Love After Dark, McCarthys of Gansett Island, Book 13

by Marie Force

  “Let’s go, Mom,” he said firmly, leaving no room for argument.

  She seemed to sense he was at the end of his patience, so she got out of the car and let him escort her inside. Two nurses from the memory care clinic that would be overseeing the testing met them. All the pre-admission paperwork had been done in advance, so there was nothing left for them to do but say their good-byes.

  “Wait,” Marion said when Paul kissed her. “Where’re you going?”

  “The doctors are going to help you, Mom. I’ll be right here to pick you up when you’re ready.”

  “It’s okay, Mrs. Martinez,” one of the nurses said kindly. “We’ll take very good care of you.”

  “I want George. Where’s my husband? He’d never leave me with strangers. Where’s George?”

  She screamed for her husband until she was out of earshot, leaving Paul emotionally spent by the ordeal.

  Hope’s hand on his back jarred him out of his troubled thoughts.

  He looked over at her and noticed the mark on her face was still red and beginning to swell. “Excuse me,” he said to one of the nurses. “My mother hit my friend. Is it possible to get her an ice pack?”

  “I’m fine, Paul,” Hope said.

  “Of course,” the nurse said. “I’ll grab one for you.”

  “You’re not fine,” he said, touching his fingertip to the angry red mark on her face. “I’m so sorry. She’s never done anything like that before, even when Alex and I gave her reason to.”

  “Believe it or not, that wasn’t the first time a patient has hit me. The frustration and anger are part of the illness. I don’t take it personally.”

  “Well, I do. I take it pretty fucking personally when she hits you, of all people.”

  She smiled at his outburst. “You’re very sweet when you’re protective.”

  The nurse returned with a disposable ice pack.

  “Thank you so much.”

  “No problem. Don’t worry about your mom. We’ll take very good care of her, and we have your number if we need you for anything.”

  “I appreciate it. Thanks again.” With his hand on Hope’s lower back, he guided her out of the building and into the warm sunny day outside. His body was rigid with tension and frustration and rage he didn’t know what to do with. How could he justify being angry with his mother when she couldn’t help what she did? No, he was furious with the illness that had snatched her away from them in the prime of her life. She’d worked by his father’s side for decades, and just when she should be heading into her relaxing retirement years, the dementia struck. It was so unfair to her, to all of them.

  He opened the passenger door for Hope, and when she was seated, he took the ice pack from her and held it against her face.

  She closed her eyes and leaned into his hand. “Feels good.”

  “I’m so sorry, sweetheart. I hate that she did this to you.”

  “And I hate that you’re so upset about it. I mean it when I say I’m fine and that stuff like this goes with the territory when you work with dementia patients. It’s not the first time, and it probably won’t be the last time.”

  “How do you do it? How do you stay so patient and calm when you must want to scream sometimes from the aggravation of it all?”

  “Screaming isn’t going to change anything for her or for me. It’s just going to make everything worse. I tell myself over and over it’s the disease. It’s the disease. As a medical professional, you can’t take it personally, or you’d go crazy. That’s one of the first things we’re taught when we work with this population.”

  “I just want you to know… I admire you so much for the way you handle her—and Ethan. You’re so great with both of them.”

  “Aww, thanks. That’s nice to hear.”

  “I mean it. I watch you with them, and I’m floored every day by how calm you are. Where does that come from?”

  “Lots of yoga and meditation. I’m in tune with my inner Zen.”

  “I need to find my Zen, because I’m feeling anything but calm or rational right now.”

  “Let’s go to the Cape, and I’ll help you find it.”

  “Why, Ms. Russell, are you coming on to me by any chance?”

  She flashed a saucy grin. “You know it.”

  Paul laughed and felt some of the tension leave his body. He leaned in to kiss her before he closed the door and walked around to the driver’s side, eager to get on the road to the Cape.

  Lizzie handed Jared his cell phone, which she had taken from the charger in the kitchen. “Are you going to call him?”

  Jared was sitting by the pool reading the morning edition of The Wall Street Journal on his tablet. You could take the man out of Wall Street… “Has anyone ever told you that you can be a bit like a dog with a bone when you get one of your big ideas?”

  “You tell me that all the time.” She stuck his phone under his nose. “Woof.”

  Laughing, he took the phone from her, shaking his head at her tenacity. “I see that you’ve already got his number cued up for me.”

  “I like to make things easy for you.”

  “You like to make things expensive for me.”

  “At least I’m not spending all your money on diamonds and furs.”

  He glanced up at her, looking absolutely gorgeous with his blond hair still wet from his morning swim and aviator sunglass perched on his nose. “You know you could do that, right?”

  “What the heck do I want with diamonds or furs when there’re so many people in need?”

  “You’re the only wife of a billionaire who’s ever uttered those words.”

  “I doubt that.”

  “You’re the only wife of mine who ever uttered those words.”

  “Make the call, Jared.”

  “Yes, dear.” He pressed the green button to initiate the call. “Hey, Q, what’s up?”

  Lizzie stood by and forced herself to be patient while they talked about the Yankees’ playoff chances and Quinn’s new puppy, which was apparently chewing everything in sight.

