Season for Love

by Marie Force

  “Best phone call of my entire life,” Linda said, her voice catching as she relived a day she’d spent more than a decade trying to forget. That was another reason she’d been so determined to reach out to Jenny after she read the letter.

  Laura wiped new tears from her face. “Listening to what happened to Jenny… I’ve been so caught up in my litany of troubles, but really, when it comes right down to it, I don’t have any troubles. My life is blessed.”

  “I’m sure we all feel that way after hearing Jenny’s story,” Linda said as she drew Laura into a hug.

  “She won’t want our sympathy,” Sydney said. “She’s here for a fresh start, not to relive her nightmare with all new people.”

  “That’s understandable,” Linda said. “You’ll let us know when you’ve seen her?”

  “Of course.”

  “Thank you, honey,” Linda said. “I appreciate your willingness to reach out to her.”

  “I’m not making any promises,” Sydney said. “She might prefer to be alone. We can’t force her out of her shell if that’s where she wants to be.”

  “We forced you out of your shell,” Maddie said with an affectionate smile for her old friend.

  “That you did,” Syd said, laughing. Looking around at the others, she said, “I have no doubt this peaceful place saved my life.”

  “Maybe it can save dear Jenny, too,” Linda said.

  “While I have you all here,” Maddie said tentatively, “I wondered if you might be willing to help with another project.”

  “What kind of project?” Steph asked.

  “I’d like to plan a benefit to assist the summer help who live here year round. With most of the hotels, restaurants, bars and marinas going dormant for the winter, there’re a lot of people on the island who really struggle until the tourists come back in the spring. I used to be one of them.”

  Linda still experienced an occasional pang of shame whenever she thought about the unflattering rumors she’d once believed about her now-adored daughter-in-law. Maddie had made Mac so very, very happy. There wasn’t much Linda wouldn’t do for her. “What do you have in mind?”

  “How about a big island Thanksgiving dinner where we supply the turkeys, everyone brings a side dish and we collect donations to go toward a fund for people in need?”

  “How would the funds be distributed?” Grace asked.

  “I haven’t gotten that far, but I suppose we’d set up a system where they could request assistance and then we provide whatever we can to help out.”

  “I like it,” Stephanie said. “I’ve worked tourist jobs for years myself, so I know how the off-season can be tough, especially in a high-rent place like this.”

  “Speaking of high rent,” Maddie said with a shy smile, “I should also mention that I’ve petitioned the town council to use the property Mrs. Chesterfield left to the town as a site for affordable housing. I’ve contacted Habitat for Humanity about possibly building the homes.”

  “How do you have time to take care of a new baby and be an activist, too?” Sydney asked playfully. “You’re amazing!”

  “I couldn’t agree more,” Linda said. “What a marvelous bunch of ideas. I’ll give Big Mac a heads-up about your petition so he’s prepared to vote for it at the next council meeting.”

  “Only if he thinks it’s a good idea,” Maddie said.

  “He’ll love the idea. He’s all about giving back to the community. I’m forever reining him in so he doesn’t give away every cent we have.”

  “I can so see that,” Laura said, smiling as she thought of her beloved uncle. “Let us know what we can do to help. I love all your ideas. I swing a pretty mean hammer, too.”

  “That’s good to know,” Maddie said. “I’ll be recruiting everyone to help out if it actually happens. Mac has agreed to oversee the construction of the houses if we get approval.”

  “It’s brilliant, honey,” Linda said. “All of it.”

  “Thank you,” Maddie said, clearly pleased by the approval. “I’ll keep you posted.”

  Chapter 3

  After breakfast, everyone scattered until only Laura and Maddie stood on the sidewalk in front of the diner.

  Maddie checked her watch and frowned. “I have my six-week postpartum checkup with Dr. David in half an hour.”

  “Back in the saddle!” Laura said with a smirk.

  “Believe me, we’re both ready to resume normal programming. However, the idea of being poked and prodded by a doctor down there after all the poking and prodding of the last ten months doesn’t hold much appeal.”

