As soon as she did, though, her head
started pounding.

“Whoa,” Alex said his arm coming around her
as he guided her back to her chair. “Why don’t you let us handle
the manual labor and you supervise from the chair.”

“No, I’m fine, really,” she tried to argue.
Accepting their help did not mean sitting idly by.

“Actually, you’re white as a sheet and you
need to sit down,” Alex pointed out.

“Amber,” she heard Seth’s deep voice and
automatically her eyes shot up to meet his eyes.

His expression did not leave any room for
misinterpretation. The strength she saw in his crystal blue eyes
took her breath away. The sheer power in his gaze was overwhelming
and…hot. It shot straight down to her core, causing a tingle low in
her belly.

She had always known how to pick her battles
and she quickly determined that this one just wasn't worth the
fight.

“Fine,” she agreed as she felt a flush creep
up her cheeks from the intensity of his stare.

Seth nodded and then turned and began picking
up her clothing racks and setting them upright.

Alex bent down and whispered, “Glad to see
those baby blues put some color back in your cheeks.”

She sighed and narrowed her eyes at Alex.

He just smiled happily as he moved to the
front of the store and took his radio from his belt. He told
whoever was on the other end of it that he was still at Bella. Alex
had stayed even when the other firemen and paramedics had cleared
her and taken off. He was a really good friend.

Sophie and Katie arrived and she watched her
friends working quickly and efficiently to put her store back
together. She felt tears starting to form in her eyes as her chest
tightened. She was so grateful to have such amazing people in her
life.

Her body was also very aware that Seth was
there, not ever more than a few feet away from her. Seeing
him
here, in her shop, was odd, and yet it somehow felt
completely right and natural at the same time. Maybe it was because
she had daydreamed and fantasized about him for so long in so many
varied scenarios that it didn’t matter where he was or what he was
doing, it was familiar to her mind’s eye.

She tried not to stare. Not to watch his
muscles bunch beneath his black t-shirt as he worked alongside his
family. Not to drool at his perfect backside as he continually bent
over. She didn’t think she was doing a very good job at disguising
her gawking, though, judging by the looks that Sophie, Katie and
Haley were shooting her way.

She really couldn’t help it. She was just as
drawn to him now as she had been the first night they met. Maybe
even more so.

Her body wasn’t the only thing she was having
a hard time keeping in check. Her heart had skipped a beat when
Seth had told Cam he was staying. Sure, part of her (the logical
part) maintained that he was only doing what he was doing to help
out Haley. That he had stayed and called Jason to ensure his
cousin’s
safety.

But that rational part of her brain was being
drowned out by the other portion that was screaming “Did you see
how he looked at you when he said ‘I’m staying.’? Did you feel the
electrified currents racing between you two?”

There was so much static electricity in the
air she was surprised her hair wasn’t standing straight up. He must
have felt it too. You didn’t generate that kind of chemistry if it
was only one-sided. Right?

“Okay, Jason’s just about done with the front
lock,” Katie happily relayed, “and I think we are just about done
with the clean-up. Is there anything else you need done?”

Amber blinked as she looked around and could
not believe what she saw. It was like nothing nefarious had ever
happened here. Everything was back in its rightful place and she
hadn’t even directed anyone what to do.

Probably picking up on the shocked expression
Amber was sure she was wearing, Katie added, “Sophie and Haley knew
where everything went.”

Of course. Amber forgot sometimes just how
well other people knew her store. It seemed so personal to her, but
in reality, between the two of them Haley and Sophie had probably
spent roughly as much time there as she had.

“Thanks, you guys,” Amber’s voice was a
little shaky, “so much.”

“Do you have anyone to stay with you?” Seth
asked, his deep voice vibrating in the air.

Amber’s eyes darted up. Did he want to stay
with her? Was he offering to? Wait. Did he feel some sort of
obligation?

“I’m fine. They said I don’t have a
concussion,” she explained. Her palms grew moist and her heart
began racing in her chest at the thought of Seth Sloan staying the
night with her.

“You’re not going to be alone tonight.” His
jaw twitched as he made the statement.

It was a little irritating that he would say
something like that and not follow it up with ‘So, hey, I can crash
on your couch if you want.’ Even as that thought crossed her mind,
she realized immediately that it was so
not
his style.

But it was still annoying.

“I’ll be fine, Seth.” She spoke the words
through clenched teeth.

She saw a flash of heat cross his eyes. She
wasn’t 100% sure but she thought his response might have been
caused by her saying his name. That thought made her happy.
Really
happy.

She looked at Seth. He, on the other hand,
did not seem so happy.

Alex jumped in, “Look, she lives in the
adjoining duplex to Jamie and Joey. I was already planning on
spending the night there tonight. I’ll be right next door.”

