by Unknown
“Sounds like an all-consuming goal,” Aidan said. Thomas’s words were no salve for years of resentment, but Aidan was forced to admit he was beginning to understand just a little.
“If you’re really interested, I have some books you could read,” Thomas said, then grinned. “I try to turn everyone I meet into a convert when it comes to the environment around here. I figure no one could be a harder sell than my brother, and I’ve finally gotten Mick on board.”
“He didn’t agree?”
“Not when it interfered with his plans for building the town,” Thomas revealed. “Had to take him to court.”
Aidan’s mouth gaped. “You took Mick to court? I’d heard there was bad blood back then, but no one mentioned why.”
“We’re past it now,” Thomas said, then chuckled. “Mostly, anyway. He claims he even sees my point. This town probably sticks to the spirit of the Chesapeake Bay Act more closely than any other community along the water in any of the states where it applies.”
Aidan began to see just how deep Thomas’s convictions ran. He couldn’t help admiring that, even if it also confirmed that in the past he and his mom would have been no match for such dedicated idealism. He tried to imagine what it would be like to be so passionate about a cause that people didn’t matter.
And yet Thomas appeared to be happily married now, a contented family man. How had that happened? What powers of persuasion had Thomas’s wife, Connie, had that his mom hadn’t. Bitterness, never far from the surface especially since he’d come to town, reared its head. It was complicated by the school principal’s insistence that he take on the after-school assignment of working with the kids who’d organized a junior support group for Thomas’s foundation.
A one-year commitment, he reminded himself. Not forever. For now he needed to embrace this opportunity to get to know his father on his own turf.
“I imagine I’ll have to get up to speed if I’m going to be working with the kids at the high school,” he finally said. “They probably know a lot more than I do at this point.”
Thomas regarded him with what seemed to be real pleasure and maybe even a hint of relief. “They’re a fine group of young people. It’s been wonderful to see them dedicated to a cause that’s so important to this town and this entire region. I guess that means we’ll be working closely together, too, since I try to come to as many of the meetings and activities as I can.”
Aidan bit back a sigh. He’d known that would be the case, but hearing it rattled him more than he’d expected. Somehow he’d envisioned crossing paths with his father only on rare occasions. Surely Thomas was too busy to spend much time with one high school club, or so he’d convinced himself. He’d had some crazy idea about being able to glean the kind of man he was from limited contact, just enough to fill in the gaps without forming any real relationship.
Still, maybe it was a good thing, becoming immersed in his father’s cause. He was already convinced about what a good cause it was. If he ever hoped to bond with the man, this was an excellent way to start.
“I imagine I’ll be wanting those books you recommend and perhaps a short course in what we need to do to be effective and helpful,” he told Thomas.
“Anytime you’re ready,” Thomas responded cheerfully. “As you can already tell, it’s a topic I never tire of discussing.”
“I’ll be in touch, then,” Aidan said. He gave a wave to Sean, his half brother, a concept he couldn’t even begin to wrestle with right now. “Hope you catch something.”
Sean gave him a beaming grin. “I always do. Mom’s counting on me bringing home dinner.”
“You could join us,” Thomas suggested. “I can pass along a couple of books.”
“Thanks. Another time. I have plans for tonight.”
He had no idea what those plans might be, but anything would be better than pretending that this man hadn’t had the power to make Aidan’s life very different from the one he’d had.
Not that it had been a bad life. His mom had been amazing. She’d worked hard and they’d been okay. But even in a few short weeks in town, he’d come to realize that a childhood as an O’Brien would have been something very different, indeed.
*
Liz was standing in the doorway of her shop when she saw Aidan ambling in her direction. Her heart did a little flutter. Apparently it was not getting the message about avoiding him or keeping him in a tidy little box labeled “friend.”
As Aidan drew closer, she noted the troubled expression on his face and instinct kicked in.
“Everything okay?” she called out.
