Gansett Island Boxed Set, Books 1-16

by Force, Marie

  “Wait, what? Isn’t it too soon?”

  Carolina tearfully told him the story of Janey’s emergency C-section and the dramatic arrival of P.J. Cantrell as she showed him the pictures Joe had sent her. “They named him after Pete,” she said softly. “Isn’t that wonderful?”

  “Aye, it ’tis, love. A wonderful tribute indeed.” He leaned forward and kissed her.

  She curled her hand around his neck and held him there, looking into his eyes.

  “You’re the sexiest granny I’ve ever met,” he whispered.

  Laughing, she said, “Sure I am. All scratched and gouged and bloody. Sexy.”

  “Always. Congratulations, Carolina. Your son has made you very proud today.”

  “So very proud. I just wish I could be there with them.”

  “The second you feel up to traveling, love, I’ll get you there. I’ll get you to your boy and his family.”

  “Our family. Yours and mine.”

  Damn if his heart didn’t stop beating for a second when she said that. “Aye?”

  “Aye.”

  He pulled back from her so he could see her better. “What’re you saying, Caro?”

  “You asked me to marry you some time ago, and I wasn’t able to give you the answer you wanted, but now…”

  “What about now?” Filled with irrational hope, he barely dared to breathe as he waited to hear what she had to say.

  “I was worried about what Joe would say about us, and he seems to have come around to the idea. I was worried about what your mother would think, but we had a good talk today. She said she’s sad that you’ll never be a father, but when I told her you’d be a hands-on grandfather to Joe and Janey’s baby… You will be, right?”

  He swallowed a huge lump in his throat. “God, yes. I can’t wait to meet the little guy and spoil him rotten.”

  “She and I agreed you’ll be an excellent grandfather. What would you like him to call you?”

  Clearing his throat, he said, “My sisters’ kids call my father Da.”

  “Grammy and Da,” she said, trying it on for size. “What do you think?”

  Nodding, he said, “Works for me.”

  “It’d probably make things easier to explain to P.J. if his Grammy and Da were married, don’t you think?”

  “I suppose it would set the right example for the boy,” he said, loving the glimmer of humor in her beautiful eyes as she led him to where he’d wanted to be all along.

  “So…”

  “Oh, no way. This one’s all on you. I’ve asked and asked and been turned down over and over and over again. A man’s fragile ego can only take so much rejection.”

  “All right, then.” As he watched her screw up her courage to ask a question that was a sure thing, he had never loved her more. “Seamus Padric O’Grady, would you please, for the love of God and all that’s holy, marry me and make an honest woman—”

  He kissed her hard and long and deep.

  “—out of me?”

  “Yes, love. ’Twould be my honor to marry you and make an honest woman out of you, as long as it’s still okay for me to sneak up on you in the middle of the day and have you on the kitchen table once in a while.”

  Her face flushed with color as it always did when he talked dirty to her. “We might be able to work something out where the kitchen table is concerned.”

  “I love you, Caro. I love you, I love Joe and Janey, and I’ll love P.J. as if he were my own flesh and blood.”

  “I know you will. Why do you think I asked you to be his grandpa?” She held out her arms to him, and he moved slowly and carefully to rest his head against her chest.

  When she wrapped her arms around him, he let out a deep sigh of contentment.

  “Thanks for waiting for me to work it all out in my mind.”

  “You’re certainly worth all the pain and agony you put me through.”

  She tugged hard on a handful of his hair.

  “Aw, love, you don’t want a bald, old grandpa chasing you around the kitchen table, now do you?”

  “I just want you chasing me around the kitchen table.”

  “You got it. Once a day and twice on Sunday, but only if you’re good.”

  Her laughter filled his heart to overflowing as one word cycled through his mind again and again: finally, finally, finally.

  * * *

  Ned dropped Tiffany and Blaine at her house and tooted the horn as he took off in the Rolls Royce. Arm in arm they started down the long driveway that led to the house.

