Light After Dark: Gansett Island Series, Book 16

by Marie Force

  “Hi there, sweetheart,” he said. “Could I get a table for me and my daughter?”

  “Of course! Right this way.”

  He smiled down at Mallory and placed a hand on her back to encourage her to go ahead of him. Everything he did and said thrilled her. Her dad. His daughter. It never got old.

  “What’s good here?” she asked, taking in the thousands of painted oars that dominated the space.

  “Everything, but I love the lobster roll. Comes with fries and slaw.”

  “That sounds good to me, too.”

  When the waitress came by, he ordered for both of them. “A Diet Coke?” he asked Mallory.

  She loved the way he paid attention to every little thing about her. “That’ll do it,” she said.

  “Make it two.” After the waitress walked away, he said, “I’d love a beer, but it’s a little too early.”

  He’d given her the opening she needed to bring up one of the reasons she’d invited him to lunch. Mallory marshaled her courage and took the plunge. “About that… I wanted to tell you… I should’ve mentioned it sooner, but things have been so busy…”

  “What’s on your mind, sweetheart?”

  His genuine interest made it so easy to say the words. “I’m actually an alcoholic.”

  “Oh… Okay.”

  “I’m sure you’re wondering how that can be when you’ve seen me drink.”

  He held up a hand. “No judgment from me. I swear.”

  “That’s nice of you to say, but I’ve been doing a lot of personal judging and wondering why I so easily forgot ten years of sobriety the minute I met my dad and his big wonderful family.”

  “Your big wonderful family.”

  “My family,” Mallory conceded.

  “Why do you suppose that happened?”

  “I’m chalking it up to stress and excitement and getting caught up in the moment and wanting to fit in. None of those are excuses, but they’re all I’ve got. I’m back to daily meetings, and I haven’t had a sip of alcohol since New Year’s Eve.”

  “At Adam’s wedding?”

  Mallory nodded. “I kind of snapped out of it the next day and was horrified by what I’d let happen over the last few months.”

  “You probably ought to cut yourself a break. Those few months in question would’ve tested anyone’s mettle.”

  “I know, but still… I was disappointed in myself and vowed to get back on track. I went to a meeting that day, and I haven’t missed a day since.”

  “It’s a strong person who can look at herself with that kind of scrutiny. You should be proud of yourself for being able to do that.”

  “Thank you. It means a lot to have your support and understanding.”

  “You’ll always have my support—and my understanding.”

  She used her napkin to dab at tears that suddenly filled her eyes. “I’m still getting used to that.”

  “Take your time. I’m not going anywhere. You and me… We’ve got a lot of time to make up for.” After a pause, he said, “I find myself wondering…”

  “About?”

  “So many things. I want to know everything. Who your friends are, who you’ve loved, where you’ve lived, the awards you won in school, the big and little things that I missed out on.”

  Touched by his interest, she said, “My very best friend in the whole world is Trish Bennett. We met in second grade and have been best friends ever since. She lives in Boston and is an accomplished photographer. We’ve been through everything together.”

  “I’d love to meet her sometime.”

  “I’ll ask her to come out to visit.”

  “Boyfriends?” he asked with a raised brow that made her laugh. It was too late for him to intimidate her ex-boyfriends, but he let her know that he would’ve made for a formidable obstacle.

  “My first love was Chris Bristow in sixth grade. He never knew I was alive, but I was hopelessly devoted.”

  “That was his loss,” Big Mac said indignantly, making her laugh.

  “I couldn’t agree more. My first real boyfriend was Mike Smith my junior year of high school.”

  “Mike Smith,” he said with disdain. “That sounds like a fake name. I would’ve had him fully investigated.”

  Mallory laughed again. “I can very easily picture you doing that.”

  “Ask Janey about my investigative skills.”

  “I’ll do that. Anyway, Mike and I lasted two years, until we went to colleges in different states, and our young love couldn’t withstand the pressure of distance and coeds.”

