She pushed away from his chest and wiped her eyes. “What now?”
“Now I’m going to talk to Pop and make sure he goes into rehab. I’m involved with someone now, and I can’t be running out every night to drag him into bed. I can’t worry that one day I’ll walk in and he’ll be dead. This needs to happen.”
“Every night? Dragging him into bed? You’ve been taking care of him? Alone? All this time?” She searched his eyes.
He shrugged. “Someone had to.”
She gulped a breath and punched his chest again. “Why do you always take care of everyone?”
He caught her next punch midair. “Whoa. Why are you beating on me?”
“Because if you’re taking care of him every night, you’re not taking care of yourself every night. I want to hate you for not telling me. You always take care of everyone, but you don’t have to, Pete. You could have let me grieve on my own, and you could have told me about Dad. Hell, you could have let Dad deal with his own mess.”
Pete laughed. “Do you think, even for a minute, that I’d let you suffer on your own? Or let Pop disappear into the bottle for good? This is what love is, Sky. This is what family does.”
“No, this is what you do. Matty and Hunter aren’t here taking care of him. Grayson sure as hell would never do it.” Her tears had stopped, and every step she took was determined as she paced a path across the deck. “You’ve been doing this for two years? Two years, Peter? What does your girlfriend think of all this?”
“Her name is Jenna, and she’s all for me getting him into rehab.”
“That’s good. At least someone is looking out for your interests. I want to be there when you talk to Dad.”
“No way.” Pete dug his keys from his pocket.
“Peter! I’m not a kid anymore. Yes, I was devastated when Mom died, but that was two years ago. I want to help Dad. I want him to know I know what he’s doing. Maybe that will push him into getting help.” She paced the deck, her long skirt swishing against her legs. “Maybe this is why I haven’t found my niche. I’ve been looking in the wrong places. I was thinking about coming home for the summer next year. I’ll come home now. I’ll help you with Dad.”
Pete couldn’t even begin to think of Sky giving up whatever dreams she might have to deal with their father, but he couldn’t push her away, either. She was right that she wasn’t a kid anymore, even if in his eyes she’d always be his baby sister. He lifted serious eyes to her and saw compassion and love—and something he hadn’t seen often enough. Conviction. At that moment, she resembled their mother more than she ever had before, and it gave Pete a shiver, and then a sense of pride in how far his sister had come.
“Mom would be proud of you, sis. I’m proud of you. We’ll talk about it. If Pop goes into rehab and you feel the same way a week from now, after you’ve had time to process all this…” He waved his hand in the air. “Then we’ll figure it out.”
Chapter Twenty
PETE CALLED JENNA on the way to the hardware store. She offered to join them a hundred times, but Pete felt it was best if she didn’t. He was worried enough about how his father was going to react to Sky being there, much less someone outside of their immediate family. Although to Pete, Jenna was already part of his family. If all went well, he’d call Jenna after they took his father to rehab. If it didn’t, he’d call her when they were done trying. He hoped like hell for the first outcome.
The bell above the door rang out when Pete and Sky walked into the hardware store. Pete locked the door and hung the closed sign in the window. Sky had been quiet on the ride over, but before she got out of Pete’s truck, she’d reached for his hand and said, I know I scared the hell out of you after Mom died, but I’m okay, Pete. I promise. Thank you for letting me come with you to talk to Dad. I want to help. He looked at her now, standing strong and tall before him, waiting for him before walking to the back where their father was. He’d protected her for so long that having her here in the pit of the mess with him sent a stroke of guilt slicing through him. He forced himself to see her as the woman she was, rather than the scared girl she’d been when their mother died.
He draped an arm over her shoulder. “Let’s do this.”
Their father turned as they neared the counter in the back of the shop. “Now, this is a pleasure. Seeing Sky twice in one day? Pete usually whisks you away and I don’t see you until the next day.”
“Hi, Dad.” The strength in Sky’s voice surprised Pete.
“Hey, Pop. How was your day?” Pete came around the counter and embraced his father. He inhaled out of habit, and when he didn’t smell alcohol, he had a fleeting thought that maybe he was overreacting. Then his mind traveled to the image of his father passed out in his mother’s sewing room.
