Gansett Island Boxed Set Books 1-16 (Gansett Island Series)

by Marie Force

  “What’s on your mind over there?” Evan asked as he finished his coffee.

  “Just thinking about getting home and how I’ll get my stuff back from Trey.”

  “I’d suggest a text message with a suggestion that he return your stuff—immediately—or you’ll call the police. That’ll get his attention.”

  Grace smiled at his furious expression. “Yes, it will. And I won’t have to talk to him ever again.”

  “Exactly. Do you have a mutual friend he could deliver it to?”

  “As a matter of fact, there is someone I could ask. That’s a great idea.”

  “I hate guys like him who give the rest of us a bad name.”

  “I’m glad there are still guys like you willing to help a perfect stranger.”

  Shrugging off her praise, he stood and cleared their plates. “It was no big deal.”

  “It was to me, and I won’t forget it, Evan.”

  She watched him load the dishwasher and clean up the stove, impressed that he bothered to take the time.

  When he turned back to her and caught her watching him, he seemed embarrassed. “Linda taught us well.”

  Smiling, she said, “I can see that.” She pointed to the closed door to the deck. “Do you mind if I say thanks again?”

  “Sure, go ahead.”

  When Grace slid open the door, his father’s raised voice greeted them.

  “I don’t want to talk about it!” Big Mac said.

  Uncertain of how to proceed, Grace glanced back at Evan.

  His jaw set with tension, he joined her in the doorway. “Mom, Dad, Grace is leaving, and she wanted to say good-bye.”

  “Thanks again for your hospitality,” Grace said, once again noting the breathtaking view of the Salt Pond from the McCarthy’s deck.

  Linda forced a smile as she said good-bye, and Big Mac gave a short wave.

  “I’ll be back after I walk Grace to the ferry,” Evan said. He ushered her out of the house into bright sunshine a few minutes later. “Sorry about the tension.”

  “Please don’t be. There’s a perfectly good reason for it.”

  “Even though I know that, it’s hard to see him ‘off,’ you know?”

  “I can imagine. He’s still healing, and he’s no doubt frustrated to not be bouncing back as quickly as he’d like. I’m sure it’s very difficult for him, too.”

  “Yeah, I guess. He hates everyone hovering over him, but what’re we supposed to do?”

  “Nothing else you can do but stand by him until he’s back to normal.”

  “It’s weird, because he was doing a lot better, and then suddenly it was two steps backward again.”

  “Do you think maybe something happened?”

  “Could be,” Evan said pensively as they walked into town. “I hadn’t really thought of that. I just figured he was being stubborn.”

  “I’ll bet something happened that scared him.”

  “Maybe.”

  They approached Gold’s Pharmacy, and Grace took a long, measuring look. “You don’t see that very often anymore,” she said, gesturing to the clapboard house that served as the island’s pharmacy.

  “What’s that?”

  “A pharmacy that’s not part of a chain.”

  “Are you with one of the chains?”

  She shook her head. “I work at a hospital.” Noting that the pharmacy was open early, she said, “Do we have time to go in?”

  He checked his watch. “Thirty minutes until the ferry to New London leaves.”

  “I’ll be quick.”

  Evan followed her into Gold’s. The store was small but well organized with a pharmacy counter located in the back. A gray-haired woman was coming up the center aisle as they made their way to the back of the store.

  “Hi there, Evan,” she said, eyeing Grace with interest.

  “Hi, Mrs. Gold. This is Grace Ryan. She’s a pharmacist on the mainland, and she was interested in your store.”

  Mrs. Gold’s eyes went wide with excitement. “Is she interested in buying my store?” she asked in a nasally New York accent.

  Grace wasn’t sure she’d heard her right. “Excuse me?”

  Mrs. Gold let out a long-suffering sigh. “Mr. Gold and I have been trying to sell the store for some time now. Our grandchildren live in New York, and we’d like to be closer to them. If you know of anyone who might be interested, keep us in mind. We do a good business since we’re the island’s only pharmacy.” To Evan, she added, “As you know, island life isn’t for everyone. So the buyers aren’t exactly crawling from the woodwork.”