  “He cheated?”

  “He met someone else.” Mallory shrugged. “It happens.”

  “I’m sorry it happened to you.”

  “Thank you, but I haven’t thought of him in years. The next one was more serious.” Her heart still ached when she thought of the man she’d loved with all her heart. “I met Ryan Daniels in medical school at Tufts. We got married six months after we met and did our residencies together in San Francisco.”

  “I knew you’d been married, but you graduated from medical school?”

  Nodding, she said, “Yep.” Sometimes those years felt like another lifetime, a life that had been lived by someone other than her.

  “What happened?”

  The waitress arrived with their food, but neither of them touched it right away. “We were almost done with our first year of residency, him in surgery and me in pediatrics. We were at work one day, and he collapsed in the operating room. By the time someone came to find me, he was gone. He was twenty-seven years old.”

  “Oh my God, Mallory. I’m so sorry. Did they ever find out what happened?”

  “The autopsy revealed hypertrophic cardiomyopathy.” Mallory took a sip from her drink. “That was the start of a multiyear downward spiral for me. Ryan had life insurance that paid off our student loans and took care of the essentials, but that was bad in a way, because I had no real reason to go back to work. I had the money to wallow and to buy a lot of vodka.” She forced a smile for his sake. “After a few years of that nonsense, my mom and Trish intervened and got me into rehab. Once I got my shit together, I discovered I’d lost my desire to be a doctor, but I couldn’t let all that education go to waste. I did an accelerated program to get my nursing degree and truly found my calling as a nurse and later as a nurse manager. My career worked out for the better, but my personal life has been a little less successful. During the drinking years, I married another guy. That lasted a month before I kicked him to the curb.”

  “I couldn’t be sorrier that you had to go through so much.”

  “It was a very long time ago now. Ryan will be gone thirteen years this August.” And that was so hard to believe. Sometimes, it felt like just yesterday they’d been living together in their tiny apartment in San Francisco. She’d never been happier in her life than she was during those blissful but busy years.

  “There are some things the heart never recovers from.”

  He couldn’t have said anything more perfect.

  Mallory looked down at her plate. “Our lunch is getting cold.”

  “You want to take it to go?” he asked.

  “No, I’m okay. Go ahead and eat.”

  He squirted ketchup on his french fries and then handed the bottle to her before reaching for the vinegar and passing that on to her as well.

  Mallory loved that at some point he’d noticed she liked ketchup and vinegar on her fries as much as he did. She also took her coffee the same way he and Mac did—a dash of cream and two sugars—and adored spicy food, which Linda had told her came right from her father. Every little discovery was like another piece in the puzzle that made up the missing half of her identity.

  They ate quietly, which was rare for him. He always had something to say.

  “Has there been anyone else?” he asked after a long silence.

  “A few, here and there. One who was more important than the others, but it didn’t stick. I’m lucky to have found true l
ove once. I’m under no illusions that I’ll get lucky twice.”

  “Never say never. That’s one of my many mottos.”

  “Don’t worry. I haven’t given up quite yet. In fact, I got asked out earlier today.”

  He froze with a fry halfway to his mouth. “By who?”

  “Dr. Quinn James.”

  “He’s the one running that new facility out at the old school, right?”

  Nodding, she said, “Do you know him?”

  “I know his brother. Seems like a good enough fellow. Richer than Croesus, or so I’ve heard.”

  “Yes, he is. Quinn also offered me a job as the director of nursing at the new facility.”

  Big Mac’s face lit up with pleasure. “Is that right? You’d be perfect for it.”

  “I think you might be biased,” she said, amused by his certainty.

  “I’m not at all biased. You’re probably overqualified for that position after all the experience you’ve had running the nursing staff at a big-city ER.”

  “Maybe so.”

  “Are you interested in the job?”

