by Marie Force
“I know that, too. What will you say when Charlie tells you he loves you and wants to support you through it?”
“That’s different. We aren’t engaged or having children together, and he doesn’t love me. Not like Laura loves you.”
“If that’s what you think, you haven’t been paying attention to the way he looks at you. Love is love, Mom. You need to be prepared for him to want to come.”
Out of the corner of his eye, Owen saw his mother shudder at the thought of Charlie coming with them to Virginia.
“I talked to John today,” he said of his brother who worked as a police officer in Tennessee. “He can’t make it next week or to the wedding. They have two guys out on medical leave, so he can’t get the time off. He said to tell you he’s sorry.”
“So… That leaves just us, huh?”
All of Owen’s six siblings had called in the last week to tell him they couldn’t make it to the trial for one reason or another. For most of them it had come down to a choice—go to the trial or come to Gansett for his wedding. Not surprisingly, most of them had chosen option B.
“It’s all right. Between the two of us, we’ll get the job done.” The only thing that mattered at the end of the day was seeing his father put away for a long time for the abuse he’d inflicted on his wife and children for decades, culminating in the vicious beating that had brought Sarah to Gansett last fall to recover. She’d stayed ever since and had been instrumental in helping him and Laura run the Sand & Surf Hotel and care for Holden, too.
“I don’t know what I’d ever do without you, Owen. You and I… We’ve traveled a long road together.”
“I was just thinking how Laura and I never would’ve gotten through the last year without you here to help us.”
The comment drew a smile from his mother. He’d never seen her so happy or so at peace and hated the thought of the trial disrupting that hard-won peace for either of them. “Despite everything that brought me here, this year has been one of the best of my life. With some time and perspective, I can’t believe I ever lived the way I did for as long as I did.”
“That’s over now. One more hurdle to clear and you’re free.”
“Two hurdles. Still waiting on the divorce, too. Naturally, your father is stonewalling the entire process.”
“Of course he is.”
“I wish I could’ve been there when his lawyer informed him that he has to pay half his pension to me every month.”
Owen grunted out a laugh. “You earned every dime of it and then some. Besides, he’ll be getting his three hots and a cot from the Commonwealth of Virginia for the foreseeable future. He won’t have much need for his pension.”
“What if he’s not convicted?” Sarah asked, her brows furrowing with worry.
“He will be. There’s no way he’s going to walk with all the evidence we have piled up against him. David, Blaine and Slim will all be there to testify about your condition and injuries when you got here last October. It’s a slam dunk.”
“Except none of them can testify to the fact that they saw your father beat me.”
“That’s where I come in. I’ll testify that I saw him repeatedly beat you. We’ll get him, Mom. Try not to worry.”
“What I really worry about is what’ll happen if we don’t get him. He’ll come after me, and we’ll all be in danger.”
“He won’t come near you. No matter what happens in the trial, you’ll still have a restraining order that keeps him far away from you.”
“I hate the idea of seeing him again. I know you must feel the same way. It’s been a long time.”
“Not long enough, but I’ll do whatever it takes to make sure he can never lay a hand on you or anyone else ever again.” Despite his intense desire to keep his emotions out of the equation, his voice wavered on those last words.
“Owen…”
“I look at him, you know?” Gazing down at the baby he loved with everything he had, Owen ran his hand over Holden’s back. “He trusts me implicitly. He trusts me enough to fall asleep in my arms because he already knows I’d never let anything happen to him. How does anyone violate that kind of trust and hurt a child who depends on them for everything? How does a man become that kind of monster?”
“I don’t know,” Sarah said with a weary sigh. “I’ll never understand how that happens. And you’ll never know how much I regret the way you grew up, the sacrifices you made for all of us.”
“I have no regrets, because everything that happened led me to exactly where I belong—and it led you to where you belong, too.”
Holden squirmed in his arms but didn’t wake up.
“I’m going to walk him upstairs.” Owen stood, balancing the baby carefully. “Talk to Charlie, Mom. Let him in. You won’t be sorry you did.”
“Even if he insists on coming with us?”
“Especially then.”
She smiled up at him. “You’re a son any mother would be proud to call her own.”
“It’s all thanks to you. We don’t give the sperm donor any credit.”
Sarah laughed the way he hoped she would. “No, we don’t.”
“Have a good time tonight. I’ll see you later.”
“See you.”
Owen left his mother rocking on the front porch and stepped into the cool lobby, where one of the young women they’d hired to help during the summer managed the front desk. She smiled at him as he went by with Holden.
He went up the stairs to the third-floor apartment he shared with Laura and Holden. They were going to have to find a bigger place before the two new babies arrived early next year, but for now, their rooms at the hotel suited them. In truth, Owen would be sad to move out of the apartment where he’d fallen in love with Laura and lived so happily with her and Holden.
He used his key in the door and moved quietly inside the apartment, where Laura was enjoying an afternoon nap. She’d been so tired during her first trimester with the twins. As with Holden, she’d also suffered from horrible morning sickness that tended to go on for most of the day. That was another reason Owen wanted her to stay home when he went to Virginia.
