Fated Encounter

Lesia Reid – Fated Encounter
Fated Encounter
By Lesia Reid
(2nd Draft © 07/16/2004)

Dedicated to my husband Tom,

My Friends Chris (Jon E) from the UK, Samantha - UK,
Mudh - Singapore, Lourens - South Africa
Thanks to my adopted nieces Laurie Alexis and Louselie Alexis

who helped me to get into the mind of a child
if I wasn’t there already!
“When’s retired over?”

- Louselie Alexis (6 years old)
Lesia Reid – Fated Encounter 5
1.
Two minutes late for work and Travis Benton was going to
chew her out. Deana cringed as she saw the hefty diner owner making
his way towards her. She could almost see steam coming from his ears.
Two minutes, and he was going to rag her out for the better part of an
hour. She dropped her bag in the long desk of the office and started for
the door. Better to head him off. If he cornered her in the office, his
top would surely blow.
"You're late!" Travis Benton said.
"I'm sorry," Deana said. "I had no one to look after Joey."
"I hope you didn't bring him here," Travis said. "I do not run a
baby sitting service."
"It's only for a few hours. He will sit in a corner and sip a
shake," Deana said.
"He better not be sitting there if I have customers waiting,"
Travis said.
"I'll make sure he doesn't." Deana said hurrying towards the
cash register.
That was her job at the diner, manning the cash register and
making dessert cakes and pies. After spilling coffee several times and
breaking a dozen or more plates, Travis had confined her to the cash
register.
He shouldn't be mad at her anyway; it was her day-off. She
would not be late and have to rush Joey here if Ivy had not called out
sick. He should be grateful instead he was going to rag her out over
two goddamn minutes that were hers anyway. She was missing night
school for this. Joey would have sat quietly beside her in the class
tonight. He normally stayed with her friends Thelma and Carlton
Wayne, but they had a family emergency.
Deana pinned her name tag to her blouse as she moved
towards the register. She glanced briefly in Joey’s direction; his head
was down in his books. Good, she thought.
Sebastian Torrance stopped at the diner every other

Wednesday evening to get cheesecake for his mother. The dig was not
a favorite joint of his. Years ago when he was in college he and his
friends used to hang out at the diner. As youth gave way to
responsibility, they too had drifted away.
Save for Bridget discovering the new pastry counter here, he
would have been home preparing for his friends Jaime and Mack. His
mom loved cheesecake and he obliged her when she asked him to pick
one up on his way home. She would spend ten hours in the gym for the
next two weeks working off the guilt. As long as she was doing that,
she wouldn't complain that he forgot to call or that he forgot to book
her flights for vacation or visit his father's grave or whatever else
parents found to complain about. He would never understand it. And
Alexis Torrance certainly did not stir him into wanting to be a parent
any time soon. And even that she complained about.
'You're almost forty, when are you going to get a serious girl
and start making some grandchildren.' He could hear her voice now as
he stood two places back in line. When Alexis was in his head, there
was nothing else he could think about. Perhaps he should go on that
date Jaime arranged. It couldn’t hurt.
The problem was, Sebastian didn’t feel thirty five, and he
hated dating. Inevitably his dates get around to ‘so you are Sebastian
Torrance’, and he hated that. He longed for anonymity. Dating was
futile. He would look at the woman and know immediately the night
would end in one of two ways, a quick rumble in the sack or a promise
to call that inevitably never happened.
But Sebastian always took care. A brief interlude was never at
his place. It was either her place or the penthouse of one of Torrance
Towers or some other luxury condominium Torrance Construction
owned. He always kept a penthouse, a tradition he inherited from his
father, as a respite from life or as room for out of town guests.
Now, he steels himself for Alexis’ question tonight. And when
that is done, he will meet with his best friends Jaime and Mack and
indulge in pizza, poker, play video games or watch basketball and
forget about mummy-dearest. Maybe, he mused. Sebastian knew he’d
have to be drunk or dead to forget one of his mother’s lectures.
"How may I help you?" The soft voice like water gently
rolling down a mountain slope pulled him from his thoughts. She was
an angel. He had never seen this woman here before. She smiled at
him and repeated the question.
"Oh-ah,” he paused forgetting why he was in line.
“Sir?” She asked.
She was beautiful. She didn’t wear makeup, not even a hint of
lipstick. Her shiny black hair hung loosely around a perfect face. She
had a fairly evident widow’s peak that gave her face a heart shaped
look, beautiful olive skin and dark eyes that held mystery. Her lips
were slightly full, and curved at the ends as if she was smiling.
Kissable lips, he thought. Her neck was long and he thought about
what it would be like to nibble at the skin there. He felt a stirring in
his belly looking at her and thinking about kissing her neck. Oh the
fantasies I will have tonight, he thought. He smiled without thinking

about it.
“How may I help you?” She asked again.
He felt foolish and looked around. “Ah, raspberry
cheesecake," he said.
"That’s my favorite. Will that be just a slice or the whole
pie?"
“The whole pie, please.” He knew his mother’s book club was
meeting this evening.
She pulled a box from the refrigerator, placed it in a bag and
then on the counter. "Is that all sir?"
"Ah, yes. I'm Sebastian." He handed her his credit card.
“I’m Deana. I will need to see some ID."
"Are you new here?" He asked.
"No, Wednesday afternoons are not my usual shift. Please
sign here.”
He pulled his driver's license from his wallet. She checked
signatures and the face. Handsome devil, she thought as she swiped his
card, and what a sexy mouth. She handed him the receipt and the credit
card.
Deana seldom checked out any of the customers. Most of
them had their wives, girlfriend, boyfriend or some significant other.
Those who did not fall in that category either acted or thought they
were better than her. The last category also thought she should feel
privilege when they would occasionally ask her for a date.
Now, she briefly checked out Sebastian Torrance. He was at
least six feet tall, had still but violent blue eyes that seem to be smiling
at some vicious joke. His black hair was thick and fashionable curled
at the nape of his neck. There was the slightest hint of gray just around
the temple. This added sex appeal to his already handsome look.
Deana managed to fit all these details into a ten second scan before
handing back his driver’s license. But that mouth, she thought and
smiled.
"Have a good evening." She handed him the bag and he
stepped out of line. He didn’t leave immediately. He stood slightly
mystified looking at the woman.
Deana continued to the next customer, not realizing Sebastian
had not left the restaurant. She finished the cash-paying customer and
had a few seconds to breathe before seeing Sebastian staring at her, his
receipt still in hand.
"Deana!" It was Travis. "Did you give Mr. Torrance the
wrong price?"
Lord God, she swore under her breath. This was not the day to
screw up. She knew Travis stuck her with this call-in because she’d
taken two unscheduled evenings off last weekend. She needed this job
and no matter how good her cheesecakes were, she was sure Travis
would give her the boot in a second.
"Is there a problem?" Deana turned to the customer, but
Travis was already barreling his way to the front of the diner.
"Sorry Mr. Torrance," Travis was apologizing. "Let me take
care of that for you."
"Everything is okay." Sebastian said feeling foolish.
"Are you sure?" Travis asked.
"Yes." The voice was more impatient than he intended, even
though Travis didn’t seem to notice.
Travis breathed a sigh of relief and gave Deana the evil eye.
She ignored him and waved to Joey who was sitting in the corner doing
his homework. Sebastian followed her gaze. The boy was the image of
the woman. He waved with a big smile on his face and a pencil in his
hand. Sebastian turned and instinctively looked at her hands. No ring,
he felt a weight lift from his shoulders before he realized he was
dreading her being married.
Sebastian walked out the restaurant, looking back only once.
He could see that his temporary lapse of control had gotten the young
woman in trouble.
"We should go to Coronus diner," Sebastian told Jaime and

Mack.
"No pizza tonight?" Jaime asked.
"We could get a sandwich there," Sebastian suggested. "Come
on."
Reluctantly Jaime and Mack got into Sebastian's car and they
drove to the Coronus Diner.
Deana was playing hostess when Sebastian and two other
handsome gentlemen walked in. This was a slow evening and she
could manage both the seating and the register at the same time. She
showed the men to a corner booth big enough for six. They were
seated just behind Joey.
"Your server will be with you in a minute," she said.
"Can you be our server?" Sebastian asked.
"I'm afraid -."
"Mr. Torrance." It was Genie Thompson. This was not her
area, but she ran to the table. Deana turned to see Travis beckoning for
her.
"Genie will take that table," Travis said. "Let Becky know."
"Okay."
Becky pouted at the news. Deana knew the only reason
servers pouted at a missed customer was either they were celebrities or
great tippers. Deana couldn’t care less. She had seated them close to
Joey so if she needed to she could always use them as an excuse for
being over at the table. Besides the Torrance trio, there were only two
other tables with patrons and no one waiting for the register. Deana
took the time to sit across from Joey and review his homework.
"Are you done yet?" Joey asked.
"Just another hour," Deana said. "Do you want to go sit in
Travis big chair? It might be more comfortable."
"No, that's boring. Can I have another chocolate shake?"
"May I," Deana corrected. "And yes you may. But if you start
to get sleepy, let me know. I’m sorry about this Joey."
"It is almost nine," Joey pouted. "I could have stayed home
and watch TV or played video games."
"And the police would put me in jail," Deana said. "Let me
get that shake."
“I’m a big boy,” Joey complained. “I know what to do if the
house is on fire and I know not to let anyone inside.”
“I’m, sure you do,” Deana replied. “But for now, you are my
baby and I can’t leave you home alone.”
“I am not a baby mom.”
“Even you’re a hundred years old you’re my baby. One
chocolate shake coming up, okay?”
Joey pouted but nodded as Deana got up from the table.
Sebastian couldn't help overhearing the conversation. He was
interested in everything Deana.
"I know why you are here," Jaime said as soon as Genie took
their order.
"Yeah?" Sebastian said.
"The hostess," Jaime said. "It's funny how a beautiful woman
gets you out of the house."
"You got me," Sebastian said. "Her name is Deana."
"Are you talking about my Mom?" Joey asked hearing his
mother's name.
The three men turned to look at him. He was a cute kid. He
looked even more like his mother up close. His hair was a tad long and
lay in an unruly heap on his head. He had the same dark eyes, the
defiant chin and jet-black hair. Where her lips were slightly full, his
were. He’s going to be a heart breaker someday, Sebastian thought.
"Is she your Mom?" Sebastian asked pointing to Deana who
was seating a couple in the smoking section of the restaurant.
"Yes. She's making my chocolate shake."

"Where's daddy?" Sebastian asked.
"You mean il figlio di puttana? I don't know."
The men raised their brows simultaneously. Italian, Sebastian
wondered if the boy knew what it meant. It was spoken with an
impressive Italian accent.
"What does that mean?" Sebastian asked innocently.
"You don't know?" Joey asked wide-eyed, but the tone carried
a hint of ‘you must be stupid’.
"No."
"It means the bastard, but I cannot say that. Mom will get
mad and say merda which is even worse." Deana came with a small
glass of chocolate shake. She was surprised to see Joey talking to the
men. He knew better than to fraternize with the customers, worse, they
were strangers
"I'm sorry if he's disturbing you," she said. "Joey, I told you
not to talk to the customers."
"But he was -."
"No buts," she said firmly. "Finish your homework so I can
look at it tonight." To Sebastian and company she apologized again.
"Sorry for getting you in trouble," Sebastian said to a sulking
Joey. "Want to sit with us?"
"No, I'm not to sit with strangers. Anyway I have all this
multiplication to finish. Why are you talking about my Mom anyway?"
"Sebastian here," Mack pointed to Sebastian, "Likes her."
Joey stared at Sebastian as if appraising the man. He thumbed
his nose, but said nothing.
“Come on over here,” Sebastian said.
“Are you crazy? I would be grounded. I don’t even know
your names.”
“Sebastian Torrance,” Sebastian said. “These are my friends
Jaime and Mack.”
“I’m Joey Lang. Now I have to do my homework.”
“We can help you with that,” Sebastian said.
“You don’t look too bright to me,” Joey said.
The men started laughing. Deana saw them. Joey was turned
to their table and them to his.
“I don’t know if you are bad men,” Joey said.
“If we were bad men,” Mack said. “We would be in jail.”
“Not true,” Joey said.
“We can’t hurt you,” Sebastian said. “Your Mom is right over
there.”
Genie returned with their drinks and frowned as the men were
turned towards Joey. What was the kid up to? Travis would kill Deana
if he ever saw this.
"Joey," Genie said after setting the drinks on the table. "You
know you're supposed to be doing your homework."
"I'm almost finished," he said lifting the book so she could see.
“They started it.”
“Guilty,” Jaime said to Genie. “Tell him we are not bad men.”
“Did he say that?” Genie asked. “Joey, these men are very
decent men. They are not bad men.”
“Okay,” Joey said.
Genie smiled at the men apologetically. She moved quickly to
the cash register to warn Deana.
"Deana Joey is -.”
"Oh Lord," Deana swore as she saw Joey joining the men at
their table, book and pencil in hand. She started for the table, but one
of the customers was ready to leave. She rang up the bill as quickly as
possible, forgetting her customary smile and thank you, all the while
eying Joey.
Three minutes later she was running over to the table before
Travis could see what was happening.
"Joey! I'm so sorry gentlemen. This is not like him, he's just
-."
"It's nothing," Sebastian said. "If you want to know, he really
didn't want to come, but it was better than turning to talk with him. It's
no problem."
"Yes, but he's not -.”
"Suppose to talk to strangers," Mack concluded. "I am Mack
Vernon, this is Jaime Davis and you've met Sebastian Torrance. You
have nothing to worry about."
"Your names don't make much of a difference to me," Deana
said lightly. "I don't know who you are which means you are
strangers." The three men exchanged shocking looks. They were used
to being recognized almost everywhere they went in Boca Raton,
especially Sebastian. And if not the faces, certainly the Torrance name
was famous enough.
"I'm sorry about this," Deana said again. "Joey, say goodnight
to the nice gentlemen and let's go."
"You'll be at the front," Sebastian said. "We won't run away
with him. And if you don't know who were are Travis does. And we
promise not to hurt him, scout’s honor – and we were really scouts.”
The fierce blue eyes were smiling now.
A ring at the cash register meant a customer was waiting.
What a hell of a day, Deana thought excusing herself. She was leaving
her eight-year-old son with a bunch of strangers, she was running

around the diner like a mad lunatic and Travis was coming into the
dining area.
Travis gave her a mean hard stare and shuffled his way over to
Sebastian’s table when he saw Joey with them. Deana knew he was
measuring the words in his head, and was thinking whether to fire her
or not, short shift or no short shift. But Sebastian and team seemed to
calm Travis’ nerve and though Travis scowled at her when he got back
from the table, he didn’t utter a word.
To her surprise, Sebastian and company were still in the
driveway when she got out of the diner at the end of the night.
"I didn't get your full name," Sebastian said.
"Deana Lang," she said. "Thank you again for not letting him
be a bother. He's usually very good at following the no strangers rule."
"Do you have number I could call you some time?"
"I'm happy you entertained my son, but -."
"Okay," Sebastian said getting the message. "Here is my card.
If you ever have some free time, give me a call. We could do lunch,
maybe dinner one evening when you’re not busy.”
"Sure." She took his card knowing she would never call him.
She hurried Joey to the old model Mitsubishi she drove. She was too
tired and knew he was too tired for a scolding, so she just strapped him
in and they left the diner's parking lot. Sebastian sat in his car with
Mack and Jaime waiting until she left.
"I can't believe she's never heard of you," Jaime said.
"Intriguing," Sebastian said. "I would like to know Ms Lang
some more."
“Never thought I would see you chase a woman,” Jaime said.
“She’s not just any woman,” he replied. “She’s the woman.
Remember how you looked at Bridget and said I’m marrying that girl
after graduation? It’s almost the same thing. When she spoke and I
looked at her I knew she was the one.”
“You’re beginning to scare me,” Mack said. “You’re talking
settle down talk - and not only settle down, settling down with a kid.
Are you sure Mrs. T didn’t inject you with something when you
dropped off her cheesecake.”
“Mother wasn’t home when I got there.”
“Then you have a fever,” Mack said.
“You make it sound as if I vowed never to get married.”
“Pretty much,” Jaime said. “I remember you saying you just
wanted to be the rich uncle that spoils the nieces and nephews. And
how many woman have you turned down over the years?”
“They were not right. This woman is right. I’m telling you. I
feel it.”
“I wish you luck,” Mack said seriously. “Somehow I didn’t
get the feeling that she’s interested in you. But the kid’s a nice boy.”
2.
Sebastian managed to wriggle Deana's schedule out of Travis.

He was a local boy and this was his backyard. Getting a schedule from
Travis was nothing. For two nights he waited out her schedule. Joey
was never with her again, and he couldn't work the nerve up to
approach her. He felt like a stalker as he watched her pick up the boy
from a neighbor, and then struggled with him on her shoulder to her
car, then to her little house seven lots down.
Deana could not be doing badly as a server, he thought. She
lived in a small single family house in a good part of town. He knew
the house when it was a shack that needed a lot of TLC. It was in an
ideal location, but it was back breaking work to get it up to market.
She must have gotten a pretty decent crew to help with the restorations
because the house looked good.
He called Jaime the following day to check who owned the
house. The more he knew about Deana Lang, the easier it would be to
approach her. Jaime had real estate links; he was a landscaper.
"”It was bought by Deana Lang.” Jaime confirmed. “Jeez
Sebastian, are you stalking her?"
"No, I'm watching her. I want to know more about her before
I see her again."
"That is stalking," Jaime said. "Just drive over to her house
with some flowers and say hey, let's go out."
"Easy for you to say," Sebastian said. "You are already
married. And if I showed up at her house she would know I've been
watching her."
"Then drop by the diner and knock her off her feet. Jeez
Sebastian, a woman has never had you stomped before."
"I'm not stomped.”
“Yeah, and I haven’t known you since you were four. Are you
afraid of the kid?”
“No, he’s adorable – so far.”
“Yeah, he’s a little spark,” Jaime conceded. “And he did say
you didn’t look too bright, now he’s my hero.”
“I can still kick you butt,” Sebastian joked.
“You need a date for the barbeque in a few weeks. Start
working on it.”
Deana was getting off her Saturday morning shift when

Sebastian drove up to the diner. She waited while he parked beside her
car.
"Hello Deana," he said.
"Hello. Fancy running into to you again," she said. He was
more handsome than she thought now he had her attention. She was
off duty and there was no fussing between Joey and Travis and making
sure the customers were happy. It was just the two of them in the
parking lot. She should have taken the time to find out whom
Sebastian Torrance was, but she was busy all week. Besides, she knew
she would never see him again and there was no possibility she would
have called him for lunch. The business card, she hadn’t looked at
either. It was stuffed in the glove box of her car.
“I thought we might go get a drink,” he said.
“I can’t. I have to pick up Joey in exactly twenty minutes.
See you.”
“He can come too,” Sebastian was out of the car.
She saw that he was well built below the polo shirt that
hugged his body. She hadn’t noticed these details before. It’s
surprising the things you notice when your mind is more relaxed, she
thought. Not that he made her relax – scrutinizing her with those vivid
blue eyes.
“I can’t.”
“Can’t or won’t?” Sebastian asked. “It’s just a drink and if I
start boring you, I can leave.”
“I have tons of housework. Plus Joey’s looking forward to his
evening of uninterrupted video games.”
“How about dinner? The three of us.”
“No,” she said looking at her watch. She couldn’t be late.
The Wayne’s were leaving in half hour, she had to get Joey.
“At a very public place if you still consider me a stranger,” he
said moving in front of her. He was between her and her car.
“You’re not earning brownie points by blocking my exit. I
have to get my son. Good bye Mr. Torrance.”
“Rain check,” he suggested.
“Rain check,” she agreed to get him out of her way.
She clucked to herself as he waved at her. He was leaning
against his shiny late model Porsche convertible in a sexy pose that had
her heart beating faster than it should. She didn’t wave back. The first
night she met him, he drove a Lexus RX 470. Perhaps it belonged to
one of his friends, but she doubted it. Showoff, she thought.
She made the Wayne’s’ in fifteen minutes. Thelma was
dressing Trevor when she arrived.
“Sorry I’m running behind the clock,” Deana kissed her best
friend’s cheek.
“We wouldn’t leave until you get here. I haven’t been to my

Aunt’s in such a long while, I was hoping for a good excuse not to
attend the funeral.”
“Uh-hmm,” Deana said. “You look like a perfect gentleman
Trevor.”
“I hate these shirts.”
He was plucking on his dress shirt. Joey was standing with a
big grin on his face. That only made Trevor’s smirk worse.
“Got to run,” Deana said. “Thanks for watching him again.
Tell Carl I say hello.”
If Deana didn’t know better, she would say Sebastian was
stalking her. She had just turned the pasta and sauce section of the
supermarket when he entered from the opposite side.
“Sebastian,” Joey said.
“Hey sport,” Sebastian walked over to them. “How are you?
How did the multiplication go?”
“Great, I got an A,” Joey said.
“That’s a sport.”
“What are you doing here?” Deanna demanded.
“Shopping,” Sebastian said.
Joey wandered a little up the aisle looking at the different
pasta shapes. Deana kept a close eye on him. She took away her eyes
for a second now to look at Sebastian.
“Empty-handed in a pasta aisle and no shopping cart,” she
noted.
“Okay, you got me. I followed you. I was hoping we could
do lunch after you finished shopping.”
“You’re stalking me?” Deana asked.
“No. I would like to know you. What if I just walk beside
you?” He asked.
“Okay, it seems I won’t be rid of you any quicker.”
“I’m not always like this, but you fascinate me.”
“Oh, so if I cease to fascinate you, you will go away.”
“I don’t think that is possible at this time. Maybe fascinate is
the wrong word. I don’t want to say you interest me, that sound cliché.
So if you prefer the more candid version, it’s – I like what I see and I
would like to know you better.”
“You like what you see?” She asked the question in a
mocking tone. “Before you waste both our time let me tell you what
you don’t see. I am a single mother with an eight year old son.”
“That’s a relief,” Sebastian said.
Deana gave him a puzzled look.
“Thanks for reassuring me that I’m not blind.”
“It’s not funny,” Deana said.

“I didn’t say it was. Do you do this to every guy who asks
you out?”
“Do what?”
“Intimidate.”
“I don’t think I’m intimidating. I’m letting you know that you
do not fascinate me or if you prefer the more candid version, I don’t
want whatever you’re offering.”
“Then it’s a good thing I’m not offering anything. I’m asking
for a chance to know you and your son.”
“If you’re asking then the answer is no.”
“Why?”
“Do I need a reason?”
“I would like to know what it is about me that you don’t like.”
“Do you do this to every woman that fascinate you?”
He chuckled knowing she’d turned the tables on him using his
own lines. Deana looked up at him for the first time since they started
their conversation. She kept her head and eyes focused on Joey.
Sebastian’s blue eyes were set on hers and she found sincerity in their
gaze. He had much the same sort of stare Joey had when he really
wanted something. It was a look that always touched her heart.
“If you’re not busy, you can join us for lunch,” Deana found
herself saying.
“Thank you.”
The three lunched at a small cheese steak house in the quaint

city of Margate. Deana suggested it only because Joey liked the cheese
steaks and the tiny array of video games it offered. To her surprise
Sebastian joined Joey at the video game machine. They played for the
eight or so minutes it took to get their orders ready.
“I beat him at racers,” Joey said. “His car spun out and burst
into flames.”
“That’s because you rammed me from behind,” Sebastian said.
“You’re a sore loser,” Joey said.
“I am not.”
“I am only eight years old and I beat you. No,” Joey
corrected. “Almost nine. Do you play Playstation?”
“Yes, and I’m good at it,” Sebastian said.
“You couldn’t beat me at Grand Theft Auto or Grand Turismo
if you tried. Not even my friend Trevor can beat me and he is already
nine.”
“Eat your sandwich,” Deana said.
“I am eating,” Joey replied. “It’s just warm so I have to make

it cool a little.”
“You’re not eating.” Sebastian noticed she hadn’t touched her
sandwich. She was writing figures in a small notepad.
“Fortunately I am not eight and need all my energy,” she
replied.
“Almost nine,” Joey said.
“Almost nine,” Deana agreed.
“Can I do five more minutes of raceway?” Joey asked. “My
sandwich will be cool by then.”
“No.”
“Pleeeasssee,” Joey said. “Just five minutes.”
“Three,” Deana said.
“Four,” Joey countered.”
“Three and that’s the only offer,” Dean said.
“Okay.” He ran to the raceway machine. They had this
discussion every time they visited the cheese steak factory.
“Maybe I should try Joey’s tactic,” Sebastian said. “Can we
go to dinner? Pleeeasseee,” he imitated.
“No, and there’s no bargaining there. So, what does Sebastian
Torrance do?” Deana asked.
“I’m a professional goof-off,” he said. He followed the
statement with a wide grin. He reeked of sex appeal. He had a nice
wide mouth that may have looked ridiculous on a less appealing face.
There was nothing ridiculous about Sebastian Torrance. His blue eyes
were fixed on her. There was so much depth in the multi-toned layers.
He had a strong chin punctuated by a shallow cleft adding just a touch
of boyishness to his features. He didn’t have dimples when he smiled,
just the small creases of one who was used to laughing and smiling a
lot. But, Deana thought as her eyes inevitably wandered to his mouth
again, that mouth just begs to be kissed.
She smiled at the thought in her head. She hardly had the time
to balance a budget, work, and raise a son and plan for a great future. A
relationship of any sort would be distracting. She hadn’t come this far
in the nine years on her own by allowing a nice face to derail her plans.
Still, she thought again, it might be nice to test the strength of those
lips. And she hadn’t dated since pitching tent in Florida over a year
ago.
Sebastian’s heart hammered against his chest when she
involuntarily licked her lips. It was an unconscious action and she
followed it by using one hand to soft knead the back of her neck. He
was salivating just thinking about kissing that neck, feeling the
quickening of the pulse, seeing her head fall back and giving him all
the access he needed.

“Seriously,” she said.
“I inherited a company called Torrance Construction. Have
you heard of it?” He asked.
“I can’t say I have, though I might have passed a billboard or
two. But then, I’m never in the market for a new house. I have never
seen you at the diner before. But judging from Travis’ reaction you
must show up when I’m off shift.”
“My friends and I use to hang there when we were younger.
We got older and well, Cronus became a different type of diner. I’ve
only started visiting again because Jaime’s wife bought a cheesecake
there for Thanksgiving last year and it was a huge hit.”
“Uh-hmm,” Deana said.
“So how do I get into the Deana Lang dating book?” Sebastian
asked. “I would love to take you and Joey to dinner some time.”
“I don’t have the time for dating,” Deana said.
“So there is no one in Deana’s life?”
“There’s Joey and heaven knows he’s enough. Hang on,” She
looked at her watch. “Got to get him or he’ll forget the time.”
“I’ll do it.” He was out of his seat before she could get up.
She watched as he went over to her son, whispered something and Joey
immediately left the machine. She arched her brows in surprise; it
would take a great deal of muscle and bargaining for her to get him
away from one of the arcade machine.
“Mom,” Joey said. “You should have told me Sebastian’s
taking us to dinner.”
Deana shot Sebastian a mean look. He smiled at her and gave
a quick teasing wink of the left eye.
“Not tonight,” Deana said because Joey had a gleeful spark in
his eyes.
“That’s fine,” Joey said and took a bite from his sandwich.
Joey didn’t notice the interchange. Sebastian winched and
Deana smiled. She had kicked him under the table as soon as he sat
down.
3.
Sebastian was in full courting mode. Though Deana never

returned his calls and chased him off the telephone when he called her
at work, none of that discouraged him. Deana received a fresh bouquet
of flowers every day from him. Travis frowned but never uttered a
word.
Deana liked receiving the flowers and the little notes he wrote.
Some of the servers batted their eyes in jealous while other enjoyed the
bouquets with her. No one had courted her like this before, not that she
recalled ever being courted. After Joey, it had taken every once of
mental strength to work up a date. In fact, for the first four years of her
sons like men were off limits.
On Monday when the first bouquet arrived, she was pleasantly
surprised and even blushed at his corny line ‘From your not so secret
admirer, Sebastian Torrance’.
On Tuesday when the second bouquet arrived it was Genie
who gasped in surprise. Huge multicolor roses were spilling all over
the side of the vase.
“You are so fortunate,” Genie said in their late afternoon lunch
break.
“I don’t know,” Deana said.
“Girl if Sebastian Torrance sent me a bouquet and wanted a
date I would think I died and went to heaven.”
“I don’t know anything about the man and I don’t think I’m
half interested.”
“This is all you need to know,” Genie said. “He’s from the
richest family in Florida and handsome like the devil.”
“You just told me why I need to ignore him.”
“I envy you.”
“Hmmm.”
When Sebastian showed up at the end of her shift that
afternoon, Deana knew the reason for Travis’ tight lip. He had given
her schedule to Sebastian. There was no other reason he knew exactly
when to deliver flowers and knew she would be working late this
afternoon.
He was waiting for her by her car.
“Did you like the flowers?” He asked.
“I think they were a bit much.”
“I’ll have to talk to the florist. Can we have a drink, early
dinner? We could pickup Joey and go.”
“I’m busy.”
“You can’t be busy all the time.”

“I didn’t inherit a fortune,” she said in a tart voice.
“How about breakfast then?”
“Busy.”
“Will you call me when you’re not so busy?”
“Yes,” Deana lied.
“You still owe me a rain check.”
“No, we had lunch Saturday.”
“That doesn’t count.”
“Yes it does. I think you should stop sending flowers. It’s a
very nice romantic gesture but I’m not in the market for romance.”
“I’ve seen you shop. You’ve bought things not on your
grocery list. Think of me like that, some thing you weren’t looking for,
but you somehow found.”
“I have to go.”
“Let’s do dinner some time, please.”
“You are persistent.”
“Only when I want something of someone,” Sebastian said.
“I’ll think about it. Now I have to go.”
Another bouquet came the next day. Deana expected to see
him Wednesday evening and she was disappointed when he didn’t
show up. On Thursday the bouquet came and Sebastian showed up at
the end of her shift - two in the afternoon.
“You can’t possibly blow me off at this hour.” He smiled a
broad smile as she walked to her car. Somehow he always managed to
find a spot next to her car.
“You are the most persistent man I’ve ever met.”
“I usually go after what I want.”
“For the record, I can blow you off regardless of the hour. I
have a lot of things to do. Besides, it’s too early for dinner, a bit late
for lunch and if you know where happy hour is at this time, you’re not
a happy person.”
“How about ice cream? It’s always a good time for that.”
“You’re not serious.”
“I am gamed if you are.”
“Okay Sebastian. There’s a Diary Queen about a half mile
from here. You can follow in your car. I have exactly fifty eight
minutes before Joey gets out of school.”
“I’ll take you in my car then we can come back for yours. Or,
I can hop in yours.”
Deana looked at her beat up Mitsubishi and his Lexus Rx470
sport utility vehicle.
“Separate cars are okay with me,” she said.
“It’s ten minutes extra for me to get to know more about you.”
“Okay, your car.”
He opened the door for her and she climbed into the luxurious
interior. He was at the front of the car when she snapped her seatbelt.
By the time the reality hit her that she was seated in his car going for
ice cream, he was getting in.
“Comfortable?” He asked when a frown creased her brow.
“Yes.”
“Good. Now there is a Baskin Robbins about five miles from
here. Since we have almost an hour, there’s plenty of time to get there
and back.”
“You’re pushing your luck,” she said as the vehicle eased out
of the parking lot.
He grinned. God, Deana thought was it possible that my
insides are doing the flip flop every time I look at that mouth.
“Am I wearing you down yet?”
“You’re trying,” Deana replied.
“Do all your dates get such a hard time?”
“What dates?”
“Deana, you are a beautiful woman. I can’t imagine men not
falling over you. I was just wondering if this was a Sebastian thing or
you’re always like this.”
“I don’t date often.”
“It’s that tough exterior, but I think beneath it all, you are a
softie that just wants to be hugged and kissed.”
“How sadly mistaken you are,” Deana said. “Oh, since you’re
headed this way, let’s just go to the ice cream counter at the Whole
Foods market.”
“I’ve never been there.”
“They have soy ice cream.”
“How do you like your milk, whole, one percent or two
percent?”
“We have only soy milk.”
“Are you lactose intolerant?”
“Are you a doctor?”
“I’m curious.”
“No, I’m not. Joey is. He’s always been so I changed my diet
to suit his.”
“Okay. So I know a few things about you. You like cheese
steak, soy products, you’re a single mom and you intimidate would-be
dates.”
Deana chuckled.
“You should stop sending flowers,” she said.
“You don’t like them?”

