Light After Dark: Gansett Island Series, Book 16

by Marie Force

  “And to reward myself for that great day, I indulged in a pity party.”

  “Give yourself a break. In the last year, you’ve lost your mother, found your father and his family, and got laid off from the job that was at the center of your life. I’m surprised you’re not in the fetal position after all that.”

  “I resort to the fetal position every now and then.”

  Linda chuckled. “You’re going to get through this latest challenge. I have no doubt about that. You may even look back to realize getting laid off was the best thing to ever happen to you. If nothing else, it’ll force you to take a look at what else is out there, waiting to be discovered.”

  “Right now it just feels like a mountain to be climbed.”

  “Shaking up your life is overwhelming, for sure. I have a good feeling about you moving out here. This place has magical restorative powers. Ask anyone. They’ll tell you. I think this is going to turn out to be a whole new beginning for you, the Summer of Mallory.”

  “I like that. The Summer of Mallory.”

  “Here’s to new beginnings.”

  *

  While new beginnings were great, moving was not. Mallory had lived in the same house for twelve years and had accumulated way too much stuff, much of which she donated or sold at a yard sale. She spent entire nights sifting through her belongings, paring down to the necessities she would need on the island.

  The rest would go into storage while the house was rented. Movers would arrive in an hour to take her bed, sofa and other furniture and household items to Gansett, while she packed her car with clothes and personal items. Both vehicles were scheduled on the three-o’clock ferry to the island, thanks to her brother-in-law, Joe. Being related to the owner of the ferry company had its perks.

  She carried the last of the boxes to her car, these containing items that she’d never part with or allow out of her possession. Priceless memories she carried with her to her new life on Gansett Island.

  Her realtor, Judy, dropped by to pick up the keys for the tenants who would move in on the first of June.

  “I’m so jealous that you’re moving to Gansett,” Judy said. “I’d kill to live out there.”

  “I’m excited,” Mallory said, and she was now that the sifting, sorting and packing portion of the move was finished. “We’ll see if I’m excited when winter rolls around.” Would she still be there then? Who knew? But that was part of the fun of her new adventure. Anything was possible.

  “Well, good luck. I’ll keep an eye on the tenants and make sure they take good care of the place. If you decide to sell at some point, you know where I am.”

  “Yes, I do. Thanks again for everything.”

  After Judy left, Mallory took one last walk through the house, spending a few moments in each empty room before she locked up and jumped in her car for the trip to Point Judith to catch the ferry. As Mallory drove away from the house she’d called home for a dozen years, she never looked back.

  *

  Three hours later, Mallory led the moving truck to her new home in Janey’s tiny but cozy house and found a crowd waiting to greet her. They’d put balloons on the mailbox and strung a Welcome Home banner across the front porch.

  She was moved to tears as she took it all in—her dad and Linda, Mac and Maddie, Joe and Janey, Adam and Abby, Ned and Francine, Tiffany and Blaine, Shane and Katie, Riley and Finn, Uncle Frank and Betsy and Uncle Kevin and Chelsea. The only ones missing were Evan and Grace and Grant and Stephanie, all of whom were due home soon.

  As Mac and Maddie’s son, Thomas, and Tiffany’s daughter, Ashleigh, ran around the small front yard, shrieking with excitement, Big Mac approached the car and opened the door for her.

  Mallory wiped away tears and greeted him with a big smile. After having known him for almost a year, she could no longer imagine life without him. She took the hand he offered and let him help her out of the car.

  He hugged her tightly. “So glad to have you here to stay, honey.”

  She wanted to swoon with happiness every time he called her that. It didn’t matter that he called all the girls “honey” or “sweetheart.” Mallory couldn’t get enough of it. “I can’t believe you’re all here.”

  “Of course we’re here,” he said as if it was no big deal when it was the biggest of deals to her. “You need help getting settled.” Keeping an arm around her, Big Mac bellowed to the others, “Let’s get that truck unloaded, boys!”