Owen deposited Holden into his crib and pulled the lightweight blanket over him that his mother had crocheted. Sarah fussed over the baby like a proud grandmother. It didn’t matter to her, any more than it mattered to Owen, that another man had fathered him. Holden was his, and he was Sarah’s, too. There was nothing either of them wouldn’t do for him.
Before he left the baby to sleep, Owen bent over the crib to kiss his soft head. Closing the door behind him, he went into the bedroom he shared with Laura, who was curled up on her side, her blonde hair spread out on the pillow. Moving slowly so he wouldn’t disturb her, he stretched out next to her on the bed and tried to force himself to relax. However, relaxation of any kind would be all but impossible until they got through the trial that had been hanging over them for almost a year now.
He tried not to think about the worst-case scenario—that his father might actually be acquitted. But even if that unlikely outcome occurred, at least his mother had finally left him once and for all. Owen and his siblings had spent years pleading with her to leave, but she had always gone back—until this most recent blowup, after which she had finally ended the marriage for good. His father was now out of all their lives, or he would be before much longer.
Without opening her eyes, Laura reached out to him, her hand landing on his chest. “What’s on your mind?”
“Nothing much. Just taking a break next to my favorite girl.”
Her lips curved into a small smile. “I’m a ball of laughs lately. If I’m not puking, I’m sleeping.”
Since she was awake, he reached for her and brought her into his embrace, her head resting on his chest. “I’ll take you any way I can get you.”
“Love truly is blind.”
“I love you so much, Laura. You can’t possibly know how much.”
Her eyes opened and zeroed in on his face. “Wha
t’s wrong?”
“You think something’s wrong because I told you how much I love you?”
“It’s more the way you said it, as if you’re worried I don’t know. So tell me what’s wrong.”
Owen knew it was probably pointless to try to talk her out of coming with them, but he felt he needed to try again anyway. “I wish you weren’t coming to Virginia.” He paused before he added, “That didn’t come out the way I intended it to. You know I want you with me no matter where I am. It’s just this time… The thought of you hearing all that…”
Laura raised herself up so she could see his face. “Are you afraid it might change how I feel about you if I hear the dirty details about your father?”
“Maybe.”
“It won’t.” She kissed him and gazed down at him with love in her eyes. “Please don’t ask me to let you go through this by yourself. You did it alone for thirty-four years. You’re not alone anymore.”
Her sweet words brought tears to his eyes. In his wildest imagination, he never could’ve dreamed of the life or the love he’d found with her. Trying to contain the flood of emotion that wanted out, he closed his eyes tightly. He didn’t want to be this guy—the one who was laid low by childhood demons he should’ve conquered long ago.
Determined to power through it the way he always did, he settled her gently back on her pillow and sat up. “My mom’s going out with Charlie tonight. Why don’t we take dinner down to the beach and let Holden get dirty?”
Laura looked at him intently before she nodded in agreement. “Sure, that sounds like fun.”
He leaned over to kiss her. “I’ll go to the store and get something for dinner. Be right back.” Owen left the apartment feeling like he’d dodged an emotional bullet. He knew she was only trying to help him, but her sweetness and desire to help made him feel raw and unable to face the firestorm that lay ahead of him. Somehow he had to find a way to talk her out of coming with them, and he only had a few days left in which to do it.
Chapter 2
For a long time after Owen left, Laura lay on the bed, thinking about what he’d said. He really didn’t want her to go with him, and she understood why. However, she couldn’t imagine letting him face such an upsetting and difficult thing on his own, which left her truly torn by what he said he wanted and what she thought he needed.
A light tap on the door jarred her out of her thoughts. “Come in.”
“Just me,” her brother Shane said.
“I’m in here.”
He appeared in the bedroom doorway, tall, handsome and deeply tanned from working outdoors all summer. In addition to helping her and Owen at the hotel, he’d been overseeing the building of affordable housing on property left to the town by the late Mrs. Chesterfield.
“You’re home early,” Laura said.
“It’s so freaking hot out. I couldn’t take any more.”
“Grab something to drink. There’s water and soda in the fridge, and I think Owen’s got some beer, too.”
“I’d die for a Coke.” Shane went to the tiny galley kitchen and returned with his soda and a cold bottle of water for her that Laura accepted gratefully.
“Have a seat,” she said, gesturing toward the end of the bed. He was lean but muscular, too. His light brown hair had bleached to blond in the summer sun.
“I’m too dirty.” He leaned against the doorway and guzzled his drink, sighing with pleasure as he ran the can over his face. The time on the island had been good for her younger brother. He’d recovered—as much as one ever did—from the bitter disappointment of his failed marriage to Courtney, who’d hidden an addiction to pain medication from him. “Where’s my nephew?”
“Taking a nap.”
“I was going to ask if I could take him down to play in the sand.”
“We’re going down there for dinner.” She reached for her phone and sent Owen a text, telling him to add a sandwich for Shane. “You’re coming with us.”
“I am?”
