“If only,” Seth said. Then, aware he had Lauren’s full attention—and also aware this might be the only time he had that attention, since she would be looking out for him now, knowing he’d manipulated himself into the seat beside her—he went ahead and came out with the truth.
“Nothing nearly as great as the NFL,” he explained. “The real story is…”
Lauren shifted in her seat, leaning perhaps a hairsbreadth closer, as if she wanted to hear in spite of herself.
And he wasn’t about to disappoint her with anything except the whole, utter truth.
“I disappeared because my crooked parents had to get out of the country fast, so they dragged me and my sister to somewhere without an extradition treaty.”
LAUREN HADN’T WANTED to listen to Seth. Well, she’d wanted to listen, she just hadn’t wanted to hear any of his excuses. It wasn’t that she was scared, despite what he might think about the way she’d been avoiding him. The truth was, she’d always assumed there were no excuses worth hearing.
But the one that had come out of Seth’s kissable mouth stopped her heart from beating for a few seconds. She couldn’t breathe, could barely remain sitting upright. Because of all the things she’d imagined—good and bad—this definitely wasn’t one of them.
“Holy shit, man, seriously?” asked Josh, taking the words right out of Lauren’s mouth.
Seth reached for his water glass and lifted it. Lauren noticed the way the water sloshed on the top, and realized Seth’s hand was shaking. He might be projecting a smooth, everything’s-all-right attitude, but deep down, Seth was a mess. This confession, made so baldly in front of all these people, had cost him dearly. There was only one reason she could think of for him to throw it out there so publicly: because she wouldn’t allow him to say it to her privately.
A hint of shame stabbed her. She cleared her throat. “You don’t have to do this.”
He shrugged. “Everybody’s whispering about it, anyway. Might as well let the truth mingle in with all the stories.”
“You’re not kidding, are you?” Maggie asked, the sneer gone, her pretty green eyes big and round.
“I wish I were.”
“How come we never heard about it?” Josh asked.
“I don’t think there was a lot of news coverage until later, when the feds caught up with them.”
One question answered. His parents were, apparently, no longer in hiding. Guess that nonextraditing country hadn’t been such a safe haven after all.
“By then, you’d all graduated and I was old news. I don’t think my name was ever in the papers, either.”
Even if it had been, Lauren wouldn’t have seen it. She’d left Chicago a few weeks after graduation, once she’d realized Seth really wasn’t coming back. And she’d never—despite being tempted on a few occasions—gone looking for news of him on the internet.
“How…what…wow, they dragged you out of the country?” asked Maggie.
“Yeah. I had gone home the night before and stayed there so I could borrow my Dad’s car to drive to the prom.”
Lauren nodded slowly, remembering. He’d talked about that—insisting he wanted to take her in style in his dad’s Porsche.
“I woke up that morning preparing to go pick up my tux and a corsage for Lauren. Then I came downstairs to find my father shoving cash in a briefcase and my mother scooping up the silver from the dining room. They told me there was an emergency, they were in danger and we were moving. Immediately.”
The conversation in the banquet room had quieted significantly, and Lauren realized everybody within earshot had shut up to hear the juicy details firsthand.
“I didn’t find out the truth until we were on a plane somewhere over Central America,” Seth continued. “Dear old Dad apparently went to the Bernie Madoff school of financial management, though on a much smaller scale. My mom helped him, and they knew they were about to be arrested.”
He said it easily, but she heard the heartbreak there, and honestly couldn’t imagine it. She had never met Seth’s parents, but she knew they had never come to a single school event. She had the feeling he and his sister were treated as out-of-sight, out-of-mind tax deductions. Still, she couldn’t imagine having the blinders torn off your eyes like that, finding out your wealthy, well-respected parents were wanted criminals.
As if he knew the question everybody wanted to ask, he continued. “I’m sure you’re wondering why I went. I was eighteen, and I could have thrown a fit and refused to go with them. But to be honest, I was kinda shell-shocked. Remember, I didn’t know the whole story at first—I was imagining a hit being put out on my dad by the mob or something. Not the FBI.”
Of course, what eighteen-year-old kid after being told by his parents that they were in danger wouldn’t think something dire like that? It was certainly more logical than the wanted-by-the-authorities explanation.
“Mainly, I was worried about Em, who wasn’t eighteen and had no choice. When she was a baby, my parents wouldn’t have remembered to feed her if it was the maid’s day off.”
He had always been close and protective of his sister, who had been in seventh grade at the time. At just twelve or thirteen, her whole world had been shaken apart, as Seth’s had been.
He had been speaking to everyone, but he suddenly turned his attention to Lauren. “I had time to make one phone call. I was told exactly what to say, and my father was standing there the whole time to make sure I didn’t say anything else. I’m so sorry I stood you up that night, Lauren.”
She didn’t respond. She’d spent so many years being angry at him. To say she was confused would be an understatement. She had more questions, of course, but wasn’t sure she had the right to ask them. He was, after all, telling this story to everyone, not just to her. If he wanted anybody to know more, he’d say it.
He didn’t, falling silent while buzzing conversations resumed at their own table and at those near enough to have overheard. This would be the talk of the reunion.
“Seth, I don’t know what to say,” she finally replied.
More than that, she didn’t know what to feel. She’d spent so many years resenting him for breaking her heart, imagining a million things, but nothing close to the truth. Now, though, she wasn’t sure what to call the emotions racing through her, making her stomach churn, her fists clench, her eyes sting.
Indignation, of course—on his behalf, and his sister’s.
Anger at his parents. A huge amount of curiosity about what else had happened. How had Seth ended up back in the U.S.? And when?
Yeah. Lots of questions. But none she wanted to ask in front of any of these people. She wasn’t sure he’d want to answer them, even in private, but she had to at least try. So, taking a deep breath and telling herself she owed him the chance to clear the air, and owed herself the chance to learn the truth and forgive him, she pushed back from the table.
Rising to her feet, she glanced at Seth, seeing the flash of disappointment on his face and hearing his sigh. Did he think she was leaving? Walking out without a word? Was he so used to rejection and revulsion when other people heard about his family that he automatically expected it?
Her heart—frozen and hardened against him such a long time ago—thawed the tiniest bit. They weren’t kids anymore, and far too much time had gone by for anything to happen between them. Not to mention the geography issue. But that didn’t mean she couldn’t give Seth the atonement he seemed to need.
“Come on,” she told him, seeing the way his head jerked in surprise. “Let’s get out of here and go talk.”