  While the men helped the movers carry in her bedroom and living room furniture, the women got busy unloading boxes in the kitchen. What she’d expected to spend three days doing, they had finished in three hours. Big Mac even hung pictures on the wall and put up the curtain rods she’d bought for the living room.

  “It looks like I’ve lived here for a year,” Mallory said when the last of the boxes had been unpacked and her clothes hung in the closet. “This family doesn’t mess around.”

  “Next is the housewarming party,” Big Mac declared, pulling out his wallet. “Mac, you get the beer. Joe, you’re in charge of pizza.” He handed cash to each of them. “What else do we need, Lin?”

  “That about covers it.”

  “Go to it, boys.”

  “Why do we gotta be the hunter-gatherers?” Mac grumbled. “That’s why we have wives.”

  “Seriously?” Maddie asked. “You’re actually going there?”

  “I don’t think she’s worshipping at the altar of Mac McCarthy anymore,” Shane said, referring to Mac’s famous comment at Evan’s wedding last winter.

  “Shit,” Mac said, with a dirty grin. “She worships at the Mac McCarthy altar every day.”

  “Mac McCarthy is going to be at the altar in a pine box if he doesn’t shut his mouth and do what he’s told,” Maddie said as the others roared with laughter.

  “Yes, dear,” he replied with a dopey grin. “Let’s get going, Joe. The natives are getting nasty.”

  Though endlessly amused by Mac, Mallory’s stomach had dropped at the mention of beer. Hopefully, no one would notice if she didn’t indulge.

  “Mommy,” Thomas said, “is Daddy in trouble again?”

  “Daddy is always in trouble,” Maddie said to her son.

  “Maybe he needs a time-out.”

  “I think that’s a wonderful idea, honey.”

  “Mallory, come see the pictures from our trip,” Big Mac said of the fortieth-anniversary trip he and Linda had taken to Paris and England last month.

  She joined her dad in the kitchen with a growing feeling of happiness and contentment. She was going to love living here.

  *

  The next morning, she attended a meeting at the church and ran into Quinn James at the coffee table.

  “How’s it going?” she asked. He made her nervous, which was odd because men, in general, didn’t rattle her. So why did this one?

  “Good. Haven’t seen you here in a while.”

  “I was in Providence packing up my house.”

  He stirred cream and sugar into his coffee. “Where you headed?”

  “Here for at least the summer. After that, we’ll see.” She glanced up at him, noting the golden stubble on his jaw and the dark circles under his brown eyes that made him look haunted. “What about you?”

  “I live here now. My brother and sister-in-law are opening a healthcare facility on the island. I’m their medical director.”

  “I heard about that. What a great idea.”

  “We’ll see,” he said with the faintest hint of a smile.

  Mallory suspected he didn’t smile very often. “It’s an ambitious undertaking. Congrats on the new job.”

  “Thanks. I’m in way over my head, but don’t tell my brother or his wife. They think I’m overqualified.”

  “Your secret is safe with me.”

  “You ought to come and check it out. Your brother is the lead contractor.”

  So he knew who she was in relation to the McCarthys. Interesting. Did that mean he’d asked about h
er? “I’ll do that.”

  Mason appeared a few minutes later and joined them at the coffee table, his face lighting up with pleasure at the sight of her. “You’re back! And just in time for the mayhem of Race Week. Is it Memorial Day yet?”

  Amused by his enthusiasm, Mallory said, “Not yet.”

  “I’ll see you next Tuesday at seven at the barn. That’s what we call the firehouse.”

  “You’re working on the rescue?” Quinn asked.

  “Yep. Got myself a summer job.”

  “I thought you were an ER nurse?”

  “I was laid off in early March.”

  “Oh damn. Sorry.”

  Mallory shrugged. “It hasn’t been so bad. They gave me a year’s pay, and now I’ve got a fun summer job lined up to keep me busy.”

  “We’ll keep you busy, all right,” Mason said. “So busy you won’t have a second to be bored.”

