Made in Heaven
BY
MAY MCGOLDRICK
ISBN: 97809841567-5-7
Copyright © 2011 by Nikoo K. and James A. McGoldrick
All rights reserved. Except for use in any review, the reproduction or utilization of this work in whole or in part in any form by any electronic, mechanical or other means, now known or hereafter invented, including xerography, photocopying and recording, or in any information storage or retrieval system, is forbidden without the written permission of the publisher: May McGoldrick Books, PO Box 665, Watertown, CT 06795.
May McGoldrick novels are:
"Richly Romantic." --Nora Roberts
"Enchanting." --The Philadelphia Inquirer
"Wonderful." --Jill Marie Landis
"Passionate." --Susan Wiggs
Complete Book List as of 2012
Writing as May McGoldrick:
GHOST OF THE THAMES
MADE IN HEAVEN
DREAMS OF DESTINY
CAPTURED DREAMS
BORROWED DREAMS
THE REBEL
TESS AND THE HIGHLANDER
THE PROMISE
THE FIREBRAND
THE ENCHANTRESS
THE DREAMER
FLAME
THE INTENDED
BEAUTY OF THE MIST
HEART OF GOLD
ANGEL OF SKYE
THISTLE AND THE ROSE
Writing as Nicole Cody & May McGoldrick
LOVE AND MAYHEM (Arsenic and Old Armor)
Writing as Jan Coffey:
THE BLIND EYE
THE PUPPET MASTER
THE DEADLIEST STRAIN
THE PROJECT
SILENT WATERS
FIVE IN A ROW
TROPICAL KISS
FOURTH VICTIM
TRIPLE THREAT
TWICE BURNED
TRUST ME ONCE
Writing as Nikoo Kafi:
OMID'S SHADOW
Nonfiction: By Nikoo & Jim McGoldrick
MARRIAGE OF MINDS: Collaborative Fiction Writing
CHAPTER 1
Newport, Rhode Island
Evan Knight parked his cab in front of the three-story apartment building and got out of the car. Moving around to open the trunk, he stepped over a pile of broken bottles and empty beer cans that lay beside an overflowing dumpster.
They had been at the hospital for nearly eight hours. Eight hours of pacing the halls and sitting in a lime green waiting room only to be told that it wasn’t time yet. He opened the trunk and took out Jada’s frayed canvas backpack. Evan frowned at it, thinking that not nine months ago the girl had stored her school books in there instead of clothing for a baby that she didn’t even want.
He slammed the trunk shut and stalked around the car to get her out. Jada already had the door open, but she was just too big and tired to haul herself out. He took her gently by the hands and let her pull herself to her feet. It was then that he saw the tears on her round face.
“I’m sorry, Evan. I am so sorry. I was...” She began to sob silently, and he gathered her to his chest.
“Don’t be, Jada. Don’t be.”
As he ran a comforting hand over her back, he glared at two goggle-eyed punks walking by. He didn’t think he’d ever face a teenager in this town again without wondering if the kid might be the father of Jada’s baby. No matter what the girl’s father had threatened, she had been determined not to name the boy.“I was so scared last night. I was sure the baby was coming.”
“It’s okay, honey. That woman doctor said this is very common with first-time mothers.” He took out a tissue from the back pocket of his jeans and handed it to her. First-time mother, he repeated silently, gritting his teeth. She was only fifteen. A child herself.
“I wish daddy was back. Then you wouldn’t have to be bothered with me in the middle of the night.”
“You’re no bother.” He pushed her away slightly until he could look into her still teary eyes. “I don’t care what time of the day it is. Until your father gets back, you call me and I’ll take you to the hospital. The doctor said you’re getting really close. It could be any time.”
He didn’t let go of his grip until she nodded.
“You’ve got the cell phone number, right?”
“I’ve got it.”
“Okay,” he said gruffly, steering her toward the graffiti-covered door of the building. “I’ve got to pick up that Bellevue Avenue fare they just buzzed me on, but you call if you need me.”
When Jada was safely inside and old Mrs. Jeffers, the warm-hearted neighbor from the next apartment, had taken charge, Evan trotted back out to the cab. As he pulled out of the parking lot, he thought about how much Ted, Jada’s father, would want to be here for this. Well, he should be back any day now, Evan thought. A fisherman’s got to make his living while the weather’s good.
Raking a hand through his wavy brown hair, Evan turned onto Bellevue before calling in his route. As traffic slowed, he gazed absently at one of the mansions through a twelve-foot iron gate, and thought of Jada, her legs wobbling as he walked her into the hospital last night. She’d been in pain...and so frightened. And he’d been unprepared. Totally useless. He hadn’t known what to say or what to do. Like the walking dead, he’d just paced the halls of that hospital for hours, and waited.
Next time, though, he’d do better, he promised himself. Next time, he’d support her the way her father would.
Through the rear window of the car in front of him, Evan watched three teenage boys laughing. The one in the back seat lit a cigarette and glanced back at the taxi.
