by Marie Force
“Everything okay here?” she asked Francine.
“Everything is just fine.”
“Who’s ready for some bedtime stories?” Maddie asked.
“Me!” Thomas said.
“Let’s go, then.”
“You want me to do it, honey?” Francine asked, concern bracketing her mouth.
“I got it. Thank you, though. Appreciate the help the last few days.”
“I can come back tomorrow to lend a hand if you’d like.”
“No need. We’re good. I’ll call you tomorrow?”
Francine nodded. “Glad to see you home.”
“Glad to be here. Come on, Thomas, you get to pick the first story.” He picked them all, but Maddie was preparing him for the day when Hailey would get a say, too. In total, she read four stories—two more than usual because she wanted the time with them—and got them tucked into bed.
Mac came up to kiss them both good night.
“Will you be here when I wake up?” Thomas asked.
“You bet, buddy,” Mac said. “We’ll be right here.”
“Good.” He turned on his side, popped his thumb in his mouth and drifted off to sleep.
Mac left the room, but Maddie lingered for a few minutes, sitting on the bed running her fingers through Thomas’s soft hair. She remembered the sheer terror of learning she was expecting him after a brief relationship with his biological father that had ended when the man left the island abruptly. She’d been so alone then and so afraid for both of them.
Thomas would never remember any of that. He wouldn’t remember life without Mac McCarthy as the only father he’d ever know, and Maddie was thankful for that. Her son would know nothing but the comfort and security that came with being a McCarthy. At the same time, Maddie was determined that her children would be aware of those who were less fortunate.
She leaned in to kiss Thomas’s soft cheek and left him to sleep. In the master bedroom, Mac was in the shower. Maddie slipped into her closet and changed into jeans and a tunic top, both of which were loose around her tender middle. She was slipping on a pair of cork-heeled sandals when Mac emerged from the shower.
“What’re you doing?” he asked.
“Girls’ night at Syd’s.”
“You’re going out?”
“Yeah, why?”
“Why? You’re asking me why?”
Steeling herself for a fight, she turned to face him. “Yes, I’m asking why. Why wouldn’t I go when I feel fine and the kids are safe and settled in for the night? I’d like to see my friends.”
“So you can talk to them instead of me about what happened?”
“I don’t want to talk to anyone about that. I just want a few hours away from it. Is that all right with you?”
“By all means. Don’t let me stop you.”
“You’re good with the kids?”
“Sure.”
“Thanks.” She could tell by the set of his jaw that he was pissed, but she didn’t have the wherewithal to manage his pain at the same time she was trying to cope with her own. Maybe it was selfish to want to get away from it for a few hours, but that was what she needed. As she went downstairs to wait for her sister to pick her up, she hoped he’d find a way to understand.
With the girls due in less than an hour, Sydney Donovan was on pins and needles waiting for her husband, Luke, to get home. He’d texted a short time ago to let her know he was on his way, fully aware that the girls were taking over his house for the evening.
He had plans to meet up with the guys for dinner in town, after which they were sure to crash the girls’ gathering. They always did. It was tradition now.
Sydney smiled, recalling the many times the guys had come strolling into girls’ night out, acting like they hadn’t known exactly where to find the women and how it was all a comic misunderstanding.
Sydney felt like she was going to explode with anticipation. It had been a very long day of waiting to see her husband, who was trapped at the marina with Mac off-island and Big Mac helping out with Mac’s kids. Since he’d been by himself at the marina, he’d been unable to leave even for a few minutes.
So she’d waited. And waited. And waited some more.
Her dog, Buddy, let out a cry of delight, which meant Luke was finally home. “Go get him, Bud.” Sydney opened the screen door to let Buddy out to greet Luke, which was another new tradition in her life. Buddy was crazy about Luke, which pleased Sydney to no end. After her children, Max and Malena, had been killed in a car accident, she’d thought the sweet dog might die of a broken heart mourning for Max, the boy he’d adored.
Buddy’s affections had been transferred to Luke, which was fine with Syd. They came into the house together, Buddy panting with excitement and Luke looking exhausted after a long day at work. “I won’t be here long,” Luke assured her as he kissed her. “I know it’s girls’ night.”
“I feel bad overtaking your house. You look wiped out.”
“It’s our house, and nothing a shower and some food won’t fix.”
“Before you hit the shower, could I have just one minute of your time?”
“I could spare one minute for you.” He cupped her bottom and lifted her into his arms.
Sydney squealed with surprise, grasping his shoulders as he carried her into their room.
Luke laughed at her reaction.
“Didn’t see that coming.”
“I don’t want you getting bored with your old man. Got to keep things interesting around here.”
“I could never be bored with my old man,” she said as she kissed him with all the love and desire and gratitude she felt for him.
“Whoa,” he said after many passionate minutes had passed. At some point, he’d pressed her against the wall in the hallway. “What brought that on?”
“Very happy to see you.”
“You see me every day.”
“And I’m always happy to see you, but today is special.”
“How so?”
“Put me down, and I’ll show you.”
He let her slide down the aroused front of him but kept a firm grip on her hand.
