by Marie Force
“Are you okay, Mac?” Joe held up a hand to stop his friend from replying. “I heard what you said last night at dinner, but this is me. You’d tell me if you weren’t really okay, wouldn’t you?”
“Sure, I’d spill my guts all over the table, because that’s how I roll.”
The humor gave Joe hope. The Mac he knew and loved was nothing if not funny. “Fine, be that way. You know where I am if you need me. Let’s leave it at that.”
“Likewise.”
“What’re you guys up to tonight?” Joe asked.
“I’m told there’s a dinner at Ned and Francine’s. With lobsters.”
“Lucky dog.”
“I am lucky. I think about that a lot. What happened last week was a good reminder of how great my life is. I’m trying to stay focused on that and not sweat the small stuff. You might want to try it.”
“That’s not the worst advice you’ve ever given me.”
“On that note,” Mac said, laughing as he tossed a five and a couple of one-dollar bills on the table and got up, “I gotta get back to the hotel before Laura sends out a search party. And I gotta finish this job for her before things get really busy at the marina.”
“Thanks for the coffee.”
“Any time.”
Mac left with a wave for Rebecca and headed back to the Surf. Watching him go, Joe pondered what Mac had said about being lucky and not sweating the small stuff. He thought about calling his mom to make sure she was all right, but Joe felt pretty confident that she was in good hands with Seamus, even if he wasn’t entirely sure what he thought of the two of them together.
Since there wasn’t anything he could do about his mom at the moment, Joe’s thoughts turned to his lovely wife, who was working today at the vet clinic. He got up, intending to head over there to see how her day was going, when his cell phone rang. Surprised to see the vet clinic number on the caller ID when he’d just been thinking about the place, Joe took the call.
“This is Joe.”
“Hi, Joe, it’s Doc Potter. Have I caught you at a bad time?”
When he heard the doctor’s casual tone, Joe released the breath he’d been holding, waiting to hear something was wrong with Janey. “Not at all. What’s up?” He stepped outside, heading in the direction of the clinic.
“It’s about Janey.”
Joe stopped walking. “What about her?”
“Has she seemed a tad bit…down…lately?” When Joe didn’t immediately answer, Doc Potter continued. “She doesn’t seem herself, and I thought perhaps the job might be too much for her, and she doesn’t want to hurt my feelings, so she hasn’t said so. I didn’t want to upset her by asking, so I figured I’d call you.”
“She hasn’t said anything to me about not feeling up to working. In fact, she was excited to get back to work at the clinic, even though I suggested she might want to take it easy this summer.”
“Huh,” Doc said thoughtfully. “She’s definitely not got her usual sparkle.”
Joe felt like a jerk for having to be told that by her boss. “I’ll come by and see if she’s up for a lunch break with her husband.”
“I’m sure she’d enjoy that. I hope I haven’t overstepped by calling you. It’s just that I care for her very much.”
“I know that, Doc, and so does she. I appreciate the call.”
“Take her to lunch, and tell her I gave her the afternoon off. She works too hard.”
“Thanks. I’m on my way.” He moved a little quicker now, passing the Sand & Surf on his way to the clinic on the outskirts of town.
“Hey, Joe,” the receptionist, Lisa, said when he arrived. “Janey’s in the back doing inventory. Want me to tell her you’re here?”
“If it’s okay, I’d rather surprise her.”
Lisa smiled. “Of course. Go on back.”
With a wave for Doc as he passed his office, Joe found his wife in the supply closet, clipboard in hand, glasses perched on her nose, her hair in a messy bun with a second pen pushed through it. The big baby belly protruded from a white lab coat, making him smile at how she managed to look studious and serious and sexy as hell all at the same time. Sometimes Joe still couldn’t believe that he’d finally gotten the girl he’d always wanted but never thought he’d have.
“Hey, baby,” he said.
Her eyes lit up with delight at the sight of him. “Where’d you come from?”
