by Marie Force
After asking his family to give him time and space to deal with some things, he’d fallen off the radar for months. He hadn’t said what he was dealing with or where he’d been, and they hadn’t asked. The one thing Jared had asked of her before Quinn arrived to spend Christmas with them was not to ask him about where he’d been or what he’d been doing.
That wasn’t easy for someone who was curious by nature, but she’d respected Jared’s wishes. Besides, she wanted Quinn to love it here so much that he’d accept their offer to run their rest home. Now that they were nearly finished with the addition to the O’Gradys’ home, Mac McCarthy, his cousins, Riley, Finn and Shane, as well as Luke Harris, would begin gutting the interior of the former school building in January.
They had promised to have the construction finished by June, which would give her and the team she planned to hire over the summer time to furnish and equip the facility with everything they’d need to begin accepting patients in September. The best news of all? They already had a waiting list of people interested, either on behalf of themselves or an elderly family member.
The one thing they didn’t have yet was a medical director, and that was where Quinn came into play.
“Did you have a good time today?” Lizzie asked him.
“I did. They’re a fun group of people.”
“We do have a good time around here,” Lizzie said, encouraged to hear he’d enjoyed the day. “There’s always something going on, even in the winter.”
Worn out from playing, Brutus curled up in Quinn’s lap and started snoring a minute later.
Quinn stroked the dog’s soft fur. “Do you ever feel confined or cooped up or… I don’t know, crazy, being stuck here? Especially after living in the city for as long as you both did.”
Lizzie glanced at Jared, who nodded at her to go ahead and reply. “I love it here. I love everything about it, from the natural beauty of the island, to the work we’re doing at the Chesterfield and now with the rest home, to the people. I’ve made some of the best friends I’ve ever had here. Does it get quiet? Sometimes, but I’ve found the quiet allows me time to breathe in a way that I never could in the city. Life there was always frantic and fast-paced. It’s a slower life here, to be sure, but no less satisfying.”
“I agree,” Jared said. “It’s a totally different life than we had in the city, but that’s a good thing. I don’t know how much longer I could’ve kept up that pace and not had some sort of breakdown.”
Lizzie was surprised to hear him admit that.
“We’re still working almost as hard as we used to,” Jared continued, “but our downtime is more relaxed here. It works for us.” Smiling, he took Lizzie’s hand and gave it a squeeze.
“And being hot and heavy newlyweds has nothing to do with the contentment?” Quinn asked with a sardonic grin.
“Of course it does,” Jared said. “That’s the best part. But it’s not the only thing we love about being here.”
“There’s something special about this island and the people who live here,” Lizzie said. “I’ve never felt so instantly at home anywhere else I’ve lived since I left my parents’ home.”
“I can see why,” Quinn said. “I really liked your friends and how easily they accepted me into the group.”
“And that’s only one small fraction of our island tribe,” Jared said. “Wait until you meet the McCarthy family and the rest of our friends.”
“I’ll admit to being tempted to take you up on your generous offer,” Quinn said.
Lizzie held her breath, waiting to hear what else he would say.
“I do have a few stipulations.”
“Name them,” Jared said, speaking for both of them.
“If I take the job, the business end would be all yours, but the medical part would be all mine. I hire, I fire, I set policy and oversee everything having to do with patient care.”
“Done,” Jared and Lizzie said at the same time.
“That was easy,” Quinn said, laughing.
“We need you to do all of that because we haven’t the first clue,” Lizzie said.
“The offer appeals to me because someone else would deal with the insurance companies, the licensing, the state—all the crap that doctors hate—and I’d get to be part of it from the beginning. I like that.”
“We’re currently recruiting for an administrator,” Lizzie said.
“And when you hire that person, you’d tell him or her that I’m in charge of the medical end?”
“Absolutely,” she said. “We’d make that crystal clear.”
