by Marie Force
“I’m fine.”
“Are you really?”
“Yep. I decided not to see the film.”
“That’s what I figured you’d do.”
“I read about it online this morning,” Cindy said. “People are saying it’s amazing.”
“That’s what I’ve heard, too,” Steph said.
“Everyone is going to want a piece of the dynamic duo behind the real-life story,” Cindy said.
Charlie had been afraid of that, but he’d kept his concerns to himself so as not to rain on Grant’s well-deserved parade. “Where’s your Hollywood husband?”
“Inside talking to Sarah and Adele.”
“He must be flying high.”
“He is. The premiere went really well, the early reviews are awesome, and there’s Oscar buzz for everyone involved.”
“Good for him. He worked his ass off for a long time.” When Charlie had first met Grant, he’d thought the guy might be too fancy and refined for his girl, but over time, he’d seen how devoted Grant was to her, and that was all Charlie needed to know. She deserved someone who’d have her back no matter what. “How’d he feel about you sitting out the premiere?”
“He was totally fine with it. He gets it. He always has.”
“That’s so sweet,” Cindy said with a wistful sigh. “I hope I meet my Grant one of these days.”
“Oh, you will,” Stephanie said. “And if it happens like it did for us, it’ll be when you least expect it.”
“Any time now,” Cindy said, grinning. “I’m surrounded by happy couples everywhere I go while I wait for Gansett to work its magic on me.”
“You’ll get your turn,” Stephanie said. “I just know it.”
Chapter 14
Finn McCarthy stood watch over the kettle, giving thanks for the gas stove that still worked even when the power was out. Their small house had gotten oppressively warm very quickly after the power failed and took the AC with it, which was the last freaking thing they needed when Chloe was already so miserable.
This latest flare-up was a bad one, the worst she’d had since they’d gotten together in May. Other than to go to work, he hadn’t left her side in days and wouldn’t until she was feeling better. They’d been in touch with her rheumatologist on the mainland, and David Lawrence had been a godsend, too. The doctors had started her on new meds yesterday, and they were praying they’d kick in sooner rather than later.
In the meantime, she hurt, so he hurt.
He took a call from his brother, Riley. “Hey, what’s up?”
“How’s she doing?”
“Same as yesterday. Just hoping for some relief from the new meds.”
“What can I do for you guys?”
“Get the power to come back on? She’s even more miserable without the AC.”
“I may be able to do something about that. I’ll get back to you.”
Before Finn could reply, Riley was gone. “Well, all righty, then,” he said, amused by his brother as usual.
When the tea was ready, he put it in a spill-proof cup that would keep it warm and took it in to Chloe. She was lying on her side in their bed, her face sweaty, pale and pinched with pain.
“Made you some of that tea you like,” he said softly. “Want me to help you sit up a bit?”
“Sure, thanks.”
He put the tea on the bedside table and moved carefully to help her. He’d learned how to touch her without hurting her too badly, but right now, everything hurt. When she winced, it broke his heart.
It took a minute to get her settled against the pillows, and by then, her face was even paler than it had been before. His poor baby.
While she sipped the tea, he went into the bathroom, wet a washcloth with cold water and brought it back to bathe her face and neck.
“Feels good,” she said. “Thank you.”
“You don’t have to thank me. I love taking care of you.”
She gave him a skeptical look. “I tried to tell you not to cast your lot with me.”
“And how’d that go for you?”
“Your own pigheadedness got you into this mess.”
“If you’re referring to yourself as a mess, that’s gonna make me mad.”
“What other word would you use to describe my current status?”
“Courageous, defiant, temporarily down but not out.”
The right corner of her mouth lifted into a small smile that he took as a major victory. He hadn’t seen any hint of a smile in days.
“You didn’t sign on for this.”
“Yes, I did.”
“When?”
“When I said I’d love you forever no matter what. Did you think I was just saying that to get you into bed?”
“If I recall correctly, by the time you told me you’d love me forever, I was already in your bed.”
“Exactly.” He leaned in to kiss her cheek and the tiny stud in her nose. He loved that little sparkling thing. “I love you all the time, even when you’re not feeling well.”
“It’s not fair to you,” she said, blinking back tears.
“We’ve already had that fight. I won. Let’s not have it again, huh?” He kissed her lips. “I’d rather be with you, even when you’re not feeling great, than with anyone else in this entire world. So, when you try to get rid of me, it actually hurts my feelings.”
She rolled her eyes. “Nice try.”
“I mean it. Don’t try to get rid of me. I’m not going.”
“Suit yourself.”
“Thank you, I will.” Moving carefully so he wouldn’t jostle her, he stretched out next to her on the bed. “It’s hotter than a motherfucker.”
“How do you know how hot a motherfucker is?”
“It’s got to be this hot.”
“This has to be what hell feels like.”
“I feel so bad. Like it wasn’t bad enough before the AC quit.”
“I’m okay. Try not to worry. The new meds will work soon.”
Finn wanted to ask what happened if they didn’t work, but he couldn’t bear to ask that. They had to work. That was the only possible outcome. They were still lying in her bed when he heard Riley call from the door. “Is it safe to come into the love shack?”
