Gansett Island Boxed Set, Books 1-16

by Force, Marie

“I told my lovely wife that you’d appreciate me looking out for you.”

  “Look out, yes. Interfering, no.”

  “Gotcha.” He wiped Hailey’s face and helped her with a sippy cup. “I get that this family thing is all new to you, but being the little brother is all new to me. It’s not just you who’s had to do some adjusting.”

  “I know. You’ve all been very generous about welcoming me into the family.”

  “I hope you know that we’re all very happy to have you. At first, it was strange and surprising and…”

  “Weird?”

  “Yeah, that,” he said with a laugh. “But it’s not weird anymore. You fit right in like you’ve always been here.”

  Oh dear sweet baby Jesus, he was going to make her cry.

  “Mallory? What? What did I say?”

  She shook her head and fought a valiant but ultimately unsuccessful battle to contain her tears.

  “Mac!” Maddie swooped in. “What did you do to her? I told you to leave her alone about Quinn James!”

  “Mallory is seeing Quinn James?” Evan asked. “Jared’s brother?”

  “Since when?” Grace asked. “Why doesn’t anyone tell us anything?”

  And then Mallory was laughing as she mopped up her tears.

  “What did he say to make you cry?” Maddie asked, glaring at her husband.

  “He was being sweet,” Mallory said.

  “I didn’t mean to make you cry,” Mac said.

  Mallory rested her head on her brother’s shoulder. “They were happy tears.”

  “You’re almost as weird as Janey, and that’s saying something.”

  “I heard that!” Janey called from across the deck.

  “Pipe down, brat. I’m talking to my other sister.”

  “Don’t listen to a word he says, Mallory,” Janey said. “It’s all BS.”

  “Not all of it,” Mallory said with a warm smile for Mac.

  “Where’re Tiffany and Blaine tonight?” Grace asked.

  “They’ve got the meeting with the prosecutor in Jim’s case tomorrow morning,” Maddie said of her sister and brother-in-law. “She wasn’t in the mood for a party, but she said to send her love and to tell you welcome home.”

  “They’ll be glad to put that behind them,” Evan said.

  “We all will.” Dan Torrington held up the hand that had been slashed by Tiffany’s knife-wielding ex when he showed up at Dan and Kara’s engagement party looking for trouble. He’d found it and had been charged with multiple felonies that could see him disbarred, if not thrown in prison.

  “On a happier note, you guys have to hear the stories of Evan’s groupies from the road,” Grace said, making her husband groan.

  “Oh, do tell,” Grant said. “Were there panties involved?”

  “So many panties!” Grace said. “Everywhere we went, they’d leave them in envelopes at the front desk of the hotel, along with their photos and phone numbers.”

  “No way,” Mac said. “What’d you do?”

  “Mostly I had to talk my lovely wife out of committing homicide on a daily basis.”

  “I would’ve loved to have been a fly on the wall for that,” Joe said.

  “I admit, my jealousy wasn’t pretty,” Grace said to laughter.

  “It’s a good thing my Gracie was there to protect me,” Evan said, “or it might’ve gotten ugly.”

  “When she saw online pictures of them chasing you around?” Mac asked.

  “Definitely then,” Evan said while the others howled with laughter.

  “Some of them have zero self-respect to be chasing after a married man,” Grace said indignantly.

  “Look on the bright side,” Evan said. “You got a whole bunch of new panties out of it.”

  “Ewww,” Stephanie said. “You did not keep them?”

  “Hardly,” Grace said, rolling her eyes at her husband. “I burned them.”

  “Should we tell them how you set off the smoke alarm in one hotel?” Evan asked.

  “We said we’d never speak of that again,” Grace retorted.

  They were still laughing at that when a voice Mallory couldn’t immediately identify called out from inside. “Where’s the prodigal son?”

  Evan lit up with pleasure at whoever it was and jumped up to greet the new arrivals.

  Alex Martinez came onto the deck with his pregnant wife, Jenny, in tow along with Jared and Lizzie James and… And Quinn, who looked around at the group until he found her, his gaze locking on her with an intensity he didn’t try to hide from her curious family members, many of whom immediately homed in on the hungry way he stared at her.

  While Alex and Jenny hugged Evan and Grace, Mallory tried to pretend like she wasn’t caught in Quinn’s cross hairs, and of course Mac noticed the way he was looking at her.

  “So you’re not officially seeing him, huh? Does he know that?”

  “Shut up, Mac.”

  He busted up laughing, and Hailey, that traitor, joined in, her deep belly laugh bringing a smile to Mallory’s face.

  Joe got drinks for the new arrivals and then lit the fire in the big stone fireplace on the far side of the deck. Everyone pulled up chairs, and somehow, Quinn ended up next to her.

  “Fancy meeting you here,” he said, nudging her with his shoulder.

  “At my sister’s house?” she asked, raising a brow to call him out.

  His low chuckle made her blood feel warm and thick as it moved through her veins. “Touché.”

  “So you admit that you came here to see me?”

  “I came here because the people I was with wanted to see your brother and his wife.”

  “Ouch. That hurts.”

