by Marie Force
“That’ll be a story to tell the grandkids someday.”
“I’ll tell them their grandpa was the nicest man I’d ever met. That when I was pregnant with another man’s child, he took care of me like I was the most precious thing in his world and he barely knew me.”
Moved by her, as he was so often, he slid his lips over the fine silk of her hair. “He knew you. He knew you from that first day standing in the rain outside this place.”
“I’ll tell them how he held my hair back when I was sick, bathed my face with cool cloths afterward and how he brushed my teeth for me when I was too weak to do it myself. We’ll talk about how he waited so long for me to be free to love him the way I wanted to, and in all that time, he was nothing but patient and kind to me, the best friend I’d ever had long before there was anything else between us. And I’ll end my story by telling them that the greatest thrill of my life was the first time he told me he loved me.”
Owen could barely breathe, let alone speak as he stroked her arm. He cleared his throat. “Will you tell them how he knocked you up with twins and made you even sicker than you were with Holden?”
Her gentle laugh was a balm on his wounded soul. “I’ll find some better words to use for that part of the story.”
“Is it over for now?”
“Might be.”
Owen got up and held out a hand to help her up. He kept his hands on her hips while she brushed her teeth and then scooped her up the way he had from the beginning and carried her back to bed, tucking her in under the covers before going around to his side. Lying on his side, facing her, he noticed how pale she was with deep, dark circles under her eyes that were new since the last time he looked closely.
He wanted to ask her once again to stay home, but by now he knew the argument was pointless, and he ran the risk of making her think he didn’t want her around, which couldn’t be further from the truth.
“Are you going to tell me what’s wrong?”
“Nothing’s wrong.”
“I could tell with one look at you when you came into the bathroom that something happened. I wish you’d tell me so I don’t have to wonder.”
“I had a dream. No biggie.”
“What was it about?”
“I don’t remember.”
“I don’t believe you.”
He smiled at her saucy reply. He expected nothing less from her. “It was about something that happened a long time ago, something I’d forgotten about.”
“With your dad?”
“Yeah.” Resigned now to having to tell her about it, he looked at the wall behind her so he wouldn’t have to see the sympathy on her face. “My friends and I broke a window playing basketball, and he flipped out about it when he got home. My mom and I got into it with him. It was ugly. I haven’t thought about it in years.”
“How old were you?”
“Ten or around there.”
“The trial has you thinking about stuff you’d sooner forget.”
He appreciated that she didn’t offer platitudes or sympathy he didn’t want. “I guess.”
“It’ll be over soon.”
“Will it? Will it ever really be over?”
“Yes, it will. It’s all resurfacing now because you know you have to see him in a couple of days and testify and hear your mother testify. Before all this, you’d managed to put a lot of distance between yourself and your past.”
“Not as much as I thought I had if I’m this easily undone by the thought of seeing him again.”
“Owen, he terrorized you for years. You’d have to be superhuman not to be undone by the thought of seeing him again. Please don’t put yourself through the added hell of wondering why you’re undone. Anyone would be.”
“I don’t want to be. I want to look right through him so he’ll know he doesn’t matter to me anymore.”
“He’ll know. When he sees us together and how happy we are, he’ll see that he didn’t win. That’s the second reason I want to be there. I want him to see that he didn’t win. You did. He’s going to jail, and you’re going back to your happy life full of love and joy and all the things he denied himself because he couldn’t control his rage.”
“What if he doesn’t go to jail? What if he gets off and never has to pay for what he did?”
“I’ve been thinking a lot about that possibility and worrying about what it’ll do to you and your mother if that happens.”
“And?”
“I’ve decided you’ll both be fine. He’s out of your lives. That’s the most important thing. And a tiger doesn’t change his stripes. He’ll find someone else to bully, and maybe the next time, the law will catch up to him.”
“I don’t want him to be able to do what he did to us to anyone else.”
“Then let’s hope for the best and prepare for the worst. You’ll have to find a way to live with it if it doesn’t go your way. You’ve lived with it this long and have made a good life for yourself. Stay focused on that, and you’ll get through it. I’ll be right here with you the whole way.”
Of all the incredible things she’d said to him, that last one touched him the most. “I’m sorry we have to deal with this.”
“I’m not. If it means your father has his day of reckoning for what he did to you, then it’s well worth whatever else has to happen. At the very least, from everything you’ve told me about him, the public aspect of the trial will be extremely humiliating to him, which is the least of what he deserves.”
“Yeah,” Owen said with a grunt of laughter, “you’re right about that. It gives me a perverse amount of pleasure to imagine him squirming in court while my mother and I air out the family’s dirty laundry. He’ll hate every minute of that.”
“And you should enjoy every minute. If that’s the only justice you ever get, find a way to make it good enough.”
“I will.” He reached out to touch her face, amazed as always by how soft her skin was. “I’ve gone from not wanting you to come with me to wondering how I ever thought I could do it without you.”
Her satisfied little smile drew one from him, too.
