Gansett Island Boxed Set, Books 1-16

by Force, Marie

  * * *

  Slim and Erin left the lighthouse shortly after three to go to dinner at Jenny and Alex’s house. On the way, they stopped by to see Luke and Sydney, who were enjoying a quiet day at home.

  “Thank God you’re here,” Syd said when they came into the living room where she was on the sofa, a blanket over her lap. “He’s keeping me prisoner. I need someone to spring me.”

  Slim laughed at the way Luke rolled his eyes at his wife’s complaints.

  “She’s doing exactly what the doctor told her to do—nothing.”

  “He acts like I was put on official bed rest. He’s even carrying me to the bathroom! Erin, tell him this has to stop!”

  “Umm, well…”

  “Not you, too! I thought we were friends.”

  “We are friends,” Erin said with a laugh, “which is why I want you to do what you’re told and take it easy for a few more days.”

  Sydney scowled at her.

  “Thank you, Erin,” Luke said. “She’s driving me crazy.”

  “I’m driving you crazy? That’s a laugh!”

  “Love you, sweetheart,” Luke said with a big goofy grin that made all of them laugh, even Sydney.

  “This sucks,” she said. “We had all kinds of fun plans for today, and we’re stuck at home.”

  Luke sat on the sofa and placed his wife’s feet on his lap. “It’s for a good cause.”

  “Yes, it is,” Sydney said, smiling at him.

  Slim and Erin sat on the love seat and kept the happy couple company for an hour before they had to leave to continue on to Jenny’s.

  “Tell everyone we said Merry Christmas,” Syd said glumly.

  “I will,” Erin said.

  “Did you hear we’ve got a New Year’s Eve wedding to look forward to?” Slim asked Luke.

  “Yes! Adam and Abby are tying the knot. Can’t wait. What a fun night for a wedding.”

  Slim recalled Abby’s tearstained face on the flight back to Gansett the day of the anniversary party and wondered if there wasn’t more to the story of their impromptu wedding than anyone had yet heard.

  On the way to Jenny’s, he took hold of Erin’s hand and brought it to his lips. “What’re you doing on New Year’s Eve?”

  “I figured we’d hang out and watch the ball drop before you have to go back to Florida.”

  “How about coming with me to my friend’s wedding?”

  “Are you even invited?”

  “Ha! Of course I am. This is Gansett. Everyone is invited. I have a great group of people I hang out with in Florida, but the people here, especially the McCarthys, they’re my closest friends.”

  “I can see why. I love the people here. At first, when Jenny asked me about applying for the lighthouse job, I thought no way. I could never stand to be marooned on an island all year. But she encouraged me to come see for myself, and after one weekend here, I was packing my bags.”

  “I hate leaving in October, but there’s nothing much for me to do here all winter. Well, there hasn’t been in the past, but now there’s this gorgeous lighthouse keeper who makes me want to rethink my plans for the rest of the winter.”

  “Don’t tease me.”

  “I’m not.” He looked over in time to see her brows furrow and her lips purse. “I’d much rather be here with you than down there without you. Have you given any more thought to coming with me?”

  “Oh. You still want me to?”

  “Erin,” he said, laughing, “yes, I want you to. Haven’t I spent days showing you how badly I want you?”

  “Yes, but… I… I don’t know about Florida. I have a commitment here and a contract with the town and… I just don’t know.”

  “None of that sounds insurmountable if you want to come, but I won’t push you if it’s not what you want.” He felt oddly disappointed by her noncommittal attitude. After the last few blissful nights in her bed, he was fully committed to her and them and seeing what might come next. Not knowing where he stood with her was making him crazy, but he was trying to give her space she seemed to need to come around in her own time.

  But what if she didn’t come around? What if this was nothing more than a holiday fling to her when he was getting in deeper by the minute? That would suck. He was damned if he did and damned if he didn’t.

  He drove into the driveway at Martinez Lawn and Garden and went around the retail store to hang a left toward Jenny and Alex’s house. Other cars were in the driveway when they arrived. He parked in the road so they could leave when they needed to and shut off the engine.