  Under the cover of darkness, he took hold of her hand. “And because I knew you’d be here, and I missed you after I left you earlier.”

  “Good save.”

  His laughter drew the attention of every set of eyes on the deck that were related to her, and a few that were related to him.

  Jared stared at him, seeming astounded to hear Quinn laugh.

  “Can we get the superstar to play for us, or is he all burned out?” Alex asked.

  “You can’t afford me anymore,” Evan retorted to laughter as he reached for the guitar that had been propped in the corner.

  “Ohhh, he’s too good for us,” Alex said.

  “You know it,” Evan said, tuning the guitar.

  “When do you guys have to leave again?” Jenny asked.

  “Not until September,” Grace replied.

  “Oh good.” Jenny rested her hands on her rounded belly. “You’ll be here when all the babies arrive.”

  “I thought Buddy only toured in the summer when his kids were out of school,” Stephanie said.

  “He used to do that, but now his kids are older, and they want to be home with their friends in the summer,” Grace said. “So he and Taylor stay home with them in the summer, and she joins the tour once in a while whenever she can get away.”

  “That’s a hard way to live,” Grant said.

  “They know it’s only for a few more years until their youngest is through high school,” Evan said. He strummed the guitar, his head tipped, and listened carefully, making sure the tuning was to his liking.

  He looked up to smile at the arrival of Josh Harrelson, who’d run Evan’s Island Breeze Studios in his absence, and Fiona Connolly, who had taken over Grace’s pharmacy while she was away.

  Evan put down the guitar to greet Josh with a bro hug while Fiona got the real thing from Grace.

  “Thank God you’re back,” they both said at the same time.

  “Does that mean you missed us?” Evan asked.

  “Big-time,” Fiona said. “I can’t handle the summer without you, Grace.”

  “Well, you’ve got me for the summer.”

  “Who wants to hear some new music I wrote on the road?” Evan asked.

  After a chorus of “me,” he picked up the guitar again and began to strum the intro to a song that h
e said was called “Smells Like Nostalgia.”

  We lived, in a vacation

  But I still dreamed of Grand Central Station

  Black-bodied angels, need to get high

  Money’s their drug, in their high-rise

  Black cherry, taste in your mouth

  That November we drove down South

  I had some coffee, while you took a drag

  We were so brilliantly, perfectly sad

  You look like how the Fourth of July made me feel

  You’re not real, you’re not real

  You smell like what nostalgia probably would

  You’re too good, you’re too good

  Brown leather seats in your sedan

  I can still see them, well, I think I can

  I heard your headlights had finally burst

  I heard it was the worst

  Summer of your whole life

  I guess I’m just that type

  Wind whipping through my hair

  I can taste freedom, every inch of the air

  I Angela Chase all my dreams

  But only find teenage wastelands it seems

  You look like how the Fourth of July made me feel

  You’re not real, you’re not real

  You smell like what nostalgia probably would

  You’re too good, you’re too good

  You feel like holding my breath for too long

  It feels wrong, it feels wrong

  And you taste like defiance on the tip of my tongue

  I feel young, I feel young

  Pink sky, blue clouds

  Where are you now? Where are you now?

  Mallory immediately loved the vibe of the song, especially the lyric, “You look like how the Fourth of July made me feel.”

  Everyone loved the song and applauded enthusiastically when Evan played the final notes.

  “You think we can get that one recorded this summer?” he asked Josh.

  “My studio is your studio.”

  “Did I hear a reference to Angela Chase in that song?” Mallory asked.

  “You sure did,” Evan replied. “That was Grace’s contribution.”

  “‘My So-Called Life’ ruled my universe back in the day,” Grace said.

  “Mine, too!” Mallory said. “I devoured that show!”

  “I’ve never even heard of it,” Stephanie said.

  “Oh my God,” Grace said. “Two words: Jared. Leto.”

  “One more word,” Mallory added. “Netflix.”

  “I’m on it,” Stephanie said.

  Evan continued to play while the others began to chat again.

  Hailey toddled past Mallory, tripping on her own feet. Mallory lunged forward to save the little girl from falling and ended up with her niece cuddled up to her, thumb in her mouth, eyes heavy and sleepy.

  “She’s adorable,” Quinn said.

  “We like her.”

  “How old is she?”

  “She’ll be two in July.” Mallory had long ago committed the birthdays of the little ones to memory and was working on trying to remember all the other ones, too.

  “You want one of your own?”

  Startled by the question, she looked over at him. “Might be too late for me.”

  “You and I both know it’s not too late if everything still works.”

  “It still works, but I haven’t thought about having kids of my own in years.” Not since her husband died so young and so suddenly, she thought, but didn’t share that with him. She didn’t have to. She could see that he understood what she meant. “What about you?”

  He shrugged. “Never even came close to that, but you never know what might happen. I wouldn’t say no to a little cutie like Hailey.”

  Imagining him holding his own little girl made her heart do a funny lunging thing that left her breathless and aroused. For God’s sake. How did he do that to her with words alone?

  “You want to get out of here?” he asked in a low tone that only she could hear.

  “No, I do not want to ‘get out of’ my sister’s home.”