“Which was your goal all along,” he said with a laugh.
“That sounds so calculating.”
“I love you. I can’t wait until this is over and we can focus exclusively on our wedding with nothing standing in the way.”
“I don’t want to add to your worries or anything, but there is one teeny tiny other thing still standing in our way.”
Alarmed to hear that, Owen said, “What?”
“I haven’t gotten my final divorce papers yet.”
The reminder that she was still legally married to someone else hit him like a fist to the chest, stealing the breath from his lungs. “Have you talked to Dan? What did he say?”
“He assures me it’s all on schedule and we should be getting the papers any day now.”
“What if they don’t come in time for the wedding?”
“They will.”
“Laura…”
She propped herself up and leaned over to kiss him. “I shouldn’t have said anything. I’m sorry.”
“Of course you should tell me that. We’re calling Dan at one minute after nine today to make sure he’s all over it.”
“If you insist.”
He pulled her closer to continue the kiss she’d started. “I insist.”
Mac was on his way to work when he took a call from his sister. “What’s up, brat?”
“How old do I have to be before I don’t have to put up with that nickname anymore?”
“Sixty? Ish?”
“Very funny. Speaking of very funny and how life comes around full circle, I need you to do something for me.”
As always Mac was prepared to give her a hard time, but since they’d nearly lost her the day P.J. was born, he found that more difficult to do than it had ever been before. Usually, giving Janey a hard time was as easy as breathing to him. He couldn’t allow himself to think about how very clos
e they’d come to losing her without being reduced to tears. Not that he’d ever tell her that… “What do you need?”
“Condoms.”
Okay, he might’ve guessed diapers. He hadn’t seen that one coming. “What? What the hell?”
“Joe and I need condoms, and I’ve decided you’re going to get them for us.”
“You’ve decided? What the hell is wrong with him that he can’t do it?”
“Absolutely nothing is wrong with him, but I want you to do it.”
Recalling the time he’d sent her to get them for him and Maddie when they were first dating and didn’t want the whole island talking about them sleeping together, he had to concede he owed her one—and she knew it. “You think you’re pretty funny, don’t you?”
“I do. In fact, I think I’m downright hilarious. Just make sure you get them to me before bedtime. Joe’s feeling a bit…cooped up and ready to get back to normal. You wouldn’t want me to get pregnant again after what happened with P.J., now would you?”
“This is like a form of emotional blackmail. Right? You know I’m totally over all the train-wreck deliveries around here, so you’re blackmailing me into doing dirty work your husband ought to be doing for you, right?”
“Oh, it’s going to be dirty, all right. The dirtier the better.”
“Janey! Come on! Spare me the gory details, will ya?”
“I’m counting on you, big brother. Don’t let me down.”
“I hate you right now.”
“No, you don’t. You love me, and you know it. Oh, and Mac?”
“Yeah?”
“Get the extra-large ones, will you?” She hung up laughing before he could begin to fashion a reply to that. Disgusted, he tossed his phone onto the seat and grunted out a laugh. He had to give his baby sister credit for a game well played. As the younger sister of four older brothers, Janey had learned to fight dirty from an early age. He could only imagine her plotting out this scheme with Joe and the two of them having a good laugh at his expense.
He’d once done the same exact thing to her, right down to the extra-large comment, so he probably had this coming.
It would be just what they deserved if he poked holes in all the condoms he bought for them. Not that he’d actually do that, because he truly didn’t want Janey having any more kids after what’d happened with P.J. That had been one of the scariest days of his life, and he had absolutely no desire to relive it.
And, as Maddie often told him, it really was all about him.
Now he just had to think of some way to get Janey back for this…
Chapter 12
Sunday mornings in early August were among Big Mac McCarthy’s favorite days at the marina he’d owned and operated for forty summers now. Many of the boaters left early to head for home, and after they’d seen off the others, he and his boys had time to sit around and shoot the shit.
This year had been the best of times because his brother Frank had joined the morning crew after his retirement in June, and having Frankie back in his everyday life made Big Mac almost as happy as having his four sons living home again on the island. His oldest son, Mac, now a partner with him in the marina, was an everyday regular, and his other three boys made occasional appearances at the morning “meeting,” at which Big Mac and his band of buddies attempted to solve the world’s problems.
His longtime best friend, Ned Saunders, was the first to arrive that Sunday morning, and he grunted out a good morning on his way inside to get a coffee and some sugar doughnuts.
Thinking about the early days here, after he’d persuaded Linda to leave her life in Providence to marry him and come live with him on his island, made Big Mac feel sentimental. She’d taken to the place like the proverbial fish to water, making the restaurant her own with her special brand of class and charm that his customers had responded to instantly. The doughnuts had been an inspired idea that had become part of the magic of the place.
And it was magic. What other word could you use to describe the view he had every day of the Salt Pond and all her many personalities? Some days she was so blue it hurt his eyes to look at her. Other days, she was gray and angry and frothy and just as beautiful as every other day. Big Mac appreciated all her many moods.
