by Marie Force
Those images had haunted her for years. To this day, she avoided TV and the Internet in the weeks surrounding the anniversary out of fear of encountering them again. She’d gone so far as to delete her social media accounts because of the random way the photos and videos would show up out of nowhere, sending her spiraling for days. There was no way to prepare herself to experience the horror all over again, so she went out of her way to avoid it—and airplanes of any kind.
Which made for a cruel dilemma for her and the sexy pilot who had turned her comfortable existence on end since he came into her life, making her wish for things she’d given up hoping for a long time ago.
The phone rang, jarring her out of the pensive thoughts. Erin took the call from Jenny. “Hi there.”
“I’m not interrupting anything, am I?”
“You would’ve been about twenty minutes ago.”
“Really?” Jenny asked in a high-pitched squeal. “Do tell.”
“There was some kissing. And stuff. Before he got called out on a job.” Though Jenny and Sydney were close friends, Erin didn’t mention Luke’s frantic call to Slim. Until they knew more, Erin didn’t want Jenny to worry.
“I love that kind of stuff,” she said with a sigh. “He’s so sexy.” A deep voice in the background said something Erin couldn’t make out. “Oh be quiet! I’m married, not blind.”
Erin laughed at the banter between Jenny and her husband. “I can’t disagree about his sexiness. But he’s also very sweet and funny and…”
“You like him.”
“I like him. A lot.”
“He’s crazy about you. He was watching you the whole time we were talking in the shop. This is so exciting, Er!”
“Don’t lose your mind just yet. It’s still very new.”
“But it has potential.”
“Maybe.” As they talked, she arranged and rearranged the magazines on the coffee table, aligning the edges and then redoing it when she wasn’t happy with how they looked.
“Why’re you doing that thing you do any time someone gets a little too close?”
“What thing? I said maybe. How’s that a dirty word?”
“You know exactly what I’m talking about. This guy could be perfect for you, and you’re already battening down the hatches to keep him out.”
“I am not! That’s not true at all.” Her hatches had been anything but battened down when he’d been sucking on her nipples. The thought nearly made her laugh out loud.
“Then what is it?”
“You know.” Jenny was one of the few people in Erin’s life, including her parents, who knew about her unwillingness to fly since the attacks. “Think about what he does for a living. He’s already asked me to go to Florida with him and to Evan and Grace’s wedding in Anguilla. How do I do that stuff?”
After a long pause, Jenny said, “Maybe it’s time to put that fear aside and get back to traveling again. You used to love it, and Toby would hate that you lost that part of yourself because of him.”
“It wasn’t because of him,” she said more sharply than she’d intended.
“I know, honey,” Jenny said gently, “but you get what I mean. Slim is an excellent pilot. Everyone says so. If there’s anyone who can get you past this, it’s him. All you’d have to do is ask him to help you try.”
She began to rearrange the magazines once again. “I have no desire to put myself through that.”
“I understand better than most people would. It took me a long time to get back on an airplane. You know that.”
“Yeah. I remember the first trip you took and how hard it was.”
“It will be for you, too, and then it’ll get a little easier every time.”
“I just don’t know if I can.”
“You’re interested in a wonderful man who happens to be a pilot, and you have a very real and very understandable fear of flying that’s going to cause a problem in your new relationship if you don’t try to address it somehow.”
“Jeez, when you put it that way, I sound like I need to be committed.”
“Shut up,” Jenny said, sputtering with laughter. “You do not!”
“What if…”
“What? Just say it.”
“What if I can’t get past it? What if I decide it’s better for me to never fly again? How do I manage whatever this is with Slim when flying is his life?”
“First of all, flying is his livelihood, not his life. And you’ll find a way to work around it if you and he are meant to be. If he cares about you as much as I suspect he already does, he’d probably tell you that he’d never want you to be afraid or uncomfortable, even if it means making some changes in his own life.”
“You’re awfully certain of that.”
“I have a good feeling about you two, and so do Alex and Paul. They both said so this morning after you were here.”
“You guys are talking about me behind my back?” she asked, amused by the island gossip machine.
“Nah, nothing like that. We’re happy for you.”
“I know.”
“Still coming tonight?”
“I told you I wouldn’t miss it.”
“You’re allowed to miss it if you get a better offer for more of the stuff that got interrupted earlier.”
“I think I can control myself long enough to attend your party.”
Laughing, Jenny said, “See you soon. And think about trying the flying thing once to get that first time out of the way. You know Slim would be great about it.”
As she ended the call with Jenny, Erin wondered how she would think about anything other than the dilemma that threatened to derail the promising relationship with Slim before it even got started.
* * *
Owen Lawry pulled the crumpled letter out of his back pocket and looked at it again. Although one sentence could hardly be called a “letter.” It was blackmail. Emotional blackmail. The page he’d wanted to rip to shreds the minute he opened it said only, Take my call and I’ll give your mother a divorce.