  “He keeps trying to scare me off,” Mallory said to Quinn. “After twelve years in the ER, not much fazes me.”

  “We’ll see if summer on Gansett Island can top the ER in Providence,” Mason said. “If nothing else, it’ll give Providence a run for its money.”

  “I’m looking forward to it.”

  “She says that now,” Mason said to Quinn, who laughed, and oh damn, was he handsome when he laughed.

  Nina came rushing through the door, uttering her usual apologies for running late.

  “If you want to come out to the site after the meeting, I’d be happy to show you around,” Quinn said.

  “Um, sure, that sounds good. Thanks.”

  Nodding, he went to find a seat. As he walked away, Mallory again noted he had a slight limp and wondered if he’d injured himself while running or when he was in Afghanistan. She’d really like to know.

  “I guess I need to get here earlier if I want to ask you out for coffee after,” Mason said as he followed her to the circle of chairs.

  Mallory turned to find him smiling down at her. “Sorry. Rain check?”

  “Sure. Any time.”

  As Mallory took her seat, she again wondered if he was interested in more than a professional relationship with her. That might get awkward with him as her boss for the summer.

  Nina began the meeting by leading the Serenity Prayer and welcoming new members. “Mallory, it’s nice to have you back with us.”

  “Thank you. I’m here for the summer, so you’ll be seeing more of me.”

  “We’re happy to have you. Who would like to begin?”

  Andy, the man who’d befriended her the first time she attended, talked about some recent challenges he’d encountered at social events. Nancy, a waitress at Stephanie’s Bistro, talked about working in a place where serving alcohol was part of her job, and Russ, a deckhand on the ferries, discussed his struggles with the drunks on the boats after a long day on the island.

  “I ask myself all the time, is that what I was like?” Russ said. “If so, I’m doubly glad I don’t drink anymore.”

  If Mallory was going to make this her home meeting while she was on the island, at some point she had to contribute. No time like the present, she decided, signaling to Nina that she had something to say.

  Chapter 5

  Nina nodded to her, and Mallory felt the eyes of thirty people turn to her. In the past, that would’ve intimidated her, but after years in the program, she had certainly done this before.

  “I’d been sober more than ten years when my mother died last year.” She paused when the others offered condolences. “Thank you. It was a tough loss. For my entire life, it’d been just her and me. She got pregnant when she was really young, and her parents disowned her. My father was never in the picture. I had asked about him many times, but her answers were always vague. As I got older, I wondered if maybe she didn’t know who he was.”

  Mallory took a moment to get her emotions under control. “I found a letter in her things about a week after she died. In it, she finally gave me my father’s name, and as soon as I could, I came to Gansett to find him. I thought maybe I’d just say hello and let him know he had a daughter he’d never known about. But that’s not what happened. My father is an amazing person with an equally amazing family. I found out I have a stepmother, four brothers, a sister, two nephews, a niece, four cousins and two uncles, not to mention sisters-in-law and a brother-in-law.

  “To say it’s been overwhelming to have them in my life is putting it mildly. I thought I’d come so far from when I’d used alcohol to cope with an earlier devastating loss. It’d been years since I’d been tempted to take a drink. Until I was faced with meeting my father and his entire family, and I forgot all about ten years of sobriety in my desire to fit in and go with the flow and not have to explain that, no, I can’t have that glass of wine or a beer because I’m an alcoholic. I’ve never been afraid to tell people that, but for some reason, I couldn’t bring myself to tell these people.”

  “Do you believe they’d think less of you if you told them?” Nina asked.

  “No, not at all. It’s just that my relationships with them still feel so new and fragile.”

  “Perhaps you begin with your dad, and go from there,” Mason suggested.

  Mallory noticed that Quinn nodded in agreement.

  “That’s a good idea,” she said to Mason.

  “No one says you have to tell anyone,” Quinn said. “My family has no idea I’m an alcoholic. They know I don’t drink, but they think it’s because I’m a fitness freak.”

