by Marie Force
Big Mac’s mouth fell open in shock.
“Don’t feel bad,” Linda continued. “Apparently, they were surprised, too. They’d planned to wait until Janey finished school, but she forgot to take her pill—”
He used a kiss to stop her from sharing too many details about his daughter’s sex life—a sex life he still liked to think was nonexistent despite significant evidence to the contrary. Returning his wife to terra firma, he kept his hands on her shoulders. “Is she feeling okay?”
“She’s been terribly tired, which is what got Joe to thinking something was going on.”
“He must be thrilled. He’ll be a wonderful father.”
“I said the same thing. Although apparently, he’s worried. His own father has been gone so long he barely remembers having a father. He’s afraid he won’t be any good at it.”
“That’s ridiculous. He’ll be a natural.”
“Yes, he will,” she said, caressing his face. “He’s had you, and you showed him how fatherhood is done. That baby will be very lucky to have him as its dad.”
“That’s nice of you to say, babe.” He guided her around the corner of the gift shop, out of the view of Mac and Luke, and bent his head to kiss her more thoroughly. “How about we call it a day a little early?” He waggled his brows to let her know what he had in mind.
Her cheeks flushed with color. “I’d love to, but I need to go see Carolina. Did you hear she’s come back to the island for the winter?”
“Mac mentioned that he went out to check her woodstove and roof.”
“Oh, he’s such a good boy. I’m sure Joe appreciated that.”
“I hate to think of her out there all alone in that old house.”
“She won’t be all alone. She has us and lots of other friends.”
He nibbled on her neck, hitting the spot that got her attention every time. “So that’s a ‘no’ on the go-home-early plan?”
“Give me an hour?”
“I suppose I can do that. Don’t forget we’ve got Luke and Syd’s party later, too.”
“I haven’t forgotten. I’ll see you at home in an hour.”
He slapped her on the fanny. “Don’t be late.”
She left him with a kiss that made him wonder how he’d last an hour. “Tell Mac and Luke I’ll see them later.”
After she drove off, he walked down the dock to rejoin the boys.
“Everything all right, Romeo?” Mac asked.
“I should’ve spanked you more often as a child.” He picked up his hammer and grabbed a fistful of nails. “It just so happens that I’m going to be a grandfather again. Congratulations, Uncle Mac.”
“Who? Evan or Grant? Or Adam? Not Adam. He doesn’t even have a girlfriend.”
“Stop getting all excited thinking one of your brothers f’d up. Your sister is expecting.”
Mac’s hammer froze in mid-air as he gaped at his father. “They were going to wait until she finishes school! I thought I had years to get used to the idea before I’d have to see my baby sister knocked up!”
Big Mac shrugged. “Finding out where the plan went wrong would require details I can’t handle.”
Mac nodded, his eyes big. “Right there with ya.”
“You two are ridiculous,” Luke muttered. “Absolutely ridiculous.”
Carolina had just brought the last load of boxes from the Jeep into the house when a horn tooted in the driveway. As she went out to see who was there, Linda McCarthy jumped out of her cute yellow car, swinging a bottle of champagne over her head.
Carolina smiled at her old friend. Apparently, Linda had heard from her daughter.
“Congratulations, Grandma!” Linda said as she enveloped Carolina in a hug.
“Same to you!” She put an arm around Linda to walk her inside. The two women were polar opposites. Linda was petite and polished and classy and always well put-together. Carolina, who had at least four inches on Linda, preferred torn jeans to tailored suits and a messy braid was her idea of doing her hair.
While they might’ve been polar opposites, Linda was also one of her closest friends. Big Mac and Linda McCarthy and their gaggle of kids had been family to her and Joe for longer than she could remember. Actually, since the first day of kindergarten when Joe came home talking about his new friend Mac McCarthy. That’s how far back the two families went. And when Joe married Janey earlier in the summer, they’d made their unofficial family status official.
