Ready for Love

by Marie Force

  “Well, thank you for that, but your approval has always mattered to me—maybe a little too much.”

  “It’s also not lost on me that you seem very happy with him, and your happiness matters more than anything to me. So I’ll do my best to keep my opinions to myself from now on.”

  Sydney rolled her eyes. “That’ll be the day.”

  “Now that’s just not nice,” Mary Alice said with a grin.

  “Truth hurts,” Syd said, kissing her mother’s cheek.

  “I was planning on steak and baked potatoes for dinner tomorrow night. Does Luke like steak?”

  “He loves it. That’ll be perfect.” Sydney scooped up Thomas and wiped the last of the chocolate from his face. “What do you say for the cookies?”

  “Thank you.”

  “You’re very welcome, Thomas. I hope you’ll come visit me again soon.” Mary Alice handed Sydney a baggie full of cookies. “For your patient.”

  Touched by the gesture, Syd took the bag. “Thanks, Mom. I’ll see you tomorrow.”

  Ned hovered outside Big Mac’s room, waiting for the opportunity to see his best friend. What a damned upsetting day this had been! When he’d seen Big Mac in the water, blood pouring from his head. . . Ned shuddered at the memory. For a few minutes there, he was sure his friend was dead. Thank God Mac had acted so quickly—and at his own peril—to save his father. And Luke! What that boy had done! Ned would be reliving the horror of it all for a good long time.

  Big Mac was urging Linda to go home. Ned had to agree with his friend—the usually unflappable Linda McCarthy looked to be on her last legs.

  “I swear I’ll be fine,” Big Mac said, drawing his wife into a kiss. His left arm was encased in a cast and resting on a pillow. “Go on now. We can’t have you dropping from exhaustion.”

  Linda was weepy and clingy—two other things Ned had never seen before. The whole scene was only adding to his stress level.

  “Come on, Mom,” Janey said, putting her arm around her mother. “Joe and I will take you home.”

  “I’ll stay with Dad,” Grant said.

  “You go, too,” Big Mac said. “You look like hell. Get some sleep. Come back in the morning.”

  “But Dad—”

  “Adam and Evan will be here soon. I won’t be alone.”

  “I’ll be here, too,” Ned said from the doorway.

  “If you’re sure,” Linda said.

  “I’m very sure. Go on home, hon. I promise I’ll still be here in the morning.”

  “That’s not funny,” Linda said, sniffling as she bent to kiss him one last time.

  “You kids take your mother home. Make sure she eats and sleeps.”

  Grant and Janey did as they were told with Joe tagging along with them. On her way by, Linda hugged Ned. “Call me if anything changes.”

  “Ya know I will, gal. I’ll stay ’til the boys get here.”

  Linda patted his arm and went with the kids.

  “Whew,” Big Mac said when they were alone. “How’s a man supposed to get a minute’s peace with all that hovering?”

  “Don’t try to fool me. Ya love all the attention.”

  Big Mac snickered and then winced.

  “Gave us a helluva scare today.”

  “So I hear. It’s all a blur.”

  “Let’s hope it stays that way. Not worth remembering.”

  “Perhaps you can help me fill in some of the blanks.”

  “I don’t wanna talk about it. Worst thing I ever seen.”

  “Not about the accident. I’m having these vague flashes of memory. Something about you and a woman. . .”

  Ned looked up in time to see the glint of devil in his old friend’s eyes. Even though he was relieved to see the spark of life, he sure as hell didn’t want to talk about Francine. “Ya didn’t remember yer own son was home from Lala Land, but ya remember that?”

  “Funny how the brain works, huh?”

  “I still don’t wanna talk about it,” Ned huffed. Damn if he couldn’t feel his face getting red.

  “Aw, come on. I almost died today. Least you can do is toss me a little bone.”

  Ned choked back a burst of temper. “Don’t go playin’ that ‘almost died’ card.”

  “Come on, it’s me. We don’t have secrets. Least I didn’t think we did.”