  Grace’s spine tingled with excitement at the idea of owning her own pharmacy. She’d never once considered such a thing. “What are you looking for in a buyer?” she asked.

  Evan held up his arm and tapped a finger on his watch, reminding Grace that they needed to go. He was probably anxious to be rid of her.

  “Never mind,” Grace said. “I have a ferry to catch.”

  “I’ll give you the flyer,” Mrs. Gold said, leading them to the front of the store where she pressed a piece of paper into Grace’s hands. Their gazes met and held, and once again Grace experienced a tingle along her spine. Those tingles had led her into the pharmacy field in the first place and had helped her decide to have the surgery. She’d learned to pay attention to them. “It was nice to meet you, Grace. I hope we’ll see you again.”

  “Thank you, Mrs. Gold.”

  When she and Evan were back on the sidewalk, Grace folded the flyer, intending to put it in the purse she didn’t have. Rather, she held it awkwardly in the same hand as her phone while they walked the short distance to the ferry landing.

  “Take this,” Evan said, handing her a hundred-dollar bill. “It should be enough to get you back to the mainland and home in a cab.”

  “It’s too much, Evan! I don’t need that much.”

  He closed her hand around the bill in a gesture that touched her deeply. “Take it, please. I’ll feel better knowing you have enough to get home.”

  His kind words nearly brought tears to her eyes, but she blinked them back and worked up a smile for him. “I’ll pay you back. I promise.”

  “No need. It was a pleasure to meet you. I hope everything works out for you.”

  “You, too. Good luck with your CD and the tour and everything.”

  “Thanks.”

  They stood there for a moment before Grace pressed an awkward hug on him and managed to smack her forehead on his jaw. “Sorry.” By the time she pulled back, her cheeks were heated with embarrassment. She couldn’t even hug a guy properly. Maybe she should quit while she was ahead or join a convent—anything to avoid scenes such as this in the future.

  Seeming amused, he rubbed his jaw. “You’d better get a move on.” He nodded to the ferry and pointed to the window where tickets were sold.

  “Oh, right. Well, see you.”

  “Take care, Grace.”

  She scurried off to buy a ticket and made it on to the ferry just as the horn blared out a departure warning. On the ferry’s top deck, she went to the rail and was astounded to find Evan still standing right where she’d left him. Her gaze met his, and his dimpled grin hit her like a punch to the gut, sending a torrent of tingles down her spine. He raised a hand to her, and she returned his smile and the wave.

  As the ferry steamed out of port, returning her to the place where she was known as the “fat girl” and “The Whale,” Grace’s spirits took a dive. By the time the ferry cleared the island’s south bluffs, she was already planning a return visit to Gansett Island. She owed Evan McCarthy a hundred dollars. After all he’d done for her, the least she could do was pay him back.

  Chapter 4

  Evan watched until Grace’s ferry was out of sight. There’d been something strangely endearing about her, and he was sort of sorry to see her go. Not that she was his type or anything—far from it. She was the kind of girl who had “forever” tattooed on her forehead in permanent ink, whereas Evan had “on
e-night stand” stamped in temporary ink on his.

  The truth of it, he thought as he walked over to the Sand & Surf Hotel to see if Owen was around, was that he’d liked talking to her. Even though she had to be reeling from what her so-called boyfriend had done, she’d still managed to laugh and spar with him and entertain him with her inappropriate-laughter stories.

  She was a nice girl. Too nice for him, that was for sure.

  At the Surf, he peeked in the windows but found no signs of life, so he continued on toward his parents’ North Harbor home. The tooting of a horn stopped him, and he turned to find his father’s best friend, Ned Saunders, pulling up to the curb.

  “Give ya a ride?”

  “I won’t say no to that,” Evan said, hopping into the passenger seat and kicking at the coffee cups littering the floor. “It’s hot as hell.”

  “Whatcha doing out and about so early? Ya usually sleep in after a gig.”

  “I took a friend to catch the ferry.”

  “Ahhh,” Ned said with a knowing smile. “I gotcha.”