Chloe grunted out a laugh. “Very safe.”
“Come in, Ri.” Finn got up, again moving slowly so he wouldn’t jostle her, and went to see what his brother was up to.
“I got you a generator,” Riley said.
“Seriously? The hottest commodity on this island?”
“Yep.”
“Where’d you get it?”
“Doesn’t matter. The only thing that matters is keeping Chloe comfortable. Help me get it set up.”
They put it on the deck and ran the extension cords that Riley had brought from the deck to the bedroom.
“Hey, Chlo,” Riley said softly. “How you doing?”
“Hanging in there. What’ve you got there?”
“Relief.” Riley plugged the window air conditioner cord into the extension cord and turned it on as Finn closed the window he’d opened after the power died.
“You’re the best, Ri,” Chloe said.
“Couldn’t have you suffering any more than you already are, sweetheart.”
“Thank you so much.”
“Wish there was more we could do,” Riley said.
“This is huge,” Finn said. “Thanks, bro.”
“Let’s hook up your fridge, too,” Riley said.
Finn followed him to the kitchen, pulled the refrigerator out far enough to get at the plug and waited for Riley to return with another extension cord. “Where’d you really get the generator, Ri?”
“Doesn’t matter.”
“Is it yours from Eastward Look?”
“Nah, I found it on the side of the road. No one was using it, so I grabbed it for you.”
“You’re such a liar.”
“She needs it more than we do. That’s all that matters.”
; “This will never be forgotten. Thank you so much.”
“I can’t bear to think of her suffering like this. It’s killing me, so I can’t imagine what it’s doing to you.”
“It’s been pretty rough, but she’s a trouper.”
“She sure is. Nik sent some food over to stick in your fridge. Hope that’s okay.”
“Ah, yeah, Ri. That’s more than okay. Thank you again.”
Riley gave him a one-armed, half-Nelson sort of hug and kissed the top of Finn’s head. “Anything for you and Chlo.”
After Riley left, Finn went into the bedroom to check on Chloe and noticed it was already noticeably cooler. Their dog, Ranger, was stretched out on the floor at the foot of the bed, enjoying the AC. Finn sat in the chair he’d dragged in from the kitchen and put next to the bed so he could keep her company. He’d had a pit in his stomach all week knowing the pain had to be awful to put his fierce warrior in bed for days.
“Riley brought us their generator and two tanks of gas.”
“That’s so sweet of them. I’ve never had a family of my own before… It’s a bit overwhelming the way your family has stepped up for me this week.” They’d had a steady stream of visitors, bringing food, books, magazines and treats they thought she might enjoy.
“They love you, almost as much as I do.”
“That makes me feel so lucky.”
He held out his hand, and she put hers on top of his, which was how they held hands when she was in pain. “You know,” he said, “this family could be officially yours any time you say the one word I need to hear.”
“And what’s that?” she asked with a faint smile.
“Yes. Say yes to forever with me. Marry me, Chloe, and you’ll never be alone or lonely again.”
“I can’t believe you’re proposing to me when I’m sick in bed with a condition that’s going to plague me for the rest of my life.”
“Believe it. I’m asking. Will you marry me?”
She blinked as tears flooded her eyes. “I told you I’d never get married.”
“That was before you met me and fell madly in love and realized you couldn’t live without me.”
That made her laugh, which he’d hoped it would. “You’re too charming for your own good—and mine.”
“Nah, I’m just right for you, and you know it.”
“This last week… This is what’s ahead for me, Finn. This is what my life is going to look like. Really good months followed by a flare-up that takes me down for days or weeks or God knows how long. There’ll be times I can’t work at all. I may not be able to have children—”
Finn stood, leaned over and kissed her, stopping her from completing the list of all the reasons why she was a bad bet. In his estimation, she was the best bet he’d ever made. “I know all that, and it doesn’t matter to me. What if it was me who had RA or something else that would take me down for a time? What would you do?”
“I’d take care of you.”
“Would you not love me anymore because I had physical limitations? I mean, it’s always possible I could get hurt on the job and be more of a burden to you than you could ever be to me.”
“Don’t even say that.”
“It hurts me when you think your condition makes me love you less. If anything, it makes me love you more because I get to see how brave you are every single day, how hard you work even when you’re in pain. In my mind, I’m awfully lucky to get to live with and love a woman who’s as courageous as you are.”
“I don’t want to hold you back.”
“You could never hold me back. Being loved by you makes me feel like there’s nothing I can’t do or achieve. If you were to leave me, sweet Chloe, you’d ruin my life because I’d have to live with knowing you were out there somewhere without me, maybe in pain, and I wouldn’t be able to be the one to sit by your bed and hold your hand and tell you this too shall pass. Who would do that if I wasn’t here?”
Her chin wobbled, and her eyes were bright with unshed tears.
Raising her hand to his lips, he gently kissed her swollen, red knuckles. “I know you’re preconditioned to believe you have to do this alone, but you don’t. If I didn’t want to be right here, I wouldn’t be. It’s really that simple, sweetheart.”
“Yes,” she said softly.
“Yes, what?”