She towed him into the bathroom that adjoined their bedroom and stepped aside so he could see the objects she’d arranged on the countertop. “What’s all that?”
“Take a closer look.”
He leaned in, his brows furrowed adorably the way they did when he was concentrating on something. And then, as she watched, his eyes widened with surprise and pleasure. “Really?”
Sydney nodded, tears filling her eyes. “Ten tests. Ten positives.”
“We’re pregnant?”
“We’re pregnant. It’s not official until Victoria says it is, but ten tests—” She didn’t get to finish the sentence, because he was kissing her. Sydney wasn’t sure whether the dampness on her face was from her or him, but what did it matter?
After she’d had her tubal ligation reversed earlier in the summer, they’d been told there were no guarantees she’d ever conceive. They’d also been told it could take a year or more.
“A baby,” he whispered when he finally came up for air.
“Our baby.” She loved him desperately and was thrilled by his emotional reaction to her news.
“I want a little girl who looks just like you.”
“I want a little boy who looks just like you.”
They shared a smile and another kiss.
“How am I supposed to go out and leave you tonight after you’ve told me this?”
“We can celebrate later.”
“I don’t know if I can wait that long.”
“Luke… People are coming very soon.”
“Yeah,” he said with a dirty grin. “You and me.”
“Luke! We can’t!”
“I’ll be so quick you won’t even know it happened.” As he spoke, he was lifting her skirt and removing her panties.
“Luke… Seriously.”
“I’m so serious.” He lifted her agains
t the bathroom door and was inside her before she could begin to form even the slightest protest.
As he moved in her, Sydney forgot all about the friends who were due any moment, the appetizers that might be burning in the oven for all she cared or anything other than the sublime pleasure she found in his arms. When she’d thought her life was over after the deaths of her husband and children, Luke had been there to show her otherwise. And now there would be a baby, too.
“I love you so much, Syd. You’ve made me so damned happy.”
Surrounded and possessed by him, she could barely breathe, let alone speak. “Love you, too.”
True to his word, he drove her to a quick, full-body orgasm that had him groaning and thrusting into her with ruthless abandon.
“Damn,” he whispered. “I need to get you pregnant more often.”
Sydney laughed through her tears, laying her lips on his.
“Are you happy?” he asked.
“So happy.”
“Scared?”
“Witless.” Her fears of bringing another child into the world only to possibly lose it had nearly kept Sydney from trying in the first place.
“I’ll be right there with you the whole way. I promise.”
“You’re the only reason I was able to take this chance.” She was determined not to spend the next eight months and eighteen years worrying that disaster was going to strike again. Luke had convinced her that she’d used up her lifetime share of bad luck. It was all smooth sailing ahead, or so he told her. “We can’t say anything about this for a while.”
“Because of Mac and Maddie.”
“Yes.”
“People will be asking why I’m smiling so much.”
“A couple of weeks at most.”
“I can do that.” He kissed her again, lingering when she responded enthusiastically. Still lodged inside her, he began to harden again.
“Luke! No more. Put me down. Now.”
“Syd?” A female voice called from the living room.
“Shit, Jenny’s here early to help. Let me go.”
“I’ll never let you go.” He kissed her once more before withdrawing, harder now than he’d been before. “You’re really going to leave me in this condition?”
“Take a cold shower.” She opened the bathroom door a crack. “Be right there, Jenny.” She cleaned up quickly, pulled on her discarded panties and smoothed the wrinkles in the dress she’d taken the time to iron earlier. For all the good that had done her.
“You’re a heartless woman, Sydney Donovan,” Luke whispered.
“About that…”
“About what?” he asked as he pulled off the shirt he’d worn to work, putting his deep “farmer’s tan” on full display. Sydney teased him about his tanned arms and neck and white torso all summer long.
“My name. I never changed my last name when I married Seth, and it was always kind of awkward when the kids were in school. I was thinking, this time, I’d like to change my name to Harris so we’ll all have the same last name.”
“I’d love that.” He hugged her, which brought her in tight against his rekindled erection. His endless desire for her was a source of constant amazement to her. “Just when I think I can’t love you any more than I already do, you blow my mind all over again.”
“If you wait a couple of hours before you crash my girls’ night, I’ll blow something else later.”
As his mouth fell open in shock at her unusually blunt language, she patted his face and left him to shower while she went to meet Jenny.
“Am I interrupting something?” Jenny Wilks asked when Sydney joined her in the kitchen.
Sydney started to deny it, but then shrugged. “We were done.”
Jenny cracked up laughing. “Milking this newlywed thing for all its worth, huh?”
“Something like that.” Sydney wanted to share her news with Jenny so badly she burned with it. “If I tell you something, do you promise not to tell anyone? Even Alex?”
“Well, I don’t usually keep things from him, but I suppose I could make an exception since I’m now dying of curiosity.”
“I’m pregnant,” Sydney said in a soft whisper.
Jenny’s eyes closed and then reopened, filled with tears. “Thank goodness.” She hugged Sydney. “I’m so happy for you both. Congratulations.”