  “Not that kind of friend.” Evan filled him in on what had happened the night before with Grace.

  “I think I met her. She asked about hotels, and I told her the island was all booked up for the long weekend. Nice of ya to help her out.”

  “Just doing what my dad would expect me to do in that situation, especially since she was stranded at our marina.”

  “A real pretty gal, as I recall.”

  “I guess.” Evan knew better than to show too much interest in a woman, especially when he was home on Gansett where the rumor mill ran on fumes. Throwing gas on the fire wasn’t in his plan for the day. “Let me ask you something, Ned.”

  “Anything ya want.”

  “Are you worried about my dad?”

  Ned’s deep sigh answered for him. “He just ain’t himself, is he?”

  Evan shook his head. “He seemed to be getting better, but now it’s like he’s going backward or something. I don’t know if it’s Janey’s wedding or baby Hailey arriving during the storm or what. But something set him back.”

  “Might be time to take him back to the doctor. Maybe David could help.”

  “I doubt Dad would want to see the guy who cheated on his daughter.”

  “Well, David did save baby Hailey,” Ned reminded him. Mac and Maddie’s baby arrived a month early during the recent tropical storm, and David’s quick action had prevented a tragedy when Hailey emerged blue and not breathing. “Yer daddy is no doubt grateful about that.”

  Evan thought about it for a minute. “Would you mind dropping me at Mac’s rather than my folks’ place?”

  “No problem.”

  “So how’re the wedding plans coming?” Evan asked and watched in amazement as Ned’s ruddy cheeks reddened.

  “Fine.”

  Hooting with laughter, Evan jabbed at the older man’s arm and started humming “Here Comes the Bride.”

  “Let’s see how funny ya find it when it’s yer turn.”

  Evan shuddered. “That’ll never happen.”

  “Sure it won’t. Betcha brother Mac was singing the same song five seconds before he knocked Maddie off her bike.”

  “He’s made for fatherhood and family life. That’s so not my scene.”

  “Yet.”

  “I plan to follow your path and settle down at sixty something.”

  “Don’t be a fool,” Ned said with an uncharacteristic sharpness that took Evan by surprise. “I missed out on everything. Never got to have kids of my own and had to share yer daddy’s family.”

  “Sorry. I didn’t mean to…you know…”

  Ned waved off the apology. “Biggest mistake I ever made was not fighting fer my gal. I just let her go. Took more than thirty years to get her back.” Ned’s voice softened to a tone just above a whisper. “If ya find the right one, don’t be a pigheaded fool and let her get away. Ya’ll regret it the rest of yer life.” He navigated the twists and turns of Sweet Meadow Farm Road and pulled up to Mac and Maddie’s spacious home.

  Evan started to get out of the car but stopped and turned back to Ned. “You were a damned good second dad to us, Ned. You still are. The way I see it, all you missed out on were the bills, the dents in your car and the enforcement of a staggering set of rules, most of which were broken on a regular basis.”

  Smiling, Ned cleared his throat and reached out to squeeze Evan’s shoulder. “That’s real good of ya to say, son.”

  “I only speak the truth, and I know the others would agree.”

  “Don’t worry about yer daddy. We’ll get him through this.”

  “I hope you’re right.”

  “I’m always right,” Ned said with a knowing smirk. “Ask yer brothers and Joe and Luke. They’ll tell ya.”

  “I’ll take your word for it. Thanks for the ride.”

  “My pleasure. Ya called before ya showed up here, didn’t ya?”

  “No,” Evan said, taken aback. “Why do I have to call my own brother before I go to his house?”

  Ned chuckled. “Ya got a lot ta learn about women, son, especially when they just had a baby.”

  “Great,” Evan said as he closed the door to Ned’s cab with a little more force than required.

  With a cheerful toot of the horn, Ned drove off.