“I think Travis is worried I’m trying to be a florist. And I
can’t take home one more plant.”
“Isn’t there anything you want to ask me?”
“No.”
“You are not the least bit curious about me?”
“Right turn at the next traffic light,” Deanna said.
“Thank you side seat driver.”
“You said you’ve never been there.”
“Yes, but I didn’t say I didn’t know where it is.”
“Okay, I’ll shut up.”
“I didn’t say that.”
Deana didn’t reply and they said nothing else until he parked
and opened her door for her.
“Mad at me?” Sebastian asked.
“No. But you better know you are paying for ice cream.”
“Not a problem.”
He reached for her hand and was pleasantly surprised when
she didn’t pull away. Deana was aware of a few eyes on them when
they entered the store. They walked to the ice cream counter. It took
them a few minutes before deciding on banana splits.
“I’ve never had soy ice cream before,” Sebastian said taking a
spoon. “It tastes better than I expected.”
“It’s sort of an acquired taste. I remembered my soy milk
transition. I only had the chocolate soy in the beginning, but gradually
I got used to the taste then I got into the vanilla and now I have the
original. After eight years my taste buds are well adjusted.”
“One of these days I want to find out how well-adjusted your
taste buds are.”
“Talk about coming on strong,” Deana said.
“Would you prefer if I beat around the bush?”
“I suppose not. You should be a fat man if you indulge in
cheesecake and ice cream.” Deana wanted to chance the conversation
to something much lighter.
“The cheesecake was for my mother and as for ice cream, it’s
a rare indulgence.”
Deana glanced at her watch. It was a force of habit on the
days she picked up Joey from school, even though Thelma would take
him home if she didn’t show up on time.
“Am I boring you?”
“Oh, sorry,” she said. “Force of habit.”
“You know we could just go straight to picking up Joey and
that would give us another ten minutes or so.”
“You know how to push your luck. I should be home doing

laundry or some other thing that needs getting done.”
“What school does Joey go to?”
“Kings Point Elementary.”
“And you’re not from South Florida?”
“No.”
“The waiting list for that school is extremely long. I think
Britney was on it the moment she was conceived. She starts in
September.”
“Well, I happen to know the vice principal. Joey got in on a
by but when he sat the matriculation exam, he aced it. There was no
turning him away at that point.” Pride shimmered in her eyes.
“He seems to be a very bright young man.”
“He does well in school. Sometimes I think I allow him too
many video games, but he keeps his end of the bargain. He’s only
gotten one B since he started that school. It was in geography. He spent
a month studying the state capitals and all sorts of miscellaneous
information.”
“Wow, you must be a strict mother.”
“I don’t think I am. We barter grades for other things.”
“As long as the system works,” Sebastian said.
They were silent for a while eating their banana splits that
were partially melted. Deana blushed under his gaze. The
conversation focused mainly on Joey and school, and Sebastian really
pushed his lucky by picking up Joey at school.
In the daylight, he could see that she had done a lot of work on
the house. The once drab lawn was neatly manicured and she currently
had the water sprinkler going. The outside that was once an ugly shade
of white, now had a soft coral color with a light orange trim. The
driveway was newly replaced and a bright, colorful garden lay
magnificently against the house. A bike was resting against the front
porch. Sebastian parked his car behind hers. He hadn’t called ahead.
He’d spent the better part of the week wearing her down. He
succeeded, on Thursday afternoon she caved in for a Saturday
afternoon lunch.
He rang the doorbell. He barely saw movement as Joey
looked through the glass window on the right side of the door.
"Sebastian!" The boy pulled the door open. "You are early.
Mom said you might be dropping by for lunch. It’s barely passed
breakfast, but I’m happy you’re here. Do you want to play video
games? We could play GT. I'm very good."

"Hey Joey," he ruffled the youngster's already ruffled hair. "If
your mommy let me stay, I'll play GT. Where’s she hiding out?”
“She’s remodeling her bathroom upstairs. It’s for-,” he paused
to think of the word. He rubbed the back of his neck, much the way his
mother did. “Ah, forbidden zone. That means you can’t go up there.”
“I should let her know I’m here,” Sebastian said as Joey
locked the door behind him.
“You should,” Joey agreed. “But she’s going to be mad if you
mess up in there.”
“Want to lead the way?” Sebastian asked.
“Of course. If I don’t you’ll, probably get lost. Come on.”
The wood beneath his hand on the staircase was new and firm.
The staircase itself was unremarkable, but the sanded polished look
lend an air or coziness to the house. Sebastian paused to admire the
living room. The floors were laminate, but one had to have the
developer’s eye to see that. The walls were painted in a bright golden
yellow with only one wall in white. He would not have chosen such a
bold color for a room, but here it looked natural and perfect. It blended
with the style of laminates and seemed to add light and thoughts of
carefree days to the room. Cherry toned crown molding ran along the
ceiling.
It was amazing, the simple touches that made the room
vibrant. The furniture was mainly wood. The choice was pine that bore
an interesting grain and they all had a natural coat that allowed the
beauty of the wood to shine through. Save for Joey’s video games,
everything was in place. He continued up the stairs behind Joey,
observing all he could. The staircase was against the wall. The wall
leading up was white. There were three paintings on the stairs;
Sebastian did not recognize the artist’s signature.
Like the room below, the colors on the canvas was bold,
bright. Sebastian saw a painting of a woman lying on a picnic blanket.
The woman was in the nude, but the skillful hands of the artist had a
blanket just barely draped over her more revealing parts. The grass
looked so real, he could smell them. He could pluck the grape that
dangled from one hand. And he could hear the soft gush of water from
the fall in the background. It was excellent work.
The other two paintings were remarkable. One was of Joey. A
striking resemblance that not only captured the boy’s beautiful face, but
the childish exuberance Sebastian had seen in him. It was such an
intimate painting the artist had to have spent hours with the boy to
render such a complete picture. The third was a melancholic abstract.
The shapes, images and pictures were jumbled; it was sad, yet
beautiful. He would have to get the name of the artist they were
beautiful.
He got to the landing at the top of the stairs and white gave
way to beautiful sea foam green. This was a house of shades. The
fusion of colors was bold, but they worked surprisingly well together.
She must have spent a small fortune with an interior designer. The
entire hall way was sea foam green, and the floors were not of the same
stain as the floor in the living room. This was a natural tone that lifted
the space, making it seem larger and more airy. Torrance Construction
should definitely consult with this interior decorator. The look was so
fresh and art deco.
There were four doors off the hallway. There was one to the
right, one in the center and the other two to the left. Joey led him to the
right.
“We have to go through the bedroom. She’s working in the
master bedroom,” Joey said.
The bedroom was huge. The centerpiece was the bed that was
against the wall, just below the window. It flowed into paneled wall
and wood cabinetry. Two antique lamps were bolted to the wall on
either side. The rest of the room had a cheerful relaxing shade of
watermelon pink. Here, the floors were natural pine, contrasting the
cherry of the paneling and cabinetry. There was definitely an eye for
color and flare here.
To Sebastian she looked divine in cutoff jeans that stopped just
an inch below her buttocks. Joey saved her from being ravished and
even then he had to distract himself by studying the room.
He looked at the bathroom, the bench top tile cutter on the
floor, the beautiful roman tiles and the woman with a wet sponge and a
silicone sealer in her hands. He recognized the sealer from its pungent
odor. Her back was towards them and she was squeezing sealer along
the rim of a tub.
It was a beautiful bathroom. The shower stall was completed
in glass blocks on three sides, the exterior wall and two interior walls.
Though the walls were opaque, the glass shower door was fully
transparent. The step up and into Roman tub was a few feet away and
had a huge bay window from where the tub met the wall to just a foot
or so below the ceiling. He could see outside. It was the west side of
the house and the view was of the garden below and the backyard that
sat on a lake. He suspected that the tint only allowed for one-way
vision. The natural lights make the room large. He saw a few recessed
lights in the ceiling and above the washbasin. Deana was a beautiful
woman who obviously liked beautiful things.
“Mom,” Joey said. “Sebastian’s here.”
“Tell him I’ll be down in a minute, honey.” She didn’t turn to

look at them.
“He’s here,” Joey said.
She whipped around so fast she almost lost her balance. The
sealing gun shifted and sealant fell on the tiles
“Merda!” She said wiping the mess with a moist sponge.
“We’re going to play GT,” Joey said. “I just wanted you to
know he was here.”
“Sorry,” Deana apologized. “I thought you were coming for
lunch. I still have a lot to do.”
“No problem,” Sebastian said. “I will hang with Joey.”
“I’ll be down in a few minutes,” she said.
“Mom, take your time,” Joey said and grabbed Sebastian’s
hand. “Let’s go.”
Deana swore for the third time in the five minutes since
Sebastian had arrived. She had managed to clean the mess up, but he
had thrown her schedule off. It was laundry day and she had not started
her supermarket shopping as yet. She glanced on the clock in the
bedroom as she exited the bathroom. It was nine thirty - he was very
early. She wriggled her nose as she realized she stank of sweat and
silicone sealant.
Jeez us, she thought. Why did he have to show up when I’m
at my worse?
Worse or not, Deana was determined to get through as much
of her morning chores as possible. The master bathroom was finally
done, but there was still cleaning up and she had not finished the
wooden tub rack that was in the garage.
She grabbed a fresh change of jeans shorts and tee shirt from
her closet. She stepped out on the hall way. The noise from the video
games machine was deafening and added to that Joey and Sebastian
were in a shouting match. Well, as long as they were having fun. She
hurried to Joey’s bathroom for her first shower of the day.
When she finally made it down the stairs, showered and fresh,
laundry basket hugging her hips, the video game was off. She panicked
for a minute before she realized she could hear them in the kitchen.
She felt silly. She had checked out Sebastian Torrance as much as she
could. He was indeed the head of a multinational construction
company. She wouldn’t have invited him in her house or even left him
with her son if she had not done that.
Sebastian and Joey were seated at the table in the breakfast
nook having PBJ sandwiches and Orange Juice. They were engaged in
conversation and only paused to great her as she passed them to get to
the door leading to the garage and the laundry machine. Deana never
thought of the garage as such, it was her work shed and right now it had
the sweet odors of pine and cedar wood.
“Need a hand?” Sebastian asked.
“No.” She turned on the lights and stepped into her own
private world.
She had debated putting off the laundry, but that would mean
putting off something else and it would be a chain reaction that would
have her exhausted playing catch up at the end of the week. The thing
that would suffer most was her private time with Joey in the evenings,
and that was not an option.
Deana separated the laundry into five loads, loaded the first
then went back to the kitchen to join her son and Sebastian. She filled
a glass with orange juice and sat beside Joey and across from
Sebastian.
Sebastian liked the way she smelled. He did not miss the soft
delicate scent of perfumed bath soaps wrapped around a unique
feminine scent. He smiled at her as she pulled a half sandwich from the
pile of four they had on a plate between them. It was a stunning sight
to see the two together. Mother a beauty with dark mysterious eyes,
boy a future heartbreak for young damsels.
It struck him how close the two were. Even in their attitude
now there was an intimacy of mother and child, best friend and best
friend. He did the math in his head as he looked at them together. She
must have had Joey in the mid-teens. It was risky at any age to raise a
child on your own, but it must be damn near impossible for one so
young to raise a child alone. Maybe there was family or child support,
but still the burden of a child could be weighty.
“I thought we had some cold cuts,” Deana said.
“PBJ is okay,” Sebastian said. The sandwiches were Joey’s
favorite and Deana suspected he had talked Sebastian into it.
“Well I see that you have at least made yourself at home. I
was prepared for a later showing.”
“I had some time on my hands. I figured if you were home
and busy, I could hang with Joey, and then both of us would be out of
your way. If you weren’t home, I ‘ld be disappointed and sulky.”
“Sebastian wants us to go to Denver with him next week-end,”
Joey said. By the sound of his voice, Deana knew he was dying to say
this the moment she’d stepped into the room. “We’ve never been to
Denver, can we go?”
“I’m afraid not,” Deana said.
“I told you the answer was no,” Joey said to Sebastian. “You
owe me five bucks.”

“You can discount those five bucks,” Deana said. “There will
be no gambling in the house.”
“It was a bet,” Joey said.
“A bet is a game of chance and a type of gambling,” Deana
said. “Shame on you Sebastian.”
“Guilty,” he said.
“Now that you’ve both spoilt your appetite, what do we do?”
Deana asked.
“Have dinner with me,” Sebastian suggested.
"Sorry, home cooked meal tonight."
"I didn't say it couldn't be home cooked." He had a nice smile.
She found herself watching the way his mouth formed the words when
he spoke. Yes, she decided, the mouth was all.
“You mean you don’t give the help the weekend off?”
“For your info, the help does have the weekend off and we
don’t refer to her as the help. Her name is Marla and she doesn’t cook.
I will be your chef tonight.”
"You – cook,” she said as if it was the strangest thought in the
universe..
"I thought you didn't know anything about me," he said.
"You don't look like the man who cooks."
“Well, I know how to open a can,” Sebastian said.
“Okay Sebastian, dinner it is,” Deana said.
“Good, then I think I should leave soon. I have a few things to
pick up at the grocers. By the way, you have a beautiful house.”
“You should thank Joey for that, he chose the colors.”
“Really?” Sebastian said.
“Yes,” Joey said. “I like bright colors. They make you want
to smile and they are fun. My friend Trevor likes our house because he
says all the rooms look fun. And I help mom to paint; only I can’t
reach the top. Once I got paint in my hair trying to use the brush with
the long stick.”
“You guys did the work yourselves?” Sebastian asked.
“Mostly mom because I go to school,” Joey said.
“It looks so professional,” Sebastian said.
“Thank you,” Deana said.
“With skills like this you should consider becoming a mother
and son interior decorating business,” Sebastian said.
The mother was kneading the base of her neck again. It was
the same gesture the boy used before. So much alike, Sebastian
thought. He liked Deana, and Joey. The boy was humorous, intelligent
and a great conversationalist. Perhaps if he were in his life in the
future, he would suggest public speaking or politics. Now the thought

dawned on him, he would like to have them both in his future.
“I am going to run and leave you two,” Sebastian said getting
up. “I am looking forward to dinner later. I'll pick you and Joey up at
six thirty."
"Okay,” Deana said getting up to walk him to the door.
"So I get to see your games room?” Joey asked.
“Sure,” Sebastian said.
Joey waved good-bye as Deana followed Sebastian out of the
kitchen.
“Thanks for having me,” he said. “I had a great time with
Joey.”
“I should thank you for the entertainment.”
He bent and kissed quickly on the lips. Deana was surprised
and didn’t have time to react.
Sebastian almost cursed his cowardice. He wanted to pull her
in his arms, explore every corner of her mouth, taste her and breathe
the scent of her. But, there was Joey and he was not certain how the
boy would take his mom being kissed by another man – that wasn’t his
father.
4.
"No you cannot take your video games." Deana was arguing
with Joey for the better part of an hour. He didn't want to wear his
button down shirt, and he wanted to take video games to play after
dinner. They were launching into the twelfth minute of this battle when
the doorbell rang.
"Pleaseee," he pleaded.
"No and stop pouting. Look who's at the door. Don't open it,
just look through the window."
Deana swore under her breath as she grabbed her purse. This
date was making her nervous. Added to this, she had never been on a
date accompanied by her son. She shook her head now, wondering
why she had accepted.
"Mom, there's a black limo in the driveway." If Grand
Turismo had him pouting, the sight of the limousine in the drive way
made his smile stretch from ear to ear.
"Let me see." She made her way to the door on the second
knock. A man dressed in a full black suit was standing on her doorstep.
"May I help you?"
"I'm here for Deana and Joey Lang," the man said.
"I'm Deana Lang, but I'm afraid I did not ask for limousine
service," she said.
"Mr. Torrance wishes me to escort you to his house," the man
said. "I am Angus. I will be your chauffeur this evening."
"Sebastian rocks!" Joey was already out of the house heading
towards the car.
There was no point in Deana refusing the ride. She locked up
and followed the driver to the limousine. Joey almost dived across the
back seat once the door was open. The glee in her son's eyes caused
her to laugh and she wanted to cry at the same time. This was his first
time in a limousine and just watching his excitement gave Sebastian
brownie points, even if she didn't know the man well.
The house was a huge sprawling affair on the beach. Deana

had passed this house several times and thought it a small luxury resort.
Now, as she got out of the limousine and surveyed the landscape, she
wondered in awe. Nothing she’d researched about Sebastian prepared
her for this. She’d gotten most of her information from Genie and
Thelma, and the little she was able to get from newspapers were of the
dozen or so charities Torrance sponsors and his mother Alexis Torrance,
a socialite.
He greeted then on the small stairs leading to the house. He
was casually dressed in slacks and button down shirts that were rolled
at the sleeve. He timidly kissed her cheek and shook hands with Joey.
"You rock Sebastian," was all Joey said. He looked at the
large house and Deana could see the awe and wonder in the boy’s eyes.
"My friends are not going to believe I was here. They won't even
believe I was in a limousine. This is so cool."
"How about if I ask Angus driver to take you to school on
Monday?" Sebastian asked. “That would be a picture.”
"That would be super cool," Joey said.
"You cannot promise him that," Deana said.
"Of course I can. Come on inside. Dinner is almost ready."
The living room took her breath away. It was huge. The high
vaulted ceiling and marble floor tiles were dazzling in there own right.
Add the expensive chandelier and exquisite art collection and she felt
she must have stepped into an art museum of sorts. She wanted to
explore the many rooms and take a look at the architecture. Even Joey
was quiet in admiration.
"Dinner will be ready in another ten minutes," Sebastian said.
"How about if I show Joey to the entertainment room and you and I can
have a quick pre-dinner drink?
Deana nodded and Sebastian disappeared with Joey in one of
the adjoining rooms. She felt like a kid in Buckingham palace. She
walked around gingerly making sure she did not touch anything. Such
beauty and extravagance, she thought. She was eying a riveting
painting of the French Riviera when he entered the room again.
"So you like art?" He was by her side. “I didn’t think the
selections on your wall were random, though I didn’t recognize the
artist.”
"I used to paint in high school. My teacher said I was very
good, but I never quite developed the skills. Oh, we brought dessert."
She handed him the small box she was carrying. He took it
from her hand and led her towards the kitchen. The distance to the
kitchen from where they stood in the living room was almost twice the
length of her house. He opened the box and removed a cheesecake. It
was a triple choice cheesecake - raspberry, chocolate and blueberries.
"Thank you," he said. "You didn't have to."
"It's nothing," she said. "I always have extra when I make
them for the diner."
"You make the cheesecake at the diner?"
"Yes. Before Joey I wanted to be a chef. Actually, I wanted to
be an artist, I had no talent for that, but I had a knack for pastries. Now,
it's a hobby and well, it helps to bring home a little extra money." She
felt foolish discussing money when she was standing in a house as
grand as this. This man must not know what it is like to spend hours at
a task that will only reap a few extra dollars each week. For some
unexplained reason she hated Sebastian Torrance. Maybe not so
unexplained, she thought. He reminded her of Joey's father. Rich,
arrogant and didn't know what it was to work hard one single day of his
life. Men like him only knew how to take what they wanted.
"You are very good at it," he said. He was stirring a pot on the
stove and adding pasta to a huge pot of boiling water. He even cooks
Italian, she thought.
"Merda!" She couldn't help herself.
"I'm sorry," he said. "Is something wrong?"
"I have to go," Deana said. "I shouldn't have come."
"What have I done?" He stopped stirring and looked at her.
His huge blue eyes were not smiling now. They were sincere
in their concern and she hated that even more.
"Where's Joey? We have to go."
He removed the pot with the pasta and placed it in the kitchen
sink. She looked around the kitchen, anywhere to avoid his eyes. The
kitchen was fully equipped and twice the size of her master bedroom.
"I have a few errands I forgot to run," she said. "We must go."
"What have I done to offend you? Please, don't go."
His voice lacked the arrogance of Antonio. His poise though,
exuded confidence and strength. She could feel the power of the man.
She had genuinely upset him. He was concerned about this mood
swing. Okay, maybe she should have dinner and never see him again.
Joey had been talking of nothing else but a rematch with this man. She
should endure the night if only to see her son happy.
"I'm sorry," she said. "I feel so foolish. I had a few things that
were not quite settled before we left."
"Let's have some wine. It will help you to relax."
They dined on a screen patio overlooking the ocean. In fact,
the pillars supporting the patio were beneath the water. Several times
Deana had to scold Joey to have him eat rather than be lost in the
scenery. She had to concentrate not to get lost by it all either.
"I want to hear all about Deana and Joey Lang," Sebastian
said.
"I'm eight years old," Joey said. “I'll be nine in three months.
I am the man of the house."
"Right you are," Sebastian grinned.
"Is this where you live everyday? Do you live by yourself?"
Joey asked.
"This is my house and I live by myself, most of the times"

"Why do you need such a big house?" Joey asked. "Don't you
get lost? Aren't you afraid someone will hide in one part of it and you
cannot find them?"
Sebastian wished the mother was as chatty as the boy, but he
was enjoying this interlude with the young man. It was teaching him
things about the mother and the boy.
"Well, my family builds houses and a lot of them on the beach,
so as a show, we build a big one so everyone can say, hey I want a
house like that, and Torrance Construction is good. In fact, my farther
started building this house and I finished it when he died. And no, I
don't get lost, but I suppose if I was a boy only eight, I would get lost."
"Almost nine," Joey corrected.
Sebastian smiled. Joey was a bright boy. He could see the
swell of pride in the mother.
"None of my friends hide here,” Sebastian continued. “They
would have to find the kitchen at some point and I love the kitchen."
"My mom makes great cheesecake," Joey said. "We brought
one for you. But you should try her baked Alaska or banana spider or
you should try her tiramisu. No one makes tiramisu like mom. The
bakeshop at the mall pays her to make a lot of their stuff, which is
good, because now mom goes to school in the evening. She's got the
paper to be a chef but she wants her own place. They teach her how to
run a business at school."
"I think that is enough, Joey," Deana said. "I'm sure Mr.
Torrance doesn't want to hear about mom's little cakes."
"Unfair," Sebastian said. "I want to hear about mom's little
cakes."
"She made tiramisu for the mayor's party," Joey continued.
"My best friend Trevor loves to come to our house because mom makes
the best cookies."
"Is that so?" Sebastian asked.
"Yes. When you come back to our house you should have
cookies, we always have a jar or two. Only, we don't have regular milk
we drink soymilk. I am finished, can I go back to playing my game
and will you play one with me before we leave? And, is the limo really
picking me up for school Monday - that would be so super awesome
cool?"
"I'll play one game with you and yes, the limo will pick you
on Monday morning."
Joey shouted a quick hooray and bounded off the patio,
through the kitchen and disappeared to wherever the entertainment
room of the house was. Deana sat in shock. She should have stopped
the conversation a long time ago, but she was busy working up a hate-
mobile for Sebastian. Hard as she tried, it was difficult to hate him
when he made her son so happy. To think they only met a few days ago
because she had to work on her day-off.
"So, are you finished throwing daggers at me?" He asked.
"No. How could you promise him a limo to school? He will
be so disappointed when you don't show up."
"I intend to have Angus pick him up. He's a kid. It's not nice
to make broken promises especially to one so bright and young. So tell
me what is really bothering you."
"I know so little about you," she said. "If I knew this about
you, I wouldn't be here."
"Why? Do you hate the ocean?"
"No. But as far as you and I go, we could be from two
different planets. I am a simple cashier in a diner."
"Why don't you get to know me before you decide if you hate
me?" Sebastian asked. "Forget the house, forget Torrance
Construction. Think about Sebastian, and don't say merda. I know
what that means."
"I don't want to know you," she said. "I know men like you.
Flashy and tries to impress, then once you have your way you’re gone.
I don't want you hanging around my son and giving him things he will
yearn for. Things I will not be able to provide for him. He's a happy
well-adjusted boy with his one parent who loves him. He doesn't need
anyone else in that equation."
"You mean you don't need anyone else in that equation." She
sparked his anger. This was the first woman he had tried to wine and
dine in a long time. First woman by any memory he was willing to
chase, yet she was telling him she would not give him the time of day.
She wasn't even willing to know the man behind the things she saw.
"I'll play with your son, and then I will have Angus take you home. I
will keep my promise to him, what time does he need to be at school."
"You don't have to do it. I will explain to him."
"You will explain nothing to him. I made a promise. I will
keep it. If that doesn't figure in your little hate generator, suck it up and
deal with it. Deal with me."
"I don't have a hate generator. And I do not want to deal with
you."
"Then we are at an impasse because like it or not I want to get
to know you and I like your son and would like the opportunity to
know him better also."
"That is not fair," she said. "I've just met you. Don't expect
me to run head long into some steamy sexscapade with you."
"If that's all you think you have to offer me then you think
very lowly of yourself and poorly of me. A man does not spend hours
cooking a meal and providing limousine rides for a romp in the sack. If
you want me to back off say so, but don't cheapen this date for me, for
us. It is almost eight o'clock, I will spend some time with Joey and
then Angus will take you home when you’re ready. You can stay here
and sulk or you can pretend to enjoy the evening for his sake."
“We will leave now,” Deana said getting up from the table.
“You will not,” Sebastian countered. “I promised him I would
play a game with him and I am going to. I am going to start breaking
my promises to him because you don’t like me. He likes me and I like
him.”
“He doesn’t need a father,” Deana said.
Now she had insulted him. He was on his feet also. In the
soft evening lights on the patio, she could see the deep sea blue of his
eyes. Anger, yes she could feel his anger. She didn’t care. His control
was perfect when he spoke. “I’m not hoping to be his father. I just
want to be his friend.”
Deana had nothing to say. She was hoping he would have said
something that would help fuel her anger, but nothing. This was the
first man she had felt a shred of emotion for since Joey’s father. This
was misdirected hate, the man she hated with all her energies was miles
away in New York, and the only emotion she felt had for him was fear
and that fear had blossomed into an all consuming hate that was only
tempered by the love of and for her child. She didn’t date often,
because behind every sly smile, behind every ‘I can’t believe you’re a
mother’, laid the face of Antonio Pacelli – the bastard who fathered her
child.
Then there was Sebastian. He had taken a instant liking to her
son. He played with him, made him feel like he was part and parcel of
the package – mom and child. She almost laughed to herself, because
in that thought was the answer to her anger. Part of the package, so if
mother rejects him, son loses a friend. Someone he liked. Yes,
Sebastian was a close out.
Sebastian didn’t know where to place the anger she stirred in
him. He understood her guarding her son jealously, but she had not
given him the chance to screw up. He hated being measured against
anyone – the primary reason he avoided his mother as much as
possible. She always tried to place him in Howard Torrance’s shoes.
But he was not his father, and never would be. He was not the uncle
who died in Vietnam either. He was Sebastian Torrance, and that’s the
only person he knew to play. Now Deana measured him against a man
he had not met before. - Joey’s father. He had to be either special or a
first class screw up, but Sebastian didn’t want to be measured against
either.
He moved to clear the table. He had to do something in the
silence that engulfed them. If he didn’t, he would kiss her. He wanted
to pull her into his arms and ravished every hating inch of her until she
could think of nothing else. Then he would feel better. He would have
earned the hate. Why not, he thought, the evening could get no worse.
When he placed the plates on the table, Deana thought he was
going to walk away. She didn’t expect him to pull her roughly in his
arms and claim her lips. All the anger in him was emptied in that kiss.
His lips were rough against hers. They were hard and demanding as his
tongue forced her lips apart and one hand tangled in her hair as he
pulled her closer. She almost fought against the assault except it wasn’t
hate she felt from his embrace; it was wild unbottled, unbridled
passion. She felt a fast jolt of electricity up her back, a tingling
somewhere in her brain, a shiver in her belly as need coursed through
her body. Her hands of their own volition embrace him as she leaned
into the kiss.
Sebastian felt the flutter in his belly when she wrapped her
arms around him. He wanted her. Her back arched and he trailed a
path down her cheek. He kissed her chin, and finally nuzzled the base
of her sensual neck. It was better than he thought. She smelled sexy
and feminine, she tasted good and he liked the quickening of her pulse
against his lips. His anger flew away and left him raw with desire for
this woman. He would have taken her then, if he didn’t think about
Joey. Reluctantly, he left her go. She stepped from his embrace.
To Deana, Sebastian did well masking the raw desire in his
eyes. He went back to stacking the plates, but said nothing to her.
There was little to be said. They both knew what they had felt.
“I’m sorry if somehow I offended you,” he said after the long
silence during which they completed clearing the table and loading the
dishwasher. “I really like you and would love the opportunity to know
you better. I don’t care that you’re a cashier at a diner. It’s honest
labor. I thought we clicked when we went for ice cream. I thought you
were seeing me as a real person, not a name.”
“Sebastian you are a real person, but I don’t think you’re good
for me. You are at most mid-thirties, handsome and rich, why aren’t
you married?”
“Thirty five to be exact and I’m not married because I hadn’t
met the right person.”
She didn’t miss the fact that he used hadn’t instead of haven’t.
“I’m twenty-four. And don’t say anything about my youth and
motherhood. My son’s an A-student and I believe he enjoys life as
much as any other child his age with an older mother. I’ve provided for
him all his life and I don’t need anyone’s help or charity. Cinderella
stories don’t happen in real life. We enjoy them as kids and then we
grow up to the real world.”
“I don’t care if you’re a young mother. If anything, it adds to
your appeal. I’m not trying to take over your life. I just want a chance
to know you better.”
“Joey is my world, and in that world no one else can exist.”
“But you exist somewhere, and that’s where I want to be. Is it
my age that scares you?”
Deana almost laughed. She hadn’t thought about the age gap
between them. It was silly. She might be younger than him, but in
some ways they were on the same brain wave.
“Age, if I was that petty I would start sounding like the stupid
people who thinks Joey is my brother rather than my child and I’m
using him to say stay away.”
It occurs to her now that she was using Joey to tell him to stay
away. Not in the way most of her dates had gone, but to lock him out.
She enjoyed the ice cream shop, but she knew then and now they were
from two different worlds.
Sebastian didn’t reply. He sighed and looked at her defiant
dark eyes.
“Let’s go see what your son is up to.”
Thank heavens on the outside the room was sound proof.
Between Joey's shouts and the noise blaring on a 15-foot giant screen
she was having a headache. She knew Joey was in video game heaven.
She sank into the sofa while Sebastian took a place on the floor with a
game control in his hand. Her lips were slightly swollen from his
assault, and he body yearned for his embrace once more.
5.
By the end of the week, there was no one that Joey knew who
did not know he rode in a limousine to dinner at the mansion on the
beach and the limo took him to school the following Monday. This tale
was only second to playing Grand Turismo on a 15-foot screen in the
mansion on the beach.
Deana was still wondering why she had allowed the
conversation between Sebastian and Joey to get as far as it did. She
scolded herself a hundred times for allowing the limo to take Joey to
school. It was imperative she kept her life quiet and a secret. She was
also sorting out the emotions she felt for the man. The thought of him
made her angry and swell with the desire at the same time. It didn’t
help that he sent her flowers on Monday afternoon with a huge apology
for ‘whatever I might have done to offend you’.
On top of her woe, Ivy had not returned to work because she
had the flu so Deana was forced to double up on her shifts. This meant
that by the time she got home, spent some time with Joey reading then
seeing him off to bed, she was bone tired, but she had to spend another
hour or two making desserts for the store in the mall and cheesecakes
for the diner.
Friday evening found her thoroughly exhausted and happy
Joey was spending the weekend at Trevor's house. She needed the time
for herself. The summer was fast approaching and her budget was not
yet balanced. She needed to tidy up and get the for sale signs ready for
the morning.
She had a simple plan. She was never going to be a pastry
chef, she was never going to have enough money to have her own
pastry store, but she knew how to use her hands. She had attended
every free house repairs and remodeling class at the hardware store
during her time off and when Joey was in school. She learned how to
lay tiles, paint, laminate a floor, paneling and a lot more. She’d made a
steal on her current house. And with durable simple material, she had
almost doubled the value of her home. Joey loved it there, but it was
money she could use. If she sold now, she could make a small fortune.
It wouldn’t be enough to make her financially independent, but she
could spare more time for her son and not worry about the next
paycheck.
Joey protested the idea of parting with the house when she told
him two months ago. She understood, it hurt her to part with it too. It
was their first real place. The first place they owned. He was too
young to understand the economics of it, but she had tried to explain it
anyway. Her saving grace had been another house on the same street
for sale. That would keep Joey on the same street with Trevor. It was a
bargain. Not as good as the one she currently had, but it was
reasonably priced. She’d made an offer already. This weekend was her
open house. If all goes well, she should be closing on the other house
in a few weeks.
She soaked in the new tub for an hour. It was almost eight
o’clock and with Joey gone, she didn’t need to get dress. She pulled on
an old bathrobe and moved to the kitchen. The budget and the ‘for sale
by owner’ signs waited.
The new house was pending foreclosure when she found it. It
needed a lot of work. Deana was not afraid of the work. Her current
residence had needed a lot of work also, and she’d carved it out nicely
for her son. Hard work was nothing if it meant making Joey’s life
better.
It would be summer in three weeks and she would have to pay
for Joey's summer camp. Then she would be hit by schoolbooks,
clothes shoes and the list was endless. She needed to balance that
budget to see where she stood. She gathered her folder that contained
their living expenses, projected cost and incomes along with a cold
bottle of Arbor Mist and settled at the table in the breakfast nook.
I shouldn't have bought the Playstation, she thought looking at
the last red spot in her budget. But, she reasoned with herself. It helps
to keep Joey busy when my eyes cannot be on him. She shoved the
thought out of her head and settled down to what she had, what was
tangible, what she could do.
She was half way through rearranging her bills when the
doorbell rang. She pulled her robe closer and went to the door, a glass
of Arbor Mist in hand. She looked through the glass. It was Sebastian.
"Merda!" She opened the door.
"You're a regular Miss Putty mouth." He smiled and handed
her flowers.
"What are you doing here?" She asked. They hadn’t spoken
since he bid her good night at his house a week ago.
"I wanted to see you. It seems that even though you have
insulted me, my pride is not wounded enough that I can stay away.
And I’m leaving for Denver in the morning, I didn’t feel comfortable
knowing at the end of next week I wouldn’t have seen you in two
weeks and,” he paused. “I’m babbling. May I come in?"
"Sure," she stepped away from the door and let him in. She
locked the door and headed towards the kitchen. She followed. "May I
offer you a drink?"
"I'll have some of whatever you are having," he said. He saw
the papers on the table, the ‘for sale’ signs and guessed she was
working. He took a seat at the table while she placed the mixture of red
and white roses in a clear vase. She placed them on the bar area of the
kitchen then fetched a glass from the kitchen cupboard.
She poured the glass of Arbor Mist and took her seat at the
table once more. There was some order to the madness of papers in
front of her, which she refused to move on his behalf. She didn't want
to move to the living room either as that would be too intimate. And
Deana knew she had thought about what he might look like without a
shirt.
"Sorry if I interrupt your work," he said.
"No problem," she said. "I needed a break anyway." She
absently rubbed the back of her neck with one hand and only stopped
when she saw him staring intently. "It's been a helluva week."
"Where's Joey?"
"Tormenting Thelma with video games and tale of his ride to
school in a limousine and eating on top of the ocean. For forty eight
hours, I won't have to help him recall all the details of last weekend."
"I'm happy at least one person enjoyed himself. What were
you doing?" He glanced down at the stacks of papers under her arm
and all over the desk.
"My budget; some of us have those." She didn't know why
she felt the need to be defensive.
"And some more than others," Sebastian said. “Are you
selling the house?”
“Yes,” she said.
“Why? It’s beautiful.”
“It’s an investment that has reached maturity.”
“Where are you going to live?”
“Three houses down. I already have an accepted offer. I just
need to get this on the market,” Deana sipped her wine. She wondered
if he knew how sexy his mouth was when he spoke. She tried not to
think about it.
“How does Joey feel?” He was asking.
“He doesn’t like the idea, but he feels better knowing he’ll still
be a stone’s throw away from Trevor.”
“And you, forgetting about the investment part. How do you
feel?”
“I’ll feel better when it’s over. It doesn’t matter how I feel in
the end. I’m doing what I think is best for us, Joey and myself. I got
this house up to scratch and I can do it with another one. It might even
be easier, this could be called practice.”
“That was Deana the mother, what does Deana the individual
feel?”
“There’s no such person,” Deana said.
“Of course there is. I’ve met her once, maybe twice. She’s
kisses like hell and she smells like a thousand roses.”
Deana blushed, but didn’t rise to his bait. “There is only one
Deana and she wants what’s best for her family. I want Joey to have
the best of everything. I want to spend less time at work. I want to be
able to say no Travis; I will not work after six in the evening because I
want to spend the time with my son. Now, I play the swap games that
get the worst shifts, but I spend some time with Joey.”
“Do you get child support for Joey?"
He saw the quick flash of fear in her eyes, replaced almost
instantly by blazing anger. He braced himself for the fire, but it didn't
come. He watched her eyes as she visibly reined in whatever beast was
about to break lose and sipped her wine.
"No. We don't talk about Joey's father around here. I give him
all he needs and that it is."
"And if he needs more later?" Sebastian asked.
"You mean if he needs to learn to pitch a ball, go fishing or
how to drive a car? I will teach him all I can. Kids have survived for
years with fathers. Joey has me and I have him. What do you want
anyway Sebastian Torrance?" He was irritating her. This was a subject
she was not comfortable with, and though she knew the day would
come when she will need to explain Antonio Pacelli to Joey, she
dreaded it and would put it off as long as possible.
Sebastian knew she was angry at him again. It seems no
matter how hard he tried; he would always do or say something that
rubbed her the wrong way. But, from the first time he heard her with
Joey, he knew it wasn’t going to be easy. Nothing worthwhile ever
was.
"I thought I would take you and Joey out for an evening on the
town but since he's not here, I will settle for the mother."
"I have things to do. I am very tired and I start an early shift
at the diner tomorrow. Plus I have an open house starting around noon.
We don’t all fly to Denver on the whim."
“That’s unfair. I invited you and Joey.”
“Yes,” Deana said. “I’d be fired and Joey loses a week of
school. In this house, we live in the real world where we have budgets
and little boys move from the houses they love. Good night, Sebastian
Torrance.”
She stood up. He hated the annoying way she always tried to
dismiss him. She did the same thing on the patio of his house last
weekend. But Sebastian would not be dismissed. He stood and pulled
her close. He did not kiss her immediately. He watched her eyes go
from surprise to anger then to something else. Some thing he found
wild and enticing in their black depths. Only then did his mouth touch
hers.
His lips were hard against hers. The hand holding the front of
her robe moved to her back, and the other tilted her head giving him
full access of her mouth. She tasted of wine and some thing exotic and
unmistakably Deana. The same thing he tasted last weekend. When
she didn’t pull away from him, he wrapped his hand around the silky
black hair and tilted her head even further. She moaned against him
when he kissed her cheeks, her earlobes and finally her neck.
Deana found him irresistible. Two weeks ago she would have
wagered her life that no one could let her feel like this. No one could
make her so hungry with desire. But Sebastian did. She’d never desire
any man. They had their purpose, and she had always seen them as
such. That clumsy definition did not hold true where Sebastian was
concerned.
He barely broke their contact for a minute as he pulled on the
string of her robe. She didn’t move away, and he would have chased
her if she did. She was naked beneath the robe. His hands reached up
and kneaded her breasts. He teased her nipples and they hardened to his
touch. Her fingers were on his shirt, fumbling with the buttons. She
moaned and arched her back as flames of desire ignited her body. He
broke contact with her as she pulled his shirt away.
When he dipped his head to kiss her breasts, her fingers dug in
his back and she pressed against him, loving the slight pressure he
placed on the small of her back.
“You are beautiful, Deana,” he whispered. His breath was hot
against her skin.
He kissed her breasts, her belly, then up to her neck again. He
lifted her slightly and she went with him. He turned and leaned her
against the wall for support. She thrust her hips towards him when his
hand touched the soft spot between her legs.
“God,” he said against her neck. “You’re hot and I want you.”
“Shut up,” She said, but the tone was not harsh. She didn’t
want to hear lies and promises now. She just wanted him to release her
from these emotions.
The first wave of relief would have knocked them to the floor
if they hadn’t lowered themselves there already. His expert tongue was
licking and kissing her tender places, his hands caressing and kneading
her body. He felt and tasted her climax against him. She tasted good.
He was filled with her. She helped him out of his pants, and he only
paused for the ‘just-in-case’ condom he carried in his wallet.
She was so tight and hot against him he had to slow himself
not to explode on contact. Her hips arched and met his. He slammed
into her and they were joined, complete. He moaned her name as they
moved together, timing each others stroke in the waltz that came so
naturally. Her body arched as she erupted against him. He propped
himself on one hand and the other lifted her buttocks and he felt his
loins on fire. Even as they crested the wave together, he knew it was
not enough for him. This was not enough. He wanted more of her,
needed more of her.
He buried his head in her hair and kissed her neck, not
wanting to break their contact. He felt both her hands on his sides. She
wasn’t hugging him any more. She wanted him to move. He felt it but
didn’t respond immediately.
“I think you should go,” she said. Her voice was thick with
emotions.
“Deana,” he said.
“Go,” she said.
He moved away from her. She stood up and reclaimed her
robe from where it had fallen. He couldn’t tell what she was thinking.
She refilled her glass with Arbor mist and waited for him to get
dressed. She slammed the door shut when he turned to tell her
goodnight.
Deana wasn’t proud of herself. She hadn’t intended on having
sex with Sebastian. But it was done, no use to rehash or think about
what might have been if she’d just pushed him away.
Men do this all the time, she rationalized. They have fun, and
then they leave. So what if a woman did the same thing? It was
natural to desire a man, why not him? He was handsome, well built
and had the most sexy mouth she had ever seen, and he knows how to
use it, she added. Well, there was no seeing him again. They both got
what they wanted and that was that.
She turned out the lights and meticulously went through the
house making sure everything was locked up tight. She felt sore in
places, and she still had a longing for more of him.
“Nothing another glass of wine can’t cure,” she said aloud.
She removed a bottle of 2001 Marsannay Rouge from the
small collection she kept in the wine rack of her butcher’s block. She
took her glass, the wine and a few candles and made her way to the
new tub. She needed to wash Sebastian away. She was filled with his
scent and would have a restless night if she didn’t.
While Deana soaked in a tub of fragrant soap and oils sipping

