Seth (Casella Cousins #2) - Kathryn Shay Page 0,35
back. “Glad you’re okay, kiddo.” To Anabelle, “I’ll walk you out, Sanders.”
When they left, Seth led Julianne to the couch. Briefly she described what went down.
Though his heart beat at a clip for what she’d been through, he needed to keep it together for her. He grasped both her hands. “You must have been so scared.”
“In the car going over I was, but once he came in and didn’t get his way, he got pissed and so did I.”
Her hair was curled and fluffy and some fell into her eyes. He tucked it back. “What’s going on with your shoulder?”
“I think I fell on it. I need a sling for a few days. It was wrenched, not separated or dislocated.”
He was pissed about that, too, but wouldn’t let her know how he really felt. “I’m glad it isn’t any worse.”
“They gave me medicine for the pain, so I’m starting to get loopy.”
“Do you want to sleep?”
“With you.” They made their way to the bedroom.
Julianne glanced down. “Shit, I can’t get these clothes off by myself.”
He went for humor. “I think I’m pretty good at undressing you.” She turned her back so he could pull down the zipper. “You have to take your arm out of the sling.”
When she did, she hissed in pain, and he quickly got her back into the stretchy cotton. She stood before him, barefoot wearing…something that looked like it came out of a horror film. “What on earth is that?” he asked.
“Um…A bodysuit to make me slimmer.”
“You need to be slimmer?”
“Seth, I’m fifteen pounds heavier than I was when we were last together. Didn’t you notice?”
“I did and I like it. You used to be kind of fragile. Now you’re sturdy.” He gave a sly smile. “That fits into our new agreement to let you take care of yourself.”
“You’re absolutely right. Now, please get this off!”
As he eased the tight material down, inch by inch, he shook his head. “I can’t believe this thing.” When she could finally kick it off, he grabbed hold of it, walked to the dresser and held it over the wastebasket. “Shall I?”
“Yeah.” She laughed. “Can I have a T-shirt.”
“Sure.” After he got her a gray one and she slipped it on, he added, “Sit down for a minute, would you?” He went to the dresser drawer and pulled on the handle. Took out an oblong red velvet box and handed it to her. “I want you to wear this tonight.”
“It must be pretty skimpy,” she teased.
This time, he didn’t break a smile. She opened the box. A beautiful white gold chain gleamed out at her, especially shiny at the end.
Because a gorgeous emerald set like an engagement ring, with diamonds studded around it, looped over the end. She peered up with a questioning expression on her face.
“I want to marry you, Jules. I want to have babies with you. But I need to go to therapy before you can wear my ring. What happened tonight made me not want to wait to give this to you. Like we said at the World Trade Center Memorial, we don’t know how much time we have left in our lives. I don’t want to squander anymore.”
“I agree. And I will wait to wear it. But put the chain over my head so I can keep the ring close my heart,”
“You’re on.” When he slipped the chain on, he whispered, “I love you.”
“I love you too.”
* * *
When Seth left the office of Dr. Christina Bell, he was stirred up. The first therapy session was unexpectedly hard. He’d come from a caring family, and he knew he was dearly loved, but some things had gone awry in his brain.
Questions about his past, how he felt about early-life events made him sad, especially when he recounted his father’s death, then his uncle’s. Also, Mama had gotten a bad case of influenza, and Seth had been terrified. He’d forgotten much of the fear and sadness he felt then. But he did remember how his dad sent him over to the Ford’s house to stay a few days, and he and Julianne had slept in the same bed. They were only five and she held his hand every night before they went to sleep.
This counseling thing was going to be hard!
But he needed to shrug these emotions off. He needed to be at the OCFS in twenty minutes. Their Fair Hearing finally got scheduled.
Johnny was pacing in the lobby when Seth got there. He wore a dark