  “Slim.”

  “Yeah?”

  “I’m sorry if I said the wrong thing just now. My head seems to be all over the place the last few days, but I’m thinking about your offer and trying to figure out what to do.”

  “I don’t want you to think I’m pressuring you to decide something if you’re not ready to, but I’d love to have you in Florida with me and at Evan’s wedding in Anguilla. We’d have so much fun.”

  “I know we would, but I’m not ready to decide anything for sure yet. I thought my life was settled after I moved here, and then I met you and we’ve had this time together and now… Now I don’t know what’s what, and nothing feels settled anymore.”

  Her distress moved him. It made him realize how fragile she was and that he needed to be extra careful with how he handled the next steps with her. “There’s no rush, sweetheart. I swear. I’m not going anywhere for another week, and we’ve got plenty of time to figure out what happens next.”

  “Okay,” she said with a sigh of what sounded like relief.

  “Don’t stress out about me. There’s no need for that. I promise.” He leaned over the center console to kiss her. “We good?”

  “Yeah, we’re good.”

  “Let’s go have some fun.”

  Chapter 12

  Inside, Alex poured drinks for Erin, Slim, David, Daisy, Paul and Hope while Jenny put the finishing touches on dinner.

  “Alex, why don’t you show the guys what Santa brought you before dinner?” Jenny said.

  “Is it something that’s going to add to my emotional scars where you two are concerned?” Paul asked.

  “You’re going to love it, bro.” Alex led the men to the basement, where a brand-new pool table was the centerpiece of the family room. “Is my wife the best, or what?”

  “She’s pretty damned awesome,” Paul said, running a hand over the rich green felt. “Let’s break this baby in!”

  Alex called dibs on Slim for his team, which left David and Paul to play against them. “Jared and Quinn can play the winners,” Alex said as he racked the balls.

  “How did Jenny get a pool table out here without you knowing about it?” David asked.

  “She recruited Joe and Seamus to help her get it on the ferry and then have it delivered here while I was out plowing snow. Best Christmas ever.” As he said the words, Slim noted the hint of sadness in his friend’s eyes and realized this was also the brothers’ first Christmas without their mother, who was in a memory care facility on the mainland. He wanted to ask how she was doing but didn’t want to ruin the festive mood.

  David saved him the trouble by asking if they’d heard from Marion’s caregivers.

  “We talked to them yesterday,” Alex said. “She’s doing very well, adapting to her new surroundings.”

  “That’s great news.”

  “It is until we show up and she begs us to take her home,” Alex said, grimacing as he broke, watching a striped ball head for the corner and then groaning when the ball bounced short of the pocket.

  “That’s got to be rough,” Slim said.

  “It blows,” Paul said bluntly. “We leave there feeling like total shit every time, and the kicker is that five minutes after we’re gone, she doesn’t even remember we were there.”

  “But we’re a disaster for days afterward,” Alex added.

  “Have you thought about cutting back on the visits?” David asked as he eyed the
orange number five ball and sank it in the side pocket.

  “If we do that, we still feel like shit,” Alex said. “It’s a no-win situation no matter what we do.”

  David moved on to sink the yellow number one and the green number six.

  “Um, Alex, the doc is kicking our ass here,” Slim said. “Is it not enough that you’re a freaking doctor? Do you have to be a pool shark, too?”

  “I’m about to also be an engaged man,” David said without looking up from the table.

  “Say what?” Alex asked.

  “I’m going to pop the question when we get home tonight. Daisy has no idea.”

  “Oh my God,” Paul said. “That’s awesome.”

  Whoa, that’s big news, Slim thought. After David’s spectacular breakup with Janey McCarthy, Slim had wondered if he would ever get married. But then he met Daisy, and the two of them had fallen hard for each other. He was glad to see David taking another chance on love. Based on the way Daisy positively glowed with happiness whenever David was nearby, Slim had a feeling this one was for keeps.

