by Force, Marie
Chapter 7
Big Mac laughed softly at the memory of how eager she’d been once they got the first time out of the way.
“What’s so funny?” she asked from her perch on his lap.
“You were. ‘How soon can we do it again?’”
She groaned. “You never let me forget that.”
“How could I? I had no idea I was marrying such a wild woman.”
“Stop it. I wasn’t a wild woman until I married you.”
“Here I thought I was getting such a sweet, innocent girl. What a shock.”
Linda laughed. “Whatever you say.”
“Remember how we added a second night to our stay at the Biltmore because we weren’t ready to go back to reality?”
“Our little honeymoon.”
“Speaking of the honeymoon we never really got to have, there’s something on my desk that you need to see.”
“What something?”
“You’ll have to go get it and find out.”
As expected, she sprang from his lap and headed for the study, where he’d left the other gift he’d spent months arranging, making sure it was perfect before he presented it to her. She returned carrying the box he’d wrapped himself in silver paper with a big silver bow on top.
“We said no gifts, and you’ve gone all out,” she said.
He held out his arms, inviting her to return to her perch on his lap. “This one is for both of us.”
As she removed the bow, he again noted a slight tremble in her hand that always meant she was excited about something. She opened the lid on the box and pushed aside the tissue paper to find a packet of papers that he’d carefully arranged. Glancing warily at him first, she returned her attention to the papers, gasping when she saw the itinerary for a trip to Paris and London—first class all the way. Nothing but the best for his bride.
“Mac,” she said on a whisper, tears rolling down her cheeks.
She had always wanted to go to Paris, but they hadn’t gotten there yet. In April, they would finally take the trip they’d talked about for years.
“Good surprise?” he asked.
“The best.” Wiping away tears, she carefully read every page of the itinerary that would take them first to Provence for a week and then to Paris for a second week. They would travel through the Chunnel for another week in London before heading home from there. “Three whole weeks. This is incredible, Mac.”
“I’ve heard April in Paris is the best time of year.”
“That’s what people say.” She hugged him tightly, her tears wetting his cheek.
Nothing made him happier than making her happy.
“You spoil me rotten.”
“You spoiled me rotten when you gave up all your plans to come out here to live with me.”
“Nothing I had planned could compare to being here with you.”
“So you say, but you could’ve had any life—”
She kissed him before he could continue an “argument” they’d had many times. “The only life I wanted was the one I’ve had here with you and our family. I don't know what you think I would’ve ended up doing that would’ve been better than this.”
“I’ve never stopped being thankful that you chose this life.”
“As if you gave me any choice,” she said. “You were rather relentless in your pursuit of me.”
“I was, wasn’t I?” he asked with a cocky grin. “But the choice was always yours, love. I would’ve sold the marina in a New York minute if you hadn’t wanted to be here. I hope you know that.”
“I do know, and I always wanted to be here as much as you did. Even that first winter when we slept in that tiny bed at the marina, freezing our butts off half the time.”
He nuzzled her cheek. “Making love the other half of the time.”
“I think it was more than half the time the first few years.”
Laughing, he said, “You may be right about that.”
“Since Mac and Maddie lost Connor, I’ve thought a lot about the baby we lost.”
“I have, too.”
“You ever wonder what he or she might’ve been like?”
“All the time. I figure since we had four boys before we got our girl, the baby was probably a boy.”
“He’d be thirty-eight now, maybe married with a family of his own. Hard to believe it’s been that long. Sometimes it feels like yesterday.”
“I know. When I went to sit with Mac at the hospital this summer after they lost Connor, we talked about it a little, and I said that sometimes things happen the way they’re meant to. As much as we mourned the one we lost, if he had lived, we wouldn’t have had Mac when we did, and life without him…”
“Is unimaginable.”
“Exactly.”
“I’m very thankful for the five we have as well as Mallory, who has been such a blessing since she came into our lives,” she said. “Taking a leave of absence from her job to help when Lisa Chandler was dying was such a lovely thing to do.”
“Yes, it was.”
“We have much to be thankful for today.”
“So much.” He stood, lifting her into his arms, earning a squeak of surprise from his lovely wife.
“What’re you doing? You’ll be crippled!”
“Stop it.” He headed for the stairs. “You’re light as a feather, and I’ve been hauling you around for forty years. Why would I quit now?”
“Um, maybe because you’re sixty years old?”
“Bite your tongue, woman. Sixty is the new forty. I’m just hitting my prime.”
“God help me. Where exactly are you taking me?”
“All this talk of wedding nights and making love more than half the time has put ideas in my head.”
“You already had that idea today.”
“Remember when I used to have it four times a day?”
“I can’t say that I do. It’s all a blur.”
“Sure, it is,” he said, chuckling as he set her on the bed and came down on top of her. “How about I refresh your memory?”
“Give it your best shot.”
“Oh, I love when you talk dirty to me.”
As she laughed, he kissed her, loving everything about her and the amazing life they’d had together.