“The usual places—the ferry landing and the diner with your brother.”
“Which one?”
“The bossy pain-in-the-ass one.”
“What’s my darling Mac up to?”
“Working at the Surf today, finishing up the gift shop for Laura.”
“He and Luke and Shane did such a great job there. It looks so good.”
As she spoke, Joe studied her, looking for signs of the funk that Doc had mentioned but didn’t see anything out of the ordinary. Was she keeping something from him? That wouldn’t be like her—
“Joe? Are you all right?”
“Oh, sorry. What did you say?”
“I was blathering about the hotel. Nothing important. What were you thinking about?”
He stepped into the small storage room, closing the door behind him. “You.” With his hands on her face, he leaned in for a kiss. “That and this, too.” He stole a second kiss.
She smiled mischievously. “I’m at work, Joseph.”
“I hear you’re going to own the place someday. They probably won’t mind.”
At that, her smile faded a bit. “Probably not.”
Determined to get to the bottom of whatever was troubling her, he said, “How about some lunch?”
“It’s only eleven.”
“And you’re probably already starving.”
“I could eat,” she conceded. “But that’s hardly news. I’m a bottomless pit lately. Let me check with Doc to see if he can spare me.”
“I already talked to him, and he said it’s fine.”
“Are you guys talking about me behind my back?”
Joe led her from the storage room. “Of course we are.”
Janey laughed, which he’d hoped she would. Come to think of it, he couldn’t recall the last time he’d heard her laugh. It pained him to realize she’d been troubled about something and he hadn’t noticed. “I probably shouldn’t be surprised.” She ducked her head into Doc’s office. “Thanks for giving Joe permission to take me for an early lunch. I’ll be back in an hour.”
“Have a nice time,” Doc said with a wink for Joe.
Holding hands, they left the clinic.
“Where to?” Janey asked.
“Let’s go home and make some sandwiches. You can put your feet up and relax while I wait on you.”
“Ohhh, I like the sound of that.”
Because he couldn’t resist, Joe dropped her hand and put his arm around her, drawing her in close to him as they walked the short distance to the little house she’d bought when she was still single. They were going to need a bigger place on the island after the baby arrived, but for now they were enjoying their final months in the cozy cottage.
At home, they spent a good ten minutes greeting her menagerie of pets, who swarmed them with enthusiastic kisses. Janey laughed at the way Pixie tried to leap into her arms, wanting Janey’s full attention as always.
After she took them outside and brought them back in again, Janey said, “Let me sit down, guys. I’ll scratch every one of your ears while Joe finishes making lunch.”
She snuggled into the sofa with the dogs while Joe prepared turkey sandwiches in the kitchen. He cracked open a cola for himself, poured a tall glass of milk for Janey and carried everything into the living room. The dogs knew their rules and scattered from the sofa to allow them to eat in peace.
When they were first together, Joe had been blown away by how well behaved her pets were, but now he was used to them and expected nothing less. All of them had been abused or neglected before Janey came into their lives and
showed them true love and devotion.
They did whatever she told them to do when she told them to do it. Joe called her his little dog whisperer. There was no question she had a special touch with animals, which was why he was thrilled to see her finally pursuing her lifelong dream of becoming a veterinarian.
“This is so good,” she said between bites. “Thanks for pampering me.”
“Any time, baby.”
“I’ll probably need a second lunch around two.”
“I’ll get it for you.”
“You’ve got better things to do than bring me food at work.”
“I’ll get it for you right here. Doc gave you the afternoon off.”
Her eyes widened with surprise. “He did? Why?”
Joe finished the soda and put the can on the coffee table before he reached for her hand and linked their fingers. “Because he’s worried about you. He says you seem down about something.”
Frowning, she looked away from him, gazing at her German shepherd, Riley, who stood watch over her, as always. “So you guys really were talking about me.”