“Can you even believe it?” Carolina asked. “I thought we’d have to wait years for this news.”
“So did I. Apparently, Janey was forgetful with her pills during a crazy semester.”
“Secretly, I’m glad it happened now before Joe gets too much older.”
“Yes, he’s positively ancient,” Linda said, grinning.
“Sorry for the mess. I literally just got here. I think I probably have some tea I can offer you.”
“The heck with the tea, let’s break out the bubbly!”
Linda managed to blow the cork off the bottle without breaking a window or taking out an eye, but it was a close call on both counts.
Carolina found some wine glasses from the cabinet and washed out the dust that had gathered since they were last used.
When they each had a glass of champagne, Linda held hers up to make a toast. “To our kids and our grandbaby, who is incredibly lucky to have a couple of young, saucy chicks as his—or her—grandmothers.”
Delighted by the idea of sharing a grandchild with Linda and Mac, Carolina touched her glass to Linda’s. “Hear, hear.”
They collapsed into kitchen chairs to enjoy the bubbly.
“You’ve got a bit of a rash on your face,” Linda said, pointing to her own cheek to show Carolina where it was.
“Do I?” Carolina got up and went into the bathroom to take a look. Oh, God. Oh my God. I’m wearing my secret shame on my face. As she returned to the kitchen, her face burned with mortification. “It’s not a rash.”
Linda raised a brow. “No?”
Carolina shook her head and took her seat. “I did a bad, bad thing.”
Instantly interested, Linda leaned in. “Do tell.”
She couldn’t bring herself to look at Linda. “I had sex.”
“Well, it’s about damned time!” Linda smacked her hand on the table, making Carolina jump. “So what we’ve got, ladies and gentlemen of the jury, is a case of razor burn to the face and possibly other areas as well.”
Carolina crossed her legs, trying not to think about what other parts of her might bear the mark of Seamus’s whiskers.
“Are you going to tell me who it was?”
“Never.”
“It’s someone I know?”
Carolina had never been more ashamed of herself. She’d slept with a man roughly the same age as their sons.
“Who’s been telling you for years that you need to get back on the horse?”
If the soreness between her legs and her aching thighs were any indication, she’d gotten back on the horse in a big way.
“I can’t believe you’re clamming up on me. Tell me this much: why was it a bad, bad thing?”
“Because.” Carolina fiddled with the stem of her wine glass. “He’s younger than me.”
“So what?”
She met Linda’s gaze. “A lot younger.”
“It wasn’t one of my sons, was it?”
“Shut up! Of course not. They’re like my own children, for God’s sake.”
“That’s a relief.”
“See? That’s exactly what I was thinking this morning as the mother of a man roughly the same age as the one I slept with. What would his mother think?”
“So you slept with a guy Joe’s age.”
“No! He’s two years older than Joe.”
“Thank God for those two years.” Linda attempted to cover her laughter with a hand over her mouth. “Now, who do I know who’s thirty-eight?”
“Stop! Do not do that!”
“S
o it is someone I know.”
“Linda!”
Linda reached across the table for Carolina’s hand. “Was it good?”
“It was. . . stupendous.”
“And do you like this man?”
Miserably, she nodded. She sooooo didn’t want to like him.
“And does he like you?”
“He likes me too much. He won’t listen to me when I tell him he needs to find someone his own age and get married and have babies. What in the world does he want with an old cougar like me? It’s so wrong!”
Linda choked on her champagne. “What the hell is a cougar?”
“Oh come on! You know.”
Linda shook her head. “I’ve been living on this island for nearly forty years. I’m not exactly up on the hip lingo.”
“A cougar is an older woman who preys on a younger man.”
“And did you prey on this younger man?”
“I was certainly willing, if that’s what you mean. I wasn’t ashamed until this morning when Joe called to tell me the news while I was naked in bed with. . . him.” God, she’d almost said naked in Joe’s guest room, which would’ve told Linda exactly who her too-young lover was.