“Fine, fine. Can’t complain. Did you guys come by to go to dinner?” He set his hands on his hips and smiled at Sky.
“Actually, Pop, we came to talk to you.” Pete tried to sound lighthearted, as if he were talking about the weather, boats, anything other than the issue that clawed at his nerves, but he heard the seriousness of his own voice and knew he’d have no chance of masking a damn thing during this conversation.
“Aw shit. There’s that tone again.” His father walked past him toward the front of the store. “I’ve got to close up the shop.”
“We already did,” Sky said. She reached for his hand as Pete had reached for hers.
“Pop, there’s no easy way to say this, so I’m just going to lay it out there.” Pete ran his hand through his hair, buying time as his father grumbled under his breath. “Last night was the last time, Pop. I’m done.”
“Done with what?” His father smiled nervously at Sky, as if he had no idea what Pete was talking about.
Pete saw the glimmer of worry in his eyes and shot a look at Sky, whose gaze softened. Shit. Was she buying into this charade? In an effort to make this as painless as possible for all of them, he avoided defining the elephant in the room.
“You don’t need me to spell it out. You know damn well what we’re talking about. I’ve spoken to Tatum Rehab, and I’ve arranged for a three-to-five-week program—”
“This horseshit again, Peter?” His father shook his head, then shot a look at Sky. “Your brother needs someone to save.”
Sky’s eyes darted between the two men.
“No, Pop. That’s where you’re wrong. I’m done saving you. It’s time you saved yourself.” Pete stepped closer to his father, and the years rolled back, playing in his mind like a movie. Tossing baseballs in the backyard, learning to sail on the bay, his father holding him too tightly the day he went off to college, and holding him just as tightly the day he graduated.
Pete drew in a breath and gathered his determination like armor. “I love you, Pop. I want you to be around for a lot of years.”
“Listen to you.” He laughed under his breath, then pointed his thumb at Pete and spoke to Sky. “Do you believe this guy? Do you have any idea what he’s talking about?”
Pete watched uncertainty float across his sister’s face. He held her gaze, hoping she had enough faith in him to trust what he’d told her.
“I do, Daddy.” Her voice was thin and shaky.
His father’s face aged ten years with her words. His jowls sagged, and his eyelids drooped heavily. “Sky?”
She stepped forward. “I know, Dad. I know about your drinking.” Her eyes watered, and again Pete fought the urge to go to her, to put an arm around her and let her know he was right there with her. He didn’t want this to be her fight, and he hated seeing her take it on—but it was, really. It was their whole family’s battle.
“Sky.” Their father reached for her.
She allowed him to take her hand, and she held it in silence for a beat. “I don’t want you to die, Dad.” A tear slipped down her cheek. “With Mom gone, you’re all I have left.”
He opened his mouth to respond, but no words came.
Pete’s chest constricted as he closed the gap b
etween them. “We all love you, Pop. This ends now. No more burying your grief in alcohol. No more looking for Mom to come back.” He glanced at his sister and saw fresh tears fill her eyes. “It’s a month of your time, and it’ll save your life—and ours.”
His father grumbled something under his breath again.
“Daddy, please? Please get help?” Sky’s plea sounded like she was a little girl again, scared and fragile.
Pete couldn’t help placing his hand on her lower back to comfort her, allowing her to soak in his strength while hers faltered.
“I have the shop to mind,” his father said gruffly.
“I’ll run it while you’re in rehab,” Pete assured him.
“I’ll run it,” Sky said. “Pete has his own business to run.”
Pete shot her a questioning look.
“It makes sense. I go from job to job, and you have clients who rely on you. I can do it, Peter. Have as much faith in me as I have in you.”
Well, hell, how could he say no to that? “We’ve got it covered, Pop. What do you say? There’s no more hiding. It’s this way, or you’re on your own, because I’m done enabling this double life you’re living. I’ve let this go on for two years too long, and I love you too much to let it go on any longer.”
His father huffed a breath. “I don’t need rehab. So I have a few drinks every night. Big deal.”