He glanced in her direction as if surprised to see her. “Hey. I didn’t notice you standing there.”
“I opened the door to let in a little fresh air. It cuts down on AC bills and when the weather’s this beautiful, I like to enjoy it. Where have you been?”
“After we left Cordelia’s, I took Connor’s boat out.”
“Catch anything?”
He chuckled. “I didn’t even try. Trying to keep the boat from going in circles was about all I could cope with.”
“Is that what put that expression on your face? Doing something at which you didn’t excel?”
“Believe me, there are plenty of things I don’t do well. And I don’t know what expression you thought you saw, but being on the water was nice. It was a new experience, and I’m always open to trying new stuff.” He gave her a lingering look. “On that note, how about dinner tonight? We can plot our anti-matchmaking strategy. And I’ve been hearing really good things about Brady’s.”
“It’s excellent,” she confirmed, tempted.
“Is that a yes?”
She couldn’t think of a single good reason to say no, other than panic at the thought of spending an evening with him in the romantic ambience of Brady’s. Since she tried really hard not to avoid things just because they were scary, she nodded.
“Sure. I’d love to go. I’ll want to go home and change first.”
“You close up here at six, right? How about I pick you up at seven? I’ll make a reservation.”
“Good idea. It’s the summer season, so it can be packed.”
He gave her another long look, one she couldn’t quite interpret. It made her toes curl just the same.
“Thanks, Liz. I’ll see you at seven.”
And, as he had too many times before, he bolted before she could make sense of exactly what was going on. The man was a mystery, and as anyone in their so-called book club could testify, Liz was a real sucker for a good mystery. This time, though, she had a hunch that even with her well-honed detective skills, the ending might be totally unanticipated.
*
Mick was sitting on the porch smoking his pipe, something he’d been forbidden from doing inside, when he spotted his brother and nephew coming up from the pier.
“Catch anything?” he asked Sean, who promptly beamed at him.
“Two big rockfish,” he said proudly. “And I reeled ’em in all by myself.” He glanced up at his dad, then amended, “Well, mostly by myself. Wanna see?”
“Of course I do,” Mick said as the boy lugged the heavy bucket filled with seawater over to him. The water sloshed onto the porch, causing Sean’s eyes to widen with dismay.
“I’m sorry,” he said. “I’ll clean it up.”
“Hey, it’s not a big deal. Maybe you could run into the kitchen and ask your aunt Megan to give you some clean water to rinse it off.”
“Sure,” Sean said eagerly, running off.
“Connie’s doing a real good job with that boy,” Mick said.
Thomas feigned a scowl, just as Mick had anticipated.
“Hey, I know a thing or two about manners,” Thomas protested. “Ma saw to that.”
Mick laughed. “She did, indeed.”
Thomas sat down in the rocker next to Mick’s, drawing in a deep breath. “That pipe tobacco still reminds me of Dad.”
Mick nodded. “I know. It’s the only reason I smoke the
thing. It brings back memories.”
They sat there for a few minutes in surprisingly companionable silence given their sometimes contentious relationship.
“Thought I saw Aidan coming up from the pier earlier,” Mick finally said.
Thomas sighed. “You did. He’d apparently taken Connor’s boat out for a while.”
Mick studied his brother. “Now, why does that put that particular look on your face? Did he toss some trash into the bay? Let some oil spill out of the motor?”
Thomas frowned at him. “He did neither one. I’m just finding him hard to read. I saw him here at dinner and once since, and he seemed to get along well with everybody, but when I’ve spoken to him, he gets real uptight.”
“You must be imagining things,” Mick said.
“I thought so, too, at first, but it’s happened more than once. He’s supposed to replace Coach Gentry with that bay preservation club at the high school, but when I spoke to him about it at the school and again just now, I sensed he wasn’t very enthusiastic about the idea. I even mentioned that to Kevin after the first time we spoke. He said he talked to Aidan and that he swore he was committed to the project. Even today, he said all the right words, but there was no passion behind them, if you know what I mean.”