  Laura grimaced. “I feel your pain on that one. I’ve had more hands and eyes on my unmentionables since I’ve been pregnant than I ever could’ve imagined. You know you’re getting immune to it when you hop up on the table and spread your legs like it’s no big deal.”

  Laughing, Maddie said, “Exactly. By the time it’s over, you won’t have a shred of modesty—or dignity—left.”

  “Fabulous.”

  “So how are things with you? Mac and I have been worried about you since everything happened with Justin. I still can’t believe it.”

  “Neither can I, but I’m hardly dwelling on it.” She let her eyes drift to the Sand & Surf, two blocks away. “I’ve got much better things to be focused on these days.”

  “And much better people, too, if I’m not mistaken.”

  “Maybe,” Laura said with a smile.

  “If it makes any difference, your cousins adore Owen. Mac speaks so highly of him.”

  Laura stared out at the endless sea of blue that was glistening like diamonds in the autumn sunshine. “It does make a difference, it’s just… I worry about getting too involved with him and then…” She met Maddie’s steady gaze. “I’m afraid he’ll get tired of being tied to one place—and one person—and want to leave.”

  “I can see why you’d be concerned about that with the way he’s lived for so many years, but if you ask me, it’s no small thing that he chose to spend the winter here.”

  “No, it isn’t. Do you ever worry about Mac feeling antsy on the island? He used to hate it so much when he was a kid. He talked all the time about escaping to the ‘real’ world.”

  “He seems perfectly content with our life here, but he knows if the day ever comes when he isn’t happy, we’ll talk about our options.”

  “What’s the secret to keeping him content?”

  Maddie raised a brow and let out a hearty laugh. “Do I really have to spell that out for you?”

  Laura smiled and shook her head. “It’s really that simple?”

  “He’s a man. You do the math. Speaking of that… He’s counting the minutes until we get the green light from David, so I’d better get going.” She squeezed Laura’s arm. “There’re never any guarantees in life, but if you ask me, Owen Lawry is a pretty good bet.”

  “I tend to agree.”

  Maddie gave her a quick hug.

  “Good luck at the doctor.”

  “I’ll probably need the luck more when I get home to my husband. He’s a little…pent up…at the moment.”

  Laura put her hands over her ears. “Lalala, too much information about my cousin.”

  Maddie left with a laugh and a wave.

  Laura took her time wandering back to the hotel. She sat for a long time on a bench overlooking South Harbor and the breakwater, thinking about the conversation with Maddie as well as Jenny’s story. The nine-thirty boat from the mainland pulled into port with a few passengers and four cars disembarking, much different from the frenzied arrivals in the summer months when the people, cars, bikes and pets flowed on and off the boats in a steady stream from sunup to sundown.

  Tipping her face into the warm sunshine, she thought about what Maddie had said about Owen. Knowing he was at the hotel waiting for her filled her with an overwhelming sense of gratitude to have such a good man in her life. It was still too soon to gauge what might become of the bond they’d formed over the past few months.
Nevertheless, he’d slowly but surely become one of the most important people in her life.

  “Hmm,” she said out loud. “How’d he manage that so quickly? Sneaky devil.”

  A flutter of movement inside made her gasp. Resting a hand on the baby bump, she waited breathlessly. “Do it again, baby,” she whispered. “Do it again for your mama.” She waited a full minute and was rewarded with a ripple that went from one side of the bump to the other. As she released a joyful laugh, her eyes filled with tears.

  All at once, she wanted to see Owen, to tell him and show him what he’d come to mean to her. She wanted him to feel the baby move, too. Fueled by Jenny’s reminder that life was short and time wasn’t to be wasted, Laura got up from the bench and walked the short distance to the hotel at a brisk pace, anxious to be with him.

  Carrying a rolled-up tarp, he came out the main door as she ran up the front steps.

