Read Online Waiting for Magic by Susan Squires - Free Book Online Page B

coatrack and came to stand behind him as he paged forward. “There.” She pointed.
    “  ‘Residents on the cliff at Abalone Cove,’ ” Kemble muttered aloud, “ ‘report seeing a naked man with a surfboard walking along the beach during the height of the severe weather Thursday night. Complaints have been made to the city council and the Palos Verdes police department about their tolerance of public nudity.’ ” He frowned. “Why would the police be out looking for nude men during weather like that? And what loon would be out in that weather naked?”
    “Read on.”
    “ ‘Mrs. Rayland Sanford, of 152 Mira Mar Place, said she couldn’t see the man’s face, but his body showed many cuts.’ ” Kemble looked up. “She must have been using a telescope to see that. Bet she took a long, careful look, too.”
    Jane looked up at him expectantly.
    Kemble began to get a little nervous. “You can’t think we’re in any danger from some vagabond who likes to parade around in the nude during foul weather.”
    Jane looked a little incredulous. “You didn’t notice Devin limping day before yesterday? Or the scrapes on his jaw and his hands?”
    “He fell on the track down to the beach….”
    Jane looked at him rather severely from under her brows. “He’s like a mountain goat on that track. He’s taken it several times a day for years. And just who would be out surfing in that weather? She says clearly that the man had a surfboard.”
    “Devin’s not a man.”
    Jane actually threw up her hands. She never did that. “Of course he is, Kemble. He’s twenty-three. And he was out surfing in horrible weather and he could have been ….” She glanced across the living room area to the arch into the kitchen where a shout of laughter sounded. She lowered her voice. “Killed,” she whispered. “Now why do you think he did that?”
    “You think this was Devin?” Kemble glanced at the paper. “Running around naked at night?” But she was right. Who else but Devin would even consider surfing in that weather, with those waves? He frowned. “Devil! That surf was the biggest we’ve had in years. If he’d been killed Mother would have been devastated.” He started for the kitchen. “I’m going to.…”
    Jane stopped him with a hand on his arm. “No, no. You can’t. That’s why I came to you instead of your parents.”
    He rounded on her. “Well, I can’t just do nothing.”
    “I’m not saying you should do nothing.”
    “Then what?” Kemble was confused.
    Jane visibly composed herself. “I think Devin is upset,” she said carefully. “I … I think you should, you know, be a brother to him right now.”
    Kemble drew his brows together. He felt himself on shifting ground. “What does that mean, exactly, to you?”
    Jane pursed her lips. “Make time to talk to him. Maybe find something to do together.”
    Kemble was lost. “Why? What’s wrong with him? Is he going crazy?”
    Jane gave a huge sigh. “He’s upset because he thinks he’s going to lose Kee as a friend. You know how close they are.”
    Ohhhhh. Because of Christian Coombs. “Maggie said he had a date on Saturday himself.”
    “I might have known you’d believe that.” Jane looked a little disgusted with him. That didn’t feel good. “Listen, Keelan is starting to date and one day she’ll find the one she’s looking for. And that leaves Devin odd man out. That’s why he made up a date he doesn’t have. He’s always felt like an outsider in this family, so it’s doubly hard.”
    “Wait a minute.” Jane wasn’t being fair. “We include him in everything. He is like a brother to us and a son to the Parents. Always has been.”
    “Kemble, he doesn’t have magic in his genes.”
    There was always that. Kemble could relate. “Some of us aren’t sure we’re all going to get magic.” Kemble felt his throat close.
    To his surprise, Jane reached out a delicate hand and squeezed his forearm. “You will,” she said