“I’d be happy to, but you dragged me into the middle of it when you sent me to the airport the other day,” Kevin responded, determined not to let go of the topic. “There I was, stuck with trying to defend you after all the promises you apparently made to prove you’d changed.”
“I don’t need you defending me, either,” Mick grumbled, then fell silent, which had been Kevin’s goal.
Kevin glanced in the rearview mirror and saw his uncle’s lips twitching. He seemed to be getting entirely too much enjoyment out of the entire afternoon.
“Am I going to regret coming to work with you?” he asked Thomas.
Thomas chuckled. “It will give me a few more opportunities to needle you about your love life,” he admitted. “But, trust me, the benefits will outweigh the drawbacks. You’ll see. Not only will you be immersed in a career you were meant for, but you’ll have all my years of wisdom when it comes to women at your disposal.”
Mick made a rude sound at that. “Two divorces,” he said succinctly.
“At least I learned a thing or two,” Thomas said, not taking offense. “Can you say the same?”
“Mom would definitely say no,” Kevin felt compelled to chime in, drawing a scowl from his father and a barely contained chuckle from his uncle.
Thankfully they’d reached the house by then, so he could go inside, grab his son and escape from the pair of them. They’d either maintain the peace or come to blows. Whichever way it went, they’d be out of his hair.
Shanna wasn’t the least bit surprised when Bree wandered in around four o’clock that afternoon. By then, most of her flower orders had been delivered, Jenny was there and eager to handle any walk-in customers, and Bree had time on her hands. Sometimes she spent the late-afternoon hours in the back of her shop working on her latest play or finalizing plans for her regional theater’s debut production. On other occasions, she used the time to pop in to see Shanna and chat.
This afternoon, she poured herself a cup of coffee, then sat down and propped her elbows on the counter. She regarded Shanna with evident curiosity. “Were my father, my brother and my uncle in here earlier?”
Shanna figured the less she actually said, the less there would be for Bree to misinterpret. She merely nodded and kept her attention focused on the day’s receipts.
Bree gave an exaggerated look around the shop. “Walls are still standing, so it couldn’t have been a total disaster having my father and his brother in the same room. How’d it happen?”
“Your uncle’s going to give a talk here in a couple of weeks. We were finalizing the details. Kevin and your dad just came along with him.”
“I see,” Bree said, though she looked perplexed. “You know there’s bad blood between my dad and my uncle.”
“So I’ve heard.”
“Then there had to be something monumental going on to get them to share the same space. I doubt it was the prospect of Thomas giving a talk in here.”
Shanna merely shrugged.
Bree’s eyes suddenly lit up. “You and Kevin! That’s it, isn’t it? They both wanted to check the two of you out. Oh my gosh, you must have been furious.”
Not wanting to acknowledge that there’d been any checking out going on, much less anything for the two men to see, Shanna again shrugged. “They weren’t here that long. They went to lunch.”
“Really?”
“It was no big deal,” Shanna assured her.
Bree regarded her with skepticism. “I wonder if Kevin would tell the same story.”
“Why wouldn’t he?”
“Because he’s more attuned to my family’s sneakiness,” she suggested. “I think I’ll give him a call or maybe stop by the house on my way home.”
Shanna debated saving him, then decided to throw him to the wolves. It was his family, after all. “Why don’t you do that?” she said cheerfully.
“Oh, boy,” Bree said, a grin spreading across her face. “It was awful, wasn’t it? I knew it!”
Shanna frowned. “How did you get awful from anything I said? I was so careful.”
“Exactly.” Bree beamed. “If everything had been as casual and innocent as you were pretending, you’d have offered details. You wouldn’t have sicced me on Kevin.”
“Great powers of deduction,” Shanna muttered, though she didn’t necessarily mean it as a compliment. Actually it was fairly annoying.
“Okay, now that the cat’s out of the bag, fill me in,” Bree commanded. “What went on in here? Did you and Kevin put on a show for my dad and Thomas?”
