by Marie Force
“Let’s go outside,” Alex said. He had no clue whether that was a good idea, but nothing else he’d done had soothed the baby. He’d turned the AC way down, but it was still somewhat chilly in the house—maybe too chilly. Alex stepped out the front door into a warm summer night thick with humidity. Even over the sound of the baby’s cries, Alex could hear the crickets and cicadas as well as the belches of frogs, the sounds of summer on Gansett. Overhead, the sky was full of stars, and Alex was reminded of the heat wave during which he’d met Jenny at the lighthouse.
“Did you know your mama threw tomatoes at me the first time we met? Hit me square in the back, too. She’s got good aim, your mom. Don’t mess with her. That’s my advice.”
Miraculously, the baby stopped crying. He blinked rapidly, as if trying to process his new environment.
Alex walked along the dirt laneway that led from his house to the house he’d grown up in, where his brother, Paul, now lived with his wife, Hope, and stepson, Ethan. Both their homes were located on the grounds of Martinez Lawn & Garden, the business George Martinez Senior had started more than forty years ago.
Since the baby’s arrival, Alex had been missing his parents more acutely than he had since the day he married Jenny. His dad had died of cancer a decade ago, and his mother, who suffered from advanced dementia, was in a long-term-care facility on the mainland. He and Paul hoped to bring her back to the island when the new health care facility their friends Jared and Lizzie James had started opened in the fall. Alex wished he could show off his new son to his parents, that they could be part of his life. It made him unreasonably sad to know that couldn’t be.
He hadn’t intended to walk over to Paul’s, but he ended up there anyway. Hoping he wasn’t disturbing the newlyweds, Alex knocked on the front door. Yes, it was weird to knock on the door to the house he’d called home for most of his life, but the house wasn’t his anymore, and he tried to respect his brother’s privacy.
Paul came to the door wearing only a pair of shorts, his hair standing on end and his face in bad need of a shave. But what stood out more than anything else was the huge smile that never seemed to leave Paul’s face now that Hope and Ethan were officially part of their family. “Hey, what’s up?”
“Your new nephew wanted to come over for a visit.”
“Come in,” Paul said, holding the door for Alex.
“I hope we’re not bothering you.”
“Not at all. Hope is reading with Ethan, and I was watching the Red Sox.”
They weren’t inside two minutes when George started to cry again.
“He likes it better outside,” Alex said. “Let’s go out on the porch.”
As the brothers settled into the rocking chairs on the porch, Alex was reminded of the night his mother had said awful things to Jenny and she’d come to find him right in this very spot, imploring him to believe that nothing his sick mother said to her could change how she felt about him. It’d taken him a couple of weeks to see the light. Thankfully, Jenny hadn’t stopped loving him in that time. They’d also hired Hope to be their mother’s nurse, right here in this spot, and now she was married to Paul.
“What’re you thinking about over there?” Paul asked.
“All the things that have transpired on this porch.”
“Some monumental things, for sure. I always picture Mom out here.”
“It was her happy place.”
“Remember how we used to tease her about liking it out here because she could keep an eye on her entire kingdom?”
“Yeah,” Paul said with a chuckle. “It was true.”
“I’m missing them both like crazy,” Alex confessed.
Paul nodded in understanding. “Because of baby George’s arrival. I felt the same way when Hope and I got married. We’re young to have effectively lost both our parents.”
“At least we have each other.”
“Always. And now we have Jenny, Hope, Ethan and George, too. More to come, probably.”
“You holding out on me, brother?” Alex asked.
“Nothing to report yet. Just a lot of effort.”
Alex grunted with laughter. “Spare me the details.”
“I owe you a lifetime of details after having to listen to the two of you for months on end.”
“Touché.” He and Jenny had lived with Paul while their house was being built.
“Mom and Dad would be so pleased by the baby’s name. It’s such a nice tribute to Dad.”
“It was the only boy’s name we considered. Helps that the British royal family made George a cool name again.”
Paul chuckled. “True.”
Ethan burst through the screen door with his mother hot on his heels.
“Don’t scare the baby,” Hope said.
“I’m not gonna scare him,” Ethan said disdainfully. He’d recently turned nine and had been eagerly anticipating the arrival of his new cousin. “Can I hold him?”
“Sure, you can.” Alex stood to give Ethan his seat and then carefully transferred George into his arms.
“Support his head because his neck isn’t strong enough yet,” Hope told her son as she took a couple of photos on her phone. “Tell Jenny I’ll text her the pictures.”
“I will.”
“He’s so little,” Ethan said, sounding amazed.
“You wouldn’t think he was so little if you could hear him cry,” Alex said.
“How’s Jenny feeling?” Hope asked.
“Sore and tired.”
“She’ll bounce back in a few days.”
Alex’s phone buzzed with a text. He retrieved the phone from his pocket to read the message from his wife.
Where have you gone with my son?
Over to Paul’s. Be back soon.
My boobs are tingling.
Why does he get to have all the fun?
Six weeks, mister.
Alex groaned. “Does it really take six weeks before we can get back in the saddle?”
