Blackout After Dark: Gansett Island Series, Book 23

by Marie Force

  “I’m twenty-four now,” Coop said dryly.

  “Twenty-four. How the hell did that happen?”

  Cooper laughed and accelerated once they cleared downtown and headed out toward the north end.

  “Go easy. You never know what’s around the next corner.”

  “Ain’t that the truth.”

  “In this case, I mean bikes, mopeds, pedestrians.”

  Cooper downshifted and slowed the car—a little.

  “Before we get back to the house, I need to tell you that Lizzie and I have been going through some shit…”

  “You’re not breaking up, are you?”

  “God, no, nothing like that.”

  “Oh, phew, because you two are like hashtag couple goals for me.”

  “Is that right?”

  “Uh-huh. She’s awesome. I want to find someone like her when the time comes.”

  “That’s nice of you to say, and she is awesome.”

  “So what’s the problem?”

  “We’ve been trying to have a baby for more than a year, and it’s just not happening. Our third round of IVF just failed.”

  “Oh damn, man. I’m so sorry to hear that.”

  “Thanks. It’s been rough, especially for her. She’s been through hell with the procedures and shots, and all for nothing.”

  “Yet. It’ll happen.”

  “We’re starting to wrap our heads around the possibility that it’s not going to happen. We have to find a way to be okay with that.”

  “Are you, you know, looking at other options?”

  “We haven’t been, but it might be time for that, too. We’re taking it an hour at a time right now. We only found out that the third round failed a few days ago.”

  “I’m really sorry, Jared. That sucks.”

  “Sure does. You spend your whole life trying to avoid getting anyone pregnant, and then when you want to…”

  “No kidding. I’m sure you guys will figure out a way to be parents. You’ve never let anything stand in the way when you set your mind to something.”

  “Thanks,” Jared said, touched to hear himself described that way by his brother. “This has been a tough one. I want her to have everything she wants and needs…” He cleared his throat, fighting back the now-predictable surge of emotion. “I hate that I can’t snap my fingers and make this happen for her.”

  “I hate it for both of you, but you’ll figure out a way. I have no doubt.”

  “Thanks for listening.”

  “Dude, jeez. It’s the least I can do for you with everything you’ve done for me.”

  “Do me a favor and don’t say anything about this stuff to Lizzie. Let her tell you if she wants to talk about it.”

  “I won’t say a word. Don’t worry.”

  “I just wanted you to know what you’re walking into. Lizzie is excited you’re coming. She said you’re always fun, and we could use that right now.”

  “I’ll do what I can to lighten the mood.”

  When Cooper drove them into the driveway a few minutes later, Jared was relieved to see Lizzie’s car there. She met them at the door with a welcoming hug for Cooper and the usual warm smile for Jared.

  “Um, Jared, could I talk to you for just a second?”

  “Sure. Coop, give us a second. I’ll be right back. Make yourself at home.”

  “Don’t mind if I do,” Coop said, grinning as he opened the fridge.

  Jared walked outside with Lizzie, who seemed nervous about something. “What’s up, babe?”

  “So, um, the woman in town who had the baby?”

  “What about her?”

  “I, ah, hear me out on this… I, um, I brought her and the baby home with me.”

  “What? Lizzie! What the hell?”

  “She’s living in the Beachcomber employee housing. That’s no place for a newborn, Jared. You know what those places are like. It’s nonstop parties and STDs and God knows what else.”

  “How is she even out of the clinic if she only had the baby a couple of hours ago?”

  “She insisted on leaving. I think she doesn’t have insurance and is afraid of how much it was going to cost.”

  “I told you to give her money.”

  “She won’t take it.”

  He ran both hands through his hair, trying not to tear it out of his head in frustration. “I can’t believe you brought a baby here in light of everything we’re dealing with.”

  “I’m sorry, Jared. I didn’t know what to do. She has nowhere else to go.”

  “You could’ve given her money to stay at a freaking hotel, but to bring her here…”

  “She needs help. She knows nothing about babies and is in way over her head.”

  Jared was rarely ever angry with his wife, but this… “I don’t think it’s a good idea. What happens when you get attached to the baby and she takes off to rejoin her life?”

  “I’m not going to get attached.”

  He gave her a skeptical look. “Please, Lizzie. You always get attached. It’s what you do, and it’s why I love you so much. Don’t tell me you won’t get attached and then be heartbroken when they leave, because you will be.”

  “I’m going to try very hard not to let that happen. You know how impossible it is for me to see people in need and not want to help them.”

  Jared felt the anger seep out of him only to be replaced by a surge of love for the incredibly compassionate woman he’d been lucky enough to marry. “I do know that, sweetheart, and I love you for it. It’s just sometimes I worry about you helping others at your own expense, and I can’t bear to see you hurt any more than you’re already hurting.”

  She placed her hands on his chest and looked up at him, using her potent eyes to implore him to see things her way. “I’ll be careful. I promise.” Tipping her head, she gave him her most adorable smile, the one he was powerless to resist even when he wanted to be annoyed with her. “Do you want to come meet Jessie and the baby?”