Pete shrugged and stalked toward the front of the store.
“Peter? Where are you going?” Sky’s voice was rattled and high-pitched.
“I’m done. If he wants to kill himself, so be it. I have a life to start living.” Pete heard Sky’s footsteps hurrying toward him.
“You’re just going to leave?” She grabbed his shirt. “You can’t just let him keep doing this. You said he could die.”
He turned and locked eyes with his sister’s terrified gaze and said the hardest thing he’d ever had to say.
“Yes, he could die, and at this point that’s his choice. I’m not going to be part of it. This is his choice, Sky, and if he chooses to keep drinking, then I’m out of his life from here on out. He’s on his own.” He glanced over her shoulder at their father. His head was buried in his hands, his red ears and jowls visible through his fingers. Pete was finally getting through to him. He hated playing hardball without first warning Sky, but he had no choice.
“Damn it, Peter.” His father’s voice boomed through the shop, loud and tremulous. “Don’t you walk out on me.”
Pete held his hands up in surrender. “I’m done, Pop. We lost Mom to something she had no control over. I won’t watch you willingly kill yourself.”
“Peter.” Sky’s eyes darted from Pete to their father, then back again.
“You’re a goddamn stubborn mule, you know that? You got that from your mother.” Neil stomped up the aisle to where Pete stood and pointed at his face. “If one single person finds out that I’m in rehab, I’ll have your ass.”
Pete bit back tears that fought to come. “I’ve already spoken to the counselor about anonymity, and as far as Sky and I know, you’re visiting your cousin in Miami while his wife recovers from surgery.” He pulled that out of his ass on the spot, but it sounded plausible.
“Don’t expect me to thank you for turning your sister against me.” His father narrowed his eyes. “Jackass.”
Music to Pete’s ears.
Chapter Twenty-One
LATER THAT NIGHT Pete, Jenna, Sky, and Joey sat on a blanket on the beach. The bay lapped at the shore, bringing a gentle breeze across the hibachi with each lick of the waves. Stars peppered the sky like glimmers of hope, and Pete couldn’t remember a time when he’d felt so settled.
“I still can’t get over everything that happened today.” Sky wore a hoodie over her tank top, and as she drew her knees up to her chest, her skirt billowed around her bare feet. She rested her head on her knees and sighed.
“I’m sorry, Sky. I should have told you sooner, but—”
“Don’t, Pete. Even if you should have, you never would have. You’d protect me until I was a hundred years old if I didn’t speak up. I appreciate you taking care of me. I really do.” Sky smiled at Jenna and petted Joey. “But now you can focus on Jenna.”
Jenna and Sky had bonded over a pint of ice cream while Pete called each of his brothers and gave them the good news. By the time he was done with the phone calls, Jenna and Sky were laughing like best friends—and the ice cream container was empty.
“He always focuses on me.” Jenna leaned over and kissed Pete; then she turned back to Sky. “But if you think he’ll stop taking care of you, I think you’re sorely mistaken. One thing I’ve learned about Pete is that his love knows no confines, and once it finds you, it never lets go.”
“Yeah, I guess it could be worse,” Sky teased.
“Hey. I’m sitting right here.” Pete reached behind Jenna and playfully pushed his sister’s shoulder. “I’ll damn well protect both of you as much as I please, so shut the hell up and pass me that pack.”
Sky handed him a black backpack. He loaded up two sticks with marshmallows and handed one to Sky. Joey sniffed at the sweets.
“Hey, what about mine?” Jenna wrinkled her brow.
“That’s what I’m here for, remember?” Pete began cooking Jenna’s marshmallow. So little time had passed since their first date, and it felt like a lifetime. “Sixty-seven seconds on each side, five inches from the fire, twenty seconds with the tip of the marshmallow aimed directly at the flames. I’ve got this, my little marshmallow princess.” He smiled at Jenna.
“Wow, that’s quite a process.” Sky ate her marshmallow without cooking it. She licked her fingers. “Best thing ever. Besides ice cream, that is.” She rose to her feet. “I’m going to go inside and settle in for the night. I guess I’ll see you two in the morning?”