wine and watching the flames of the candle dance, Sebastian was
cursing himself. He had felt desire in her arms. She made him whole.
When their bodies had joined, he felt complete, he felt like a whole
person. He’d clung to her and her to him as they climaxed. Then she’d
kicked him out as if it was nothing.
He couldn’t tell what secrets or mysteries were in her eyes,
she had avoided looking at him. Once they were no longer tangled
together on the floor, she had scorned him, like yesterday’s trash. He
shouldn’t have left, shouldn’t have allowed her cheapen the moment; to
reduce the act to its basic components. He realized as he sped towards
his house on the beach, that he was powerless against her.
He wanted her and she humbled him. He could still taste her
and feel her wrapped around him. No one had so completely ignited
his passion or so completely matched his. For the minutes of glory he
had spent with her, he would have traded all he had. And it wasn’t
enough. She was under his skin. He was the oyster and she his grain of
sand.
6.
Deana was in the middle of packing, but her mind was not on
the task. She was thinking of last Friday night with Sebastian. It was
the middle of the week and fortunately, she had worked the early shift
at the diner. Joey was in school and it gave her time to pack. The offer
on her house was only a few thousand below her asking price. It was a
good solid offer and the buyer had been pre-approved for greater than
that amount. Joey had sulked when she told him the news.
Sebastian called every evening. Deana was fortunate to miss
his calls on Saturday, Sunday and Monday afternoons. She deleted his
messages without listening to them. On Monday however, she was not
as fortunate, as Joey answered the phone. She declined speaking with
him, but he spoke with Joey. She couldn’t help listening in. The
smooth timbre of his voice shocked her system and she couldn’t help
glancing at the kitchen floor where they’d had sex.
“Hey Joey,” he said. “How are you?”
“I’m fine.” Joey sounded a little depressed. “Mom sold our
house.”
“Sorry to hear that. I’m sure it’s for the best.”
“Yeah,” he wasn’t committing to that storyline. Deana was
not surprised how easy it was to read her son. He had made his
feelings clear about selling the house.
“How is your mom?”
“Pretty good I guess. She’s been kind out of it since we
accepted the offer. She started packing yesterday. I’m going to miss
my room.”
“But you’ll get a new room,” Sebastian was trying to cheer the
boy up. “Think of all the fun you will have painting and choosing
colors this time. Plus, you get to hang out with your mom and paint.”
“I know,” Joey sounded more upbeat. “It’s just that with this
house mom was always working at it and then the diner, plus her pastry
stuff and she gets tired. We didn’t spend as much time doing fun stuff.
Now, we’ll go back to that.”
“Oh,” Sebastian said. “Well, I know how to use a paint brush.
I’ll help so she doesn’t get as tired.”
“You will?” Joey’s voice brightened.
“Sure, and I know guys who can paint your house in one day.
When I get back, we’ll go look at the house and the colors and see what
we can do.”
“Cool,” Joey was definitely in a better mood. “Sebastian, are
you going to be visiting us often?”
There was a pause and Deana’s heart raced. She hadn’t

discussed Sebastian to Joey, and it must be confusing to him that they
picked him up at school together, invited Sebastian to their house,
dined at Sebastian’s house, then Deana refused his calls.
“I want to,” Sebastian finally said. “Is that okay with you?”
“Sure. You’re cool, plus you send mom pretty flowers that
make her smile.”
“I want her to smile all the time.”
“Me too,” Joey replied. “But sometimes you can’t help it, and
she gets sad.”
“Well, I’ll try to make her smile all the time. You know I like
you too Joey, not just your mom.”
“Okay, I guess I should stop beating you at video games then.”
“No,” Sebastian’s voice was serious. “We play a fair game. I
like you because you’re my friend.”
“I like you too. Hey Sebastian, next Tuesday we have take
your kid to work day at school. I don’t want to go to the diner with
mom. It’s boring sitting in Mr. Benton’s office and he can be
frightening. I could go to the police station with Carl, that’s Trevor’s
dad. I know you’re not my father - .”
“You can come to work with me,” Sebastian said. Deana
heard a slight glee in his voice. She put it aside as wishful thinking.
“It will be fun.”
“Cool, now I have to figure out how to tell mom,” Joey said.
“I don’t want her to get mad at me or you.”
“Let me handle your mom,”
Deana almost told Sebastian nobody handled her, but she was
intruding in their conversation. It wasn’t Sebastian who would think
the worse of her, it would be Joey. So, she bit her tongue.
“Good,” Joey said.
There was a brief pause on the line. Deana felt foolish for
eavesdropping, but now, she would arm herself for Sebastian Torrance.
If he thought he could snake his way into her life through her son, he
had another thing coming. Handle me, she thought, I’ll show him.
Sebastian heard the soft click of the phone hanging up. So, he
thought, she was listening. He was in the middle of discussing a new
video game with Joey when it happened. He knew she would protest
his offer to Joey, but he was ready now he knew she had the facts.
On Friday, Deana rang the bell at the Wayne’s house around

six o’clock. She’d worked the lunch crowd at the diner and was
exhausted. The only great thing about today was for the first time since
signing the sale contract for the house; Joey was in a good mood.
“Hey,” Thelma said and kissed Deana on the cheek. “You
must be timing me. I was just about to sink in the bathtub.”
“Lucky you,” Deana said entering her best friend’s house.
The lack of noise from a heated video game match struck her as odd.
As a teacher, Thelma was strict on homework. All homework was
usually completed before video games. School was out over three
hours ago. Friday was no exception to her rule. “Where are Trevor and
Joey?”
“Out with Sebastian,” Thelma waved her off. “God Deana
he’s so fine. On the news and in the paper you could see he’s a
handsome gentleman, but when I opened the door, I had to roll my
tongue back into my mouth. He must know he stinks of male sexuality.
And the mouth, Lord, if Carl had a mouth like that, I’m not sure I could
get out of bed in the mornings.”
“You let him take the kids?” Deana asked in disbelief.
“Yeah. He’s Sebastian Torrance. I can’t see him kidnapping
them especially since Carl’s the chief of police. He doesn’t strike me
as stupid and he’s your boyfriend anyway.”
“He’s not my boyfriend.” Deana realized she sounded like a
defensive thirteen year old. She’d sounded this way when her mother
had chastised her about Luigi Ventura many years ago. Then, it was
truer than now. She’d like Luigi, but that was childish infatuation
based on a need her mother never understood or wanted to understand.
“I should have called you first,” Thelma conceded. “It’s just
that after the dinner, taking Joey to school and you inviting him to your
house I thought the relationship was going somewhere. Joey was so
happy to see him; I thought it would be okay.”
“Joey knew he was coming?” Deana asked.
“Here? I don’t think so,” Thelma said. “But he knew
Sebastian would be in town today. I’m sorry Deana.”
“I’m sure they will be okay,” Deana said. “I can’t imagine
Sebastian with two nine year old kids.”
“Three kids,” Thelma corrected. “He had his goddaughter
with him. They are going to the mall and I think Dave and Busters. He
left his cell phone number if I needed to reach him. He said you knew
how to contact him.”
“Joey wants to do kids day at work with him,” Deana said.
She dropped in the sofa with a worried look on her face. “What do you
think?”
“As a teacher, I think every kid should participate in kids’ day
at work and it is especially encouraging when they want to try
something other than their parents’ line of work. As a friend, I think if
Sebastian likes Joey and Joey likes Sebastian you should encourage it.
You know Carl and I are always here for you, but it never hurts for Joey
to have another person who’s willing to look out for him. All the better
if you like Sebastian.”
“I don’t like Sebastian.”
“Now you have my attention.” Thelma sank into the loveseat
across from Deana. “Talk to me.”
“Thelma, I’m a cashier at a diner that has not expanded since
the sixties. I’m stuck in a dead-end job with a nine year old kid and I
spend almost sixty hours every week trying to give him a good life.
Sebastian’s inherited a fortune. He’s suave, sophisticated, I don’t think
he’s ever had to sit one day and say ‘hey how am I going to pay
mortgage next month’, or something like that. We have nothing in
common. I’ve seen him driving three separate cars; I have to pray my
engine turns over in the morning.”
“So what?” Thelma retort. “He’s a man with needs and
you’re a woman with needs whether you choose to admit it or not.
Deana he met you at your job, he’s been to your house. I’m sure if it
bothered him he wouldn’t have looked at you. You’re beautiful but I’m
afraid to tell you that banging you for brags doesn’t seem to fit his
profile. A limo and flowers almost everyday doesn’t sound like cheap
sex. Besides, I can’t imagine the most eligible bachelor in Florida
becoming that desperate.”
“Thank you Thelma,” Deana said in a cheerful voice. “You
sure know how to put me in my place.”
“That’s why we’re friends. I don’t b.s. you.”
“And you’re the only teacher I know who says b.s. and
banging without a filch. You should have your bath,” Deana said
standing up. “I have boxes to pack.”
“Deana, I’m sorry again. I should have called.”
“Stop apologizing Thelma,” it was Deana’s time to wave her
off. “I trust your judgment.” The women exchanged kisses then Deana
left.
She was happy she had Thelma to talk to. She never had
many friends as a kid. And since Joey, she’d spent more time moving
from place to place than she thought possible. It was fortunate for her
that Joey and Trevor had taken an instant liking to each other when
Thelma showed up on her front porch with macaroni and cheese
casserole. She’d invited them in the mess of a house then, and over
cheesecake, she and the woman became close friends.
On the short drive to her house, Deana told herself she should
be fuming mad at Sebastian. He had no right to her son without her
permission. What was he playing at anyway? She tried hard to work
up the anger, and ended up with a headache instead. Maybe she should
call him and tell him off. That would be enough fuel until he took her
son home.
Deana had to go through her purse and then her car before
finding his card stuffed in the ashtray of the car.
The noise in the background was deafening and she could
hardly hear him. After attempting a mere greeting, she realized it was
an exercise in futility.
Deana heard the vehicle in the driveway. It was half of seven.

She peaked through the window. Joey and a brown haired little girl
were with him. She watched as both kids exited the Lexus RX 470 and
waited for him to open the rear. She didn’t need to work up the anger
now; she had it in full bloom when she saw what he removed from the
vehicle.
The little girl and Joey each had a small bag. Sebastian was
tugging a computer box and a bouquet of flowers. She stepped away
from the window. Sebastian caught the movement from the corner of
his eyes.
Deana pretended surprised when she opened the door a few
seconds later.
“Hey Mom,” Joey said slipping by her. “Come in Britney.”
“Hello Deana,” Sebastian said. “Britney, this is Deana, Joey’s
mom.”
“Hello,” Britney said.
Deana swallowed the anger and smiled at Britney. She was a
pretty girl. There was no doubting that her father was the friend who’d
casually made the introductions at the restaurant. Jaime, she
remembered his name. The little girl smiled at her and despite her
perfect copper tone, the freckles on her nose seem to wiggle. Deana
knew from looking at the child that Jaime’s wife had to be of some
exotic heritage. The mop of curly brown hair shook as she looked from
Deana to Joey.
“Hi, come on in.” Britney followed Joey into the kitchen.
Sebastian stepped by her and placed the computer box on the floor. He
then turned and gave her the flowers which she grudgingly accepted.
“What is that?” She pointed to the computer box.
“It’s a pc for Joey,” Sebastian said. “It’s a house warming
gift.”
“We don’t want it,” Deana said.
“I didn’t say it was for you,” Sebastian said. “It’s for Joey.
It’s my gift to him. He’ll need it for school and these days it does not
hurt to become computer literate at a young age.”

“When Joey needs a computer I will buy it for him,” she
closed the front door.
“Good, you can pick up his next one or the upgrades.”
“Uncle Sebastian,” Britney came from the kitchen with Joey
behind her. “Can I go look at Joey’s room? He says he has a nice
bright blue color and I love blue.”
“Sure, Brit,” Sebastian said.
The two children disappeared up the stairs. They were hardly
out of sight when Sebastian pulled her in his arms. His lips were soft
and firm at the same time against hers. He angled his head into her and
she didn’t know when he’d teased her lips apart expect she felt his
tongue against hers. She leaned into the kiss. The tip of his tongue
teased the roof of her mouth. He moved one hand through her hair
until he held her head firm against his. With the other hand he pulled
her against him until she felt the hard maleness of him against her belly.
That reality jolted her into action and she placed her hands on
his chest and pushed him away. He let her go as immediately as he had
ceased her before.
“You had no right to take Joey from Thelma’s,” Deana said.
“So sue me,” he said casually and sat in the sofa. He stretched
out his long legs on the floor, crossing them at the ankles. He rested
one arm on the sofa’s arm and the other he stretched across the back.
He wanted to an argument. He was still upset about Friday and one
week away from her didn’t ease his anger.
“He’s not your son,” Deana said.
“Not yet,” Sebastian said.
“He’ll never be your son,” Deana said.
“Wow,” he continued. “You’re not as angry as I expected.
Come on, where’s that fire. Or, maybe I should talk about last Friday.
That should get you worked up, even though I enjoyed you being
worked up then.”
“Shut up!” Deana said.
“You’re still swinging wild,” he said. “Wild – that’s how you
were. You were on fire, hot, wet and sexy. And you tasted good.”
“Shut up!” Deana was angry this time.
“That’s not going to happen,” Sebastian said. “I allowed you
your victory dance on Friday night because you shocked me. I
shouldn’t have left. I should have carried you to the bedroom and
resumed the foreplay. But you surprised me. It’s not going to happen
again.”
“You were nothing more than an itch to scratch,” she said.
“And now you are my itch, except Friday was only foreplay
for my scratch. Slamming the door in my face didn’t put me in file

thirteen. Like it or not Deana, I want you and I’m going to have you.
And it’s not a threat, it’s a promise. And you won’t tell me shut up
then, you’re going to want me to touch you.”
“It’s not going to happen,” Deana said.
“I always get what I want Deana. I’m spoilt; it’s never going
to change. Right now I want you, and I will have you, not like Friday.
I will have you, all of you.”
The kids running down the stairs prevent her from responding.
Britney ran to sit beside Sebastian and Joey was on the floor at his feet.
“You have a beautiful house,” Britney said to her.
“Thank you.” For the second time that afternoon Britney
forced her to smile and rein in her anger.
“It’s bright and colorful. My house is white. When you come
over tomorrow you will see it.”
“Tomorrow?” Deana asked.
“Yes,” Sebastian said. “She’s Jaime’s daughter and Jaime’s
invited us for dinner. I accepted.”
She literally bit her tongue this time. The words flew to her
brain in Italian, but Joey would have understood, and in English, she
would have appalled herself with such language in front of Britney.
“Excuse us a minute,” she said to the children. “Sebastian -
kitchen - now.”
“Oh, oh,” Britney said. “Uncle Sebastian’s going to get it
now?”
“What?” Deana asked surprised the girl had picked up on the
moment. She’d tried to sound as casual as possible.
“That’s what mom says to dad when she’s mad,” Britney said.
“Sort of like that.”
“I’m not mad at Sebastian,” Deana said.
“Okay.” Deana could tell the little girl did not believe that
response.
Sebastian took his time getting out of the sofa and following
her.
“What are you playing at?” She asked. “I’m not going
anywhere with you tomorrow or ever.”
“We are going to dinner tomorrow. In fact, when I take
Britney home tonight I will come back here and you can tell me why
you are so damned mad at me.”
“I don’t owe you an explanation for my actions.”
“Here’s how it is Deana. I love Joey, I like you and I think if
you give me the time of day you might see that I’m not what you think
I am. This is not some childish infatuation that will die from one night
of heated sex. We’ve been there and I’m still here. I don’t know on
what pedestal Joey’s father is, and I hate being measured against the
man. I am Sebastian Torrance, that’s the only person I know how to be.
Don’t shut me out without good cause. The harder you slam a door in
my face, the more I will pursue you. If you walk, I’ll jog, if you jog,
I’ll run. I want a chance with you. If you hate me, then tell me I’m
wasting my time, because neither your body nor your eyes say that. So
lie to me.”
“Go away,” she felt foolish.
He took her chin in his hand and forced her to look at him.
“Lie to me and I’ll go,” he repeated. “But before you say another
word, I want you to know that I’m falling in love with you. When I
walked into Cronus, I wasn’t looking for love; I wanted a cheesecake
for my mother. I don’t believe people grow into love. I believe they
start out with feelings similar to love that gets better over time. That’s
how it started with you. And it’s not infatuation or pure chemistry, it’s
more.”
She couldn’t lie to him. She would be lying to herself also.
She liked him and he stirred her in ways no one ever had. He was not
Antonio Pacelli. But not because she couldn’t lie to him or herself
meant she wanted him in her life. She needed space and time to think.
“What time is dinner tomorrow?” She asked.
“I’ll pick you at five,” he said.
“No limousines this time, okay?”
“Okay. Thanks for this Deana.”
7.
Joey frowned when Deana removed a button down shirt from

his closet, but fortunately for him, she was only rearranging. His eyes
lit up when she pulled out a polo shirt and jeans, not slacks.
“In a few years when you start dating,” Deana said. “You will
forget about jeans. You’ll be dressing in fancy slacks to impress the
women.”
“Then I won’t go dating. Anyway, why would I want to go
out with a girl, she’s just going to be talking about her dolls? Except
Britney, she’s good at video games.”
“Ask me that after your first date,” Deana said.
“I won’t be dating.” Joey said. “Not until I’m old like
Sebastian and have a big house on the beach and can get a limo to take
me everywhere.”
“You think I’m dating Sebastian.”
“Aren’t you? Trevor’s mom thinks you are and she says he’s
so cute she could eat him up. And Trevor and I said Yuck! I just can’t
imagine her slicing him into cubes.”
“Do you like Sebastian?” Deana asked.
“Yeah, he’s like me, only bigger. For an old man he’s pretty
cool.”
“And what do you think about mommy dating Sebastian.”
“Will he be staying over?”
“Maybe,” Deana said.
“If he stays over can we play video games and will he read to
me like you do?”
“Maybe.”
“Cool. I like Sebastian.”
“You will tell me if he ever tries to hurt you, right?”
“Right,” Joey replied. “Where are we going tonight?”
“Do you remember Jaime?”
“Jaime, is he Sebastian’s friend, Britney’s dad?”
“One of his friends,” Deana said.
“Mom,” Joey said in a serious voice. “I think Sebastian is
cool, but if you don’t like him, I don’t like him either. You don’t have
to find me a dad.”
“I will keep that in mind,” Deana smiled at her son. “But, I’m
not trying to find you a dad. Who told you that?”
“No one, but Thelma said he would make a nice father for
me.”
Damn Thelma, Deana thought.
Sebastian was on time. Deana was double-checking the locks

in the house when the doorbell rang. She heard Joey say the name
before the door opened.
“Hello Sebastian,” she entered the living room.
The sight of her always took his breath away. She looked
elegant in the simple wine red dress. She had pulled her hair up and
away from her neck, with only a few teasing tresses hanging down to
compliment the small teardrop earrings that dangled from her ears. He
realized that all the times he had seen her away from work, she wore
her hair up. At work, she wore her hair lose but tamed. He stepped
over and kissed her on her cheek.
“Hello,” Sebastian said. He felt slightly awkward. He wanted
to reach across and kiss her, but he had never done so in front of Joey
and he was not sure it was appropriate.
“We’re ready.” Deana picked up her purse and they left the
house. He drove the Lexus.
Deana moved to check Joey’s seatbelt, but Sebastian beat her
to it. She didn’t protest and smiled as he opened her door. They barely
made it out of the driveway when Joey started on a completely
surprising conversation. It even surprised Deana, and after almost nine
years as a single parent, few things surprised her.
“Do you like my mother?” Joey asked.
Sebastian didn’t miss a beat. He noticed Deana’s sharp intake
of breath and smiled before answering. “Yes, is that a problem?”
“Only if you hurt her,” Joey said. “My friend Trevor and I
will toilet paper your house like they do on TV. And Trevor will
because he thinks my mom is sexy -which is icky because my mom is
old. But I have some other friends at school who thinks she’s fine.
And one of the guys at the arcade he’s twice as big as me, he says my
mom is a hottie. Trevor would have punched him, but he was big.”
Deana wanted to laugh but she was too surprised to.
“I’ll just have to make sure I don’t hurt you or your mom,”
Sebastian said.
“Good, because I would sure hate to toilet paper your house.
It’s so big; we would run out of paper very fast.”
“Joey Lang,” Deana said. “You need to slow down. Sebastian
is not used to having a kid around.”
“It’s fine Deana,” Sebastian said. “You may have a few years
on me in parenting, but I’ve been there for the seven years of Britney’s
life. Plus our recent mall expedition proves I’m not a klutz with kids. I
forgot to ask how the multiplication was coming, Joey?”
“It’s okay. Mom makes me recite my tables every evening

anyway. My teacher says I’m a math wiz. I love school but I can’t
wait for summer. I will be nine and mom says maybe I can have a
party if the house if up for visitor’s. You should come.”
“I would love to,” Sebastian said. “And if the house is not
done, you can have your party at mine.”
“Awesome,” Joey said. “Then we’ll just have it at your
place.”
“Joey,” Deana warned.
“It’s a deal,” Sebastian said.
“You’re spoiling him,” Deana whispered.
“And I want to spoil you too. I’m working around to it,”
Sebastian said.
Joey was quiet for a while. The whole car fell silent. He was
literally the life of the party. For eight going on nine, he was in that
phase where he wanted answers for everything and he had too much to
say.
Joey wasn’t always chatty. At home he could bury himself in a
video game as easy as reading a book. He was well read for his age,
because she fretted about everything. She wanted him to have a good
life, and she knew his best foot forward would be a great education. He
played a lot of video games, but in exchange, he gave in to her when
she insisted on reading, spelling and dictionary time. They had worked
out a happy compromise.
In some ways, Deana was happy it was always the two of
them. He was her world and she poured all she wanted and could have
been in him. He never resisted the change from small books to larger
books. She was a proud mother listening to her son.
“Do all your friends have big houses?” Joey asked as they
pulled up the driveway of a sprawling craftsman house.
“Some of them do.”
“I like our house,” Joey said. “It’s small but I know where
everything is. The new house is a little bigger, but I think I’ll be able to
find everything.”
“I like your house too,” Sebastian said.
Sebastian parked and they got out of the car. Mack was
already there. They didn’t need to ring the bell; Jaime was already
making his way out of the house. He shook hands with Sebastian and
Joey and kissed Deana on the cheek.
“Come in,” Jaime ushered them across the threshold. “Make
yourself at home. Everyone is out on the deck. It’s such a beautiful
afternoon we decided to barbeque.”
“That’s a lie,” Sebastian said to Deana. “As long as there are
no hurricanes, Jaime would barbeque every day of the week. We have

to thank Bridget for hiding the keys to the grill or he would never be
able to leave it alone.”
“Guilty,” Jaime confessed. “But it’s a strong Davis tradition.
Every Davis knows how to barbeque, even the two my father somehow
adopted when I was four.”
“Just like every Torrance knows how to handle a hammer,
even the two my father adopted when I was four.”
“Are we going to bore Deana rehashing history?” Mack asked
making his way towards them. “As I recall it was my father who
adopted two devils and taught them how to camp and hunt.”
“Lord, have mercy.” A pretty black woman made her way
towards the group. Deana saw much of Britney in the woman, the
same beautiful smile and smooth skin. She knew without a doubt this
was Jaime’s wife. “Don’t let them start with their stories. You would
have grey hairs before they’re done.”
“Hello Bridget,” Sebastian hugged and kissed the woman.
“This is Deana and her son Joey.”
“You are a handsome young devil,” Bridget said. “I’ve heard
so much about over the past week, I feel I already know you. And
Deana, nice to finally meet you. Come on, I’ll introduce you to Stacey,
she’s married to the other musketeer.”
“It’s nice meeting you,” Deana said. She was ready for a
handshake, but Bridget looped her arm through hers and was leading
her to the back of the house. She turned to see the men and Joey
following with huge grins on their faces.
Mack’s wife was a petite woman who appeared to have sunk
in a cozy recliner and had no intentions of getting up. Deana could see
why when she got out on the patio. She was in her the late stages of
her pregnancy.
“This is Stacey. Stacey, Deana. Have a seat; we don’t go near
the grill on barbeque days. So what do you want to drink, we have
anything that can be mixed, red and white wine. What’s your choice?”
“Ah…..”
Joey passed her and sat at a small table with Britney. There
were cookies and milk was on ice. Britney attempted to pour a cup, but
Joey took it from her after the first splash.
“How about margarita?” Bridget asked.
“You’re doing this to tease me, right?” Stacey said.
“Everyone will be having margarita except me.”
“I could make you a non-alcholic pina colada,” Bridget said to
Stacey.
“Slap me in the face again,” Stacey joked.
“I’ll have the margarita,” Deana said sitting in the empty chair
on Stacey’s left.
“Good.” Britney moved to a bar which was an extension of
the patio and started a mix.
Joey tried the milk he had poured. It wasn’t like the milk he
had at home. He took the cup over to where Deana was seated.
“Excuse me. Mom, it’s not soy milk,” Joey said.
“Oh,” Bridget said. “I’m sorry. Let me fetch you a glass.”
“It’s no problem,” Deana said. “If you have lemonade that
will be fine.”
“Nonsense,” Bridget said. “Sebastian told me to get soy milk
but it just slipped my mind when I brought the milk out. I have a bottle
in here. Hang on.”
Bridget poured the glass of soymilk for Joey and he went back
to the table with Britney, who curiously enough wanted to taste
soymilk.
“It doesn’t taste like milk,” she said.
“That’s because it’s not from a cow.”
“What is soy?” Britney asked him.
“Beans.”
“How can you get milk from beans? Are you drinking beans, I
hate beans. Mom makes me eat beans but -.” Deana lost the rest of the
conversation as Bridget returned to the next chair and pulled her into
one of her own. The three men were at the grill in the yard.
“So you’re the woman who’s got our poor Sebastian running
crazy?” Bridget said.
“I don’t know about running crazy -.”
“He is,” Stacey agreed. “And he adores your son.”
Deana felt odd. The men were gathered in the yard, her son
was having milk with his new playmate and she was supposed to be
bonding with these women. She never bonded with any woman except
Thelma and it started because they had sons about the same age and in
the same class at school. Joey was always the center of whatever
conversations she had. She was lost without him.
“So where are you from?” Bridget was asking.
“New York, but we haven’t lived there for a while. In fact we
left just after Joey was born.”
“And your family?”
“Joey’s my only family,” Deana replied. “Do you have a
restroom I may borrow?”
Bridget directed her to the restroom and she left. Sebastian
saw her leaving the group. It amazed him that in such a short time, he
was able to read her by her movements. He could tell now that
something was bothering her - just the slight slump of the shoulder. He
gave Jaime his pair of tongs and moved towards the patio.
“Is something wrong with Deana?” Sebastian asked.
“Other than she’s shy, no,” Bridget said. “She just needs to
use the restroom.”
“I better find her,” Sebastian said.
“Leave her alone,” Stacey said. “She might not like you
fussing.”
“I’ll check just the same.”
He found her just as she exited the bathroom. She has a
frightened look on her face and tried to mask it with a smile.
“What’s wrong?” Sebastian asked.
“I feel like I’m at the meeting of the wives club. The children
are playing by themselves, the men barbequing and the women making
small talk.”
“Do you want to leave?”
“No, they are your friends, you should enjoy their company. I
have no doubt they are nice. It’s just that outside Thelma and Carl, I’ve
never had the time to make any friends.”
“Meeting people is what you do everyday. This is no
different. They are my friends and I would like you to get to know
them. Joey is a younger version of you and he and Britney clicked the
first time they met. And if it amuses you, I think he is her first
infatuation.”
“Don’t say that to him. He still thinks girls are made up of
everything bad. Joey was always the people person,” Deana said. “We
should get back though. They’d think we ran away.”
“If you get uncomfortable, we can leave. Or we could grin
and bear it, you throw a temper tantrum as soon as we get back to your
place and we make love again. You have no idea how sexy you look
when you’re mad.”
She blushed as he moved into to her.
“I do not throw temper tantrums. Anyway, we should get
back.”
“Deana,” he said trailing a finger down her cheek. “I’m happy
you came and I’m grateful that despite my macho stance, you didn’t lie
to me last night. I meant what I said about us. This is not about casual
sex, though I can’t wait for our next interlude.”
Joey was indeed the life of the party. In her absence, he was
chatting up Bridget and Stacey. Deana joined them.
“Mom,” Joey said. “I was telling Bridget about my ride to
school in the limo. Britney has never been to school in a limo.”
“Uncle Sebastian will take me one day,” Britney said. “Deana
you are too young and pretty to be a mother.”

