Harbor Lights

by Sherryl Woods

  “Well, there weren’t ten minutes ago,” Mick told him, taking a final sip of his coffee and then standing. “Nice to meet you, Shanna. You let me know if you need any more help getting your store ready to open. I’d be glad to help out.”

  “Thanks, but I think it’s all under control now,” she said.

  “See you at home, Kevin,” he said, then turned on his heel and walked away.

  Beside her, Kevin released the breath he’d obviously been holding.

  “For a minute there, I thought he was going to tell me not to stay out too late,” he grumbled. “Do I look like I’m sixteen?”

  “I think he was sweet. He was obviously curious about what was going on with the two of us.”

  “Which he will now report far and wide,” Kevin said, his expression grim. “You should have locked your shop door when you saw me coming today. You could have saved yourself a lot of grief.”

  “But then my shelves wouldn’t be up,” she reminded him. “That’s worth a little meddling.”

  “We’ll talk again in a day or two,” he said direly. “See if you still feel that way.”

  She studied him for a moment, then risked a question that had been on her mind most of the day. “How is it that you have time to help me out? Is your job really flexible?”

  The frown, which she’d come to recognize as an immediate response when she was cutting a little too closely to a nerve, returned.

  “I’ve been taking some time off.”

  The response told her a lot, yet nothing at all. “Vacation?” she asked. “Or are you between jobs?”

  His frown deepened. “Is there some reason you’re so curious about my employment history?” he asked testily.

  Shanna backed down at once. She’d definitely hit a nerve. “I’m sorry if I was prying. Sometimes my curiosity gets the best of me.”

  He sighed then. “No, I’m the one who should be sorry. I’m just sensitive, because my family’s been bugging me to get back to work. Not because I’m sponging off of them. I have money and I’m paying my share of expenses around the house. They think I’m drifting.”

  “Are you?” she asked before she could stop herself. “Sorry, there I go again.”

  This time he didn’t take offense. Instead, he shrugged. “It’s true. I am drifting. I was a paramedic before I went overseas. I was a medic in Iraq. That’s how I met…” He drew in a deep breath.

  Shanna stayed silent and waited, sensing that he was struggling to find the words to finish the story.

  “It’s how Georgia and I met,” he said at last, a catch in his voice. “When I came back, I got a job with a rescue unit in Virginia, while she was stationed at Fort Belvoir. Then she went overseas again. Six months into her tour, that’s when she was killed. I quit my job and moved home.”

  “With all that training, I’m sure—”

  Kevin cut her off. “Never again. I don’t want to go back to that kind of work. I can’t explain it, but I don’t.”

  “Then what will you do?”

  He gave her a wry look. “That’s the million-dollar question.” He stood up abruptly. “Look, it’s late. I need to be getting home. I’ll walk you back to the shop.”

  “It’s just around the corner,” she protested. “I’ll be fine.”

  He gave her an impatient look. “My truck’s just around the corner, too. I’ll walk you back.”

  She gave in. “Thank you,” she said. “Let me get a cup of coffee to go and pay the bill.”

  His eyes widened. “You planning on an all-nighter?”

  She laughed. “I’ll get decaf, but I can’t seem to get anything done without a cup of coffee.”

  “Maybe you should consider getting some sleep instead. I’ll be over here first thing to help you again. We’ll have everything in place by the end of the day tomorrow.”

  “I can’t ask you to spend another day dealing with shelves and boxes.”

  “You didn’t ask. I volunteered. Besides, consider it a favor to me. If I’m with you, I’m not being subjected to questions and worried looks at home.”

  “Then this is a good deed on my part?”

  “Something like that.”

  “In that case, I’ll see you tomorrow.”

  “You get the coffee going, prove you’ve mastered that machine of yours, and I’ll bring some of Gram’s scones. She always bakes on Friday morning.”

  “Now, that’s an offer I can’t resist,” she said as she accepted her change and the take-out cup of coffee from their waitress, who thanked her politely, though her gaze never left Kevin’s face.

