by Marie Force
“Are you hungry, Mallory?” Linda asked.
“No, thank you. I was a nervous wreck before I came over, so I didn’t dare eat.”
“How about coffee?”
“That would be great. Thank you.”
Linda put a mug in front of her along with a creamer, sugar bowl and spoon.
Mac watched with fascination as Mallory put just a dash of cream in her coffee before adding two healthy spoonfuls of sugar—exactly the way he took his coffee. It was a coincidence, he told himself.
They waited on her, giving her time to collect her thoughts as she took a couple of sips of her coffee. “I’m an emergency room nurse. What do you guys do?”
The question seemed to break what remained of the ice, and the conversation flowed freely from there. Mac watched his father visibly relax when he realized his sons planned to make an effort where Mallory was concerned. If he could actually control the world, Mac wouldn’t have chosen for this to happen, but it had happened, and he’d do what he could to make it easy for his dad.
“I run the marina with Dad, and I have a construction company on the island, too,” Mac said when it was his turn. “I’m married to Maddie, and we have two kids, Thomas and Hailey, with a third on the way.”
Seeming to sense he was the toughest nut in the bunch, Mallory smiled warmly at him. “I can’t wait to meet them.”
* * *
Somehow Janey managed to get herself home, where she found Joe and P.J. in the sunroom together, the baby asleep in his father’s arms. The sight of them was all it took to trigger the tsunami of tears she’d managed to contain so she could get herself home.
“Janey, honey, what is it? Is something wrong with your parents?”
She dropped onto the sofa and curled up to him.
He wrapped his free arm around her and held her close.
Janey breathed in his familiar scent and that of her son, who’d had a bath in her absence.
“Baby, you’re scaring me. What’s wrong?”
“My dad has another daughter,” she said between sobs.
Her dog Riley scooted across the floor, dragging his hind end behind him until he was close enough to nuzzle her.
“What?”
Janey patted Riley’s head. “She showed up yesterday, out of the blue, claiming to be his daughter. And he’s happy about it.”
“Wait… Back up… She showed up from where?”
“Providence, I guess. Her mother just died and left a letter telling her who her father was. She came out yesterday to find him, and… And… I don’t want him to have another daughter. I’m his daughter. He doesn’t need her. And believe me, I know I’m being a total jerk, and I hate myself right now. But I can’t help it.” Sobs hiccupped through her, making her feel sick and stupid for being so emotional.
“Holy shit,” Joe whispered. “What did your mother say?”
“She was all calm about it because Dad didn’t know, and it happened before they met, so really, how could she be mad with him?”
“Still… They must’ve been totally shocked.”
“They were, but they’ve had some time to get past that. They found out yesterday.”
Joe kissed the top of her head and ran his hand up and down her arm. “I’m sorry you’re upset about it. Did you get to meet her?”
“I left before she came. I just couldn’t do it, and I feel so bad because I could tell Dad was disappointed when I left, but…I couldn’t.”
“Honey, listen to me. You just had a baby under extremely traumatic circumstances. Your emotions are all over the place. Your dad knows that. Don’t be too hard on yourself. There’s nothing you could do that he wouldn’t forgive. You’re his little girl.”
Hearing that set her off again. “I won’t be his only little girl anymore if he has another daughter, and yes, I do hear myself acting like an ass, but I can’t seem to stop feeling this way. I had a violently negative reaction to hearing about her. I don’t want her. I don’t want a sister. I’ve got my brothers and Laura… I don’t need her.”
“You’re shocked, and it’s perfectly natural for you to feel threatened by something—or someone—who has the power to change your whole life.”
“I don’t want my life changed. I like it the way it is.”
“I’m afraid you don’t have much choice in the matter, honey, if your dad has decided to accept her into his life.”
“He has! All she had to do is show up and stake her claim, and he’s all excited to have another daughter. Like the one he had wasn’t enough for him.”
“Janey,” he said, shaking silently.
“Are you laughing at me?”
“Of course I’m not.”
“Yes, you are! There’s nothing funny about this!”
“When you’ve had a little time to get your mind around it, you might feel differently.”
“How do I get my mind around a sister I never knew I had?”
“What did your brothers say about it? I’m trying to picture Mac finding out he’s not the oldest anymore.”
“I don’t know. I didn’t stick around long enough to hear what they had to say.”
“What’s her name? This sister you didn’t know you had.”
“Mallory.”
“That’s a nice name.”
“I guess.” Janey reached for the baby that Joe transferred to her arms. “There’s my little boy,” she whispered, running her lips over his soft head and breathing in the baby-fresh scent. “I wish I hadn’t run out of there the way I did.”
“You can always tell your dad that when you see him.”
“What if he’s mad at me?”
“He won’t be, Janey.”
“I didn’t know what to expect when they asked us to come over, but it certainly wasn’t this.” Her phone buzzed with a text message. “Can you get it out of my back pocket?” she asked, raising herself up.
“With pleasure.”
His predictable comment made her laugh. “What does it say?”
“From Mac. ‘Are you okay, brat?’ Want me to write back to him?”