“Not in a bad way. He called me because he was worried, and he didn’t want to upset you by bringing it up. You know he loves you as much as anyone, except for me, of course. I love you best of all, which is why I’m hoping you’d tell me if something was worrying you or upsetting you or causing you to lose your sparkle.”
“Is that what he said?”
Joe brought her hand to his lips, kissing her softly. “Uh-huh, which led me to wonder why I haven’t noticed your missing sparkle. Are you keeping something from me, hon?”
“No! I don’t do that. You know I don’t.”
“I know you don’t usually, but since he’s seeing something I’m not, I can’t help but wonder. That’s all.”
“We’ve had a lot going on. With the pregnancy and the accident and my brothers and your mom and Seamus… It’s been…a lot.” Her chin quivered ever so slightly, but he saw it.
“What is it, honey? Talk to me. The accident was so upsetting, but the boys are fine—or they will be. In time. You know that, right?”
She nodded, her eyes glistening with unshed tears that broke his heart.
“Come here.” He released her hand, raised his arm and waited for her to get comfortable against him before he put his arm around her and pressed his lips to the top of her head. “What’s wrong?”
“You won’t want to hear it.”
“What does that mean? Of course I want to hear it.”
“I tried to tell you once before. I tried to tell Adam, too, but he said the same thing you did—”
“About what, Janey?” Joe asked, becoming more alarmed by the second.
“About the baby and school and how I might’ve changed my mind about some things.”
“We talked about this—”
“You talked about it. You told me I’d be making a big mistake to give up on vet school when I’m so close to being done.”
“I still think that’s true.”
“But what about what I want? Does that matter at all?”
Flabbergasted, Joe pulled back so he could see her face and was stunned to find tears rolling down her cheeks. “Of course that matters. Where’s this coming from, Janey?”
“It’s coming from me and the baby.” She rested her hand on her belly. “We didn’t plan to get pregnant yet, but we did, and now… Everything is different. I don’t want what I wanted a year ago. I want different things.”
“What things?”
“I want to be a mom. I want to be here with my family and your mom. I want our baby to be with his or her cousins every day, not just in the summer. I don’t want to miss anything.” A sob hiccupped through her as the floodgates opened. “And if I go back to school, I’ll be gone all day, and I’ll have to study all night. I’ll miss everything.”
Joe wiped the flood of tears from her face as he tried to process what she’d said. How had he missed this? How had he not seen she was this torn up?
“I’m sorry,” she whispered. “You’ve given up so much so we could spend the last two years in Ohio—”
“I didn’t give up anything. I got to be with you, which was the only thing I wanted. There was hardly any sacrifice involved in that.”
“Still, you know what I mean. You went to so much trouble, and it might be for nothing.”
“It hasn’t been for nothing, Janey. You’ve got two years of school done now that you didn’t have before. You’re halfway there.”
“But still a long way from the finish line. The baby will be running around and talking back to us by the time I’m done. I can’t spend two years being less than half a mother to this child, Joe. That’s not what I want. That’s not what he or she deserves.”
He ran his fingers through her soft blonde hair, thinking about what he should say and how he should say it. “I’m so sorry I didn’t pick up on this sooner. I hate that you’ve been this upset and I didn’t know.”
“It’s not your fault. I’ve been an emotional disaster area for months now. Victoria says it’s the hormones.”
They were quiet for a long time, each taking comfort from the closeness of the other. Joe’s mind raced with plans and implications and thoughts of the painting class he taught to freshman art students. None of that mattered when stacked up against what his beloved wife wanted and needed.
“What’ll we do, Joe?” she asked in a small voice that made him ache.
“To me, it seems rather simple.”
“It does?”
Nodding, he said, “You’ll take this year off from school, spend it with the baby, and then next summer, we’ll see how you feel about going back to finish. With your perfect grades, they’ll probably let you do whatever you want.”
“And you’d be okay with dragging out our time in Ohio even more than we already are?”
