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would remain a family of three, that hadn’t swayed Dylan’s parents. Hal had already established a practice in Portland, and if it was more modest than his early career hopes, he’d never complained. So when he called all those years later, Dylan hadn’t even taken time to debate before replying.
    â€œAnd does the prince know you’re gone?” Neal asked as the third batter hit into a double play to endthe inning. “Don’t those guys kind of like having people hanging around at their beck and call?”
    â€œThe prince is too busy worrying about finances to notice I’m not at his beck and call. Besides, right now, he can’t pay his becking bills. When the money comes back, I’ll be back, too.”
    â€œWhat if the money comes back before you’re done here?”
    â€œUnlikely, but I’m working to get the proposal done as quickly as possible, just in case.” And keeping his fingers crossed, Dylan added to himself. “Fair enough.”
    A team employee dressed in a T-shirt and khaki shorts ran onto the grass to officiate a battle between people dressed in inflatable sumo wrestler costumes.
    â€œHey, before I forget, Sandra says come over for dinner while you’re here. She hasn’t seen you in forever and you’ve never even met the younger two kids.”
    â€œDo they vomit, too?”
    â€œNo, that’s just Ronnie’s game. How’s next Friday?”
    â€œWhy the rush?” Dylan gave him a glance, then his eyes narrowed. “Wait a minute. You’re planning something, aren’t you?”
    On the field, the sumo wrestlers took a run at each other. Neal suddenly began studying them intently. “Nope, not me,” he replied.
    â€œSandra, then.”
    Neal squinted at the field. “They’ve got to be pretty danged hot in those outfits, don’t you think?”
    â€œShe’s trying to fix me up again, isn’t she?”
    â€œWho, Sandra?” Neal did his best choirboy imitation. When Dylan just looked at him steadily, he sighed and relented. “Well, she might have this friend from her book group…”
    â€œWould you please tell her I don’t need to be fixed up?”
    â€œDo you think she listens to what I say?” Neal snorted. “She keeps thinking that if you just met the right woman, you’d settle down instead of living in hotels and running around exotic parts of the world that she knows I’ve never been to. And probably won’t now until we’re at least sixty.”
    â€œThey’re very nice hotels,” Dylan told him.
    â€œAnd I bet you like the exotic women, too.”
    Dylan raised his eyebrow. “Are you pumping me?”
    â€œNo, my imagination does nicely, I think. And if your stories didn’t match up, I’d lose all respect for you.” Neal clapped as the Seadogs returned to the field. “But if you ever change your mind…”
    â€œI’ll let you know.”
    Dylan liked women, as individuals and as a breed. He liked talking with them, watching them, being around them. He dated often, though seldom exclusively—it was hard to sustain a serious relationship when a man was rarely in the same city for morethan a month or two, and he didn’t believe in creating expectations he couldn’t fulfill.
    Someday, yes, he wanted a wife and kids. But he had things he wanted to accomplish professionally first. His father had gotten it right, Dylan figured—focus on the career first, then settle down and raise a family. For the time being, he liked living in hotels, he liked seeing the world and he liked a variety of women in his life.
    Especially one woman, in particular, who made up a whole variety on her own.
    â€œYou’re freakin’ amazing.” Neal shook his head.
    â€œWhat?”
    â€œI know that look.”
    â€œWhat look?”
    â€œNo wonder you don’t want Sandra to fix you up.