by Marie Force
“I think you’re the reason I stayed. I hoped you might come back.”
“I guess I ought to thank Jordan for going back to Zane. Otherwise, I wouldn’t have any reason to be here.”
“I’m not sure we should go that far, but I’m glad you had a reason to come back.”
“So am I.”
“Today was a really rough day but being here with you made it better.”
She smoothed her fingers through his hair. “What happened?”
“My cousin Shane found out his ex-wife died, possibly of a drug overdose.”
“Oh God, that’s terrible. Is he okay?”
“He’s shocked, of course, and really upset.”
“The poor guy. Have they been divorced for long?”
“A couple of years now. He found out after they were married that she was addicted to prescription pain meds, and things kind of went downhill from there. For a long time, he was in a really bad place. He’s been a lot better lately…” Riley took a deep breath and released it slowly. “Sorry, I don’t mean to unload on you.”
“Don’t be sorry. You’re worried about him, which is very sweet.”
“We’re all worried about him. It’s such a shock for him and such a sad loss for her family. And while I’m sad for him, I feel selfish, too, because all I can think about since I kissed you is when I’m going to get to do it again.”
Smiling, she touched her lips to his. “Do you still want to go to your other cousin’s house tonight?”
“Not as much as I did earlier.” His hands moved over her in a gentle caress that had her thinking about more for the first time in years. No one had ever made her feel the way Riley did with a few heated kisses.
“What would you rather do instead?” she asked, loving the way his blue eyes went dark with desire.
“More of this.” He kissed her again. “But I want you to meet my family, too.”
“We could go for a little while.”
“Mmm,” he said against her lips. “Okay.”
“Riley…”
“Hmm?”
“You have to stop kissing me if we’re going to your cousin’s.”
“Don’t wanna stop kissing you.”
Nikki couldn’t recall the last time she’d enjoyed anything more than the feel of Riley’s strong arms around her and his sweet lips devouring hers. “Just for now. You can kiss me more later.”
“Promise?”
She nodded, charmed by him. “I promise.”
Chapter 11
Finn McCarthy was out of sorts, an unusual state of being for a Friday night. He lived for Fridays and a whole weekend to do whatever he wanted, but with a snowstorm looming and his brother spending all his free time with his girlfriend, Finn’s usual weekend elation was missing.
“What crawled up your ass and died?” his cousin Janey asked as she moved around the kitchen preparing trays of food for the family due to descend any second.
“Huh? Nothing.”
“You’re all dark and stormy and pissed. How come?”
“I’m not pissed, dark or stormy.”
“You’re all of the above, so don’t try to deny it.” She bumped him with her shoulder on the way to the sink. “I know you too well.”
Janey was a couple years older than he and Riley, and the three of them had run around together as kids, getting into all sorts of trouble. Those had been good times. He took a deep drink from his beer bottle, knowing she was someone who wouldn’t be easily turned off the scent of disquiet within him.
“What’s going on, Finn?”
“Nothing.” He nudged at the floor with a toe of the Timberland boots he favored this time of year. “Much.”
“Do I have to drag it out of you?”
He laughed, because if anyone could do that, Janey could. “Missy’s been calling and texting—a lot. She wants me to come home.”
“Ugh,” Janey said, her reaction not unexpected. “I thought you’d moved on from her.”
“I have. I did.”
“So why are you still talking to her?”
“We were together five years.”
“And it’s been over for two. Why’re you looking to go backward?”
“I’m not, but she says we’re both older and wiser now, and it’d be different this time.”
“Different how?” Janey asked as she dumped ranch dressing into a bowl surrounded by veggies.
“We wouldn’t be quite so…”
“Horrible together?” Janey asked, raising a brow in amusement.
“Yeah,” Finn said, huffing out a laugh.
Janey wiped her hands on a dish towel. “Can I tell you a little story from my own biography?”
“Sure.” Finn opened a second beer and leaned against the counter.
“David and I were together for thirteen years, so long we lost all sense of perspective. It wasn’t until we were with other people that we were able to see what’d been missing in our relationship. The first night I spent with Joe as more than friends was a major revelation.”
Cringing, Finn held up a hand. “Stop right there. No disgusting details that’ll scar your baby cousin for life.”
“Shut up,” she said, laughing. “And grow up, will you?”
“That’ll never happen.”
“Yes, it will happen, and when it does, I’ll be the first one there waiting to say, see, I told you so. Missy is the past, Finn. If you were meant to be with her forever, you wouldn’t have spent the last two years apart. Trust me when I tell you, when the right one comes along, you will know it—and you won’t want to spend one day away from her, let alone two years.”
Her husband, Joe, walked into the kitchen with a pajama-clad child in each arm, their hair still damp from the bath he’d given them.
Janey lit up at the sight of her little family and took her daughter, Vivienne, from Joe, who snuggled their son, PJ. “Are my babies all ready for night-night?”
“No,” PJ said.
Joe laughed. “That’s his only word so far. Some kids start with Dada or Mama. Ours starts with no.”
“That’s awesome,” Finn said, laughing.
“Not if you’re his parents, it isn’t,” Joe said, tickling his son, who responded with a deep belly laugh.