“You didn’t do anything wrong, Caro. As long as there were two consenting adults in that bed, it doesn’t matter that you’re older than him.”
“It would matter to Joe.”
“I wouldn’t be so sure. If you ask me, he’d want you to be happy. Pete’s been gone such a long time.”
“Thirty years this summer,” Carolina said with a sigh. Sometimes it still felt like yesterday, other times it was like she’d dreamed him, and he’d never really existed. She had only the son who was the image of his father to remind her that Pete had indeed existed, and she’d once loved him more than life.
“In all that time, there hasn’t been anyone else. Isn’t it time?”
“Not with someone who has his whole life in front of him, who should have a family of his own.”
“What if that’s not what he wants?”
“He says he wants me and doesn’t care about having kids.”
“You should listen to him, Caro. A man of thirty-eight certainly knows what he wants out of life—and what he doesn’t.”
Carolina shook her head. “I can’t get involved with him. I just can’t.”
Linda touched a finger to the razor burn on Carolina’s cheek. “Seems to me you’re already involved.”
“It was a one-time thing.” A beautiful, unforgettable one-time thing.
“I’m sorry to hear you say that. I hope you’ll think some more about it before you decide anything for certain. In the meantime, you’re going out tonight.”
Startled, Carolina said, “Where am I going?”
“To a party Luke and Syd are having for the new lighthouse keeper, Jenny Wilks. She lost her fiancé in the World Trade Center on nine-eleven.”
“Oh, my. That poor girl.”
“She’s had a hard time jumpstarting her life after her loss. I think you ought to meet her. The two of you have a lot in common.”
“I’m not in any mood for a party, and besides, I wasn’t invited.”
“I’m inviting you. For goodness sakes, you know we don’t stand on formality around here. Put some makeup on that ‘rash.’ Mac and I will pick you up at seven.” She stood and planted a kiss on Carolina’s cheek. “I have to get home and have sex with my husband before the party.”
Carolina put her hands over her ears. “Too much information.”
“I may try this cougar thing on him.”
“It won’t work because he’s older than you, but go get em, tiger.”
“Don’t mind if I do.”
“Linda?” Carolina stopped her friend at the door. “You won’t tell anyone, will you?”
“Of course not, honey. But I’m going to badger you about keeping your options open.”
“Cougars and tigers and badgers, oh my.”
Laughing, Linda walked out the door. “See you at seven, Granny.”
Owen left a trail of kisses on Laura’s back, hoping to rouse her out of a deep sleep. “Time to wake up, Princess.” He felt sort of guilty for wearing her out so thoroughly that she’d slept for hours after the second time they made love. The sex had been so damned good, better than anything he’d ever imagined possible between two people. Apparently, love made all the difference. Who knew?
Keeping up the kisses until she finally stirred, Owen told himself he should let her sleep, but after just a couple of hours without her, he missed her. What a fool she’d made of him.
“Mmm,” she said, making him smile.
He added more kisses to her lower back. “Laura, are you in there?” Only when he gave a light pinch to her bottom did she open her eyes.
“Ow.”
“Sorry, but I’ve been trying to wake you up for ten minutes.”
“You’re not sorry.”
“No, I’m not. I got to play with your awesome bum. Did I ever tell you your bum is awesome?” As if to prove his point, he cupped a cheek and squeezed. “It’s a really, really good bum.”
“I should hope so after all the years I’ve spent in yoga class.”
Owen’s brows lifted straight up to his hairline. “Yoga?”
She bit her lip, as if trying to hold back a laugh, and nodded. “I’m super flexible.”
He swallowed hard. “I may need a demonstration of said flexibility. Very, very soon.”
As if he were a naughty schoolboy, she patted his face. “If you behave.”
“Behaving is no fun,” he said, kissing her neck and then her lips. With one arm around her, he snuggled her in close and was rewarded with a nudge to the belly from the baby. “I think he likes me.”