Mick gave him an amused look. “Do I need to point out that there’s probably nobody on God’s green earth, and I use the term advisedly, who’s as devoted to the cause as you and my son?”
Thomas chuckled, visibly relaxing. “You’re probably right about that.”
“Stop your worrying,” Mick advised. “Give him time to get up to speed. If Aidan doesn’t seem to be coming around, you can insist on a new adviser for the group. Or you can talk to him about it, see what his reservations are. It could be as simple as being single-minded about getting the football team into shape. That is why he was hired, after all.”
“That’s pretty much what he said to Kevin. I just wish I didn’t have this sense that there’s something I’m missing.”
“Such as?”
“I don’t know exactly,” Thomas admitted. “He reminds me of someone, but I can’t put my finger on who it might be.”
“Now you really are imagining things,” Mick said. “That boy’s never been anywhere near Chesapeake Shores before. I’ve seen his résumé. He grew up in New York, went to school there, played ball there. In fact, that’s probably why he looks familiar. You probably saw him play a time or two on TV, that is if you ever glanced up from one of your books long enough to watch football.”
Thomas ignored the gibe and nodded. “That’s probably it.”
Sean came back just then with water and a mop. He could barely lift the bucket, so Mick dumped the sudsy water on the porch to wash away the salt water, then reached for the mop. “I’ll take care of this. You get those fish home to your mama, so she can fix ’em for dinner.”
Sean made a face. “Dad and me have to clean ’em first.”
Thomas didn’t look any more pleased about that than his boy did. “Yes, we do,” he said.
Mick slapped his brother on the back, but grinned at Sean. “Go on, you two. Cleaning fish will make a man of you.”
Thomas scowled at him. “When was the last time you cleaned one?”
“I’ve cleaned more than my share over the years,” Mick claimed, then shrugged. “You and Jeff were always too squeamish.”
“Squeamish?” Thomas echoed indignantly as his son laughed.
“Squeamish,” Mick repeated, then looked at his nephew. “And don’t you let him tell you otherwise.”
“Come on, Sean,” Thomas urged. “Let’s get out of here before my brother completely ruins your idealized vision of me.”
Sean blinked. “Huh?”
“I’ll explain on the way home,” Thomas said, scowling at Mick.
As Mick watched the two of them cross the lawn, his booming laugh trailed after them. Nothing much he liked better than getting under his brother’s skin from time to time. It beat most of those hobbies his wife was always telling him he should try.
10
Even though her planned dinner with Aidan was emphatically not a date, it felt a whole lot as if it was, Liz concluded as she yanked one outfit after another from her closet, then tossed them aside as all wrong. Brady’s wasn’t fancy, but it did seem to require something dressier than her old teaching wardrobe of slacks and tailored blouses, which she also tended to wear at the store because they were comfortable.
Okay, dressier wasn’t exactly right, either, she admitted to herself. She wanted something more feminine and just wanting that scared her because it seemed to prove that this was a date, after all. Otherwise, it wouldn’t matter to her how she looked.
Women always care how they look, she mentally defended herself as she tossed aside a perfectly acceptable dress that she would have worn out with anyone else.
“Oh, just pick something,” she grumbled finally, reaching back into her closet. Her hand landed on a sundress that came with a saucy little midriff-length sweater that was perfect for a night that promised to be a little cool. So what if the dress had a slightly revealing neckline? The bright blue color and sprinkling of daisies across the fabric made it cheerful and feminine. It was meant to be worn on an occasion just like this one. In fact, she’d bought it on impulse on sale last summer on the off chance she’d ever again have a special evening planned. It still had the price tags attached, which probably proved just how dull she’d allowed her social life to become.