“Yes, Finn, I’ll marry you.”
He let out a shout that woke Ranger from a sound sleep to growl at him.
Chloe’s smile lit up her face and made him so glad he’d asked her now, when she was feeling poorly and worried that she was a burden. In hindsight, it was the perfect time to ask her.
“Stay right there.” He kissed her hand and placed it gently on the bed. “I’ll be right back.”
He went out to his truck to retrieve the necklace he’d bought for her weeks ago in anticipation of the right moment to ask the question that’d been on his mind for months. Back in the bedroom, he got down on his knees next to the bed and opened the black velvet box so she could see what was inside.
Chloe gasped and covered her mouth. “That’s beautiful.”
“I bought this a while ago, hoping I’d find the right time to ask you to spend forever with me.”
“And you thought this was the right time?” she asked, raising a brow with amusement. “When I can barely move?”
“I thought this was the perfect time, because more than anything, I want you to believe me when I tell you I’m here for the good times and the tough times.” He took the necklace from the box, put it on her and then sat back to admire how it looked on her. The two-carat diamond was surrounded by amethyst, representing her favorite color of purple. “That no matter how tough it gets, I’m not going anywhere.”
“It means a lot to me that you put so much thought into this, knowing it wouldn’t be possible for me to wear a ring.”
“I wanted something that would tell the world how much you mean to me.”
She patted the other side of the bed. “Come here.”
Finn went around the bed, stepping over Ranger, who’d gone back to sleep, and stretched out next to her, turning onto his side so he could see her. “You beckoned?”
“Thank you for the beautiful necklace and for everything you said. You have no idea how much it means to me to know I’m not alone anymore, that I have you and your amazing family taking this journey with me. What your brother did with the generator… No one has ever done things like that for me before, and it’s all because you love me.”
“It’s because you’re easy to love. Riley loves you, too, and can’t bear that you’re suffering like this.”
“I’ve never had a brother.”
“Now you do.”
“When I told you I’d never get married, I meant it.”
“I know you did.”
“You’ve shown me something different, something I’ve never seen before, and not just what’s happened between us, but your aunt and uncle, your cousins, your dad and Chelsea, your brother and Nikki. I haven’t been around a lot of happy couples in my life, and to see what’s possible… The McCarthys made me a believer, but more than anyone else, you made me a believer.”
“Thank you for taking a chance on me. I promise you’ll never be sorry.”
“I already know that.”
Finn pulled his phone from his back pocket. “Let’s take a picture and tell everyone we’re engaged.” He sat up next to her while she held up her new necklace, the two of them smiling like crazy loons. When he showed the pictures to her, she agreed that any of them would be perfect to share the news with their loved ones.
He cued up a text to the McCarthy family group chat. Sharing the huge news that the amazing, beautiful Ms. Chloe Dennis has agreed to marry Finn McCarthy!
Congratulations came flooding in, lighting up his phone with texts that he shared with Chloe.
“Well,” she said, “there’s no getting out of it now.”
“Thank God for that.”
Chapter
15
Riley arrived back at Eastward Look and was thrilled to find Nikki home from a morning shift at the Wayfarer. They’d both been working so much this summer that they sometimes went a full day without seeing each other. Those days absolutely sucked. They’d agreed to take this afternoon off so they could go to Charlie and Sarah’s party, but those agreements were always contingent upon no crises arising at the Wayfarer that required the general manager’s attention.
And there’d been a lot of crises in the first summer since the iconic island hot spot reopened. She’d dealt with everything from alcohol poisoning to drug overdoses to people trashing hotel rooms, day-trippers passing out in the bathrooms and one full-on fistfight between a man and a woman in which the woman had punched the guy unconscious and gotten them both arrested.
Good times.
For the most part, the first season for the new Wayfarer had been a roaring success, but it hadn’t been without its challenges. Nikki fully embraced every one of them, acting on behalf of the family she’d marry into in November.
Riley walked into the house to find her in the kitchen they’d renovated together, smiling as she looked at her phone.
“Did you get Finn’s text?”
“Haven’t checked my phone in a while.”
“He and Chloe got engaged.”
“What? When? I was just there!”
“I guess after you left. You took the generator?”
“I did, and thanks again for agreeing they needed it more than we do.”
“That was a no-brainer. I can’t imagine what she’s dealing with. She doesn’t need to be sweltering on top of it.”
They’d thrown open the windows at Eastward Look, and while there was a nice breeze, it was thick with heat and humidity that had her hair going curly. He was about to tell her he loved her curls when her phone rang. She grimaced, probably expecting a work issue. But her expression shifted to surprise when she saw the caller ID.
“Who is it?”
“My half sister.”
To his knowledge, she hadn’t had any contact with her father or any member of his family in the time they’d been together. “Are you going to take it?”
“I guess…” She pressed the green button. “Hi, Kendall. What’s up?” Her brows furrowed and her shoulders hunched ever so slightly as she listened to what her sister was telling her. “When?” After another pause, she added, “I’m sorry for your loss.” More listening. “No, it’s not my loss, too, Kendall. I don’t think so. Yes, I’ll tell Jordan. Thank you for calling.”