“Just say I’m fine, and I’ll talk to him later.”
Joe sent the text and put her phone on the table. “You know your dad is going to be over here wanting to talk to you. If he’s not on his way already, he will be soon.”
“I don’t know what to say to him. I feel like a jerk for leaving the way I did.”
“Maybe just tell him that. He’ll understand, babe.”
“I’m going to have to meet this person, aren’t I?”
“The sister you never knew you had?” he asked with a teasing smile. “Yeah, you are.”
* * *
Though he’d planned to go to the marina after the meeting at his parents’ house, Mac found himself driving home instead. He needed to see Maddie. After two years of marriage, his need for her only seemed to grow exponentially every day, and he’d learned not to question it anymore. It just was. She’d know what to say to set him straight again.
He pulled into the driveway at the home he’d once surprised her with. Thinking about that day brought a smile to his face. After a brief time apart that damn near killed him, he’d gotten her back that day, and they’d been together ever since. Bounding up the stairs, he opened the sliding door and came to a stop when he saw her on the sofa holding Hailey as she slept.
Maddie gave him a quizzical look full of questions about what he was doing home early on a workday.
He went to her, took their sleeping daughter from her and walked his baby girl upstairs to her crib, where he tucked her in with a kiss. When he turned to leave Hailey’s room, Maddie was waiting for him in the hallway.
Mac took her hand, led her to their bedroom and shut the door. “Where’s Thomas?”
“At the beach with Tiffany and Ashleigh.”
Mac put his arms around his wife and hugged her.
“What’s wrong? You’re freaking me out.”
“Sorry,” he murmured, his lips finding her
neck. As he breathed in the scent of summer flowers, a sense of calm came over him. No matter what happened, he would always have her, and she was all he needed.
“Mac? Honey, what is it?”
“My dad has another kid.”
Her entire body went rigid. “What?”
“Well, I guess she’s not a kid anymore at thirty-nine.”
“Start from the beginning. Don’t leave anything out.”
Mac told her about the woman who’d come to the marina the day before seeking his father and how she was actually Big Mac’s daughter Mallory.
“Wow,” Maddie said, exhaling a deep breath as she sat on the bed. “So you met her?”
“The boys and I did.” Mac sat next to her on the bed. “Janey left before Mallory got there. She was upset.”
“She loves being your dad’s only daughter. Almost as much,” Maddie said, glancing at him tentatively, “as you love being the oldest.”
“Yes.”
“Are you okay?”
“I guess. I mean there’re certainly worse things they could’ve told us.”
“Still… That must’ve been pretty shocking to hear.” She took his hand and held it between both of hers. “So what’s she like?”
“She’s actually really nice. She’s an emergency room nurse in Providence, and she looks just like my father’s mother as a younger woman.”
“So he’s not going to make her prove it, then?”
“There’s really no need to. The proof is in the picture. But you’ll be glad to know I asked the same question.”
Maddie leaned her head against his shoulder. “It’s okay to tell me this upsets you. I’d totally understand.”
“I know you would, and that’s why I came to you when I should’ve gone to work.”
“I’m glad you came to me. I’d always want you to do that.”
“How’re you feeling?”
“Pretty good today, actually.”
“Is that so? And is it possible that we find ourselves completely alone in the middle of the day with a bed right here for anything that might come to mind?”
Maddie giggled softly. “What comes to mind?”
Always a believer in showing rather than telling, Mac guided her hand to the evidence of what he had in mind.
“I thought you were upset.”
“I was, until I came home to you. Now it seems I have other issues on my mind that you could help me with.”
“Was this all a ploy to gain my sympathies so you could ravish me in the middle of the day?”
The word “ravish” coming from her sent a bolt of lust to his already painfully hard cock. “That makes me sound so devious,” he said while nuzzling her neck and ear. He tugged on the formfitting tank top that molded to her incredible breasts. She hated them. He loved them. They’d agreed to disagree on the matter. “What do you say? Wouldn’t we be foolish not to take advantage of this nearly unprecedented opportunity?”
“What about work?” she asked, tipping her head to give him better access to her neck.
“Luke is there.”
“Does he know where you are?”
“No, but he wouldn’t mind.” He eased her top up and over her head. “How long has Hailey been asleep?”
“Not long.”
“Oh boy.” Mac dragged his finger from her neck to the deep valley between her breasts, making her shiver. He loved that his touch did that to her. “That means we have hours.” He kissed her. “And hours.”
“Mac,” she said with a nervous laugh, “I did have a few things I planned to get done today.”
“Is it anything that won’t keep until later?”
“No,” she said with a sigh that sounded an awful lot like surrender to him. “It’ll keep.”
Chapter 23
Laura sat on the exam table, fidgeting as she waited for Victoria. She could hear her talking to other patients, her infectious laughter echoing in the hallway. While she waited, Laura became more and more anxious about the trip tomorrow, about Owen’s withdrawal as the departure drew closer and about what would become of him—of them—if his father somehow walked away without being convicted.
The thought of that last possibility made her shudder with fear.
