Trouble After Dark: (A Gansett Island Novel)

by Marie Force

  “So then two would be even more thrilling.”

  “Only if it’s what you want, too. Don’t say it just to make me happy, Deacon.”

  “I would never do that to you. I want you. I want kids with you and a life and everything there is with you.”

  Julia wished she could control her emotions better, but she couldn’t contain the tears that spilled down her cheeks.

  He turned her to face him and kissed away her tears. “You’re going to have everything you ever wanted, sweet Julia. I promise.”

  “Thank you.”

  “For what?”

  “For being everything I need and more than I ever dreamed possible.”

  “Being what you need is the most important thing to me.” He framed her face with his hands and kissed her with tenderness she felt everywhere. “Remember when I told you my mom’s theory about things happening for a reason?”

  She nodded.

  “You’re the reason I blew out my knee and had to leave the force. You’re the reason I got into a fight and tossed in jail, so Blaine would make me come here to find you. It was all about you. You’re my reason.”

  “And you’re mine. All the crap that happened before was bringing me to you.”

  His smile lit up his gorgeous eyes. “So you think we should have a baby?”

  “I really do.” She held on tight to him, thankful now for every painful, agonizing twist and turn in the difficult journey that had led her home to him.

  Bonus Epilogue

  A Gansett Island Wedding

  The invitation was sent as an email to just about everyone on Gansett Island:

  Tobias Fitzgerald “Slim” Jackson Jr.

  and

  Erin Elizabeth Barton

  Request the honor of your presence at their wedding festivities on

  Saturday, June 29, at 2 p.m.

  At the Southeast Light

  Come ready to party the night away!

  As Slim shot the final approach to Gansett Island’s tiny airport, he couldn’t wait to land and get to Erin as quickly as possible. The two weeks since he’d last seen her had dragged interminably. The separation had reminded him of the months they’d spent apart after they first met and confirmed what he’d known for more than a year now—he never wanted to spend another night away from her.

  Of course, as a professional pilot who flew people around for a living, that was an unrealistic goal. His job had kept him in Florida for two additional weeks after Erin returned to the island to oversee the final details for their big day. With two of his best customers booking him for late-June dates, he’d put her on a commercial flight, reminded her to breathe when she was scared and waited for her to text him that she’d landed in Providence, where her parents had met her for the trip to the island.

  She’d come a long way from the years when she’d been unable to get on an airplane after her twin brother, Toby, had been killed in the 9/11 attack on the World Trade Center in New York. Erin now flew regularly, in Slim’s plane and on commercial flights, even if it would never be her favorite thing to do. He’d been teaching her the mechanics of flying as part of his effort to make her less afraid of it. She was becoming a competent pilot in her own right, but still, she battled the fear on every flight.

  Slim thought about the text he’d sent her that morning before leaving West Palm Beach:

  I can’t wait to marry you;

  I can’t wait to live with you forever;

  I can’t wait to have the baby that only we know about;

  I can’t wait to give that baby a brother or sister or maybe both;

  I can’t wait to finally get that dog we’ve been talking about;

  I can’t wait for everything with you!!!!!!

  And her witty reply: I’ll overlook the semicolons because you finished strong. Oh, and ditto on everything else. Get your sexy ass to our island, will you?!!!

  On my way, love. And everyone knows that ?!!! is not acceptable punctuation.

  She’d replied with the laughing emoji.

  With his airplane secured, he jumped on the motorcycle he kept on the island year-round and headed for his house on the west side, where Erin was staying until the wedding. She didn’t know that he’d arranged for them to spend their wedding night at the lighthouse. It seemed only fitting to spend that night in the place where their relationship had begun.

  As he navigated the familiar twists and turns of the island that was home to him, Slim thought about those early days together. He remembered every second of how they’d begun the night he’d found her limping along dark island roads after getting a flat tire on her bike and then spraining her ankle. He’d helped get her and the bike home, spent the night tending to her, had attended Jenny and Alex Martinez’s wedding with her and then had to leave for months of commitments in Florida before he could see her again.