In the two days since the “letter” had arrived at the Sand & Surf Hotel that Owen owned with his wife, Laura, he’d ignored two collect calls from the Virginia prison where his father now resided after pleading guilty to abusing Owen’s mother. Owen hadn’t even known that collect calls could be made to cell phones, and how had his father gotten his number? No one in his family would ever give it to him, so it must’ve been one of the lawyers who didn’t know the full history between father and son.
They couldn’t know that the last person on God’s green earth that Owen wanted to talk to was Mark Lawry, which of course his father knew. Thus the emotional blackmail. He hadn’t felt this wound up since the weeks before the trial, when he’d had to prepare himself to see the son of a bitch who’d raised him. He’d thought it was over now that the trial was done, but with his father, it was never over.
Of course, Laura had tuned in to the fact that something was up with him, but he hadn’t told her about the letter or the blackmail. She had enough to contend with carrying their twins, taking care of Holden and helping to run the hotel, which was booked with holiday-week reservations. Their life, as always, was busy and fun, except for when his father dropped in to remind him that Owen could run but he couldn’t hide from his past.
His coffee had gone cold while he stared out the window at the ocean. He loved the view from the hotel his grandparents had owned for fifty years until they gave it to him and Laura as a wedding gift. He loved the life that he and Laura had here with Holden and was eagerly anticipating the twins, who’d arrive in March. Everything was going so well, which made this latest volley from his father so poorly timed.
A gurgle from Holden’s room let Owen know the little guy was awake. He poured the remains of his coffee down the sink and went to fetch him. This was Owen’s favorite time of day with the baby he was raising as his own, even though his biological father was Laura’s first husband, Justin. He came to the island once a month to see his son
and contributed child support, but Owen got the rest of the time with Holden, including moments like this when the baby’s cute face lit up with delight at the sight of him.
Owen scooped him up and held him close, breathing in the sweet baby scent that he’d become addicted to since Holden was born. “Hey, buddy. You sleep good?”
“Dadadadada.”
His heart melted any time Holden called him that, and for the millionth time, he wondered how anyone could expend their rage on a helpless child who was completely dependent upon them for everything. He discarded Holden’s heavy overnight diaper and changed him out of his pajamas into tiny jeans and a red sweater. He was so damned cute with his dark hair and eyes, the picture of his biological father, not that Owen and Laura cared who he looked like.
Owen was blessed to have Laura and Holden in his life, and he gave thanks for them every day. At times like this, when his emotions were stirred by memories he’d sooner forget than relive, he was extra thankful for Laura and the baby, who reminded him of how far he’d come from where he’d started out in life.
He brought Holden into the kitchen and put him into his high chair with some dry cereal. They had the same routine every morning, and Owen loved it. He took the morning shift with the baby so Laura could sleep in. As her pregnancy progressed, she couldn’t seem to get enough sleep.
A soft knock on the door preceded his mother ducking her head into the apartment.
“Come in,” Owen said, smiling as she came in the door with her fiancé, Charlie, trailing behind her. They were nearly inseparable these days, and Owen couldn’t be happier for them.
“Morning.” Sarah went past her son to kiss her grandson’s forehead.
Holden squealed with happiness at the sight of two of his favorite people.
“I see where I rate around here,” Owen said, amused by his mother’s focus on the baby.
“Grandchildren always bump children.” Sarah leaned in to kiss Owen’s cheek. “You should know that by now.”
“Wait till the twins come,” Charlie said. “You’ll be lucky if she says hello to you.”
Owen laughed, because he knew that was true. His mother was almost as excited about the new babies as he and Laura were. She was excited about everything now that his father’s trial was behind them, and he was finally exactly where he belonged. Which was why Owen was so tormented over his father’s latest cruel volley. His mother and Charlie wanted to be married but were content to live together forever if his father refused to let her go.
After everything they’d both been through before they found each other, they should have everything they wanted, and Owen hated being the one thing standing between them and a happy future. Intellectually, he knew it was his father standing between them, not him, but he could fix that. If only he could bring himself to accept a call from the person he least wished to speak to.
“We’re on our way to Uncle Shane and Aunt Katie’s for breakfast,” Sarah said to Holden. “You want to come with us?”
At the words Uncle Shane, Holden began kicking his feet and trying to break out of the high chair.
“I’ll take that as a yes,” Sarah said, laughing. “Is it okay with you?”
“Sure,” Owen said. “He loves his time with Shane.” Laura’s brother was happily engaged to Owen’s sister, Katie, and living a few doors down the street from them. Having his sister nearby and seeing her settled with Shane was another thing to love about his life on Gansett Island.
Sarah expertly removed Holden from the high chair, got him cleaned up and into his hat and coat. “We’ll be back in a little while.”
“Take your time. We’re not doing anything today.”
“Maybe we’ll come back at naptime, then,” Sarah said with a smile that lit up her eyes.
“Just let me know,” Owen said.
“We will.”
“Give Dada a kiss,” Sarah said.
