Waiting for Love

by Marie Force

  Linda shook with laughter. “It sounds hilarious, even though I suspect it wasn’t all that funny to you.”

  “It was excruciating, but your daughter was amazing. She really smoothed things over with Joe, and I think he took it better than he would have without her help.”

  “That’s very nice to hear about Janey, but Joe wants you to be happy, Caro. You know that.”

  “I do know, but…”

  “But what?”

  Carolina met her gaze, seeming tortured and uncertain. “Seamus wants to get married.”

  “Oh wow! How exciting!” As Linda said the words, she realized Carolina didn’t seem excited. “Isn’t it?”

  “It’s so complicated.”

  “What’s complicated? Does he love you?”

  “Apparently.”

  “And you love him?”

  “It seems so.”

  “Then what’s the problem?”

  “Do I really have to spell it out for you? He’s almost twenty years younger than me, for one thing. For another, he says he doesn’t care about having children and a family of his own, but what if someday he regrets that? And what will people say?”

  “If I have to guess, I’d bet a lot of the women will be jealous and the men will be looking at you with all-new interest.”

  “Ugh, that’s gross! I don’t want their interest.”

  “Carolina,” Linda said with a laugh, reaching across the table for her friend’s hands, “do you love him? Do you want to be with him?”

  “Yes,” she said on a moan. “I want him, I love him, I was miserable without him.”

  “Then what’s the problem?”

  “Just because I love him and love being with him doesn’t mean I have to marry him, does it?”

  “It seems rather important to him.”

  Carolina sagged into her seat. “He’s very old-fashioned sometimes.”

  “Probably the way he was raised.”

  Caro let go of Linda’s hands and flipped a spoon between her fingers. “Speaking of how he was raised… You know what I spend an inordinate amount of time thinking about?”

  “What’s that?”

  “His mother.”

  “His mother?” Linda said with a laugh. “What about her?”

  “I’m thinking about it from her point of view. How would we feel if our sons told us they wanted to marry a fifty-six-year-old woman? How would we feel if our sons were in love with a woman who could never give them children or a family? I can’t help but put myself in her shoes and hate me on her behalf.”

  Linda thought about that for a moment and had to admit Caro made a good point. It would be upsetting to learn that one of her sons would never be a father, but nearly losing three of her four boys gave her a different perspective than she would’ve had before. “After what happened last week, it’s safe to say that all I care about is my boys are healthy and happy and loved. That’s all that matters in this life, Caro. What else is there?”

  “Children. There are children, and he’d be such a wonderful father.”

  “Yes, he would, and if that’s meant to be, then somehow he’ll be a father.”

  Carolina recoiled in horror. “There’s no way I’m having a baby at this age!”

  “Relax,” Linda said laughing. “As you well know, there are plenty of other ways to become parents.”

  “So you don’t think it would be a big fat Gansett Island scandal if Carolina Cantrell the cougar married sexy, young Seamus O’Grady, the dashing Irishman?”

  “It’ll be a huge scandal for a week, maybe two, and then people will get over it and go on with their lives. Look at Tiffany. Her store was all people were talking about until the town council meeting when Blaine basically told them to get a life. Now the store is accepted, it’s busy, and some of the same people who spoke out against the store have been seen patronizing it. Scandals come and go. Love is forever.”

  “I hate when you make sense. It drives me crazy.”

  “My children would completely agree with you.”

  Moaning, Carolina dropped her head into her hands. “I can’t believe I’m even considering this madness. Marrying a thirty-nine-year-old! I’d be securing my place in hell, that’s for sure.”

  “As Mac and I like to say, we’ll be in good company down there.”

  That drew a reluctant laugh from Carolina.

  “And I’ll tell you something else, I won’t stand for anyone speaking poorly of you around me. You’ve spent thirty years completely alone. No one deserves to be happy more than you do.”

  Caro blinked back tears. “Thank you, Lin. I was never completely alone with Joe and you and Mac and your brood to prop me up.”

  “If you love this man, we’ll love him, too. I promise.”

  The man in question came through the door to the diner and lit up with pleasure when he saw Carolina sitting with Linda.

  “Oh God,” Carolina muttered, making Linda laugh again. Glancing up at Seamus, Carolina said, “What’re you doing here?”

  “Looking for you, love.”

  Linda didn’t think she was capable of swooning, but the heated look the sexy Irishman gave her friend was positively swoon-worthy.

  He nodded to her. “Mrs. McCarthy. Nice to see you again.”

  “Since you and my friend are apparently an item, you should probably call me Linda to keep me from feeling too ancient.”

  The comment was met with a scowl from Carolina and a wide grin from Seamus, who slid into the booth next to Carolina, forcing her to move over to let him in. Carolina’s face was bright red, and she radiated discomfort, whereas Seamus seemed relaxed and at ease with taking their relationship public.

  “So she’s been talking about me, aye?”

  “That she has.”

  He leaned forward, green eyes twinkling. “What’d she say? Anything good?”