  He didn’t, but he would for her. “Sure.” Jared followed her inside to the family room, where Cooper had already found Jessie and was holding her baby.

  Coop looked up at Jared. A million questions that Jared couldn’t answer were reflected in his brother’s gaze.

  “Jared, this is Jessie Morgan and her baby girl, who doesn’t have a name yet.” Jessie had light brown hair and hazel eyes. He figured her to be in her early twenties.

  “Nice to meet you both,” Jared said.

  “Thank you so much for having us. Lizzie… She’s just the most amazing person.”

  “She sure is. I see you met my brother, Cooper.”

  Jessie’s face, which had been so pale he’d been concerned for her, flushed a rosy red at the mention of Cooper.

  His brother’s superpowers were potent, apparently having an impact even on a woman who’d given birth earlier in the day. Jared didn’t want to be curious, but he found himself leaning in for a closer look at the baby. Her eyes were open as she looked around, seeming to take in her surroundings with an aura of serene curiosity. He hadn’t had much experience with babies, other than his youngest brother, but even he could see she was an exceptionally beautiful little girl.

  “She’s gorgeous,” Jared said, his voice gruff. “Congratulations.”

  “Thank you,” Jessie said, her chin quivering. “She’s so tiny.”

  “They usually are,” Lizzie said.

  Jared noticed that she forced a smile for Jessie, but her eyes were bright with unshed tears. Despite her bravado, her heart was breaking all over again, and that was not all right with him.

  Chapter 18

  Seamus O’Grady made his way home after completing his last run of the day on the ferries, delivering another rowdy group of tourists seeking summer fun on Gansett Island. Maybe he was getting old and cranky, but the crowds coming these days seemed especially young to him. There’d been a time when drinking and carousing on Gansett would’ve been his idea of fun. Now he had a whole new definition of
fun, and it included watching Kyle and Jackson, the boys he and his wife, Carolina, were raising, play baseball.

  Or do anything, for that matter. He was all in on whatever it was they wanted to do. He’d been teaching them how to fish this summer, and they loved it. They loved anything he suggested they do. More than that, though, they loved having his undivided attention, so he gave it to them as often as he could. Easy enough, since he adored every second he got to spend with them.

  Quite some time ago, he’d more or less given up on the possibility of becoming a father, and then Kyle and Jackson came into their lives, first as their neighbors. After their mother died tragically young, he and Carolina had stepped up for the boys. The four of them had become a family that also included Carolina’s son, Joe, and his family, and Seamus’s cousin Shannon and his now-fiancée, Victoria.

  He’d been thrilled to get that text from Shannon earlier, after helping his cousin pick out the ring that he’d given Vic.

  She LOVED it, Shannon had reported.

  That was great news. Seamus adored Vic and how she’d made his cousin smile again, which had once seemed like an impossible task. After Shannon’s first love, Fiona, had been murdered back in Ireland, they’d worried that Shannon would never move on with his life—and he hadn’t. Not really, anyway, until he came to Gansett to visit Seamus, met Victoria and found a new purpose.

  In addition, Seamus loved having his first cousin living nearby and working with him on the ferries. They’d been close at home but became more so after Seamus tragically lost his two brothers when they were younger. Life could really kick you in the teeth, he thought as he let the warm breeze wash over his face, which was why you had to take the joy where you could find it.

  His life had been all about the joy since he met Carolina and talked her into taking a chance on a smooth-talking Irishman sixteen years her junior. And since the boys had come into their lives and the grandchildren had arrived, the joy had only multiplied.

  He wanted for absolutely nothing, except maybe for more time with the loved ones he’d left back in Ireland. But they made do with FaceTime and Skype and emails and group texts and every other way they could think of to stay in close touch. They made it work, and he was very much looking forward to the visit from Shannon’s parents and his own mam. He was still trying to convince his father to come with them.

  Seamus pulled into the driveway at home and was surprised to find the yard deserted. Usually, the boys and their crazy dog, Burpy, were running around at this time of day, burning off their overabundance of energy. The stillness had him on edge as he got out of his Gansett Island Ferry Company truck and went inside, carrying three bags of ice that he added to the cooler he’d set up earlier. He’d dropped off six more bags at Charlie and Sarah’s on the way home. Their party was in full swing, but he’d wanted to come home to see his own family.

  When he walked in, the first thing he noticed was Carolina sitting at the table, looking shell-shocked.

  “What’s wrong?” he asked, because there was no doubt in his mind that something was very wrong. “And where’re the boys?”

  “They’re playing with Ethan this afternoon. Hope asked if they could come to keep him entertained, because I guess there’s something going on with Marion. She was fully lucid earlier.”

  “Wow.”

  “Hope said she’d bring them home after dinner.”

  “Now tell me what’s wrong.” He couldn’t move or breathe or do anything but stand inside the door, waiting for her to drop the boot on him.

  “We got a letter,” she said, swallowing hard. “From a lawyer in Providence.”

  “What’s a lawyer in Providence want with us?”

  “They represent the boys’ father, Jace Carson.”

  Those words sucked all the oxygen out of his body and made his knees buckle. Grasping the countertop, he held on for dear life. “What does he want?”