“You’ll be lucky if that’s all it takes,” Hope said.
“She’s mean, Paul. Do something about your wife.”
Paul snorted with laughter. “You’ll survive the famine.”
“I’m not sure I will. I’ve got to take him home to his mom now, Ethan.”
“Can I hold him again tomorrow?”
“You sure can.”
“Let us know if you guys need anything,” Paul said.
“Will do. Talk to you guys in the morning.” With the baby on his shoulder, Alex traversed the dirt driveway that connected their two homes. He would be off for the next week, but then he had to get back to work since this was one of the busiest times of year for their landscaping business. When Jenny felt ready to go back to her routine, she planned to take the baby with her to manage the retail store. Somehow, they’d make it all work.
Arriving at the two-story house he’d built mostly himself, Alex went straight upstairs to the master bedroom, where Jenny was propped up in bed, reclining against a pile of pillows. As she held out her arms for the baby, she looked exhausted and overjoyed at the same time.
“Hey there,” she said to the baby. “Did Daddy take you on a field trip?”
“Ethan got to hold him for the first time.”
“That must’ve been sweet.”
“It was. Hope said she’d text you the pictures. Ethan is thrilled to have another guy in the family.”
“Hope and I are outnumbered. We need some more girls around here.” She peppered the baby’s face with kisses. “How’s he been?”
“Fussy. Lots of crying, but funny enough, it stops when we go outside.”
“He’s a Martinez man. Of course he prefers to be outside. Future landscaper in the making.”
“Ha,” Alex said with a grunt of laughter. “I hadn’t thought of that, but it’s true. In the summer growing up, Paul and I would be outside until long after dark. Mom had to call us to come in.”
Jenny reached for his hand. “I know you have to be
missing them right now.”
“Yeah, I am,” he said, appreciating how well she knew him. “Having the baby has stirred up a lot of things.”
“We’ll take him to see your mom as soon as possible.”
Even though his mom would be confused by them and the baby, he appreciated that Jenny would make the effort for his sake. “That’d be nice. Thanks. When are your folks coming?”
“This weekend. My dad can stay for a week, but my mom can stay for as long as we need an extra set of hands.”
“So she’ll be here for eighteen years, then?”
Jenny laughed as she bared her breast for the baby. “Nah. We’ve got this.”
“Are you sure? He’s awfully little. What if we screw him up somehow?”
“We’re not going to screw him up.”
“You promise?”
“I promise, and you know I never break a promise.”
Alex watched in amazement as the baby latched on to her breast. “I could watch that all day and never get enough of it.”
Wincing, she said, “I’m glad you are entertained.”
“It hurts?”
“Kind of, but Vic said that’s to be expected for the first week or two, like how your hands hurt every spring until you build up calluses again.”
“Not sure how I feel about calluses on your nipples.”
Jenny sputtered with laughter. “Stop! You know what I mean.”
Alex curled up next to them, putting his arm around Jenny, snug against the baby. “Thank you for giving me a son.”
“Thank you for giving me a son.”
“I love you both so much.”
“We love you, too. Throwing tomatoes at you was the best thing I ever did.”
Smiling up at her, Alex forced himself to relax and enjoy the moment with his two favorite people.
* * *
After baring his soul to Kevin, Shannon hadn’t expected to sleep, but apparently, unburdening oneself was exhausting. He woke to the sound of Kevin’s key in the office door, where Shannon had spent the night on the sofa.
Kevin came in holding a tray with two coffees. “Morning.”
“Hey.” Shannon cleared his throat and sat up, running his fingers through his hair. In the bright light of day, he experienced a pang of embarrassment over the emotional breakdown his friend had witnessed and helped him through. He’d even told Kevin the truth about how he’d hurt his hand.
Kevin handed him one of the coffees. “How’re you feeling?”
“Not bad considering how much Jameson was consumed last night, among other things that transpired. Thank you for the coffee—and everything else.”
“No problem at all.”
“Sure it was,” Shannon said with a small smile. “I kept you here until three o’clock in the morning.”
“I’m glad I was able to help you.”
“You did help. More than you know.”
“So what’s your plan for today?”
“I’m going to take a shower, get cleaned up and go find Victoria. At the very least, I owe her an explanation for the way I behaved yesterday and for why I haven’t been able to fully commit to her.”
“What’re you hoping to accomplish? Have you decided if you want to get back together with her?”
Shannon drank from the cup of coffee and took a moment to consider his reply. “You’ve helped me to see that I’m completely in love with her, even if I didn’t intend for that to happen when we first got together.”
“Love happens when you least expect it. I can certainly attest to that.” Kevin leaned forward, arms on knees. “You need to give yourself permission to be happy again, Shannon. What happened to Fiona wasn’t your fault. You couldn’t have done anything to prevent it. Her death was a senseless, awful tragedy.”
“I know, and you’re right. I have to stop blaming myself. Even if I had taken a dinner break that night, it might’ve been too late to stop what happened.”
“That’s right, or you could’ve ended up dead yourself.”