  “Good night, Kevin,” Mary said, her tone breathless. “Come back soon.”

  “Good night,” he replied distractedly, clearly oblivious to the young woman’s undisguised interest.

  “I think you have a fan,” Shanna said as they walked away.

  He regarded her blankly. “Who?” At her gesture, he glanced back. “Mary? She’s a kid.”

  “She’s old enough,” Shanna said, though she was vaguely relieved that he didn’t share the girl’s interest.

  A few minutes later, in front of her shop, Kevin said, “I’ll wait till you’re inside with the door locked. I still think it would be better if I walked you up to your apartment. I don’t like the idea of you in here all alone late at night.”

  “First of all, it’s not that late, barely ten o’clock. Second, Chesapeake Shores is a very safe town. It says so in all the brochures.”

  “Do you think the local Chamber of Commerce would announce it if we’d been having a crime wave?”

  Shanna laughed at that. “Probably not, but everyone I’ve asked, including the local police chief, has told me it’s true.”

  “You spoke to the chief?”

  “Of course. I wanted to know if I’d need an alarm system.”

  “Very smart.”

  “Just because I get flustered over putting together a few shelves doesn’t mean I didn’t do my homework,” she said, bristling at what she took as a hint of condescension in his voice.

  “Hey, I wasn’t suggesting you didn’t go into this business with your eyes wide open. I was just praising your foresight.”

  Shanna winced. “Sorry. My best friend’s skepticism about all this has made me a little touchy.”

  “She thought the store was a mistake?”

  “She thinks it’s insane, actually. But she’s coming to check it out for herself next week. I intend to prove her wrong.”

  “Good for you.” He held open the door so she could go inside, then advised, “Lock up.”

  She gave him a quelling look that had him backing away, hands in the air in a gesture of surrender.

  “Just a suggestion,” he said.

  “Top of my to-do list,” she assured him, closing the door, then making a dramatic show of turning the lock.

  Kevin gave her one last wave, then headed down the block toward his truck. She stared after him, wondering at the feeling of disappointment that swept over her when he was out of sight. She felt a moment’s empathy for poor Mary back at the restaurant. What was wrong with her? Had she expected him to come inside, sweep her off her feet and smother her with passionate kisses? Of course not. But a friendly peck on the cheek might have been nice, she thought wistfully.

  As soon as the thought came to her, though, she reminded herself that Kevin O’Brien was off-limits. He had more baggage than a passenger jet. So did she. It was a lethal combination. She needed to remember that.

  But the scary truth was, it was getting harder and harder.

  To Kevin’s very deep regret, his father was at the kitchen table when he walked in there in the morning. The lingering scent of his grandmother’s fresh scones was in the air. An airtight container, filled with the traditional scones, sat on the counter.

  “You’re up early,” Kevin commented as he poured himself a cup of coffee. “You going back to the Habitat site this morning?”

  “Nope. Getting up early’s a habit that’s
hard to break. Thought I’d go over to the inn later. Jess has a few little projects that need doing.”

  Kevin lifted a brow. “And she’s letting you do them?”

  “As a matter of fact, she asked if I would,” Mick responded, clearly delighted about that. “Depending on how long that takes, I thought I might drive into town afterward and check on Bree.”

  “Really?” Kevin said with undisguised skepticism. “Has she mentioned a few chores, as well?”

  His father scowled. “Can’t a man visit his own daughter?”

  “Of course, if that’s all you’re doing. Are you sure you’re not more interested in checking out the new bookstore, maybe seeing if I’m hanging around there again today?”

  Mick gave him a bland look. “Might as well, as long as I’ll be in the neighborhood.”

  “You are so transparent,” Kevin accused. “There’s nothing going on between Shanna and me.”

  “Never said there was, but I wouldn’t mind taking a look at those shelves you put together. I consider that a civic duty.”