  “He’s going to get a ticket if he drives like that on my island.”

  Tiffany had her high-heeled sandals looped around her fingers and her bridal bouquet—returned by Grace after she caught it—hanging from the same hand. “His new son-in-law will square it away for him.”

  He put his arm around her. “Is that why you married me? To keep your family out of trouble?”

  She rested her head against him. “Someone’s gotta do it.”

  “I knew it. You’re only after the uniform.”

  “It does make me hot for you.”

  “Mmm, remind me to never retire.”

  “One hell of a day, huh?”

  “One hell of a day. Thank goodness Janey and the baby are okay, and we still managed to eke out a bit of a celebration despite the drama.”

  “I can’t believe we pulled this off with only two days’ notice.”

  “That’ll learn you to never underestimate your new husband.”

  “As if I ever would. I learned that lesson early on with you. Hello? Ceiling fans?”

  That drew a deep rumble of laughter from him. “Speaking of ceiling fans…” The words died on his lips when they rounded the corner to the back deck and found Jim Sturgil sitting on the stairs.

  With his hair standing on end and his dress shirttails pulled from his pants, he hardly resembled the pressed and polished attorney he’d become since they returned to the island.

  “Jim?” Tiffany stopped walking and felt Blaine’s body go tense next to her. “What’re you doing here?”

  “This is my house. Remember?”

  “Do we really have to go over this again?”

  “What do you want, Sturgil?” Blaine asked.

  “I’d like to speak to my wife, if it’s just the same to you.”

  Tiffany and Blaine exchanged glances, and she nodded, letting him know it was okay to answer Jim any way he wished to.

  “Actually, she’s not your wife anymore. She’s mine, as of about two thirty today. So you can see you really have no business here anymore. This is her house, not yours. And she’s my wife, not yours. You got everything you wanted, and now so do we. Unless you want trouble—and I mean really big trouble—you need to head home.”

  Jim stared up at them, the glow of the porch light highlighting the shock on his face. “You’re married.”

  “You heard him, Jim. We’re both asking you—as nicely as possible—to please leave.”

  He stood slowly, and Tiffany held her breath waiting to see what he would do and hoping it wouldn’t be something awful.

  “You didn’t waste any time.”

  “I’m done wasting time,” Tiffany said.

  “Well, I suppose I deserved that.”

  Tiffany decided to take advantage of the weak moment. “I don’t want to fight with you about Ashleigh. It’s not what’s best for her. It’s time to stop fighting and move on, Jim. Enough is enough.”

  After a long, pregnant pause, he turned and walked down the driveway, hands in pockets, shoulders hunched.

  “Oh hey, Sturgil,” Blaine called after him. “Great job getting Truck Henry out of jail on a technicality. You’ll probably be hearing from him tonight.”

  “What for?”

  “He’s already gone after Daisy Babson again. We’ve got him in custody. Not even twelve hours out of jail and he’s locked up again. You sure can pick ’em, Counselor. You might want to give some thought to what your daughter will think of
you someday when she finds out you’re making a living from defending guys who beat up on women.”

  “Screw you. Don’t talk to me about my daughter.”

  “Someone’s gotta.”

  Luckily, Jim decided to give Blaine the last word. He turned and took off, probably heading to deal with his wayward client. Tiffany blew out a deep breath, relieved that he was gone.

  “You’re trembling, honey. I hate how he does that to you.”

  “Let’s hope that’s the last time.” She forced a smile for his sake. “Now, where were we before we were rudely interrupted?”

  “I believe,” he said, pressing kisses strategically against her neck, “we were talking about ceiling fans.”

  “Ohhh, I love ceiling fans.”

  “So I’ve noticed.” They went up the stairs to the back door, and when she started to go in ahead of him, he pulled her back. Lifting her into his arms, he twirled her around and made her laugh. “We’ve gotta do this right, baby.” As her arms encircled his neck, he kissed her passionately, possessing her the way only he could, the way only he ever would.