  “I’m not sure. I need to hear more about it and get to know Dr. James a little better before I decide anything. I had a great rapport with the doctor who ran the emergency department at the hospital, which is critical. We’ll see. I’m committed to Mason and the rescue for the summer, so I have some time to think about it.”

  “I’ll confess to being totally biased in hoping you’ll decide to stay after the summer.”

  “It’s very nice to feel wanted.”

  “You are. I hope you know that.”

  “I do. You’ve all been very welcoming. I couldn’t believe everyone was there when I arrived at the house yesterday.”

  “You’re part of a family now, Mallory. That’s what family does.”

  “It’s all new to me, so you’ll have to pardon my amazement.”

  “You’ll get used to us. Eventually.”

  Mallory laughed. “I’m not sure I’ll ever get used to the McCarthys.”

  “Sure you will.” He popped another fry into his mouth. “Tell me some good stories about the crazy crap you’ve seen in the ER.”

  “If I do, you’ll lose your appetite.”

  “Nothing can make me lose my appetite, sweetheart.”

  Mallory took him at his word and regaled him with stories about objects in every orifice, injuries, gunshot wounds, stabbings and the wide variety of non-emergency complaints that made every shift different from the last. He laughed until he cried at some of the crazier stories.

  “What I really want to know,” he said, “is what happens to guys who get those four-hour boners.”

  “You don’t really want to know that.”

  “Yes, I do!”

  “Suffice to say, there’re needles involved.”

  Big Mac winced, and his complexion went pale.

  Mallory howled with laughter. “I told you!”

  He insisted on paying for lunch, and as they walked back to the marina, he put his arm around her shoulders. “This was nice.”

  “Yes, it was.”

  “Thank you for telling me the things you did.”

  “I’m glad you know. And it’s okay for you to tell Linda any of it, since you will anyway.”

  “I love how you already know me so well,” he said with a chuckle.

  She leaned her head against his shoulder, because he was her dad and she could. “I have to tell you something else.”

  “What’s that?”

  “I spent my whole life wondering about my father. When I was little, I made up a man in my mind and gave him all sorts of wonderful qualities. But in my wildest dreams, I never imagined he’d be as perfect as you are.”

  He tightened his arm around her and kissed the top of her head. “Awww, honey. You’re gonna make me bawl like a baby.”

  “It’s true.”

  “Thank you. I wish I’d known about you sooner. I’m sorry that you had to grow up without me. If I’d known, that never would’ve happened. Not in a million years.”

  “I know that, and I’m still trying to make peace with the fact that my mother kept us from each other for nearly forty years. I have a lot of unresolved feelings about that.”

  “I’m sure you do.”

  “When I was here in March, Linda suggested I talk to Kevin about it. You wouldn’t care if I did that, would you?”

  “Hell no. He’s the best. I’m sure he’d be happy to help you.”

  “There’s no undoing the past, but it would be nice to be able to think of the mother who did everything for me without feeling bitter about what she kept from me.”

  “I agree. You’ve had a lot of upheaval in the last year. Take your time and figure out your next move, and if that move keeps you right here with us, well, that would make your dear old dad very happy indeed.”

  “My dear old dad,” she said with a smile. “I’ve been working up the nerve to call you that.”

  Outside the main building at the marina, he dropped his arm from around her shoulders and turned to face her. “Give it a whirl. Let’s see how it sounds.”

  She looked up at him, feeling shy all of a sudden. “Dad.”

  “Do it again.”

  “Dad,” she said, smiling.

  “One more time to make sure you’ve really got it down.”

  “Dad.”

  “See? Was that so hard?”

  Mallory stepped into his outstretched arms and sighed as he wrapped those strong arms around her. “Thank you so much for being you and for making this so much easier than it probably should’ve been.”

  “A year ago, I thought my family was complete, and then you came strolling down my dock and knocked the legs right out from under me. It was the best kind of shock to find out I had another daughter. I’m only sorry I didn’t know sooner.”