“Thanks. We’re not going to tell anyone else for now because of Maddie…”
“You know she’d be happier for you than anyone.”
Sydney nodded. She had no doubt her old friend would be thrilled for her. “Still, my news can wait a few weeks.”
“I take it Luke was happy to hear the news?”
“You can safely assume that,” Syd said with a small, satisfied smile.
“Good for you. For both of you. Couldn’t happen to better people.”
“Thanks. I feel like I can finally breathe again. Since I had the surgery, I’ve been preparing myself for the possibility that it would never happen. I needed to be okay with that outcome. But this outcome is so much better.”
“It certainly is.”
Luke came into the kitchen, his hair wet from the shower and his face freshly shaven, making Sydney wish for one second that they were still alone. “I thought we weren’t telling anyone,” he said with an indulgent grin for his wife.
“Jenny doesn’t count,” Syd said. “I had to tell her.”
“That’s right,” Jenny said. “And your secret is safe with me.” She kissed Luke’s cheek. “Congratulations, Dad.”
“Dad… Wow. Thanks.”
His reaction to the word “dad” filled Sydney with joy. That she would be able to give him that experience was priceless to her. Now that it had actually happened, she felt safe admitting how badly she’d wanted it.
“And now I’m off to keep the guys out of trouble for a while,” Luke said.
“Alex and Paul are looking forward to it,” Jenny said of her fiancé and his brother. “Things with Marion have been tough lately.”
“Is the new nurse working out okay?” Sydney asked.
“Hope is amazing,” Jenny said. “She’s saved our lives. Dementia is a bitch, though. I wouldn’t wish it on anyone.”
Sydney poured her friend a tall glass of wine and handed it to her.
“I’ll make sure the boys have a good time tonight.” Luke kissed Sydney. “See you later.”
“Much later.”
“I have my orders and a few promises tucked away.” He winked at her on his way out the door.
“Promises?” Jenny asked.
“A little incentive package to make sure girls’ night isn’t crashed too early.”
“Oh, I do like how you think.”
“So does he.”
Chapter 28
Jenny and Sydney dissolved into laughter and were still giggling when Janey, Abby, Stephanie and Grace came in together. Everyone had brought appetizers and wine. Next came Laura and Owen’s sister Katie, followed shortly after by Kara.
“Get Katie a glass of wine, stat,” Laura said, pointing to her sister-in-law.
“Everything okay?” Syd asked.
“She’s been dating Shane and having a grand time until Shane’s ex-wife showed up out of nowhere today. More than two years without a freaking word, and she has the nerve… Ugh. She makes me sick.”
Katie patted Laura’s shoulder. “I’m worried about her blood pressure.”
“The sight of that woman sends everything into the red zone,” Laura said. “I mean why, after all this time, does she have to show up right when he’s starting to seem like his old self again? Does she have an ounce of compassion in that skinny little body?”
Sydney had never seen Laura mad, let alone furious. “What did Shane do?”
“Sent her packing, thankfully. But God only knows how much damage she left behind.”
A knock on the door interrupted Laura’s diatribe.
“Come on in.” Sydney gasped when Maddie came in, followed by her sister,
Tiffany. “You’re back.” Sydney went right over to Maddie and gave her a hug.
“I’m back, and I’m empty-handed because I didn’t have time to make anything.”
“Stop,” Sydney said. “You didn’t have to bring anything. We’re so glad to see you.”
“Do me a favor,” Maddie said, her eyes glistening. “Let’s just have a good time tonight and not talk about the elephant in the room. Please?”
“Anything you need.”
“That’s what I need.”
“How about a big glass of wine?”
“That would be good, too.”
Sydney met Tiffany’s worried gaze over Maddie’s shoulder. Tiffany shrugged as if to say she was following Maddie’s lead.
“Who’s hungry?” Sydney asked, hoping to divert the attention away from Maddie. Everyone was worried and sad for her, but tonight they’d give her exactly what she’d asked for—a night away from it all.
Shane felt like a pent-up tiger waiting for Owen to tell him it was time to go. By the time Owen knocked on his door, Shane was ready to pounce. “Where are they? Do you know?”
“Yes, I know, but we’re not going there.”
“What do you mean? I need to see Katie.”
“All in good time.”
“You’re enjoying this, aren’t you?”
“Torturing you? Yes. Seeing my sister cry? Not so much.”
“I’m really sorry about that. I can’t tell you how sorry I am.”
“You need to tell her.”
“Which I would if you would tell me where she is!” In all the time they’d known each other, Shane had never had reason to yell at Owen, who stared at him now like he was seeing someone he’d never met before.
“Don’t make me change my mind about helping you out tonight.”
“How would you feel if Laura was upset with you, and no one would tell you where she was so you could go fix it?”
“You’re comparing you and Katie to me and Laura?”
Shane refused to squirm under Owen’s intense glare. “What if I am?”
“That would make things between you two awfully serious, and you only met last week.”
“Okay.”
Owen continued to study him with that intense glare that made Shane want to squirm. But he couldn’t do that. Not with so much riding on Owen’s approval and willingness to help him fix his massive screw-up. “How can you be that serious about her already?”