“Thank you Britney,” Deana said. “I hope you tell me that in
another ten years.”
“Joey says you bake the best cookies. Will you bake cookies
for me?”
“Britney -,” Bridget admonished.
“It’s okay,” Deana said. “Well, if I bake again and I see your
uncle Sebastian, I will send a batch with him. How’s that?”
“It sounds cool. I love chocolate chip cookies. Will you bake
that?”
“Sure.”
“Why do you drink milk from beans?” Britney asked.
“That’s enough Britney,” Bridget said. “I’ll explain soy milk
to you later.”
“I like soy milk,” Britney said. “Joey made me try his, but I
don’t understand how milk can come from beans and taste so good.
Beans are yucky.”
The adults giggled and Deana started to relax. Children were
always her weakness. As an only child, she had longed for a brother or
a sister. When she got pregnant with Joey, there was no doubt in her
mind she would keep him. Even if the circumstance was at best
stressful.
“The age of questions and child reasoning,” Bridget said.
“I know what you mean.” Deana said.
“Mom, can I go to the grill with Sebastian?” Joey asked.
“Sure, but don’t get close to the grill. Stay out of their way. And mind
what they say okay? Non misbehave!”
“Sì.”
With that, he dashed off to the yard with the men. Sebastian
caught him mid-run and hoisted him in the air. Joey started laughing as
Sebastian turned him upside down, promising to roast him on the grill.
“Mom would so kick your butt,” Joey said between laughs.
“Would she now?” Sebastian asked.
“Sì.”
Sebastian turned him right side up and put him on the ground.
“Would you like to try your hand at barbequing? Every man
must know how to barbeque,” Jaime said.
“Mom said not to go near the grill,” Joey said.
“We’re here,” Mack said. “I think she meant alone. Come
on.”
Deana watched as they showed Joey how to flip a steak on a
grill. He was enjoying himself. The sight of it almost brought tears to
her eyes and she felt like a foolish old mother.
“Oh boy,” Stacey said. “Just what we needed - one more

testosterone to the mix.”
“He’s never grilled before,” Deana said. “I always say we
would but I never get around to you.”
“Well,” Bridget said. “He’s in the safest three pairs of hands
and with the barbeque maestros. How about another drink?”
“Please,” Deana said. “I’m not driving.”
“You know what,” Stacey said. “You should join us on
Wednesday nights. Every Wednesday the boys go to play and we go
shopping or to a chick flick, something they wouldn’t see and
sometimes just hang out talking about kids, whatever.”
“Sorry,” Deana said. “I have school on Wednesdays.”
“What are you studying?” Bridget asked.
“It’s a diploma course in business management and taxation -
taxation being the hardest point.”
“Mom,” Britney said. “I’m going to join dad and see if Uncle
Mack or Uncle Sebastian wants to play.”
“Okay sweetie,” Bridget said. Britney left the women.
“Deana I don’t know what you put in those cheesecakes, but they are
divine. You should go into business for yourself. I heard about the
cheesecake from a friend of mine at the gym, she heard from someone
else, I told it to Stacey, then we ordered for the mayor’s party last year.
Not only the cheesecake but that divine tiramisu that screams we are
going to hell in a pastry basket. You are talented.”
“Thank you,” Deana blushed.
“Isn’t it funny how our lives intertwined to bring us here?
Stacey said. “If it wasn’t for Mrs. T, that’s Sebastian’s mom, we would
never have planned the mayor’s party. She wouldn’t have fallen in love
with your cheesecake, and Sebastian would not have met you.”
“It’s fated,” Bridget said.
“Yeah,” Stacey agreed.
“Now, tell me about the fun house with its many colors. Brit
got home last night and demanded her room be painted like Joey’s.”
“I’m so sorry,” Deana said.
“Nothing to apologize about,” Bridget brushed her off. “I told
her to go ask Sebastian. He’s the one with the construction company.
The last thing I heard last night was ‘you should see Joey’s house’, and
this morning and all day it’s how our house looks dull without colors. I
think there was one point when she said ‘I can’t wait for Uncle
Sebastian to marry Deana then I can stay at their house and get a bright
color in my room’.”
“She’s such a sweetheart,” Deana said. “But Sebastian and I
aren’t getting married.”
Stacey and Bridget exchanged glances then burst out laughing.

Deana wasn’t in on the joke.
“Oh Lord,” Bridget said gathering herself. “Do you like
Sebastian?”
“Maybe,” Deana said.
“You can be honest with us,” Stacey said.
“Yes,” Deana confessed. “He’s a nice guy.”
“Then you better start looking for a dress. Britney has never
met one of Sebastian’s girlfriends. He would not conceive the idea of
taking her to the house of a casual date. I’ve known Sebastian since
high school. He was best man at my wedding. We barbeque here at
least once a month, he never shows up with a date, no matter how much
Jaime or Mack hooks him up.”
“That doesn’t mean I’m going to marry him or he wants to
marry me.”
Loud cheers erupted from the direction of the grill and short
flames shot in the air. Everybody turned their attention to the yard.
The men were cheering and Joey tong in hand with a huge grin on his
face.
“I think he’s now officially a Davis,” Stacey said. “And if he
is a Davis, he might as well be a Torrance. Deana, that’s not a man
with his girlfriend’s child. That’s a man with his son.”
Deana looked at Joey and Sebastian in the yard. She looked as
she would if she was a stranger seeing them together for the first time.
It was true, but the little demon in her head told her that Sebastian
didn’t want to be father to an eight year old boy.
“Oh yes,” Bridget said. “He most certainly is a Torrance. And
that cue means dinner is almost ready. Want to give me a hand with the
salad and roll, Deana?”
“Sure.”
“I can walk,” Stacey said.
“And if you trip your husband would kill me and start a killing
spree in this family,” Bridget said. “Deana will do just fine.”
The meal was delicious. Joey and Britney provided most of

the entertainment and chatter. Joey taught Britney how to say thank
you in Italian and for the rest of the night grazie was overused. The
adults blended in to suit their young dinner mate. It was clear at the
end of the evening as they said their goodbyes that the group would get
together again.
“Thanks for a good evening,” Deana said on the drive back.
“I’m happy you enjoyed yourself. How about you champ?”
“It was great. But I think Britney likes me. Which is cool, she
doesn’t do girlie stuff. She doesn’t like dolls and she plays video
games.”
“That’s nice,” Deana said.
“Yeah, she’s nice for a girl.” Joey said. “Sebastian, why does
she call you and Mack Uncle?”
“I’m her godfather and Mack is like a brother to Jaime.”
“Godfather?” Joey asked.
“Yes, if something happens to Bridget and Jaime, she comes to
live with me. I would take care of her.”
“I don’t know what I would do if something happens to my
mom,” Joey said sinking into the seats of the car. He loved this car, it
smelled good and the seats were comfortable, unlike his mom’s car
which was old and though it smelled clean, it didn’t smell as good as
this car. Plus, his mom did not have air conditioning. “I don’t have a
godfather.”
“Well,” Sebastian was quick and took the question before
Deana could jump in. “If something should happen to your mom now,
would you like to live with me?”
“Yeah, but I can’t imagine something happening to my mom.
And your house is too big, I would get lost. Our house is small, and
there are no boogie men in the closets. Boogie men like big houses.”
Sebastian didn’t have time to reply as they pulled up in
Deana’s driveway. He walked them to the door. Deana invited him in,
and she meticulously checked every door, every window and every
room.
“You’re either paranoid or very careful,” Sebastian said.
“Force of habit,” Deana replied. “Joey, it’s time to get ready
for bed. Brush your teeth; I’ll be up in a few minutes to tuck you in.”
“Can Sebastian read to me tonight?”
“No honey, I think -.”
“Sure,” Sebastian said. “I’ll be there in two minutes.”
“Grazie.” Joey bounded up the stairs and to the bathroom off
his room.
“Well, I guess if you are going to stay I might as well make
some tea. We seldom coffee here, so I’m afraid it’s tea.”
“Sounds perfect.” He followed her into the kitchen. He
watched her as she filled a kettle and placed it on the stove. She
opened a cabinet with perhaps twenty or so different types of teas.
“Any choices?” She asked.
“I’ll have whatever you’re having.”
“You don’t have to read to him,” Deana said turning to face
him. “He’s just excited another grown up is taking such keen interest
in him. If you don’t do this, he’ll understand and he won’t expect

anything more than just a good friend.”
“Stop being afraid for Joey,” Sebastian said. “I love him and I
wouldn’t try to hurt him.”
Sebastian reached for her and pulled her into his embrace.
She smelled so good. His lips touched hers and he felt the short but
quick jolt of electricity tingled up his spine. Her lips felt soft against
his. When his tongue touched hers, it was heat that he felt in his
stomach. A heat that rose so quickly it seared him with desire and
need. He never wanted anyone else as much as he wanted her this
minute. He released her when she planted her hands firmly on his chest
and tried to step back. He saw her cheeks were flushed with color.
“I’ll be back after I tuck him in bed.”
He left the room and Deana stood rooted to the spot. Her need
for him had not dissipated. She felt like a teenager after a first kiss,
standing with her hand over the still pounding organ in her chest,
listening to the blood rushing to her head.
Sebastian remembered where Joey’s room was because the

boy had shown it to him the first time he’d come over to the house.
Now he enters into this private domain. The room was neat for an
almost nine year old boy. He had an extensive collection of die cast
vehicles and action figures. Joey was already in bed when Sebastian
entered the room. He had a copy of the Hardy Boys Mysteries on his
sheets. Sebastian took up the book and motion Joey over a little further
in the bed. He rested on the edge and opened the book.
“Do I start from the front?” Sebastian asked.
“Yes, it’s a new book. I usually follow along with mom in the
nights. She runs her fingers along the words so I can see them. But
you don’t have to do that.”
“It’s no problem.”
“Sebastian, are you staying with us tonight?”
“No, I think your mom needs some time alone.”
“Oh, because she said if you were dating you could stay over
some times. Are you dating?”
“I hope so,” Sebastian said. “How do you feel about that?”
“Is this a trick question?” Joey asked.
“No. Why?”
“Because my mom asked me the same thing when I spoke to
her earlier,” Joey said. “I don’t care, as along as you are my friend and
you don’t hurt her.”
“Did someone hurt your mom before?”
“Yes, my father. But she doesn’t talk about it.”

“How do you know?” Sebastian asked.
“Because she doesn’t talk about him. I’ve never met him. I
bet he was a perfect jerk. If I knew where he lived, I would toilet paper
his house for sure.”
“Did you ask your mom about him?”
“Once, but now I don’t care. I get to do all the cool stuff
anyway. Plus, if I need a dad, Trevor’s dad will fill in. Then it’s like
Trevor and I are brothers with different mothers. It’s weird but cool.”
“I see. Perhaps we should start reading this book before your
Mom wonders what’s going on.”
“Mom likes you,” Joey said.
“Is that so?”
“Yes. She never lets anyone else read to me. And no man,
besides Trevor’s dad, has ever been over this late.”
“And how do you feel about that?” Sebastian asked.
“I don’t know.”
“What do you think about me kissing your mom?”
“On the lips?” Joey asked.
“Uh-hmm.”
“Gross!” Joey said. “But if you want to swap germs that’s
fine.”
“You know I like you Joey, and not because I’m dating your
mom. I think you’re a great kid. Your mother is lucky to have you.”
“You should tell her that. Maybe I can go to bed at ten instead
of nine during the week.”
“I don’t know,” Sebastian said. “Your mom’s a pretty tough
cookie. Now let’s get started on that story.”
A half hour later, Sebastian joined her in the kitchen. Deana
was already through her third cup of tea and half way through her third
rearrangement of the budget. She motioned to the warm kettle still on
the stove and the set of teacup and saucer waiting on the kitchen
counter.
“Help yourself,” she said. “I think I almost have this.”
Sebastian poured the tea and joined her at the table just as she
started putting the papers away.
“You don’t have to stop on my account,” he said.
“I think I have it wrapped up.” He watched as she sipped her
tea and absently rubbed the back of her neck. He found this gesture
sexy. Her neck was fully exposed and ready to be nibbled. He
restrained himself. He didn’t work his way into her apparent good
grace to screw up.
“I know Joey enjoyed his evening, how about you?” Sebastian
asked.
“It turned out better than I expected, though I have so little in
common with Stacey or Bridget.”
“Bridget’s a mom like you and Stacey is almost there. You
don’t have to be friends with them. I just wanted you to meet them, get
to know them and give Joey some play time with Britney. I’ve know
Jaime and Mack all my life. It’s important that you know them.”
“So when I met you on that Wednesday night it was boys’
night out?”
“Some thing like that. We like to give the women their space
every now and then. When Joey’s older, he’ll join us. I’ll be the first
of the three with a boy. I’ll get that for you.” He couldn’t resist her
rubbing her neck any longer. He got up and kneaded her shoulders. He
felt the sudden tension in her as his hands touched her, but then she
relaxed a little and started enjoying the experience.
To Deana, Sebastian’s hands were like fire touching her. He
was an expert, rubbing just hard enough, then soft enough to have her
swooning. It was desire she felt for him. Most men, either ducked out
at her temper, or chickened out at the thought of immediate fatherhood.
Sebastian had done neither.
That’s what scared her. She couldn’t get tied up with Sebastian
because of Joey. It was hard enough raising a son alone, but exposing
him to a short romantic interlude then yanking him back to the reality
that all they had was each other, was cruel. She could not put her son
through this. Already he thought of Sebastian as a friend. Maybe it
was her fault falling for those mysterious blue eyes and wide smile.
“I think it is my bed time.” She stood up.
“Then it’s my cue to go. I’ll see you tomorrow?”
“No, I’ll be busy.”
“Okay.” He sensed the slight mood swing in her. It was not
the time to press her.
Deana walked him to the front door. From the corner of her
eyes, she spotted something unusual. A dark car was parked in the
driveway of the empty house she was buying. On first glance, it would
seem like an ordinary car in a driveway, but she knew the house was
empty and this was no ordinary car, it was a Cadillac. From here she
couldn’t miss the broad smooth design of the front. She knew Caddies
because she hated them. Her mother had driven a Cadillac all of
Deana’s life – at least when she was with her. When Simon announced
‘I’m getting a new car’, one could not lose a bet it would be a Caddy.
A chill crept up her spine. She’d seen this Cadillac
somewhere before, but not on this street, somewhere else. In the
waxing moonlight, she couldn’t tell if it was empty, or what the color
was. She had the strangest thought that something evil and wicked lay
in wait in that car. And it wasn’t waiting for just anybody, it waiting for
her.
Sebastian felt a slight shimmer in her when he bent to kiss her.
Her skin was cold.
“Are you okay?”
“Ah…yes.” But her voice was breathy like a child who’d just
received the scare of her life.
“Deana.”
“Goodnight.” This time her voice was stronger, because she
wanted nothing else but to be locked in her house. She closed the door,
turned out the lights and double checked every window and every door
in the familiar darkness.
She sat intently at the window in the dark watching the car.
Her tired brain screamed paranoia, but her heart said caution. It was
two hours before the car finally drove away. So someone had been in
the car – watching. Were they watching her? Did Tony finally catch up
with her? Deana’s heart bled. She loved this neighborhood, she loved
that Joey finally had a real life, with best friends and sleepovers. How
dare Antonio try to take this from him? The fear that gnawed at her
earlier was replaced with anger, and her chilled skin would have been
hot to the touch if anyone touched her.
Deana reigned in the emotions. She didn’t survive by being
an emotional wreck. She would watch. Every dark Caddy was now a
suspicious vehicle. If they were watching her, she would watch them
and be ready.
Staying up to watch the car despite her tiredness had given her
a headache. She would be worse for wear in the morning with the little
sleep she was expecting tonight. She looked in on her son, checked the
house once more then went to bed.
8.
Sebastian thought if he could figure out women, he would be

the most fortunate and sought after man in the world - not that he
wasn’t sought after or fortunate now. But the woman he was seeking
certainly wasn’t seeking him. Deana had turned down all his dinner
invitations since the barbeque. She refused his calls and refused to
speak to him, even when he waited out her shift at the diner. Her
excuse was always the same, too busy. He sent flowers to both her
home and work hoping to smooth out whatever had gone awry since
their diner at Jaime’s. He came up empty handed.
On bring-your-kids-to-work day, she’d greeted him coldly
when she opened the door. Joey was already waiting for him, and he
realized she timed it so he didn’t have a minute to spare before leaving.
“I want to know why you’re mad at me,” he said as Joey came
towards the door.
“If he’s not home by three o’clock, I’ll find you,” was her
reply.
“Bye Mom,” Joey said.
“Have a good time sweetheart. But if you don’t like it, call
me. You have all the numbers, right?”
“I’m sure it will be cool,” Joey said running towards the Lexus
in the driveway.
“We have to talk,” Sebastian said. “Later.”
“Bye.”
She waited until they were out of the driveway. She knew she
was treating Sebastian badly, but she was much too preoccupied with
finding the Cadillac.
She’d slammed the door on him when he dropped Joey off that
evening. There was too much going on to spare a minute explaining
her actions to Sebastian.
Every day wherever she went, she checked mirrors, parking
lots and even spent nights waiting; watching, but the car eluded her.
She appreciated and looked forward to seeing Sebastian after
her shifts, but she was focused on the Cadillac. Romance could wait if
Tony found her. Romance, she chuckled to herself the first week.
What am I thinking? He’s a god damn millionaire. Cinderella stories
didn’t happen in real life. There was no happy ever after. This thought
made her sad. Before she hit the wonderfully confused and frightening
age of thirteen, Deana believed in fairy tales. She believed she would
fall in love, marry a nice guy and live happily ever after. Tony had
snatch that dream from her.
But there might still be a chance, she reasoned with herself. I

do like him after all – but - ‘dreaming is for losers’, the words on
Simone Pacelli ran through her head.
The Caddy never came; never tailed her in traffic and Deana
started to relax again. It could have been a stranger who took a quick
nap in their car. She’d done that once in Chicago. She was sure Tony
had found them, and in her run, she’d parked in the driveway of what
appeared to be an empty house. It was three in the morning and she
was tired of driving. Joey was four then, and had fallen asleep in the
backseat. It was possible.
“Do you have a few minutes?” Thelma Wayne asked as Deana
drove up her driveway.
“Sure, is something wrong?” Deana asked.
“Let’s go out back,” Thelma said looping her arm through
Deana’s. “The kids are playing video games now.”
“Did something happen to Joey, Trevor or Carlton?” Deana
was now worried.
“No. Did you know that Joey know call me Aunt Thelma and
Carlton Uncle Carl?”
“No.”
“Well he does, and I must say we get a kick out off it. I asked
him why he decided to call us that. He says his friend Britney calls
Sebastian Uncle because if anything happens to her, she will live with
him. And he feels if anything happens to you, he will live with us.”
“I’m sorry Thelma, I never - .”
“That’s not what I’m worried about. Of course if something
should happen to you Joey has a home with us. We love him and
would never turn him out. He and Trevor are already joined at the hips
so that would be like giving up my own son. It’s this Sebastian thing I
want to talk to you about.”
“Sebastian?” Deana asked taking a seat in one of the patio
chairs.
“Yes. Joey thinks you are not seeing Sebastian because of
him. I might have put my foot in my mouth when I told him Sebastian
would be a nice daddy for him, but I thought everything was smoothed
out after the mall thing. What is happening?”
“I don’t know what to say,” Deana said. “I obviously have to
correct Joey on that, but -.”
“Deana you are young, nobody expects you to live a celibate
life, not even for Joey’s sake. There are bound to be a few broken
hearts now and then, but you will bounce back.”
“It’s not my heart I’m worried about,” Deana said. “I’m
scared Joey will start looking up to him then things go crazy, and he
gets hurt in the crosshairs. I don’t expect Sebastian to suddenly father a

nine year old boy either. Joey is already asking the important
questions, you know?”
“Have you discussed your feelings with either of them?”
“I don’t think Joey will understand and well, I don’t want to
throw my problems at Sebastian. Anyway Thelma, I have to run – I
have a huge order of cookies and pies for the mall tomorrow.”
“I’m here any time you want me, kiddo. I don’t know what to
tell you. You need to sort out Sebastian for yourself then have an open
discussion with Joey. This is not going to go away by ignoring it.
They had a splendid kids’ day at work. Joey really enjoyed it and
apparently Sebastian did too.”
“I know the kids’ day went well. Joey couldn’t stop talking
about it. He even got a hardhat with his name on it.”
“Where did you get that?” Deana asked Joey. He was in the
living room playing a new video game that she hadn’t bought. It was
typical for him to play his games as loud as possible, this was very
quiet and it got her attention.
“In a minute mom,” he replied. She waited him out for five
minutes until he paused the game. She usually interrupted him for
school related work or for his part of the chores. On evenings such as
this when she had work for the mall, she would let him play or read
uninterrupted. “Sebastian bought it for me.”
“When did you see Sebastian?” Deana asked.
“A couple days ago. He stopped by Aunt Thelma.”
“Are we keeping secrets Joey Lang?”
“No mom. You told me if he hurts me I’m to tell you, he
didn’t. I’m sorry I didn’t tell you, but I knew you would get mad at me
because you’re mad at him. And I asked him before you were mad at
him.”
“When?” Deana asked.
“When you let him read to me. Nobody else every read to me
except you, so I thought you liked him. Is it because he read to me why
you’re not talking to him?”
“No. I am working hard to make our lives better. Sebastian is
a distraction.”
“What’s a distraction?” Joey asked.
“He gets in the way,” Deana said. “And I have tons of stuff to
do. We have to move by next Saturday and I’m not even done with the
packing. You see Joey; I need time to focus on what we need. I want
you have a great life and all the things I never had. I want you to go to
a great school and not worry about how I’m going to pay for it. To do
that, I need to focus on my goals. With Sebastian I lose my focus.”
“But I have a great life mom. And if Sebastian gets in the
way, you can ground him like when I’m bad.”
Deana wanted to laugh. Sometimes Joey’s logic was eight
going on forty, and sometimes he was just eight years old. The picture
of a grounded Sebastian brought a smile to her face.
“Oh I get it,” Joey said watching his mom strain to contain her
laughter. “You have already grounded him that’s why he sends flowers.
I’m never dating because I’m not going to waste so much money on
flowers and I hate being grounded.”
Now she couldn’t contain the laughter. She laughed until tears
came to her eyes. Joey stood looking at her suspiciously.
“I love you son.” She hugged him and went back to the
kitchen, still smiling. Joey followed her and the scent of fresh baked
cookies.
“Oh Mom,” Joey said. “Sebastian’s coming over with Britney.
I think her mom and dad are out of town for the weekend. I didn’t
know he was grounded. We were going to play this game together.”
Deana was still laughing at the original joke to be upset at the
moment. It wasn’t Joey’s fault she had not explained the finer concepts
of dating. She had only gone out a few times since being a mother and
he was probably too young and none of those men had even glanced at
him twice for him to understand what such relationships were. His
finest example of relationship was Thelma and Carlton, and whatever
he could divulge from a book.
Sebastian is coming over, rang somewhere in her brain and
she realized she had only planned cold cuts tonight. There was no time
for cooking and she had several more pies and cookies to go.
“I wasn’t making dinner tonight,” Deana said.
“I know. He said whatever we were having is fine. We could
order pizza. I have sixty bucks in my piggy bank.”
“Sixty? You are getting richer by the second.”
“I hope so, because I’ve not been wasting my money. Oh and
mom, you owe me allowance for last week and this week.”
“I’ll write you a check,” Deana said.
“Man, you are a poor boss, but a great mom.” He pulled a
fresh Macadamia cookie from a platter. He knew his mom always
baked extra.
“Love you,” she said.
“Ditto,” he replied.
Sebastian and Britney showed up at seven. Deana had

finished the cakes which were prepped the night before, and was
waiting to add another five batch of cookies to the oven. Every time
she had a huge order such as this, she promised to get a bigger oven,
but the money was always needed elsewhere. She was in the kitchen
icing the cakes when Joey opened the door.
“I didn’t know you were grounded,” she heard Joey say. “Hi
Britney.”
“Grounded?” Sebastian asked.
“Yes. Mom said you were grounded because you are a -.
Mom!” He yelled. “What was that word again?”
Deana didn’t answer as she flushed with embarrassment. Oh
God, she thought. Joey had never been this open with anyone except
her.
“Mom,” he strutted in the kitchen with Sebastian and Britney
behind him. “What was that word, it means he gets in the way?”
“Distraction,” Deana blushed even more under Sebastian’s
intent stare.
“Right,” Joey said turning to Sebastian. “You are grounded
because you are a distraction. When I’m grounded I don’t buy flowers.
I can’t afford them anyway. You have to sit it out.”
“Okay,” Sebastian said. “Hi Deana.”
“Hello Sebastian, Britney” Deana said refusing to look up
from the cakes.
“We should order pizza now,” Joey said. “Let’s go to the
living room, mom never allows me to steal the cookies when I’m
grounded.”
“Can I have a cookie Aunt Deana?”
“Sure you can sweetie, and it’s just Deana,” Deana said.
“No, my daddy says it’s Aunt Deana because you and Uncle
Sebastian are – I don’t remember the word but it means he’s Joey’s
daddy so you’re Aunt Deana.”
“Oh,” Deana said and stole a glance at Sebastian who
shrugged his shoulder. “Well, if your daddy told you so.”
“He did. I’m going to play video games with Joey,” Britney
walked over to Deana and whispered conspiratorially. “He’s cute for a
boy.”
“I think so too,” Deana bent and whispered back. “But don’t
tell him, he will get a big head.”
“This cookie is good Aunt Deana. Thank you.” The girl
placed a loud smack on her cheek and streaked off to the living room to
find Joey.
“Grounded?” Sebastian asked.