You two. It was a given, and one that Pete was ready to solidify. “Take Joey with you. I don’t want you to be alone.”
“Oh my God. Are you going to do this all the time?”
“What do you think?” He nodded at Joey.
“Fine. Come on, Joey.” Sky patted her leg, and Joey trotted along beside her.
“See you in the morning, sis.” Pete blindly fished around in the backpack, watching Sky and Joey walk inside the house. He knew he was overprotective, but he also knew he wasn’t about to change, and he was okay with that. Annoying his sister was a small price to pay for peace of mind.
“Here you are, princess.” He handed Jenna her marshmallow. “There are very few times in a woman’s life when she can don a tiara.” He gently placed a plastic tiara on Jenna’s head and moved a few strands of her hair over the band. “When you’re royalty, of course, but we might be waiting a while for that one. When you’re five years old and it’s your birthday, if you’re lucky, and when you are the marshmallow princess and your prince presents you with golden-brown marshmallows. Not golden, not brown, but golden brown.”
Jenna touched the tiara and smiled. “You got me a tiara?”
“I would have bought you diamonds if they sold them in the novelty section of Stop & Shop. Every marshmallow princess deserves a tiara.”
“That’s almost as romantic as the rock you gave me on our first date.” She pulled him down beside her.
Pete waited for her to finish eating the marshmallow, and then he put her finger in his mouth and sucked the sticky sweetness from it.
“Mm. I like where this is headed.” Jenna leaned forward and kissed him again, a passionate kiss that tasted of sugar and love.
Pete lowered her to her back and lay beside her, drawing one thigh over her legs. He caressed her cheek with his thumb.
“Today marks the first night in two years that I won’t have to worry about my cell phone going off in the middle of the night and having to race out to check on my father.” He paused, letting the weight of that settle into his own mind. When he’d taken his father to the rehab center, Neil had given him a condescending look and followed it up
with one of the tightest hugs they’d ever shared. That look cut Pete to his core, and the hug shored him up again. “And it marks the first night of the rest of our lives. Jenna, I don’t want to just consider moving in together. I want your face to be the first thing I see in the morning, and I want you safe in my arms when you fall asleep at night. It took us a long time to come together. Let’s not wait any longer.”
“I have to give notice at my work and let my landlord know I’m moving out, and get all my stuff. I can’t just leave the school hanging.”
He knew this, of course. He’d never expect Jenna to be irresponsible. He touched his forehead to hers. “I don’t mean to rush you, but what are you waiting for?”
Jenna laughed and pushed him onto his back. She climbed him like a mountain, her legs straddling his waist. “I was waiting for you to do more than ask me if I’d consider it. I thought that might take another five years.”
Pete wrapped an arm around her waist, and in one swift move he rolled her onto her back and pinned her to the blanket beneath him.
“Jenna Ward, will you move in with me? Now? This second?”
She laughed. “No.”
He dropped his head to her shoulder. “You’re killing me here.”
“If you think I’m getting up from beneath you to move stuff into your house, you’re totally wrong.”
He lifted his head and saw the tease in her eyes.
“Yes, I’ll move in with you, but I’m not missing one second of making out in the moonlight with my hunky hero. So moving will have to wait.”
“Baby, we might never get you moved in.” He sealed his lips over hers and disappeared into luscious Jenna.
Epilogue
GONE WERE THE hot afternoons of summer, replaced with the crisp coming of fall. It was the end of September, and Jenna had moved in with Pete three weeks earlier. The school where she’d worked in Rhode Island had thrown her a lovely farewell luncheon, and her landlord was able to find a new tenant quickly and relieved Jenna of the last two months that remained on her lease. Her mother had been excited about Jenna and Pete’s news. She’d come full circle and was more like the mother Jenna had always known. Jenna would miss her today, but her mother and her new boyfriend, Carlos, were on a cruise to the Bahamas, and Jenna was happy that her mother had settled down and seemed happy again.
Seaside Hearts (Love in Bloom: Seaside Summers, Book 2) Contemporary Romance Page 22