My God, Evan thought, he’d been a teenager himself once, and a wild one, at that. But he didn’t think he’d ever acted carelessly when it came to taking care of his partner. He wondered who the hell the father of Jada’s baby was. No doubt, a lowlife scum to hit on a bright-faced innocent like her. The kid must have seen her start to show before she quit school in the spring.
Evan brought the cab to a stop in front of the closed gates of the fenced-in mansion and announced his arrival through the intercom. A moment later, as the gates opened, he started along the tree-lined driveway leading to the rambling stone house. Unimpressed, he muttered under his breath and pulled up to the porch. Getting out of the car, he opened the trunk for an irritable servant with a suitcase in hand.
“You’ll be taking the young Mr. Rand to the Kingston train station. He’s got to make the 3:26 train to New York. Here is the money for the fair, and you can keep the change.”
Without looking, Evan took the money from the man and stuffed it deep into his pocket.
“You’re late,” the man pressed. “We were afraid you weren’t going to make it in time to...”
“I am here, aren’t I?” Evan snapped. “But how the hell am I going to get young Mr. Rand’s ass to that station in time if he isn’t ready to go?”
The servant’s face turned crimson, but before he could say anything, a lanky young man hurried down the stone steps, and Evan slammed the trunk shut.
“I’m sorry I’m late. I’m ready.”
Without sparing a second look at the teenager, Evan climbed into the cab and called in his destination. The front door of the cab opened and his passenger got in beside him.
“Ready,” the young man whispered to himself.
In a few minutes they were making their way through the downtown traffic, and Evan’s mind again returned to Jada and what he could do to help her through this. She would not accept any charity. That’s the way Ted had raised her. But there had to be a way that he could make things a little bit easier for her and for the baby.
His passenger’s voice broke into his thoughts. “It’s nice to get the town back from the tourists.”
Evan made an incoherent sound and went back to ignoring him.
“Once we got stuck for two hours in the traffic on America’s Cup Avenue right by the army-navy store. We had the limo, though, so it wasn’t so bad. In fact, it was amazing to just sit here and see so many different kinds of people just go by.”
“What the hell do you know about kinds of people?”
“I go to school...I used to go to the Priory School here...”
“And you never hung out downtown?” Evan looked out the window disgustedly.
“Nah, I couldn’t. Besides, I’m going to a new school now. In New York.”
“So what happened?” Evan snapped. “Your daddy thought your blue blood would discolor, mixing with the poor kids here? Or did he get upset because somebody spit on the limo?”
The young man blushed and stared straight ahead.
The cell-phone rang, and Evan answered it. “Jada?”
“No, it’s Henry. But I’m pleased to hear there’s a Jada.”
Evan paused and took a look at the kid sitting next to him. Young Mr. Rand was staring curiously at him. Evan reached down and clicked on the radio in the cab before talking into the phone.
“What the hell are you doing calling me at this number?”
“Dammit, I’ve tried everything else. You don’t read your e-mail. You don’t use an answering machine, and you’re never home to answer your phone.”
“So?”
“So do I have to drag my butt all the way from New York to Newport just to talk to you?”
“You do that, Henry, and I’ll throw you right off the bridge.” Evan looked out of his side window as the cab sped onto the suspension bridge. “Over two hundred feet from the top to the sparkling blue Narragansett Bay. It’s sure to kill you.”
“You can’t scare me off that easy. Besides, there are probably sharks down there who’d treat me better than you do. Are you working?”
Evan reached down and turned up the volume of the radio.
“I...I can’t hear you,” Henry shouted. “Turn that damn thing off.”
Evan rolled down his window.
“Where the hell are you? Is that a wind tunnel?”
“Yeah. And it’s just about to tear the phone right out of my hand.”
“Don’t you dare, Evan Knight, or I swear on my dead mother’s grave that I’ll be sitting on your doorstep by nightfall.”
“Now that’s a terrifying thought. But don’t do it, Henry. I’ve got a frigging reputation in the neighborhood.” With a crooked smirk, he turned down the radio a bit. “You’ll just ruin it.”
“Are you working, Evan?”
“I am...I’m working right now.”
“Then show me the proof. I haven’t...”
“What...my word’s not good enough?” He placed the phone against his shoulder and turned to the kid next to him. “What’s your name?”
“Matthew. Matthew Rand.”
“Tell my...my boss here that I am working.”
Matthew leaned over and spoke in the receiver. “Hi. I’m Matthew, and he is working.”
Evan then brought the cab to a halt at the toll booth and held the phone out to the attendant. “Hey, Raz, I’ve got my boss on the line. Tell him I am working.”
“Your boss?” the man snickered.
“Do it, and it’s good for drink on me at the Pub.”
The man grabbed the phone out of Evan’s hand. “Hello. This is Raz O’Shea. No, I’m a toll collector for the Newport Bridge Authority, and Mr. Knight is working.”
Evan yanked the phone back and threw Raz a salute before driving off. “See. I have witnesses. I’m working.”
“Don’t do this to me, Evan. I am...”
“Excuse me, Henry--a pressing matter.” He turned to Matthew. “What time is your train?”
“Three twenty six!”