  “Congratulations,” Slim said. “Happy for you.”

  “Thanks.”

  “You’re awfully sure she’ll say yes,” Alex said.

  David shot him a disdainful look. “If I wasn’t sure of her answer, I never would’ve told you yahoos.”

  “That hurts me,” Alex said gravely.

  “So guess what Hope got for Christmas.” Paul said after David finally missed a shot and their team got a turn. He lined up to put the eleven ball in a corner pocket.

  “What?” Alex asked.

  “Airline tickets to Vegas. The three of us are leaving tomorrow for three days there and then a week in San Francisco.”

  “Hey, that’s cool,” Alex said. “Good time of year to get away.”

  “Great time of year to tie the knot, too,” Paul said nonchalantly.

  Alex stared at his brother, agog. “Wait. What?”

  “You heard me,” Paul said, amused by his brother’s reaction. “We’re going to Vegas to get married.”

  “Get outta here,” Slim said. “That’s awesome.” If things kept up this way, he’d be the last single man standing before long.

  “Very cool,” David said. “Was she surprised?”

  “About the trip, yes, but not about the getting-married part. We’ve been talking about doing it here, but I thought it would be more fun to get away. We’ll have a party in the spring to celebrate.”

  Alex gawked at his brother, seeming stunned by his news.

  “What?” Paul asked him. “You aren’t mad, are you?”

  “I’d kinda like to be there when you get married.”

  “Then why don’t you and Jenny come with us?”

  Alex seemed to think that over for about two seconds. “Don’t mind if we do.”

  “I don’t mind at all. We’d love to have you.”

  “All this talk of weddings is going to make Slim jealous,” David said.

  Slim’s first impulse was usually to cringe when people used the words wedding and Slim in the same sentence, but after the nights he’d spent wrapped up in Erin’s arms, the thought of it didn’t seem as repulsive as it once would have.

  “It’s okay,” Slim said, affecting a grave expression. “I think I can handle it.”

  His dad had told him a long time ago that someday he’d meet a woman who would make settling down seem like the most natural thing in the world. Slim had spent most of his life in skeptical disbelief that it would happen to him as women passed through his life without sticking.

  Until now.

  Was Erin the woman his dad had told him he’d find? He couldn’t say for sure yet, but he felt more “settled” in her presence than he had with any other woman he’d known before her. That much was for certain. At times, he had to remind himself he’d known her only a couple of months and not years. He was so comfortable with her, it was easy to forget their relationship was still new in many ways.

  Up until a few days ago, it had been a nice friendship with the possibility of more. Now it was so much more, and he still had no idea where it was leading. The good news was nothing had to be decided immediately, but a week from now when it was time for him to head south again, he hoped they’d be ready to make a decision or two about the path forward.

  He wanted her in his life. It was that simple. And he wanted her badly enough to play by her rules for the time being.

  Just as David sank the eight ball in the corner pocket, Jenny called them upstairs for dinner.

  “We never stood a chance against him,” Slim said to Alex. “We got hustled.”

  “I want to be on his team next time,” Alex said.

  “Now don’t fight over me, boys,” David said, grinning. “It’s Christmas.”

  They trooped upstairs, still sparring about the pool game.

  “Daisy,” Alex said, “you ought to know that your boyfriend is a hustler.”

  Daisy put her arms around David. “Aww, did you kick their butts, honey?”

  “I put a hurt on them.”

  “That’s my guy.” She kissed him square on the mouth.

  “Ugh,” Alex said. “Get a room.”

  “Can we choose any room we want upstairs?” David asked, waggling his brows at Alex.

  “Not at my house. Gross.”

  “Alex, come help me with dinner and leave David alone,” Jenny said.

  “He humiliated me at my own pool table on the first day,” Alex said. “I’d think you’d have more sympathy for your husband.”

  “I’ll massage your wounded ego later. For now, I have people to feed.”

  Slim laughed at Jenny’s saucy reply.

  “He’s still such a baby,” Paul said.