He loved the boats, the people, the smell of diesel fuel mixing with sand and seaweed. He loved the seagulls that stalked the docks looking for anything edible. He adored the kids who dropped their crabbers into the water off his floating docks, using hot dogs for bait, until they filled a bucket with the slimy creatures. He enjoyed the “crab races” down the ramp off the main dock where the captured crustaceans escaped back into the water unharmed, but leaving behind priceless childhood memories.
Big Mac needed to invite his grandson Thomas down to do some crabbing one of these days. Thomas was old enough this summer to appreciate something his father had once loved. They’d invite Ashleigh, Thomas’s cousin and constant companion, too.
Ned came out to the table and dropped a box of doughnuts in the middle as he took a seat.
“What’s got you so cranky this morning?”
“I ain’t cranky.”
“Tell that to someone who hasn’t seen you every morning for going on forty years.” Ned had been Big Mac’s first friend on the island. Their bond had been immediate and enduring. Now that Big Mac’s other lifelong best friend, his brother Frank, was on the island, Big Mac had gone out of his way to make sure he still had plenty of time for Ned. “What gives?”
“Seamus and Carolina,” Ned said, taking a drink of his coffee.
“What about them?”
“They stole our idea.”
“What idea?”
“Have a cookout and git married.”
“Oh! When was this going to happen?”
“Coupla weeks. After Laura’s. You got any idea how hard it is to find a time around here to git married without steppin’ on someone else’s toes these days? Now I don’t know when we’re gonna do it.”
“Do what?” Big Mac’s son Mac asked as he joined them.
“Git married.”
“Who’s getting married?” Mac asked.
“Everyone but me,” Ned replied glumly. “Waited a long time fer this. I’m ready. She’s ready. Now we gotta come up with another idea cuz Seamus and Caro stole ours.”
“So wait,” Mac said, “you guys were going to do a surprise wedding, too?”
“Was gonna. Didn’t want all the fuss and bother. Now? Who knows?”
“As the son-in-law of the future Mrs. Saunders, I’d be happy to offer up my house, my yard, anything you need to make it happen,” Mac said. “You just say the word, and we’ll get it done.”
At that, Ned visibly brightened, and Big Mac looked upon his oldest son with an unreasonable amount of pride. He knew it wasn’t always cool for a man to love his kids the way Big Mac loved his, but when you had five kids as amazing as his, it was damned hard not to be talking all the time about how great they were. At times like this, they did the talking for him.
“That’s a great idea, son,” Big Mac said. “What do you think, Ned?”
“I’ll talk ta Francine bout it. ’Tis all up to her.”
“You’ll be a fine husband if you already realize that,” Big Mac said.
“Ya think I will? Really?”
“I’m sure you will,” Mac said. “You love her and her girls like they’re your own. Maddie says all the time that she and Tiffany had no idea what it was like to have a father until you came into their lives. And the kids adore their grandpop. You’re going to be great at it.”
With his chin propped on his hand, Ned blinked a few times.
For a second, Big Mac wondered if his old pal would hang on to his composure in the face of such a ringing endorsement.
“Thank you,” Ned said softly. “Means a lot coming from ya.”
Luke Harris joined them, along with some of the other daily regulars who came by for coffee, doughnuts and bullshit every morning.
“No problem,” Big Mac said. “Do what you’ve got to do.”
“I’ll cover for you,” Luke said. “Maybe someday you’ll get to return the favor.”
“I really hope so,” Mac said.
“You know we don’t want to pry,” Big Mac said tentatively, aware that Luke and his wife, Sydney, were trying to have a baby after she’d had a tubal ligation reversal.
“Yes, you do,” Luke said, laughing. “Nothing yet, but we’re having lots of fun trying.”
Big Mac had loved Luke Harris like a son since the fatherless boy showed up at the docks when he was fourteen and asked for a job. He’d been working there ever since. Best thing Big Mac had ever done was make him a partner in the business a couple of summers ago. Luke and Mac were doing a brilliant job of running the place so he could spend more of his time doing what he did best—passing the bull with his friends.
Grant came along a short time later, taking a seat at the table with a coffee in hand. “I have news from the trenches,” Grant said with a triumphant smile that had everyone’s immediate attention.
“Spill it,” Mac said.
“Steph and I are getting married on Labor Day!”
“Oh for shit’s sake,” Ned muttered as the others congratulated Grant.
“What’s wrong with him?” Grant asked, using his thumb to point to Ned.
“He’s having a little trouble fitting his wedding in among all the others,” Mac told his brother. “But I’m happy for you and Steph. That’s great news.”
“Yes, it is,” Big Mac said to his second son, who had found the perfect partner in Stephanie. Big Mac and Linda wholeheartedly approved of the delightful young woman who’d overcome a hardscrabble upbringing to become someone anyone would be proud to welcome into their family. “This is very good news indeed.”
“Happy fer ya, too,” Ned said gruffly. “Don’t think I ain’t. We all got a soft spot for that gal.”