“Sorry, Henry. We’re late. Gotta go.”
“Don’t!” Henry shouted. “For God’s sake, you are no cab driver. I am your agent, and you’re Drew...”
Evan turned off the phone and stuffed it back in his pocket. “I just hate middle management!”
CHAPTER 2
As the train picked up a few more passengers in Providence, Meg gazed out the window at the renovated downtown area. What had a few years ago looked like a war zone, now looked like a cosmopolitan urban center. Beneath a raised street, she could see people strolling and lounging along cobblestone walks that bordered the river. Where the waterway opened into a small lagoon, an older man and a child could be seen enjoying the afternoon sun in a paddleboat. On the far side, Meg could see a painter at work at a small easel, and a young couple--arms around one another--were looking over his shoulder.
That could be you, you know.
Meg started at the sound of Robert’s voice.
You are missing out on life.
“I don’t know what you’re talking about.”
“Excuse me?” The man in the seat across was looking at her over the tops of his reading glasses. “Are you talking to me?”
“No.” Meg blushed. “Just...just thinking out loud.”
“Oh, sorry.”
“Don’t get me into trouble, now,” Meg whispered.
It’s time, Meg. You’ve got a life to be living, and I’ve got to be moving on.
“Robert, now is not the time.”
The newspaper rustled across the way, but Meg had a distinct feeling that a pair of eyes were glued on her.
This is it, Meg! Last year, I tried to explain it to you, but you wouldn’t listen.
“You were wrong and I was right,” she whispered. “You’re back in spite of what you told me.”
“Ahem!” The man across the way leaned forward in his seat. “Are you certain everything is all right?”
“Haven’t you ever seen anybody talk to herself?”
She sounded snappish, but she didn’t care. And her fellow traveler did crawl behind his paper again.
Well, you can believe what you want. But I am telling you that the time has come for me to go. In fact, I’m down here this year on another matter...there’s someone...
“I knew it! You are seeing somebody else.” Meg scowled playfully. “After fifteen years of marriage!”
Ten!
“Fifteen!”
The last five don’t count. You forget, I’ve been dead.
“Not to me, you haven’t. This is the same anniversary getaway we’ve been going on for the last fifteen years. I don’t care what you say, you’re still a married man.”
“Divorced?”
“Stay out of this,” Meg ordered at the eyes peering at her over the newspaper.
Death did us part. My ticket’s punched, expired, gone.
“I’m not going to discuss this now,” Meg whispered, watching another traveler take the seat beside the busybody across the way.
This time you have to, Meg. There is no other way. It’s been selfish of me to drag it out this long. If I’d just gone away, the way most others do, then you wouldn’t be in the predicament you’re in now. You have to make a change in your life. It’s time.
“There is nothing wrong with my life.”
“Pardon me?”
“She likes to talk to herself.”
“Oh! One of those!”
“It’s great. Just listen.” The man lowered his voice behind the paper. “She is practicing for a fight with her husband. He’s screwing around. His name is Robert, and it looks like he’s getting ready to dump her.”
“Ahem!” Meg threw an irritated glare at the Nosy Parkers across the way, letting them know that she’d heard every word.
You see, you’re making a spectacle of yourself.
“I am not!”
Yes, you are. Everyone who knows you, feels sorry for you. Your friends, your mother--even old Joe E, your boss. You’ve no social life, whatsoever. In the five years since I died, you’ve done nothing for yourself.
“I’ve been busy. Working.”
At
a dead-end job...no pun intended. Meg, you have talent, energy, gumption. But you are putting it all to waste. You are young and beautiful. You should be living your life to the fullest.
“I am middle-aged. For God’s sake, I’m thirty-five.”
“That’s young!”
The newspaper rustled in agreement. “Very young!”
Meg stared in disbelief at the two men eyeing her with concern. They had clearly given up all pretense of hiding their interest.
See, take it from the living, if you don’t believe me. It’s unhealthy, Meg. Going this long without...
“Don’t say it.”
Sex.
She pushed back her head against the chair and closed her eyes. “I can’t believe you said it.”
You’re blushing, Meg!
“How the hell would you know? You keep telling me you’re dead.”
“Are you all right, miss? You’re awfully flushed. Are you feverish?”
She opened her eyes and found herself looking into the face of another new arrival looking at her from the seat next to her.
“What are you, a doctor?”
“Uh, yes I am. I heard you talking to yourself and then...”
“She likes to talk to herself.”
Meg turned and glared again across the way. The reading glasses were now off, and he was folding the paper in his lap.
“She’s under some stress. She’s had a fight with her husband.”
“He’s a jerk,” the other passenger chirped. “You know...screwing around.”
“We think he’s already left her,” the newspaper cut in.
“Excuse me, I am a lawyer and couldn’t help but overhear the discussion.” Meg turned and gaped dumbfounded at the man half-standing on the seat behind her. “Here is my business card. The fact that your husband has had multiple affairs...”
The conductor pushed open the door and stepped into the car. “Kingston, next stop! Kingston!”
“Thanks,” she said to him, hurriedly coming to her feet. “Not a moment too soon.”
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