by Marie Force
“I will not, and I resent the implication. This is the new me.” She got up and twirled around with her arms over her head.
Owen made an effort to focus on her face and not the tantalizing view of spectacular breasts. “Easy, tiger, or you’ll sprain something.”
As she stuck her tongue out at him, a knock on the window startled them.
Two faces appeared in the window that looked out on the porch. Evan and Adam wore pleading expressions and held up six-packs of beer.
Laughing, Owen got up to let them into the small suite of rooms he kept at the hotel. “What’re you two fools up to?”
“Linda is driving us nuts,” Evan said about their mother. He pulled off his foul-weather coat and hung it on the door. “To her, a slow-moving tropical storm is an opportunity to pump us for every ounce of information about our love lives that she can suck from our bone marrow.”
Adam cracked open a beer and handed it to Owen before opening another for himself. He offered one to Laura, but she shook her head. “Dodging Voodoo Mama gets exhausting.”
Laura’s delicate laugh rang through the room, warming Owen all the way through. What was that all about?
“Remember how mad she used to get when you guys called her that?” Laura said.
“Ev found out earlier that she still gets mad when we call her that,” Adam said with a sly grin that earned him a punch in the arm from his brother.
“Why don’t you tell her what she wants to know and be done with it?” Laura asked her cousins.
Adam stared at her, an expression of horror marking his face. He was a younger, shorter, equally handsome version of his brother Mac. “Because.”
“Oh,” Laura said. “Of course. I get it now. Thanks for clarifying.”
Owen laughed at her dry delivery and gestured for the new arrivals to help themselves to the chips and salsa on the table.
“Because,” Evan said, stuffing a chip loaded with salsa into his mouth, “if we give her anything, even the slightest mention of a possible girlfriend, she’s planning the wedding ten minutes later.”
“Especially since Mac and Janey screwed everything up by getting married,” Adam said. “Now she wants us all shackled and domesticated. No, thank you.”
Owen clinked his bottle against Adam’s. “With you there, my brother.”
“First Mac, then you, Laura, then Janey and Joe, then Luke and now Grant.” Evan shook his head. “It’s a world gone mad, I tell you.”
“What’s up with Grant?” Owen asked, noting the hint of sadness that crossed Laura’s face when her cousin mentioned her marriage. “Did he get back with Abby?”
“Nope,” Evan said with a salacious glint in his eye. “From what I hear, he’s hot and heavy with Stephanie over at Janey’s place. Apparently, the two of them have been joined at the hip and fighting like cats and dogs for weeks while they worked at the marina. Looks like the fighting was actually foreplay—or so we suspect. Ned’s taking bets on how long it’ll be before they’re engaged.”
“Interesting,” Owen said. “I thought he was all about getting Abby back.”
“He was when he first got here, but now it seems someone else has his full attention.”
“I love how Stephanie cuts him right down to size,” Adam said with a wicked grin.
“Calls him on his bullshit,” Evan added.
They clinked bottles in solidarity against their older brother. “It’s about time someone brought the high-and-mighty Grant McCarthy back down to earth where the rest of us live.”
“You guys,” Laura said, smirking at the three of them.
“What?” Adam asked.
“Just wait until it happens to you. I want to be around to see that.”
“I hope you’re planning a long-ass wait, Cousin,” Evan said. “I’ve got things and women to do before that happens.” He jiggled his hips suggestively. “Lots and lots of women.”
Adam nodded in agreement. “What he said. Every word.”
All eyes turned to Owen. “What?” he asked. “Don’t look at me.” He tugged at the neck of his shirt. “You can’t put a collar on me. I’d die.”
Evan and Adam dissolved into laughter along with Owen, but when he recovered from the outburst, he found Laura watching him with that strangely intuitive thing she did so well—as if she knew something he didn’t. As he studied her elegantly beautiful face, he decided he was better off not knowing what she was thinking. Definitely better off.