  They’d reunited over the holidays last year, when they’d spent twelve days together that had cemented the certainty that he wanted forever with her.

  As he drove past the spot where he’d found her hobbled on that long-ago night, he thanked his lucky stars and fate for putting him there when she needed help. His heart beat fast as he took the final curve before the left-hand turn that would bring him home to her. He roared up the dirt driveway and skidded to a stop, leaving a cloud of dust in his wake. After killing the engine, he parked the bike and tossed aside the helmet that Erin made him promise to always wear when he would’ve preferred to go without. For her, he wore the helmet.

  As he headed for the house, she came out and ran toward him.

  They met halfway.

  He lifted her into his arms and spun her around, overcome with elation and relief and the kind of joy he’d only ever found with her.

  She clung to him, her face buried in the crook of his neck. “Thought you’d never get here.”

  “We’re never spending two weeks apart again.” He put her down and gazed at the gorgeous face of the woman who was the center of his world. “Did you hear me buzz the house?”

  “I heard it.” Smiling, she reached up to place her hands on his face and drew him into a slow, sexy, tongue-twisting kiss.

  “Where’re your folks?” he asked, his lips hovering just above hers.

  “They went to lunch with Jenny and Alex.” Jenny had been Erin’s brother’s fiancée when he was killed a short time before they were due to be married. Slim had first met Erin’s parents the night Jenny married Alex Martinez.

  “How long ago?”

  “They left about a half hour ago.”

  Slim lifted Erin right off her feet.

  She let out a surprised squeak. “Where’re we going?”

  “To get reacquainted.”

  She laughed. “We don’t need that. We’re very well acquainted.”

  “We do need that. I need it.”

  “What about Jack and his family?” she asked of his brother.

  “They’re on the three o’clock boat. We’ve got time.”

  As he carried her inside, she laughed at his impatience and kissed every part of his face she could reach. He walked them straight to the bedroom and put her down only long enough to help remove her T-shirt and jeans while she unbuttoned his shirt.

  “I couldn’t wait to see you,” he whispered against the smooth skin of her neck. “Every minute without you felt like a year.”

  “Same. Total torture.”

  “It’s a good thing we’re getting married.”

  “It’s a very good thing.”

  He rested a hand on her still-flat abdomen. “How’s the peanut?”

  “He’s better now that he’s let up on the queasiness.” They had no idea what they were having and weren’t planning to find out, but Erin had a feeling they were expecting a boy, who would arrive in March.

  “I’m so glad you’re feeling better for Hawaii.”

  “Me, too, although I’m still not sure how you talked me into twelve hours of flying.”

  “I’ll be
there to make it go by fast, and you’ll be so glad you did it when you see how beautiful Hawaii is. Besides, we both know there’s nothing to be afraid of when you’re flying first class.”

  “That’s very true.”

  “This is gonna be quick,” he whispered when they landed together on the bed in a tangle of arms and legs and desperate kisses.

  “Quick is good.”

  When they were first together, he’d had reason to wonder if she would find the courage to give them a shot, but once she’d decided to go for it, she’d been all in. And all-in Erin was the best thing to ever happen to him.

  He slid into her and threw back his head, needing a minute to get himself together before he made this too quick. “God, Erin…”

  “I know. Me, too. Me, too.”

  For the longest time, he only held her, not moving as he breathed her in. The press of her breasts against his chest and the squeeze of her internal muscles around his cock made him crazy. Being with her, making love to her… If there was anything better than that, he’d yet to find it. “Love you so much. You can’t ever leave me. I’d never get over it.”

  “I love you just as much, and I’m not going anywhere without you.”

  “Promise?”

  She nodded and smiled, caressing his face and running her fingers through his hair.