Shanna regarded her with a scowl. “You’re the one in theater,” she retorted. “Kevin and I don’t put on shows.”
Bree’s gaze narrowed thoughtfully. “But something did happen. I can see it in your eyes. You’re not looking directly at me. And you’re being all evasive and weird.”
“Do you analyze everyone you meet?” Shanna inquired testily.
Bree nodded. “Occupational hazard. I like trying to figure out what makes people tick. It comes in handy when I’m creating characters.”
“Which reminds me,” Shanna said, eager for a diversion. “How’s the play coming? Are rehearsals going well?”
“Nice dodge,” Bree commended her. “But I’d rather talk about what went on here today.”
“Nothing,” Shanna insisted. Bree’s gaze never faltered. She simply stared until Shanna caved. “Okay, your dad and uncle caught Kevin and me kissing.”
Bree’s eyes immediately lit up. “Really?”
“And, I’m sure it will thrill you to know that whatever their past differences, they are now united in bugging Kevin and me about that.”
“Not surprised,” Bree said. “But it does make things tricky for the two of you, doesn’t it?”
“Tricky doesn’t begin to cover it,” Shanna said dolefully. “With those two watching us like hawks, it could very well be the last kiss we ever risk.”
Bree seized on her tone. “And you find that upsetting?”
“Yes,” Shanna said at once, then blushed. “Really, I mean who wants a bunch of people studying their relationship as if they were specimens under a microscope? If I were in Kevin’s situation, I certainly wouldn’t want that kind of pressure. I’m not overjoyed by it myself.”
“I’ll get them to back off,” Bree said at once. “I like you and I love my brother. I don’t want your relationship ruined by a couple of meddling old men.”
“And a few meddling sisters?” Shanna dared to ask. “Anything you can do to keep Jess and Abby out of this? Maybe not mention anything to Kevin yourself?”
“When I first walked in, you were all about me talking to Kevin.”
“Only because I did not want to discuss this with you,” Shanna told her. “I’m not entirely sure how I wound up blurting it all out, but since I have, maybe you could leave your brother alone. You already know everything there is to know.”
“I could leave Kevin alone,” Bree agreed. “And I could agree not to say anything to Abby or Jess…”
“But? I heard a distinct but in there.”
“But they will find out,” Bree said.
“Kevin doesn’t think Mick or Thomas will say anything about today because they’ll enjoy gloating about knowing something that no one else in the family knows.”
Bree laughed. “An interesting theory. I’m not sure I buy it. While my father loves knowing secrets, he can’t keep them, and he’s going to be terrified that Thomas will blab first, so he’ll figure he should get the jump on him.”
“It was a kiss,” Shanna said irritably. “Not some earthshaking revelation that could change the world. How old are they? Ten?”
“You’d think so, wouldn’t you?” Bree said, her expression commiserating. “I’ll do whatever damage control I can, but don’t expect this to stay a secret for long.”
She stood up and gave Shanna a hug. “Whatever you do, remember this. You’re good for my brother. Don’t let the rest of us scare you off. If we’re putting too m
uch pressure on you, tell us to butt out.”
“Butt out,” Shanna said, testing the effectiveness of the order.
Bree merely laughed.
Shanna stirred more sugar into her coffee as she watched Bree sail out the door. She reminded herself of all the times she’d envied families just like the O’Briens…big, noisy, meddling families. Now she was beginning to see that there was a dark side.
But, God help her, she still wanted to be a part of one. Maybe even this one.
Every time her cell phone rang, Megan jumped. She glanced at the caller ID, determined not to take any calls from Mick. There was nothing he could possibly say about his last-minute absence from Chesapeake Shores that she wanted to hear. It would just be more of the same old, same old.
But as twenty-four hours passed, then forty-eight, annoyance turned to anger. So tonight when the phone rang and she saw his number, she punched the button to turn on the phone.
