Desire After Dark: A Gansett Island Novel

by Marie Force

  Erin vividly remembered, with the surreal detachment that comes from recalling a seminal moment, that she’d gotten up and left the crowded lecture to call them back. She vividly remembered the hysteria in her mother’s voice as she tried to convey to Erin what was happening in New York. Erin had made her say the words twice before she ran from the building, looking for a television, which she found in the student union. She’d pushed through the crowd, and when she’d gotten her first look at a building on fire, she’d passed out.

  Her fellow students and the EMTs they called to tend to her had been kind. She remembered that, but not much else about that first day. She was given a sedative that calmed her for a few hours, long enough to miss seeing the buildings collapse in real time, long enough for Jenny to tell them she’d actually spoken with Toby, that he’d been above the point of impact, that he’d had no chance of escaping.

  Sitting on the bed, Erin broke down into deep, wrenching sobs as she relived the worst day of her life. The emotional firestorm wasn’t unexpected. Whenever something triggered her anxiety, she went right back to her own personal ground zero, the day that had changed everything forever.

  Slim came out of the bathroom, sat next to her on the bed and put his arm around her, offering comfort and strength. “Shh, it’s going to be okay. We’ll get you home, and by then, maybe your mom will have some good news about your dad.”

  “I’m sorry,” she said, wiping away tears.

  “There’s no need to apologize. I totally get it.”

  “You have no idea what a mess I am.”

  “You’re not a mess, Erin. You got bad news, and it upset you.”

  “It’s so much more than that.”

  Rather than ask what she meant, he tightened his hold on her and kissed her temple. “I’m sort of glad you told me you’re afraid to fly. I was starting to wonder if you aren’t as into me as I’d hoped you were.”

  Pained by his confession, she looked up at him. “I’m very into you. Extremely into you.”

  His smile made his eyes twinkle. “That’s exceptionally good news. Let’s get going. Your mom needs you.” He kissed her forehead. “Take the Xanax now so it’ll kick in by the time you need it.”

  Erin took the pill and a quick shower and sent Jenny a text to let her know what was going on before they left the lighthouse to drive through predawn darkness to the airport. Rather than think about where they were going—or why—she closed her eyes and put her head back against the seat, trying to calm herself while praying for the pill to do its magic. He held her hand, which went a long way toward calming her.

  “We got lucky with the weather,” Slim said, breaking a long silence. “It’s forty degrees, so no need to deice. That saves us some time.”

  “Oh,” Erin said, surprised to realize she’d never thought about ice or deicing. Thank goodness he was thinking for both of them. “That’s good.”

  He pulled into a parking space at the island’s tiny airport, which was dark and deserted.

  “Are we allowed to do this?” Erin asked.

  He grinned at her. “No worries. I’ve got keys. They know me well here. I’m allowed to do what I want. Because they’re closed, I’ll file a flight plan with the airport in Providence, and we’ll be all set.”

  “I was sort of hoping you’d say we’re definitely not allowed to so we can go home and pretend like I never agreed to this.”

  “Is that what you want to do?”

  Her eyes filled with tears. “I want to get to my parents as fast as I can. This is the fastest way. And I trust you.”

  He brought her hand to his lips. “You can trust me with this and all things. I have to be honest, though. It’ll be a little bumpy leaving the island because it always is. There’s nothing at all to be afraid of, but you might not like it.”

  “Maybe the Xanax will knock me out before we take off.”

  “Either way, I’ll hold your hand the whole time.”

  “No, you won’t! You need your hands to fly the plane.”

  Laughing, he said, “I could fly the plane wearing a blindfold with one hand tied behind my back.”

  “None of which will be happening on this flight.”

  “Yes, ma’am,” he said, grinning at her saucy comeback. “Let’s get going.” He used a key on his ring to open the gates to the airfield, and after ushering Erin through, he closed and relocked the gate. Shouldering his backpack and her bag, he took her hand and led her to a white plane. In the murky darkness, she couldn’t make out the details, and that was probably for the best because she also couldn’t obsess about how small the plane was.

  He opened the passenger-side door for her and helped her into the cockpit. “Get comfortable while I do a preflight check. I’m going to close the door so you won’t get cold, okay?”

  Comfortable… Sure. Like that was going to happen. “Um, sure, that’s fine.”

  The door closed, sealing her off from the cold and from him. Her gaze darted around the small cockpit, taking in the vast array of knobs and buttons and two sets of U-shaped controls. Was she really going to do this? Was she really going to sit here passively while he took them hurtling down a darkened runway and lifted off into the pitch-black sky?

  As much as she wanted to get to her parents, she was no longer sure that flying was the best idea. She was about to open the door and say as much to Slim when he got in the left-side door and got busy continuing his preflight check, systematically going through a checklist that she could see after he turned on the interior lights.

  He donned a headset and began talking to someone in a language she could barely understand, except for the words Gansett Island and Philadelphia. Things began to happen quickly after that. The engines fired up, more checks and rechecks were done, switches were flipped, knobs were turned, and Erin watched it all, feeling detached and removed from the scene that was unfolding right in front of her.