  “I ain’t tellin’ ya nothin’, ’cuz ya got the biggest mouth on the island. It’ll be all over the docks by morning.”

  “I swear to God I won’t tell anyone.”

  “Since ya owe God a few favors right ’bout now, I’ll hold ya to that. Nothing much to tell. We had dinner. Big whoop.”

  “Tell that to someone who wasn’t there that summer she left you for Bobby Chester or who hasn’t watched you avoid her for thirty-two years.”

  “Doncha need to rest up so ya can walk yer baby girl down the aisle?”

  “I wouldn’t miss that for the world, and you know it, so don’t try to change the subject.”

  Frustrated, Ned ran a hand over his wild white hair. “What’d ya want me to say?”

  “I want you to tell me you’re being careful. That you won’t let her do the same thing she did before.”

  “Ya say that to Luke, too?”

  “So what if I did? It’s turning into recycle summer around here.”

  Ned hooted with laughter. “That’s a helluva way to put it.”

  “I’ll tell you the same thing I told him—watch yourself. Don’t let her do it to you again. It was bad enough watching that the first time.”

  “I’m older and wiser this time ’round.”

  “Let’s hope so.”

  “Even though yer a pain in my ass, I’m glad ya didn’t die.”

  Big Mac laughed and then winced again when his head fought back. “Aww, thanks a lot, old pal.”

  “Anytime.”

  Chapter 24

  Janey told herself if she just kept busy, she could prevent the meltdown that had been threatening all day. She made soup for her mom and ran her a bath. She put fresh sheets on beds for Adam and Evan, and cleaned up the kitchen. As she was putting the last of the dishes in the dishwasher Joe hugged her from behind.

  “You’re running at ninety miles an hour, babe,” he said, his lips brushing against her neck.

  She attempted to squiggle free of his embrace. “I need to toss in some laundry.”

  “Not tonight.”

  Janey turned to him, primed for a rare fight. But when she saw only love and concern on his face, she sagged against the counter.

  “You’re completely exhausted. Let’s go home.”

  “You can go. I should stay here in case my mom needs me.”

  “I’m not going anywhere without you, and Grant will be here for your mom. You need sleep.”

  “The boys will need—”

  “To fend for themselves. The boys are grown men who manage to survive without you the rest of the time.”

  Her lip began to quiver, a sure sign of impending meltdown. “But I have to—”

  He wrapped his strong arms around her. “Stop, Janey. Just stop.”

  Despite her best efforts to contain it, a sob hiccupped through her, and the floodgates opened.

  He ran his hand up and down her back. “It’s okay, honey. Let it all out. It’s been an awful day.”

  “I’m sorry,” she said, wiping her face several minutes later. “My dad. . .”

  “You can’t imagine life without him.”

  Her heart ached as she shook her head.

  “Neither can I.”

  “What happened today was a big reminder that someday we’ll have to live without him.” She looked up at Joe. “How will we ever do that?”

  “I have no idea, but thankfully that’s not something we have to think about anytime soon.” He wiped the tears from her face. “Let’s go home. You need some time with the menagerie.”

  At the reminder of her beloved pets, she forced a wan smile for his benefit. “And with you.”


  “And with me.”

  “Let me tell my mom I’m leaving.” Janey kissed Joe and went upstairs, where her mother was getting into bed. “Mom? Are you all settled?”

  “Getting there.”

  “Joe wants to take me home. Will you be okay?”

  “I’ll be fine. Go on ahead.”

  Janey perched on the edge of the bed. “Grant will be back shortly. He went to get Dad’s truck at the marina.”

  “Oh good. He and the boys can use it.”

  “They can fight over it like old times.”

  Linda offered a small smile as her eyes filled.

  “What, Mom?”

  “I’ve been thinking about how you just never know what’s going to happen. I was in such a big rush this morning. Late for a hair appointment. Dad was in the shower, and I left without even saying good-bye.” She looked up at Janey. “What if that’d been my last chance to see him, to tell him. . .”

  Janey blinked back tears of her own. “He’s not ready to leave us yet.”

