by Force, Marie
After they posed for photos, Laura said, “You know what the best part of this day is?”
“I bet I know,” Owen said.
“I bet you don’t. It’s that I’ll never, ever, ever have to be pregnant again.”
“But how will I recognize you, my love?” Owen asked. “You’ve been pregnant the whole time I’ve known you.”
“Very funny. Wait till you find out what I really look like. You might not want me anymore.”
Leaning in close to her, he gazed into her eyes as he kissed her. “Not a chance of that.”
Chapter 4
Later that evening, Mallory hitched a ride home with Linda. The entire family had been into the clinic to visit Laura, Owen and the babies. David had determined that both she and the twins were in great shape, and thus there was no need to transport them to the mainland for further medical attention. They’d be spending at least two nights at the clinic, where David and Victoria would keep a close eye on all three of them before allowing them to go home.
“What a day,” Linda said, choking back a yawn. She’d been unflagging in her support of Laura and Owen since her arrival at the clinic hours ago.
“She appreciated you being there.”
“She’s another daughter to me. Her mom died so young. It was such a tragedy. Frank raised those kids all by himself.”
“From what I’ve heard, he did it with considerable help from you guys.”
“We did what we could, but we were out here and they were in Providence. Laura and Shane came out to spend the summers with us, and Frank came on weekends. We muddled through.”
“Laura told me once that those summers were the highlight of her childhood.”
“Did she?” Linda smiled. “That’s awfully nice to hear.”
“I wish I could’ve done what they did.”
“Spend summers here?”
Mallory nodded. “I got to go to camp while my mom worked. I would’ve rather been here.”
“I’m sure she did the best she could.”
“Did she?” Mallory wanted to blame her testy tone on the long day, but that wasn’t it.
“You want to talk about it?”
Mallory desperately wanted to talk about it. “I’m so angry with her, which makes me feel terrible because she’s gone and can’t defend herself. But I can’t help it. Look what she kept me from for almost forty years! My father, my brothers, my sister, cousins, uncles, you. I’m so damned mad that some days I don’t know how I’ll ever get past it.”
“It’s understandable that you’d be upset.”
“I went past upset months ago. Now I’m just downright furious. All those years, I thought I was just missing a father, but I also had five siblings and four cousins. We could’ve grown up together, but she chose to keep me all to herself. Her family had nothing to do with us. Do you know how lonely it is to have exactly one other person as your family?”
Linda pulled her yellow bug into the driveway at the White House, as the locals referred to their home, and cut the engine.
“You know what the worst part is?”
“What’s that?”
“After all this time, I don’t even know what I’m supposed to call him. Big Mac? Dad? What do I call him?”
“He’d want you to call him anything that feels comfortable to you. If you want to call him Dad, call him Dad.”
“Will the others care if I call him that?”
“Why would they? He’s your father, Mallory. You should call him Dad.”
All of a sudden, Mallory realized she’d gone off on a rant and sagged against the seat. “I’m sorry. I don’t mean to dump my crap in your lap.”
“My lap is more than happy to accommodate your crap,” Linda said.
Mallory laughed at her choice of words.
“I’m a professional mom. It’s what I do best. No one can replace your mother, but I’m here if you need an ear or a shoulder.”
When her eyes burned with tears, Mallory used her fingers to hold them in. “I don’t want to be angry with her, but I can’t help it.”
“You have a right to your feelings. We all do.”
“Why couldn’t she have told me about him sooner? What did she think would happen if she did?”
“I don’t know, but she must’ve been afraid of something.”
“What? She knew him. She had to know he’d never try to take me from her.”
“She probably never expected her parents to turn their backs on her. People do unexpected things all the time. Perhaps she felt it wasn’t worth the risk to tell him about you.”
“Maybe,” Mallory conceded.
“You may never fully understand the why of it, Mallory, but in time, you’ll make peace with it. She left you a priceless gift by giving you your father’s name.”
“I know, and I try to tell myself it’s enough.”
“But you still feel cheated.”
“Yeah.”
“You should talk to your uncle Kevin. He’s an excellent therapist. He might be able to help you deal with those feelings.”
“That’s not a bad idea, especially since I’m going to be spending more time here.”
“You are?”
Mallory nodded. “Mason offered me a job working on the rescue this summer, and I decided to take it. It’ll buy me some time to figure out what’s next.”
“That’s wonderful news! Your dad will be so thrilled. You’re more than welcome to stay with us. We have plenty of room, as you know.”
“That’s very sweet of you, but you guys need your privacy. I heard Janey’s house in town might be available to rent after Adam and Abby buy a house.”
“That’d be ideal for you.”
“I agree. I love that house.”
“It sounds to me like you had a very productive day. You helped to save a life, you landed a new job, found a new home and helped deliver your cousin’s babies.”
“And to reward myself for that great day, I indulged in a pity party.”
“Give yourself a break. In the last year, you’ve lost your mother, found your father and his family, and got laid off from the job that was at the center of your life. I’m surprised you’re not in the fetal position after all that.”
“I resort to the fetal position every now and then.”