“No bedtime riling,” Janey said, kissing her son and handing her daughter back to Joe.
“Say good night to cousin Finn,” Joe said.
“No,” PJ replied.
“Am I allowed to laugh?” Finn asked.
“Not if you want to live,” Janey said, scowling. “He has to get another word one of these days, doesn’t he?”
“No,” Finn said, earning a punch to the biceps from his cousin.
As Joe went upstairs with the kids, Finn’s cousin Mallory arrived with her fiancé, Quinn James. She hugged her sister, Janey, and then hugged Finn, too. He marveled at how Mallory had fit right into the family after learning that Big Mac was her father. Now it was like they’d always known her.
“What’d we miss?” Mallory asked, pouring herself a glass of seltzer as Quinn helped himself to a soda.
“I’m giving our baby cousin Finn a lecture on the downside of recycling,” Janey said.
“There’s a downside to recycling?” Quinn asked, popping a carrot into his mouth.
“There is when we’re referring to relationships that’ve run their course but keep coming around for new drama,” Janey said with a pointed look for Finn, who scowled at her.
“Ah,” Mallory said. “Gotta agree with my sister here, Finn. Some things are better left in the past where they belong.”
“So I’ve been told,” Finn said, returning Janey’s pointed look.
“I firmly recommend waiting for the right one to come along,” Mallory said with a warm smile for Quinn. “There’s nothing quite like getting it exactly right.”
Quinn took her hand and brought it his lips. “What she said.” The look he gave her was positively indecent.
Finn was q
uite certain that in all their years together, he’d never looked at Missy in quite that way. “No need to rub my face in all your happiness, people,” Finn said in a teasing tone, ready to change the subject.
“You’ll get your turn, Finny.” Janey ruffled his hair and kissed his cheek. “And I, for one, can’t wait to see that happen.”
“Don’t hold your breath,” Finn said, not in any particular rush to settle down.
The house began to fill with family members, each of whom inquired as to whether anyone had spoken to Shane. Everyone was concerned about him in light of the day’s events. What a bitch, Finn thought, to lose someone the way he’d lost Courtney, more than once now. The awful senselessness of it all had contributed to Finn’s general feeling of gloominess. Courtney had been a beautiful, sweet woman, and what’d happened to her—and to Shane—was heartbreaking. It made Finn want to steer well clear of anything resembling true love.
Speaking of true love, when his dad arrived with Chelsea, he asked for a second alone with Finn. The three of them stepped into the dining room, which was the only room in the downstairs part of the house that wasn’t overrun by McCarthys and their friends.
“What’s up?” Finn asked Kevin.
Kevin glanced at Chelsea, smiling. “We wanted to let you know that we’re expecting—and we’re getting married. At the end of the month.”
“Oh,” Finn said, feeling all the air leave his body in one big whoosh. “That’s great. Congrats.”
“I was hoping you and your brother would stand up for me.”
“Sure.” Steeped in a sense of the surreal, he leaned in to kiss Chelsea’s cheek and to hug his father. “Happy for you guys.”
“Thanks, bud,” Kevin said, smiling at his intended. “We’re pretty damned happy for us, too.”
It had been a very long time since Finn had seen his father look so happy. When the right one comes along, Janey had said, you’ll know it. His father with Chelsea—that was what finding the right one looked like, he decided, even as he continued to grapple with the way his parents’ marriage had ended.
Life was too short to spend it unhappy. Finn honestly believed that, but his parents’ divorce had rocked him nonetheless, and the shockwaves continued to reverberate almost two years later. With hindsight, he could see how miserable they had been for a long time before they split, but since he hadn’t lived at home since leaving for college, the breakup had still surprised Finn and his brother.
Riley arrived with Nikki a few minutes later and came over to where Finn stood with their dad and Chelsea. “Hi there,” Riley said, his arm around Nikki. “You know my dad and Chelsea. This is my brother, Finn. Finn, this is Nikki Stokes.”
Gorgeous, Finn thought, even more so than her famous sister, if that’s possible. “Nice to finally meet you,” Finn said, shaking her hand.
“You, too.”
Raising a brow, he gave her an assessing look. “I’m going to call you Nicholas.”
She returned his assessing look with one of her own, immediately earning his respect. “And I will call you Finnbar.”
Riley cracked up laughing at the same time Finn, Kevin and Chelsea did.
“Touché,” Finn said, raising his beer bottle. “To Nicholas.”
“I’ll drink to that,” Riley said meaningfully as Nikki’s face turned bright red.
She elbowed him playfully in the gut, making him gasp and taking her up another notch in Finn’s estimation.
“Did you hear we’ve got a wedding to go to later this month?” Riley asked.
“I just got that memo.”
“We’ll need a bachelor party,” Riley said, eyeing Kevin shrewdly.
“Oh no, we won’t,” Kevin said.
“Oh yes, we will,” Finn said. “No one gets out of that ritual. Not in this family.”
“I don’t think we should,” Kevin said, his expression serious. “With Shane and everything.”
“We absolutely should, and Shane would agree,” Riley said. “We’ll show our respect for him and for Courtney, and then we will continue to live. That’s all we can do, or so says my father, the shrink.”
