Gansett Island Boxed Set, Books 1-16

by Force, Marie

  “Nothing right now, but I was thinking someday it might be a restaurant. We could sell clam chowder and hot dogs and burgers to the customers.”

  “And clam cakes and fried clams and all things Rhode Island and New England.”

  “Yes,” he said with another of those wide smiles.

  “My mom makes the most incredible sugar donuts. I bet you’d sell a million of them in a place like this.”

  “My mouth is already watering.”

  She held out her hand to ask for the flashlight.

  He gave it to her.

  Braving the spiders and other creepy things, she moved toward the counter, going around behind it to check out the available space. She could envision a full kitchen back there as well as tables and chairs on the other side of the counter where people could sit and eat.

  “What’s back there?” she asked, pointing the beam toward a corridor.

  “Go take a look.”

  “Only if you come with me.”

  “I’m right behind you.” He put his hands on her shoulders, providing immediate comfort.

  In the hallway, she discovered a small room with a bed frame and nothing else. “Is that why you have the mattress?” The back of his truck was full to capacity with things he’d brought from Providence. “You’re going to live here?”

  “Yep.”

  “For how long?”

  “Until I open and start making some money. Then I’ll rent something in town. But for now, this is home sweet home.”

  “It’s, um, kinda rustic.”

  His bark of laughter made her smile. “I prefer the word cozy to rustic.”

  “You’re going to freeze here in the winter.”

  “No, I won’t. I’ve got good heaters and lots of warm clothes. I’ll be fine.”

  Linda shivered just thinking about spending a winter in a creaky, saggy building that was also home to an army of spiders. “What’re you thinking about doing with the other buildings?”

  “One of them will be the dock office and the other a gift shop, maybe.” He took her by the hand to lead her back into the main part of the building. “How’re you feeling?”

  “Fine, now that I’m back on land.”

  “So you might be up for a late lunch?”

  “I could eat.”

  “Let me unload the truck real quick, and then there’s a place you’ve got to see. They’ve got a thousand painted oars on the walls. You’ll love it.”

  “Sounds good to me.”

  Mac came in from shoveling snow, clomping his boots on the mat inside the sliding glass door. In the summer, they left that door open most of the time to let the sea air in through the screen. This time of year, they kept it closed except for when he went out to remove the heavy snow from the deck.

  “It’s freaking freezing out there.”

  Seeing that he was dripping all over her wood floor, Linda got up to fetch a towel.

  “Thanks, babe. Sorry I’m making a mess.”

  “It’s okay. At least the deck won’t collapse.”

  “Remember that?”

  “How could I forget?” The first winter they’d lived in this house, they found out the hard way that keeping the snow from accumulating on the deck was critical to keeping the deck attached to the house. “Most awful sound I ever heard.”

  “It was the sound of more money down the drain and more work.”

  “Ah yes, those were the days of two money pits—the marina and this house,” she said.

  “Hard times, but the best of times, too.”

  “I was just thinking about the first day you brought me here.”

  He wiped his wet hair with the towel before he used it to mop up the mess on the floor. “When you got seasick and then they canceled the ferries? I thought for sure you’d be done with me forever after that day.”

  “It was a great day.”

  “I’ve never forgotten the look on your face when Carolina’s dad told us they’d stopped running the ferries and you realized you were stuck here with me for the night.” He laughed at the memory. “I swear you thought I’d arranged that so you’d have to spend the night.”

  “Still not convinced that you didn’t.”

  “I wasn’t that clever.”

  “You were the most clever boy I ever met. You still are.”

  “But I wasn’t that clever. It never occurred to me that they’d cancel the boats. That was the first time the ferry schedule got in the way of my plans.”

  “But not the last.” Linda eyed the whitecaps in the Salt Pond. “I sure do hope the kids can get here later.”

  “The boats are still running, as far as I know. If they aren’t, Slim will get them here. He’s due back later today.”

  “Not so sure I want my kids flying in this weather, either.”

  Mac kissed her forehead. “Try not to worry. They’ll get here.”

  She put her arms around his waist and rested her head on his chest. “Remember that first night together at the marina?”

  “How could I ever forget?”

  Chapter 5

  Did he remember? In the shower, warming up after spending an hour in the cold, shoveling snow, Mac recalled that long-ago afternoon. He and Linda had arrived at the ferry landing planning to take the five o’clock boat back to the mainland only to encounter a sign that said, “Ferries canceled until tomorrow.”

  His heart had sunk when he thought about her telling him she wouldn’t spend the night on his island. Now she had no choice.

  “Oh Lord,” Linda said. “What now?”

  Determined to put a positive spin on the unfortunate turn of events, Mac said, “Now we find you a hotel room.” He’d spend money he didn’t have to ensure her comfort.

  She eyed him shrewdly. “Neither of us can afford a hotel room.”

  “It’s okay. I’ve got it covered.”

  “Mac, we can stay at the marina. We’ll make it work.”

  “Oh, um, well…” He ran his fingers through his hair, torn with indecision. Though she was trying to be helpful, he hadn’t missed her freak-out over the spiders. They freaked him out, too, and getting rid of them was at the top of his to-do list. But he wouldn’t achieve complete eradication between now and bedtime. And the thought of spending a night in close quarters with her… He couldn’t think about that or he might embarrass them both.

