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

by Marie Force

  “I wish you could come with me.”

  “So do I.”

  “That’s progress on all fronts. One, that you want to be with me, and two, that you’d have to fly with me to get there.”

  “I definitely want to be with you. The flying? Still not high on my to-do list, but getting the first time out of the way was huge. I… I’ve been thinking I might see about an appointment with Dr. McCarthy when I get back to the island to work on my long list of issues.”

  “Your list isn’t that long.”

  “It’s longer than you think. Have you noticed that I need everything just so, that I’m constantly arranging and rearranging? Or that I have to touch things with my left hand or something awful will happen to someone I love? My OCD is about having control over things—or the perception of control, anyway.”

  He reached for her hand and linked their fingers. “People don’t get to our age without baggage, Erin. We’ve all got stuff. Yours doesn’t make you any less attractive to me, in case you were wondering.”

  “That’s nice to hear,” she said, smiling at him. How would she live without that gorgeous face to look at all day every day? “What am I supposed to do for fun without you around?”

  “Call me? FaceTime? Text?”

  She made a pout face. “Hard to go back to that after the last eleven days.”

  “I want you to think about coming to Evan’s wedding and to Florida after. Talk to Mr. McCarthy. He’ll help you find a way to be gone from the lighthouse for a couple of months.”

  “That’ll be asking a lot after leaving the way I did to come here.”

  “It won’t hurt to ask. I’ll even put in a good word for you.”

  “You’re sweet to want to help and to want me underfoot in Florida.”

  He kissed her hand and nibbled on her knuckles, which set off fireworks inside her. That was all he had to do to get her motor running. “I want you more than underfoot. I want you under me in bed, on top of me, next to me. I want you, Erin Barton.”

  Moved and aroused by his passionate words, she said, “I want you, too.”

  “We’re going to figure this out. I promise.”

  “You’re awfully certain.”

  “I’m certain that I’ve waited a long time to feel this way about someone, and there’s no way I’m going to let you slip through my fingers.”

  Keeping her hand linked with his, Erin got up to go around the countertop to where he was sitting. She stepped between his legs and let go of his hand to put her arms around him. “I’m going to miss you like crazy.”

  “Same goes, sweetheart.”

  “I’m not ready for our time together to be over.”

  “It’s not over. It’s just getting started.” He drew back from her, framed her face in his hands and kissed her.

  Erin wanted so badly to believe him that this was the beginning and not the end, but she was programmed to expect the worst. Her heart was heavy with dread and worry for his safety when she drove him to the airport later that morning in her dad’s prized Audi. She pulled up to the curb and got out to see him off.

  He put his backpack on the sidewalk and wrapped her up in a tight hug. “I’ll see you soon, okay?”

  “Okay.” The air was so cold, their warm breath made clouds around them.

  “You believe me?”

  “I want to.”

  “Have some faith.” He kissed her one last time, mindless of where they were and who might be watching as he left her with no doubt whatsoever that he wanted her more than ever. When he pulled back from her, they were both breathless and aroused and, at least in her case, despondent.

  “Let me know that you get there okay.”

  “I will. And I’ll check on you later, too. You’ll hear from me so much, you’ll get sick of me.”

  “Not possible.”

  “We’ll see about that,” he said, flashing the rakish grin that she adored. He gave her another quick kiss and lifted his backpack onto his shoulder. Walking backward, he made his way to the terminal where he’d told her he could cut through to the area where his plane was housed. Smiling at her, he waved before he turned to go inside.

  Erin got back in the car and wiped away tears that she told herself were from the cold, but her heart knew better. It already ached without him by her side to make her laugh and smile and to tell her everything would be all right. It had taken just over a week for him to become essential to her, and now he was leaving for who knew how long. He had to be back in Florida tomorrow night for a scheduled trip to the Bahamas the next day.

  The next break in his schedule was for Evan’s wedding on the eighteenth of January, which was almost three weeks away.

  Erin used the time it took to drive to the hospital to indulge in the emotional wallop of Slim’s departure. She pulled into the parking lot and tried to rally her spirits so she could be supportive of her parents, but her spirits were low today, and there was no hiding that from her mother when they connected outside her dad’s room.

  “So he’s left?” Mary Beth asked.

  “Yes, just now. How’s Dad?”

  “He had a good night. They’ve taken him for a few tests. Now back to your Slim. He’s a lovely, lovely guy, but I don’t suppose I have to tell you that.”

  As her eyes filled once again, Erin shook her head. “No, you don’t.”

  Mary Beth hugged her. “What’re you going to do about him?”

  “I don’t know yet.”

  “Has he said he wants to see you again?”

  “You could say that,” Erin said, laughing. “The first day he was home on Gansett, he asked me to come back to Florida with him for the rest of the winter.”

  “Are you going?”

  “I don’t know yet. I’d love to spend more time with him, but I made a commitment to the town and the lighthouse. I’m building a new life on Gansett, and I love it there.”

  “I’m so glad you’ve found a place you love, Erin, but Gansett will still be there if you take some time away.”