Shannon stood and folded the blanket Kevin had given him, leaving it on the sofa. He picked the coffee up off the table and extended his sore right hand to Kevin. “Thank you so much. I’ll never have the words to adequately thank you.”
Kevin carefully shook Shannon’s injured hand. “I’m glad I was in the right place at the right time. I’ll be hoping for good news about you and Victoria.”
“Me, too. I’ll call you for an appointment to start regular therapy.” Kevin had made the suggestion in the wee hours of the morning, and Shannon had agreed to continue what they’d started.
“I’m here whenever you’re ready.”
“Thanks again.” As he went down the stairs from Kevin’s office and walked to the Beachcomber to shower and change, Shannon’s stomach ached from more than just the whiskey he’d consumed last night. He was afraid he’d blown it so badly with Vic yesterday that she wouldn’t be willing to talk to him today.
He had so much to say to her and could only hope she’d be willing to listen.
Shannon rushed through a shower and shave, and before he left the room, he retrieved the envelope containing Fiona’s pictures to take with him. He set off for the clinic, hoping to catch Victoria between patients to ask if he could see her for a minute now or after work. He’d thought about texting her, but had decided this situation called for a personal appearance. Besides, he was suspended from work, so he certainly had the time to go all out to try to win her back.
He walked through the main doors at the clinic right after nine o’clock and encountered David Lawrence standing at the reception desk, speaking with Anna. David did a double take when he saw Shannon.
“David,” Shannon said haltingly, “I wondered if I could have a word with Victoria.”
“She’s not in today.”
His stomach fell at that news. “Oh. I guess I’ll try her at home, then.”
“She’s not there either.”
“Excuse me.” Anna got up and went through the double doors to the treatment area.
Shannon took a deep breath and forced himself to look the other man in the eye, well aware that he was staring down one of Victoria’s closest friends. “Do you know where she is?”
“I do.”
Shannon understood that he was going to have to go through David to get to her. “Are you going to tell me where she is?”
“Depends on why you want to know.”
“I want to make things right with her.”
“She’s very upset.”
“I know. I… I’m sorry to have upset her. All I want is the chance to explain things to her.”
“And then?”
“That’ll be up to her, I suppose.” He held David’s steely stare without blinking. “I love her. I want the chance to tell her so.”
David blew out a deep breath. “If I tell you what you want to know, you have to assure me that you won’t hurt her again.”
“It was never my intention to hurt her the first time. I… There are things, in my past, that I’ve never dealt with the way I should have. I’m taking steps to fix that now, and… I… I just want the chance to talk to her. That’s all.”
After a long charged moment, David said, “She’s at my place. I’m going to warn her you’re on your way. It’ll be up to her as to whether she’ll be there when you arrive.”
“I understand. Thank you for being such a good friend to her.”
“She is my good friend. I thought you were, too.”
“I was. I am.”
“Then don’t make me sorry I helped you.”
“I won’t. I want to try to make her happy. If she’ll let me.”
“I would say that’s a very big if.”
Shannon already suspected as much, but hearing David confirm it didn’t do much to reassure him. “Thanks again for your help.” He turned to get the hell out of there before he lost the courage he’d built up with Kevin during the night. Kevin had helped him see that conf
ronting his demons was the only chance he had to fix his relationship with Victoria and to live an authentic, happy life. Nothing could ever bring Fiona back, but to ruin his life too would only compound the tragedy.
The thought of losing Victoria forever made him panicky. He’d lost Fiona through no fault of his own, and somehow he’d managed to survive that loss. Just barely, but he had survived. If he lost Victoria, that would be completely his fault. He wasn’t sure he’d survive that kind of loss a second time.
Straddling his bike, he fired it up and headed for David’s apartment on the James estate, determined to do whatever he could to fix the damage he’d done to his relationship with Victoria.
Chapter 10
Victoria woke to total silence and a crick in her neck from sleeping on a strange pillow. Judging by the silence, David and Daisy were long gone to work.
Work. She needed to get to work. What the hell time was it anyway?
She looked at her phone and gasped when she saw that it was already after nine. Then she noticed the note David had left her on the table.
Take the day off. We’ll cover for you. Hang here for as long as you’d like. I put a key on the counter if you want to go anywhere. Call me later. D
She sagged into the couch, thankful for the day to get herself together. Facing patients with her usual cheerful disposition would’ve been a huge challenge today. After a minute, she pulled herself off the sofa and went to use the bathroom and the new toothbrush Daisy had left for her.
Coffee. She needed coffee. David had told her to make herself at home, so she did just that, making a cup of coffee in the Keurig. She took it to the small deck outside to enjoy the warm sunshine.
Her phone buzzed with a text from David.
Shannon was just here. After making him work for it, I told him where you are, and he is headed over there. Up to you if you want to be there when he arrives, but he seemed different and said he wants the chance to make things right with you. Call if you need me.
Victoria’s heart began to pound—and not from the sudden influx of caffeine. Shannon was on his way over. He wanted to talk. He seemed different.
Hope exploded inside her. Was it possible they weren’t over and done with after all? Would he tell her what she needed to hear and commit fully to her, or was he coming to say goodbye?
