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He filed that information away. “Okay. Anything else?”
“Yeah, I’m giving you Graeme to take out on a few runs next week. I know he has a military background, but I want him to understand our procedures just in case you need him to help.”
“Now I know I’m in trouble.”
Del chuckled as his attention snagged on something in the crowd. Seth followed his line of sight and saw Emma, Del’s wife. The diminutive woman was a genius in game theory and programming and was as beautiful as she was brilliant. After over five years of marriage, they also seemed to still be infatuated with each other.
“Harry,” she said, using his old nickname from the military, “how are you this evening?”
“Doing great.”
She turned to her husband. “See. I was nice.”
He hid his smile. She was probably on the spectrum and actually really sweet. Granted, she was a little awkward, but he found it refreshing that she could be so blunt—just like Autumn. That had him blinking and looking across the yard. She was in a discussion with his mother about something that had his mother laughing.
“Your mother seems to like Autumn.”
He glanced at Emma. “How can you tell?”
“She’s laughing. Are you two dating?”
Of course, she was trying to feel him out. “Boss, your wife’s been betting.”
She gasped. It was so dramatic that Seth knew he was right. Del hated the betting, or he said he did. The fact that his wife was placing bets would probably not go over well with him.
“I need another beer,” he said. “Have fun with that.”
Then he headed for another drink because no matter how much he wanted to figure out his feelings about Autumn, it wouldn’t happen tonight.
nine
Needing a moment to herself,Autumn excused herself, saying she needed to use the bathroom. Lord, Seth’s mother was a demon interrogator. She wasn’t sure what the older woman had done for the Pentagon, but Thelma must have been good at it.
She slipped through Merri Lee’s house. She had been here more than a few times. She told everyone it was for the fried rice, but as she passed the family photos lining the walls, it was actually for that. They were normal. Granted, Adam losing his father when he was young hadn’t been easy, but they had had each other. When she was in this house, it was easy to feel the love between the siblings and their mother.
She stopped at a photo of a very young Adam on his Police Academy graduation day. He was surrounded by family. It wasn’t just his sisters and mother, but uncles, aunties, cousins—both blood and not.
“I didn’t think you lurked in other people’s houses.”
She jumped at Merri’s voice. It wasn’t like her to miss someone sneaking up on her, but she always felt safe here.
“Not lurking, admiring,” she said without turning around.
“Potato-potaato,” she said.
Autumn chuckled. “I needed a break.”
“And you can do that anytime at my house.”
She would not cry. It was a sign of weakness. That was an unhealthy thought, but it was hard to beat out the training from birth.
“Thank you.”
“And I know that Thelma was giving you the third degree. Any reason for that?”
The speculation in her voice made Autumn’s stomach tighten. She couldn’t want that. Not ever. Seth was sexy and funny and when he had taken her out to breakfast, she’d wanted more. That was saying a lot. Never in all the years that she had been hunting Joseph had she had those thoughts of wanting to spend time getting to know a man.
“No.”