Balancing his brother Adam’s huge flat-screen TV in his arms while he navigated the snowy steps to the Sand & Surf Hotel, Grant McCarthy prepared for imminent disaster. Adam’s frantic call that morning had woken Grant from a sound sleep to tend to his brother’s instructions for last-minute party preparation.
Something had taken Adam and Abby off-island yesterday. They weren’t due back until later today, which was why Adam needed Grant to deliver the TV to the hotel. Then they’d be ready to show the video Adam had made for their parents’ anniversary party.
“Doesn’t the hotel have a TV we could use?” Grant had asked.
“Needs to be high-def,” Adam had said. “Take the one from my living room and get it over there, will you?”
Which was why Grant was currently fighting the elements to do his brother’s bidding. The things he did for this family. Grant struggled to get the door open while trying not to drop the TV that had to be worth thousands, knowing Adam, who had the best of everything when it came to gadgets and electronics.
The hotel door flew open, and Grant nearly toppled into the lobby. Somehow he managed to hold on to the TV.
His cousin Laura, hugely pregnant with twins, laughed at him. “Nice save, cuz.”
“Gee, thanks. Freaking Adam has me out in a blizzard doing his errands for him. Where do you want this?”
“In the restaurant. Stephanie has a plan for it.”
“Of course she does.” His lovely wife always had a plan, and he’d learned to go along with her plans because they led to nice things for him, too. Such as last night, when she’d planned a cozy dinner for two that had led to a nearly sleepless night. He adored her plans.
Grant carried the TV into the main dining room o
f Stephanie’s Bistro, where the party for his parents would take place later. Stephanie was supervising her staff as they made final preparations.
“Hey, babe, where do you want the TV?”
“Oh, Grant, there you are. Over here.” She directed him to a corner of the big room that had been set up for audiovisual. Adam’s handiwork was all over that.
He set the TV down and then shook the blood back into his arms.
“Is that the TV from Adam’s house?” Stephanie asked.
“Yep. I followed his orders to the letter.”
“Still no word on why they had to go to Providence so suddenly?”
“Not that I’ve heard. I’m sure they’ll tell us later.” He kissed her nose and then her lips. “You were gone when I woke up.”
“Stuff to do.”
“You have to be tired after last night,” he said with a private smile that she returned.
Waggling her brows at him, she said, “I’m energized.”
Despite the employees working in the room, Grant put his arms around her and drew her in tight against him. The employees were used to occasional PDA from them by now.
“Please, oh, please, don’t make me go to LA by myself.” He was due to leave right after the New Year to meet with the production team that would make the film he’d written about her life story.
“You won’t be by yourself. You’ve got a million meetings and things to do. I’d only be in the way.”
“No, you wouldn’t. I want you to be part of this, Steph.”
“I’ve already been a part of it. I lived it. Once was enough for me.”
It broke his heart to hear her say that when he was thrilled about the lucrative deal he’d struck with one of the top production companies in Hollywood. He’d gotten his dream team for the screenplay that had become a passion project to him over the last year. He wanted to take this journey with her by his side, but she showed almost no interest in being part of it, which left him with a huge dilemma.
Did he leave his new wife for what could be a month or more to tend to business, or did he step aside now that the screenplay had been sold to a company he trusted to do right by the story? The thought of removing himself from the production made him feel twitchy and nervous, but the thought of being without Stephanie for the weeks he’d need to be in LA made him feel worse.
Nothing ever went as planned in the movie business, so who even knew how long he’d have to be there?
Grant released a long, deep sigh.
“I’m sorry,” she said quietly, making sure that only he could hear her. “I know how much this means to you, but I just… I can’t do it, Grant. I can’t relive it over and over again for the next year or however long it takes to make the movie. Just reading the screenplay was almost too much for me—and that’s a huge compliment. It’s brilliant and I love it. But—”
“I know, honey.” Listening to her and hearing her, really hearing what she was saying, removed all thoughts of a dilemma from his mind. “I’m going to step aside as a producer.”
She drew back to look up at him. “Wait. You’re going to do what?”
“I can still be involved without being there—”
“No! You have to be there.”
“Not without you.”
“Grant, you’re talking crazy. This movie is your baby. You have to be there to make sure it gets done right.”
“I trust the team we have in place, or I wouldn’t have signed with them.”
“I’ll go. I’ll go to LA with you, and we’ll figure something out for the restaurant and… I’ll go.”
“But you don’t want to.”
“It’s not that.”
Taking her by the hand, he led her out of the fray in the dining room, through the kitchen to her small office, shutting the door behind them. Turning to her, he propped himself on the corner of the desk and drew her in close to him. “Tell me.”
“It’s silly.”
“No, it’s not.”
“No, it really is.” She hesitated and seemed to force herself to meet his gaze. “You know I’m excited for you about the movie and all the interest in the story, right?”
“I think so.”