  “I need to find a phone somewhere so I can tell my roommates what’s happened,” Linda said. “Otherwise they’ll send the state police after me.”

  “I have a friend with a phone. Let’s go see him.”

  He drove them to his new friend Ned Saunders’s place and was relieved to see Ned’s station wagon in the driveway. Bringing Linda with him, Mac knocked on Ned’s door.

  “Hey,” Ned said, smiling when he came to the door. “Yer back. Wondered if we’d see ya round here again.”

  “Told ya I’d be back, and you’re looking at the official owner of McCarthy’s Gansett Island Marina as of this morning.”

  “Congratulations.”

  “Thanks. This is my friend Linda. She came over with me for the day, and now the ferries are canceled. I wondered if she might use your phone to let her roommates know she’s staying.”

  “Sure thing. Come in.”

  Ned showed Linda to the phone, and she thanked him as he blushed profusely.

  While she made her call, Ned said to Mac, “Pretty gal ya got there.”

  “I’m going to marry her,” Mac said, keeping his gaze trained on Linda as she talked to her friend.

  “How long ya known her?”

  “About twenty-four hours now.”

  Ned snorted with laughter. “Ya got big brass ones to go along with yer lofty ideas.”

  “Including the marina that almost everyone told me I shouldn’t buy.”

  “Ya won’t regret that. Prime real estate. Took a look at it myself, but it needed way more work than I wanted ta do.”

  “Glad you approve. My dad thinks I’m insane
.”

  “Yer not. Not about the marina, anyway. That gal? Ya might have yer work cut out fer ya there. She’s a fancy one.”

  “That’s okay. I’m not afraid of a little hard work.” Especially when Linda was the prize. “Who do I talk to about getting the power turned on at the marina?”

  “Ya call the power company?”

  “Yeah, they were supposed to start my service today, but so far nothing.”

  “I know a guy there. I’ll call fer ya.”

  “Thanks, Ned. I appreciate all your help.”

  “T’aint no big deal.”

  “It is to me.”

  Linda ended her call and rejoined them.

  “All set?” Mac asked. Though he felt bad that he hadn’t been able to keep his promise to get her home tonight, he wasn’t at all sorry that she had to spend the night with him. Not one bit sorry.

  “All set. The girls were glad to hear from me. They said they definitely would’ve called the state police if I didn’t call.” This was said with a smile that made Ned chuckle.

  “Smart gals,” Ned said. Using his thumb to point to Mac, he said, “This one’s got some big ideas.”

  “So I’ve heard,” Linda said with a smile for Ned.

  Before she could get too cozy with Ned, Mac took her by the hand. “We’ve got to get going. Thanks again for the use of your phone.”

  “Anytime,” Ned said as he saw them out. “Hope ta see ya again, Linda.”

  “Hope so, too. Thanks for the phone.”

  “My phone is yer phone.”

  “He is so cute and sweet,” Linda said when they were back in Mac’s truck.

  He glared at her, making her giggle.

  “Not as cute as you,” she said.

  “But he is sweeter? Is that what you’re saying?”

  “I never said those words.”

  Mac smiled at her witty comeback. “It’s okay. I like him, too. He’s been really nice to me since the first time I came over to check out the marina.”

  “What does he do?”

  “He drives a cab, which is how I met him, and he’s getting into some real estate deals, too. Nothing big, a few things here and there, but he knows this island inside and out. He’s a good friend to have.”

  “You’re really settling in here,” she said, gazing out the passenger window. The sun was a ball of fire in the late-afternoon sky, promising a spectacular sunset.

  “That’s the plan.” For the first time since he set eyes on the marina and saw his future laid out before him, he had a moment of remorse. The marina didn’t look quite as shiny to him as it had before he met her. Now that he knew she was in the world, he wanted her more than he wanted the marina, more than he wanted anything.

  How could one day change everything? He had absolutely no experience with a woman turning his world upside down. Yes, he’d had girlfriends—one of them had even been sort of serious for a while, until he realized she had totally different goals in life than he did. Ending it with her had made sense in light of that revelation. As much as he’d liked Diana, he hadn’t needed her the way he already knew he could need Linda.

  “Mac.”

  He already loved the way his name sounded coming from her. Glancing over at her, he raised a brow in inquiry.

  “I was thinking that if it’s okay with you, I could just stay at the marina with you tonight.”

  If it’s okay with me? He wanted to laugh out loud at how okay that was with him.

  “Before you let your mind wander, I’m not offering anything special.”

  He covered her hand with his, noting how his dwarfed hers. “Yes, you are. You’re offering to spend a whole night with me. If all we do is talk, that’s definitely something special.”

  “You’re such a charmer,” she said with a laugh. “I have to watch out for you.”

  “No, you don’t. Anything that happens between us will be on your schedule. I’d wait forever for you.”

  “I don’t know how you can say such things so soon.”

  “I was struck by lightning when I saw you with Joann yesterday. I’ve never felt anything like it, and I know, I absolutely know, that I belong with you and vice versa.”