  “Are the ladies going mad over your new baby?” Jared asked.

  Lizzie rolled her hand, encouraging him to get to the point of the call.

  “Apologies in advance, but my wife is breathing down my neck because she’s got a big idea that seems to involve you.” Jared explained Lizzie’s plan for a senior care facility on Gansett Island. “She’s even got the location already scouted and a builder on board to do the renovations. The one thing we need to make this happen is a staff doctor, and Lizzie’s got her heart set on you.”

  She couldn’t hear what Quinn said in reply, and Jared’s expression didn’t give anything away.

  “Maybe you could come out, take a look and see what you think? You’ve been promising me a visit since you got out of the hospital.” After another pause, Jared said, “Sure. Think about it. Hit me up with a text. Will do.”

  He ended the call and put the phone on the table. “He said he’d think about it.”

  “Did he show any interest at all?”

  “You know how he’s been since he got home. He doesn’t show much interest in anything. Let him sit on it for a day or two, and then we’ll see what’s what.”

  Lizzie didn’t like having to sit on anything when she had a plan. She had calls to architects she could make in the meantime, but she’d like to know for sure that she had a doctor on board.

  “There’s smoke coming out of your ears from gerbils working overtime on the treadmill.”

  “There are no gerbils on treadmills inside my head.”

  “Something is fueling that crazy brain of yours, my love.”

  “I’m sorry,” she said with a sigh. “I don’t mean to drive you nuts all the time.”

  He gave her hand a gentle tug that brought her tumbling onto his lap. “You don’t drive me nuts. I just have to act like you do, or I’ll totally lose control of things around here.”

  She raised a brow in amusement. “So you still thi
nk you’ve got the control?”

  His bark of laughter made her smile. “We both know you’ve got all the control. You’re the boss, baby. I’m just along for the ride, and it’s a beautiful ride. I love your energy and your passion and your desire to make things better for others. You heard about Paul and Alex’s predicament the other night and you’ve already got a plan in place to fix it for them.”

  “That’s nice of you to say, but it’s no fun if you’re not as into it as I am.”

  “I’m into whatever you’re into. Whatever you want, whenever you want it. Don’t you know that by now?”

  He touched her heart when he said such sweet things. And the best part was he meant every word he said. “So there’s never going to come a day when you say, ‘Enough, Lizzie!’?”

  “As long as we have an occasional day off to be lazy together—preferably naked and lazy—then I’m good.”

  “What’re you doing today?”

  He peeked at her over the top of his sunglasses. “As in today today?”

  “As in one and the same. I’m on hold until we hear from Quinn, and the Chesterfield is closed today. I find myself with a rare bit of free time—” The air whooshed from her lungs when he stood and slung her over his shoulder, handling her as if she were weightless when she was anything but. “Jared!”

  “I can’t talk right now. I’m having a naked lazy day with my very busy wife. Hold all my calls.”

  Lizzie laughed all the way inside, where she spent the rest of the day being naked and lazy with her husband while hoping and praying that his brother would take them up on their offer.

  “Are you still meeting me in town at lunchtime?” Alex asked Jenny before they parted ways for the day.

  “That’s the plan. Marriage license day.” She rolled her lip between her teeth before seeming to remember he was watching. “Noon at Town Hall?”

  “I’ll be there.” He hooked his arm around her waist. “What’s with the lip?”

  “The lip?”

  “You bite your lip when you’re worried about something.”

  She looked up at him with bottomless eyes that saw all the way through him the way no one else ever had. Sometimes it was hard to remember that she’d had that connection once before with someone else. Not that it mattered, but still…

  “Toby died the day after we applied for our license.”

  “I’m not going to die tomorrow.”

  “I know.”

  “Do you? Do you really?”

  Tears filled her eyes. “I’m a hot mess, and I’m so sorry to do this to you when we should be worry-free and looking ahead not back.”

  An idea occurred to him right then and there, leaving him breathless with the desire to see it through immediately.

  “Do me a favor,” he said, running with it.

  “Sure.”

  “Wear something really pretty to Town Hall, and I’ll take you to Stephanie’s for lunch after.”

  “I can do that.”

  Alex leaned in to kiss her. “Everything is going to be just fine, babe. I promise you.”

  “Keep telling me that.”

  “Any time you need to hear it.” He went into their room to retrieve what he needed to make his plan a reality and dropped her at the retail store on his way to work. “Kiss me.”

  She reached for him over the center console and obliged him, wiping away the lipstick she left on his lips. “Love you. Be careful today.”

  “I’m always careful. See you at noon. Don’t be late.”

  “I’ll be there.”

  The second the door shut behind her, he was on the phone with Evan McCarthy. “I need a favor, buddy.”

  “Sure. What’s up?”

  Alex outlined his plan to Evan and told him the reason for it.

  “Dude, that’s seriously awesome. I’m in. I’ll meet you there at two.”

  “Great, see you then.” Next, Alex called Sydney and Erin to get them on board.

  Erin sniffled when he told her what he wanted to do and why. “Poor Jenny,” she said. “And you… You’re brilliant, Alex Martinez. I’m so happy you came into her life and made everything better.”

