by Force, Marie
“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 brother. “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.”
Mac hooked an arm around Evan’s shoulders. “Believe me, my friend, when the allure finds you, you’ll understand.”
“Um, okay. Whatever you say.” Glancing up at the cloudless sky, Evan took a moment to appreciate the crystal-clear September day before he returned his gaze to his brother. “What’ll we do about Mom and Dad?”
“I don’t suppose there’s much we can do. Whatever’s going on between them, they need to work it out.”
“What if they can’t?”
“I doubt it’s that dire. They’re solid, man. They’ll figure it out.”
“Let’s hope so.”
Linda McCarthy watched her left-handed husband struggle to shave right-handed and had to restrain herself from going into the bathroom that adjoined their bedroom to offer help. She’d learned the hard way that it was better not to offer assistance. He didn’t want it, especially from her.
She sat on the bed, waiting as patiently as she could even as she churned with worry and fear. For the first time in nearly forty years of marriage, she was afraid for them—and utterly unprepared for this crisis. They’d never had one. Somehow they’d managed to navigate through life’s craziness, run a business and raise five children without hitting a single speed bump.
It was ridiculous. She knew that, of course. Every marriage had its ups and downs. Except theirs was more about the ups than the downs. The one thing in her life Linda had always been certain of was the man she’d married and the bond that had sustained them for decades. And now, as she watched him awkwardly run a comb through his thick gray hair, she was certain of nothing.
They’d had more arguments in the last six weeks than in their whole life before then. Nothing she said was right. Nothing she did was right. From the minute Stephanie called from the marina to tell her about the accident, Linda’s well-ordered life had been turned upside down.
Not even their daughter’s beautiful wedding or the dramatic arrival of their granddaughter had managed to jar him out of the funk he’d slipped into. He’d rallied on both days, filling her with irrational hope that faded the next day when the funk returned.
The situation had progressed to the point where she’d decided outside intervention of some sort was probably needed. If only she could find a way to broach the subject without risking the wrath of a man who’d never shown an ounce of wrath before cracking his head in an accident that had nearly killed him.
It wasn’t fair. He’d done nothing to deserve this. They’d done nothing to deserve it. A drunken boater had done this to them, and she’d be damned if she’d let that criminal steal the most important relationship in her life. And so when her husband emerged from the bathroom, she took a deep, fortifying breath and forced herself to look up and meet his stormy gaze.
“We need to talk, Mac.”
“’Bout what?”
Linda wiped her sweaty palms on her pants. “About how you seem so unhappy, and if you’re unhappy, so am I.”
He retrieved a pair of shorts from the drawer. Watching him awkwardly work his way into them pained her. Her husband wasn’t awkward. He wasn’t angry. And he wasn’t cold to her. Ever. Well, except lately.
“I’m not unhappy.” He pulled a T-shirt over the broad chest that still rippled with muscles even as he closed in on sixty. “I’m pissed. I’m sick of this goddamned cast, and I’m sick of everyone looking at me like I’m addled, especially you.”
Okay, that was totally unfair. Keeping a lid on her own anger, Linda stood to face him. “I am not looking at you like you’re addled, but you’re certainly not yourself. In fact, you’re so far from yourself I don’t even know who you are anymore.” She went to him and rested her hands on his chest. “I miss you, Mac. I miss us. I can’t bear the tension between us.” Tears clogged her throat, which infuriated her. Linda McCarthy wasn’t a crier.
His good arm curled around her, drawing her in close to him. The loving gesture shocked her. It’d been so long since he’d held her that the sheer relief of being near him overwhelmed her. As his fingers caressed the back of her neck, her eyes burned with tears. “I hate this,” she said.
“I’m sorry. It’s not your fault.”
“It’s not yours, either.” She ran a hand up and down his back, breathing in the familiar scent of him. “I wish we could go through this together. There’s no need for you to feel alone with whatever you’re thinking or feeling. You’ve never felt the need to keep things from m
e before.”
“It’s not intentional.” His body was riddled with unusual tension. “I don’t know what I’m thinking or feeling. Everything in my head is so scrambled. Nothing makes sense.”
As much as it pained her to pull back from his embrace, she had to take advantage of the first opening he’d given her in weeks. Steeling herself for his outrage, she looked up at him. “Do you think we ought to go see David?”