Chapter 18
Grant’s ringing cell phone woke him in the morning. As he extricated himself from Stephanie and fumbled for the phone in the pocket of his jeans, he noticed sunshine streaming through the blinds. Hallelujah!
He grunted out a hello while rubbing the sleep from his tired eyes. There hadn’t been much sleep…
“Grant, honey,” his mother said. “Wake up.”
“Mmm, I’m awake.” He stretched out on the bed and smiled when Stephanie snuggled up to him.
“The storm’s over, the power has been restored and the ferries are running again. We’re all going down to the ferry landing to see off the honeymooners. They’re leaving on the nine o’clock boat.”
“What time is it now?”
“Seven forty-five. You’ll be there?”
“Uh-huh.”
“Grant? Are you really awake?”
“Yes, Mother. I’ll see you there.” He ended the call before she could ask him again if he was awake.
“What’s going on?” Stephanie mumbled into his chest.
“Storm’s over, ferries are running, so Joe and Janey are making their escape.”
Stephanie sat up straight. Her short red hair was spiky and disheveled, which he found adorable. “I need to get to the marina.”
He reached for her to keep her from getting out of bed. “There’s no rush.”
“The restaurant. I have to open. Let me up.”
“Not yet,” he said, pinning her under him, oddly sad to know the storm was over, and with it, their escape from reality. He focused his lips and tongue on her neck. Even after a night filled with passion, he still wanted more. He craved her soft skin and the wild way she responded to his every caress.
“Grant,” she said with a moan. “I have to go.”
“Five more minutes won’t matter.”
“It never takes five minutes with you.”
He snorted out a laugh. “I think there was a compliment in there somewhere.” As he continued to work on her neck, he cupped her breast and tweaked her nipple with his fingers. When her hips rose to meet his, he knew he had her. “That’s more like it.”
“You’re a bad influence on me.”
He shifted his focus to her kiss-swollen lips and reached for a condom, intending to linger much longer than five minutes. “It’s okay. I’m in good with your bosses.”
She rolled her eyes at him. “Hurry,” she said, curling her legs around his hips. “I’ve got donuts to make.”
Afterward, Grant lured Stephanie into a blissfully hot shower. Then he gave her the keys to his father’s truck and sent her to work. He tended to the animals, shaved two days’ worth of scruff off his face and brewed a pot of coffee. His phone rang again just as he was getting ready to head for the ferry landing. He glanced at the caller ID and saw his agent’s number.
Surprised to hear from him, especially before six in the morning Pacific time, Grant said, “What’s up, Jimbo?”
“Hey, man. Glad I caught you. You guys all right out there after Hailey?”
Grant pictured Jim on his deck in Malibu watching the sunrise from his hot tub. “No worse for the wear. I got a new baby niece out of it—named Hailey.”
“That’s cool.” Never one for small talk, Jim barely skipped a beat before he dived into business. “So listen, I got a very interesting call yesterday. Remember that project Tony Zuckerman was working on a year or so ago? We had a couple of meetings with them?”
Grant recalled the meetings as a huge waste of time. �
��What about it?”
“He’s finally got the green light and the funding. He wants you. No tryouts, no more meetings. The job’s yours if you’re up for it.”
Grant’s heart thudded with excitement. Tony Zuckerman was the up-and-coming son of one of Hollywood’s top directors. Any project of his would get top-tier attention thanks to his pedigree.
“Grant? Hello? Are you there?”
“Yeah, I’m here.”
“This is what we’ve been waiting for, man. I figured you’d be a little more excited.”
“I am excited.” He thought about the night he’d spent with Stephanie, the story she’d told him, the promises he’d made. “I need some time to think about it. Things here are sort of complicated at the moment.”
The comment was met with complete silence.
“Could I call you back in a day or two?” Grant asked.
“Sure, whatever you want, but this is it, Grant. If you want to stay in this business, here’s your shot.”
“I know. I’ll get back to you.”