  “Whoa, Princess,” he said, amused as he dropped the tarp and reached for her. “What’s your hurry?”

  Laura threw her whole self into the hug she gave him. “I wanted to see you.”

  Caught off-balance, he steadied them and returned the hug. “To what do I owe this unexpected pleasure?”

  She took his hand and held it to her belly. “Feel this.” As his palm heated her skin through the thin cotton top, she barely took a breath, hoping the baby was still awake.

  “Oh, wow,” he said when a little hand or foot thumped his hand. “Oh my God. That’s amazing! Is that the first time you’ve felt him move?”

  She nodded. “How do you know it’s a him?” she asked with a teasing smile.

  He flashed a sheepish grin. “Just a guess.”

  “I didn’t say thank you,” she said, breathless from the quick walk as much as the thrill of sharing her baby’s first movements with him. Her heart was doing that pitter-patter thing it did whenever he was near.

  His brows knitted with confusion. “For what?”

  She looked up at him, meeting his steady gaze. “For staying. You stayed, Owen. Because of me. And I didn’t say thank you. Thank you for staying.”

  He looked down at her for a long, charged moment before he dipped his head and kissed her.

  Laura couldn’t seem to care that they were probably starting a five-alarm Gansett scandal, as her Uncle Mac liked to say, by kissing on the front porch of the Surf in broad daylight. She linked her arms around his neck and combed her fingers through his shaggy blond hair. The kiss was soft and sweet and hot and tempting all at the same time. Weeks of restrained desire poured forth from both of them into a kiss that nearly blew the top of her head off.

  “Wow,” she whispered when they finally came up for air. “Where have you been hiding that?”

  “It’s been there all along, waiting until you were ready for it.”

  “I’m ready for it. I’m ready for you and for us.”

  “That must’ve been some breakfast with your aunt.”

  Laura tossed her head back and laughed.

  He took advantage of the opportunity to rain kisses upon her neck and throat, turning her laughter into a moan.

  “Owen.”

  “What, honey?”

  “I want to… I want you.”

  His fingers tightened on her hips. “I want you, too. More than you could ever possibly know.”

  “Why do I hear a ‘but’ in there?”

  Owen took her hand and guided her inside, away from the prying eyes of the town. He closed the door and turned to her, caging her in with his big body. While that same move from another man might be intimidating, being surrounded by Owen always made her feel safe. He ran his hands from her shoulders down to her hands. Gripping them, he raised them over her head and went in for the kill again, rendering her helpless against the full-body kiss. It went on for what felt like forever. Every time she thought he might he finished, he started all over again, destroying her with soft lips, an insistent tongue and the hard press of his big body against hers.

  Only when the need for air trumped the need for deep kisses did he tear his lips free and turn his attention to her neck.

  “I think,” she said, tipping her head to give him better access, “that at least once in a lifetime, every girl should be pressed up against a wall and kissed stupid by a sexy man.”

  His chuckle rumbled from his chest. “You liked that, huh?”

  She nodded, unable to take her eyes off him as she drank in every detail, appreciating him even more than she already had after hearing Jenny’s story. How very lucky they were to have this moment in time together, however long it lasted.

  “Did I kiss you stupid?”

  “That you did.”

  “I like you smart, not stupid.”

  She wriggled her hands free from his grip and slid her arms around his waist. “In this case, and only this case, stupid is good.”

  His grin was so disarming. She wondered if he had any idea how ridiculously sexy he was when he flashed that grin and looked at her with devilish intent in his gray eyes.

  “I believe that before you brought me in here and kissed me stupid, you were about to voice an objection to this new arrangement of ours.”

  “No objection,” he said, pushing against her gently so she could feel what their kisses had done to him as he continued to leave hot, openmouthed kisses on her neck. “No objection whatsoever. Rather, I have a concern about timing.”

  “If you could stop kissing me for a minute, maybe we could talk about this concern of yours.”

  “Now that I’ve started, I don’t think I’m ever going to stop kissing you.”