“I hate when they use my words against me,” Kevin said to Chelsea, who laughed behind her hand.
“You can’t laugh at them,” Kevin said. “You’re either with me or you’re with them. You can’t have it both ways.”
“I’m with you, babe,” Chelsea said, curling her hand around Kevin’s arm.
“Suck-up,” Finn said, teasing.
“He’s my baby daddy. I need him.”
If you’d asked Finn a couple of years ago if his dad would want more kids, he would’ve said no way, but then along came Chelsea, and everything changed. Like Janey said, being with the right one made all the difference.
Missy was not the right one for him. He knew that. Hell, she knew it, too, but they continued to stay in touch out of habit more than anything else. It was probably time to cut that cord and move on, even if the cutting of the cord would be painful.
Seeing Riley obviously enthralled with Nikki made Finn wonder about what might be around the next bend for him. As far as he knew, Riley had never been serious about any woman, but he was putting out vibes that had Finn wondering if Nikki might be the one for Riley.
Things were changing all around him, whether Finn wanted the changes or not. It was high time he made some changes of his own, beginning with ending things once and for all with his ex-girlfriend.
* * *
Shell-shocked. That was the word of the day for Mac McCarthy Junior. Maddie was pregnant. Again. And, after their appointment at the clinic, he’d heard the news about Shane’s ex-wife, and shock had been compounded by more shock. Both sets of grandparents had offered to stay with their kids so they could go to Janey’s, but after the appointment at the clinic, they’d decided to stay home.
After calling Shane to express his condolences and check on his cousin, Mac went through the motions of helping Thomas and Hailey get ready for bed, giving them baths and wrestling them into pajamas. They were in the mood to fool around, and he wasn’t, which made for a stressful hour.
“Daddy cranky,” Hailey said, taking him by the face and puckering her sweet lips into a frown that made him laugh.
“No, I’m not.”
“Yes, you are,” Thomas said.
“Maybe a little,” Mac conceded.
“How come?” His son studied him in the intent way that often made Mac want to squirm. The child watched his every move, mimicking what he did and said—and how he did and said everything. He’d never been more seen by any human being in his life than by the son who’d come into his life when the boy was nine months old.
“No reason, buddy. Nothing to worry about. Whose turn is it to pick a story?”
“Mine,” Hailey said as Thomas groaned.
“No princesses,” Thomas said.
“Yes, princesses,” Hailey said.
They compromised on one princess and one Star Wars story that left everyone happy. Mac tucked them into their beds and kissed them good night, leaving them with stern warnings about staying in bed. That had been their biggest challenge lately.
He went into the bedroom he shared with Maddie, who was breastfeeding Mac as tears rolled unchecked down her face. Her tears broke his heart. “Is he asleep?” he asked, leaning in for a closer look at the baby who everyone said looked just like him.
“I think so.”
Mac moved carefully to pick him up without waking him. Gazing down at the perfect, sweet face of his son, Mac couldn’t help but be thankful for their many blessings. No, they hadn’t been planning to have more kids, but they also hadn’t been as careful as they could’ve been since baby Mac was born.
As he settled the baby in his crib, he blamed himself. He should’ve been more careful. Maddie had her hands full with three little ones, and the thought of a fourth was taking her right over the edge. And how could he blame her? He worked all day—and in the summer, he worked two job
s. She was the one home with the kids, so most of the work of child-rearing fell to her.
He’d hire a nanny or someone to help her, especially in the summer when he was also working at the marina. And he’d cut back his hours wherever he could, give more responsibility to Luke, Shane, Riley and Finn. The latter two had proven they were no longer the babies of the family and were capable of much more than he’d asked of them so far.
Returning to their bedroom, Mac found Maddie right where he’d left her, staring at the far wall with the tears continuing unabated.
“We can’t tell Adam or Abby about this,” she said.
His brother and sister-in-law had been grappling with fertility challenges. “We’ll have to tell them eventually.”
“I don’t want them to ever know.”
“Maddie,” he said, sighing as he sat next to her.
“It’s not fair. She wants a baby more than anything, and I can’t seem to stop having them. And if you laugh, I’ll stab you in your sleep.”
“I’m not laughing. I swear.”
“You’re getting a vasectomy,” she said. “This is it.”
“Okay.”
“I thought you said no one was cutting your junk ever.”
“I’ve changed my mind.”
“That’s good, because I was prepared to do it myself with the kitchen scissors if I had to.”
Mac winced. “No need to get violent. I’ll do it.”
“Mac…”
“What, honey?”
“What the hell are we going to do with four little kids?”
“We’re going to love them and raise them and lose our minds for the next ten to fifteen years, but we’ll get through it. Together.”
“They’re all going to be teenagers.”
“I know that.”
“At the same time!”
“Just think, we’ll get it over with all at once.” He paused, considering whether he should tell her about Courtney when she was already so raw, and decided talking about it might help to give them both some perspective. “I want to tell you about a girl I used to know, who was married to Shane. Only he didn’t know she was an addict until it was way too late. She was a sweet girl, pretty and funny, and he loved her so much.”