Since Owen had decided to go surfing, she’d left Holden with Sarah while she was at the clinic. Laura glanced at her watch to see that Victoria was running thirty minutes late, and with everything Laura still had to do to get ready to leave for a week, she hoped it wouldn’t be much longer.
As she waited, the anxiety that had been with her for days now seemed to peak in a maelstrom of worries that involved her health, that of her unborn babies, Owen’s well-being, the pending trial and the impact it might have on him and his mother, leaving the hotel in the hands of Shane and the summer staff as well as Stephanie and Abby, who’d offered to help while they were away, the dreadful way she felt most of the day and how would she ever get through the traveling, let alone the strain of the trial, without adding to Owen’s worries?
By the time a tap on the door preceded Victoria into the room, Laura was about to spontaneously combust. “Hey, there! Sorry to keep you waiting. Things are crazy today.” Victoria took a closer look at Laura. “Feeling okay?”
“Nauseated twenty-four-seven, but other than that, not so bad.”
“Ugh,” Victoria said. “All day every day?”
“Pretty much so in the last week, and we’re leaving tomorrow for Virginia, and I need something to make it stop, if only for the week that we’re gone.”
“I thought you were dead set against medication for the nausea?”
“I was. I am. But there’s no way I can go with Owen on this trip feeling the way I do now, and not going isn’t an option. Desperate times…”
“Gotcha. I’d like to do a quick exam first, just to make sure everything is okay with the babies, and then we can talk about your options for combatting the nausea.”
“Why did I know you were going to say that?” Laura asked as Victoria handed her a gown.
“I’m nothing if not thorough. Since you’re wearing a dress, everything off but the bra.”
When Laura stood up to comply with Victoria’s instructions, the entire room seemed to swim before her eyes. She reached for the exam table to keep from falling.
“Whoa,” Victoria said, taking hold of Laura’s arm. “Has that happened before?”
“A few times.”
“What’s the urine output like? Normal or less than usual?”
“Probably a little less.”
“And is it darker in color?”
“Maybe a little.”
“Hmm,” Victoria said. “Would you mind if I helped you get changed?”
“I don’t mind.”
With Victoria’s help, Laura removed her dress and put on the gown. Once she was covered, she removed her panties as well. Victoria helped her onto the table and made her comfortable with a pillow and light blanket.
Victoria consulted Laura’s chart. “You’ve lost weight since the last time I saw you and your BP is low. Have you been eating?”
“When I can, which isn’t often. Everything makes me sick. Even the smells make me sick.”
“I hate to say it, but I suspect you’re a bit dehydrated. I’d like to consult with David and perhaps start an IV to get some fluids into you.”
“How long will that take?” Laura asked, alarmed by the prospect of being sidelined when she had so much to get done.
“A couple of hours.”
“I can’t be here that long!”
“It’s either that or I’m going to recommend you stay home when Owen leaves tomorrow.”
“That’s not an option.” The thought of not being able to go with Owen had her eyes filling with tears that flowed down her cheeks. “I have to be with him, Victoria. I can’t let him go through this alone.”
With a hand on Laura’s shoulder, Victoria said, “Let’s get you fixed up so you can go, but you need to take it eas
y.”
“I will. I promise. I’ll do whatever I have to do to be able to go with him.”
“Try to relax. I’m going to talk to David, and we’ll be back to see you in a few minutes.”
“I’ll try. Would you mind handing me my phone from my purse so I can let Sarah know I’m going to be here a while? She has Holden.”
“Of course. Here you go. I’ll be right back.”
She typed the text to Sarah: Apparently, I’m dehydrated, so they’re going to put me on an IV. I’ll be here a couple of hours. Are you okay with the baby? I can try to find Owen if you have somewhere to be.
So sorry to hear that! Holden and I are fine. Take your time.
Okay, thanks. Don’t tell Owen I’m here. He has enough on his mind. I’ll be fine once I get some fluid.
Please don’t ask me not to tell him, honey. He’d never forgive me.
Hopefully I’ll be back before he gets home.
Call if you need a ride home.
I will. Thanks.
Left alone with her thoughts, Laura couldn’t seem to stop the tears from flowing freely. With her hormones all out of whack, the tears had been almost as annoying as the nausea. Dehydration was the last thing they needed with so many other worries to contend with, but she couldn’t deny that she felt awful. Hopefully, Victoria and David could get her patched up enough to travel.
Whatever it took to be able to go with Owen. Staying home was not an option.
* * *
In need of some peace and looking for something else to think about besides the trial, Owen had taken to the waves. His grandfather had taught him to surf when he was eleven, and it was something the two of them had done together for years until his grandfather reached the point where the risk of injury was no longer worth the thrill of the ride.
Surfing with his grandfather had been among the highlights of a childhood short on happy memories. He and his siblings had lived for their summers on Gansett, the only time all year they were able to escape the horror of their home life. So many times he’d been tempted to tell his grandfather the truth about his father, but he’d always feared what would become of his mother, who had no annual vacation from her hellish marriage. Worries about her safety coupled with his father’s threats of what would happen if they blabbed about their family’s “personal business” to anyone resulted in Owen keeping his mouth shut.