  “Me, too.”

  “Love you, kid.”

  “Love you, too, Dad.” She looked up at him. “Thanks for lunch.”

  “It was entirely my pleasure.”

  Chapter 7

  Mallory took her time getting ready for the first date she’d been on since she’d ended a brief relationship last year. The man she’d been seeing had been frustrated by her lack of time for him while her mother was sick and later dying. Anyone who couldn’t show some compassion during a time like that wasn’t the man for her. But she’d known from the beginning that he wasn’t the one for her. They’d had some fun together, and their relationship had been a nice diversion. But after having known true love with Ryan, she refused to settle for anything less. Mallory would rather be alone than be with the wrong guy.

  That made it easy to prepare herself for the evening with Quinn. Whenever she went out with someone new, she kept her expectations low so there’d be no chance of disappointment.

  That was her usual routine anyway. Tonight, for some strange reason, she was nervous. After spending a couple of hours in his presence, Mallory already sensed that Quinn might be different from the other men she’d dated since Ryan died. The man was sexy as hell, and she suspected his war wounds ran deeper than he’d let on earlier. She wanted to know more about him, and that already gave him an advantage over most of the men she’d dated in recent years.

  So many of them overshared to the point of verbal diarrhea. She’d heard it all—from horrifying ex-wife stories to tales of their sexual conquests. No detail was off-limits in the TMI generation. It was refreshing to look forward to an evening with a man who hadn’t shared his life story in the first two minutes after they met. She was curious about his life story, though, and hoped he’d open up to her on their date.

  After blow-drying her hair and applying enough makeup to be presentable, Mallory went into her bedroom and stood in front of the closet for a good five minutes before she settled on dark jeans with a plum-colored sweater that did great things for her breasts. She finished off the outfit with high-heeled black boots. With the addition of a diamond necklace that had be
en her mother’s, silver bangle bracelets, dangly earrings and a spritz of her favorite perfume, she declared herself ready to go.

  Sitting on the bed, she reached for one of the few unpacked boxes that remained in her bedroom and opened it, looking for the silver framed photograph that had sat on her bedside table for the last thirteen years. Retrieving the photo, she looked down at herself and Ryan on their wedding day, all smiles after a simple courthouse ceremony followed by dinner with her mom, his parents and their closest friends. It had been the most perfect day of her life. She traced her fingertip over Ryan’s handsome face, frozen forever at twenty-seven.

  It felt surreal now, after so many years, as if maybe it had never happened, but her memories of him were as clear as they had been the day he died so suddenly. Despite the passage of time, she remembered so many things about him, especially the way she’d felt whenever he walked into a room and looked at her like she was his whole world. He’d left big shoes to fill, and so far, no one else had come close to making her feel the way he had. Sometimes she felt sorry for the guys she dated, because they had no idea what they were up against.

  “You set the bar pretty high, my love,” she said to the photo. “Wherever you are, I hope you know I’ve never forgotten you.” Placing the photo on the bedside table, she angled it toward her bed so she would be able to see it better. Now that Ryan was here, too, her new home felt complete.

  Minutes before Quinn was due to arrive, Mallory’s cell phone rang, and she recognized a local Gansett Island phone number. “Hello?”

  “Mallory, hi, it’s Mason. Hope I’m not getting you at a bad time.”

  “I’m on my way out, but what’s up?”

  “Oh, well, I was going to ask if you might want to grab a pizza at Mario’s and chat about the rescue routine. But it sounds like you have other plans.”

  “I do. I’m sorry.”

  “No need to apologize. We’ll do it some other time. See you at the meeting?”

  “I’ll be there.”

  “Great. Have a good night.”

  “You, too.”

  Yikes, had he been asking her out, too? The Summer of Mallory was off to an interesting start. She no sooner had that thought than Quinn arrived with a soft knock on her front door. Mallory took a deep breath, ran her sweaty palms over her jeans and went to answer the door.