  “I heard that, asshole,” Alex called from the kitchen.

  “Shut it,” Jenny said while the others laughed.

  Baby, Paul mouthed.

  Slim smiled at Paul while Hope placed a hand over his mouth. Their bickering made Slim miss Jack. He was long overdue for a visit with his brother’s family, and he’d love to bring Erin with him.

  “Leave your brother alone,” Hope said.

  “He invited himself and his wife on our trip,” Paul told her when she’d removed her hand.

  “Oh yay! That’s great. We’ll have so much fun.”

  Paul hooked his arm around her waist and drew her in close to him. “As long as I get to marry you, I’ll put up with him crashing our party.”

  Hope’s smile lit up her pretty face.

  Jenny came rushing out of the kitchen and threw herself at Hope. “You’re getting married! And we’re going with you! Oh my God! This is huge! When were you going to tell me?”

  “I was waiting for Paul to tell Alex.”

  “We’re going to be sisters!” Jenny said, tears making her eyes shine.

  The two women clung to each other.

  Slim glanced at Erin in time to see a stricken expression on her face. Ah, damn. Jenny was supposed to have been her sister, too. He crossed the room to Erin, put his arm around her and let her know he understood.

  She leaned her head into his chest in a moment of silent unity that did funny things to his insides. What the hell was that? He was hungry, and the smells coming from the kitchen were making his stomach growl. That was all it was.

  But when he looked down to find Erin gazing up at him with affection and appreciation and a million other things he couldn’t easily identify, he knew it was far more than hunger. It was something else, something altogether new.

  The moment was broken when Jared, Lizzie and Quinn came in the front door, apologizing for being late and bearing side dishes that they handed over to Jenny.

  “You’re not late,” she said. “You’re just in time for dinner.”

  Quinn handed Jenny a bottle of wine. “Thanks for having me.”

  “We’re so glad you could join us. How are you enjoying the island so far?”

  “It’s beautiful, but a little
quiet for my liking.”

  “Wait until summer,” Paul said. “You won’t believe it’s the same place.”

  “That’s what everyone tells me,” Quinn said. “But how do you not go nuts out here in the winter?”

  “Oh, we find ways to keep ourselves entertained,” Paul said, smiling at Hope.

  Her entire face turned bright red as she swatted him. “Knock it off.”

  “I see how it is,” Quinn said, using his thumb to point to Jared and Lizzie, “living with these two. They ‘disappear’ frequently.”

  “We do not!” Lizzie said.

  “Um, yeah, we do, babe,” Jared replied, earning a glare from his wife.

  “On that note,” Jenny said, “let’s eat.”

  Slim held a chair at the dining room table for Erin, who was far more subdued than usual. He reached for her hand and gave it a squeeze.

  She sent him a grateful smile, but he sensed she was unsettled. He couldn’t wait to be alone with her again later when he’d try to get her to talk about it.

  * * *

  Erin felt foolish for allowing such a simple thing to send her reeling, but witnessing Jenny’s joyful celebration with Hope had felt like a punch to the gut. Jenny was to have been her sister, and while Erin was truly happy for Hope and Paul—and Alex and Jenny by extension—the incident was just another reminder of what’d been lost.

  And now she could feel herself falling into the black hole of despair that struck at the oddest of times, like today when she’d been having a really great day with people she adored. All it took was one sentence, one comment, one second to change the dynamic for her.

  She ought to be used to it by now, having suffered through frequent mini-crises since Toby died, but she was never prepared for the darkness to swoop in to remind her that while her life and Jenny’s had somehow moved forward, Toby was gone forever.

  Slim’s hand wrapped around hers was a comfort until he was forced to release her to take the serving dish that Paul passed to him.

  Jenny served a delicious meal of tenderloin, red bliss potatoes, asparagus, mixed vegetables and freshly baked bread, but Erin couldn’t get anything past the lump in her throat. She dabbed at her lips and mumbled an “excuse me” before she got up and went to the bathroom in the hallway to try to get herself together.