by Marie Force
On one of her earlier visits, she’d made a point of figuring out where everyone lived. Janey and Joe’s house was located less than a mile from Mac and Maddie’s. The Cantrells’ big contemporary home was lit up with interior and exterior lights. Cars, pickup trucks and a random motorcycle that she recognized as Evan’s were parked outside the house.
Mallory gathered her jacket, purse and the plate of brownies and went up the walkway to the front door. She wasn’t sure if she should knock or let herself in, but after having witnessed the way the others walked right into each other’s homes, she twisted the knob and stepped into chaos.
Though she was used to the McCarthy family volume by now, it still came as a surprise to someone who was raised without siblings or cousins. Life with her mom had been like being raised in a church compared to what it was like to be with the McCarthys.
“Mallory,” Janey called, “you made it. Come in!”
She hung her coat and purse on one of the hooks in the entryway and headed for the kitchen, which was where all the noise was coming from. In addition to their immediate family, Ned and Francine Saunders were there, as were Luke Harris and his pregnant wife, Sydney, who was seated on a chaise in Janey’s family room, and Grant’s lawyer friend Dan Torrington and his fiancée, Kara Ballard. Joe’s mom, Carolina, her husband, Seamus, and their boys Jackson and Kyle came in shortly after Mallory arrived.
Big Mac intercepted Mallory after she said hello to everyone. “Good to see you back on dry land,” he said with a kiss to her cheek.
“Did you get my text that we were back?”
“I got it, and thank you for that.” His brows furrowed. “You were out there a long time.”
“Oh, um, were you keeping tabs on me?” she asked, secretly pleased by his obvious concern.
He looked at her with an “are you crazy?” expression on his face. “Of course I was.”
“Well, I’m fine, and we had a great time.”
“You liked sailing, then?”
“I loved it. Quinn said I had a good feel for the boat, whatever that means.”
“That’s high praise from someone who knows what he’s doing.”
“You aren’t harassing Mallory, are you, dear?” Linda asked when she joined them.
“I am not ‘harassing’ her,” he said with a wink for Mallory. “I’m simply inquiring as to how her day on the water was.”
“You had fun?” Linda asked.
“I did.”
“What’s going on with that doctor fellow?” Big Mac asked.
“Mac!” Linda said. “Leave her alone.”
“I’m her father. I can ask her what’s going on.” To Mallory, he said, “Can’t I?”
Hearing him say that, even after all this time, was like being a kid on Christmas. “You can certainly ask, and I can certainly decline to reply.”
Linda laughed while he scowled playfully. “She’s got you figured out, my love.”
“What do we know about this guy anyway?” he asked, brows furrowed.
Amused by his paternal bluster and moved by his protectiveness, she said, “We know that he served his country, moving from enlisted to trauma surgeon in the army, for twenty-one years before retiring due to injury. We know he’s one of five kids, his brother is the billionaire Jared James, and he’s been hired to be the medical director of the new long-term healthcare facility here on the island. The next time I see him, I’d be happy to ask if I can reserve a room for you for when you need it.”
“When I need it,” he said with an indignant huff while Linda laughed again. “That’ll be the day.” He eyed her shrewdly. “He treats you nicely?”
Mallory’s mind went immediately to the V-berth and the memory of his hand inside her panties. She was sure that her face had to be bright red. Thank goodness for windburn. “Yes,” she said, swallowing hard, “he treats me very nicely. He’s a good guy. You don’t have to worry.”
“Clearly she has no idea what it’s like to be the father of daughters,” he said to his wife.
For the second time, Mallory spontaneously kissed his cheek. “This daughter loves having a father who cares about who she’s dating.”
“You say that now,” Janey commented when she joined them. “Wait till he crashes your date because you missed your curfew.”
Mallory knew the smallest pang of regret that she would never have such an experience with him. “He did not do that.”
“You know he did! It was when I first started dating David, and we were standing outside the gate at home when he came out and started talking about his gun collection—”
“He has guns?”
“No,” Janey said, scoffing. “What he has is a big mouth and a vivid imagination.”
Mallory bit her lip to keep from dissolving into laughter she knew her father wouldn’t appreciate.
“First of all,” Big Mac said sternly, “you were fifteen years old and thirty minutes late getting home. Second of all, you were not just standing outside the gate. You were swapping spit with that boy, and he’s lucky I didn’t kill him for daring to put his filthy hands on my Princess.”
Janey rolled her eyes at Mallory. “You see what I had to put up with?”
“I do, and I feel your pain.” She wished she could’ve experienced the same things Janey had with him and tried to tell herself that it was enough that he was flexing his paternal muscles now. But it would never be enough, and once again, the resentment toward her mother flared up inside her in the form of a sharp pain in her chest.
“How about a drink?” Janey said. “You probably need it after putting up with him.”
“Him is in the room, and he can hear you maligning him, Princess.”
“I’m very sorry, Daddy.”
“You are not.”
Linda patted his chest. “Don’t pout, babe.”
“What’s Dad pouting about now?” Evan asked when he came over to give Mallory a hug. “Good to see you.”