“The pizza number is on a refrigerator magnet. He likes meat
lovers; you can half and half if there’s something you or Britney would
prefer.”
Sebastian walked over to the counter and held her chin in his
right hand, forcing her to look at him. God, she said to herself, why’d
he come with those irresistible blue eyes.
Beautiful, Sebastian thought. He’d missed this face. When he
ran into her the past two weeks, he barely had a chance for more than a
glimpse before she ran away. But this face, slightly etched with worry,
lips curled upward and beautiful mysterious eyes had been lost on him.
He bent his head and kissed her lips. She tasted sweet like before, and
not of the cookies and cakes she had surrounding her. It was a natural
sweet feminine taste that made him want more than stolen kisses.
“Yuck!” Joey said from behind them, and the both turned to
look at him.
“Joey,” Deana said in a worried voice.
“When you finish swapping germs, could we order pizza?”
He asked and took two cookies off a tray.
“I’ll get on it right away,” Sebastian said. To Deana he
whispered, “He’s okay with it.”
“No more cookies until dinner,” Deana said.
“One’s for Britney, she’s trying out the new game.”
She wanted to explain to Joey in her own words. Sebastian
was not use to a child, there was no way she could be sure what Joey
was thinking and no way had she trusted that Sebastian could explain
this to him. But Joey was already with Sebastian on the other side of
the kitchen. He was reciting the numbers as Sebastian dialed. She
would have to make the time to explain to him tonight.
By the time pizza arrived, she had the last batch of cookies in
the oven and was cleaning up the kitchen. Sebastian had brought extra
controllers and was playing with the children. They paused for the
door bell.
“If mom sees you doing that,” she heard Joey admonishing
Sebastian. “You will be grounded again. Always check the window
before opening the door. That is Lang rule number one.”
“You’ll have to teach me the Lang rules,” Sebastian replied.
She heard the door close.
“I hope you have lots of money for flowers because mom does
not allow sodas in the house. Oh boy, you re going to get it.”
“Sorry,” Sebastian said holding up the bottled soda as he got
in the kitchen.
“No problem,” Deana said. “He’ll have juice though.
Sebastian, could you get everything ready, I need to talk to Joey for a
minute.”
“No problem,” he said.
Deana walked Joey to the living room. Sebastian fetched
Britney so they would be alone. She motioned for Joey to sit on the
sofa, and then she sat in the loveseat across from him.
“About me kissing Sebastian,” she started.
“Mom, it’s okay. I don’t care if you swap germs. As long as
he doesn’t hurt you or give you bad germs. One of my friend’s mom
got bad germs from her boyfriend and she had to go to the emergency
room. And he didn’t come to school for a whole week.”
“Let me explain,” Deana said. Now she felt like a child
pleading with a parent. Isn’t it funny how kids make you do that, she
thought. “Sebastian and I like each other, and sometimes we kiss
because we like each other. It doesn’t mean I love you any less.”
“Mom, I understand,” Joey said.
“You do?”
“Yes. Uncle Carl and Aunt Thelma kiss all the time, and
sometimes, Trevor says they make funny sounds in their room and Aunt
Thelma likes it when Carl makes her make those funny sounds. Uncle
Carl said that’s how they make a baby. And I don’t know if that is true
because they don’t have a baby, but their working on one.”
Sweet Jesus, Deana thought, how do I explain this?
“Need a hand?” Sebastian asked. He’d heard them from the
kitchen. He suspected Deana had been dying to explain the kiss to
Joey, now he confirmed. Britney ran into the room and sat beside Joey.
Great, Deana thought. As if it wasn’t bad enough trying to explain to an
eight year old boy.
“Is there an easy solution?” Deana asked.
“No, but we could give it a shot.” Sebastian sat on the arm of
her chair. “Okay Joey, let’s get this right the first time. When people
love each other, they need time together to play and have fun. When
you have fun you tend to laugh loudly and cheer like when you are at
the playground. Are you following me so far?”
“Yes.”
“Well, when adults have their fun, it’s like that except they
make different noises to express themselves. They both love to hear
the other make these noises so sometimes it can get a little loud. Your
mom and I will try our best to keep it down when we are at that stage.”
Deana went to a shade of lobster red. “Part of loving each other means
they touch each other, kiss and maybe sleep in the same bed.
Sometimes they make babies when they are having fun, and sometimes
they don’t.”
“My mom and dad sleep in the same bed everyday,” Britney
says.
“So you and my mom will be having fun in her room?” Joey
asked Sebastian.
“Maybe, how do you feel about that?” Sebastian asked.
“What about the bad germs?”
Deana sank into the chair some more. This was getting out of
hand.
“Right now, because we have just started dating, we take
precautions to prevent your mom from getting my bad germs or me
from getting her bad germs, though I don’t think either of us have any.
When you’re older, I’ll show you how to protect yourself from getting
bad germs.”
“Are you going to be having babies?”
“Perhaps, if we decide that it’s right for us later. But we can
also protect ourselves from having babies,” Sebastian said.
“And you’re going to get married like Uncle Carl and Aunt
Thelma?”
“When the time comes,” Sebastian said.
Deana was surprised Sebastian was handling this so well. For
a man who’s not had a kid, he was not half bad. He even did a better
job than she might have, but she wouldn’t let him know that.
“Will I have to call you dad and change my name?”
“I hope you will want to change your name, and you can call
me dad only if you want to.”
“If you have kids will we live at the new house?”
“No, you will live at my house or we buy a different house.”
“Cool, because the other house is still too small for more than
one kid. If you want to have fun with my mom in her room, that is
fine. Is it time for pizza yet?”
The four left to the kitchen. Deana felt a weight off her
shoulders but couldn’t quite explain it. She had merely intended to
explain a kiss to Joey. They had gone from that to a version of the
birds and the bees. She knew this talk with Joey had to come at some
point in the future, but she was hoping for a nice growing up age of
fourteen or sixteen if she could just keep him thinking girls were made
up of all the bad things. Perhaps Sebastian wasn’t so bad after all, who
knew you could relate sex to playground fun.
Deana watched with interest as they ate their pizza. If
Sebastian had any single talent, it was making Joey feel he was the
center of the world while they were together, not that Britney was
excluded from anything. Perhaps a leap of some sort with this man was
not so bad. He was good with and to her son. She left the table to get
the oven at first beep. The baking was over.
At ten o’clock, with Joey snoring softly in his bed and Britney
in hers, Deana joined Sebastian in the living room. He stretched his
legs and turned off the television. She sat beside him in the gloomy
living room, lighted only by the soft glow of a mood light.
“I don’t want to keep you up,” Sebastian said. “It looks like
you will have a busy day tomorrow.”
“I will, but I don’t usually turn into a pumpkin until closer to
midnight. Thanks for the help with Joey.”
“You didn’t trust I could explain a kiss to him,” he noted.
“And you eavesdrop very well,” she countered.
“So we both want to protect him,” Sebastian conceded.
“There’s nothing wrong with that. If anything, it should be a bonus that
he has two adults who loves him and want to take care of him. Now I
would like to hear this grounding bit.”
“Grounding was the way Joey understood us being apart for
the past two weeks. I’m afraid if we don’t work out, he’ll miss having
precisely what he had this evening - two adults that loves him. And it’s
not fair for me to expect or want you to suddenly be father to a nine
year old.”
“I can promise you if we don’t work out, I will still love your
son. And even when or if I have a family of my own, I will love him
just the same.” Sebastian said. “I might not be a father in the
traditional sense of the word, but I know kids. Do you think Jaime and
Bridget would leave Britney with me if they didn’t trust me? I am
thirty five years old Deana, I must have been around a few kids in my
life.”
“You must think I’m a paranoid fool,” Deana said. “My
mother never really wanted a daughter, my father skipped town when I
was Joey’s age and my step-father, he was powerless against my
mother and his son. As a child, I never felt quite grounded to anyone or
anywhere. I don’t want that for Joey. I don’t want to smother him
either. I just want a happy well adjusted child.”
“I think you’re a great mother Deana. It’s tough to take care
of a child by yourself, but you do it. For that alone you are tops in my
book and Joey couldn’t have done better. It’s hard to let go and allow
someone else in your lives, but I can promise, whatever goes bad
between us will never affect Joey. Though, I hope nothing ever goes
wrong between us. I am starting to think of you both as my family.”
His lips were against hers. The kiss was soft and she enjoyed
it knowing this man had no intentions of hurting her or her son. He

wrapped her hair around his hand as he pulled her into the kiss. He
gently eased her back onto the sofa. Her body fitted perfectly below
his. He trailed kissed down her cheeks, her chin, her neck and back to
capturing her mouth again. He felt the fire of desire uncoiled in his
belly and he moaned against her lips.
Deana was enjoying herself. She felt him tremble under her
embrace and her own skin ran hot and cold with shivers. It felt like
being washed away in a tide of heat. She kissed him greedily, wanting
more of this heat, more of the same feeling, knowing she was with
someone who wanted her. Her breath caught in her throat as he teased
her earlobe.
Fortunately for her, he was going to be a gentleman tonight.
There was no need to rush into this. She would need time to internalize
everything, time to think about them being together. God, she tastes so
good, he thought as he eased off her.
“I should let you get to bed.”
“Okay.”
Her eyes were heavy with emotions. He thought about her
tongue now as she licked her lips.
“Nonlo tenti!” He said.
“Tempt you with what?” She asked.
“If I don’t leave now, I might not be able to. What time do
you get off tomorrow?”
“I don’t know sometime after noon. I deliver the cookies and
cakes about nine in the morning. Then I have final exams and I take
Joey to get a haircut.”
“Final exams?”
“Yes, my business course ends tomorrow,” Deana said.
“When does school let out for Joey?”
“Next Friday. He will complain about summer school for two
weeks and then it’s off to summer camp. This is his first and he’s
excited.”
“You don’t sound excited,” he said as she walked him to the
door.
“This is the first time he’s going to be more than a few houses
from me,” Deana said. “When he’s at the Wayne’s I can walk the seven
houses between us and get him. For summer camp he’ll be gone for
three weeks over a hundred miles away. I can’t yank him now. He and
Trevor have been looking forward to this since the start of the year.”
“It will be a good experience for him.”
“I know.”
“And moving?” Sebastian asked.
“I’m getting to it. It’s just a little harder than I imagined,” she
said following him up the stairs.
“I could get movers for you. They’ll come in and pack
everything, then unpack exactly the way it is now.”
“No,” Deana said. “Unfortunately that is expensive.”
“It’s my treat.”
“No. Our relationship so far is like a rollercoaster. I’m not
sure when the crazy ride will be over and I’ll be damned if -.”
“Shhh,” he whispered turning on the landing to look at her.
“Must you always look a gift horse in the mouth?”
“That’s more than a gift, it’s -.”
“It’s my way of saying I want to take care of you. I will love
you, pamper and spoil you if you let me.”
“I don’t want us in an argument tonight. It’s been a pleasant
night. We can pick this up at a later date.”
Sebastian lifted a sleeping Britney from the bed. Her head
rested on his shoulder as he took her down the stairs. He kissed Deana
lightly on the lips then left. Deana waited until he was out of the
driveway before closing the door. She locked the door then
meticulously walked through the house checking every door as was her
nightly ritual.
9.
The stranger watched intently as the man and child left the
house. He felt the smooth edges of the scar across his face. He had
been watching this house for two months now. There was never an
opportune time for him to see the boy. The boy was never left alone
and never left with other kids.
It wasn’t chance that made him found the boy and the mother.
For nine years he’d meticulously tracked her down. He was always a
few steps behind, but now he had caught up with her. She either
thought the deal was over, or that she was impossible to find.
He could wait longer. He would wait longer. The bastard boy
and his mother will eventually let down their guard. And who was this
man, this stranger whom they had accepted in their lives? Well, he
smiled to himself as he rolled silently from the driveway five houses
away; every woman needs a little john every now and then.
On Saturday, Sebastian knocked at their door around noon.

Britney was with him.
“Hey sport,” Sebastian said when Joey opened the door.
“Nice hair cut.”
“I think it looked better when it was long,” Britney said.
“Me too,” Joey agreed. “But Mom thought otherwise. Come
on in. I was in the middle of a book.”
“No video games?” Britney asked as she swept pass him.
“Nope, Mom needs to think and this book is interesting
anyways.”
“I can’t read very well,” Britney said. “But I’m only seven so
it doesn’t matter.”
“Where’s your mom?” Sebastian asked closing the door.
“In the garage,” Joey said. “It’s her quiet place. She goes to
the garage when she needs to think.”
“Britney, why don’t you go fetch Aunt Deana – it’s through
the kitchen and to your right. I want to have a talk with Joey.”
“Okay.” Britney took off.
“Are you ready to move?” Sebastian asked Joey.
“We’re not quiet ready, but mom says we’ll make it. Moving
sucks! I thought we’d live here forever.”
“It can be fun sometimes,” Sebastian encouraged.
“Remember I said I’d help?”
“Yeah.”
“Well, I have a few guys at the new house right now waiting
for you and your Mom. They will fix the house in no time, and it won’t
feel like you’re moving except you have a bigger house.”
“Cool,” Joey said.
“Hey,” Deana was entering the room. “I heard you were
here.”
“Yeah, thought we might take a look at the new house
together.” Sebastian moved towards her and kissed her cheek.
“Yes Mom,” Joey said excitedly. “Let’s go.”
Deana locked her house and they started the short walk to the
new house. She frowned when she saw the two trucks parked in the
driveway of the new house. Sebastian had the two kids and they were
skipping towards the house. She was wondering who would have
parked two work trucks in front of the house when a large burly man
started walking towards them. Her heard skipped a beat for a second
until Joey shouted, “Juan.”
Joey high-fived the man as they met in the middle of the
driveway. There were six or seven other gentlemen sitting on the front
porch in work clothes. Deana had not seen them from the street.
“Hey little man,” some of the men greeted Joey.
“Hey Pepe,” Joey shouted. “How’s Tania?”
Deana gathered Joey knew these men from his ‘bring-your-
kids-to-work’ day that Sebastian had taken him on.
“Breathe,” Sebastian whispered in her ear. Only then she
realized her mouth was wide open in surprise as she stared at pallets of
construction material. “This is your construction crew. Let me
introduce them.”
Deana didn’t hear much of the introduction. She shook one
hand after the other trying to figure out how to stop Sebastian on a task
he was hell bent on completing.
“Just tell us where you want to start ma’am,” one of the
gentlemen said.
“I’m sorry,” Deana said. “I don’t know. I wasn’t expecting -.”
“We should take a look inside and you can tell us what you
want done,” Sebastian suggested.
He had to put pressure on the small of her back to get her to
move. Britney and Joey were already ahead of them.
“Sebastian,” she whispered. “I told you not to.”
“So I’m stubborn, you can ground me later. In more ways
than one,” he said. A sly knowing smile crept over his face and Deana
blushed.
She opened the door and crew, kids and Sebastian spilled into
the vacant living room. A slightly musty scent clung to the air. She’s
promised to have the house vacuumed and aired before moving in, but
that would be next week.
They kept the children close as they walked through the house.
Deana was trying to picture it in her mind, but all she came up with was
the current house. The angles, textures, colors even arrangement of the
furniture eluded her. How strange it was to become so attached to a
small piece of property. But it had been their property – the first thing
she and Joey ever owned. She’d never taken the time to analyze her
feelings before making the decision to sell and start over. She’d
thought nothing else but the income the sale would bring and how it
could help Joey’s future. It was an economically sound plan, she knew
in her heart that was her first home. Not even living with her mother
was home.
“They brought a color selection guide, hardwood samples,
blinds, everything you might want to try except tiles,” Sebastian was
saying. “Just say what you want.”
“I don’t know,” she said. “I can’t picture it in my head.”
“Deanna,” he said. “What’s the matter?”
“Nothing, I’m just a little overwhelmed I guess.”
“They can use the same colors as the other house,” he
suggested.
“That would be cool,” Joey said exiting his new room. “Four
bedrooms, that’s a lot bigger than our other house. Maybe I can get a
games room like your house, Sebastian.”
“Only when you start paying the electricity bill,” Deana said.
“Well, if it’s my crew then they could come over and see what I like.”
The men followed her to the house. They were impressed by
the dazzling colors and upgrades. They were even more impressed
when Sebastian told them Deana had done the job herself.
“You’re tailor made to be a Torrance,” Juan said. He was
obviously more than just an employee to Sebastian, and Deana blushed
at his words. “Every Torrance, I’m told, knows how to wheel a
hammer, even the gorgeous and delicate Alexia Torrance, his mother.”
“Juan’s been with the company forever,” Sebastian explained.
“He’s a very good friend of the family and all our projects pass through
his hands first.”
“The style here is very eclectic,” Juan continued. “You could
drop in and teach our interior decorators a thing or two. I would surely
like you to design some of our models. Sales would flow like water off
Niagara. Where’s your office?”
“What office?” Deana asked.
“You’re an interior designer, nuh?”
“No,” Deana said. “I don’t know a thing about interior
designing.
“You’re wasting your talent.”
“Tell her that after you try her pastries,” Sebastian said. “Now
there is some real talent waiting to be discovered.”
“I’m looking forward to it ma’am. If you don’t mind, the boys
and I will star clearing out the old stuff and get ready to lay the floor.
We have a sample of hardwood close to what you have here. You
would you like something else?”
“That’s perfect,” Deana said. “I’m a little tied up over here
and might not be able to drop by but if you need anything - .”
“We will let you know,” Juan said and he and the men left.
“Mom, can I go with them?” Joey asked.
“No.”
“Please. I’ll stay with Juan or Pepe. They wouldn’t mind.”
“No. You can play games with Britney or continue reading
your book. Later you can help me take over a bite to eat, how’s that?”
“Okay,” Joey said in a dejected voice.
Deana didn’t need to tell Sebastian to follow her to the
kitchen, one motion of the head and he got the message.
“Uh oh,” Britney said. “You’re in trouble again Uncle
Sebastian.”
Deana shook her head and smiled. Britney was so acute to all
the subtle hints she gave Sebastian. It reminded her that it was
something Joey might never know. When he was older and started
dating, how would he be able to pickup on subtle women’s gestures
that meant so much in a relationship? She would have to teach him
more than she anticipated.
“Not this time,” Deana told Britney.
“Aunt Deana, why don’t you live with Uncle Sebastian if
you’re selling your house? His house is huge and he lives by himself,”
Britney said.
“Ah,” Deana didn’t quite know how to explain this to Britney.
She looked towards Sebastian. “A little help please.”
“This is all yours.” He grinned and passed her making his
way to the kitchen.
“Ah…well…”
“They are not married yet,” Joey put in.
“Yes,” Deana agreed wondering why she never thought of the
answer as simple as that. But she knew why. Joey said not married
yet, she would say not married but Britney was told by her father to call
Deana Aunt Deana.
“You should just get hitched and then you wouldn’t have to
move again,” Britney said.
“Hitched?” Deana asked.

“Yes, that’s what they said on TV. You can go to a place call
Vegas and get hitched in one day, especially if you have been making
babies. They always envelope and get hitched.”
“Elope,” Deana said.
“What?”
“Elope not envelope, but that’s only in the movies.”
“No, because Mom always says if I ever envelope – I mean
elope – when I get older she would kill me.”
“But Sebastian and I are not getting married.”
“Okay,” Britney said as if Deana hadn’t a clue what was going
on. “If you say so. I’m going to play Fatal Frame now.”
Britney eyed Deana suspiciously before turning her attention
to Joey and the video game.
Sebastian had a huge grin on his face when she stepped in the
kitchen. He was leaning against the counter with a glass of lemonade
in his hand.
“Jeez thanks for nothing,” Deana said walking towards him.
“I know better than to get between two women arguing a
point. So am I going to get a lecture -?”
Her lips were on his before he could finish the sentence. The
surprise didn’t stop him from responding appropriately.
“I’m not complaining, yet. Even though I should kick your
ass for not rescuing me from Britney,” she said stepping from his
embrace. “My closing on this house was moved up to Thursday. I
have to be out by Saturday. I knew I should start moving but I was too
emotionally attached to this house. Thelma and Carlton were going to
help me on Friday, but this is better. I am absolutely grateful for your
help but it would be out of character if I didn’t protest your generosity.”
“Why didn’t you tell me before, I could have done this
sooner?”
“You were grounded, remember?” She smiled at him.
“Sebastian I am so scared we are moving so fast and I have Joey to
consider. He’s so totally in love with you. He sees you without telling
me and I’m just - .”
“We’ve had this discussion before,” Sebastian said. “Joey will
have me all his life unless he chooses otherwise. It’s us that need some
work and I’m ready for it. I want it. Let’s all three of us go away next
weekend.”
“I can’t just up and go. I have to work and move by
Saturday.”
“Take the weekend off. I promised moving crew also. They’ll
be here on Wednesday to photograph everything. Just set the time and
they will come. They will fix everything as it is now, you’ll just have
the two extra bedrooms empty. Let’s go sailing and so there’s no
pressure, Bridget, Britney and Jaime will come also.”
“I’ve never been sailing,” Deana said.
“It will be wonderful. The fresh air, the open sea, we could
got to the Bahamas and back.”
“You’re twisting my arm nicely,” she said. “Okay, but let’s
see what Joey thinks.”
“Hey Joey,” Sebastian called. “Can you pause that game?” He
had to shout over the noise in the living room. But the game was
paused almost instantly, which surprised Deana. She usually had to
yell a second time, bribe or threaten for that immediate response. Joey
and Britney were in the kitchen in a double.
“Ho would you like to go sailing on Friday?” Sebastian asked.
“Sailing?” Joey’s eyes were wide as saucers. “In a boat?”
“A yacht, it’s slightly bigger than a boat.”
“Sounds cool,” Joey said. “Can my friend Trevor come?”
“Sure, but I think Deana would have to ask Thelma.”
“This is so cool,” Joey said. “Friday’s the last day of school.
We leave at two, can you pick us up or have Angus pick us up, and that
would be super cool?”
“Joey,” Deana cautioned.
“Sure,” Sebastian said. “No Angus though. Your mom and I
will pick you up after school and we head straight for the marina.”
“Great, are we going fishing?” Joey asked.
“We could if you want. I still have a fishing license
somewhere. But we’re going to the Bahamas.”
“Where is the Bahamas?” Joey asked.
“About fifty miles or so away,” Sebastian said. “We will take
it slowly, but we can spend all of Saturday and we start back on
Sunday.”
“Great,” Joey said. “Can we go back to the game now?”
“Sure.”
The kids ran back to the living room and the video game could
be heard again.
“Something’s wrong with my son,” Deana said.
“Huh?”
“With news like this, I’d have to fight him to get off the phone
with Trevor. He’s excited and he’s in the living room playing video
games with a girl. Oh,” she said after a brief pause. “She’s not really a
girl, she doesn’t play with dolls.”
“This must be a mother-son moment,” Sebastian said.
“Sort of.” She felt guilty for his exclusion so she explained.
“Joey hates wearing button-down shirt and slacks. I told him when he
starts dating and want to show off, that’s what he’ll wear to impress.
He said he wouldn’t want to date a girl because all they have to talk
about are dolls, except Britney, she was good at video games.”
“Uh-hmm,” Sebastian understood. “Joey’s first crush.”
“Don’t let him hear you say that. You’ll probably lose a
friend. Plus, he doesn’t realize it. I should start putting a snack
together for your – my crew.”
“I’ve already taken care of that. I just promised them dessert
after the job is finished. They have a week.” He pulled her into his
arms. “Thanks for sharing that Joey moment with me. It’s not like his
first steps, but it’s something.”
10.
The only person in the SUV happier than Joey was Trevor.
Deana couldn’t understand how Sebastian was keeping up with them.
They were loaded with questions about the yacht and how they would
get to the Bahamas. Trevor was ecstatic because neither of his parents
had ever been on a yacht or to the Bahamas.
“I’m going to get my dad a sou -. What did he call it Aunt
Deana?” Trevor started calling her Aunt Deana when Joey started on
his Aunt Thelma and Uncle Carl.
“Souvenir,” Deana said.
“Yes,” Trevor said. “How big is this boat again?”
“Pretty big,” Sebastian said. “It belonged to my father.”
“I’ve never been sailing,” Trevor said. “This is so cool.”
“I don’t know if he has sea sickness,” Deana told Sebastian.
“I don’t know if Joey has either so you may have a rough weekend.”
“They’ll know their on water only when they are above deck.
Plus I hired some help in case there are any emergencies.”
“I’m sorry Mack couldn’t make it,” Deana said.
“It’s nothing. The doctors didn’t think it was wise for Stacey
to leave at this time.”
They got to the marina and Sebastian parked his car. He got
both boys to follow him like good little soldiers. The size of the yacht
not only caused Trevor and Joey’s mouth to fall to the floor, but
Deana’s. It was a behemoth. Bridget, Jaime and Britney were already
there.
“Come on,” Sebastian said. “Let’s get her sailing.”
Three men approached and took their bags. Sebastian ushered
everyone aboard. Introductions were made to crew and Trevor and the
yacht started its journey.
If the limousine and the sight of his house had knocked her off
her feet, this nearly killed her. It was a fifty six meter triple Decker
with rooms for up to twenty two guest and about the same amount of
crew. She must have looked as she felt because Sebastian squeezed her
hand.
“I’ve arranged it so the boys will share the same cabin. I have
a nurse who will stay with them at nights. I want you to stay with me,”
he whispered in her ear.
“I promised Thelma I would see to Trevor.”
“Please,” he whispered. “The nurse is very competent. We
have two because one has to stay with Britney.”
“They are my responsibility,” Deana said stubbornly.
“Okay, let’s go play host and hostess. We can discuss this

later.”
“I should find the kids,” Deana said.
“Don’t worry,” Jaime said. “Sebastian has six eyes on them at
all times, plus Britney’s been on this boat all her life. Captain and First
Lady, we are ready.”
Despite Jaime’s reassurance, Deana went in search of the
children as soon as they took off. Thank heavens for the sound of three
kids shouting or she would not be able to find them.
“Hello,” Deana said stepping into the room.
“Oh hey Mom, let us know when we get moving, I want to see
it.”
“We are moving,” Deana said.
“No way,” Trevor said.
She barely caught Trevor and Joey as they tried to dash pass
her to the deck. She tried to get hold of all three kids and get them onto
the deck without losing her footing.
The four stood on the deck looking out. Deana was looking
for signs of motion or sea sickness. Trevor and Joey were caught up in
the scene before them.
A gentle wave hit against the yacht, and Deana felt it move
underneath her. She was overcome by nausea and a queasiness that
rose from her belly. She tried to rein in the feeling, but the more she
concentrated on holding it at bay, the more she wanted to throw up.
Sebastian saw her from the corner of his eyes. He was
standing just inside the cockpit area when she fled the deck. He started
in the direction she’s taken to.
He found her in the games room reclined in a chair, head back
with her eyes closed.
“Take these,” he pressed two tablets in her palm.
“I’ll be fine.” Her eyes flew open at the sound of his voice.
“These will help you.”
“I’m okay,” she insisted.
“Deana,” Sebastian said. “It will go away in a while or get
worse. Take the tablets. They will help, and put keep this on.” He
placed a band on her hand that looked like a watch. “It’s a motion
sickness band. It helps.”
She swallowed the tablets without water and sat up trying to
control the queasiness that overcame her.
“There’s a bathroom through there if you need it.” He pointed
to a small door on the left beyond the stairs. “As soon as it passes, I’ll
show you around. Good thing the kids had a little adventure of their
own. You wouldn’t know where to go.”
“I’m okay,” Deana said.

“Sit and relax for five minutes. I’ll get a nurse if you don’t
feel any better. I’ll check on the kids for you. Just stay here.”
“It’s passing. I’ll be fine if I don’t think about it.”
She was up and moving towards the stairs. Sebastian didn’t
try to stop her. If she was determined to tough it out, that was best. He
followed her to the deck where she was already with the three children.
Bridget and Jaime were not in sight. They had been on the yacht often
enough to know that the crew’s number one priority was the safety of
the children. Sebastian suspected they had taken off somewhere to
recreate their honeymoon. He wished Deana would eventually feel as
relaxed as they did about allowing the crew to take responsibility of the
children.
“I can’t believe this,” Trevor said. “Aunt Deana your
boyfriend is cool.”
“I’m glad at least one person thinks so.” Sebastian joined
them on the deck. “Who would like a tour?”
“Me,” the two boys shouted and Britney joined in for the fun.
“Are you ready for this?” Sebastian whispered to Deana.
“Yes.”
He walked them through the yacht, showing them everything
from the dining rooms to the bedrooms. He took them up to the pilot’s
cockpit and promised Trevor and Joey they would have a go at the
controls eventually. He also introduced them to the fifteen man crew
on the boat. He took no chances with three children. Britney left them
early in the tour to go with her nanny.
“This will be your room.” He showed the boys a guest room
with bunk twin beds on one side and a single bed on the next.
“Cool, where’s mom’s room going to be.”
“I’m staying with you guys,” Deana said.
“Jeez mom,” Joey said. “You don’t have to stay.”
“I have to make sure you don’t get into any problems.”
“Britney is a girl and she sleeps by herself,” Joey said.
“She sleeps with a nanny,” Deana corrected.
“Mom, I promise not to go on the deck, and everything we
need is down here anyway, even the games room. Sebastian you could
get Britney to sleep here and we all get the same nanny, nuh?”
“This is not Sebastian’s decision,” Deana said.
Anger flared in him. She was pulling the ‘you are my
responsibility and mine alone’, card. He cared about Joey as much as
Deana and he would not risk the boy’s life for anything.
“This is a big boat.” Sometimes she hated this stubborn streak
in her child, but had he not inherited it from her. “You should enjoy
yourself, Mom. We will be okay by ourselves.”

“No.”
“Aunt Deana, I am nine years old already, we will be okay.
And if anything happens. We know how to swim.”
“Okay boys.” Sebastian was angry but he would discuss that
with Deana later. “We have half an hour to dinner, you can wash up a
bit and Misty, you remember her?” They nodded in unison. “She will
come to get you for dinner. Deana and I will be waiting.”
“Okay.”
He left them in the room and gentle took Deana by the elbow
and forced her out of the room. He opened the next guest room and
shoved her inside. He was exploding with anger.
“I thought we were in this together,” he said.
“In what together?”
“I understood and knew you had a son when I met you. He
was your responsibility before me, but now we are together, he’s both
our responsibility, so never play that ‘this is not Sebastian’s decision’
thing on me again.”
“But it wasn’t your decision to make,” she said.
“No, it was our decision. You have to get over this little hump
you carry around that says he’s my kid and mine alone. As long as we
are in a relationship he’s also my kid.”
“He’s not the only child in that room. I have to look out for
Trevor also.”
“Yes, and this is my yacht, making everything and everyone
on it my responsibility. I wanted you to take a break for the weekend.
I just wanted to do something nice for the three of us. I never run a full
crew with just four adults on board and damn it, I am because I care
about everyone here. And you are not firing on all cylinders either.”
“Look, I don’t care how Jaime and Bridget do their thing. I
am responsible for my son and his best friend and I am going to make
sure they are okay. Joey doesn’t make decisions on what is best for
Joey, neither does Trevor. If you don’t like my decision, you can turn
this yacht around and I’ll take them home.”
No one has every infuriated him like this. He felt like kicking
something, like punching something but he kept it all inside. He
stormed out the cabin without another word to her.
Thank heavens for the children, because without them, dinner
would be a sulky Deana, a pouting Sebastian and Jaime and Bridget too
absorbed in each other.
“I can’t believe you’ve never been on a boat before,” Britney
said to Joey.
“That’s because we never live near the ocean,” Joey said.
“I’ve lived in Chicago before, have you ever been to Chicago?”

“No, where is it?”
“North, it snowed for the whole Christmas we lived there.”
“It snowed in New York when we went last December,”
Trevor said.
“I’ve never seen snow before,” Britney said. “Does it look
white and fluffy like the clouds?”
“No, it’s like little pieces of feather,” Trevor said. “It doesn’t
even make a sound when it falls.”
“I know,” Joey said. “It sure made it cold though, but it was
pretty and mom and I made a snowman. And mom had the flu after
that.”
“We had a snowman for Christmas,” Britney said. “Dad
bought him at Uncle Mack’s store.”
“That’s not a real snowman,” Joey said.
“I can’t believe we are moving,” Trevor said. “I can’t even
feel it. The water looks pretty with the sun below it.”
“That’s a horizontal,” Britney said.
“You mean horizon,” Joey said.
“No, horizontal,”
“Horizon,” Joey insisted. “Mom made me look it up in the
dictionary once.”
“I don’t believe you. Uncle Sebastian, where does the sun
go?”
“Under the horizon Brit,” Sebastian said.
“Told you,” Joey said.
“Does matter,” Britney said. “I’m only seven I can’t know
everything. But I know the sea looks black at nights.”
“I know that too,” Joey said.
“I know that too,” Trevor said. “I want to have dessert. Aunt
Deana makes the best dessert.”
“I know,” Britney said.
“You don’t know,” Trevor said.
“I know. Aunt Deana made cookies for me and we had a pie
at her house with Uncle Sebastian.” She stuck her tongue at them.
“So why are you pouting?” Bridget asked Deana
conspiratorially. Jaime had moved closer to Sebastian and the kids
were left to their own conversation.
“I’m not pouting.”
“Oh Jeez, the kids are having a better time at this than you
are.”
“They should enjoy it,” Deana said.
“And so should you,” Bridget said. “This is the safest place
the kids can be if that’s what you’re worried about. Everywhere you
go; there are cameras and at least three crew men within a few feet.
And on deck, the few feet becomes with a foot.”
“Yes, but I have to make sure they are okay.”
“Ah, now I get it. Sebastian dreams up Caribbean crew and
Deana wants to stay with the kids. I was there too,” Bridget said.
“Did Jaime understand?”
“He’s got two balls, of course not. He thought I was
overprotective, and you know what, he was right.”
“It’s not Joey alone,” Deana said.
“That’s why he has a full crew and not the usual six or seven.
He’s paying for it, enjoy it.”
“Sebastian Torrance party pooper,” Jaime said to his friend.
“Somehow that doesn’t sound right. You’re usually the life of the
party, even though our young guests seem to be doing a better job than
us.”
“I’m just tired,” Sebastian lied.
“Liar, liar pants on fire.”
“She doesn’t understand that I love her kid with all my heart
also,” Sebastian said.
“It’s always hard for them to let go, let anyone in, and
especially single mothers. I was there with Bridget too, no?
Fortunately I was there from the beginning so I didn’t have nine years
of bonds to weave through. It’s going to be tough.”
“The problem is not Joey,” Sebastian said. “He accepts me,
but Deana, she’s so afraid.”
“Sixteen is a tough age to have a kid, and to be where she is
right now must have been tougher. She’s a freaking diamond in the
rough, and it’s going to take a lot of polishing to remove some of that
build up. Talk to her, be patient. Hey, I never thought I would see you
in love, and she’s good for you. Don’t let your temper blow it.”
“Uncle Sebastian,” Britney was calling his name. “Can we go
watch the horizon in the cockpit?”
“You mean the sunset,” Sebastian said. “Sure.”
Four crew members came towards the table as the children got
up to leave. Sebastian watched to see what Deana would do, but she
didn’t get up, even though she sat up straighter in her chair. With the
kids gone, Jaime and Bridget wandered away and they were left alone
still poking the food around in their plate. He was sitting at the head of
the table and her at the end.
“We meet half way?” Sebastian asked.
“Sure.”
They met at the middle of the table and sat down. Their
servers came and removed the plates. Sebastian waved them off. He
needed to talk to her and he wanted no distractions.
“I’m sorry about getting angry earlier,” Sebastian said.
“I’m sorry if you felt I was shutting you out. I’m used to
being the only caregiver.”
“I know,” he said. “Look, you don’t have to lose that
protectiveness. All I wanted was for us to have a private weekend
together and for the kids to have fun. I should have asked you about
the nurse before or how you wanted the sleeping arrangements, but I
thought we were there. I thought you wanted that private time with me
and not having to explain strange sounds from mom’s room.”
“Ah,” Deana smiled. “To be wined, dined and romanced on
the open sea.”
“Something like that. I want you more than I’ve ever wanted
anyone and I know you are still a little jittery about us being together
around Joey, so this was a good option.”
“I knew you’d be a distraction,” Deana said. “See, I’m not
even thinking about the three kids in the cockpit trying to steer this
yacht.”
“Good, then you’ll stay with me?”
“How much do you know about this crew?” Deana asked.
“They’ve worked for Torrance Construction on and off for the
past five years. The yacht doesn’t always sit in port. Are you running
from somebody?” Sebastian asked.
“No,” but he saw fear etched across her face for a few
moments. “I’m just curious.”
“Deana, if something is bothering you or someone is bothering
you, let me know. I can keep both you and Joey safe.”
“I was curious,” Deana insisted.
“Is that why you meticulously check the doors and windows
five hundred times every night?”
“I don’t,” she protested.
“Deana, I don’t want any secrets between us, but know that
whatever is bothering you I want to know. I’m not going to press for
answers. I am here when you need me. I love you.”
“Thanks for insisting we come,” Deana said. “I know Joey
will enjoy this, and I’m already enjoying myself despite my earlier
condition. Thanks for the tablets, the band and thinking up everything
to make this easier.”
“Getting over it?” Sebastian asked.
“Yeah, mind over matter or something like that.”
“It will be a great weekend,” he assured her.
“As long as I don’t become a fussy old hen.”
“Depends on what you’re fussing about.”