  “To see his sons.”

  “Just like that? Out of the blue? Where’s he been all this time?”

  “According to the letter, he didn’t know Lisa died. Do you want to read it?”

  “No, I don’t want to read it.” He didn’t want to see anything that threatened their standing as the boys’ guardians. He was their father now, not some sperm donor who’d been nowhere to be found before now.

  “Seamus, come here.”

  “I don’t want to do that either.” He didn’t want to deal with a letter that could endanger their precious family. “If Lisa had wanted him in their lives, she would’ve asked him to take them after she passed.”

  “I agree, and we do have options as their legal guardians.”

  “He can make trouble for us, love. If he so desires… He’s their biological father. If he took us to court—” His head was suddenly pounding, probably because he was roasting and on the verge of having a stroke.

  “Seamus. Stop. Come here and read the letter.”

  He did not want to read that letter. If he never read it, he could pretend this wasn’t happening.

  “Seamus.”

  Carolina tipped her head and gestured for him to join her at the table, where she’d lit several candles to offset the waning daylight. Since he could deny her nothing, he went, even though he most definitely did not want to.

  She handed the letter to him.

  He forced himself to read the words, to make sense of the words. The boys’ father had only recently learned of Lisa’s death as well as the custody arrangement she had made for their minor children. “How is it possible he didn’t know? She’s been gone for months.”

  “Which shows how out of touch he is with his children. That’s actually a good thing.”

  “None of this is a good thing. We need to call Dan and get him over here.”

  “I already did. He’s on his way. He and Kara just got back to the island today, so we got lucky.”

  Seamus was relieved to hear that their highly skilled lawyer friend was coming to help them make sense of this situation. He’d know what to do. He finished skimming the letter, the gist of which was now that he knew that the mother of his children was dead, Jace Carson was interested in knowing more about their living situation.

  “She had sole custody,” Carolina said. “She chose the people she wanted to finish raising them. We have to believe she knew what she was doing, and this won’t change anything.”

  “It’ll change everything.”

  “How so?”

  “They’ll know they have another father, for one thing.”

  “Maybe not. Nothing says we have to let him see them.”

  “What if we have no choice in the matter?”

  “We have a choice. We’re their legal guardians.”

  “He’s their biological father.”

  “Let’s not spin in circles before we hear what Dan thinks.”

  Under normal circumstances, Seamus was never more comfortable than he was with Carolina. These were not normal circumstances, and he was as uncomfortable as he could recall being in a very long time. In fact, he hadn’t felt this unsettled since he’d been quite certain that Carolina was going to break his heart. This felt almost as bad as that had.

  Then her hand was on top of his, infusing him with her warmth when he needed it most. “I know you’re thinking the worst, but try not to go there. There’re a lot of miles between this letter and the worst-case scenario.”

  She was right. He knew it and even agreed with her. But the possibility of that worst-case scenario playing out was a nightmare to him. Losing the boys he and Carolina had poured their hearts and souls into would break him. Losing them would break her, too, even if she was trying to be brave for both of them. It didn’t help anything that the house was hotter than the surface of the sun, which only added to the sick feeling churning in his gut.

  A sharp knock on the door preceded Dan Torrington’s entrance. “I got here as fast as I could after I got your call, Carolina. Had to drop Kara at Sarah and Charlie’s.” He st
opped short when he saw them sitting at the table, probably looking like two disaster survivors. “What’s going on?”

  Carolina held out the letter to him, and he sat at the table to read it.

  Watching his posture become more rigid as he read did nothing to help Seamus’s shattered nerves. “Well, that’s an interesting development.”

  “Unsettling is a better word for it,” Seamus said.

  “I don’t think you have anything to worry about. Before Lisa died, she made you guys the boys’ legal guardians. She had sole custody, which made it completely her decision.”

  “He’s their biological father.”

  “Maybe so, but at some point, he either surrendered his rights or lost custody, which removed him from the equation when she was dying.”

  “So he can’t come in now and upend the custody arrangement?” Seamus asked the only question that mattered.

  “I can’t see how. Lisa was very clear and very specific. The custody agreement is airtight. I made sure of that.”

  For the first time since he came home to this news, Seamus took a deep breath and no longer felt like he might be having a stroke. “You’re sure?”

  “I wrote it,” Dan said with the big, cocky grin that was his trademark. “I’m very sure.”

  Seamus dropped his head into his hands. “Jesus, Mary and Joseph, I’m getting too old for this shit.”

  Carolina laughed. “How do you think I feel?”

  Seamus reached for her hand. “You’re aging in reverse, my love.”

  “Ha! I wish. Dan, what should we do about the letter?”

  “I’ll give the lawyer a call on Monday and figure out what they’re after. It may be something as simple as assurances that the boys are well and safe.”

  “What would land on the complicated end of the spectrum?” Seamus asked.

  “Let’s not speculate about that until we know more. There’s no point worrying about something that may not happen.”

  “If I know my husband, he’ll fill the void with horrifying what-ifs and won’t get a minute’s peace unless you give him the various scenarios, Dan. Trust me, it’s better for all of us that way.”