  If she tried hard enough, she might convince herself to believe that she was watching this happen on TV rather than living through it personally.

  Slim glanced over at her, found her watching him and offered a small smile. “Ready?”

  “Not even kind of.”

  “I’ve got this. I promise. There’s nothing to worry about.”

  Between his assurances and the soothing effects of the medication, Erin was able to remain still while he belted her in and taxied the plane to the end of the runway.

  “I need both hands for takeoff, but after that, one of them is all yours. And remember—there’ll be a few bumps on the climb, but it’ll smooth out as soon as we get above the clouds. Okay?”

  She nodded because that was all she was capable of at the moment.

  As he revved the engine for takeoff, her hands curled into fists and her eyes closed, but not tightly enough to contain the tears that rolled down her cheeks. They lurched forward and hurtled down the runway before lifting off. A small squeak of surprise crept through her clenched jaw as she felt the plane gain altitude.

  “We’ve got this. It’s all good.”

  His assurances went a long way toward calming her nerves. If she kept her eyes closed, she could almost convince herself she was home in bed, dreaming that her mother had called about her dad and Slim had offered to fly her to Philly. She could pretend that nothing had ever happened to ruin her love of travel and adventure.

  As he’d predicted, the plane rocked and rolled on the way through the clouds, but the warmth of his hand surrounding hers and the sound of his voice as he continued to reassure her worked to soothe her frayed nerves.

  “Should get better now,” he said after about ten minutes.

  That was the last thing she heard before he squeezed her hand, jarring her out of a deep sleep.

  “There you are,” he said, smiling when she looked over at him, blinking his handsome face into focus. “We’re going to land in fifteen minutes.”

  Outside the window, the sky was pink and purple and orange, the colors of sunrise. �
��Did I really sleep the whole way?”

  “You really did. But that’s for the best, don’t you think?”

  “I did it,” she said softly. “I got on an airplane.”

  “You didn’t just get on a plane. You flew for more than an hour.”

  “Does it count that I was in a medically induced coma for most of that time?” she asked, groggy and fuzzy from the medication.

  “What counts is you overcame your fears, you didn’t freak out, and you got through it. Who cares how you did that? What counts is that you did it. I’m so proud of you.”

  “I’m rather proud of myself right now.” She withdrew her phone from her coat pocket to see if there was any word from her mother since she’d sent the hospital name and address. There’d been no calls or texts while she was asleep. Was that a good sign or a bad one?

  “She would’ve called if it went bad,” Slim said, reading her mind.

  “Would I receive the call up here?”

  “Yeah, we’re within cell range.”

  “Oh good,” she said, expelling a sigh of relief. “Thank God.”

  “Hang in there. Won’t be long now.”

  “Thank you,” she said, looking over at him. “I appreciate this so much.”

  “I’m just glad I could do something for you.”

  “You’ve done so much. You have no idea how much.”

  “Every minute with you is a pleasure, Erin. From the minute I picked you up on the side of the road—”

  “Stop saying it like that! You make me sound like a hooker!”

  Chuckling, he said, “You hooked me, all right. With your determination, your sweetness, your resilience, your humor. I’ve been hooked on you ever since that night, if you must know the truth.”

  “That long?”

  “Uh-huh.”

  After that, there was no more conversation for a while as Slim focused on landing at Philadelphia International Airport and Erin wallowed in the thrill of hearing he was hooked on her. As the wheels touched down, the tightness in Erin’s chest loosened somewhat. She’d managed to survive the flying portion of the program, which was a huge accomplishment. But she couldn’t celebrate that until she knew her father was going to be okay.

  They taxied to an area of the tarmac where private planes were kept. Slim secured the plane, talked to a guy about when they’d be back and had them heading for the cab stand—all in less than ten minutes.

  “Have you flown in here before?” she asked while they waited in a short line for a cab.

  “Twice.”

  “So that’s how you knew where to go.”

  “Yep.”

  In the cab, Erin asked the driver to take them to the UPenn hospital on Spruce Street. During the fifteen-minute drive, Slim held her hand between both of his, continuing to prop her up as he had since she received the upsetting call from her mother. At the hospital, they were directed to the surgical waiting area, where Erin found her mother, Mary Beth, and Aunt Sue huddled together. Her mother burst into tears when Erin and Slim walked in. She rushed over to hug Erin and then Slim.

  “How is he?” Erin asked.

  “We’ve only heard that the surgery is going well, but that was more than an hour ago. What’re you doing here? I didn’t think you could get off the island.”

  Erin glanced at Slim. “I have this friend who’s a pilot, you see.”

  “Oh, Erin. Oh God, you got on an airplane?”

  “I did.”

  “And she did great,” Slim added.

  “Thanks to the best pilot ever and medicinal intervention,” Erin said, offering him a small smile. She hugged her aunt and introduced her to Slim.

  “Wait until Daddy hears you got on a plane,” Mary Beth said. “He won’t believe it.”

  Her mother’s certainty that her dad would recover helped to reassure Erin. If her mom believed it, surely it must be true, right?