“You are. I just told Owen to get you something for dinner.”
His bright blue eyes were filled with amusement. “You’re as bossy as you were when we were kids. You know that, don’t you?”
“You like it when I take care of you. You may as well admit it.”
“Yeah, I do. Old habits are hard to break. I keep thinking it’s probably time I got out of your hair around here. You could be making money on my room.”
“You’re not going anywhere, and we’re making plenty of money on the other rooms in this place, so get that thought right out of your head. We love having you here with us.”
“Still… I probably need to figure things out and get a life of my own rather than piggybacking on yours.”
“That’s not what you’re doing. You’ve been a huge help to us with the baby and the hotel. You’re part of our family, Shane. We like having you here. I really don’t want you to go.”
“Owen probably doesn’t like having your brother around all the time.”
“That’s also not true. He loves you—almost as much as I do. Watching you two become good friends has been such a pleasure for me.”
“If that ever changes, you’ll tell me, right?”
“It’s not going to change.”
“Laura…”
“Fine, I’ll tell you, but I’m not going to change my mind and neither is Owen. This is your home now. Relax and enjoy it.”
“I do like being with you guys, and having the rest of the family nearby is cool, too.”
“It sure does beat sitting alone in your dark apartment.”
His smile faded at the reminder of how he’d spent a year after his marriage imploded. “It certainly does.”
“Can I ask your advice on something?”
“You want my advice? Wow, this is quite a moment for the little brother.”
“Seriously.”
His smile faded. “What’s wrong?”
“The trial.”
“What about it?”
“Owen doesn’t want me to go.”
“He came right out and said that?”
“Yes.”
“Did he say why?”
“The first time he brought it up, he made it about the travel and the baby and all that. But we just talked about it again, and he’s ashamed of airing his family’s dirty laundry in front of me. I’ve already heard a lot of it, but there’s got to be so much more I haven’t heard.”
“You can’t blame him for wanting to protect you from that.”
“I don’t blame him, but who will protect him? How do I let him go through that alone?”
“Maybe he needs to do this alone, Laura.”
“He’s been so there for me, you know? From the very beginning. Before there was even anything romantic between us, he was taking care of me. I want to take care of him, but he won’t let me.”
“Have you talked to Sarah about it?”
“Not yet, but I probably should.”
“It’s so hard to believe—when I see the way he is with Holden and with you—that he was fathered by a man like that.”
“I know,” Laura said with a sigh. “He doesn’t say so, but he worries his father’s character is lurking inside of him. I’ve never seen any sign of that kind of rage. Well, except for the night his mother arrived here last fall after his father had beaten her up. He wanted blood that night.”
“That’s a natural reaction any decent man would feel after seeing his mother abused.”
“What should I do about the trip?”
“You’ve got a couple of days to figure it out, but I can see why you want to go—and I can see why he doesn’t want you there. He’s trying to protect you.”
“And I love him for that, but I want to protect him. I want to be there with him through all of this. He’d never let me go through something like this by myself. Remember the night I went to Providence to have it out with Justin when he was refusing to sign the divorce papers?”
Shane nodded.
“Owen went with me and sat at a different table so he could be right there if I needed him. He couldn’t bear the thought of me going alone, and that’s how I feel about him going to the trial without me.”
“Perhaps you should remind him of that incident and how important it was to him to be there for you.”
“You’re right. I should. Thanks, Shane. I appreciate you listening.”
“Happy to do something for you for a change.”
Holden let out a squeak from his crib.
“I was hoping if I hung out long enough, he’d wake up.” Shane swallowed the last of his soda. “I’ll get him.”
“He’s probably got a thirty-pound diaper.”
“I can handle it. Relax for a few more minutes while you can.”
“Thanks.” Laura lay back on the pillows, smiling as she listened to the delightful chatter between Shane and Holden. The two of them shared a beautiful bond, and Holden lit up at the sight of Shane, which thrilled her brother. Being here with them had been good for him. It had given him time and space to heal but had kept him engaged with the people who loved him while he worked his way through the awful pain that followed Courtney’s descent into addiction. He’d stood by her through rehab only to hear at the end that his marriage was over.
Laura and their dad, Frank, had wondered more than once if Shane would ever get past the pain of his divorce. Since he’d been on the island, however, she’d seen a noticeable improvement, and being around Holden had definitely helped. Having Frank here for the summer had also been great for her and Shane, and Laura was hoping her dad would stay after the summer ended.
Everything was falling into place for them. She just had to get Owen through the next few weeks, and then they could look forward to their wedding and the life they’d have together. She appreciated Shane’s suggestion that she talk to Sarah about the trial and how best to help Owen through it. She’d do that in the morning.
For now, it was time to soldier through the ever-present exhaustion and enjoy this evening with three of her favorite guys.
It had been months since Sarah had felt nervous about going out with Charlie. They’d spent a lot of time together, going to dinner and to the movies. They’d spent many an evening at his place, watching TV, playing board games and cooking meals together. She had no reason at all to be nervous about spending time with the man who had become her closest friend.