“You, too. Welcome home.”
“He’s mad because his daughters are calling him out on his BS,” Linda said.
“Oh, I love when that happens,” Evan said, rubbing his hands together.
“And here I actually missed you while you were gone,” Big Mac said, drawing a huge smile from his youngest son.
“Good to be home?” Mallory asked her brother.
“So good. If I never see another hotel room, that’ll be just fine.”
“Don’t listen to him,” Grace said as she came over to hug Mallory. “Buddy put us up in the finest hotel rooms you’ve ever seen. Our little place here looks like a hovel after all that luxury.”
“That hovel is our home, love,” Evan reminded her as he put his arm around her.
“Until we buy that big new house you promised me from all the royalties from my song.” The song “My Amazing Grace” that Evan had written had gone all the way to number one on the country charts, spurring Buddy’s request for Evan to join him on the recently completed tour.
“Ohhh, when is that happening?” Linda asked.
“Soon,” Evan said, with a smile for Grace.
“With lots of bedrooms for my future grandchildren, I hope,” Big Mac said.
“You know it,” Evan replied. “What’ve you got in inventory, Ned?”
“Whateva ya want,” Ned replied. “I got something fer everyone.”
“Nice to have the island’s land baron in the family at times like this,” Grace said.
“Anything fer you, sweetheart,” Ned said.
The front door opened, and Adam came in by himself. Mallory hadn’t known him long, but she could see at first glance that something was different about him. Apparently, the others saw it, too.
“Uh-oh,” Evan said in a low tone. “What’s up with him, and where’s Abby?”
“I have no idea on either count, but you can bet I’m going to find out,” Linda said.
Chapter 15
The others greeted Adam, asked for Abby, who was not
feeling well, and worked together to get dinner laid out for the masses.
Mallory was never quite sure how they made it look so simple to feed so many people. Everyone contributed, and they ended up with a delicious feast every time. Joe had grilled steak, and there were potatoes, salad, garlic bread, pasta salad and baked beans. The sea air had given her an appetite, and everything looked good to her.
Dan and Kara entertained them with stories about their ongoing efforts to keep her mother from taking over their wedding.
“She’s furious that we’re having a clam bake for the meal,” Kara said.
“How come?” Maddie asked. “That sounds yummy.”
“She wants filet mignon and foie gras and other stuff I can’t pronounce,” Kara said. “We want casual and fun and low-key. She wants highfalutin, high style and high stress. She’s driving me crazy! Oh, and the kicker? She thinks it’s rude that I didn’t invite my sister Kelly, you know the one that stole my boyfriend who’s now her husband?”
“Um, point of order, babe,” Dan said. “He’s your ex-boyfriend.”
Kara laughed along with everyone else. “Make that my ex-boyfriend.”
“Much better,” Dan said, patting her leg.
“So what do you do about that?” Janey asked. “If you don’t want her there, you shouldn’t have to invite her.”
“That’s what I say,” Kara replied. “But she goes on about how Kelly is my sister, and it’s time for bygones, yada, yada.”
“Sorry,” Sydney said, “but the bitch stole your man. Er, um, your ex-man. She doesn’t get to come to the wedding, sister or not.”
Everyone agreed with Sydney.
“You see why I choose to be part of this family rather than the one I was born into?” Kara asked.
“And we’re damned happy to have you,” Stephanie said.
Mac ended up seated next to Mallory at the large picnic table on Janey and Joe’s back deck. He had his daughter Hailey on his lap and was sharing his dinner with her.
Mallory noticed how he cut tiny bites of steak for the little girl and kept a careful watch over her to make sure she was taking one bite at a time. Hailey’s wispy blonde hair fluttered in the light breeze, forming a halo around her sweet face.
“She’s a hungry girl,” Mallory said.
“She’s growing. At least that’s what Maddie says. She’s hungry all the time lately.” He glanced at Mallory. “Dad said you went sailing with Quinn James today.”
News traveled fast on Gansett, especially within the McCarthy family. “Yep.”
“How was that?”
“Fun.”
“So you like him?”
“You could say that.”
“Does that mean you’re officially seeing him?”
“I wouldn’t call it that.” Not yet anyway… Mallory put down her fork and looked over at him. “What do you really want to ask me?”
“I don’t know, exactly. There’s something about him that makes me think he has secrets. He’s closed off. Remote.”
Mallory suspected she already knew most of Quinn’s deep dark secrets, and since he’d been forthcoming about what he’d already told her, she had no reason to believe he wouldn’t be about other stuff, too. “Just because someone isn’t an open book like you are doesn’t mean they’re a bad person.”
“I know. It’s just that I’ve worked with him for months, and I don’t feel like I know him any better than I did on day one. That gives me pause.”
And it gave Mallory further insight into how someone who was usually very reserved had shared an awful lot with her on their two dates.
“Just be careful, okay?”
“Are you playing the part of the big brother, little brother?”
“Nah. Maddie told me to stay out of it, but I needed to say something to you.”
“I appreciate your concern. I really do. I’ve never had brothers to look out for me before.”