“Sebastian, I do want us to spend sometime together. I know I
always push you away but this is new for Joey and me. We are used to
just the two of us.”
“I know, and I’m never going to hurt either one of you.” He
took her hands in his and kissed them.
11.
“Do you know what I’ve been thinking about for the past three
weeks?” Sebastian asked as he kneaded her shoulders. She’s joined
him in his cabin for wine after putting the kids to bed.
“I’m sure you’re going to tell,” Deana said.
“I’ve been thinking about you. I can’t stop thinking about
you, and the more I try to control it, the more I want you.”
“Stop it.” Her voice sounded weak.
“I want to touch you, to taste you to smell you. I want all of
you.”
“Sebastian.” She got up to move away from his hands, but
that was a mistake. It was as if the room closed in on her as he pulled
her against his body. They fitted perfectly. One hand lay on the flat of
her belly and the other sneaked across her chest and he kneaded her
breast softly as he had her shoulders. His breath was warm against her
neck. She felt the soft kisses on her shoulder. His chest expanded
against her back as he inhaled the scent of her.
“I love the scent of you,” he said.
His lips nipped at the soft spot of her neck and she shivered.
Coils of desire unraveled in her. She felt the butterflies that long laid
molting fluttering in her chest. She wanted him to touch to her make
love to her, to stop this mad fountain ready to erupt. Making love to
him before had left her wanting more and she had tried to keep those
desires at bay. She leaned into his body, running her hands along his
side. Her head tilted and she gave herself over to the pleasure of his
kiss.
The hand on her belly glided downwards; pass her navel,
below the soft elastic waist of her underwear. She was on tip toes
craving the touch of this man.
He wanted to ravish her, to feel her warmth against him, but
there was more. And he didn’t want the quickness of a stolen night.
He wanted the long slow, touches. He wanted to know her in every
way possible tonight.
In a soft fluid motion he turned her, his hands moving gently
over her body, never losing contact. He moved forward and trapped
her against the door. He lifted her right leg as his lips captured hers.
Her mouth parted and she urged him even more into the kiss. His
tongue stroked her lips softly. Their tongues met and he drank of her
and her of him.
He lifted her slight and her legs wrapped around his waist.
Her back arched when he dipped his head and trailed a kiss down her
neck.
“Sebastian,” she whispered.
Her hands clawed against his back as she pulled him even
closer. He trembled under her touch. He managed to tear his mouth
from hers and looked at her. He loved the way her eyes darkened and
drooped heavy with desire. He gently eased her shirt over her head.
Her nipples were hard and erect against her laced bra. He teased them
between his fingers, watching her face knot in pleasure. He stopped
teasing her enough to run his fingers under the straps of her bra, gently
easing them from her shoulders.
He held her in this position as his lips nuzzled the base of her
neck and his hand slipped around her back and undid her bra.
“Beautiful,” he said as hands caress her breast. “You are so
beautiful. I want to see you naked. All of you.”
He eased her from the door. He knelt in front of her. Slowly,
he unzipped her jeans. His hands brushed lightly against her skin. She
stepped out of the jeans and stood in her laced thong. He gently
removed those also. He stood up and moved away from her.
Deana could feel his eyes caressing every inch of her body.
Even without the immediate contact, she skin tingled everywhere he
looked. When he reached for her, she stepped readily into his embrace.
“Make love to me Sebastian,” she said.
He lifted her and took her to the bed. Deana surprised herself
as she lay naked watching him unzipped his pants and removed his
briefs. She had never been this open with anyone before. She’d never
lain naked under a welcomed gaze.
When he moved towards her on the bed, she reached for him.
Their lips locked as she hugged him and pulled him into a long kiss.
He supported his weight on his hands, as his palm lay flat on both side
of her. Only their mouths touch and their naked bodies moved over the
other teasingly.
He bent his hands at the elbow and lowered himself unto her.
She welcomed his weight, stroking his back and grinding her hips into
him. He moaned her name against her mouth. His lips straddled her
bottom lip between his. The kiss was long and slow. He felt her
tongue against his mouth. Slowly he ran his tongue around hers,
intertwining his tongue with hers. She responded by wrapping her
arms around his head. He licked the edges and inside of her lips with
the tip of his tongue.
His kissing excited her and she wanted him more. She
moaned his name as he nibbled at her earlobe. He kissed and gently
sucked at her neck. He’d had so many fantasies about kissing her neck.
Her response ignited his passion.
“I love you Deana,” he whispered.

His breath was warm against her skin. He continued down her
body, kissing and licking her gently. His tongue moved over the edge
of her breast, kissing lightly then licking. His antics were driving her
wild.
When he finally captured a nipple between his lips, gently
rubbing the other between his fingers, she moaned his name. He
continued down her abdomen, slowly and gently savoring every sexy,
tasty inch of her body. Her body trembled everywhere he touched and
not because she was cold. His kisses were warm, his breath some times
hot or cool against her skin.
Gently he stroked down her thigh. His hands parted her legs
and touched the warmth of her femininity. Deana’s breath caught as he
caressed her tenderly, whispering words of love against her.
Deana’s breath went from raspy to gasping when his tongue
touched her where he’d been caressing. Her hips rose, but he held her
and she gave herself over to the tide of emotions that surged through
her body. He kissed and licked her until he knew she could take no
more.
He raised his head and captured her lips gently between his
teeth. He kissed her greedily matching the strokes of his fingers
against her skin.
“Sebastian,” she moaned against him.
“Yes my love,” he whispered against her neck.
“I love you.”
Her admission elevated his desire for her. One hand slipped
under her hips as he slowly buried himself in her. She moaned and
clutched his hips, desperate for the contact between them.
They moved slowly together, neither rushing the moment,
both wanting it to last forever. When at last they couldn’t deny
themselves fulfillment, she lifted her thighs over his and pressed him
even deeper into her. His lips captured hers as their bodies rocked with
desire and they climaxed in ecstasy.
They lay with their bodies fused together by sweat as they
tried to catch their breaths. Deana could feel his heart racing against
her skin, and he felt her pulse against his lips as he kissed her neck.
“I want to love you forever,” he said. “If you let me.”
“Tell me that when I’m back on Earth,” she whispered in a
raspy voice. “I’m still floating somewhere in the clouds.”
“You’re a boost to me my ego.” He chuckled and kissed her.
He rolled off her and pulled her in a tight embrace against his hard
body.
“This is our beginning, darling,” he said.
Sebastian decided to have his talk with Joey before they

started their day in the Bahamas. Somewhere in the early morning, the
yacht docked on the Grand Bahamas Island. It was just after breakfast,
and they were getting ready for their fun-filled day. He caught the boy
on deck with Trevor, Britney and three crewmen. They were playing
what appeared to be gin rummy.
“Hey Joey,” Sebastian said. “Could you join me in the
cockpit? I need to talk with you.”
“Sure.” Joey left the game and followed Sebastian to the
deserted cockpit. Since they were already in port, the navigator was
not needed so Sebastian had been sure the room would be empty.
“Take a seat,” Sebastian said motioning to one of the empty
chairs. Joey sat, but Sebastian paced in the silence that engulfed them
for nearly two minutes.
“How is everything?” Sebastian asked.
“Great,” Joey said. “I can’t wait to get on the island. Is
something wrong?”
“No, why?”
“You’re pacing. Mom does that sometimes when something is
wrong, especially if she cannot balance her budget.”
“Hmm. I’m nervous,” Sebastian confessed.
“Why?”
“I’ve never done this before and I don’t know where to start.”
“The top is a good place. That’s what Mom says when I don’t
know how to say something, and she says ‘pace yourself Joey, it will
come’.”
“I suppose the top is as good a place than any, even if I’m not
sure where the top is. I’m afraid I don’t have your mother’s wisdom,”
Sebastian tried to lighten the mood because he knew Joey was
becoming apprehensive the longer this went on. “Do you remember
our talk about relationships? The one we had because you saw me
kissing your mom.”
“Yes.” Joey’s heart was suddenly racing. He didn’t know
why or what to expect. If Sebastian didn’t love him or his mom it
would hurt because he liked Sebastian. He knew his mom liked him
too though she hadn’t said as much, but she always had that smile on
her face when she knew he was coming over, or when he would say
Sebastian’s name. In some ways he’d already started seeing Sebastian
as a permanent fixture in their lives.
“Well,” Sebastian took a deep breath. This was the hard part
for him, what if Joey rejected him? He and his mother were not only
parent and child, they were best friends. He was just a stranger that
happened to stumble into their lives. He loved Joey and Deana and he
could not imagine his life without them. In the few weeks he’d gotten
to be a part of their lives, he was even surer that he belonged with them
and them with him. He let go a long breath then in a small steady voice
said, “I want to marry your mother and if you let me, I would be
honored to be your father. You don’t have to call me dad or even
change your name. I want you to know that I love you and I love
Deana. I want to spend the rest of my life taking care of both of you.”
Joey knew he was holding his breath only when it rushed from
him now. He felt like a huge rock was lifted off his shoulders, and his
heart beat slowed to normal again. It was okay, Sebastian wasn’t
abandoning them, and he wanted to stay with him. He wanted to be his
father.
“Did you hear me?” Sebastian asked. Joey’s silence following
the announcement was uncommon.
“Yes, I’m thinking Joey Torrance has a good ring to it,” Joey
said.
Sebastian felt slightly light headed. Joey was his major
concern. He knew Deana loved him, but they would be parted if Joey
didn’t accept him.
“So that’s a yes?” Sebastian asked.
“Of course, when are you going to ask her?”
“I’m not sure. Your mom’s a pretty tough cookie and you are
the most important person in her life, so she has to be sure that our
relationship will not hurt you. I know I don’t want to lose both of you.”
“Can I call you Dad now?”
“If you want to, I would love it.”
Sebastian had tears in his eyes when he hugged the boy. All
his adult life his mother had tormented him about marrying and having
a family. He’d rejected the concept. He’d been on numerous dates to
placate his mother, but they never went anywhere. Then he met Deana.
The instant he heard her voice, saw her face, in his heart he knew he
found the missing piece of his life. And it wasn’t just her. It was Joey
too. He completed the picture. Sebastian was honest when he said he
couldn’t imagine his life without them.
12.
“I thought the two of you decided to stay aboard,” Deana said

when Sebastian and Joey showed up on the deck a few minutes later.
“No,” Joey said. “We were talking.”
“Well,” Deana said. “You can tell me all about your talk later.
Let’s go have some fun.”
“Spoken like a true party girl,” Sebastian said and kissed her.
The weekend turned out to be one of the best Deana ever had.
Joey and Trevor were so excited she couldn’t keep up with them half
the time. At such moments, she was grateful for the extra help.
For the two nights aboard the yacht, Sebastian had made love
to her and worshipped her body in such a way she never thought
possible. Deana realized that once she stopped worrying about the
future she actually enjoyed and loved his company. It was great also
that he spent time with Joey and Trevor, not only playing video games,
but teaching them how to fish, how to steer the yacht, how to read the
compass and myriads of little things she would not be able to teach
them.
Every time they sat for meal, Joey would have some different
exciting story of what they did with Sebastian. It warmed her heart to
know he was enjoying himself, but it worried her when he called
Sebastian Dad. She decided not to stop him until they got back home.
She would sit him down and have a talk with him.
Late Sunday evening, when they were back in Boca Raton and
Trevor was dropped at home, Sebastian drove them to the new house.
Deana almost protested when he pulled in the driveway, before she
remembered that they no longer lived at the cul-de-sac. The new house
had a different shade of coral on the outside. She’d specifically
requested this color because she didn’t want to have the old color.
From the outside it looked so different.
Joey was first out of the vehicle and streaking towards the
house to find out how his room was.
“Joey!” Deana called.
“Come on Mom,” he yelled back. “We can get the stuff later.
I want to see it. Dad!”
“He’s got a point,” Sebastian said. “Oh, by the way, since you
are so paranoid about security, I had a security system installed.” He
fished in his wallet for a piece of paper. “I didn’t want another
argument for the weekend so I waited to tell you. This is your code and
password. You can call and have it changed.”
“I’m not paranoid,” she said. “And you didn’t have to, but
I’m grateful. And so you know, after Friday night I didn’t want any
arguments either.”
When she opened the door, she was pleasantly surprised. It
was like walking into her old house, only slightly different. The
layouts were not the same because this house was larger and did not
have the same angles as the old, but everything was perfectly placed as
she had described it to the moving company. The colors were of the
same bold, rich taste. It was beautiful. Joey darted up the stairs before
she could stop him.
“There’s no repaying you for this,” she said misty-eyed.
“I’ll settle for a kiss, but I have another surprise for you.”
“Something else?” She asked.
“Follow me.”
He led her through the kitchen, and opened the door leading to
the garage. This was a two car garage, a lot bigger than the single car
one she had before. The scent of pine and cedar was familiar as the
movers had also moved the pieces she was working on. Unlike her
previous garage that had not yet gotten shelved, this one had new work
tables, more power tools than she ever had were stacked neatly on
shelves and her hand tools hung from slate walls. They even added a
tool chest and cabinet.
“I like it,” she said.
“What?” He asked.
“The garage. I was so busy with the main parts of the other
house I never got around to fixing the garage the way I wanted it, but
this looks great and don’t think I’m going to protest those power tools.”
“Oh, that’s not the surprise though.”
He moved towards the covered car in the center of the room.
Deana who’d never covered her car had just thought the workmen
covered it to avoid getting it dusty while they finished their job. Only
now she realized this vehicle was higher than her Mitsubishi would
have been. Sebastian removed the cover to reveal a Silver Lexus 470,
just like the one he just parked in her driveway.
“A housewarming gift,” he said.
“I can’t take it Sebastian,” she said.
“Why not?”
“It’s too much.”
“Deana I love you and I want you to be happy. I know your
car doesn’t have air conditioning and it needs some work. I got this
because it’s safe and comfortable for both you and Joey.”
“No,” Deana said. “When I can afford a car, I will buy one. I
want my old beat up car back.”
“Why are you fighting me on this?”
“Because it’s too much. I barely have time to breath from one
thing before you spring something else on me. It’s too overwhelming
and it would be easy to say sure I’ll take it, but what happens if
tomorrow you wake up and you realize you don’t love me and you
didn’t love me?”
“It’s a gift Deana, I wouldn’t take it back. I’m thirty five years
old. I don’t have schoolboy crushes any more. Let’s -.”
“Mom,” Joey shouted. He’d followed the voices to the
garage. “My bedroom is exactly the same as the old house only bigger.
Wow, is that our new car?”
“No,” Deana said.
“We’re considering it,” Sebastian added.
“Cool.”
“Look,” Deana said. “It’s already nine o’clock. How about
you hit the shower and I come and tuck you in later?”
“Okay, but Dad can tuck me in tonight.” He was out of the
garage again.
“I need to talk to him about that,” Deana said.
“About what?”
“Calling you Dad,” she said. “He has to understand that you
might not be in our lives forever and I don’t think you should
encourage him.”
“Well, legally he’s not my son yet. When we get married I’ll
do the formal adoption. Joey and I already discussed it.”
“You discussed us getting married?”
“Yes. We had a man to man talk on Saturday morning. He
asked if he could call me dad, I told him he didn’t have to but if he
wanted to I’d love it.”
“You should have asked me first.” Deana was not mad at him.
In fact, it touched her that he would consider Joey’s feelings primarily.
“Deana, I don’t want you as a bridge between Joey and me. If
I need to say something to him, I shouldn’t have to rely on you to
convey my message and it’s the same for him. You said you love me
and I love you too, we are on our way to becoming a family. Deana,”
his voice faltered. “Say you’ll marry me. My heart will break if you
won’t.”
“Sebastian, there are things about me that you don’t know,
things you will not like. On some day or night when I’ve told you
everything, ask me again.”
“Nothing you tell me can stave my love for you. Even if you
ripped my heart out and held it in your hands, I would still love you.”
“My love,” she whispered because her voice was thick with
emotions. “I will tell you everything about me, Joey, about his father –
but not tonight. I’ll tell you when Joey’s away at camp so there is no
chance he will ever know what happened to him and why he doesn’t
even have his father’s name.”
“Okay,” he whispered because the mood was right for it. “I
can wait.”
She embraced him, loving his hard body against her. “Thanks
for the vehicle, the Florida sun is a bitch.”
“Everything I have is yours,” he hugged her breathing in the
soft feminine scents mingled with the scents of pine and cedar.
“Stay with us tonight. My room’s not that close to Joey’s
anymore. Our weekend doesn’t have to end as yet.”
“Yes, ma’am,” Sebastian replied. “Let me go see to our son
first.”
Deana was apprehensive driving the new vehicle to work and

she was more grateful than anything else that he had bought her the
vehicle. Outside may have been ninety degrees but inside with the air
conditioner running, it was barely above seventy.
She was driving home on Monday afternoon, when she saw
the one thing she hoped never to see again – the Cadillac. She new it
was the same Cadillac she’d seen before. It was a dark midnight blue.
The tinted windows were the darkest she had ever seen. The driver
eluded her. The car was parked under a tree just a block from Thelma’s
house. Deana almost ran off the road straining to look at the vehicle.
Joey! The name flew to her mind. In her heart, she knew this
Cadillac was out of place. “Jesus, Joey,” she said aloud and dialed
Thelma’s number.
“Hey Deana!” Thelma said in a cheerful voice.
“Thelma, where’s Joey?”
Thelma didn’t miss the panic in Deana’s voice.
“He’s with Sebastian. You said it was okay if Sebastian
picked him up.”
“Yes,” Deana breathed a sigh of relief.
“Deana is everything all right?”
“Yes.”
“Deana!” Thelma knew when her friend was lying.
“Where’s Trevor?”
“With Sebastian and Joey. He volunteered to give me the
evening off, what is it?”
“I need you to do me a favor. There’s a dark blue Cadillac
parked a block east of your house. Could you pretend you’re out for
your afternoon jog and get the numbers on the plate? I’m pulling into
Mary-Ann’s driveway. Check if anyone’s in the car.”
“Deana are you in trouble?”

“Please Thelma, this is important.”
“Okay, just let me get sneakers on.”
Thelma managed to jog half the distance before the car started,
made a speedy but short u-turn and left. She caught the license plate
number though.
Deana watched in her rearview mirror as the car moved down
the street, vanishing in the left turn to exit the cul-de-sac. She’d fought
the urge to back up and follow the car.
She was trembling when she got in her own driveway. Thelma
was jogging over with a bewildered look on her face.
“Deana what is going on?” Thelma asked.
“Nothing, did you get the tag?”
“Yes.”
“Could you have Carl run the plates?”
“Deana.”
“Please,” Deana’s voice was thin and etched with worry.
It was the delay between the car parking in the driveway and
Deana getting in the house that made Sebastian get out of the house.
He took one look at a pale Deana and knew something was wrong.
Then he heard Thelma’s voice. “Is it a stalker?”
“No. It’s nothing like that. Are you sure you remember the
tag?”
“Is everything alright?” Sebastian asked.
“Where’s Joey?” Deana turned towards him.
“He’s inside. We were playing scrabble. Deana you look
pale, are you okay?”
“Yes, I’m fine. Thelma, can Carl do it?”
“Yes, but if something’s wrong, you should let us know.”
Deana waved her off, thanked her, and then went inside with
Sebastian after Thelma started towards her house.
“Honey, are you okay?” Sebastian asked as he fetched a glass
of water. She waved to Joey and Trevor who had, in Sebastian’s
absence, abandoned the game of scrabble and were watching cartoons.
She followed Sebastian to the kitchen.
“I’m fine. Are you staying tonight?”
“If you want me to,” he said. He handed her the glass of
water. “I know we agreed to slow down a bit, but I would love to stay.”
“Good, I want you to stay. Everything’s okay. There’s no
stalker, Thelma had it wrong. Or maybe I’m being followed by one of
your jealous exes.”
He caught her weak attempt at humor. He pulled her in his
arms into a fierce hug. She didn’t look as pale as she’d been in the
driveway, but he could see the nervous fringes just at the edge of her
eyes.
There are no jealous exes. Promise me if you’re in trouble
you’ll let me know. I can help you, whatever it is.”
“I’m not in trouble.”
“Promise me.”
“I promise.”
On Thursday evening, after a nerve-wracking three days of

looking out for a dark blue Cadillac, Deana got home to a pleasant
surprise. Joey and Sebastian were reading together in the family room
and dinner was hot and waiting in the kitchen. The sight of the two
mingled with the scents from the kitchen almost caused her to burst
into tears.
She’d never in her life have that home feeling. Living with
her mother had been a quiet lesson in fear and mental strength.
“Are you okay?” Sebastian asked looking up at her.
“Flabbergasted,” she said.
“Something you don’t like?”
“No, I’m just telling myself I could get used to this. You
know, coming here and feeling as if I belong, seeing Joey with you
reading or playing games. It feels right.”
“It is right,” Sebastian said.
“Dad’s going to New York tomorrow,” Joey said. “Can we
go?”
“No.” There was no hesitation in her voice.
“I thought we might discuss that later,” Sebastian said marking
their page in the book. “Joey, you should go wash up, we can have
dinner now that your mom’s home.”
Joey darted out of the room and into the half bathroom under
the stairs.
“I know you might not get another weekend off work,”
Sebastian said. “I wasn’t sure I had to make the trip to New York
myself so I didn’t tell you ahead, but Joey can come with me. You
could have some time for yourself this weekend.”
“No.”
“Is this no you don’t want him to go to New York or no you
don’t want him to go alone with me?”
“No I don’t want him in New York, not now, not ever.”
“Okay I’m ready for dinner,” Joey said.
Joey set the table while Sebastian and Deana placed rolls,
salad and other items in bowls.
“So are we going to New York?” Joey asked at the start of the
meal.
“No,” Deana said.
“Mom,” Joey pleaded.
“There’s no bargaining,” Deana said sharply.
“Okay. It would have been cool though.”
The rest of the dinner went to discussing the new book they
were reading. It was a part of a mystery series and Joey seemed to be
enjoying it. Deana listened half-heartedly, the thought of New York
was drumming somewhere in her ears. Joey was almost nine, in
another nine years she would not be able to say no to him going
anywhere. Nine years if she’s lucky, he might rebel against the whole
idea of mother know best long before that. She would have loved to
send him on this adventure. He was young and getting his impressions
of the world, and who knows, Sebastian might not be in his life much
longer. He could afford to show Joey a good time, but New York was
too risky at this time.
“I didn’t say I would take you,” Sebastian said later after Joey
was tucked in bed and they were doing the dishes. “I just mentioned I
had to go.”
“What?”
“The trip to New York. I didn’t say anything to Joey that
would interfere with your decision.”
“Thanks. I’m sorry we can’t go. For what it’s worth, I’ll send
him on your next adventure, as long is it’s not New York.”
“So your past is in New York.”
“Yes, and hopefully it will stay there. You’ll understand after I
explain it.”
“He wouldn’t be out if my sight for a minute,” Sebastian said.
“Yes he would. You have business to take care of and it isn’t
out of your sight I’m worried about. Let’s not talk about this. Thanks
for a great dinner.”
“It was nothing. I’m not staying tonight. I have to be in New
York for a meeting at nine so I’ll be leaving early.”
“My bed will miss you,” she said.
“Only your bed?” He asked.
“When are you coming back?”
“Some time Saturday. I promised Joey I’ll take him shopping
for camp. You’re invited. Oh, before I forget – you need to pickup the
cell phones on Friday afternoon.”
“You have the receipt?”
“It’s on the nightstand on my side of the bed.”
“Okay.”
They finished the dishes, put away the games and the books,
before he took his keys to go.
“I’ll see you Saturday?” He pulled her into his arms.
“Yes. Is there anything else I need to do before Saturday?”
“No, I think the cell phone is the only major thing, unless you
want to volunteer to pick me up at the airport. Angus would appreciate
the day off.”
“Call me when you’re in the air.”
“Good night, darling.” He kissed her lips tenderly.
So they weren’t just casual, the man in the black sedan

thought as he watched the couple kiss on the porch. He had been
disoriented for a few days, the woman had moved. He would have
missed him saved he’d followed her to the marina and realized they
were leaving on a boat. He darted back to the house. He wanted to
see how she lived, how he could get to the boy and the silly bitch
without the neighbors knowing.
He was almost inside the house when the moving crew had
arrived. He’d played it down, tell them he was a neighbor and was just
checking if she was home. He got to see the inside of the house. There
was no alarm system, getting in would have been a breeze. He wasn’t
allowed in the new house, even when he volunteered to lend a hand.
The boyfriend had been specific about security and the alarm company
was installing an alarm there.
She was being careful or the boyfriend was paranoid. She was
careful, the scarred man mused. One did not run for nine years without
being careful. He had a name for the boyfriend – Sebastian Torrance.
He didn’t need to research the name; Torrance Construction was as
common as household bleach. Tommy Navarre had bought a house
from Caswell Group, but the house was made by Torrance
Construction. He’d met Sebastian once, at a dinner party in New
Rochelle. Unlike many millionaires, it was hard to tell this guy sat
comfortably in the billionaire club. Nothing about him was
extravagant. He’d taken a five year old child then as his date, the same
girl Tommy had seen him with a few weeks ago.
The little tramp had landed herself a rich, powerful bed mate.
Bet she didn’t tell him about New York, Tommy thought.
Tommy was not running out of patience. He considered
himself a patient man under all circumstances. He’d waited her out for
three days before, he’d waited nine years to find her, and he would wait
even longer to get her. The scar on his face itched as Sebastian’s car
drove away. He would get her, eventually. But he had to be careful.
He was stupid renting a Cadillac, which almost tipped her off.

The job of a hunter doesn’t always seem technical on the
surface, but it was, and he was a hunter.
The woman who babysat the boy never jogged at six in the
afternoon. It was too hot in Florida. Seeing her out in sneakers and a
bad disguise for a jogging suit had told him two things – the bitch
suspected the Cadillac was out of place, and the bitch wasn’t running.
Years ago, the slightest scent of her past would have had her
tearing down main street forgetting job and all. She was sniffing the
spores, though she wasn’t sure, but she wasn’t running. Or maybe she
wasn’t sure she had the right scent, after all, it’s been nine years.
The sedan started out slowly on the street, and drove to the
five star hotel six miles away. There, Tommy found solace in the arms
of his much older but sexy lover. He’d been sleeping with Simone
Pacelli since the day she first met Donato Pacelli. She was thirty at the
time, and he was only nineteen, but the things she taught him. Even
after the stupid bitch had marred his face, Simone still found him
irresistible. He knew at one time Tony had loved his step-mother, but
the bitch had removed him from the picture, now Simone belonged to
Tommy. This exclusive right to Simone was the only thing that saved
Deana from a bullet between the eyes. He would have done it, even if
Tony wanted her alive. Tony might crack a hard whip, but nothing
Tommy couldn’t handle. Since the night Deana fled New York,
Tommy was the muscle and Tony the brain.
Tommy couldn’t understand why Tony cared if she was alive.
Killing the bitch would make taking the boy so much easier. But Tony
wanted her alive.
13.
Despite Sebastian’s reassurance that he already spoke with

Joey about them getting married, Deana had her own talk with the boy
on Friday evening.
“I know Sebastian spoke to you about us getting married,”
Deana said. “But I want to talk to you myself.”
“Mom it’s okay. I think Sebastian is a great guy and he makes
you smile a lot.”
“That doesn’t mean we are going to get married. He doesn’t
know everything about us.”
“But he loves you and me.”
“Joey, even people who love each other doesn’t always get
married. There are things that pull them apart. I want you to
understand that if Sebastian and I don’t get married it doesn’t mean that
he doesn’t love you or he doesn’t love me. It just means there are other
things in our lives that are keeping us apart.”
“Like what?”
“Just things,” Deana said.
“Is that why you didn’t send me to New York with him?”
“It’s a little more complicated than that, but yes.”
“Mom, he’s never tried to hurt me.”
“You love him don’t you?”
“Yes. He makes me feel like I am really his son. Like when
he picks me up in the evening he will say ‘put on your seatbelt’, or ‘I’m
not moving until your seatbelt is on Mister’. Then we get home and
he’ll say, ‘this evening we are going to read, no video games’. Uncle
Carl does it to Trevor all the time. It’s nice to have someone do it to
me. Aunt Thelma says he does it because he cares, like when you do
it.”
“She is right,” Deana said. “Sebastian cares about you. And
he will be your friend, even if we don’t get married.”
“You should marry him if you both love each other. And even
if you never send me on an adventure with him, I don’t care – as long
as you are happy. And I think he takes very good care of us. Like he
helped us to move, he stays here with us, it’s nice. No man has ever
stayed overnight with us before, so I know you love him. But I’ll
understand mom.”
“I love you Joey,” she hugged her son.
Deana was vigilant during Sebastian’s absence. She never

saw the Cadillac again, but she’d seen a dark sedan pass the street once.
She was in a dilemma. She wanted to send Joey to summer
camp, but all her instincts said Tony had found them. She trudged
through the days wondering what to do. All Joey spoke about was
camp and Sebastian’s promising to take him and Trevor shopping.
She couldn’t very well pickup Joey and run again. Their lives
were just starting to make sense. And there was the question of
Sebastian. They started out rocky enough, she couldn’t deny that she’d
been attracted to him from the start, but now they were beyond the
petty fights, they were functioning.
Some time between the weeks and days since they met, they’d
become a unit for Joey. Deana dreaded telling him about her past,
dreaded him leaving them though she felt it wouldn’t happen. She
found comfort knowing he was truthful when he said he would always
love her son.
If she uttered a word of moving from the state, Joey would
look at her with those huge black eyes and break her heart like he did
when she announced selling the old house. She needed Joey to be
some place safe so she could think a strategy.
Sebastian called Friday and spoke with Joey for a half hour
before talking to Deana. Even over the telephone he didn’t miss the
edge in her voice.
“Are you okay?” He asked.
“I miss you.”
“I miss you too, Honey. I wish you were here. It’s quiet and
lonely in the nights without you and Joey.”
“Well, it’s not so quiet here, just a bit sulky.”
“I’m sorry I told him about New York before running it by
you.”
“It’s nothing. He understands.”
“I can’t wait to get home.”
“I’m sure your house is quiet. Probably it doesn’t seem that
way because Joey’s chatter might be running in your head.”
“That’s not what I meant. Home is with you and Joey and I
can’t wait to get back.”
“Sebastian,” Deana thought about telling him about the sedan.
She wanted his opinion. She’d made every decision about Joey’s life
from the moment he was conceived, and it wasn’t until this moment he
realized what loving Sebastian meant.
“Deana?” He asked after the long pause.
“I’m here. I love you and I can’t wait for you to get home.”
“I love you too.”
Deana picked up Sebastian at the airport a little past noon.
She had Trevor and Joey in the car with her. Thelma was glad Deana
volunteered for the shopping trip; though Deana thought it was the least
she could do for all the unpaid hours of Joey staying with the Wayne’s
after school.
“Thanks honey,” Sebastian got in the car and kissed her. “Hey
Joey, Trevor, are you guys ready for some camp shopping?”
“Are we ever,” Trevor said.
“Did you get the cell phones?” Sebastian asked.
“Yes.”
“I memorized both your numbers,” Joey said. “Mom told me I
had to know them before going to camp.”
“Good and remember you have to call after breakfast and by
six o’clock, okay? We don’t want to give your mom a heart attack.”
“You’re exaggerating,” Deana said.
“Tell me that the first time he doesn’t call on time. Let’s go to
the outdoor store at the outlet mall in Fort Lauderdale.”
“Okay, but we are on a strict budget,” Deana warned.
“You’re on a strict budget, we guys are not,” Sebastian said.
Deana slanted him a look for a second, but didn’t comment.
They made good time to the mall despite the traffic. The boys were
thoroughly excited about their first camping and their shopping
expedition.
“You’re spoiling then,” Deana admonished as both Joey and
Trevor dropped two pairs of overpriced binoculars in the shopping cart.
The shopping was Sebastian’s treat, and he had insisted on paying for
Trevor also. He’d told her that his father did the same for him, Mack
and Jaime on their first camping trip, and this would be no different.
“It has night vision,” Sebastian said.
“That’s no excuse.”
“It’s a boys’ toy. You know boys have to have their toys.”
“Not at that price,” Deana said.
“Let me worry about the bank account,” Sebastian said. “I
don’t want you to think about anything other than being happy. Britney
wants to go camping. Bridget says she’s been moping around ever
since we got back from the Bahamas.”
“Poor Bridget,” Deana sympathized knowing how much Joey
had pleaded to go and how difficult it is to think of him gone so far
away.
“I know, but Britney’s too young. Next year she could go, she
would Joey to look out for her then.”
“Do you have all these long term plans in your head?”
“I can’t think about my future without both of you, so yes. I
didn’t want to say anything in the car, but I have to go to Denver on
Tuesday. I’ll be back late Thursday or Friday. I want you both to come
with me. We’ll be having a picnic with some huge clients. Everyone
will be bringing their families so you won’t feel left out.”
“Sorry, I have to work. You know that.”
“How about if I take Joey, give you some time to relax?"
Deana saw a solution to her problems. If she had some time
alone to think over this development, to follow up on the rent-a-car
agency car had traced the car to, she would be able to know for sure if
Tony had found them. “Sure.”
“Is that a yes?”
“He’d be happy to go.”
“Thanks you. It means a lot to me. When I was ten, my father
took me to all the Torrance Construction offices worldwide. It was
very nice to see what the family did. Joey needs to know what the
family does; the business will be his someday.”
“If we get married,” Deana said.
“You didn’t say no, you said ask me again after I’ve told you
everything. There is nothing you can tell me that can make me leave –
nothing.”
“We’ll see about that. Just don’t tell him the business will be
his. And if anything goes wrong, call me immediately.”
“I think I can handle it if anything goes wrong.”
“Sebastian I don’t expect you to suddenly become father of a
nine year old. Call me if anything goes wrong and that goes for you
too.”
“Okay,” Sebastian said.
“Dad, can I get this backpack?” Joey called.
“That’s too big,” Deana whispered to Sebastian.
“Let’s find one in his size.”
Deana protested every item all the way to the cash register.
He reminded her that it was his treat. She gave up as he slid his debit
card in the machine.
“Are you in the mood for ribs?” Sebastian asked.
“If Jaime could hear you,” Deana said.
“Don’t worry about that. He introduced me to this great ribs
and chicken place on University Drive, I don’t know about you but I’m
starving.”
The chatter about the camping stuff they had bought echoed
throughout the car. Deana had never seen Joey this happy before. For
him it must have been like a great Christmas. She’d cautioned
Sebastian not to get carried away, but he was like a big kid too
suggesting gadgets and gear that would make the camping extra
special.
Deana thought Joey couldn’t be happier until over lunch,

Sebastian asked him if he wanted to go to Denver with him.
“Can I Mom?” Joey asked.
“Sure, but you have to mind everything Sebastian says. You
will keep your cell phone with you at all times and if you lose him, call
him immediately, don’t wonder off looking for him.”
“Aren’t you coming?” Joey asked.
“I have to work.”
“You’re sending me alone?” It wasn’t concern she heard in
his voice, it was disbelief. Deana knew she was sometimes
overprotective, but she couldn’t help it, Joey was her life.
“You won’t be alone,” Deana said. “You’ll be with
Sebastian.”
“So you are getting married,” Joey said. “And he will be my
father.”
“Cool,” Trevor said. “You’ll have to wear a suit to the
wedding.”
“Not yet,” was all Deana said.
“Sure you don’t want to play hooky for the rest of the week?
It’s not too late to change your mind about Denver.” Sebastian asked
Deana on Monday night.
“I’ve got bills and that means work. I’m sure you’d hate it if
your secretary plays hooky four days in a row.”
“Yes, but I’m not sleeping with my secretary.”
“I would hope not.”
“Don’t even put that thought in my head. My secretary is
almost sixty three and even if she was a young filly, there’s only one
woman I desire in my life.”
“My two favorite men are going on their first solo adventure.
I can’t believe I’m letting Joey go with you, yet it feels right that you
should have this time alone with him.”
“Deana, move in with me.”
“I just moved here,” Deana said.
“Then I’ll move in with you.”
“Don’t be silly,” Deana said. “I couldn’t imagine your huge
house fitting here and we don’t have a sound proof game room.
Besides, I’m just beginning to enjoy your sleepovers.”
“It would be nice if we are in the same house.”
“We’ll discuss it when Joey’s away at camp.”
“Okay, but - .”
“Shhh,” her lips touched his as she moved closer to him in the
bed. “Let me send you off to Denver properly.”