“Do you think you’ll like him?” she asked, looking up at him with bottomless blue eyes.
“I know I will. He’s part of you, and I love every part of you.”
“It might be prudent to wait and see on this one, Owen. It’s a big deal, and I wouldn’t blame you—”
He stopped her with a deep kiss full of all the love and longing he’d spent so many weeks trying to hide from her.
She pulled back and held him at arm’s length. “Don’t try to change the subject.”
With frustration rippling off him in great waves, he sat up and ran his fingers through his hair. “I know it’s a big deal, Laura. I get it. Trust me on that.”
“It’s a lot to ask anyone to take on. Everything between us is so new, and who knows how you’ll feel in a couple of months when it all becomes very real?”
He stared at her, incredulous. “You still think I’m going to bolt, don’t you? After all we’ve already been through together, you’re waiting for me to cut and run.”
Gripping his arm, she stopped him when he would’ve left the bed. “I don’t think you’re going to bolt. Honestly, I don’t. But it’s really important to me that you know if the day comes when it becomes too much for you, all you have to do is say so.”
How could she say that? Especially after what had just transpired between them. “Duly noted.”
“You’re mad.”
Scrubbing his hands over his face, he released a ragged deep breath and forced himself to look at her. “Not mad. Frustrated, I guess.” Taking her hand, he brought it to his lips. “When I say I love you, I mean it. I really do.”
“I know you do. You’ve shown me that every day for months.”
“I’ve gone out of my way to avoid words like ‘love’ and ‘forever’ because I wasn’t willing to make the commitment that goes with them. Now I am.”
Her eyes went soft and misty, which made him want her all over again. “And I love you for that. More than you could possibly know. All I’m saying is it’s one thing to make a commitment to me. It’s another thing altogether to commit to a baby who isn’t yours.”
He bit back a flash of anger. “When is your next doctor’s appointment?”
She seemed surprised by t
he question and his unusually sharp tone. “Um, I’m seeing Victoria, the midwife, on Monday for an exam and ultrasound. Why?”
“Can I come?”
Her eyes got very big, and she started to say something but stopped herself.
“Well, can I?”
“Y-yes, I suppose if you really want to.”
“I really want to. What about the classes? The ones they show in the movies with all the huffing and puffing.”
Biting back a laugh at his description, she said, “Childbirth preparation?”
“Yeah. Who’s going to that with you?”
“I was going to ask Grace—”
“I’ll do it.”
“Oh.” She seemed momentarily speechless. “You know that means you also have to be in the delivery room as my labor coach, right?”
“Duh.” He knew he sounded like a bratty ten-year-old, but damn it, she’d pissed him off by questioning his commitment. And as fast as he’d worked up the head of steam it dissipated. He supposed it was only natural that she’d be concerned about whether he would be as committed to her child as he was to her. “Sorry. That was uncalled for.”
Laura held out her arms to him. “Come here.”
Under no circumstances could he resist her when she looked at him that way. Even though he was still annoyed and agitated, he slid into her warm embrace. Being in her arms was like coming home, only better. As a military brat, he’d never been truly at home anywhere, except for the summers he’d spent at the Surf with his grandparents. How ironic—and fitting—that the hotel should serve as the backdrop for this new chapter in his life.
“I’m sorry.” She kissed his cheek and ran a soothing hand over his back. “I didn’t mean to question your commitment. That’s not fair after everything you’ve done for me.”
“It’s not about what I’ve done for you. I only do exactly what I want to—nothing more, nothing less. Being with you, doing things for you, it’s the most natural thing in the world to me.”
She tightened her hold on him. “Owen. . .”
“What, honey?”
“Do you really want to be my labor coach?”
“Hell, yes. I want to be there when the little guy takes his first breath. I want to be there for his first steps. I want to be there for everything.” When his gaze met hers, he was surprised to find her eyes swimming with tears. “What?”