“I told my lovely wife that you’d appreciate me looking out for you.”
“Look out, yes. Interfering, no.”
“Gotcha.” He wiped Hailey’s face and helped her with a sippy cup. “I get that this family thing is all new to you, but being the little brother is all new to me. It’s not just you who’s had to do some adjusting.”
“I know. You’ve all been very generous about welcoming me into the family.”
“I hope you know that we’re all very happy to have you. At first, it was strange and surprising and…”
“Weird?”
“Yeah, that,” he said with a laugh. “But it’s not weird anymore. You fit right in like you’ve always been here.”
Oh dear sweet baby Jesus, he was going to make her cry.
“Mallory? What? What did I say?”
She shook her head and fought a valiant but ultimately unsuccessful battle to contain her tears.
“Mac!” Maddie swooped in. “What did you do to her? I told you to leave her alone about Quinn James!”
“Mallory is seeing Quinn James?” Evan asked. “Jared’s brother?”
“Since when?” Grace asked. “Why doesn’t anyone tell us anything?”
And then Mallory was laughing as she mopped up her tears.
“What did he say to make you cry?” Maddie asked, glaring at her husband.
“He was being sweet,” Mallory said.
“I didn’t mean to make you cry,” Mac said.
Mallory rested her head on her brother’s shoulder. “They were happy tears.”
“You’re almost as weird as Janey, and that’s saying something.”
“I heard that!” Janey called from across the deck.
“Pipe down, brat. I’m talking to my other sister.”
“Don’t listen to a word he says, Mallory,” Janey said. “It’s all BS.”
“Not all of it,” Mallory said with a warm smile for Mac.
“Where’re Tiffany and Blaine tonight?” Grace asked.
“They’ve got the meeting with the prosecutor in Jim’s case tomorrow morning,” Maddie said of her sister and brother-in-law. “She wasn’t in the mood for a party, but she said to send her love and to tell you welcome home.”
“They’ll be glad to put that behind them,” Evan said.
“We all will.” Dan Torrington held up the hand that had been slashed by Tiffany’s knife-wielding ex when he showed up at Dan and Kara’s engagement party looking for trouble. He’d found it and had been charged with multiple felonies that could see him disbarred, if not thrown in prison.
“On a happier note, you guys have to hear the stories of Evan’s groupies from the road,” Grace said, making her husband groan.
“Oh, do tell,” Grant said. “Were there panties involved?”
“So many panties!” Grace said. “Everywhere we went, they’d leave them in envelopes at the front desk of the hotel, along with their photos and phone numbers.”
“No way,” Mac said. “What’d you do?”
“Mostly I had to talk my lovely wife out of committing homicide on a daily basis.”
“I would’ve loved to have been a fly on the wall for that,” Joe said.
“I admit, my jealousy wasn’t pretty,” Grace said to laughter.
“It’s a good thing my Gracie was there to protect me,” Evan said, “or it might’ve gotten ugly.”
“When she saw online pictures of them chasing you around?” Mac asked.
“Definitely then,” Evan said while the others howled with laughter.
“Some of them have zero self-respect to be chasing after a married man,” Grace said indignantly.
“Look on the bright side,” Evan said. “You got a whole bunch of new panties out of it.”
“Ewww,” Stephanie said. “You did not keep them?”
“Hardly,” Grace said, rolling her eyes at her husband. “I burned them.”
“Should we tell them how you set off the smoke alarm in one hotel?” Evan asked.
“We said we’d never speak of that ag
ain,” Grace retorted.
They were still laughing at that when a voice Mallory couldn’t immediately identify called out from inside. “Where’s the prodigal son?”
Evan lit up with pleasure at whoever it was and jumped up to greet the new arrivals.
Alex Martinez came onto the deck with his pregnant wife, Jenny, in tow along with Jared and Lizzie James and… And Quinn, who looked around at the group until he found her, his gaze locking on her with an intensity he didn’t try to hide from her curious family members, many of whom immediately homed in on the hungry way he stared at her.
While Alex and Jenny hugged Evan and Grace, Mallory tried to pretend like she wasn’t caught in Quinn’s cross hairs, and of course Mac noticed the way he was looking at her.
“So you’re not officially seeing him, huh? Does he know that?”
“Shut up, Mac.”
He busted up laughing, and Hailey, that traitor, joined in, her deep belly laugh bringing a smile to Mallory’s face.
Joe got drinks for the new arrivals and then lit the fire in the big stone fireplace on the far side of the deck. Everyone pulled up chairs, and somehow, Quinn ended up next to her.
“Fancy meeting you here,” he said, nudging her with his shoulder.
“At my sister’s house?” she asked, raising a brow to call him out.
His low chuckle made her blood feel warm and thick as it moved through her veins. “Touché.”
“So you admit that you came here to see me?”
“I came here because the people I was with wanted to see your brother and his wife.”
“Ouch. That hurts.”
Under the cover of darkness, he took hold of her hand. “And because I knew you’d be here, and I missed you after I left you earlier.”
“Good save.”
His laughter drew the attention of every set of eyes on the deck that were related to her, and a few that were related to him.