Her naked body pressed against his. He turned and pulled her
on top of him. There lips met and the kiss was soft and tender.
Her legs straddled him as she kissed his cheek, his ears, down
his strong muscular neck.
Her fingers traced a path down his chest, followed hotly by
her expert tongue. He moaned and sighed heavily as she teased one
nipple then the next.
She kissed his belly, her hair teasing his chest as she continued
downward. He gasped as she captured his manhood between her lips.
The wet warmth was tantalizing and the sensations were unbelievable.
“Deana,” her name was a long moan as he wrapped his hands
in her hair.
She teased him, stroking, sucking and kissing his manhood.
He lifted her as he felt a familiar stirring in his loin.
“I love you,” she said.
He felt her warmth surround him as she rode him slowly at
first, then faster. His hand reached up and caressed her perfect breasts.
She arched her back and moaned. He moaned with as he felt her
tightened against him. He held her hips and met her strokes.
“Deana,” he moaned as he gave himself over to her. She
collapsed on his chest her breath ragged and warm against his skin. “I
love you.”
It surprised Deana that she didn’t cry when Joey disappeared

in the airport with Sebastian. She hadn’t even gotten the flight
information. When he called to say they had landed safely in Denver,
she was overjoyed at the news, but not apprehensive.
The house was empty without him though, and she realized as
she dragged herself to bed the first night that it wasn’t only Joey’s
company she missed. She missed having Sebastian next to her in the
nights. She still check all the doors and windows before bed, but with
Sebastian around, she’d felt safer.
She rented the exact car from the rent-a-car company. There
was nothing to be found in the pockets or the car. The company had
done an excellent job cleaning. She never saw the dark sedan again.
With Joey gone, she’d set her clock to two hour intervals and slept and
watched on those intervals. She knew she would wear herself out, but
there was nothing else she could do.
Reasoning broke some time late Thursday afternoon. Deana
decided it was all her imagination and she’d dreamt up this grand
scheme to justify not sending Joey to summer camp. She was
apprehensive on the matter, though it was practically written in stone

that he would go. Joey had held his end of the bargaining. He’d
brought the grades home that she required and he’d done his chores
without her fussing a hundred times. She couldn’t back out of the deal
now. Though danger would be as good an excuse as any.
“How are you doing?” Deana asked Sebastian on Thursday
night. It was nearly midnight when he called, but she was happy to
hear his voice.
“We are getting ready for the flight tomorrow. Joey’s enjoying
himself. He just talked us into a huge deal with one of the builder’s in
Colorado Springs.”
“Right,” Deana said.
“Well, he did. We went to dinner with the owner of the
company and his family and you know Joey’s curious mind. Within a
few minutes he had them in the palm of his hands. We flew down to
Colorado Springs this morning and signed the papers.”
“It’s good you’re having fun.”
“Miss us yet?”
“Every minute of the day,” she said. “I hope you get in early, I
can’t believe I’ll have just one night with Joey before camp. But as
long as you’re both having fun. Where’s Joey?”
“He’s sleeping. He got tired on the way back. It’s not a long
drive and he wanted to see the sights. I guess everything was too much
for him. He fell asleep in the car.”
“I have the early shift tomorrow. I’ll see you when I get off
work.”
“I love you.”
“I love you too.”
Deana listened to Joey’s excited recollection of their trip to

Denver and Colorado Springs. He spoke about the private jet the two
had boarded that took them nonstop to Denver, then how they’d flown
to Colorado Springs. He liked the mountains. She was in awe how
much he remembered and how much fun he was having just
recollecting the moment.
“And we went to a town called Cripple Creek. They had
casinos everywhere, but we didn’t go into any of them, Dad just wanted
to see the potential for business. We went up and around the mountain,
then down the mountain. Dad said if they built a bridge across the
mountain and valley it would be shorter and faster. It was about three
hours drive from Colorado Springs. But it was nice, though I fell
asleep on the way back.”
“You will have a lot to write about when you get back to
school. They always have those summer essays. You can write about
the Bahamas, Denver and the summer camp tomorrow.”
“Don’t forget my birthday party at Dad’s house.”
“Well, you should be tucked in early tonight. You want to be
fully rested for tomorrow.”
Joey hadn’t crawled in bed with her since the first week they
moved to the old house. Tonight, she woke to the soft knock on her
door.
“Mom,” he whispered.
“Come in honey.”
Sebastian too woke up and moved over as Joey came into the
room.
“Is something wrong?” Deana turned on the lights on her side
of the bed.
“No,” Joey said. “Can I sleep with you and Dad tonight?”
“Sure, come on.”
Joey climbed into the bed between them. It was fortunate they
always dressed after making love, though they hadn’t made love
tonight. Sebastian would pull on pajama bottoms or boxers, and Deana
would pull on her pajama. It was part of them understanding that Joey
was first priority in the family.
“Did you have a nightmare?” Deana asked as she turned out
the light and settle in the bed.
“No, I missed you.” He hugged his mother. “Good night
mom, dad.”
“Good night,” Sebastian said but his voice was tight. In the
dark, his face was twisted with emotions. There was no way in hell he
could leave Deana and Joey.
Denver with Sebastian hadn’t scared her, but her eyes were
teary as she waved good-bye to Joey when the bus pulled away from
her house. Even though Trevor was with him, this was the first he
would be truly alone.
“He needs this,” Sebastian comforted pulling her in his arms.
“This is all a part of him growing up.”
“I know, I’ve had that lecture with myself a hundred times, but
he’s still my baby.”
“And you’re a great mother for fussing. I’m sorry if I stole
him away for the pass few days. It must have been tough.”
“No, somehow it wasn’t - knowing he was with you.”
“It will be okay, Honey.”
And it was okay for the first three days. Joey called on time
everyday like he was supposed to. When Joey didn’t call at six o’clock
Wednesday afternoon, Deana became worried. She’d reminded him at
noon that he needs to keep the phone charged and that she was waiting
for his six o’clock call. The line of customers at the cashier was
growing, but that was not her primary concern. It was six o’clock, Joey
should have called. At exactly a minute after six, she called him. The
telephone was turned off. She got a generic message from a
mechanical voice.
For the next five minutes, she rang the number every fifteen
seconds, holding her breath for an answer. It was the recording service.
The customers were getting impatient and she was getting slower with
worry. Finally at ten minutes after the hour, she left the register in
search of Travis.
“I have to go,” Deana said. “Joey hasn’t called.”
“You can’t leave,” Travis said. “We are already two short and
I need a full time cashier on the shift. He’s at camp for god sake. He’s
cutting the umbilical cord.”
“Joey would have called me on time,” Deana said as the bell at
the cashier register started to ring.
“Deana I need you here.”
“And my son needs me. I have to go Travis.”
“If you go then your job won’t be here when you get back, not
even making pies.”
“Fine,” Deana said. “My son’s more important!”
She took off her nametag and handed it to Travis. She brushed
pass him to the office and retrieved her bag. She knew her son and she
knew something was wrong. She dialed the camp as she headed for the
door. A counselor picked up on the third ring.
“This Deana Lang, I’m looking for my son Joey Lang.”
“Oh Mrs. Lang,” the counselor said. “We are out looking for
the boys also. They left with their guide around four this afternoon and
we haven’t heard from them.”
“Merda!” Deana swore as she hung up.
She got in her car and broke every speed limit on the way
home. She ran inside, packed a hasty bag and returned to her car. She
drove to Thelma’s first to find out if they knew what was happening.
Thelma was sniffing in a big handkerchief when Deana
arrived. Carl was home with her. Deana could see the worried look on
their faces, and Thelma was gripping her cell phone.
“What is it?” Deana asked.
“They found Trevor and the counselor in the woods. Joey is

gone. Speak to Trevor, he was there.”
Deana grabbed the phone and listened to Trevor’s account.
Apparently some man had jumped then in the woods. He had knocked
out the counselor and snatched Joey. The two boys tried to fight him,
but they were no match and Trevor had been knocked out too. The man
spoke Italian and her had a scar running the length of his face.
“Sweet Jesus!” Deana said. “I have to go.”
“Deana, what is going on? Where are you going?”
“I’m going to get my son,” she said.
“Let me take you to the camp,” Carl said. “You don’t look
like you can drive right now.”
“I’m not going to the camp,” Deana said. “Joey’s not there.
I’m going to New York.”
“Deana,” Carl pleaded.
“I have to go.”
She backed out of the driveway leaving her best friends in
awe. She knew this day might have come. After nine years she hoped
she was nothing but a memory to Antonio Pacelli, she was wrong.
How long had he been watching her, waiting for the right time?
“Call Sebastian,” Carl said. “She’s in trouble and she’s going
to need some help.”
Thelma didn’t have to finish her statement. Joey was missing

and Deana was running off to New York. He punched the number for
the Torrance corporate jet and instructed them to have it ready to fly to
New York. He knew Deana was making for the Fort Lauderdale
airport; there were a greater number of flights through there than the
West Palm Beach locale. He made a quick illegal u-turn and headed
south on Interstate 95.
Deana scanned the flight schedule interested in only one city
initial, NY. Delta had a flight leaving in twenty minutes, American
Airlines in an hour. She made her way to the Delta terminal.
“I need a ticket to New York,” she said.
“I’m sorry but the current flight to New York is fully booked.
Our next flight leaves in three hours but you could purchase a standby
ticket for that flight. Your seat is not a guarantee.”
“I have to get to New York immediately,” Deana said.
“Miss, there is nothing we can do. We do not have any tickets
for this flight and it already boarding.”
Deana ran out of line and made for the American Airline
counter. She was half way to the counter when her cell phone rang.
“Joey?” She answered the phone.

“Deana it’s Sebastian. I’m in the parking lot of the airport.
Meet me at Gate fifty two.”
“Sebastian?” She asked losing her bearings for a minute.
“What are you doing here?”
“Thelma called me. Gate fifty two, okay?”
She hung up the telephone and looked at all the signs around
her. No time to think about Thelma blabbering to Sebastian. If he
could get her to New York, she could overlook the meddling. She
followed the sign for gates 51-59. She jogged to the gate. She didn’t
have a boarding pass or a ticket. Security would surely stop her.
“Merda!” She swore.
She got to the security booth and dropped her bag on the
conveyor belt. She held a copy of her driver’s license and prayed they
wouldn’t ask for a ticket.
“Ticket,” the security officer said.
“I don’t have one,” she said. “I’m meeting my friend at gate
52.”
“You cannot pass here without a ticket,” the security said.
“I have to meet my friend at gate 52,” she said.
“Deana Lang?” A senior security officer walked up to her.
“Yes,” she said and showed her ID.
“Private flight,” the senior personnel told the security. “Put
her through.”
The security officer escorted her to gate 52. Sebastian was not
there as yet, and she wanted to wait outside for him, but the officer took
her down the boarding tunnel and on to a private jet. She recognized
three of the flight attendants. They had been on the yacht with them a
few weeks ago. She greeted them by name as they showed her to a
huge comfortable captain’s chair.
“Miss Lang, we’ll be ready to leave as soon as Mr. Torrance
comes on board,” the one she knew as Jacquelyn said.
“Okay.”
It took another five minutes for Sebastian to board the
airplane. Deana all but collapsed in his arms as he hugged her. The
horrid frightened look on her face tormented him. He just hugged her
while she sobbed softly on his shoulders. They were New York bound
in another twenty minutes.
“Talk to me,” Sebastian said.
“Thanks for this, Sebastian,” she said. “You shouldn’t be
here, but I’m happy you are. What would I have done if Ivy hadn’t
taken sick and you happen to have fallen in love with my
cheesecakes?”
“Somehow, I believe we would have found each other to share

this moment. What is going on?”
“It’s Antonio Pacelli, Joey’s father. The bastard has kidnapped
him.”
“Tell me everything,” Sebastian said.
Somewhere in New York City, Joey Lang was in a huge white

bedroom. He hated the color white for a bedroom, and he hated that
the bad man had taken him from camp and hurt his friend Trevor. He
was asleep during the flight here. They had flown first class on a
commercial airliner, but the man had injected him with something that
made him drowsy during the ride in the car. If it wasn’t for that, he
might have kicked and screamed and raised hell. Il figlio di puttana
had come and gotten him at camp. He surveyed the white room now.
He was mad. His mother world never let him out of her sight now. But
what if mom doesn’t find me, he thought.
The room was furnished with paintings, a few collectibles that
looked expensive, and a television. Joey got up and walked to the door.
It was locked. This made him ever madder. He balled his hands into
fisted and knocked the door repeated, screaming for help at the same
time, no one answered. He knocked until his hands were tired. No one
came. But Joey Lang, almost nine going on forty was a fighter like his
mom. If they didn’t come to him when he called, they would come if
he started breaking things. Some of these looked expensive enough.
The crystal Faberge eyes shattered on the hood of Antonio’s
new SUV, leaving a nasty dent in the hood. The sound of broken glass
hitting the pavement followed. He had listened to his son bang against
the door for ten minutes and screamed at him in English and Italian. So
his mother wasn’t worthless after all, she taught him something about
his heritage. He hadn’t expected the Faberge egg through the window
though. This room was the best choice for the boy. It was the only
room in the house with security bars on the window. It was his father’s
old room. How he had rejoiced when his stepmother Simone Pacelli
had agreed to have them up. The boy was resourceful. He would give
him another thirty minutes to realize the situation was beyond his
control, before he would approach him.
Joey Lang was a happy well-adjusted boy. He never threw
temper fits, but if his mother could see him now, she would be shocked.
He followed the Faberge egg with shoes, clothes, and perfumes,
everything his four feet and sixty pounds could manage. It hurt him to
do this, but he found the old crutch useful as he whacked every painting
on the wall and topped it off with a huge crash of the TV screen. The
sound of the TV toppling and the broken glass topped off some of his
anger.
“What the devil is he doing?” Antonio said.
“I’ll check,” Tommy replied.
“No,” Antonio said. “He’ll think his antics will bring him
results.”
For Joey, the antics did bring him results. The coffee table had
toppled with the television and was broken. He stepped gingerly
through the splint and picked up a manageable piece of wood. He
measured it against his jeans and put it side his pants, keeping if firmly
in place by adjusting his belt.
Still, hours away on a private Boeing business jet, Deana was

getting ready to recount the horrible events that led her to South
Florida.
“Tell me everything,” Sebastian said.
“It’s so horrible,” Deana said. “I pray to spare Joey from the
horrors of his father. I shouldn’t have sent him to that stupid camp.”
“Deana it’s not your fault and you cannot protect him forever.
For him to have a good life you have to let him experience a lot on his
own. Joey’s a strong boy, very much like his mother and this will make
him stronger. What am I to expect?”
“Sebastian I don’t want you involved. Antonio can be
dangerous. When we get to New York, I will take care of everything.”
“Deana, from the first day I looked at you in that diner I was
involved. You’re not alone and Joey is going to need both of us. Tell
me everything.”
“My name was Mia DiMarinetti. I change my name legally
after all that happened to me. There’s a group in New York that saved
me and they helped me to get out and away from Tony. My mother
married Tony’s father when I was thirteen, Donato Pacelli. Tony was
eighteen at the time. He was trouble from the start. When mama
moved in with them, I was apprehensive, but she had been alone so
long and Donato made her happy. In the first month, Tony tried to get
into my room twice. I took my allowance and bought extra locks for
my door. I had to buy those ugly black bolts and cover them because
mama didn’t quite believe me, plus, she never wanted a girl so Tony
was her son.
“I was good friends with Luigi; he was one of Tony’s friends.
He would walk me home from school and stay at the house until
someone else got home because I was afraid of Tony. He had a bad
reputation then. He was a bully and had given both women and men
black eyes. Donato couldn’t mange him, and mama, Tony loved her
and she was loyal to him. I think mama was the only person Tony ever
loved. Just after my fifteenth birthday, Tony told Luigi to stop
interfering with me. Luigi brushed him off at first, then Tony and his
gang beat him to a pulp. Luigi never told a soul but I knew.
“Anyway, I was safe as long as Donato was home. Then he
and mama went away on a trip. They left me with the servants and
Tony. I was scared for my life. For the first three days I didn’t even
leave my room. Not for food, not for school, not for anything. Tony
would knock at my door, and go ‘come out, come out wherever you
are’. It was horrible. I would bar my door with a chair and pray he
would go away. On the fourth day he tricked me. I watched from my
bedroom window until he left, then I sneaked down to the kitchen to
get food. I was starving. His friend Tommy was waiting for me in the
kitchen.”
Her voice faltered and she paused to gather herself. She
couldn’t shed tears now for that night. It had taken her out of New
York, away from the threat, and even though it always loomed in the
front of her mind, she had in the past nine years been better off than
hiding behind her stepfather who could not control his son.
“He grabbed me from behind and yelled for Tony. I fought
with all my might, but I was weak. I hadn’t had anything but tap water
in three days. Tony had dismissed the servants. I didn’t even know
this. I fought with Tommy and just when I thought I made it out, Tony
came through the back door of the kitchen. Tony was not a skinny kid.
He was bench-pressing almost two hundred pounds at twenty. He
grabbed me by my hair and dragged me to the living room. I fought
him, I cursed him, I did everything I could but it was no use.
“When he ripped my clothes off, I knew it was over. We lived
in Upstate New York, one mile away from the nearest house, with
nobody to help. I’d never been more scared or terrified in my life.
When it was over, Tony laughed at me. He spit at me and called me his
little puttana. For three more days all my body knew was what Tony
did to it. And it wasn’t just the sex. He got a kick from punching me;
slapping my face and seeing it go red. When mama and Donato came
back, Tony told them I was having a party and some guy had knocked
me up good and he came back in time to save me. I told my mother he
was a liar it was Tony who did this to me. I can still feel the sting of
her palm across my cheek. She cursed me that I was a worthless liar
like my father.
“Donato helped me. He got the towels. Covered me, ran my
bath and put me in it. I will forever be grateful to him for that. I never
went to the hospital; my mother never believed that I was raped. I
believe even Donato was afraid of Tony by this. He had his gang of six
or seven boys who would do anything he says. I never bolted my door
again. I slept with an eight-inch blade under my pillow. I prayed Tony
would come back to bother me. I swore I would kill him. But he never
came.
“I missed my period for three months, but that was not
unusual. I lived in constant stress so my cycle was always out of
whack. But I bought the home pregnancy test anyway, because I was
feeling nauseous and I had symptoms of the flu without the flu. The
test was positive. I bought maybe ten different types; they all returned
the same result. I was stupid; I wanted mama to believe me, to know I
was not la baldracca. So I told her when the baby was born I would
have it tested and prove it was Tony’s and that he raped me. I was still
a minor – it would work. Two days later, Donato wasn’t home, and I
don’t know where mama was when it started. I suspect she was there,
but Tony and his boys came. I was in my room when they stormed in.
“I was no match for the six of them, but Tony paid. I stabbed
him in the crotch. I wanted him to hurt like he did to me. I would have
stabbed him again except they were all trying to get at me. I slashed, I
stabbed and I don’t know who got hit from who didn’t. My mom came
in the room because Tony was screaming. The boys were running out,
they didn’t know mama only cared about Tony. She pulled him out of
the room. He was screaming and threatening to kill me, she was
threatening to kill me. I had enough. I didn’t want my child to grow
up like this, and I couldn’t have an abortion, it was not his fault what
happened to me.
“So while mama rushed Tony to the hospital, I stole her
jewelry. I stole every penny from Tony’s room and he had a lot of
money, a couple thousand maybe. I don’t know how he and his gang
got their money, but he always had a lot of money. I emptied Donato’s
safe, grab a backpack with a few clothes and took off. I didn’t know
what to do. I was afraid the police would come and get me. I was
afraid mama or Donato would find me. The only person I was ever
close to was Luigi. He sent me to the people who could help me
because he didn’t want to get involved.
“I had to lose my identity if I was to stay at the safe house. I
was four months pregnant and no one knew what to do with me. On
top of that, no one had reported to the police exactly what happened to
Tony. Some of the people in the safe house knew him by reputation. I
was doomed. I lived in a safe house in New York until Joey was born.
I had nowhere to run to and what money I had I couldn’t waste it trying
to get housing and a job in a different city. I couldn’t work in New
York, but Luigi would get money or word to me of what was
happening. As long as I could track Tony, I was relatively safe.

“Then one night I was supposed to meet Luigi. I always go
maybe half an hour before and let him wait another half hour in case
Tony knew. Luigi never showed up, but Tommy did. I got back to the
safe house, took Joey and that’s the last I saw of New York. I’ve been
looking behind my back since. Sometimes I think I should have just
had an abortion and not tell anyone. But I would be stuck in New York
or dead by now. Then I should have had the abortion and run on my
own, but I wouldn’t have been this far. Joey saved me. The Deana you
know was created by one little boy who has no idea how much he has
given me or how he came to have a mother so young.”
Sebastian allowed her to finish without interrupting. It hurt
him to hear this story. To hear how horrible the monster who fathered
her child had treated. Yet, as he sat listening, hugging her, he was
certain of one thing – he loved this woman. He loved her with every
fiber of his being. He loved her for loving a child spawned from the
most brutal situation a woman should have to endure.
“Oh God, Deana,” Sebastian said. “You must have thought I
was a brute that first evening at my house.”
“For a second,” she said. “But if I dwelled on Tony, I
wouldn’t be able to live my life. I never forgot about him, but I had to
move on for Joey’s sake.”
“I love you, and we will find Joey.”
“I know.”
14.
As the jet raced towards New York, a little boy in a white

room prepared for his first confrontation with his father. Tony had
allowed almost an hour to pass after the last big crash in the room. He
was confident the boy was out of steam now. Like his mother, the
anger and strength flowed only a few minutes, then they were quiet
once they knew there was no escaping him. He gingerly opened the
door. The boy was standing in the middle of the bed, his hand behind
him. It hurt Tony to see this defiance, this disrespect of personal
property. Like his mother, Tony thought.
The pictures on the wall were bashed in, the television and the
coffee table lay broken on the floor. The wind whipped the curtains
through a broken window, and the boy stood in dirty sneakers on the
perfect white linens on the bed. He was going to enjoy bending him to
his will. He will make a proper Pacelli out of him, just as he had bent
and broken his mother.
“Hello Joey,” Tony said in a low voice. “Let me introduce
myself. I am Antonio Pacelli. I am your father.”
The boy didn’t answer. He gazed out at him from long dark
lashes. Yes, there was more of the mother in the boy, Tony thought.
Nonetheless, she was always a looker. This was not a set back. He
might even enjoy Mia’s face doing the deeds he intended to make this
boy do. Calling him daddy, he could picture Mia doing just that. It
would be a rush.
“Didn’t la puttana teach you how to behave? You have ruined
this beautiful room.”
“You are not my father,” Joey replied.
“I can’t say I wish I wasn’t, after all, I had fun with your
mother. Poor little Mia!”
“My name is Joey Lang. My mother is Deana Lang. She will
find me, and she will kick your ass.”
“Really?” Tony said. “She couldn’t kick my ass nine years
ago. I would love her to try now. The lessons I would teach her. And
there is no Donato to rescue her.”
Joey’ grip tightened on the piece of wood behind his back as
Tony walked towards him. He wanted him just to look away for one
minute, just one minute. Tony was staring at the boy. He may look like
his mother, but the temper, the reddening in anger was all Tony.
“Merda!” Tony cursed as the glass from the television
crunched under his feet. That gave Joey the precious few seconds he
needed. He held the piece of wood in both hands and jumped towards
Tony. He had done this on his video games so many times he didn’t
have to think about it. He didn’t want to think about as the wood came
crashing down on Tony’s head. Man and boy fell to the ground. Joey
was on top of Tony, hitting as hard as his hands would allow him.
Flight was not in his head until he heard footsteps coming on the stairs.
The blood was pumping in his ears. He ran for the door. The man who
had grabbed him at summer camp was bounding up the stairs. Joey ran
the other way and into the next room before the man could see him. He
heard Antonio screaming in pain. Both men were in the room. He ran
for the stairs. He had to get out.
He was half the way down when the man started after him.
He ran. Another man came from the hallway, but he was slow and Joey
was making it to the only door he saw. He yanked the door open and
ran out the door. His feet almost got tangled in the clothes he had
thrown through the window, but he didn’t fall. He could hear them
behind him and the one called Antonio was shouting.
He had no idea where he was going, but he followed the
driveway, switching from asphalt to turf to asphalt, keep always in a
straight line. Sebastian told him when they were in Colorado Springs
that it was the shortest distance between two points. That’s why he’d
talked about the bridge to Cripple Creek. Now he ran as fast as his
almost nine year old legs could carry him. His chest was tightening,
but the pain was nothing, he was still ahead of them. He ran until he
couldn’t hear them anymore.
“He’s eight years old!” Antonio shouted. “How could you
lose him? One of your strides is three of his.”
“He can’t go very far,” Tommy said. “The gates are closed.”
“That’s what you said about his mother and it took you more
than nine years to find her. I want him here now, and not a scratch on
him, okay? Not one single scratch or I have your neck!”
Joey cut his leg getting over the gates. It was not easy. The
steel deco was tall and his legs could not fit properly in the slots. A cut
was nothing. He knew the man was a bad man. Why had he
kidnapped him in the first place? If he was really his father why hadn’t
he just asked his mother to see him? And why did he call his mother la
puttana? And his mom would have talked about him if he was a good
man. His mother was the best person in the whole world, and she
wouldn’t have kept him from his father, unless he was a bad man. I’m
only eight, he thought, what do I really know?
“Almost nine,” he said aloud because he needed to know he
was alive and not stuck in one of his video games.
He had hidden in the bushes until he was sure the coast was
clear, then he high-tailed it over the gate.
He ran out of steam and breath ten minutes later. He was
staying as far away from the road as possible. In the mystery books his
mom read to him at nights, the hunted always stay away from the road.
They followed it as a guide, but they stayed away from it.
He didn’t know where to go. He didn’t know anybody in New
York. He had never been in New York, he was only born here and his
mother never spoke about New York. Trevor, he thought. Aunt Thelma
had a sister who lived in New York. That’s how Trevor had seen snow
for the first time. But Joey didn’t have any money, and he didn’t know
how much it cost to call Aunt Thelma from here. He kept as much as
possible behind the trees and kept a half jog half walk pace.
The jet touched down in New York’s La Guardia airport three

hours after taking off from Fort Lauderdale. Deana was fatigued but
ready for this round. It was Sebastian who held her back. It was
Sebastian who suggested they waited a night and analyze their options
before charging in.
“No,” Deana said. “Tony is a monster and the longer he has
Joey the more I fear for him.”
“I know he’s a monster,” Sebastian said as they sat in the back
of his company’s limousine. “But if he wanted to hurt Joey, he
wouldn’t have taken him to New York for that. If he really wanted both
of you out of his life, he wouldn’t have kept searching for nine years.
There is something driving this man.”
“Hate,” Deana said. “I don’t want my son with him for one
minute more.”
“Deana, we have to think about this logically. I know who
hate Tony, and god knows I hate him more than you do at this point, but
you are a thinking woman. What do you know about this man? Forget
about the hurt, forget about nine years ago. You lived with him for two
years in fear. You know a lot about him whether you realize it or not.
Do you think he’s going to hand Joey over if you walk into his house
and demand him back? Think.”
“I can’t, not while he has my child.”
“But you’ve thought everything else through. You knew he
had Luigi followed. You were wise to stake about before meeting
Luigi. What would Deana sixteen and scared to death of Tony do?”
“I don’t know anything about him,” Deana insisted.
“Your mother, what if she’s there too? That’s two formidable
opponents. What kind of business man is Tony? What connections
does he have? Please honey, let’s not rush in. You still have the
element of surprise. He does not know you are here. If he had to resort
to kidnapping a boy, then his reach might not be as far as you think.
You were fifteen everything was a bit grander then. If he’s looking for
you it will be through flight logs, not through Torrance private flights.”
“You are right Sebastian, but I cannot think knowing the hell
Joey might be going through. He’s only eight, what can he do?”
“He’s almost nine going on forty,” Sebastian said. “He is your
son and I believe there is so much of you in him, it would take more
than Tony Pacelli to break him.”
The five men searched every corner of the property. Joey was
not to be found. No one thought he would make it over the gate. It
was difficult for an adult to climb; a kid would definitely find the task
daunting. But one person had seen it. He had seen and prayed in his
heart that the boy would make it. Luigi Ventura was not proud of
giving Mia up ten years ago. It was a choice between his life and hers.
Now, he wished he had chosen more wisely. Tony cracked a hard whip,
and he had bolted under the pressure rather than play the hero. He
owed her. It was his fault Mia was raped. She trusted him to take care
of her, and Tony only wanted her because he thought she loved Luigi.
Now, he returned to the house after the fruitless search,
knowing he had given the boy what he hadn’t given the mother – a
chance to escape. The city was five miles away. The boy would
probably need an hour to get there. They had spent at least forty five
minutes searching the grounds. He had seen to it that they double
checked everything. Tony would be happy for that and never think
twice. In the city the boy could get help. If he was anything like his
mother, Tony would never be able to find him again.
“What do you mean you can’t find him?” Tony roared. “Did
you check everywhere? He is a small boy he could have climbed up a
tree or hidden in the bushes.”
“He’s not out there,” Tommy said. “He must have gotten over
the gate.”
“Then find him. He doesn’t know the city, he’s never been
here, and you should be able to find him. Call in friends if you have to.
I want him here in the next hour.”
The five men exited the house as the boy reached the city
limits. It was almost sunset, and he was tired and hungry. He hadn’t
eaten since sharing a candy bar with Trevor about ten in the morning.
His legs hurt and were bleeding and his hands hurt from hitting Tony
and everything else in the room. He should find a policeman he
thought, they would help. But what if they called Tony and he told
them he was his son, they would take him back. No, he must talk to the
police, if they were helpful, they would have been on their way to get
him by this. He was sure Trevor had told his mother - Trevor who had
fought the bad man with him, but was knocked over the head. He was
breathing when the man pulled him away, and he had dropped the cell
phone in Trevor’s shirt. If not his mother, Trevor would have called
Sebastian or Aunt Thelma and they would be looking for them.
He had taught Trevor some Italian, and he had sounded the
bastard in Italian. His mother would know what it means. She would
have called the police if they could help. This was Tony’s city. He
took him here because this was his orb of power, just like in the video
games when the ghosts led you to their source of power so they could
deal you fatal blows. No, he was alone. He wandered the streets and
alleyways, careful to avoid as many people as possible. He was hungry
and tired. He had to find somewhere to sleep. Then he saw them,
people lying in the alleys on cardboard. That wouldn’t be so bad. He
could spend the night there and maybe they could help him with some
food.
Deana conceded to waiting at least one night before