“The one thing we haven’t talked about is your salary,” Jared said. “I hope you know you can name your price. My wife has her heart set on having you on the team, and I like to make her happy.”
“That’s very generous,” Quinn said. “Thank you both for the vote of confidence. If nothing else, your interest in me for this has been good for my ego.”
After a long pause, during which Lizzie had to hold her tongue to keep from trying to hard-sell him, he said, “Brutus and I could use a change of pace. We’ll give it a whirl.”
“Yes!” Lizzie cried, loud enough to wake the sleeping puppy, who came to barking and growling.
“Easy, boy,” Quinn said, patting his head. “Auntie Lizzie gets a little excited.”
“She loves nothing more than when one of her plans comes together,” Jared said, sending her a warm smile.
Lizzie could tell he was every bit as thrilled as she was that Quinn would be coming to the island. “You can stay with us for as long as you need to,” she said. “We’ve got plenty of room.”
“You guys don’t need me underfoot. I’ll find my own place.”
“Our friend Ned is the guy to talk to about houses on the island,” Jared said. “He’ll hook you up.”
“How soon do you want me here?”
“Um, last week?” Lizzie said.
“I’ll need a week or two to get my shit together, but it won’t take long. And then I’m all yours.”
Lizzie rubbed her hands together gleefully.
“Why do I feel like I’ve made a deal with the devil?” Quinn asked, amused by her reaction.
“You have no idea, bro,” Jared said with a long-suffering sigh even as he looked at her with love and affection. “No idea at all.”
* * *
A madhouse greeted Slim and Erin when they arrived at the McCarthy home, which was filled with family members and friends. Thomas McCarthy and his cousin Ashleigh Sturgil chased each other through the house, their faces flushed with Christmas excitement. The house smelled of evergreen and spices, and a fire cast a warm glow over the big room full of people.
“Welcome to Bedlam,” Evan said as he took their coats and offered them drinks.
Slim asked for a beer, and Erin said she was good for now.
“Sorry about the insanity,” Evan said, handing the cold bottle to Slim. “This family gets bigger every year.”
“From the looks of things, it’s been a good day,” Slim said.
“It’s been fun. So did Jenny burn dinner?”
“Not even close,” Erin said.
“Alex said she’s had a few challenges with the new stove.”
“Did he tell you that he has, too?” Erin asked.
Evan laughed. “Somehow he left that part out.”
“I can’t wait to tell her that.”
“You didn’t hear it from me.”
They were welcomed into the boisterous group with hugs and kisses from Big Mac and Linda, and were drawn into a conversation about Adam and Abby’s New Year’s Eve wedding. Plans were being made for impromptu bachelor and bachelorette parties three days before the wedding.
“Gentlemen,” Mac said in a grave tone, “this is our chance for revenge.”
“What’re you spouting off about now, Mac?” Janey asked her brother as she patted the back of baby PJ, who was asleep in her arms.
“The prank,” Mac said. “The time for rev
enge is upon us. It may not happen this week or even before Evan’s wedding, but you ladies need to be on guard against the power of our revenge.”
“Does he believe half the crap that comes out of his own mouth?” Tiffany asked her sister.
“The sad part is, I think he does,” Maddie replied wearily, drawing laughs from Mac’s family.
“I’m with Mac,” Tiffany’s husband, Blaine, said. “You all need to be punished for leading us to believe you’d hired male strippers for Jenny’s bachelorette party.”
“I agree,” Grant McCarthy said.
“Me, too,” Evan and Adam said together.
“Boys, boys, boys,” Big Mac said to his sons. “The first rule of combat is you don’t tell the enemy you’re coming. Haven’t I taught you anything?”
“My brother is right,” Frank McCarthy said from his perch on the floor in front of a huge Christmas tree. His girlfriend, Betsy, was seated next to him. “Why’re you tipping your hand, Mac?”
“Well,” Mac said, “we do love them most of the time, except when they’re lying to our faces about strippers. We wouldn’t want them to be unprepared for our revenge.”