Satisfied at last, she was dressed in minutes. She picked up a bottle of her favorite perfume, then found herself debating whether perfume suggested a date. Thoroughly impatient with herself for regressing to the behavior of an unsophisticated teenager with a first boyfriend, she spritzed the light scent into the air and walked through the mist.
When Aidan knocked, Archie went nuts as usual, racing impatiently between her bedroom and the door and back as if to hurry her up.
“Would you please just calm down?” she ordered, laughing, “before I trip and wind up on the floor.”
She was still laughing when she opened the door. Aidan’s eyes widened appreciatively, his gaze never once leaving her as he petted Archie distractedly.
“You look amazing,” he said at last.
Liz smiled. Exactly the effect she’d been going for, even if she hadn’t wanted to admit it. “Thank you.”
“You ready to go?”
Not really, she thought, fearful of the way her pulse seemed to be suddenly scrambling and of the long-missing hum of excitement that had stirred in her blood. “All set,” she forced herself to say.
Even though she argued that Brady’s was close enough to walk there, Aidan insisted on taking his car.
“You’ve been on your feet all day.” He glanced down at the strappy, sexy heels she’d put on at the last minute. “And those shoes don’t look to me as if they’re meant for long strolls.”
“Probably not,” she admitted. They were pretty and very feminine, but not especially practical.
At the restaurant, they found the foyer jammed with people waiting for tables, just as she’d predicted. Aidan slipped through the crowd to claim their reservation, then returned to her side.
“They told me it would be about ten minutes. Want to wait here or in the bar?”
“Here’s fine,” she said.
“So, how was business today?” he asked. “Any letdown after the holiday weekend last week?”
“Maybe a little, but it was still surprisingly busy. More locals came in, I think. I’m discovering they tend to avoid the big holiday crowds. Several mentioned to me that they prefer the quieter weekdays when the tourists have gone home. I can’t say I blame them. That’s when Chesapeake Shores is at its best.”
He studied her, then smiled. “You really love it here, don’t you?”
Liz nodded. “I do, more and more. How about you? You regretting that you didn’t commit to being here longer?”
To her r
egret, Aidan shook his head.
“One year was the right thing to do. That said, this is starting to feel like home. Or maybe I’ve just found my comfort zone now that I’m working with the team.”
Liz was about to ask how that was going when Porter and Pamela Hobbs walked out of the main dining room and straight toward them. She noticed Aidan tensing at their approach.
“Mitchell,” Porter said tersely.
“Mr. Hobbs,” Aidan said stiffly. “Mrs. Hobbs. How was your dinner?”
“Overcooked,” Pamela said sourly. “I don’t recommend you have the prime rib. I had to send it back twice.”
Liz fought to hide a smile. Little wonder it was overcooked, if the waiter had taken it back to the kitchen twice. It was a wonder he hadn’t thrown it in her face. Brady, however, was known for training his staff to accommodate the customers’ wishes, no matter how unreasonable or demanding.
“I’ll definitely keep that in mind,” Liz told her.
Porter scowled at Aidan. “I had a talk with Mick O’Brien the other day,” he reported.
“Is that so?” Aidan said mildly, not sounding especially surprised.
“I gather you’d run to him tattling on me,” Porter said derisively.
“Actually I didn’t,” Aidan said. “Mick stopped by practice. He saw the boys in action and wanted to know how the team is shaping up. I told him.”
“I know what you told him,” Porter said irritably. “You’re going to pick that Santos kid over my boy. I warned you about that.”
Liz noted that Aidan didn’t back away. Nor did he seem intimidated by the man’s bluster.
“And I told Mick the same thing I told you, that I was brought here to do what’s best for the team. Taylor and I’ve had a talk about putting him in a different position, one where he can make a real contribution to the team. He’s eager to try that. You should come by. He and Hector have a real connection on the field, probably because Taylor has played at quarterback. He understands the routes. He can anticipate exactly where Hector intends to throw a pass. He’s got not only the instincts, but the hands to make the reception.”