  All her female parts stood up and cheered at that news. “While I’d never want to discourage the kissing, especially now that I know how very good at it you are, I’d like to hear your concern.” She gave his shoulders a gentle push, then grabbed his hand to lead him into the sitting room where they’d spent so much time together in recent weeks.

  Groaning in dismay, he allowed her to pull him along.

  “Sit.”

  “Will there be more kissing?”

  “After we talk.”

  “Fine,” he said, falling onto the love seat with a boyish pout on his sexy mouth.

  “Now, tell me, what’s on your mind.”

  As if he couldn’t keep his hands to himself now that she had changed the rules of their relationship, he buried his fingers in her hair, stroking the long strands with intense purpose. Every time his fingertips brushed up against her scalp, they detonated a reaction that rippled through her entire body. She’d never been more sensitive to a man’s touch.

  “I want nothing more than to take you to bed and keep you there for days,” he said. “Weeks. Maybe even months.”

  Laura swallowed hard and trembled, as much from his words as the feel of his fingers sifting through her hair. “But?”

  “I’d really like the situation with Justin to be resolved before we go any further.”

  Laura’s heart sank at that reminder of the standoff with her estranged husband. Justin had made it clear he was uninterested in a divorce and planned to fight her every step of the way.

  “You also need to tell him about the baby. I know he hurt you and disappointed you terribly, but it’s not right to keep the baby from him.”

  “I know,” she said. “I’ve been thinking a lot about that, too.”

  “If it was my kid, I’d want to know, no matter what the situation was between myself and the mother. I’d want to know about my child.”

  “That’s because you’re upstanding and honorable. I wonder sometimes if he’ll even care.”

  “He’ll care. I can’t imagine he’s a total monster if you once loved him.”

  “No,” she said, fiddling with a throw pillow. “He’s not. He has a different idea about what it means to be married than I do.”

  “His ideas about marriage are different from most people’s.”

  Pleased by his unwavering support, she looked over at him. “Where does this lea
ve us?”

  He took her hand and brought it to his lips. “On hold. Temporarily. Very temporarily.”

  “I’ll take care of it. As soon as I can.”

  “And I’ll be right here waiting to continue this ‘conversation’ as soon as you’re ready.” He held out his arms to her. “Come here.”

  She snuggled into his embrace, feeling relieved to have finally talked about the overwhelming attraction they’d been nursing for weeks, but also twitchy with restless desire. “Is kissing allowed during this temporary stand-down?”

  “Absolutely. By all means. Yes.”

  “Are you sure?” she asked, making him laugh.

  He cupped her face and gazed down at her, his eyes brimming with emotion. “I’m very, very sure.” And then he sealed their deal with another of those amazing kisses.

  Chapter 4

  Mac held one end of a big sheet of plywood while Luke anchored the other side. Big Mac drove in the nails that would secure the wood over the windows of the marina gift shop. Winterizing the marina took about three weeks after the last boat left on Columbus Day. This year, in addition to the regular routine of boarding up buildings and shutting down the gas tanks, they planned to replace a big portion of the rotting planks on the main dock.

  The work was a good distraction, Mac thought, as he waited to hear from Maddie. He’d been counting down to this day for weeks, since their adorable daughter arrived in the midst of Tropical Storm Hailey. Longer than that, actually. The weeks Maddie had spent on bed rest had also been torturous.

  It’d been so long since he’d had sex—full-on, real-deal sex—with his wife that Mac couldn’t remember the last time. Their daughter was absolutely worth the sacrifice, but he was ready, more than ready, to get back to normal. Maddie was ready, too, if the fooling around they’d engaged in recently was any indication. In fact, if they were any more ready, one of them might implode.

  He took a deep, shuddering breath, trying to keep his mind on his work and not on his plans for later.

  “So listen,” Luke said. “I’ve been meaning to talk to you about this winter.”

  Grateful for the diversion, Mac said, “What about it?”