  “I know. I’m thinking about it.”

  “Do you love him?”

  Leave it to Mom to ask the hard questions. “I think I might, but it’s been so long since I’ve loved a guy that I don’t remember how to do it.”

  “Sure, you do. I’ve spent the last week with you two. If you’re not in love with him—and vice versa—then I know nothing about love. I’ve never seen any man look at you the way he does, as if you personally hung the moon.”

  “He’s very special.”

  “I hope you’ll give him an honest, genuine chance to make you happy. I haven’t seen you smile or laugh as much as you do with him in a very long time. Last night, Dad said you light up around him. I completely agree, and I’ve thought so since I first saw you with him last fall. I told Dad then that this guy was going to be something special to you.”

  From the first night she met him, she’d had the same feeling.

  “You know what the most beautiful thing is about being an adult?” Mary Beth asked.

  “What’s that?”

  “You can do anything you want—or not do anything you want. It’s entirely up to you.”

  “That’s sort of the problem. I’m paralyzed with indecision. It would be different, I think, if he lived where I do and we could date like normal people, but for most of the year, he’s elsewhere. Being with him would require me to change my whole life, and I’m not sure I’m prepared to do that again. I’ve already done it too many times.”

  Mary Beth leaned back against the wall. “That’s true, you have, and I can see why the thought of doing it again doesn’t appeal, especially when you’ve found a place that makes you so happy and have started to put down roots. But think of it this way—you’ve never had a better reason to turn your life upside down.”

  Her mother made a good point.

  They were interrupted by the hospital employee who was working with Mary Beth to get Tom a spot in a rehabilitation facility close to their
home.

  Erin listened to what they were saying and participated in the conversation, but she kept thinking about what her mother had said. She was thinking about it when Slim texted to let her know he was safely back on Gansett and already missing her. She thought about it during the afternoon she spent with her dad while her mom went home to shower and change. She thought about it on the ride back to her parents’ home later and when she took her own shower.

  She was still thinking about it when she got into bed in the final minutes of the year, desperately wishing she was at the wedding with Slim and could kiss him at midnight.

  And when her phone rang exactly at midnight, a smile stretched across her face because she knew it had to be him.

  Slim had left the revelry of Adam’s wedding to find a quiet corner at midnight. It hadn’t even been twelve hours since he’d last seen her, and he was already dying for her. If he’d needed proof of how bad he had it for her, today had been an excellent wake-up call.

  “Happy New Year,” she said when she answered.

  The sound of her voice quieted the agitation he’d been carrying around since he left her. “Happy New Year, beautiful.”

  “How was the wedding?”

  “Amazing. They’re so perfect for each other, which is kind of funny when you consider the fact that she dated his brother for ten years.”

  “Abby dated one of Adam’s brothers? Which one?”

  “Grant. They lived together in LA for the last five years they were together, but that’s been over for a long time.”

  “I had no idea! I can’t imagine Grant with anyone but Stephanie or Abby with anyone but Adam.”

  “I keep forgetting you’re new to these parts. I have to do a better job of keeping you up to speed on island gossip.”

  “Yes, you do.”

  “How’s your dad?”

  “He had a good day. They’re talking about trying to get him up tomorrow. Lots of tests of his functionality, but they seem very optimistic he’ll make a full recovery. It just won’t happen overnight.”

  “Optimistic is good news.”

  “Yes, we’re very thankful.”

  “I wish you were here.”

  “I was just thinking that very same thing.”

  “Were you now?”

  “Uh-huh.”

  “I also wish I didn’t have to go back to Florida tomorrow. This has been the nicest vacation I’ve had in years.”

  “Me, too. Eleven days never went by so fast.”

  “I know you’ve got a lot going on there with your dad, but the invite to Evan’s wedding and Florida after still stands.”

  “Thank you. We’ll see how the next few weeks go.”

  “You’re making me feel cautiously optimistic about more than just your dad’s recovery.”

  The sound of her laughter made him happier than he’d been since he left her. “You’re always a charmer. I’ll give you that.”

  “I don’t want to charm anyone but you, Erin. I hope you know that.”

  “You’re doing a pretty good job so far.”

  “Only pretty good? Now I know what my New Year’s resolution will be.”

  “Just call me once in a while, and I’ll be happy.”

  “That I can do.” That—and so much more. Eleven days with her had been nowhere near enough. He wanted every day with her, and was determined to make sure she knew that. “Did you do anything special for New Year’s Eve?”

  “My mom and I went out to dinner and came home to watch the goings-on in New York City, which is a mob scene, as usual.”

  “I heard people wear adult diapers because there’re no bathrooms in Times Square.”

  “That is the grossest thing I’ve ever heard!”

  “Really? I’ve heard grosser stuff than that.”

  “Like what?”

  “Like you want an example?”

  “I want an example.”

  “I’m going to think about that and get back to you.”

  “Just remember, you have to do better than peeing yourself in frigid temperatures and then walking around with a stinking twenty-pound diaper in your pants in a crowd of a million or more people.”

  “It’s a tall order. I’ll give you that, but I’m up to the task.”