  His lips still fused to hers, he carried her over the threshold, kicked the door shut behind them and headed straight upstairs, laying her on the bed and coming down on top of her.

  “That was quite sexy,” she said when he finally broke the kiss and turned his attention to her neck.

  “You think so?”

  “Mmm. I think just about everything you do is sexy, including the way you talked me into a wedding two whole days ago.”

  “That was one of my better ideas, wasn’t it?”

  “Yes, it was.”

  “So from now on, whenever I come up with a harebrained scheme, you’re going to just roll with it because I’ve proven I’m always right.”

  “Wait a minute…”

  He laughed as he kissed her. His hands were everywhere, tugging at the zipper that ran down the side of her dress and then starting at the hem to push it up and over her head, leaving her only in the ivory lace teddy she’d worn under it.

  “Oh, damn, Tiffany. You take my breath away. You’re so beautiful. And now you’re my beautiful wife, and I’m so happy.”

  His words sparked an urgent need in her. “Get this off,” she said, pulling on his suit coat and the buttons on his dress shirt.

  “Easy, honey. We’ve got all night. And all day tomorrow. And tomorrow night.”

  Ashleigh was spending the weekend with Mac and Maddie so they could have some time alone. “I’d like you to perform your husbandly duties immediately.”

  Taken aback by her directive, he stared at her as his grin unfolded slowly across his face. “So that’s how it’s going to be, huh?”

  “Yep. Now get moving before I get cranky.”

  “We wouldn’t want that to happen.” He got up, lit the candles they kept on the bedside table and went to set the ceiling fan to their favorite setting—high. “Spread your legs,” he said gruffly as he shed the suit coat and began slowly—too slowly, if you asked her—to unbutton his shirt.

  Tiffany moved her feet apart.

  With his shirt hanging open, he leaned over the bed and took her by the hips, positioning her on the bed to maximize the impact of the fan. He slid his fingers over the silk that covered her until he found the snaps between her legs and tugged them open.

  The rush of the air against her sensitive flesh had the usual effect, making her squirm on the bed as he continued to slowly disrobe.

  “I know what you’re doing,” she said through gritted teeth.

  “What am I doing?”

  “You’re letting the fan do all the hard work for you so you can come in at the end and steal all the glory.”

  He laughed and wrapped his hand around his erection, stroking himself as he watched her intently. “Is that so? Seems to me like all the hard work is always on my shoulders.”

  “It’s not on your shoulders, dummy. It’s between your legs. Now get over here and make love to your wife.”

  Shaking his head at her audacity, he came down on top of her. “You wait until now, after you get a ring on my finger, to show me this side of you?”

  Tiffany smiled, more in love with him than she’d ever imagined possible. “I was afraid you wouldn’t want me if I let you know you’re not the only one who can be bossy and demanding in bed.”

  “Boss me, baby. Demand anything you want. I’m your slave.”

  She wrapped her arms and legs around him. “Love me. Just love me.”

  “I do,” he said as he entered her slowly, taking his time because he knew that drove her crazy. “I love you more than anything, and I always will.”

  “Show me.”

  He did as he was told, over and over and over again until they had no choice but to sleep.

  * * *

  David held Daisy’s hand all the way to his house. “I need a shower in the worst way,” he said when they walked inside.

  She curled up on the sofa, tired but content after the day of dramatic twists and turns. “Take your time.”

  He double-checked that the door was locked before he went into the bathroom. That he cared so much about making her feel safe with him was one more reason to love him. And that he loved her… That was the most amazing thing of all.

  “He loves me,” she whispered into the quiet night air in which the only sound was that of the shower running in the other room. Under normal circumstances, the news that Truck was out of jail and looking for her would’ve been the only thought in her head. But tonight, knowing David was in the next room, knowing she was locked safely in his home, knowing he loved her as much as she loved him… There was no room in her mind for thoughts about someone who’d already gotten far more of her time and care than he’d ever deserved.