  Linda sat up to hug her daughter.

  “I can stay if you don’t want to sleep alone.”

  “Go sleep with Joe. Make sure you never miss a chance to tell him, to show him.”

  “I won’t.” Janey kissed her mother’s cheek. “On that note, love you, Mom. Always have—even when it seemed like I hated you.”

  Taken aback by words they rarely said out loud, Linda said, “I always knew the hate phase was an act.”

  “You know everything. That’s why we call you Voodoo Mama.”

  Linda scowled. “I hate that name.”

  “Which is why it’s so fun to call you that,” Janey said with an evil grin. “I’ll see you in the morning.”

  “Janey?”

  She turned at the doorway.

  “Love you, too,” Linda said. “My little girl who saved me from having five boys and then turned out to be the hell-raiser of the group.”

  “At least I never ended up in jail like Mac the Golden Child did.” None of his siblings ever missed a chance to mention Mac’s night in jail after he and Joe got caught flattening mailboxes in Big Mac’s truck.

  “True,” Linda said.

  Janey blew her mother a kiss and went downstairs to Joe.

  Luke made good use of the time Sydney was gone to make dinner and clean up the kitchen. While the crutches were a pain, they were necessary since he couldn’t bear to put an ounce of weight on his injured ankle. Being hobbled this way was going to seriously suck, but Luke refused to lie around and feel sorry for himself.

  As he worked in the kitchen, the conversation he’d had earlier with Sydney kept running through his mind. He could feel her edging toward a decision to stay on the island, to stay with him. She said she had things to take care of before she could make a plan for the next phase of her life. Of course he was dying to know what she needed to do, but he didn’t want to ask. She had her secrets, and he had his.

  He couldn’t say, exactly, why he hadn’t told her that he now owned part of the marina. It wasn’t that he didn’t want her to know. Deep inside he suspected his reluctance had something to do with the differences in their social status. Syd and her family had always been well-off, while he and his mother had struggled. Those differences had driven them apart once before, and Luke was afraid it could happen again.

  He could level the playing field a bit by telling her about the partnership, but he didn’t want to wonder later if that played any part in getting her to stay. Except for during his mother’s illness, Luke had never given a shit about money. As long as he had what he needed, what else mattered? He wanted Sydney to stay because she loved him and couldn’t imagine life without him, not because she was impressed that he owned a successful business. He wanted them to have a real chance at something meaningful.

  A knock on the door had Luke hobbling into the living room. Opening the door, he was surprised to find Grant McCarthy there. “Come in,” he said, swiveling on the crutches.

  “Hope I’m not disturbing you.”

  “Not at all. How’s your dad?”

  “Much better and full of beans. Kicked me and my mom and Janey out. Adam and Evan will be in on the eight o’clock boat, so they’re taking the next shift with him.”

  “Glad to hear he’s feisty. That’s a good sign.”

  “How’s the ankle?”

  “Pretty good for now. I’m told that keeping up with the pain meds will be important the first few days.”

  Grant winced. “I know you’ve heard this a hundred times already, but we’re all so grateful for what you did. When I think about what could’ve happened. . .”

  “Probably better not to think about it. How about a beer?”

  Grant shook his head. “No, thanks.”

  Luke headed toward the kitchen. “I’ve got stuff on the stove.”

  Grant followed him. “I figured your lady would be tending to your every need tonight.”

  “No such luck. She had to go check on her dog, who had surgery earlier this week.”

  “Ouch. Second to a dog.”

  “I know, huh? Such is my luck.”

  “Must be nice to be back with her again.”

  Resting on the crutches for support, Luke dumped the pot of pasta into a colander in the sink. “It’s amazing—and complicated.”

  “What happened to her is such a terrible tragedy. How’s she doing now?”

  “She still has some rough moments, but for the most part, she’s doing well.”

  “I’m glad you’re getting another chance with her.”

  “I just hope it works out this time.”

  “And if it doesn’t?”