“I’m fine. I don’t need a babysitter.” Even
as the words left Amber’s mouth she could hear how childish they
sounded.

Seth stared at her. She couldn’t tell what he
was thinking or feeling. She had never met anyone who seemed as
singularly unaffected by long silences as Seth Sloan was. Long
pauses had always felt awkward to her, she had always wanted to
fill them and make things more comfortable. But around Seth, she
mainly just wanted to remain quiet so she could wait and see what
he would say next.

“Fine,” Seth said sharply.

Then he turned to his brother and
communicated something with his stare. Alex nodded and Seth was out
the door.

No goodbye. No see ya around. No catch you
later. Just gone.

Amber’s heart sank. Why would he not even say
goodbye?

Then she realized that her departures around
him had (historically) been just as abrupt, if not more so. She
hadn’t realized what it felt like to be on the receiving end of
this scenario. It didn’t feel good. Not at all.

Seth walked down the brightly lit hospital hall with purpose. It
was official. He was an uncle. Even though he had known for months
now that he would be, the fact that his niece was here affected him
in ways he hadn’t been expecting.

When Riley had called a couple of hours ago
and let him know that 6 lb, 21-inch Mya Rachelle Sloan was here and
healthy, Seth had wanted to leave work, drop everything and go see
her. His brother had told him that they needed to clean Mya up and
run some standard tests so it would be a couple hours still before
she was ready for guests.

As he turned the corner to the waiting area,
he saw his brothers Alex, Bobby, and Jason standing with their
significant others Jamie, Sophie, and Katie. His dad Bob was also
there, smiling from ear to ear.

They all said their hellos and Seth took a
seat next to his dad. “Hey, Pop, you seen your granddaughter
yet?”

Seth saw his father’s eyes fill with moisture
as he nodded, his voice tinged with awe, “She’s so beautiful.”

“She really is,” Katie confirmed happily.

Jamie, his brother Alex’s new fiancé, added,
“Yep. She’s perfect.”

Alex pulled his bride-to-be onto his lap,
whispered something in her ear that made her blush, and kissed her.
Seth looked around and felt a warm glow of satisfaction spread
through his chest. All of his brothers seemed happier than he ever
imagined they would be, what with all they had experienced together
in their childhood. They didn’t seem damaged or traumatized. They
were all in healthy, happy relationships.

It made him wonder if he was the only one
with lingering effects from what they had gone through with their
mom; both when she was alive, and then the abandonment of
ultimately losing her. Was he the only one incapable of that kind
of happiness? Logically, he supposed it would make sense – after
all, he was the oldest.

Seth remembered his mom before she had gotten
really sick. He had taken it personally when she had left when he
was ten. Then, when she had overdosed four years later, he had been
devastated.

His dad had been a wreck. Seth's dad had
loved his mom fiercely, completely. Seeing his brothers with their
wives and fiancé reminded Seth of how his dad had been with his
mom. She was his everything. His whole world had revolved around
her.

Seth knew he could never love someone like
that. He had seen what the aftereffects were when things went
wrong. He had seen it almost destroy his indestructible father.

Right after Jason, his middle brother, was
born his mom had gotten ‘sick.’ She wouldn’t get out of bed for
days at a time. She cried a lot. At the time he had blamed his dad
for not taking good enough care of her. For not making her better.
Making her happy. At four, he really didn’t understand what was
going on.

He remembered that his Aunt Sandy (who hadn’t
had his cousins Haley, Becca, Krista or Jessie yet) would come over
and take care of him, two-year-old Riley, and baby Jason. Aunt
Sandy would try to keep them quiet so his mom could rest.

It had taken a year for his mom to get better
that time. He remembered that she was just getting back to herself
when Seth had started kindergarten at age five. But then she had
gotten pregnant with Alex and the cycle had started all over again.
This time it was even worse than the first. Alex was only a year
old, and their mother not yet fully recovered, when she had gotten
pregnant with Bobby. That was the beginning of the end. Once she
had had Bobby, her ‘good’ days were few and far between.

His mom left when Bobby was two, Alex was
four, Jason was six, Riley was eight and Seth was ten. In her
absence, their dad had done his best to raise his five sons. Seth
shook his head. He and Riley sure hadn’t made it easy on him. Jason
was always a good kid, mature for his age and didn’t get into too
much trouble. He helped out a lot with Alex and Bobby when Riley
and Seth were running the streets, up to no good.

During the four years his mom was gone, in
and out of treatment centers and hospitals, but before her
overdose, Seth had always held out hope that she would come home.
That she would be how she had been before Jason was born. He was
just a kid and didn’t fully understand how bad her disease truly
was, or the ramifications of the fact that she didn’t like to take
her medication.