The roll of his eyes was more in keeping with the Mac McCarthy she knew and loved.
“You gotta be kidding me, Lin. You want me to see the guy who cheated on my daughter?”
“He also saved your granddaughter,” she reminded him. “It’s either him or we trek to the mainland.” The fact that he didn’t shut down the conversation and storm off was a positive sign, but then again, he hated leaving his precious island for any reason.
“That’s playing dirty.” It’d been so long since she’d heard that playful tone of voice or seen the hint of the devil in his eye that she wanted to jump for joy.
“Should I make an appointment with David?”
Scowling, he said, “I don’t think it’s come to that. I’m just in a bad mood. I’ll try not to take it out on you anymore.”
She rewarded him with her best smile. “That would be very nice. Thank you.” If things didn’t change, she would call David whether her husband liked it or not.
The stroke of his hand over her cheek nearly stopped her heart. “I’m sorry for putting you through this.”
“It’s going to be okay.”
“Promise?”
She nodded and curled her arms around his neck. “Will you do one other thing for me?”
“Sure.”
“Would you kiss me, Mac?” Combing her fingers through his hair, she drew him down to her. “I’ve really missed kissing you.”
“Aww, Lin, I hate that you had to ask.” He wrapped his good arm around her and did his best to make it up to her.
Chapter 5
Tiffany Sturgil unbuckled her three-year-old daughter Ashleigh from the car seat and carried her up the stairs to her sister Maddie’s deck.
“See Thomas, see Thomas,” Ashleigh squealed as she kicked her legs and tugged on Tiffany’s hair. The cousins, born a few months apart, used to see each other every day when Maddie and Thomas lived in the apartment behind Tiffany’s house.
Since Maddie married Mac, they saw each other a few times a week, which wasn’t nearly enough for her daughter. Ashleigh would spend every minute of every day with Thomas if she had her way.
Lately, it took all the energy Tiffany could muster to get up, get dressed, feed her daughter and get through the day, so she was looking forward to a few relaxing hours with her sister, nephew and new baby niece.
Maddie met them at the door and slid it open. “Hey, guys, come in.”
When Tiffany put Ashleigh down, the dark-haired toddler waddled over to her cousin and threw her arms around him. Thomas returned the embrace with equal enthusiasm. Watching them, Tiffany’s eyes swam with tears.
“Could they be any cuter?” Maddie asked, slipping an arm around her sister.
For some reason, Maddie’s usual show of affection undid Tiffany today.
“Hey,” Maddie said, “what’s this?”
Tiffany turned into her sister’s embrace as weeks of horrible stress and upheaval and uncertainty finally became too much for her. And then there was the matter of their wayward father showing up thirty years after he took off without a single thought for the wife and daughters he’d left behind.
“Sweetie, what is it?”
“It’s all just too much.”
Maddie ran a soothing hand up and down Tiffany’s back. “What happened?”
“Jim moved out of the house and took everything that wasn’t nailed down. Luckily, he left us each a bed and Ashleigh’s toys. Good of him, huh?”
Maddie’s mouth fell open. “Are you serious?”
“He reminded me, on his way out with everything we own, that the house belongs to his family, and I’m lucky he’s not kicking me out on my ass.”
“He said that?”
“Those were his exact words.” Tiffany dropped onto the sofa. “While I was here the other day, helping you with the kids, he took it all. I got home just as the truck was pulling away with my plates and towels and silverware. I never imagined he could be so rotten.”
“Wow. Neither did I.”
“I just wish I knew what happened to us. It used to be great, and then all of a sudden it wasn’t. Something happened, but damned if I know what.” Tiffany stared off into space, remembering all the good times. There’d been a lot of them before it went very bad.
“Do you think there’s someone else?”
“I can’t imagine who.” Tiffany turned to her sister. “Who does he know that I don’t know, too? Who?”
“I can’t think of anyone.”
“The best part is he’s convinced—absolutely convinced—that I’m having an affair. You ought to hear him ranting and raving about how it’s okay for me but not for him. I don’t even know what he’s talking about, and every time I try to talk to him, he takes off and won’t listen. He won’t listen to me, Maddie.”
Maddie reached for her hand. “Maybe it’s time to let him go, honey.”