“I am. I’m so proud of you and the amazing job you did with the screenplay. Charlie and I both are,” she said of her stepfather.
Though he loved to hear her say that, he couldn’t get past the fact that something was obviously weighing on her. “Then what is it?”
“I’m so happy now. The years of Charlie being in prison and me trying desperately to get him out seem like a bad nightmare that happened to someone else. Our lives have changed so much since you and Dan came along and fixed everything for us. The thought of reliving it…” She placed her hand over her belly. “It makes me feel sick, Grant.”
“Come here.” He put his arms around her and tucked her into the nook below his chin, where she fit like the other half of him. “I understand how you feel, because I’ve had the pleasure of watching you blossom since all that terrible stress was removed from your life. The last thing I want is to see you regress back to that. I promise if you come to LA with me, I’ll keep you far away from what’s happening with the film.”
“And what kind of wife does that make me, when you can’t talk about your work with me?”
“The best kind of wife, because I can talk about everything else with you. After Evan’s wedding, I want to spend the rest of the winter in Southern California with you. I want you to see my place at the beach and work on your tan and shop in Beverly Hills.”
She snorted with laughter. “As if I’d even know how to shop in Beverly Hills.”
“You’re married to a very successful screenwriter,” he said with a smirk. “It’s probably time you figured that out. By the time the spring rolls around, I should have all my ducks in a row for the film, and we can come back here to open the restaurant for the season. And we’ll probably see Dan and Kara out there, too. He told me yesterday that snow doesn’t look good on him.”
Stephanie laughed. “I can hear him saying that.”
“We’ll have fun. I promise.”
She looped her arms around his neck and kissed him. “It’s always fun when I’m with you.”
“I’ll protect you from the past, Steph. I’ll always protect you.”
“The last time you took a woman with you to LA, it didn’t work out so well.”
“That’s because Abby and I weren’t meant to be, and because I had a lot to learn about what it takes to make a relationship work. I won’t make those mistakes again, not when there’s so much at stake.” He framed her face with his hands and kissed her. “And not when there’s nothing else I’d rather do than be with you.”
“So I guess we’re going to LA for the winter.”
“Are you sure, babe? I meant it when I said I’d turn the project over to someone else.”
“I’m sure. It needs to be you. You’re the only one I trust completely to make sure the story gets told the right way.”
“I’ve never told a more important story, and I probably never will again. I want the whole world to know what you did for Charlie, how you fought so tirelessly for justice.”
“And I want the whole world to know how you—and Dan—finally got justice for both of us.”
“Best phone call I ever made,” Grant said, smiling.
“Years and years of struggle and a small fortune spent on lawyers, and all it took was one phone call from you to Dan to change both our lives. I’ll never stop being grateful to both of you for what Charlie and I have now. He’s so happy with Sarah, and me… Well, I get the rest of my life with you. If there’s anything better than that, I haven’t found it yet.”
“Me either, sweetheart.”
Chapter 8
His ringing cell phone had Joe Cantrell reaching for the coffee table where he’d left it during a workout in the baby gym with his son, P.J. Watching those chubby arms and legs swatting at the toys above him was about
the most entertaining thing Joe had ever seen.
“What’s up?” he asked Seamus O’Grady, his second-in-command at the Gansett Island Ferry Company—and his mother’s husband. Since Seamus was only two years older than Joe, he preferred to think of the irreverent Irishman as his mother’s husband rather than his stepfather.
“I assume you’ve taken a glance outside today.”
“Yeah, I’ve been keeping an eye on it.”
“The last boat reported five-foot seas. I’m thinking we need to call off the rest of the day.”
Joe groaned because that would strand his brothers-in-law Adam and Evan, who were due home later in the day with their fiancées, Abby and Grace, for the anniversary party, a thought he shared with Seamus.
“Planes are still flying, so the boys should be able to get home for the festivities.”
“That’s good news. I’ll give them a heads-up. Go ahead and make the call.”
“Good old Mother Nature. The one thing we can’t predict with any certainty.”
“No kidding. How are things at home?”
“Pretty good. The boys are excited about Christmas, and we’re all looking forward to getting the addition finished. I can’t believe what Mac, Shane and the rest of our friends managed to pull off in just a few months. It’s a miracle, for sure.”
“Everyone wants to see the boys settled and comfortable in their new home.”
“No one more so than me and your mum. She’s been so great with them.”
“As have you.”
“Ah, thanks, but I’m fumbling my way through, whereas she’s a seasoned professional.”
“She’s a damned good mom. I can attest to how lucky Kyle and Jackson are to have her in their lives, but they’re lucky to have you, too.”
“With every waking day, I discover I’m the lucky one. It’s nice to see them bouncing back some from the terrible loss of their poor mum. I’m starting to think they might be okay.”
“They will be. I remember vividly the day my dad died, but I don’t remember a lot about the immediate aftermath other than moving to the island. When I look back at those years, I remember a happy childhood even though someone was missing. That’s what they’ll remember, too.”