  Everything about her just did it for him. Slim wished they had time to do nothing but this for the rest of the day, but his brother’s family was due to arrive in an hour, and her parents would be back at some point. He would spend the rest of the day looking forward to being alone with her again later. In the meantime, he picked up the pace.

  She was right there with him, in perfect sync as they raced toward a finish that had them straining and clinging and gasping from the sweet pleasure they found together.

  After, he closed his eyes and slipped into the blissful state that always followed sex with her. “You’ve wrecked me.”

  “I’ve wrecked you? I was minding my own business until a hot guy on a motorcycle showed up.”

  “Mmm, it’s all your fault.”

  “I’m so glad you’re here. I was worried.”

  He hated to hear that. “What about?”

  “You. Flying. You know how I get…”

  He knew all about the many ways past trauma manifested itself in her daily life. He’d grown accustomed to her OCD rituals and accommodated them because he knew they brought her peace of mind, but he wished she didn’t suffer the way she did. “I’m sorry you were worried and I wasn’t here to tell you everything would be okay.”

  “It’s much easier when you’re around to keep me calm.”

  “I’m here, and everything is perfect. This is going to be the best weekend of our lives.”

  They scored a perfect summer day for their wedding, with bright sunshine, low humidity and not a cloud in the sky.

  Erin had thought this day would never arrive. They’d set the date months ago, sent the email to their friends, made arrangements with the town to use the lighthouse grounds and reserved a block of rooms at the Sand & Surf for their out-of-town guests. Yesterday, Slim had overseen the digging of a pit on the beach that he’d lined with seaweed for the New England clambake they would serve their guests.

  And now it was show time, and Erin couldn’t have been more excited. The only thing that would’ve made this day better was having her beloved twin brother there to share in her joy. Over the last few days, she’d thought of Toby more than she had in a long time. He was always on her mind, but he’d been more present than usual as she counted down to the biggest day of her life.

  She’d relived the last time she saw him repeatedly. They’d been at odds that weekend in the Hamptons, which was rare for them. He’d come right out and told her that Mitch, the man she’d recently moved in with, wasn’t good enough for her. “Someday,” Toby had said, “you’ll know what I mean.”

  When Erin thought about how she’d wanted to punch him for saying that, she could only laugh now at how right he’d been. She was so glad she hadn’t married Mitch. He was a good man who’d tried his best to support her after the devastating loss of her brother before giving up on their relationship a year later. It had taken meeting Slim for Erin to finally understand what Toby had wanted for her.

  Her Toby had sent Tobias Fitzgerald Jackson Junior to find her the night she sprained her ankle. Of that she had no doubt, and the thought gave her comfort that her brother was always close by.

  She heard voices on the floor below the bedroom where she’d gotten dressed. The new lighthouse keeper was due to arrive in the next week, but for now, the magical place where she’d fallen in love with Slim was all theirs.

  “Knock, knock,” her mom, Mary Beth, said. “Are you decent?”

  “I am. Come on up.”

  Her parents came up the spiral stairs into the room that held so many special memories for Erin, most of them involving the man she was about to marry.

  “Oh, honey,” Mary Beth said, fighting tears. “You look so beautiful.”

  “Sensational,” her dad, Tom, added, blinking back tears of his own.

  Erin had gone with a simple halter-style white dress with a small train and had left her hair down the way Slim liked it best. “Thanks, guys.”

  “We’re so very happy for you and Slim,” Mary Beth said. “In case you haven’t noticed, we adore him.”

  “He loves you, too.” They’d spent quite a lot of time with her parents after her dad suffered an aneurism that had required emergency surgery. He was almost completely recovered now. Giving her away at her wedding had been one of his primary goals during rehab.

  Erin held out her hands to them. “I don’t want to make us all into wrecks before the ceremony, but I just want to say… I’m so thankful to both of you for everything.”

  “We’re just as thankful to you.” Mary Beth held Erin’s hand and her husband’s. “We say all the time that we never would’ve survived losing Toby if it hadn’t been for our sweet girl.”