“What do you want?” she demanded.
“Is that any way to greet the man who loves you?” Mick inquired.
“It’s not the way I would greet that man,” she said pointedly. “However, it’s exactly the tone you deserve.”
“I’m sorry I wasn’t here,” he told her solemnly. “But you already know that, if you’ve listened to any of the dozen or so messages I’ve left.”
“I deleted every one of them,” she told him. “Never heard a one.”
“Then I’ll repeat the gist of them,” he said with exaggerated patience. “The trip came up very late at night. I had no choice but to fly out to Seattle first thing in the morning. I called you from the plane to explain. I sent Kevin to the airport to explain. I am very, very sorry. It won’t happen again.”
She actually bought that he was sorry, but none of the rest. “Of course it will, Mick. Taking off at the drop of a hat without a thought for anyone else is what you do. I wanted so badly to take you at your word when you said you’d changed, but it’s evident that you haven’t.”
“I asked you to meet me out there,” he reminded her. “Don’t I get any credit for that?”
“I don’t have the kind of flexibility that allows me to jet off across the country at the drop of a hat,” she countered.
“You would if you—”
She cut him off. “You really do not want to go there right now. I’m not quitting my job to come back to a man who’s not reliable.”
“I’m just saying it would be easier—”
Again, she cut him off. “Leave it alone, Mick. It’s not going to happen.”
“You’re a hard woman, Meggie.”
“I’ve had to learn to be,” she told him. “You gave me lessons.”
“Now that’s a fine thing to say,” he grumbled. “And since we’ve pretty much beat my sins to death, let’s move on to yours.”
“Mine?” she said incredulously. “What have I done?”
“You sent our son running straight to his uncle looking for work.”
Megan’s mood immediately brightened, despite Mick’s obvious displeasure. “Kevin saw Thomas?”
“He’s going to start working with him next week. He’s already transferring the title for that fishing boat over to Thomas’s organization, so they can outfit it for research.”
“That’s fabulous,” she said. “This is the perfect challenge for Kevin. I couldn’t be happier.”
“You’re thrilled for him or because you know how much it annoys me to have the two of them working together?”
She chuckled at his miffed tone. “That is an added bonus,” she admitted.
“Did you suggest this just to get even with me?” Mick asked.
“No. I suggested it because I’ve been worried about our son. He needed a new direction in his life and, frankly, I didn’t think fishing charters were the answer. Obviously, once Kevin really thought it through, he agreed with me. Come on, Mick,” she cajoled. “You know how perfect this will be for him. He and Thomas are like two peas in a pod when it comes to the way they care about the bay. You’ve been on the water with them, listened to all of Kevin’s questions. Your brother was so patient with him. I think he’s been counting on this for years, but out of respect for you, he never pushed Kevin. He’s waited until Kevin came to him on his own. Give him some credit for his sensitivity about that.”
“I suppose,” he conceded grudgingly.
“Have you seen him?”
“Who? Thomas?”
“Yes.”
“He was here the other day, gloating about taking my son from me.”
Megan rolled her eyes. “Oh, please, we both know better. Thomas would never deliberately interfere in your relationship with Kevin or gloat about it, if the two of you did have some kind of a rift.”
“Actually, Thomas and I did find one thing we have in common,” Mick admitted.
“Really?”
“We think the new bookseller has a thing for Kevin and vice versa. We’re in agreement that we need to do whatever we can to encourage it.”
The idea horrified Megan. “Mick O’Brien, you keep your nose out of our son’s business!”
“I’m just going to nudge a bit,” he said. “Same with Thomas.”
“Has it occurred to you that your gentle nudging or whatever you want to call it will most likely backfire and keep those two as far apart as they can get? Shanna’s the first woman he’s shown any interest in, though she’s far from the first to try to catch his eye since he’s come home. Kevin needs to take this at his own pace.”