Holden came stumbling across the room on legs that wobbled under him. He and Laura called him the “drunken sailor” since he’d begun walking a week ago—at only ten months old. Owen bent to receive a wet, sloppy kiss from the little guy. “Be good for Gram and Gramps.”
“Dadadadada.”
“Let’s go see Uncle Shane and Auntie Katie,” Sarah said as she picked up Holden.
Owen saw them out and then went to look in on Laura, who was still sound asleep. He stretched out on the bed next to her, staring up at the ceiling and filled with anxiety as he waited for the phone to ring again. He’d been there about thirty minutes when Laura turned over, cuddling up to him as best she could with the huge baby bump between them. March couldn’t come soon enough for either of them. Her hand landed on his chest, which helped to calm and settle him.
The calming effect she had on him was one of the things he loved best about being married to her.
“You gonna tell me what’s wrong?” she asked in a sleepy, sexy-sounding voice.
“Nothing’s wrong. Holden’s with my mom and Charlie, so I’m taking advantage of a lazy morning with my wife.”
“I’m not talking about right now. I mean in general over the last few days. You’re brooding over something.”
They’d been living together for more than a year, but the way she paid attention still took him by surprise.
“You don’t have to tell me if you don’t want to, but I’m right here if you need me.”
He covered the hand she’d put on his chest. “I know.”
“And despite the two linebackers you’ve graced me with, I’m pregnant, not fragile.”
“I definitely know that. You’re Superwoman.”
“Talk to me, O. Tell me what’s on your mind.”
Because he hated having distance of any kind between them, he pulled the folded piece of paper from his pocket and handed it to her.
“What’s this?”
“Read it.”
He watched as her eyes skimmed over the single sentence and widened with shock. “Oh my God! Is he for real?”
“Unfortunately, yes.”
“Has he called?”
“Twice so far. I haven’t accepted the call. Yet.”
“Owen, your mother would not want you to do this for her. She and Charlie are perfectly content the way they are.”
“How can I live with being the reason they aren’t able to get married?”
“You are not the reason.”
“You know what I mean.”
“He wants you upset and riddled with anxiety waiting for the phone to ring. You’re not going to give him the satisfaction.”
“I’m tired of running in fear from him. What if I take the call, see what he wants and buy my mother’s freedom in the process?”
“What if he says something that sets you back twenty years? Have you thought of that?”
“He doesn’t have that kind of power over me anymore.”
“Doesn’t he?”
Owen sighed deeply, filled with feelings of defeat that he’d thought were in the past. “I hate that he does. I hate it more than anything.”
“I know, honey, and that’s why I don’t want you to talk to him. You’ve been so unburdened since the trial ended. I can’t bear to see you go back to how you felt before it.”
“And I can’t bear the idea of my mom not being able to move forward with Charlie because of me.”
“Owen…”
“I know it’s not technically because of me, but I can do something about it.”
After a long pause, Laura pushed herself up to one elbow to look down at him. “What if I take the call? His note doesn’t say it has to be you.”
“No way. Not happening.”
“Why not? He’s nothing to me. He can’t hurt me.”
“You don’t know him. You don’t know what he’s capable of.”
“Sure, I do. I was here when your mother arrived on the island after he beat the hell out of her. I’ve witnessed the wounds you carry with you. Don’t tell me I don’t know what he’s ca
pable of. I do know, and I’m not intimidated by the idea of taking a phone call from him.”
“I can’t let you do this. It’s just… I can’t.”
“Would you do it for me? If the shoe were on the other foot?”
“Yes, but—”
“No buts. I’ll take the call. I’ll see what he wants, and I’ll take care of it.”
“Laura…”
“I’ll take the call, Owen.”
“Okay,” he said, hating the relief he felt at knowing he didn’t have to talk to his father. What kind of man did it make him that he was letting his pregnant wife do his dirty work for him?
“There,” she said with a big victorious smile, “was that so hard?”
He couldn’t help but return the smile. “You’re such a hellcat when you want to be.”
“Why thank you. I may be a hellcat, but I’m also a wife who loves her husband too much to let anyone hurt him ever again.”
“I love you, too, babe. I want you to promise that if he says anything offensive, you’ll hang up immediately.”
“I will. I promise. Now help me out of this bed so I can pee and brush my teeth and then fool around with my husband while our son is otherwise occupied.”
“I do love your agenda, Mrs. Lawry.”
“I do love you, Mr. Lawry.”
Chapter 5
Though he wanted to get back to the island—and Erin—as soon as possible, Slim went with Luke and Sydney to Women and Infants Hospital in Providence. He hoped he could provide some support to his buddy, who was silently freaking out about the possibility of a problem with Syd’s pregnancy.
The doctors asked Luke to wait outside while they evaluated Sydney in the hospital’s emergency department. When Luke put up a protest at being separated from her for even a few minutes, Slim was glad he’d come along. He took his friend by the arm and led him to the nearby waiting room, forcing him into a chair.
“You need to breathe,” Slim said.
“I can’t do anything until I know she and the baby are okay.”
“If there’s anything wrong, they’re in the best possible place.”