Linda chuckled. “You’re going to get through this latest challenge. I have no doubt about that. You may even look back to realize getting laid off was the best thing to ever happen to you. If nothing else, it’ll force you to take a look at what else is out there, waiting to be discovered.”
“Right now it just feels like a mountain to be climbed.”
“Shaking up your life is overwhelming, for sure. I have a good feeling about you moving out here. This place has magical restorative powers. Ask anyone. They’ll tell you. I think this is going to turn out to be a whole new beginning for you, the Summer of Mallory.”
“I like that. The Summer of Mallory.”
“Here’s to new beginnings.”
While new beginnings were great, moving was not. Mallory had lived in the same house for twelve years and had accumulated way too much stuff, much of which she donated or sold at a yard sale. She spent entire nights sifting through her belongings, paring down to the necessities she would need on the island.
The rest would go into storage while the house was rented. Movers would arrive in an hour to take her bed, sofa and other furniture and household items to Gansett, while she packed her car with clothes and personal items. Both vehicles were scheduled on the three-o’clock ferry to the island, thanks to her brother-in-law, Joe. Being related to the owner of the ferry company had its perks.
She carried the last of the boxes to her car, these containing items that she’d never part with or allow out of her possession. Priceless memories she carried with her to her new life on Gansett Island.
Her realtor, Judy, dropped by to pick up the keys for the tenants who would move in on the first of June.
; “I’m so jealous that you’re moving to Gansett,” Judy said. “I’d kill to live out there.”
“I’m excited,” Mallory said, and she was now that the sifting, sorting and packing portion of the move was finished. “We’ll see if I’m excited when winter rolls around.” Would she still be there then? Who knew? But that was part of the fun of her new adventure. Anything was possible.
“Well, good luck. I’ll keep an eye on the tenants and make sure they take good care of the place. If you decide to sell at some point, you know where I am.”
“Yes, I do. Thanks again for everything.”
After Judy left, Mallory took one last walk through the house, spending a few moments in each empty room before she locked up and jumped in her car for the trip to Point Judith to catch the ferry. As Mallory drove away from the house she’d called home for a dozen years, she never looked back.
Three hours later, Mallory led the moving truck to her new home in Janey’s tiny but cozy house and found a crowd waiting to greet her. They’d put balloons on the mailbox and strung a Welcome Home banner across the front porch.
She was moved to tears as she took it all in—her dad and Linda, Mac and Maddie, Joe and Janey, Adam and Abby, Ned and Francine, Tiffany and Blaine, Shane and Katie, Riley and Finn, Uncle Frank and Betsy and Uncle Kevin and Chelsea. The only ones missing were Evan and Grace and Grant and Stephanie, all of whom were due home soon.
As Mac and Maddie’s son, Thomas, and Tiffany’s daughter, Ashleigh, ran around the small front yard, shrieking with excitement, Big Mac approached the car and opened the door for her.
Mallory wiped away tears and greeted him with a big smile. After having known him for almost a year, she could no longer imagine life without him. She took the hand he offered and let him help her out of the car.
He hugged her tightly. “So glad to have you here to stay, honey.”
She wanted to swoon with happiness every time he called her that. It didn’t matter that he called all the girls “honey” or “sweetheart.” Mallory couldn’t get enough of it. “I can’t believe you’re all here.”
“Of course we’re here,” he said as if it was no big deal when it was the biggest of deals to her. “You need help getting settled.” Keeping an arm around her, Big Mac bellowed to the others, “Let’s get that truck unloaded, boys!”
While the men helped the movers carry in her bedroom and living room furniture, the women got busy unloading boxes in the kitchen. What she’d expected to spend three days doing, they had finished in three hours. Big Mac even hung pictures on the wall and put up the curtain rods she’d bought for the living room.
“It looks like I’ve lived here for a year,” Mallory said when the last of the boxes had been unpacked and her clothes hung in the closet. “This family doesn’t mess around.”
“Next is the housewarming party,” Big Mac declared, pulling out his wallet. “Mac, you get the beer. Joe, you’re in charge of pizza.” He handed cash to each of them. “What else do we need, Lin?”
“That about covers it.”
“Go to it, boys.”
“Why do we gotta be the hunter-gatherers?” Mac grumbled. “That’s why we have wives.”
“Seriously?” Maddie asked. “You’re actually going there?”
“I don’t think she’s worshipping at the altar of Mac McCarthy anymore,” Shane said, referring to Mac’s famous comment at Evan’s wedding last winter.
“Shit,” Mac said, with a dirty grin. “She worships at the Mac McCarthy altar every day.”
“Mac McCarthy is going to be at the altar in a pine box if he doesn’t shut his mouth and do what he’s told,” Maddie said as the others roared with laughter.
“Yes, dear,” he replied with a dopey grin. “Let’s get going, Joe. The natives are getting nasty.”
Though endlessly amused by Mac, Mallory’s stomach had dropped at the mention of beer. Hopefully, no one would notice if she didn’t indulge.
“Mommy,” Thomas said, “is Daddy in trouble again?”
“Daddy is always in trouble,” Maddie said to her son.
“Maybe he needs a time-out.”