  The insight from a man of so few words surprised her. “You make a good point,” Mallory said. “It’s not like I owe anyone the information.”

  “You owe it to yourself to make your life here on the island manageable, though,” Andy said. “If anyone asks, and I doubt they will because people tend not to notice what’s so obvious to us, just tell them you’re dieting or alcohol gives you a headache. There’s always something you can say to take the attention off the fact that don’t drink.”

  “Thank you all. This is very helpful.” And it was all stuff she’d heard before, but it helped to talk about it in relation to her new family.

  The meeting ended a short time later, and Mallory told Mason she’d see him at the barn next Tuesday.

  “See you then,” he said with a wave as he headed for the door.

  Mallory waited for Quinn, who was talking to Nina. While feigning interest in her phone, she took advantage of the opportunity to take a closer look at him. Standing maybe six foot two or three, he had a muscular build and close-cropped dark blond hair. He wore faded denim jeans and a navy blue Henley. Long sleeves were pulled up to reveal strong forearms. As he listened intently to Nina, he gave her his undivided attention.

  Mallory wondered what it would be like to be on the receiving end of Dr. Quinn James’s full attention. A shiver went through her, making her tremble and feel ridiculous at the same time. Sure, he was a good-looking guy, but that didn’t mean she had to get silly over him.

  Then he was walking toward her, and Mallory shook off her inappropriate thoughts.

  “Ready?” he asked.

  “Whenever you are.” Duh. Of course he’s ready, or he wouldn’t be asking if you are.

  “How’d you get here?” he asked.

  “Rode my bike.”

  “We can toss it in the back of my truck if you want.”

  “Sure, that works.”

  He didn’t say anything else as he held the door to let Mallory go out ahead of him. She’d worn jeans and a lightweight sweater in deference to the chilly spring air and hoped her jeans looked as good on her as his did on him. More silliness. Knock it off, Mallory. He’s taking you on a tour of a building, not his bedroom.

  It had been a long time since she’d found any guy particularly attractive, so her thoughts were surprising, to say the least. She’d been frantically busy with work for so many years that things like men and dating and sex had fallen pretty far down on her list of priorities, well behind the sleep she craved afte
r long weeks at work.

  Months after her layoff, she was well-rested and more relaxed than she’d been in years. Even moving couldn’t compare to the stress of a regular week at work.

  She wheeled her bike over to his big silver pickup and watched the play of his muscles as he lifted the bike into the bed of the truck. Then he held the passenger door for her and waited for her to get settled before he closed it and went around to the driver’s side. Sexy, smart, mysterious and a gentleman—what a potent combination.

  They drove slowly through the congested downtown area. “What is all this?” Mallory asked, taking in the crowds of people and cars that clogged the streets. It was too early in the season for this many tourists.

  “The start of Race Week. Races that last all day and parties that last all night. From what I’m told, it gets pretty crazy.”

  “I guess so.”

  Once they were through the downtown area, the traffic let up, and they made quick time driving to the island’s north end.

  Mallory tried to tell herself that the silence between them wasn’t awkward, but it did make her feel uncertain. Should she say something to cut through the silence or stay quiet? Was he always this reticent, or did he talk more around people he knew well?

  “How long have you been here?” she asked when the silence had stretched long enough for her.

  “I got here two months before we met up at the accident site.”

  “What do you think so far?”

  “I like it more than I expected to. My brother and sister-in-law and their friends keep me busy, and so far, the remoteness hasn’t made me too crazy.”

  “Your brother has made quite a name for himself,” Mallory said. Who hadn’t heard of the young billionaire who’d walked away from Wall Street to move to Gansett Island?

  “I still find it funny that everyone knows him. To me, he’s still my annoying little brother.”

  “What’s it like to have a brother who’s been so successful?”

  “I’m happy for him. He was always a go-getter; from the time he was the littlest kid. He was mowing the neighbors’ lawns by the time he was twelve and incorporated his first business at eighteen.”