  They shared a tearful group hug that ended when Jenny arrived. “Hello up there! Is anyone ready to get married?”

  “Come on up,” Erin said, dabbing at her eyes with a tissue her mother provided.

  Jenny bounded up the stairs, bringing bouquets for both of them. She stopped short at the sight of the bride. “Oh, Er... You’re gorgeous.”

  Jenny should’ve been her sister-in-law, and Erin’s bond with her had deepened during the years of grief and disbelief that had followed Toby’s death. They referred to each other as sister-friends, and there was no one else Erin would’ve asked to be her matron of honor.

  The two women embraced carefully so they wouldn’t crease Erin’s dress or smash the colorful bouquets.

  “Toby would be so, so happy you chose Slim.”

  “I think so, too. He’d also be very smug about how right he was.”

  Jenny laughed. “Yes, he would.” She pulled back from the hug to hand Erin her bouquet, which was made up of white lilies and hydrangeas.

  She’d told Jenny to wear whatever she wanted and loved the lilac-colored dress she’d chosen and the bouquet of purple hydrangeas she carried. “We clean up pretty good, huh?”

  “You certainly do,” Mary Beth said, beaming at both of them. Jenny was like a daughter to Mary Beth and Tom, who were doting extra grandparents to Jenny’s son, George.

  Somehow, someway, the four of them had survived and thrived and found a way forward through the darkness and back into the light.

  It was what Toby would’ve wanted for them. He would’ve been devastated if his death had ruined their lives, too. Erin was comforted knowing that he’d be proud of them for carrying on when it would’ve been so much easier not to.

  “Slim is waiting for you,” Jenny said. “He told me to tell you to hurry up.”

  “The man has no patience.”

  Jenny crooked an eyebrow. “I think he’s proven otherwise, wouldn’t you say?”

  Erin la
ughed at the question and the raised eyebrow. “You’re right. He has. Let’s do it.”

  She followed the others down two spiral staircases to the mudroom, where she glanced at the wall against which she and Slim had once had wild sex. Life with him was never boring, that was for sure.

  In the yard, where Jenny had thrown tomatoes at Alex, who was now her husband, Erin’s parents escorted her to the spot at the edge of the property where she and Slim had chosen to exchange vows.

  They’d asked retired Superior Court Judge Frank McCarthy to officiate, and every one of the hundred and fifty chairs they’d borrowed from the Wayfarer was filled with family and friends from Gansett, West Palm Beach, Pennsylvania and California. Everyone who mattered to them had come, but Erin saw only Slim.

  Tall and broad-shouldered, he was devastatingly handsome in the navy suit he’d bought for the occasion. He wore a white dress shirt without a tie, per her request because she knew how much he hated them, and a white rose on his lapel. His dark hair ruffled in the light breeze, and his warm brown eyes were fixed on her as she made her way toward him.

  Owen Lawry played an acoustic version of the song “Please” that they’d fallen in love with while watching The Voice together on the phone during the months they’d spent apart after they first met. The song had come to mean so much to them, and hearing it now brought tears to Erin’s eyes.

  She’d promised herself she wouldn’t cry, but now that the moment was upon her, she realized she was fighting a losing battle with her emotions.

  Slim’s brother, Jack, stood by his side, along with Slim’s two young nephews, who’d wanted to help their dad be their uncle’s best man. Slim’s parents were there, as were several of his half siblings and cousins, some of whom Erin had met for the first time the day before.

  Everyone from Gansett had come, or so it seemed, including the entire McCarthy clan, the Martinez family, Slim’s friend Seamus O’Grady and his wife, Carolina. So many people had become family, first to Jenny when she’d come to Gansett to be the lighthouse keeper and then to Erin when she took over for Jenny. The two women owed that beautiful beacon so much for providing a place for them to finally heal amid the wild beauty of Gansett Island.