“I don’t know about the rest of you ladies, but I’m not particularly scared of this so-called revenge,” Laura said.
“Me either,” Janey said as the others nodded in agreement.
“Do your worst,” Grace said, smiling at Evan.
“And don’t you dare do anything to ruin my wedding,” Abby said, “or I will have to kill you.”
“I’d help you,” Maddie said.
Laughing, Mac held up his hands to fend them off. “I hear ya.”
“Nothing is going to ruin our wedding, babe,” Adam assured her. “Not even my brother and his thirst for revenge.”
“Has love made you soft, Adam?” Mac asked. “You don’t think they deserve a taste of their own medicine?”
“No, I definitely think they do, but not at my wedding.”
“And not at mine,” Evan said.
“We’ll have a captive audience for days in Anguilla,” Mac said to Blaine and Joe, who nodded in agreement.
“You boys are heading for trouble,” Linda said, leaning against Big Mac. “Mark my words.”
“They never have known when to quit while they’re ahead,” Janey said, earning snorts of outrage from her brothers.
“I’m just watching and learning,” Finn said.
“That’s your first mistake,” Linda said.
Enjoying their banter, Slim put an arm around Erin and gave her shoulder a squeeze. She smiled at him, and he was happy to see her enjoying herself.
“Joe,” Big Mac said, “how’re your mom and Seamus holding up today?”
“They’re exhausted,” Joe said of his mother and her husband, who’d recently taken in two young boys after their mother’s tragic death. “We were there for dinner, and the boys were so excited, running around screaming, playing with their new toys and having the best time. Mom and Seamus went all-out to make sure it was a great holiday for them, but she said to give you their regrets. They were turning in early tonight.”
“I’m so glad to hear the boys got through the holiday and had a good time,” Linda said.
“They’re doing great,” Janey said. “A few rough moments here and there, but overall, they’re coping as well as can be expected.”
A shriek from the stairs preceded Thomas and Ashleigh running through the crowd, butt naked.
“What the heck are you doing?” Mac asked his son.
“We playing naked boy-naked girl, Dada.”
While everyone else howled with laughter, a horrified Maddie grabbed her son while Tiffany corralled Ashleigh.
“I’m not getting to play naked boy-naked girl,” Mac grumbled. “Why should they get to?”
“Shut up, Mac,” Maddie said, blushing as she took Thomas upstairs to find his clothes.
“That’s officially my new pickup line,” Grant said to Stephanie. “Hey, baby, wanna play naked boy-naked girl?”
“Is that just for me, or will any girl do?”
“Only you, my love,” he said, smiling as he leaned in to kiss his wife.
“This is Mallory’s first Christmas with us,” Linda said. “We’re going to scare her off.”
“Not a chance,” Mallory said, wiping laughter tears from her eyes. “That was the funniest thing I’ve ever seen.”
“I’m mortified,” Maddie said when she returned with Thomas, who was now dressed in pajamas.
Mac reached for his son and took him from Maddie. “That won’t be the first time a woman leads you astray, son.”
“Hey,” Blaine said. “There’s no way that was Ashleigh’s idea.”
“I’m afraid it was,” Tiffany said, chagrinned as she returned with her daughter.
“God, she’s more like her mother than I feared,” Blaine said, earning himself a smack upside the head from his wife while the rest of the room lost it laughing again.
“Ashleigh doesn’t have a pee-pee, Dada,” Thomas said.
“Oh my God!” Maddie took Thomas from Mac and headed for the front door while everyone else screamed with laughter. “Time to go home!”
“Yay, cuz I wanna play naked boy-naked girl,” Mac said, flashing a giddy grin.
“Does anyone have a muzzle I could borrow?” Maddie called from the foyer.
“If we had one,” Janey said, “we never would’ve taken it off him.”