“He wants you here in a week to get started, so don’t take too long to think.”
Oh, God, a week? He needed more time with Stephanie. As he stared out his sister’s kitchen window, it occurred to him that if he had a month, six months, a year, he’d probably still want more time with her. A surge of panic brought him back to the moment. “I’ll call you, Jim. As soon as I can.”
“All right.”
The line went dead, and Grant stood there a long time, holding the phone, thinking about the offer that would resurrect his career.
His phone rang again, and this time it was Adam. “Dude, are you coming? Mom’s having a cow looking for you.”
“On my way,” Grant said. He left his sister’s cottage and jogged the short distance to the ferry landing where the family had gathered—less Maddie and the new baby—to see off Joe and Janey. His sister glowed with happiness and excitement as she hugged and kissed her parents, Ned, Mac, Thomas, Evan and Adam.
As she approached him, Grant held out his arms and lifted her off her feet. “Have a great time, Brat.”
She scowled at him. “You’re not supposed to call me that anymore.”
“So I’ve heard.”
Looking up at him, she seemed to take a full inventory of his features.
Grant squirmed under her scrutiny. “What?”
“You look tired.”
He shrugged. “Maybe a little.”
“Did you and Stephanie find a way to pass the time during the storm?”
Leave it to his sister to cut right to the chase. He tweaked her nose. “That’s none of your business.”
“I like you with her. I’m not sure I like you with her in my bed, but…”
“I thought you liked me with Abby,” Grant said, surprised by his sister’s comment.
“I did, don’t get me wrong. I loved the idea of you married to one of my best friends.”
“But?”
“For whatever reason, things fell apart between you guys, and now she’s really happy with Cal. I’m hoping you’ll be happy, too.”
He looked around to make sure he wouldn’t be overheard. “Could I ask you something kinda personal?”
Always an open book, Janey shrugged and said, “Sure.”
“When you were first with Joe, was it, you know, sort of different than it was with David?”
“Night and day,” she said without hesitation. “Sometimes it still makes me sick to think I could’ve married David and missed out on everything I’ve had with Joe. When it’s the right person, it’s earth-shattering.”
Grant felt like he’d been struck by lightning as his sister so aptly described what he’d experienced with Stephanie.
“Grant? Are you okay?”
He forced himself to meet her gaze. “How could I have thought what I had with Abby was ‘it’ when it wasn’t?”
“Just like me with David, you needed to go through that so you’d know when the real thing came along.”
“Maybe,” he said, wondering when his baby sister had gotten so wise.
“Is Stephanie the real thing?” Janey asked with a coy grin. She was, after all, Linda McCarthy’s daughter.
“Nice try, Brat,” he said with a smile. “I’ll neither confirm nor deny in the interest of self-preservation.”
She laughed and threw her arms around him.
Grant held her close.
“If it is the real deal, don’t screw it up, okay?”
“I’ll try not to.”
She went up on tiptoes to kiss him. “Love you, big brother.”
He tugged on her ponytail the way he had when she was six. “Love you, too, Brat. Have a good time in Aruba. Go easy on poor Joe.”
“Poor Joe,” she said with a snort, “loves every minute of it.”
Grant groaned. “Spare me the details.” He nodded at his new brother-in-law, who was gesturing for Janey to come on. “Your husband is looking for you.”
She cast a glance over her shoulder and sent Joe a reassuring smile. What passed between them was nothing short of electric, and Grant was suddenly envious of his sister.
“Thanks for taking care of my zoo for me.”
“My pleasure. Don’t worry about anything.”
The ferry’s final warning horn sounded, and Janey left him with another spontaneous kiss to the cheek. He watched her run through the family scrum to Joe’s waiting arms. With one last wave, the newlyweds bounded onto the ferry.
After the ferry steamed out of port, Grant’s parents said good-bye to their sons and took off to do some errands in town.
“When are you guys heading out?” Grant asked Adam and Evan.