  Kevin couldn’t help chuckling at that. “I think they’re safe enough, but it actually wouldn’t hurt to have a second opinion.”

  Mick gave him a considering look. “Did I mention your mother’s coming into town tonight?”

  Kevin stilled at the news. “Why?”

  “She and I have plans, if you must know,” Mick said, though it wasn’t very convincing.

  “You called her about me, didn’t you?” Kevin said flatly. “Dad, why would you do that? Don’t you think I have enough family on my case, as it is? I don’t need Mom chiming in with her two cents. She has no right.”

  “Get over yourself,” Mick retorted. “Your mother and I are trying to patch things up. We talk every night. I try to lure her down here every chance I get.”

  “Then she’s not developing some sudden need to be the mother that she stopped being over fifteen years ago?” he asked skeptically.

  Mick flushed angrily. “She never stopped being your mother,” he told Kevin. “She stopped being my wife. Both of us made some lousy decisions back then, and you kids suffered because of it. That’s my fault as much as hers.”

  “You weren’t the one who chose to date while you were still married,” Kevin said just as heatedly.

  Mick’s fist came down on the table. “Dammit, she did not have an affair, Kevin. You know that.”

  “Maybe not, but she was seen all over town in the company of some other man while you were away on business. How am I supposed to respect her after that?”

  “You give her another chance, same as me,” Mick retorted. “Every one of us has made mistakes, Kevin. Your mother, me, even you, I suspect. All we can hope for after is that we’ll be able to make amends and be forgiven.”

  Kevin thought of the mistakes he’d made with Georgia, not by betraying her, but by letting her go back to Iraq without a fight. How could he make amends for that? How could he ever be forgiven, when she was gone? To his regret, he could see his father’s point, but he wasn’t ready to let go of the past, not his own mistakes or his mother’s.

  “I think maybe I’ll see if I can stay with Bree and Jake this weekend,” Kevin said.

  “They’re practically newlyweds,” Mick objected. “They don’t need you and Davy underfoot. And Abby and Trace have little enough time alone as it is, in case that was your next excuse for getting out of here.”

  “Then I’ll book a room at the inn,” Kevin said.

  “Jess is all booked up. Told me so herself last night.”

  Kevin resigned himself to staying put. Running was cowardly anyway. Why should he be the one to leave? This house was as much his home as it was his mother’s. More so, in fact.

  “Dad, do you seriously think you and Mom will get back together?”

  “I’m counting on it,” Mick replied without hesitation. “There’s never been another woman for me, Kevin. Never.” He gave him a pointed look. “And there’s never been another man for her, either, in case you were about to offer your opinion about that.”

  “You really believe that, don’t you?” Kevin said, wondering at the fact that a man as smart as his father could be so gullible.

  “I know that,” Mick told him. “And if you took a few steps back from your own pain at having your mother move away, looked at the whole situation back then, you’d know it, too. Her seeing that other man meant nothing. It was a cry of desperation, but I had too much pride to see it for what it was. I reacted the same way you did, judging her without asking for one second if I was responsible for her needing a little attention from someone else.”

  “So cheating is okay, if she was feeling neglected?” Even as the words left his mouth, he knew the bitterness behind them had little to do with his mother. For weeks before she’d died, he’d worried and wondered if Georgia was being faithful to him. He knew what it was like over there, knew how hard it was to face the danger alone. He’d had not one shred of evidence to support his suspicions, but each time she’d mentioned another soldier’s name in passing, his jealousy had deepened. If his worst fears had been confirmed, he wasn’t sure how he would have handled it. It wouldn’t have been like this, that’s for sure. His mother’s behavior years ago had hardened his heart toward cheating, no matter the excuses behind it.

  “I can’t believe you’d just turn the other cheek, Dad,” he said.