  As Evan took the stairs to his brother’s deck, it occurred to him that Ned was right. He probably should’ve called first. Before Mac had gotten married and become a dad, it wouldn’t have been necessary for Evan to ask permission to see his brother. In fact, he’d once decided to spend a weekend with him in Miami and jumped a plane to surprise Mac. They’d had a freaking blast, and it made Evan mad to think he needed to call before he showed up at his own brother’s house. If his wife didn’t like it, too damned bad.

  “What the hell crawled up your ass and died?” Mac asked as he opened the screen door for Evan.

  “Nothing.”

  “Hey, Evan,” Maddie called from the kitchen. “Nice to see you. Want some coffee?”

  “No, thanks.” Evan immediately felt terrible for the nasty thoughts he’d directed at a sister-in-law who’d never done anything to deserve them. The fact she even spoke to him after what he’d done to her when they were in school was a damned miracle, and he would do well to remember that. “How’s the baby?” he asked, because he knew he should.

  “Sleeping now, of course.” Mac shared a grin with his wife. “She’s a night owl.”

  “She’s got her days and nights mixed up,” Maddie said as she came into the room and pressed a kiss to Evan’s cheek.

  “You’re awfully perky considering you had a baby a couple of days ago and probably haven’t slept since,” Evan said.

  Mac slipped an arm around Maddie. “My wife is a warrior.”

  “She must be to give birth to a McCarthy.”

  Maddie flashed them a winning grin. She kissed Mac and shooed them toward the deck. “Go have some brother time. Everything is under control here—for the moment, anyway.”

  “Call me if you need me,” Mac said as he followed Evan outside.

  The brothers took the stairs to the yard and strolled across the meadow where Mac and Maddie had exchanged vows just over a year ago.

  “What’s going on, Ev? You look all weird in the eyes.”

  “Do I?”

  Mac nodded.

  “Something’s up with Mom and Dad. They’re fighting. A lot. I’m worried that Dad’s backsliding. Remember how good he was when the baby was born? All excited and him again?”

  “Yeah. He was great when Maddie was in labor. I never could’ve gotten through it without him.”

  “He’s back to being grouchy, the way he was before the wedding. Mom is doing her best to give him some room, but it’s not easy when all he does is bite her head off. If he does that when I’m there, imagine what goes on when they’re alone. I’m afraid it’s probably even worse than I think.”

  Mac stopped walking and turned to face his bro
ther. “Why do you say that?”

  “I met this girl last night. She’d had a really rough night.” He told Mac about Grace’s boyfriend ditching her at the marina. “I took her home, put her up in Janey’s old room, and Mom never said a word. She didn’t grill me or give me the third degree or invite her back to the island for our wedding. She didn’t do any of her usual Linda stuff. Well, she did cook breakfast for Grace before I took her to the ferry.”

  “Thank God for that much. Otherwise, I’d think she’d been abducted by aliens.”

  “Exactly! And it was all Dad could do to say hi to her, which isn’t like him.”

  “That is strange. Normally, he’d be after her life story.”

  “That’s what I thought, too. I’m worried about them, Mac. I’ve never seen them so at odds.”

  Mac scratched at the stubble on his jaw. “Maddie was saying that Mom seems distracted. I figured it was the baby’s arrival and all the excitement of Janey’s wedding. I guess I’ve been preoccupied myself. I haven’t been paying attention.”

  “Who could blame you? You’ve had a lot going on.” Evan glanced at the sprawling contemporary his brother called home and then back at Mac.

  “What?”

  “It’s still kind of funny seeing you all domesticated. I never thought I’d see the day.”

  “Neither did I, but when the right one comes along…” Mac shrugged.

  Evan was hearing that same refrain a lot lately. “No regrets?”

  “Not a single one. When it’s the real deal, it’s the easiest thing in the world.”

  “Don’t you ever miss your old life?”

  “Nope.”

  “And you’re okay with the idea that there’ll only be one woman in your bed for the rest of your life?”

  His brother held back a laugh. “Totally fine with it.”

  “Really?”

  “Really.” Mac gave up on trying to restrain his laughter. “What’s with all the questions?”

  Evan’s skin felt hot, as if he had hives or something. “There’s an outbreak of matrimony going on all around me. I’m trying to understand the allure. That’s all.”