  “Mac… You can’t say that kind of stuff to me the day after we met.”

  “I said it to you the day we met. Nothing changed overnight. At least, not for me.”

  “We’re far too young to be talking this way.”

  “My dad had my brother on the way when he was my age. Who says we’re too young?”

  “I do. I have to finish college and get a job and do things. And so do you. Look at what you’ve just taken on here with the marina. We’re too busy to be making life plans.”

  “If my life plan includes you, I’m not too busy. I’ll never be too busy.”

  “I have no idea what to say to you when you talk this way.”

  “You don’t have to say anything.”

  “You’re sure you’re never this forthright with women?”

  “I’m sure. You’re different.”

  “Why? Why am I so different?”

  “I don’t know. You just are. It’s a feeling that I had when I first saw you. It was like how I felt when I first saw the marina. Certainty.”

  Taking the last turn before they reached the marina, he glanced over at her. “Have you ever felt that way about anything?”

  “I’m trying not to feel that way about you.”

  “Why would you do something so foolish as try to deny the inevitable?”

  “Because! Stuff like this doesn’t happen to regular people. It’s preposterous.”

  “That’s a very fancy college word. Pre-pos-terous.” Pointing to another large, dilapidated building on the hill above the marina, he said, “Speaking of preposterous, see that place?”

  “What about it?”

  “I want to buy it and turn it into a hotel. Not right away, but eventually.”

  She sighed deeply, making him wonder if he’d gone too far in sharing his hopes and dreams with her. But he’d never been one to hold back, and why would he start hedging now when the stakes were so high? “I can’t keep up with you.”

  “Sure you can. You’re more than equal to me. I bet between the two of us, we could turn this corner of the island into something quite spectacular.”

  “I’m an English major. What do I know about marinas and hotels?”

  “About as much as I do, which is nothing. But I’m going to figure it out.”

  “I have no doubt that you’ll make a spectacular success of anything you set your mind to.”

  He put the truck in park outside the main building at the marina and turned off the engine. “Anything?”

  A sweet blush crept up her cheeks when she realized he’d included her in his list of anything he set his mind to.

  Mac simply couldn’t resist touching that flush of rosy color. “You’re gorgeous, but of course you know that.”

  “No, I don’t.”

  “Hasn’t anyone ever told you that before?”

  “Well, my mom and dad did, but they kind of have to.”

  “What’s wrong with all the boys you’ve ever met?”

  “They were boys.”

  Her meaning wasn’t lost on him.

  She leaned into the hand that he’d kept on her face. “They had nothing on you.”

  The compliment heated him from the inside, making him want her fiercely. Before he could do something stupid to mess things up, he said, “Let’s go in. I need to spray the back room for spiders before bedtime.”

  Her shudder was a reminder of the monster task he had ahead of him at the marina—and in convincing her that she belonged with him. He couldn’t very well talk her into spending her life in a spider-infested building with a sagging roof, broken glass and chipping paint. No, he needed to make this a showplace, worthy of a classy woman like her.

  If he had been driven to succeed before he met her, now he was positively possessed with the desire to make
a go of it, to offer her something she couldn’t get anywhere else—him, his marina, his enormous desire to succeed. Somehow he had to make that enough for her, a woman who could have anyone she wanted.

  He settled her in one of the few chairs the previous owner had left behind and went into the back room to spray for spiders, opening a window to vent the fumes. Earlier, he’d propped the mattress and the boxes he’d brought from home in the hallway, intending to spray before he took anything into the room.

  With the sun setting over the Salt Pond, the view outside the room’s single window took his breath away. After only three visits to the island before today, Mac already knew he’d never get tired of looking out at “his” pond, as he now thought of it. He unloaded an entire can of the spray in the small room, holding his breath the entire time. When he was finished, he shut the door, hoping the spray would do the trick to get rid of the spiders before the woman of his dreams had to sleep in there.

  “How’d it go?” she asked when he returned to her.

  “Score one for the good guys.”

  “We’ll see about that.”

  “Have faith. I’ll never let the spiders get you.”

  “Sorry to be such a baby today. Spiders have always freaked me out, but I had no idea I’d get seasick too.”

  “You’re not a baby. Spiders are disgusting, and those seas were rough. That’s why they canceled the ferries. So you see, it’s not your fault you got sick.”

  “Always a charmer.”

  “I speak only the truth. Are you ready for some dinner?”

  “If you are.”

  He went to the cooler he’d brought from home and retrieved two of the chicken sandwiches his mother had made to get him through his first day on the island. It had been her way of being supportive of his new endeavor, and he’d been touched by her kind gesture. “I have beer and water. What’s your preference?”

  “I’ll have a beer.”

  Mac opened two bottles and handed one to her along with a sandwich. “Sorry it’s not more fancy.”

  “This is perfect.”

  And it was. He’d never owned anything other than his old truck, and to sit inside his building—even if it was falling down around him—with a view of his pond and his woman sitting beside him… Life didn’t get any better than this. “It is kind of perfect, but only because you’re here with me. I’d be lonely here by myself.”