“Why?” he asked, sounding genuinely baffled.
“Because it’s a delicate situation. Kevin’s still grieving over Georgia or thinks he should be. In his position, he may view this as some kind of betrayal to her memory.”
“Then shouldn’t he know none of us see it that way? Won’t that reassure him that nothing’s wrong with moving on with his life?”
“It might,” she conceded. “Or it might not. Do you really want to risk nipping this relationship in the bud before it has a chance to bloom?”
“Sounds as if you’re determined to strip all the fun out of my life,” he said gloomily.
“Just trying to be realistic,” she said.
“Well, there’s one way to be sure I won’t meddle,” he told her. “Invite me to New York so you and I can work on our relationship, instead.”
She wanted to tell him not to come, that she was still too furious to see him, but the truth was most of the heat had gone out of her anger just listening to him take a real interest in their son. That alone demonstrated a new, improved Mick.
“When have you ever waited for an invitation?” she said at last.
“You saying if I show up on your doorstep, you won’t kick me out?” he asked, his tone cautious.
She grinned, relieved that he couldn’t see her expression. “I guess you’ll just have to try it and find out.”
In the meantime, she could work on her willpower.
15
After getting caught kissing Shanna in the back room at her store, Kevin spent the next few days avoiding her and Main Street in general. He told himself it was because he wanted to spend every possible minute with Davy before starting his job with Thomas the following week. He made the argument so convincing, he almost believed it.
Today he’d met Abby, Trace and the twins on the beach for a family picnic. He also wanted to finalize the arrangements to have Abby’s nanny look out for Davy during the week. Though Gram had offered, a two-year-old was too much for her five days a week. Chipping in to pay the nanny made more sense, and Marian had agreed to care for Davy.
“He’s no problem at all,” she’d assured Kevin.
Now he had only to be sure that Trace and Abby were a hundred percent on board. Trace was the bigger concern, because he conducted his graphic design business from home and it would mean one more child underfoot. Though he claimed Carrie and Caitlyn were no bother, Kevin wondered if he’d be able to say the same about Davy.
As he and Trace put the hot dogs and hamburgers on the grill, Kevin brought up the subject.
“Are you sure it won’t be an inconvenience having another kid in the house during the day?” he asked his soon-to-be brother-in-law. “I’ve heard those three when they get going. They can get pretty loud.”
“And most of the noise is generated by Carrie and Caitlyn,” Trace reminded him. “That’s why I soundproofed my design studio. It doesn’t keep out all the commotion, but it mutes it.”
“That takes care of the noise, then, but what about the interruptions?”
Trace shrugged. “I actually don’t mind having them run in and out. Marian keeps it to a minimum, but the twins are so bright and inquisitive, I enjoy having them around. And Davy loves drawing pictures with me. It’ll be fine.”
“Until he does one of his drawings on one of your megabuck graphic designs for a client,” Kevin suggested.
“A lot of what I do these days is done on computer, and they know not to come near that,” Trace said confidently. “It’s all good, Kevin. We’d tell you if it wasn’t.”
Kevin studied him, looking for any sign that he was only saying what was expected. He didn’t find it. Trace seemed genuinely content with his professional life and home situation. At least that part of it.
He wasn’t quite as resigned to Abby’s refusal to set a wedding date. He’d brought it up again this morning, making a joke out of it, but there’d been an unmistakable edge in his voice that Kevin found worrisome.
“How are things progressing between you and my sister?”
“Fine,” Trace said unconvincingly. Still, as his gaze sought her out at the edge of the water where she was watching the kids, his expression softened. There was no mistaking the love he felt for Abby. “I just wish we could get on to the next stage of our lives.”
Kevin was treading in water so deep he was afraid a single misstep could have him drowning, but he could sense the frustration Trace was feeling. “What would change, really?” he asked. “You’d have rings on your fingers, but you’re already living together. You’re already a family.”
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