  “That means a lot to me coming from you, Erin.”

  “Toby would approve of you. And he would like you.”

  “Christ, you’re going to make me bawl like a baby over here.”

  “I’ll see you at two.”

  “Thanks, Erin.” It totally sucked that Paul was off-island today, but Alex hoped his brother would understand. He made a call to Town Hall, spoke to the clerk about what he wanted to do and received her full support. His final call was to the mother of Ethan’s friend to ask if he could go to their house after school for a couple of hours. Hope had given him the number in case he needed it, and Jonah’s mom was happy to have Ethan and promised to pick him up from the bus stop. Another hurdle cleared. This was coming together almost too easily.

  The hours at work were largely a waste as he was incredibly preoccupied with his plans. The clock inched slowly forward until it was finally eleven thirty. Feeling like a little kid on Christmas morning, Alex changed into shorts and a clean polo shirt in his truck before heading for town. He would’ve worn something nicer, but he didn’t want to tip his hand before he was ready to.

  Looking gorgeous in a pretty summer dress, Jenny waited for him on the front steps at Town Hall. As they were going in, Blaine Taylor was coming out.

  “Hey, guys,” Blaine said. “What’s up?”

  “Marriage license time,” Jenny said.

  “Wow, it’s getting close. Looking forward to the party this weekend.”

  “I am, too,” Alex said. “See you there.”

  “Wouldn’t miss it.” He shook hands with Alex and kissed Jenny’s cheek before continuing on his way.

  “I love living here and seeing friends everywhere we go,” Jenny said.

  He patted her on the ass as they walked through the main doors. “I love living here a whole lot more since I met you.”

  She giggled at his words and the ass grab.

  They filled out the paperwork and emerged from Town Hall twenty minutes later, marriage license inside a sealed envelope, just the way Alex had requested. After a leisurely lunch at Stephanie’s, Alex made his move. “Take a ride with me.”

  “Where? Don’t you have to get back to work? Paul’s off-island—”

  “It’ll only take a few minutes. I want to show you something.”

  “All right, but you can explain to my boss why I was late getting back from lunch.”

  “Your boss can suck my dick.”

  “Ugh, that’s so gross.”

  “You love to suck my—”

  Jenny’s hand over his mouth ended the sentence prematurely. “Shut up, or it’ll never happen again.”

  “Shutting up now,” he said, his words muffled by her hand, which he nibbled. After she dropped her hand, he said, “Love you, Jenny Wilks-soon-to-be-Martinez.”

  “Love you, too, Alex Martinez, even when you’re being nasty.”

  “You love when I’m nasty.” He loved riling her up and every other damned thing about her. As they drove through the gates to the lighthouse where they’d met more than a year ago, his heart beat with excitement and anticipation and a tiny bit of fear that his big idea might not go over well with her.

  “What’re we doing here? I saw Erin last night.”

  “I have a little surprise for you.”

  “What kind of surprise?”

  “The kind you’re going to have to wait and see.”

  She sat up straighter in her seat, but there was nothing to see—yet.

  Alex pulled up to the spot he used to take when he was coming here to visit her and cut the engine. Then he turned to her, reaching for her hand.

  “What’s going on?”

  “You’re worried about something happening before our big day, right?”

  She bit her lip and nodded.

  “Today’s our big day.
Right here where we first met, we’re going to get married. We’ll still have our wedding as planned, but that’ll be for everyone else. This, today, is for us. There’ll be nothing left to worry about once we’re legally and officially married.”

  Tears filled her eyes, and she covered her mouth as a sob escaped from her lips.

  One by one, the people he’d called earlier filed out of the lighthouse: Evan, his uncle Frank, Sydney and Erin, moving slowly on crutches.

  Jenny saw them and began to cry harder.

  “If you don’t want to do this, we don’t have to. I just thought—”

  She launched herself across the truck and into his arms, kissing him repeatedly. “You are the best guy in the whole world to think of this.”

  “So you like the idea?”

  “I love the idea, except Paul isn’t here.”

  “He’ll understand completely, and he’ll still be my best man at our official wedding.”

  “When did you think of this?”

  “This morning.”

  “And you made it happen for today?”

  “I can’t bear to see you worrying when there was something I could do to fix it short of enclosing myself in bubble wrap for the next two weeks.”

  “I’m sorry to have been worried—”

  Alex placed his finger over her lips. “You have every good reason to feel the way you do. Do you care that your parents aren’t here for this?”

  “No. They’d understand, too. The only one I truly need is you.”

  “And the only one I truly need is you. So what do you say we go out there and get married?”

  “What about the rings?”

  “I’ve got them with me.”

  She seemed stunned that he’d thought of that. “And the license?” Her smile faded. “It’s dated for two weeks from now.”

  “I took care of that, too.” He handed her the envelope from the town clerk. “It’s got today’s date.”

  “Ethan!”

  “Is all set.” He explained the arrangements he’d made with Jonah’s mom.

  “Alex…” She wiped away more tears. “God, you’re amazing. Any time I’m annoyed with you for the rest of our lives, please remind me of what you did for me today, and all will be forgiven.”