  His face lifted into a sexy half smile. “Poor choice of words. Let me rephrase. Would you like to go somewhere that we can be alone? Is that better?”

  Mallory had to restrain the urge to squirm in her seat. Yes, she wanted to be alone with him. Very much so. But she was still concerned about too much too soon with him. “I thought we agreed to slow it down.”

  “We did.”

  “Soooo…”

  “Are you planning to jump me the second we’re alone?”

  “No!” Maybe.

  “All right, then. Nothing to worry about.”

  Despite the casual way he said that, Mallory suspected she had everything in the world to be worried about where he was concerned.

  Chapter 16

  Needing a breather from the crowd on the deck, Adam went into the kitchen to get a beer, popped it open and drank half of it in one big gulp before catching himself. Getting wasted wouldn’t fix anything, even if it would take his mind off his problems for a few hours. He was tempted until he thought of Abby at home alone, hiding out while she licked a new set of wounds. Adam had wanted to stay home with her, but she’d insisted he come to welcome Evan and Grace home.

  He leaned against the counter, looking down at the floor, wishing he could wave a magic wand and make the terrible ache he and Abby were both feeling go away.

  “What’s wrong, Adam?” his mother asked when she came into the kitchen. He had no doubt that she’d come looking for him. “And don’t say it’s nothing when I can clearly see it’s something.”

  Resigned to having to share their devastating news with his family, Adam said, “Abby and I heard from the fertility specialist who saw her last week. She basically told us it’s never going to happen the old-fashioned way, even with fertility treatment.”

  “Oh no,” Linda said on a long exhale. “I’m so sorry.”

  Shrugging, he said, “It is what it is, but it’s a bitter pill for Abby to swallow.”

  “And you. It is for you, too.”

  “I’m far more concerned about her than I am about me. Every time we get bad news about her health, she withdraws so deep into herself that I can’t reach her no matter how hard I try.”

  “Is that why she didn’t come tonight?”

  He nodded. “It’s hard for her to be around the baby boom knowing it’ll never happen for her.”

  “That’s totally understandable.”

  “It’s not that she doesn’t love all the kids—the ones we already have and the ones on the way.”

  “I know that, Adam.” She came to stand next to him, curling her hands around his arm and resting her head on his shoulder. “You don’t even have to say it.”

  “Can I say something totally selfish, and do you promise to never repeat it?”

  “Of course to both.”

  “I can feel this situation changing her, and I’m so afraid the changes are permanent. She’s remote, as if she’s sealed off her heart, and she hardly ever smiles or jokes, and she…” She recoiled from his touch, not that he could tell his mother that. “She’s not herself.”

  “And she won’t be for a while, not until she finds a way to deal with this news and to figure out a new way forward. It’s a blow, Adam, especially to someone who wants children as badly as she always has.”

  “It makes me feel like shit that I can’t give her the one thing she wants more than anything.”

  “It’s not your fault, and it’s not hers. The universe has a different plan in mind for you two.”

  “I hope it’s okay to say I’m a little pissed off at the universe right now.”

  “It’s okay, and this too shall pass. You two are going to be marvelous parents someday. I know that in my heart of hearts. It may not happen the way you planned, but it will happen.”

  Her certainty made him feel a tiny bit better. “I should probably get home. I don’t like to leave her alone for too long when she�
�s so down.”

  “Be patient with her, honey. She’ll come around, and she’ll remember that you didn’t ask for more than she could give you at this difficult time. I’ll never forget the way Dad was with me after we lost our first baby. He just held me and let me take the lead, and somehow we got through it together.”

  “After Mac and Maddie lost Connor, he told me about what happened to you guys. I had no idea.”

  “It’s hard to talk about even almost forty years later. One thing I learned from that is things work out the way they’re meant to. If that baby had lived, we wouldn’t have had Mac.”

  “And that would be bad?”

  She nudged his ribs. “Stop!”

  Adam chuckled. “Just kidding.”

  “You get what I’m saying.”

  “Yeah, I do, and I appreciate the advice. This is a tough one.”

  “It’s probably the toughest thing you’ll deal with as a married couple, and your marriage is still very new. Be gentle with each other.”

  “I’m trying.”

  “That’s all you can do. Be there for her and love her through it.”

  “Thanks, Mom.” He finished his beer and set the bottle on the counter. “I’m going to head home.”

  “Drive carefully, sweetheart, and let us know if you need anything.”

  He hugged and kissed her. “We will, thanks.” Adam went outside to say his good-byes to the others and drove home thinking about what his mother had said. He knew she was right, and eventually they’d get past the initial shock and despair, but he hoped they still had a marriage left when they got there.

  Abby had turned on the outside lights for him at their new A-frame-style home on the island’s west side. The small gesture filled him with an unreasonable feeling of hope that maybe the woman he loved beyond reason was still inside the quiet, remote person she’d become over the last few months. With each new piece of bad or difficult news since she’d been diagnosed with polycystic ovary syndrome, or PCOS, she’d retreated further into herself, leaving him feeling lonely for her even when she was sitting across from him at dinner or lying next to him in bed.