“If it means you’ll be happy, I’m fine with it. So what if it takes one more year than we’d planned. I would, however, really like to see you finish, but only because I suspect you might regret it someday if you don’t.”
“I probably would,” she said with a sigh.
“So we’ll take this year off from school and let you settle into being a mom?”
“I’d like that more than anything.”
“Then that’s what we’ll do.”
She let out a happy squeal and hugged him as tightly as she could with the big belly in the way.
After a minute, Joe realized she was crying again. “What? I thought you’d feel better now that we figured out a plan.”
“I do.”
“Then why are you crying?”
“I’m happy,” she said with a laugh. “I’m so happy.”
She killed him when she looked at him that way. “That’s all that matters.”
“You need to be happy, too.”
“If you are, then I am. That’s all it takes.”
Her hand on his face took his breath away. “I love you so much. I have to be the luckiest person in the whole world.”
“Nope. That’d be me.” He brushed away the last of her tears and kissed her.
She smiled at him as her hand moved from his face to the back of his neck. “Do we really have all afternoon free?”
“Mmm-hmm,” he said against her lips, reluctant to end the sweet kiss.
“You know what I could really use?”
“What’s that?”
“A nap.”
Intrigued, he said, “What kind of nap?”
She let loose with her sexiest grin. “The really good kind.”
“I could be talked into that.”
Her laughter warmed his heart as it always did. “You’re so easy, Captain.”
“Only with you. Put your arms around my neck and hold on tight.”
When she did as he directed, he slid his arms under her, scooping her up with a grunt and groan for effect that had her pinching him. “Not funny.”
“Yes, it was.” He s
tole another kiss as he carried her to the bedroom, where he was more than happy to help her out of her clothes and into bed.
When he joined her, she snuggled up to him as best she could. Wanting to get in on their embrace, the baby thumped around between them, making them laugh.
“Joe?”
His hands and eyes were on her belly, watching the baby move around inside her and marveling at the miracle of it all. “What, honey?”
“Thank you—for this love, this life, for understanding what I need. All of it. Thank you.”
“God, Janey,” he whispered, overwhelmed by her. “It’s my pleasure. Every second of it. Thank you.” He kissed her then, and for a long time, he thought of nothing else but her pleasure.
Chapter 11
Adam left Abby at the Beachcomber with a promise to call her in a couple of hours. They both had things they needed to do, and in his case, he had someone he needed to see. At first he’d thought the best thing would be to keep his growing friendship with Abby a secret from Grant.
Now that he’d had time to rethink that plan, he could see it would be the worst way to proceed. He enjoyed a harmonious relationship with his siblings because they didn’t play games with each other. When Grant had so many other things on his mind at the moment, surely this wasn’t the time to make things worse by being less than honest with him.
With that in mind, Adam left the Beachcomber and stopped at the Surf, hoping first to see Laura about the work she wanted him to do on the reservation system.
“She’s at a doctor’s appointment,” Sarah told him when he found her at the reception desk. “The poor thing can’t seem to kick the flu.”
“I hope she’s okay.”
“I’m sure she will be. I’ll tell her you stopped by.”
“She can call my cell whenever she’s ready to talk about the reservation system.”
Sarah’s eyes lit up with delight. “Oh, are you going fix that for us?”
“That’s the plan.”
“Thank goodness.”
“Maybe you can tell me what the problems are, so I can be thinking about what needs to happen.”
“Well, one of the biggest challenges we have is that families have been coming to the Surf for several generations now, and they have traditions tied up with the place. Take the Morton family, for example. They come every summer and have since I was a kid growing up here and my parents were running the place. They ask for the same rooms every year with several amenities and upgrades. My mom used to keep track of all that in a notebook she carried with her everywhere she went, but she also has a photographic memory that I don’t have—and neither does Laura. We need to be able to better manage those requests now that we’re fully computerized. Does that make sense?”
