Page 4 of In the Name of the Father

And you’re not about to start, either.

Seth pushed the beer bottle away. Not with anger or great purpose, almost as an unconscious action. “Yeah. I guess my life has been pretty pathetic.”

He made to rise, his chair scraping along the floor as it had earlier, but Malcolm was already standing by the time Seth had fully straightened. He blinked several times as he stared at Malcolm with a creased brow.

“Seth? I apologize for how my remark must have sounded. And while I suppose it’s not my place to say, I can’t help but reiterate that I wish you wouldn’t speak badly of yourself. You’re not pathetic.”

All of Malcolm’s willpower was put to the test to keep from reaching out to Seth, to keep from touching the beautiful, wounded boy who needed a stranger to tell him he was worth something.

“That’s okay.” Seth glanced up at him. “And anyway, I only said my life was pathetic. Not thatIwas.” A barely perceptible smile tugged at one corner of his mouth.

Ah, yes. There’s a bit of spark in there. Malcolm gave Seth a wide smile.What a thrill it would be to encourage that spark to catch fire. He schooled his expression and cleared his throat.

“I tell you what. Why don’t you at least allow me to walk you to your car.”

Malcolm pondered whether he should mention anything about him not having a jacket, then realized in that exact moment he might be toast.I’ll make sure he gets to his car okay, then we both move on with our lives. Seth was right about one thing. He didn’t know anything about him, they knew nothing of each other. The guy might be married to a woman or only in town for a short time. And he highly doubted that Seth had come to Woody’s that night in search of a Daddy.

Seth still hadn’t responded. Instead, he’d been shifting from foot to foot and glancing around the room with his hands shoved back into his pockets again.

“What is it, Seth? You can tell me.”

Seth met his gaze. “I don’t have a car.”

“That’s fine. I can give you a ride, or if you live around here, walk you home.” Malcolm sighed as he ran a hand across the top of his head. “I’m not trying to be pushy. If those men hadn’t been here, hadn’t been so aggressive, I wouldn’t be interfering.”

Jesus. If heismarried, that could be awkward for him.

Seth still kept his hands stuffed in his pockets and lowered his eyes. “I don’t think you’re pushy.”

Malcolm arched his eyebrows.Interesting. “Was that a yes? I can give you a ride home?”

With a small, jerky nod Seth answered, “Yes, please.”

“Good. Let me grab my jacket.” Malcolm covered the short distance between the table and his usual barstool, then collected the garment from the one next to it. He reached into the inside pocket of the leather coat and retrieved his billfold. After plucking two twenties from the wallet, he tossed them onto the bar counter. “Thanks, Larry. See you later!”

Larry raised his hand to wave goodbye then froze when he spotted Seth standing near him. Malcolm narrowed his eyes as if daring him to say anything and Larry seemed to recover from his shock.

“Uh, yeah. See ya later.”

Malcolm turned to Seth, then indicated for him to go ahead. When they reached the heavy oak doors that led to the small, asphalt parking lot, Malcolm moved past Seth to open one side for him. As Malcolm glanced around the area, he checked to make sure the idiots from earlier weren’t lurking about. They reached his SUV and he somehow managed to catch himself in time before he’d placed his hand at the small of Seth’s back.

He didn’t dare ponder the meaning behind how natural the gesture had felt.

Malcolm unlocked the passenger door with his key fob then grabbed the handle to tug it open. “Here you go.”

Once Seth had climbed inside, he shut the door behind him then made his way to the driver’s side. He started up the engine.

“So, where am I taking you?”

“The Cascade Inn. Do you know where that is?”

Malcolm winced. He sure as hell did. So did every law enforcement agency within a twenty-mile radius.

“I do.” Malcolm backed out of the space then exited the lot while he tried to formulate a neutral response to that disturbing morsel of information. “Did you recently arrive in town?”

While no tourist ever stayed at the Cascade, he didn’t want Seth to think he was passing judgement on his choice of lodgings.

Seth wiped his palms on his jeans and cleared his throat. “Actually, I’ve been here three months. It’s not that bad. Plus, it’s cheap and already furnished. I didn’t come here with anything.”

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