Page 31 of Stolen Time

When he passed Ruth’s house again, I lifted a hand to wave, thinking that was the polite thing to do, but he didn’t appear to acknowledge the gesture. Instead, he kept driving down the hill, until at least the rumble of the truck’s engine blended with the overall background sounds of the town.

I wanted to shake my head, but what would be the point?

About all I could do right then was be very glad that Seth appeared to be nothing like his brother.

10

BOOTLEGGING BARGAIN

Seth knewhe had a standing invitation to have dinner at his parents’ house whenever he liked, so he guessed he wouldn’t raise any suspicions by showing up tonight. No, the real trick would be figuring out a way to talk to Charles alone.

Because that was the course of action he’d decided upon after a long day at the mine, doing his best to avoid Lionel Allenby, even while his thoughts kept chasing after one another as he tried to find a solution to what appeared to be an impossible problem. Maybe it would have been smarter to talk to the elders, or Mabel McAllister, the clan’sprima,but Seth didn’t much like the idea of going over Charles’s head before he gave his brother a chance to explain himself.

At least he had let Deborah know that they wouldn’t be having dinner with each other tonight, or the night after that. As much as he hated not seeing her, he also knew it was more important to confront Charles with what he’d witnessed and give him a chance to explain himself.

And, Seth couldn’t help hoping, convince his brother that he needed to stop working with the bootleggers…as long as hehadn’t gotten himself dug in so deeply that there was now little way out.

“It’s so good to see you again so soon,” his mother said as Seth came into the apartment where he’d grown up, with its collection of family photographs in gilt frames and the sofa and love seat with the damask upholstery and carved backs, a little out of date, maybe, but something that was comfortingly familiar. “I didn’t know whether you’d be entertaining Miss Rowe again. She seems like such a lovely girl.”

“You’ve met her?” he responded, startled. True, Jerome was a small town, but….

“Oh, yes,” Molly McAllister said. She’d just been setting down a platter of fried chicken when he appeared, so she left it in the place of honor next to her husband’s plate and sent a bright smile at her youngest son. “She came into the store this morning with a shopping list from Ruth. I got her all the things she needed, and also sent Miss Rowe home with some more clothes. It seems Ruth thinks she might be here for a while, so she needed something more than a wardrobe that would only work for two or three days.”

Well, that was something. Even with his brother’s crimes hanging over his head, Seth couldn’t help being relieved that Deborah clearly intended to stay in Jerome for the foreseeable future. Now all he had to do was make sure they spent as much time together as possible, no easy feat considering his work schedule.

Charles came in then, followed by their father. For just a moment, the two brothers’ gazes locked, and Charles’s eyes narrowed for a moment before he went to take his regular seat across from their mother and to their father’s left.

Luckily, neither of their parents appeared to notice the brief few seconds of tension, and everyone took their places and settled their napkins in their laps. In civilian families, this mighthave been the moment when they said grace, but instead Henry murmured a quiet thank-you to Brigid for her bounty, and then they commenced passing around the fried chicken and gravy and mashed potatoes and green beans.

Once that was done, Seth’s father said, “It’s good to see you here tonight.”

“I heard Mother was making her famous fried chicken,” Seth replied, a little white lie. He’d had no idea what was on the menu, and probably would have choked down liver and onions to get a chance to talk to his brother.

However, he had to admit the fried chicken was a nice bonus.

Their talk was commonplace enough after that, with his mother jokingly offering her menu for the rest of the week in an attempt to lure him back for more family dinners, and his father talking about the new radios he’d ordered from New York, five in all, that would be proudly displayed in the mercantile.

“I know some people like to order from a catalog,” he went on, “but I don’t think anything beats being able to hear things in person, or to touch the cabinet and feel the fine wood. I’m hoping they’ll be a good impulse buy for people fresh off a bonus.”

His gaze slid toward Seth then, as if implying his son would be a good customer for that sort of luxury item. And although he had to admit he’d considered adding a radio to his living room, that sort of thing wasn’t really in his budget right now despite his foreman’s salary.

Or rather, he supposed he could have splurged if he hadn’t been carefully saving as much spare cash as he could so he would be able to buy a bigger, grander house in a few more years.

He made a noncommittal noise, and his father seemed to realize a radio wasn’t in the cards for his younger son at the moment. Molly eased the conversation toward the Fourth of July parade that was being planned for less than a month fromnow, saying, “And of course we’ll drive in the parade again. I’ll need to dig out the bunting to decorate the truck.”

“It’s in the attic,” Seth told her. He remembered that clearly, since he’d been the one to pack it away in a box the year before and shove it up among the rafters.

“Oh, of course,” she said. “Then I suppose you or Charles will be the one to get it down for me — your father never was very good with heights.”

Henry, who’d just been about to take a bite of drumstick, looked more resigned than anything. “I’ll go in the attic if I have to,” he told her. “But it is probably better if one of the boys does it.”

“I can get the bunting down for you,” Charles said. “It will be easier, considering how Seth is hardly around anymore these days.”

A comment about how his brother was still living at home at twenty-five rose to Seth’s lips, but he swallowed it as best he could. He absolutely could not get into an argument with Charles right now, not when he needed to speak to him after dinner.

In fact, the whole question of the bunting presented a rather neat way for Seth to get his brother alone without raising anyone’s suspicions.

“Why don’t the two of us fetch the bunting after dinner?” he asked. “That way, it’ll be out of the attic and you won’t have to worry about getting it down at the last minute. You can store it in my old room until the Fourth of July.”

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