  “I’ll await your example.”

  Smiling like a giddy fool from the entertaining conversation, he said, “I should probably get back to the wedding.”

  “Yes, you should. Enjoy the time with your friends, and thanks for calling. You made my day—and my New Year.”

  “That’s nice to hear. I’ll talk to you tomorrow, okay?”

  “Okay.”

  “Erin, I…” What he wanted to say couldn’t and shouldn’t be said for the first time over the phone. “I really miss you.”

  “I miss you, too. Good night.”

  “Night, sweetheart.”

  With his face flushed from dancing and a smile stretching from one side of his face to the other, Adam McCarthy came into the lobby, stopping when he saw Slim sitting in one of the chairs. “Everything okay?”

  “Yeah, sure, just had to make a phone call.”

  “Right at midnight?” Adam asked, brows raised. “Must’ve been Erin.”

  “If you must know, yes, it was her.”

  “How’s her dad doing?”

  “Better every day.”

  “That’s a relief.”

  “Sure is. She and her family have been through enough. They were due a break.”

  “You like this one, huh?” Adam asked.

  “Says the happy newlywed who wants everyone to be as happy as he is tonight?”

  “Guilty,” Adam said with a laugh. “But you didn’t answer the question.”

  “I like her.”

  “This is big news.”

  “Could I ask you something?”

  Adam sat in the chair next to Slim’s. “Anything.”

  “How’d you know Abby was the one for you?”

  Adam thought about that for a minute before he began to speak. “We’d been hanging out for a while when I got called back to New York to deal with my business. I was stuck there seeing to the details for a couple of weeks, and the whole time, I was dying to get back to her. That was all I could think about when I wasn’t working. Her. Just her. I need her like I need oxygen, you know?”

  Slim nodded because he was beginning to understand all too well. Leaving Erin had been excruciating.

  “So is she it for you?” Adam asked.

  “I’m starting to think she might be.”

  “Oh damn! Never thought I’d see the day!”

  “Do me a favor? Don’t tell anyone? We’re a long way from being ready to make declarations.”

  “I gotcha. It’s cool, and I won’t say anything, except I’m happy for you.”

  Slim shook his friend’s outstretched hand. “Thanks and likewise. What a great night this has been.”

  “Indeed it has. I gotta hit the head and get back to my wife before she gets a better offer.”

  “She’s never going to get a better offer, and she’s smart enough to know that.”

  Adam smiled. “I got really lucky. I hope you do, too.” He took off toward the men’s room, leaving Slim alone to think about his next move.

  Chapter 22

  Owen had brought Laura home from Adam’s wedding at ten o’clock. She’d wanted to stick it out until midnight, but he could see that she was exhausted and had talked her into coming home to bed.

  While she slept in his arms, their busy babies played a soccer game in her belly.

  Owen smiled in the dark each time a little foot or elbow connected with his body and wondered how she could be sleeping through the party they were having. She’d been incredibly tired as the third trimester got under way, which was why they’d been arguing over the Christmas gift she’d given him—tickets to Anguilla for Evan and Grace’s wedding.

  Laura had cleared the travel with Victoria and David, and insisted they had to b
e there when his best friend and her cousin got married.

  Owen disagreed, preferring to stay home where they’d be close to her doctor and midwife in the event of any problem.

  They were at a standoff, with Laura insisting they were going and he insisting they weren’t. The rare disagreement was working on his already frazzled nerves as he waited to see if his father would call again. It had been more than ten days since the last call, and Owen wondered if he’d missed the opportunity by ignoring the first two calls.

  They’d spent a lot of time with his mom and Charlie over the holidays, and seeing how happy they were together made Owen determined to do what he could to win her freedom from her nightmare of a marriage.

  But the bastard had yet to call again. Why didn’t he call? It wasn’t like Owen could call him in prison. No, he was forced to wait for Mark to make the next move, which only added to his anxiety.

  Between the ongoing argument with Laura and the stress of waiting to see if his father would call, Owen knew there was no chance he’d sleep tonight. He disentangled from Laura, who’d reached for him in her sleep out of habit, and settled her on the pillow next to his. Sweeping her hair back from her face, he kissed her cheek and stared down at her for a long moment, wishing he could make her see his side of their debate.

  After what’d happened to Maddie when she had Hailey and then Janey with PJ, he was terrified of something going wrong for Laura and the babies. The last place they ought to be eight weeks before her due date was in the Caribbean for a wedding, but she was determined to go, to have a last hurrah before the babies came and upended their peaceful existence.

  Owen retrieved his cell phone from Laura’s bedside table, took his guitar and went downstairs to the sitting room off the lobby where he wouldn’t bother anyone by playing at two in the morning. Closing the door behind him, he lit a fire and settled into the armless chair that was his favorite place to practice.

  Thank God for the music that had always been there for him, transporting him to another world where troubles didn’t exist. He’d taught himself to play at twelve on a flea market guitar with bad strings. That guitar had opened up a whole new world to him, one that he still ran to whenever life got to be too much for him.