“He found his mother and Carolee on two in the Eve and Roarke room.”

“Eve rose stiffly when he strode out of the house. In silence, she watched Julia look after him. "The male ego," Eve murmured as she crossed the room to put an arm around Julia's shoulders. "It's a huge and fragile thing. I always envision it as an enormous penis made of thin glass.”

“I had to get by the flower beds he's planted, the flowers in vases, candles, the potpourri in the powder room—""Mother of God! Potpourri in the powder room. We need to get a posse together ASAP, go get him. He can be deprogrammed. Don't lose hope.”

“She pointed to a chair,then shifted the finger to her son. "You,go. I'll finish with you later.""I'll be at the stables, doing penance." With a heavy sigh, Patrick rose, then he wrapped his arms around his mother's waist, laid his chin on top of her head. "Sorry.""Get."But Brian saw her lay a hand over Patrick's, and squeeze. With a quick grin tossed to the room in general, he bolted. "That boy's responsible for every other line on my face," Adelia muttered."What lines?" Travis asked, and made her laugh."That's the right answer.”

“That was well-done," Alan told her later as he gave Shelby a limited tour of the house. "Was it?" Laughing,she linked her hand with his. "He's a difficult man to resist." She rose on her toes to nibble his earlobe. "So's his firstborn.""That term's to be used reverently," Alan warned her. "Personally I've always found it a pain in the-”

“He decided there was no point in telling her he'd looked in the fridge and seen none of these things. There'd just be some variation of his mother's standard crack about Male Refrigeration Blindness Syndrome.”

“If I'd grown up here,I'd have had headless ghosts for playmates and kept my room in a tower."Alan maneuvered around one of the winding curves that only added to the atmosphere. The sea was close enough so its scent and sound drifted in the open windows. "There aren't any ghosts, though my father periodically threatened to import a few bloodthirsty ones from Scotland." With his lips just curved, he sent Shelby a quick sidelong look. "He keeps his office in a tower room.”