“I think that’s a wonderful idea, honey.”
“Mallory, come see the pictures from our trip,” Big Mac said of the fortieth-anniversary trip he and Linda had taken to Paris and England last month.
She joined her dad in the kitchen with a growing feeling of happiness and contentment. She was going to love living here.
The next morning, she attended a meeting at the church and ran into Quinn James at the coffee table.
“How’s it going?” she asked. He made her nervous, which was odd because men, in general, didn’t rattle her. So why did this one?
“Good. Haven’t seen you here in a while.”
“I was in Providence packing up my house.”
He stirred cream and sugar into his coffee. “Where you headed?”
“Here for at least the summer. After that, we’ll see.” She glanced up at him, noting the golden stubble on his jaw and the dark circles under his brown eyes that made him look haunted. “What about you?”
“I live here now. My brother and sister-in-law are opening a healthcare facility on the island. I’m their medical director.”
“I heard about that. What a great idea.”
“We’ll see,” he said with the faintest hint of a smile.
Mallory suspected he didn’t smile very often. “It’s an ambitious undertaking. Congrats on the new job.”
“Thanks. I’m in way over my head, but don’t tell my brother or his wife. They think I’m overqualified.”
“Your secret is safe with me.”
“You ought to come and check it out. Your brother is the contractor.”
So he knew who she was in relation to the McCarthys. Interesting. Did that mean he’d asked about her? “I’ll do that.”
Mason appeared a few minutes later and joined them at the coffee table, his face lighting up with pleasure at the sight of her. “You’re back! And just in time for the mayhem of Race Week. Is it Memorial Day yet?”
Amused by his enthusiasm, Mallory said, “Not yet.”
“I’ll see you next Tuesday at seven at the barn. That’s what we call the firehouse.”
“You’re working on the rescue?” Quinn asked.
“Yep. Got myself a summer job.”
“I thought you were an ER nurse?”
“I was laid off in early March.”
“Oh damn. Sorry.”
Mallory shrugged. “It hasn’t been so bad. They gave me a year’s pay, and now I’ve got a fun summer job lined up to keep me busy.”
“We’ll keep you busy, all right,” Mason said. “So busy you won’t have a second to be bored.”
“He keeps trying to scare me off,” Mallory said to Quinn. “After twelve years in the ER, not much fazes me.”
“We’ll see if summer on Gansett Island can top the ER in Providence,” Mason said. “If nothing else, it’ll give Providence a run for its money.”
“I’m looking forward to it.”
“She says that now,” Mason said to Quinn, who laughed, and oh damn, was he handsome when he laughed.
Nina came rushing through the door, uttering her usual apologies for running late.
“If you want to come out to the site after the meeting, I’d be happy to show you around,” Quinn said.
“Um, sure, that sounds good. Thanks.”
Nodding, he went to find a seat. As he walked away, Mallory again noted he had a slight limp and wondered if he’d injured himself while running or when he was in Afghanistan. She’d really like to know.
“I guess I need to get here earlier if I want to ask you out for coffee after,” Mason said as he followed her to the circle of chairs.
Mallory turned to find him smiling down at her. “Sorry. Rain check?”
“Sure. Any time.”
As Mallory took her seat, she again wondered if he was interested in more than a pr
ofessional relationship with her. That might get awkward with him as her boss for the summer.
Nina began the meeting by leading the Serenity Prayer and welcoming new members. “Mallory, it’s nice to have you back with us.”
“Thank you. I’m here for the summer, so you’ll be seeing more of me.”
“We’re happy to have you. Who would like to begin?”
Andy, the man who’d befriended her the first time she attended, talked about some recent challenges he’d encountered at social events. Nancy, a waitress at Stephanie’s Bistro, talked about working in a place where serving alcohol was part of her job, and Russ, a deckhand on the ferries, discussed his struggles with the drunks on the boats after a long day on the island.
“I ask myself all the time, is that what I was like?” Russ said. “If so, I’m doubly glad I don’t drink anymore.”
If Mallory was going to make this her home meeting while she was on the island, at some point she had to contribute. No time like the present, she decided, signaling to Nina that she had something to say.
Chapter 5
Nina nodded to her, and Mallory felt the eyes of thirty people turn to her. In the past, that would’ve intimidated her, but after years in the program, she had certainly done this before.
“I’d been sober more than ten years when my mother died last year.” She paused when the others offered condolences. “Thank you. It was a tough loss. For my entire life, it’d been just her and me. She got pregnant when she was really young, and her parents disowned her. My father was never in the picture. I had asked about him many times, but her answers were always vague. As I got older, I wondered if maybe she didn’t know who he was.”
Mallory took a moment to get her emotions under control. “I found a letter in her things about a week after she died. In it, she finally gave me my father’s name, and as soon as I could, I came to Gansett to find him. I thought maybe I’d just say hello and let him know he had a daughter he’d never known about. But that’s not what happened. My father is an amazing person with an equally amazing family. I found out I have a stepmother, four brothers, a sister, two nephews, a niece, four cousins and two uncles, not to mention sisters-in-law and a brother-in-law.