  “Your mother never cheated,” Mick repeated emphatically. “She might have thought about it, might even have wanted me to think she would, but she never did. I believe that with every fiber of my being.” He looked Kevin in the eye. “And even if she had, it’s in the past now. We’re moving on, finding our way back to each other. It’s what we both want, and if you can’t embrace that, then just stay out of our way.”

  “So you don’t care what I—what any of us, for that matter—think about this reconciliation?”

  “We care,” Mick said. “But it’s not going to be the deciding factor. You’re adults now, not children. Your opinions count, certainly, but you’re old enough to understand that love is what matters in this life, and we shouldn’t let anything stand in the way of that.”

  “You let work get in the way,” Kevin reminded him.

  “And I was a damn fool,” Mick replied without hesitation. “That’s a lesson I’m passing on to you here and now. If you’re lucky enough to love someone, make that your top priority.”

  His father’s belated transformation was hard to buy, but there was at least some evidence to support it. “Is that why you’ve cut back on work, taken to volunteering?”

  “Yes.”

  Kevin tried to grapple with this turnaround. “And you don’t feel like you’re sacrificing your identity?”

  “I have plenty of testaments to my identity as an architect all over this country,” Mick said. “The identity that matters is how well I’ve done as a husband and father. That one’s still evolving.”

  Kevin looked into his father’s eyes and saw a serenity there that he couldn’t recall ever seeing before. He was at peace with the choices he was making lately. Kevin would give anything to find some measure of peace these days. He didn’t think he was going to find it in work, despite what everyone else seemed to be pushing him toward. As for love, what had that ever gotten him but a broken heart?

  By midafternoon Shanna couldn’t stand it another minute. Beyond asking where she wanted things, Kevin hadn’t said two words to her all morning and only a half a dozen since lunchtime. The silence was making her a little crazy.

  She poured two cups of coffee, frothed milk and added it to hers, then walked over to where Kevin was sorting the books for the nonfiction section according to category.

  “Time for a break,” she announced, holding out the coffee.

  He accepted it with obvious reluctance and eyed her warily. “What’s up?”

  “That’s what I want to know,” she said. “You’ve hardly said a thing all day. Is something wrong? Is everything o
kay with your son?”

  “Davy’s over at my sister’s playing with his cousins. Abby has a nanny who watches them during the summer.”

  “Okay,” she said. “Then, if you’re not worried about him, what’s on your mind?”

  He sat back, leaning against an overstuffed armchair she’d placed in the middle of the room. There were similar chairs scattered throughout. Most had been thrift shop finds, but all had been fitted with bright new slipcovers. Kevin’s gaze finally met hers.

  “Why does something have to be wrong?” he inquired testily. “Don’t you ever have a day when you simply don’t have much to say?”

  “Sure,” she said readily. “Usually when something’s wrong.”

  His lips quirked up at that. “Okay, you got me there. Look, it’s nothing for you to worry about. My mood has nothing to do with you.”

  “You’re here, so it does affect me,” she told him.

  “I could leave.”

  “Now you’re being ridiculous,” she said irritably. “I don’t want you to leave. I want you to talk to me.”

  “Shanna, I appreciate the concern. I really do, but you don’t get to try to fix what’s wrong with me. Believe me, others have tried and failed.”

  “So, you’re a real hard case, is that it?”

  Again, his lips twitched. “Something like that.”

  “You know, I’m actually a good listener,” she said, not sure why she was so determined to get to the bottom of his mood. “I don’t even have to offer any advice, though that might be a test of my willpower.”

  He laughed then, which was a breakthrough of sorts. She grinned back at him. “That’s better.”

  “Can we consider your work here done?” he asked hopefully.

  “For the moment. Laughter really is the best medicine, don’t you think so?”

  He gave her a somber look, then. “If only it were that easy,” he murmured, putting aside his coffee cup and standing up. “I’m going to finish with these books now.”

  She watched as he went back to the task, deliberately shutting her out.

  “You might take a look at a couple of those books on positive thinking,” she called out as she went back to her own section of the store.