“I’m hanging for a bit,” Evan said. “With the recording on the CD finally finished, I’ve got nothing pressing going on in Nashville. Owen needs me to help him out at the Tiki.”
“Sure, he needs you,” Adam said, grinning. “I’m going back to New York this afternoon before the morons that work for me run my business into the ground.” He was the cofounder of a tech company that provided IT services to a wide range of businesses in the city.
“What about you?” Evan asked Grant.
“I’m still covering at the marina, so I guess I’m here for a while yet.”
“I could use one more week,” Mac chimed in as he held Thomas on his shoulders. “The little guy starts preschool right after Labor Day. I can come back to work then.”
One more week. Janey and Joe would be back to collect her animals before they took off for the fall semester in Ohio, freeing him from pet-sitting duties. All the planets were aligning for him to return to his life and his work in Los Angeles in one more week. Everything he’d worked so hard for was within his grasp. Why, then, did the thought of leaving make him ache from head to toe?
“I heard Stephanie is back to makin’ donuts,” Ned said to Grant. “Can I give ya a lift to the marina?”
“That’d be great,” Grant said.
“Oh, crap! Did I miss them?”
He turned to find Abby red-faced and breathing hard. She’d obviously run to the ferry landing hoping to catch Janey and Joe before they left.
“Just,” Grant said, gesturing to the ferry as it cleared the breakwater on its way from South Harbor to the mainland.
“Damn. Oh, well, I’ll see them when they get back.”
Grant realized Ned and his brothers were subtly moving toward Ned’s cab to give him a moment alone with Abby.
As she re-secured the ponytail that’d broken loose during her sprint, Grant zeroed in on her impressive engagement ring. He expected to feel something—sadness, yearning, disappointment. Curiously, he only felt happy that she’d found someone she wanted to share her life with. Sure, he’d always be a little sorry that things hadn’t worked out between them, but he’d never be sorry for all the good years they’d spent together. It had once been very good—before it all went very wrong.
“What?” she asked.
&n
bsp; Grant realized he was staring. “Nothing, sorry. I was just thinking that it’s cool you’re so happy with Cal.”
She looked up at him with those big brown eyes that used to slay him. Not anymore. “Really? You mean that?”
“Yeah, I mean it. You deserve to be happy. I’m sorry I was so clueless and that I didn’t pay more attention to what you needed. I want you to know that.”
“Oh, jeez, Grant,” she said, dabbing at suddenly damp eyes. “I came to see Janey off, and now you’ve got me blubbering.”
“Sorry,” he said with a smile.
“No, no, it’s fine. I appreciate you saying that. It helps to know that you get why things happened the way they did.”
“I get it, and I regret it.”
She reached out to squeeze his arm. “Thank you. I meant it when I said I want us to still be friends. I can’t imagine my life without you and all the McCarthys in it.”
“We’re not going anywhere.”
“Will you be heading back to LA now that the wedding is over?”
Grant wished he could tell her about the offer his agent had called with earlier, but the days of hashing out career moves with her were over. “I’m not sure yet. I’ve got a few things to take care of here before I make any plans.”
“Like Stephanie?” she asked with a teasing grin.
“Maybe.”
“Don’t forget what I used to tell you all the time—you can write anywhere, Grant. Anywhere at all.”
Her words went straight to the heart of his current dilemma. “How’s Cal’s mom?”
Shaking her head, she said, “Not good. They think she’s going to survive the stroke, but apparently she’s in bad shape.”
“Damn, that sucks.”
“It really does. I guess he’s going to be there awhile.”
“Wow, what does that mean for the clinic?”
“I heard they asked David Lawrence to stay on for a couple of weeks to fill in for Cal, and he accepted the offer.”
“Interesting,” Grant said of the man who was supposed to have been his brother-in-law—before Janey caught him in bed with another woman. “That’s the job he always wanted. Before he got sick with lymphoma, he was in line to take over the clinic when Doc Robach retired.”