  David came into the room wearing a towel around his waist, his chest still damp and his hair pushed back from his face with impatient fingers. In all the weeks she’d known him, in all the time it had taken to become close to him, she’d never seen him look so alive or so engaged or so happy. He glowed as he sat on the coffee table facing her.

  “I want to say something to you, and it’s going to sound absolutely insane. But I’d really like it if you could listen to the whole thing before you tell me I’m crazy, okay?”

  Daisy was discovering that she loved this euphoric version of David even more than she loved the quiet, thoughtful, caring man she’d come to know. She nodded, willing in that moment to give him anything he asked of her.

  “I’ve been walking around in a daze for two years. It’s been like dragging my feet through quicksand, you know? No matter how hard I tried, I couldn’t seem to find my way out of it. It wasn’t even about Janey anymore. That was over such a long time ago. It was about me and about finding my way. No matter what I did, I couldn't find the way out until I found my way to you.”

  He reached for her hands and bent his head to kiss both sets of knuckles. “Today I realized I have a very real purpose. I’m here, on this island where I grew up, to save people who matter to me. I saved Janey’s life. I probably saved her baby, too. I was meant to be here so I could do that for her today. I was meant to be here the day Chris Allston cut off his finger while trimming his bushes and when Mrs. Murtry had an allergic reaction. I was meant to be here to help Paul and Alex through this journey with their mother and to make it possible for them to keep her at home for as long as they can. I was meant to be here the night Sarah Lawry showed up battered and broken and when Hailey McCarthy came into the world blue and unresponsive.”

  Deeply moved by his words and the emotion behind them, Daisy said, “You were meant to be here the night I ended up in your clinic after Truck tried to kill me.”

  “Yes, and I was meant to be with you just about every night since then. When I went to your house today and saw what he’d done, all I could think about was getting to you. The fog had lifted, the daze was gone, and what matters to me—who matters to me—became very, very clear.”

&
nbsp; She blinked back tears. “David…”

  “When I told you I love you, I hope you know I meant it. I didn’t say that because I’d hurt you by leaving you to take care of Janey.” He propped his head on their joined hands. “I said it because when I realized you could’ve been hurt or worse… All that mattered was you and being with you and protecting you and making sure no one ever hurts you again.”

  Without thinking much about what she was doing, she moved onto his lap and wrapped her arms around him, bringing his wet head to rest against her chest.

  “Don’t take that house, Daisy. Move in here with me until we can buy our own place together. I want to wake up with you every morning and come home to you every night and…and I need you. I need you. Just you.”

  She couldn’t believe what he was saying.

  He looked up at her. “I need you to keep the fog away. I need you to show me the way.”

  “But that house… It’s my security for the future.”

  “When we buy a house together, we’ll put it in your name. If anything happens between us, you’ll keep it.”

  “You can’t do that! Most of the money to buy it would be yours.”

  “I want you to feel safe and secure. I want you to feel completely at home wherever we are. I don’t care what I have to do to make that happen. I just want you with me.” He looked up at her imploringly. “I love you, and I want to move forward with you by my side. Will you come with me and live with me and be with me?” His sweet words were punctuated by sweeter kisses.

  She knew she ought to think before she leaped, but he’d offered her everything that was most important to her. How could she say anything other than, “Yes, I’ll come with you.” Placing her hand on his face, she kissed him.

  Without breaking the kiss, he stood with her in his arms and walked them to the bedroom. As he laid her on the bed, his cell phone rang, making him groan with frustration. “I swear, if this is a kid with the sniffles, I won’t be responsible for my actions.”

  Daisy laughed and released him so he could answer the phone.

  “Dr. Lawrence.” He watched her as he listened to the caller. “Yes, she’s with me, and I’ll give her the news. Thank you for letting us know.” Ending the call, he placed the phone on the bedside table and crawled onto the bed next to her. “They’ve got Truck in custody. The police tried to call you, but when they couldn’t reach you, Blaine told them to call me.”