confronting Antonio. She needed to put an end to this one way or the
other. She was not going to get up and move because he found them.
She promised Joey when they bought the house that they would not
move again. He had friends whom he cared about and who cared about
him. And Sebastian was right; she had the element of surprise.
They were staying at one of the Torrance business
condominiums. Her heart ached for her son.
Sebastian was on the telephone with contacts he knew. He
had fired up his laptop as soon as they were inside the condo and was
doing background on Antonio Pacelli. Deana couldn’t think about
anything she knew off Tony, except he was a bully. She thought about
going out to buy herself a gun. She had taken target practice in
Chicago. She’d vowed never to be helpless again, now here she was,
without her child and helpless. Stop feeling sorry for yourself, she
said. You beat him before, you will do it again.
Mother and son closed their eyes three hours later and tried
not to think of the day. One went to bed hungry by choice snuggling
next to the lover that tonight was only a friend. The other had chatted
himself into pieces of stale bread, and snuggled close to the wayward
dog that belonged to the lady who was calling him son.
15.
There was no place like home, but Joey was not worried about
that now. When he woke, the sun was up and he was no longer beside
the dog, but by himself, under a piece of cardboard. The lady, who had
given him bread the evening before, was packing odds and ends in a
shopping cart. Safe, he thought. He had spent his first night in New
York on the streets with a stranger, but he was safe.
He groaned in pain as he got up. The cut on his leg had stop
bleeding, but it was hurting. His feet still hurt from running and his
arms were sore. He was still hungry, but he didn’t think he could take
another piece of bread. He rubbed his eyes, looked around him and
started walking again. He asked a few people for nickels or dimes, but
they looked at him as if he was insane.
“Where is your mother?” One lady asked him.
“In Florida,” he said. “I need to call her to come get me.”
“You poor thing,” the lady replied. “Let me get you to the
police station, they can help you.”
Police, the sound made him dash down the street. He didn’t
want the police. They couldn’t be any good. He ran for a long while
before he stopped again. It was early in the morning, and people were
everywhere. He didn’t know exactly where he was going.
He ran to a corner and into a man playing a flute. The man
was in dark glasses. Joey apologized but the man didn’t stop playing,
nor did he look at him. At his feet, there was a basket with coins and
one dollar bills. I will have mom find you and pay it back, he vowed to
himself. He looked around to make sure no one was looking and
picked up all the coins and paper dollars from the basket.
“Thief!” Someone shouted.
Joey didn’t look; he started running as fast as he could down
the street. He only stopped to look back when he had gone six or seven
blocks down the road. No one was following him. The money jingled
in his pocket and he felt queasy.
He walked for another ten minutes before finding a telephone.
It did not use coins.
He wasn’t deterred. He would find another one. He stopped
on his search to buy an apple. No time to waste his money on anything
else. The apple cost him a quarter. He found three more telephones,
but none of them took a coin. He wondered how people in New York
got by if the telephones didn’t work. He lifted the receiver and the
telephone had a dial tone. He hit zero. The operator asked him his age
and refused the collect call. He tried again saying he was sixteen, but
whoever the operator was, was very smart because she refused his call
again.
He continued walking to a bus stop, and then the name jumped
out at him. Torrance Construction, now building, that was Sebastian’s
company. It said offices in New York. He looked at the number, what
was toll free? He shook the coat of the man in front of him.
“Excuse me sir, what does toll free mean?”
“It means you just dial the number. Are you by yourself?
Where are your parents?” The man asked.
He thought about saying Florida, but this man might want to
call the police also. So he pointed to the ad, “They at Torrance
Construction.”
“You must have gotten lost, this is Westchester. That is all the
way over in Manhattan.”
“How do I get to Man- what’s –its-name?” Joey asked.
“Manhattan? You have to take the bus or a taxi. But I don’t
think you can go on the bus alone. You are only a boy. You should go
to the police station. They could call your parents from there.”
“No,” Joey said. “How much is it anyway?”
“It’s going to cost a bit.”
“Hey Mister,” Joey said. “Do you have a pen? I would like to
write down that number. I have to call my dad.”
“Sure.”
The man gave him a pen and he wrote the number in his hand.
“You sure I can just dial the number without paying any
money?” Joey asked. “My mom always complains about those toll
free ads on TV. She says they only want to take your money.”
“I’m sure you don’t have to pay.”
“Thank you.”
Joey went to the telephone and punched the numbers he had in
his hand. He was placed on hold for a little while. He crouched in the
phone booth as he saw a car with the scar-faced man passing. That was
the man who had taken him from camp. He only knew two faces.
There could be more looking for him. He had to be smart and stay
away from the roads.
“Hello Torrance Construction, how can I help you?”
“This is Joey Torrance,” he said. “I need to speak to my father
Sebastian Torrance.”
“How old are you?” the operator asked.
“I am nine,” Joey said. “Just tell my father I’m on the
telephone.”
“You should not be playing with the telephone young man,”
the operator admonished. “You should be ashamed of yourself.”
“Miss, I am not playing. Please tell Sebastian I am in some

place called Westchester, I have – hold on.” He pulled the money from
his pocket and scanned it. “I have four dollars and some. I am trying to
get to Manrhartan. To your office.” He hadn’t quote understood the
name as the man pronounced it.
“I am going to hang up the telephone,” the operator said.
“That’s okay Miss, as long as you tell him. I will call back
when I can; the bad men are driving on the street.”
The operator hung up and didn’t take any notes for the call.
Joey hid in the store across from the bus stop. He would get in a bus as
soon as one stopped. Four dollars should get him somewhere other
than here.
“Can I help you?” A clerk in the store asked.
“I am going to Manrhartan,” Joey said. “I don’t know which
bus to take.”
“You mean Manhattan,” the clerk said. “You are a ways from
home. The next bus that comes will be heading south. You can take
that, and then get into another bus in from there. Where are your
parents?”
“In Man-hat-tan,” Joey said. “Mister, can you tell me which
bus goes to Man-hat-tan.”
“The next bus should be here any minute now; it will take you
close but not quite. You may have to change buses, but the driver will
help you. Do you have a transit card?”
“A what?” Joey asked.
“A transit card.”
“No.”
“Then you need the exact change, what do you have?”
“Four bucks and a few pennies,” Joey said.
“Okay, a few quarters should do it.” The clerk took his four
dollars and gave him four dollars in quarters. “Here comes the bus, try
to get on it.”
Joey darted out the store and barely made it to the bus. The
bus driver asked him where he was going.
“As close to Man-hat-tan as possible,” he said.
“Where are your parents?” The driver asked.
“Man-hat-tan. This is my dad’s number.” Joey showed her
the number in his hand. “He said to get on a bus and he will meet me
when I call again. How much is it?”
“Three dollars.”
Joey counted three dollars and handed it to her. She smiled
and put the money in the meter and gave him his ticket and a transfer
card.
“You need to keep the card for the next bus. You look a little
too young to be traveling by yourself. That’s a nasty cut on your leg.
Are you running away from home?” She said.
“No ma’am, I’m trying to get home. My dad’s Sebastian
Torrance,” Joey said. “Do you know Torrance Construction?”
“Yes, I bought a house from them.”
“Well, we are in Man-hat-tan for vacation and we got lost. I
took a bus because it looked like this one, and I ended up here. The
man in the store over there,” Joey pointed to the clerk who waved at
him. “Called my dad to make sure I would take the right bus.”
“Okay, have a seat,” the driver said.
Joey sighed with relief as the bus started. He was getting
away from the worse of the bad men. Joey Lang, you are a dirty liar he
told himself. And a thief he added thinking that he only had only a
dollar and four cents now and if Man-hat-an was as far away as they
said it was he would need to get more money.
Deana woke when Joey got of the bus, five miles closer to
Manhattan, and had already completed his second telephone call to
Torrance Construction.
“I need to do something,” she said.
“We will,” Sebastian replied.
“Today,” Deana insisted. “I have to do this today. I don’t
want to think about Joey with that bastard.”
“Neither do I Deana, but you have to believe he is all right.
Joey is a smart kid. Tony will not break him. I am waiting for some
data on the man and then we can make a plan for action. Do you want
breakfast?”
“No, I cannot eat.”
Joey could eat though, and he was starving. He bought a
candy bar at a convenience store and took the transfer bus. One more
bus to go and he would be in Manhattan.
Ten miles closer to Manhattan, he made another call to
Torrance Construction.
“I told you not to call back,” the operator said. “This is a
place of business and not a playground.”
“Miss, just call his cell phone number or my mom. He’s going
to be my dad.” Joey raced off the number to her. “Tell them I am in
some place called Eastchester Bay. I’m heading to your office in Man-
hat-tan. The bus is here.”
He hung up before she did this time. The operator was
tempted to throw the number in the trash, but the little boy was
persistent and specific. If this was a joke, then she was going to tell off
whoever was at the end of this number. She dialed the number the
number the boy had given her.
Deana picked up in the first ring.
“This is Deana,” she said.
“Miss, there is a young boy who keeps calling our number all
morning. He gave me this number to call you. He claims you are his
mother -.”
“Joey?” Deana asked. She was out of the bed.
“He said that was his name. He also said Sebastian Torrance
was his father. We do not -.”
“Sebastian is his father, what did he say where was he calling
from?”
“Miss, Mr. Torrance has no children. Good-bye.”
The woman hung up.
“Merda!” Deana swore and pulled the number up on her cell
phone.
“Deana was that Joey?” Sebastian asked. He was beside her.
“No, it was -,” she paused to look on the name. “Torrance
Construction. The woman said a boy has been calling all morning and
that you are his father.”
Sebastian saw the light in her face. It was hope, not the dark
despair he had seen her take to bed. He was on his cell phone calling
the Manhattan Office. That was the only office in New York. Joey
must have seen the number on a billboard. If he had called, it means
Tony didn’t have him.
“This is Sebastian Torrance,” Sebastian said. “My son called
earlier, what did he say?”
“Listen to me, if any of you call this office again, I’m going to
have the police tap your phones and have you arrested for harassment.”
She hung up.
“She’s fired,” Sebastian said. “Get dressed, we’re heading to
Manhattan.”
The limousine sped through the streets, heading towards his
Manhattan office. He called his general manager directly from the car.
He was mad. The woman stood between him and Joey at the moment.
He wanted to wring her neck as badly as he wanted a piece of Antonio
Pacelli.
He got out of the car before the limousine driver could make it
to the door. The general manager was in the lobby waiting for him.
“Sebastian,” Bill McGraves said. “You should have called me
directly. We didn’t know you were in New York.”
“I don’t have much time Bill, where’s the receptionist.”
“She’s new, she didn’t know. She’s in my office.”

“And right now I don’t care,” Sebastian said as they took the
elevator to the fourth floor. The lady was waiting in Bill’s office.
“Mr. Torrance, I’m sorry I had no -.”
“What did he say?” Sebastian demanded.
“I didn’t take note. He said something about heading here.”
“Where is he now?”
“I don’t know,” the receptionist said.
“Did you record the phone call?” Sebastian asked. It was
standard policy to record any suspicious or threatening phone calls.
“No, it wasn’t suspicious, I thought he was playing.”
“You’re fired,” Sebastian said.
“Sebastian,” Deana said. She knew he was angry. It was not
the woman’s fault. She was thankful that at least she had called the
number Joey had left even if she was rude and thought it was a crank
call.
“I’m pissed,” Sebastian said. “We had him. He was in our
hands for god’s sake.”
“But it’s not her fault,” Deana said. “This is misplaced. At
least we know he has gotten away. He knew enough to call here.”
She hugged him. She felt his muscles bulged under his shirt.
She loved this man for being angry that they couldn’t find her son, their
son.
A buzz sounded in Bill’s office. The sit-in receptionist had a
boy on the line. Bill put the phone on speaker.
“Hello Miss,” Joey’s voice was clear and strong. “I have to
take one more bus. I don’t know where I am, but the bus is late. Tell
Sebastian I am coming to Man-hat-tan. Miss?”
“Joey!” Sebastian and Deana said together.
“Mom?” Joey asked. “Dad?”
“Yes, son we are here,” Sebastian said. “Where are you?
Which bus depot are you at?”
“I have to go, the bad men are here. Merda!”
They heard the scramble out of the telephone booth and feet
running. There was no scream, which was good. Joey was on the run.
“My god,” Deana said and buried her head in Sebastian’s
chest. She was crying again. “Joey.”
Sebastian held her. He was feeling the pain as much as she
was. Joey was a smart boy. Strong and smart like his mother, if only
they knew where he was.
***
For the second time in as many days, Joey found the strength
to outrun his captors. He was so close now, closer because his mom
and Sebastian were in Manhattan waiting for him. This gave his legs
strength he never knew he possessed. How had the bad men found
him? If they knew he was taking the buses, it was only a matter of
time. He was starving and tired. He needed to know where he was.
Sebastian went through every single document on Antonio
Pacelli. He had too many properties for them to search it all, and it
could take days or months even to find him because Antonio was no
longer in the Brooklyn house Deana remembered. All they had was
Joey, if Joey got away and if he could call again.
“We have to tell ourselves he’s okay,” Sebastian said to Deana.
He hadn’t fired the receptionist. She was apologetic and
distraught that she may have cost them the life of their child. She was
new to the job and was not trained how to handle a situation such as
this other than being polite and hang up. All she knew of Sebastian
Torrance was from office gossip; he was rich, single and an eligible
bachelor. He had visited the New York office once since she had been
there, and he never wore ring nor was he accompanied by a wife.
“He sounded okay,” Deana said. “Thank heavens he
remembered you owned Torrance Construction. I know we will find
him.”
“Deana,” Sebastian said. “This might be a bad time, but when
this is over, we’re getting married, no protests. I cannot tell you how I
feel at this point and I know you must be feeling the same way. I will
make him my son.”
“He is already your son,” Deana said.
“I have the location of every billboard, every bench ad in New
York,” Bill walked in with two sheets of typed paper.
“Tell me if anything rings a bell,” Sebastian said to the
receptionist.
She scanned through the city names quickly. The boy had
never said a specific street, only city names.
“This,” she pointed to Westchester on the paper. There three
billboards and five bench ads in Westchester.
Sebastian checked all the locations against any property that
had Antonio Pacelli on the deed. There was none.
“Are you sure?” Sebastian asked.
“Yes, he called Manhattan, by a funny name. That’s part of
the reason I thought it was a joke. He said he was nine. He took a
bus.”
Sebastian was on his laptop.
“What are you doing?” Deana asked.
“All New York transit routes are on the internet. If we can
place any of these ads to a route, then we can start there, work our way
forward. He called three times each time after a bus ride. He was
specific - he was heading to Manhattan. You know Joey is chatty, and
I’m sure someone must have asked him why he was riding alone. He
had to be pretty convincing to get on a bus.”
Half an hour later they were each on a phone to two transit
lines that both had bench ads. Sebastian hit the Jackpot.
“Yes, this is Sebastian Torrance, his father - Oh, did he? – East
Chester Bay – a cut on his leg. Thank you, I’m grateful for this.”
Deana got off the telephone. Sebastian was pumping the air
with his fist. She swore she had never seen him this happy.
“That’s our boy,” he said to Deana. “He told the driver his
name was Joey Torrance and he lost us in Manhattan. She said he
looked fine except he had a nasty cut on his leg. She left him in East
Chester Bay and I have the number.” He was dialing as he spoke.
“Yes, this is Sebastian Torrance. My son was on one of your
buses earlier today heading towards Manhattan. – Edison Avenue. That
would be nice. Thank you.”
He called the number for the Edison office transit. Joey was
in Melrose.
“He’s five miles from here maximum. Let’s go.” Sebastian
took Deana’s hand. “He will be home by tonight. If he calls, tell him
to get to a hotel and give them my cell phone number.”
16.
The limousine race towards Melrose. The couple sat holding

hands, each giving their own silent prayer for a boy who was brave
enough to escape his kidnappers.
Joey was in the mall. He wasn’t sure who was a bad man
from who were the good men. He wanted to give-up. Every muscle,
every bone in his body ached. He found a pay phone and tried to dial
the number again. He had sweated most of the morning and each time
the ink had faded some. Now, the numbers had faded beyond
recognition. He almost cried. There was no way of calling his mother
again.
He’d just about lost his will when a strong pair of hands lifted
him from behind.
“Let me go!” He shouted.
“Be quiet,” a male voice hissed at him. Joey didn’t recognize
the voice as the man in the woods. This was someone else, a different
bad man. “If you don’t shut up they’ll find you.”
He didn’t heed the voice. He was kicking and screaming, and
the man was moving out of the mall, apologizing for ‘his son’. Joey
was shoved into the front of a car and the man got in. He couldn’t get
out. The doors were closed and the locks missing. The only way out
was the way he was shoved in – through the driver’s side door, and the
man was sitting there.
“Shut up!” The man barked. “Do you want Tony to find
you?”
Joey looked at the man now, he recognized him. He was one
of the men who’d chased him across the lawn. Joey opened his mouth
and screamed as loudly as he could, even as the door of the car
slammed shut.
“If you don’t shut up, your father is going to find you and
there will be hell to pay,” the man said.
Though he was frightened, tired and his throat hurt from
screaming, Joey recognized that this man did not say I will take you to
your father.
“Who are you?” Joey demanded in a hoarse voice.
“A friend of your mother’s,” the man said through gritted
teeth. “Don’t start screaming again! I knew your mother before you
were born. Now keep your head down and stop shouting!”
“Where are you taking me?”
“To your mother. No more screaming, okay?”
Joey nodded, because he couldn’t scream even if he wanted to,
his throat was soar and he was tired.

“You’re a bad man,” Joey said. “My mom and dad are going
to make sure you go to jail.”
“Yes, I probably deserve to go to jail, but for now, I just need
to get you to your mother. My name is Luigi Ventura. Here,” he
handed a cell phone to Joey. “Call your mother. Tell her here you are
at the clock. She will know what it means.”
“How do you know my mother is here?”
“Because your father knows,” Luigi said. “Now call her.”
Joey didn’t trust the stranger, but he dialed the cell phone
number for his mother. She answered on the first ring.
“Mom,” Joey said.
“Joey, where are you?”
“I’m with a man. He said to tell you I am at the clock.”
“Luigi?” Deana asked. “Is his name Luigi?”
“Yes, but he’s with the bad men who kidnapped me. He was
with them yesterday. I’m locked in his car. Mom please come and get
me.” For the first time he acted like an eight year old and broke into
hysterical tears.
“Joey,” Deana said feeling the pain of her son. “Stay with
him. I’m on my way. I’ll see you in a few minutes.”
“But Mom - .”
“He’s not the worse kind of bad man,” Deana tried to comfort
her son. “He’s a coward, but he can help you. I am coming to get you
Joey.”
Luigi pulled the phone from him.
“Mia?”
“Luigi.”
“Tony knows you are here. This has to be fast.” He hung up
the phone.
Deana gave instructions to the limousine driver.
Five car lengths behind, another car followed Luigi all the way
to the clock.
Joey had never been happier to see any two people in his life.
As soon as the car was parked and Luigi let him out, he raced towards
his mom and Sebastian who were waiting under a giant clock.
“Joey,” Deana cried hugging him.
Sebastian hugged them both. They got Joey in the limousine
before focusing their attention on Luigi.
“Mia,” Luigi said meeting her half way between his car and
hers.
“Thank you,” Deana said.
“I’m sorry I couldn’t save you those years ago,” Luigi said.
“I’m sorry I betrayed you to Tony. I hope my soul can escape

purgatory by this one act.”
“Thank you for returning our son,” Sebastian said.
Luigi looked at Sebastian from head to foot. He should be the
one standing up fro Mia now, not this stranger that held her so
protectively.
“So the prodigal daughter returns.” Deana would recognize
that voice anywhere. After ten years, Simone Pacelli sounded the
same. “Tony will have your head for this Luigi. Good thing I know
you never really got over this stupid little wench.”
“Watch it,” Sebastian warned.
“Oh, so you are the man in her life. The famous Sebastian
Torrance.” Simone covered the distance between them quickly. She
was a Deana remembered – beautiful, tall, lithe with natural honey
blond hair. She wore an expensive designer suit and equally expensive
black boots and as always, she wore excessive amounts of jewelry. For
Sebastian, he could see where Deana got her looks. The raven black
hair must have been a gift from her father.
Behind Simone, Tommy snarled at her. Deana saw that the
scar she made ten years ago only made him look more brutal. But she
was no longer fifteen, and she was not afraid of them.
“I have nothing to say to you Simone,” Deana said.
“Of course not, but this is a two for one treat. Tony should be
here in oh say, five minutes. Did you think you would escape us
forever?”
“He’s your grandson,” Deana said. “How could you sit idly
by and let Tony kidnap him?”
“Because every boy deserves to be with his father,” Simone
said. They were standing eye to eye. “Does your man know how much
of a bitch you are? And what would a rich man be doing with someone
like you? Is he paying you for your favors, you certainly have stepped
up?”
Deana didn’t think about it. She didn’t realize it until Simone
was reeling back from the slap on her face. When at last she was calm,
she could see the marking of her hand across her mother’s face.
“You bitch!” Simone shouted rubbing her cheek where the
slap stung.
“You’ll have to do better than that Simone,” Deana spat at her.
“You are the most selfish, self-absorbing piece of yesterday’s trash that
I know. Pigs make better mothers than you. No wonder father left you.
He saw you for exactly what you are – a blood sucking leech with a
heart of brick.”
“Let me take her,” Tommy said.
“You’d have to go through me first,” Sebastian tried to move

Deana, but she didn’t budge.
“You know why I never liked you?” Simone said.
“I don’t care,” Deana said.
“Because you were like him,” Simone said. “Every time I
looked at you I could see him, Angelo.”
“That’s not my fault,” Deana said. “He left you because no
one was good enough for you. You are incapable of loving anyone but
yourself.”
The sound of hands clapping and a sardonic laughter from the
west caught their attention. It was Antonio Pacelli. Deana had not seen
him since she stabbed him. He was not as bulky as she remembered
him, and he walked with a slight limp. Her lips curled in a slight
satisfactory grin. He should have been dead. If she’d gone for the
heart, they wouldn’t be here now.
“Who are you?” Tony demanded. “It seems Mia always had
some man or the other trying to take her fight.” He looked at Luigi in
disgust. “I will deal with you later.”
“I am Joey’s father,” Sebastian said.
“Ah, the famous Sebastian Torrance,” Tony said. “What’s a
big city boy like you doing with Mia? Allow me to introduce myself. I
am Antonio Pacelli – Joey’s father. And make no mistakes about that, a
boy can have only one father. This business does not concern you. I
will give you the chance to leave with your pretty boy face intact.”
“Do not offer me anything,” Sebastian said. “I offer you the
opportunity to walk away from this.”
“I love this man,” Tony laughed. “Where did you get him
Mia? This is my yard, my playfield. Do you think you can walk in
here and threaten me?”
“No, but I’ll tell you this,” Sebastian said. “I will leave this
playfield in rubble if you don’t stay away from Deana and Joey.”
“You’re outnumbered three to two. And don’t think Luigi is
going to help you. He’s a coward. Right now, in his mind, he’s trying
to figure a way to get rid of you and up Mia’s skirt. He’s always had a
soft spot for her, and I’m sure she had one for him.”
“If he’s a coward and he stands up to you, what does that
make you?” Deana said.
“Mia, Mia, Mia,” Tony said as one would talk to an inept
person. “I haven’t changed in nine years. Don’t even think of insulting
me. I will cut you down like I did nine years ago. Then it was more
fun, though.”
Sebastian’s hands formed in fists. But Deana put her hand on
his.
“You didn’t have that limp nine years ago,” Deana said. “This
time you won’t be limping. The last thing you will see before you die
is my face. I am no longer afraid of you Tony. I am afraid for my
child, but I’m not afraid of you.”
“Mia,” Luigi said. “Go! Take your man, your son and go.”
“The drama gets better,” Tony laughed. “I’ve had enough of
this. Tommy, get the bitch, Simone get the boy and we’ll ask Mr.
Torrance to come politely.”
It happened faster than Deana or Sebastian could get a grip of
the situation. One minute Tommy was coming towards her, the next
minute he was stumbling backward, a hole in the center of his forehead.
Simone let a little scream, and tried to scramble away from the body.
Tony for once in his life was quite.
“Go,” Luigi said. “This chapter of your life is closed.”
“Luigi you cannot be like them,” Deana said even as the
reality of what happened to Tommy sank in.
“It is not like you think. Angelo DiMarinetti says hello. Now
go.”
“My father?”
“It’s better if you don’t know. Tony’s beaten many raps
before, this would be no different. He spent nine years looking for you
and your son because you took away his chance to hurt another woman
the way he did you. There are no more answers and explanations
here.” He looked at Sebastian. “Love her all you can, she deserves it.
Take your family and go.”
Sebastian had to pull Deana away. They ran towards the
limousine with both Tony and Simone shouting curses at them.
17.
“Why do I have to wear a suit?” Joey was complaining.

“Because all men wear suits to weddings,” Sebastian helped
him with his bowtie. “And you want to look good walking beside
Britney.”
“But she doesn’t get to wear a suit,” Joey argued.
“No, she wears a pretty dress like your mother. See,” they
stood side by side looking in the mirror. “We look like perfect
gentlemen.”
“We look like lawyers. Except they wear long ugly toes. I’m
never going to be a lawyer. It must be depressing dressing like that
every day.”
Sebastian chuckled. The adoption paperwork, Joey’s birthday
party, planning a wedding and planning the move to Sebastian’s
beachfront house had started the minute they were in the limousine and
speeding towards the airport in New York.
It was now the last week of August, ten weeks since the ordeal
in New York. Deana had anxiously scanned the newspapers in New
York. Like her childhood, there weren’t any stories involving the clock
and the Pacelli family. Sebastian encouraged her to forget it.
Now, on their wedding day, five weeks after Joey’s birthday,
he was having his first official father-son moment.
“What do you want to be when you grown up?” Sebastian
asked.
“I don’t know. Now that I’m nine I should know. Trevor
knows he wants to be a policeman like Uncle Carl.”
“You know Torrance Construction will be yours when I
retire,” Sebastian said.
“Dad, I don’t want to work in an office like you. Flying all
over and having the limousine is cool, but I want to do something fun.
Aunt Thelma said I should be a politician or a salesman because I could
talk Eskimos into buying ice.”
“You have a lot of years to think about it.”
“I should get a job playing video games. I would like that.
Uncle Carl says Trevor and I will fry our brains out doing that. But
Aunt Thelma said not to mind him because he used to be glued to a
pinball machine.”
“You could design video games. Right now, we better get
moving or we will be late.”
Deana and Sebastian returned from their honeymoon three

days before the start of school. Joey stayed with the Wayne’s during
their absence.
“We have to get you a haircut,” Deana said as she prepared
dinner in the huge kitchen.
“I don’t want to cut my hair,” Joey said.
“It’s going to get tangled and be a mess.”
“I like it when it’s long. And Brit likes it too. Trevor thinks
it’s cool, like a rock star.”
“Brit?” Deana raised a brow.
“Yeah,” Joey said looking up from his book. “We had a
sleepover at Uncle Jaime’s when you were away. She said she hoped
you never cut my hair again because it looks good when it’s like this. I
think so too.”
“Uh-hmm, I see.”
“I talked to Dad about it, he said it’s up to you but he doesn’t
care as long as I comb it.”
“We’ll see. Did you pick up everything for school while you
were out?”
“Yes.”
“Good. Go fetch your father, dinner is ready.”
For Deana, it was strange to cuddle with Sebastian in the

family room after dinner and Joey was in bed. She reminded herself to
stop thinking of the house as Sebastian’s. It was now theirs. She
picked up the mail and idly sorts through
“I need to go job hunting,” Deana said.
“I thought you wanted to take a break and decide what you
want to do.”
“You mean have I made up my mind to work for you?”
“You’d be working for yourself. I’ll just contract you for
interiors on the models.”
“The problem with that is I’d be traveling all the time.
Between your travels and mine Joey would end up with part time
parents. I’m thinking of a pastry business or a restaurant. I still have
the money from the sale of the two houses. Of course I would need to
do a more complete chef’s course.”
“So go to school full time,” Sebastian said.
“I’ve never been without a job since I was sixteen.”
“You have a job. It’s being a full time student, a mother and a
wife. I’ll support whatever decision you make.”
“Merda!” Deana’s hands trembled as she looked at a large
brown envelope addressed to Mia DiMarinetti. Her heart raced as she
tore it open.
“What is it?” Sebastian asked.
“I don’t know.”
There was a letter and several other pieces of paper. She
opened the letter first and recognized the curvy flow of Luigi’s writing.
Dearest Mia,
It was not an angel that saved you or your boy from the Devil,
but a man who died when his sunshine was snuffed from him.
As I promised, you will never have to live in fear again. You
will not from this point on hear from a Pacelli, Ventura,
DiMarinetti or any other from your past. This is my last note
and reassurance to you and your new family. I will not
describe the details of the aftermath, except to say your
history has been buried.
I have enclosed a gift for your son. It is the only contribution
we will ever send. This comes with love from his grandfather
and from a coward who should have been his father. Do what
you will with them. They are yours and his.
Good Luck Mia,

With love always,
Luigi.
Deana refolded the letter and pulled the remaining papers from
the envelope. They were savings bond, nearly twenty of them, all a
hundred thousand each, and all set to mature on his twenty fifth
birthday.
Oh, she reminded herself, Luigi was there for Joey’s birth.
“What do you think?” Deana asked.
“About the bonds or the letter?”
“Both.”
“I think your past is literally buried in New York, but I can’t
prove it and I don’t know if I should be concerned. I believe Luigi
genuinely wants you to have a better life. The bonds are up to you.
Joey is my son, a Torrance. As such, his future is financially secured
and not just from Torrance Construction. There’s a trust for every
Torrance and he’s no exception. He’s not the first adopted Torrance
either and the principles of the trust will be upheld even if – and I pray
this never happens – you decide to leave me.”
“I don’t want this to be my decision.”
“Then put them in the safe. Let Joey make the decision when
he’s older. We cannot take this from him. You know in time we will
have to explain it all, and not the short version we gave him so he’d
understand.”
“Not everything, Sebastian. I cannot explain the beginning to
him.”
“Honey, you cannot be ashamed of what Tony did to you. It
was not your fault. I am afraid if we keep this from Joey and later he
finds out it will be worse than if we told him the truth. He has your
strength, he will understand.”
“It’s unfair for him to know he was conceived that way,”
Deana said.
“Deana, many children are conceived in the heat of passion
and don’t have a mother half as loving and caring as you. I think he
will understand. It will make more sense to him than our explaining
that you left New York because his father was a violent man - a violent
man who searched for him for almost ten years. I will stand by
whatever decision you make. For my part, I love you even more
knowing what you went through and knowing what you endured to
save your child.”
“He’s just a boy.”
“But he will be a man someday. And he will ask the tough
questions. You have time to think about it. Let’s go to bed.”
“How did I ever get so lucky to meet you?”
“I think I’m the lucky one. I love you Deana Torrance.”
“And I love you Sebastian Torrance.”

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Lesia Reid – Fated Encounter

(2nd Draft © 07/16/2004)

Dedicated to my husband Tom,

Thanks to my adopted nieces Laurie Alexis and Louselie Alexis

“When’s retired over?”

Sebastian Torrance stopped at the diner every other

fantasies I will have tonight, he thought. He smiled without thinking

"We should go to Coronus diner," Sebastian told Jaime and

"Yes. She's making my chocolate shake."

her eight-year-old son with a bunch of strangers, she was running

Sebastian managed to wriggle Deana's schedule out of Travis.

Deana was getting off her Saturday morning shift when

“We wouldn’t leave until you get here. I haven’t been to my

“It’s not funny,” Deana said.

The three lunched at a small cheese steak house in the quaint

“I am eating,” Joey replied. “It’s just warm so I have to make

the access he needed.

Sebastian was in full courting mode. Though Deana never

“You can’t be busy all the time.”

“You don’t like them?”

“You know how to push your luck. I should be home doing

games? We could play GT. I'm very good."

“Tell him I’ll be down in a minute, honey.” She didn’t turn to

owe me five bucks.”

future, he would suggest public speaking or politics. Now the thought

The house was a huge sprawling affair on the beach. Deana

"This is my house and I live by myself, most of the times"

While Deana soaked in a tub of fragrant soap and oils sipping

There was a pause and Deana’s heart raced. She hadn’t

On Friday, Deana rang the bell at the Wayne’s house around

Deana heard the vehicle in the driveway. It was half of seven.

hurt to become computer literate at a young age.”

for my scratch. Slamming the door in my face didn’t put me in file

Joey frowned when Deana removed a button down shirt from

Sebastian was on time. Deana was double-checking the locks

“It’s okay. Mom makes me recite my tables every evening

no hurricanes, Jaime would barbeque every day of the week. We have

you are too young and pretty to be a mother.”

“Oh boy,” Stacey said. “Just what we needed - one more

Stacey and Bridget exchanged glances then burst out laughing.

The meal was delicious. Joey and Britney provided most of

in him. If you don’t do this, he’ll understand and he won’t expect

Sebastian remembered where Joey’s room was because the

“Yes, my father. But she doesn’t talk about it.”

Sebastian thought if he could figure out women, he would be

But there might still be a chance, she reasoned with herself. I

gets hurt in the crosshairs. I don’t expect Sebastian to suddenly father a

Sebastian and Britney showed up at seven. Deana had

“Grounded?” Sebastian asked.

the oven at first beep. The baking was over.

it knowing this man had no intentions of hurting her or her son. He

On Saturday, Sebastian knocked at their door around noon.

“Hitched?” Deana asked.

“Okay, let’s go play host and hostess. We can discuss this

“I’m okay,” Deana said.

yourself, Mom. We will be okay by ourselves.”

“I’ve lived in Chicago before, have you ever been to Chicago?”

“Depends on what you’re fussing about.”

“I love you Deana,” he whispered.