“I don’t know how,” Tiffany said, blinking back new tears. “He’s my husband and Ashleigh’s father. I’ve loved him for so long. Hell, I put him through law school working two jobs and this is the thanks I get? As soon as he starts making some real money, he manufactures a reason to toss me aside?”
“It’s not fair.”
“No, it isn’t. I hate the idea of Ashleigh growing up the way we did with her father more or less out of the picture.”
“He won’t be totally out of the picture the way ours was. He loves Ashleigh.”
“Yes, he does.”
“You have to think of yourself, too, Tiff. If you’re not happy, she won’t be, either.”
Tiffany glanced at her sister through watery eyes. “I don’t have what you have with Mac. Even on our best day, it was never what you have. I want that.”
“Aww, baby.” Maddie drew Tiffany into a hug. “I want you to have that, too. There’s nothing like being madly in love with the guy you get to live with and sleep with and do everything else with.”
Tiffany laughed through her tears. “I’m sure.” She drew back from her sister. “How do I go through with a divorce when I feel like I didn’t do everything I could to save the marriage?”
“What else could you do that you haven’t done?”
“I don’t know. I’m thinking about that.” She glanced at Maddie. “What about Dad?”
“What about him?”
“You never told me what happened when you saw him.” Since Maddie had just had the baby, Tiffany hadn’t wanted to ask her sister about the upsetting encounter with their father.
“Before he knew who I was, he took a good long look at my boobs.”
“He did not! Ugh, Maddie. That’s so gross.”
Maddie shrugged. “Par for the course. What happened when you saw him?”
“It was only for two minutes at Mom’s place. The day he got here. He looked…”
“What?”
“Different from what I expected.”
“Different how?”
“For one thing, he’s old. I had this image in my head of him—young, blond, handsome. I wasn’t expecting wrinkled, bloated, gray haired. Not so handsome anymore.”
“Not so much.”
“But…”
Maddie raised a questioning eyebrow.
“I don’t want to be, but I’m curious. About him.”
“Oh God, Tiff,” Maddie said with a moan. “You can’t be seriously saying what I think you’re saying.”
“You remember him! I don’t have a single memory of him. All I have is pictures.”
“But you know what he did to Mom and to us. What else do you need to know?�
�
“Nothing, I guess.” The last thing Tiffany wanted was to upset her sister. “You’re right.”
The happy toddlers picked that moment to start pulling each other’s hair. By the time their mothers broke up the melee, made lunch and got them down for naps, Hailey was awake and hungry. Maddie settled into the sofa to breastfeed the baby, and Tiffany flopped down next to her.
“Did you hear the news in town about Abby closing her store and moving to Texas to be with Cal?” Tiffany asked.
“No! Are you kidding? Wow. I wonder what Grant thinks about that.”
“Why would he care?”
“He went out with Abby for years, and they lived together in LA until she moved back here to open the store. From what I’ve heard, she said she’d never leave the island again. But then Cal’s mother had the stroke, and I guess he can’t come back.”
“Must be true love.”
“Sounds like it. Oh well, I’m sure Grant wants the best for her. He’s certainly happy with Stephanie. Mac heard that he talked to Janey about renting her place for the winter. Rumor has it that Stephanie is going to stick around on the island after the season ends, and they’re going to write a screenplay together.”
“Good for them,” Tiffany said glumly. Everyone around her was so damned happy. “So I’ve been thinking.”
“About?”
“Abby’s store. I need a new challenge. With Ashleigh starting preschool, my day-care days are numbered, and I’ve got some money put away.”
“What kind of store would you want?”
“Something totally different from anything we have now. I’m toying with ideas at the moment. What do you think about me as a store owner?”
Maddie thought about that for a minute. “Would you keep the dance studio, too?”
“That’s the plan. I’d teach dance during the school year and have the store during the summer.”
“Then I’m all for it. You’re certainly well versed on how to run a business after having the day care and studio the last few years. I want you to find something that makes you really happy.”
“That’d be nice.”
“I was wondering,” Maddie said with a calculating gleam in her eyes. “The night Hailey was born, I noticed you talking to Blaine Taylor. Call me crazy, but it seemed like there might’ve been some sparks flying between you and our sexy new police chief.”