“Have your laughs, citizens,” Mac said, taking the sleeping Hailey from his mother, “but when I get home, I’m having mine. I’ve been cock-blocked for days thanks to sick kids, who are apparently feeling just fine now.”
“Did he just say cock-blocked in front of Mom?” Grant asked.
“Yep,” Adam said, “and now you have, too.”
“Where did you guys find Mac anyway?” Frank asked Big Mac and Linda after Mac and his family had departed.
“At a baby flea market,” Linda said. “We’ve been trying to make him civilized ever since.”
Big Mac’s best friend Ned Saunders laughed at that. “Still got a long way ta go.” He and his wife, Francine, were holding hands like the newlyweds they were.
“I’m never having kids,” Riley said.
“You say that now, son,” Kevin said, “but it’ll happen to you.”
Riley grimaced at the thought. “Not any time soon, please.”
“I think it’s time to get our little temptress home to bed,” Tiffany said, standing to leave.
“I’m locking her up until she’s thirty,” Blaine muttered to more laughter.
“Thank you for a lovely day, Mac and Linda,” Tiffany said, kissing them on the way out.
“Thank you for the best laugh I’ve had all year,” Big Mac said.
“I’m dying,” Tiffany groaned on the way out. “If this is three, what will eighteen look like?”
“I need to start drinking more,” Blaine said.
“I haven’t laughed that hard in years,” Erin said to Slim when things quieted down again. “That was awesome.”
“I don’t know what was the best part—the reaction of their parents, or Thomas saying Ashleigh doesn’t have a pee-pee.”
“Don’t even,” Erin said, laughing again. “I can’t take anymore.”
“This is what Tiffany gets for opening a store called Naughty & Nice,” Slim said.
“A store the men in this town love, by all accounts.”
“I heard Tiffany say she had the biggest month since her opening ahead of Christmas.”
“Good for her. I love that store.”
Speaking close to her ear, he said, “Is that right?”
“Uh-huh.”
“I’m going to need you to model some of your Christmas presents for me.”
“That could be arranged.”
The promise he heard in her softly spoken words traveled right to his cock, making him instantly hard. “Let’s go. Right now.”
“Relax, stallion. It
’ll keep until later.”
“I won’t survive that long in this condition you’ve put me in.”
She glanced over at his lap, which was all it took to make his situation even worse.
“Knock it off,” he said in a low growl.
She smiled at him, and the most incredible sense of rightness overcame him, leaving him staggered by the realization that he wanted much more than this week with her. He wanted everything with her, and he’d never wanted that with anyone else.
“What?” she asked, her brows knitting with concern.
He forced himself to rally. “Nothing. Just looking forward to having you all to myself again later.”
Erin leaned her head on his shoulder and linked her fingers with his, deepening the feeling of rightness.
Before this, before her, he might’ve tried to disengage from something that smacked of seriousness. But with her, the last thing he wanted was to disengage. He wanted more, much, much more of her.
Talk turned to Evan and Grace’s upcoming wedding in Anguilla, travel plans and excitement to escape winter on the island for a week.
“Speaking of our wedding,” Evan said, glancing at Grace, who smiled at him. “Gracie and I have a little news about what’s going to happen after the wedding.” Taking hold of her hand, he said, “Buddy has talked me into riding the hit record for a while longer, and Grace is coming with me on the road. Her friend Fiona from school has agreed to come over to manage the pharmacy, and Josh will cover me at the studio.”
After a moment of stunned silence, everyone spoke at once, congratulating them on their news and firing off questions about where they were going.
“We’re joining the second half of Buddy’s current North American tour that starts up again in February, and then we’ll see what happens after that.”
“I’m happy for you, son,” Big Mac said. “As much as we’ll miss you both here, I’d hate for you to have regrets later about what might’ve been.”
“Thank you, Dad. That’s what my very wise future wife said, too.”
“I suppose I should mention that after Anguilla, Steph and I are heading to LA for a couple of months,” Grant said.