  Chapter 19

  They waited for hours. Slim went to get coffee for all of them, and the jolt of caffeine helped to offset the lingering effects of the Xanax, although the medication was probably the only thing keeping her from climbing the walls.

  She took advantage of the opportunity to call Big Mac McCarthy, her contact with the town of Gansett, to let him know the lighthouse would be unattended for the time being—and why.

  “I’m so sorry to hear about your dad, honey,” he said. “Don’t worry about a thing here. I can take care of filing the daily report with the Coast Guard while you’re gone.”

  “Are you sure you don’t mind?”

  “I don’t mind at all. I’ll take a run out there every couple of days to check on things. It’ll get me out of the house and out of my wife’s hair for half an hour. She’ll appreciate that.”

  Erin wouldn’t have thought it possible to laugh, but Mr. McCarthy always managed to charm her. “Thank you so much.”

  “No problem. You give your folks our best and tell your dad to make a speedy recovery.”

  “I will, and I’ll let you know when I’ll be back.”

  “We’ll look forward to seeing you.”

  With that taken care of, she had one less thing to worry about.

  Finally, the surgeon came into the room, still wearing operating room scrubs. A strand of her red hair had escaped from her surgical cap, and a mask hung around her neck. The color of her hair reminded Erin of Sydney.

  “Mrs. Barton?”

  “Yes, I’m Mrs. Barton, and this is my daughter, Erin. How is he?”

  “He came through the surgery very well. We were able to clip the bleed and repair the vessel.”

  “So he’s going to be all right?” Mary Beth asked.

  “We’ll know more when he wakes up, but I’m cautiously optimistic.”

  Erin and her mother both broke down with relief at the good news. While Sue hugged Mary Beth, Slim took care of Erin.

  “You might want to go home and get some rest,” the doctor said. “He’s going to be in recovery for hours yet.”

  “I can’t leave him,” Mary Beth said. “I need to be here, but the rest of you should go. I’ll be fine.”

  “I’ll stay with you,” Sue said.

  “We’ll let you know as soon as you can see him,” the doctor said before she left them.

  Mary Beth convinced everyone else to go home for the time being, promising to call as soon as Tom was awake—and promising she would get something to eat at some point.

  “I don’t feel right leaving you,” Erin said.

  “I’m going to curl up on the sofa and try to sleep.” Mary Beth gestured to the small sofa in the waiting room. “You go on home, and I’ll call you the second I hear any news.”

  “If you’re sure,” Erin said.

  “I’m very sure. You guys must be tired. Let’s sleep while we can.” She handed her keys to Erin and told her where to find the car. “I had to drive because there wasn’t room for me in the rescue wagon.”

  Erin’s heart ached at the thought of her mom’s lonely drive to the hospital, not knowing what was happening to her husband on the way.

  Slim kept his arm around Erin as they walked out of the hospital into the cold morning air. It took a few minutes to find the car in the crowded parking lot. Erin handed him the keys. “You’d better drive. I’m still groggy from the Xanax.”

  “No problem.”

  Erin directed him out of the city to I-76 West to Bryn Mawr.

  “Am I going to get to see where you grew up?”

  “In all its glory.”

  “Why have I heard of that town before?”

  “There’s a very prestigious women’s college there. Lots of famous graduates.”

  “Ahhh, that’s it.”

  After a thirty-minute drive, they arrived at Erin’s childhood home, a two-story white colonial with black shutters, a big front porch and a white picket fence that was tricked out with greens for the holiday season. She punched in the code to the cypher lock—her and Toby’s birthday—on the back door
and led Slim into the house where the scent of Christmas pine and spices greeted them.

  Erin hung their coats in the foyer and led Slim into the kitchen, which had wide knotty-pine floors, white cabinets and stainless appliances that her parents had bought last summer when they renovated the kitchen.

  “What a nice house,” Slim said, taking it all in.

  “It was a wreck when they bought it. They’ve restored every inch of it over the last thirty-five years.”

  “It’s beautiful.”

  “What do you want most? Food or sleep?”

  “I could eat something, but we can go out, if you want. You don’t have to entertain me.”

  “Sure, I do. You’re still my guest, even if we’ve switched locations.”

  He came over to her, put his hands on her shoulders and kissed her. “All bets are off. If you’re still feeling groggy, you don’t have to cook or anything.”

  “All bets are off? Really?”

  “Well, not all bets,” he said, flashing that sexy grin that made her melt, “but the part about you feeling like you have to feed me—that’s off.”

  With her hand around his neck, she drew him in for another kiss. “I don’t mind feeding you. I actually kind of like it.”

  “In that case, feel free to feed me, cuz I love to eat.”

  Raiding her mom’s fridge, Erin whipped up omelets with cheddar, green peppers and tomatoes. She made coffee and toast to go with them.

  Slim polished off all of his and half of hers. Worrying about her dad had put a damper on her appetite.

  “You’re an amazing cook. You should open a B&B. It’d be a huge hit.”

  “I’d love to do something like that someday. I’ve always enjoyed taking care of people.”

  “You should do it. Talk the town into turning the lighthouse into a B&B. You’d make a killing.”

  “The town might not want that, but it sure would be fun.”