  The question sent a shaft of fear zipping through Luke. “I don’t even like to think about that.”

  Grant dropped to one of the stools at the counter. “I hope you make out better than I did.”

  “I take it you talked to Abby.”

  Grimacing, Grant nodded. “Twice.”

  “And?”

  “She says it’s over. She’s actually going to marry that guy.” He looked up at Luke, devastation marking his features. “Can you believe that?”

  “I can’t imagine either of you with anyone else.”

  “Neither can I.”

  “So what’s the plan?”

  “Haven’t exactly got one.”

  “You can’t just give up.”

  “She’s engaged, man. Getting married in October.”

  “She’s not married yet.”

  Grant crossed his arms. “She was pretty damned clear earlier when she said it’s over for us.”

  “A lot can happen between now and October. You might have to bide your time. Wait for your chance.”

  “Is that what you’re doing with Sydney?”

  “I’m trying to give her space to figure things out. Sometimes it’s hard to be patient, because I know what I want.”

  “I hope you get it.”

  “Back atcha.” Luke raised his beer bottle in toast to Grant. “It’s good to have you home.”

  “I wish I could say it’s good to be here, but between this thing with Abby and what happened to you and my dad, this visit has sucked the big one.”

  “Nowhere to go but up from here.”

  “No kidding.” Grant took a long look around the kitchen. “This place is exactly as I remembered it.”

  “It’s been brought to my attention that I’m in a time warp. Syd’s going to update me.”

  Grant smiled. “You or the house?”

  “Both, I suspect. You know me—if it ain’t broke, don’t fix it.”

  “I envy you,” Grant said.

  Luke snorted with laughter. “You envy me?”

  “You know exactly where you belong in the world. You’re doing what you love in a place you love. Must be nice.”

  “You don’t love your work?”

  Grant’s jaw tightened with tension. “Haven’t for a long, long time.” He uttered a sharp laugh. “First time I’ve s
aid that out loud.” Shaking his head, he said, “I’ve spent the last three years spinning my wheels. I kept thinking if I gave it one more year, I could turn things around, but it went from bad to worse. Now my career has gone to shit, and I’ve managed to lose Abby, too.”

  “Wow, sorry, man. I had no idea about the career. I figured you were flying high after the Oscar win.”

  “That’s what I wanted everyone to think. It’s a heck of a thing to win the big award and feel like such a loser afterward.”

  “I certainly know nothing about writing screenplays or writing anything, for that matter, but I can’t help but think a break from it all might be just what you need. Put it aside for a while, help out at the marina, chill with us, enjoy your sister’s wedding. Stop putting so much pressure on yourself, and maybe things will begin to click again.”

  “That’s not bad advice,” Grant said with the wry grin the high school girls had gone wild over.

  “Glad to be of service. You know how it is out here—slow, quiet, peaceful. A few weeks of that and you’ll be a new man.”

  “Or I’ll be going out of my freaking mind.”

  “Mac thought the same thing, and look at him now.”

  Grant laughed. “As domesticated as it gets.”

  “Exactly.”

  “Thanks for listening to me bitch. It’s good to be back with my real friends again.”

  “It’s good to have you.” Luke heard the front door open, and damned if his heart didn’t do a happy dance in his chest.

  Sydney came into the kitchen carrying Thomas. Her cheeks were red from the warm summer day, and her eyes were bright and animated. She was so beautiful she took his breath away.

  “Oh, hi, Grant,” she said. “I wondered whose truck that was.”

  “Hi, Syd.” Grant reached for his nephew, and Sydney handed him over. “Hey, pal. What’ve you been up to?”

  Thomas hugged his uncle. “I saw Buddy, and he has a funny hat on.”

  “My dog,” Sydney said for Grant’s benefit. “Cone of shame so he won’t pull out his stitches.”

  “Ouch,” Luke said, wincing. “He must love that.”

  “He’s still kind of out of it, but in a day or two, he’ll be furious about it.”

  Thomas squiggled out of Grant’s embrace and scooted over to check out Luke’s crutches.