  Linda couldn’t help but laugh, even though she knew Carolina wouldn’t appreciate it. “I’ll never tell.”

  “Darn.” He slipped an arm around Caro, oblivious to the attention they were attracting from nearby tables, kissed the top of her head and drew her in close to him. “I missed you last night.” To Linda, he said, “Had to spend the night on the mainland because of a meeting this morning. I couldn’t talk her into coming with me.”

  Caro nudged his ribs with her elbow.

  “What? Did I or did I not try to convince you to come with me so we wouldn’t have to sleep apart?”

  “And that is my cue to leave,” Linda said, putting a twenty on the table as she stood.

  “You don’t have to go,” Carolina said desperately as it seemed to dawn on her that without Linda there to block the prying eyes of the other diners, the word would be all over town about her and Seamus before the hour was up.

  “I have to get to the grocery store. Adam is home, and the family is coming for dinner. Got to run, but you think about what I said, do you hear me?”

  Carolina grumbled something in reply that Linda couldn’t make out.

  “You know,” Linda said, as a deliciously evil idea came to her. “You two should join us for dinner tonight. Joe and Janey will be there, along with the rest of the family.”

  As Carolina’s eyes went wide with dismay, Seamus said, “We’d love to. What time?”

  “Six thirty,” Linda said, avoiding Carolina’s glare on her way to the door. “See you then!”

  “I hope she didn’t leave on my account,” Seamus said when they were alone.

  “Of course she did. If you’re going to start prattling on about our sleeping arrangements, she’s not going to hang around for that.”

  “Seemed like you might’ve already mentioned our sleeping arrangements before I got here.”

  “That’s not the point! And stop laughing at me. Go sit over there before the whole town is talking about us.”

  “Sit over where?”

  “On the other side of the booth,” Carolina said between gritted teeth. Sometimes she wondered if he
was intentionally obtuse or just trying to aggravate her. She suspected it was far more of the latter than the former.

  “But you’re over here, and I missed you so much last night. I could hardly sleep without you.”

  “I’m sure you slept just fine.”

  He shook his head. “I’m exhausted. In fact, I need you to take me home to your place and put me down for a nap.”

  “It’s two o’clock!”

  “So?”

  Ned Saunders came through the door with his fiancée Francine Chester. They stopped short at the sight of Seamus sitting close to Carolina with his arm around her. Ned and Francine waved to them and slid into another booth, leaning in to whisper to each other.

  Carolina burned with embarrassment, knowing they were talking about her and Seamus. “Can we please leave?”

  “Are you ashamed to be seen with me, Caro?”

  He seemed so wounded that Carolina instantly regretted her reaction to Ned and Francine seeing them together. “No.”

  “Really? Sort of seems that you are.”

  “It’s not that.”

  “Then what is it?”

  “Let’s go. We’ll talk about it at home.”

  Reluctantly, Seamus slid out of the booth and held out a hand to help her.

  Carolina let him guide her from the booth and then dropped his hand. As she paid the check and exchanged a few words with Rebecca, who owned the diner, she felt the eyes of Seamus and the other patrons on her. The minute they walked out the door, the news about them would spread through the island like an out-of-control wildfire.

  Her stomach began to ache when she imagined Joe hearing the gossip and how he might react to it.

  When they were outside, Seamus followed her to her car.

  Carolina turned to him and looked up to find him studying her intently. “What?”

  “I could ask you the same thing.”

  “I, um, are you coming over?”

  “Do you want me to?”

  “You know I do.”

  He smiled, but it didn’t reach his eyes, and he seemed more sad than amused. She hated herself for doing that to him.

  “Aren’t you working today?”

  “I’m off until tomorrow morning.”

  Her entire body tingled at the idea of having him to herself for that many hours. “Oh.”

  “Is that a good ‘oh’ or a bad ‘oh’?”

  “Good,” she said, suddenly aching for him as his grin stretched across his handsome face. He was so very, very gorgeous and so incredibly sexy and apparently all hers. That part she still couldn’t believe. “Very good.”

  “Go. I’ll be right behind you.”

  Carolina wasn’t sure how exactly she managed to drive home, knowing he was following her, knowing what would happen as soon as they reached her house. Even though she’d once been married—happily married—it all felt new to her because it had been so long since she’d been involved with anyone. And she’d never been with such an intensely focused man.

  Her heart beat erratically as she went into the house and went through the motions of putting a kettle on to boil. Tea, she thought, would calm her. But then his hands were on her hips, drawing her back against him, and all thoughts of tea and calm were forgotten. His lips were soft and smooth against her neck as he pressed his erection into the cleft of her bottom.

  “I missed you so much last night. I can’t stand being away from you.”

  They’d spent seven straight nights together, and Carolina had thought one night apart would be good for them. “I hated it, too.”

  Her words seemed to do something to him, and his hands moved over her with an urgency that reminded her of the first night they’d spent together last fall.

  Feeling shameless and needy, Carolina bit back a moan. How did he do this to her with just a few well-placed caresses? How did he make her forget entirely about her concerns and reservations? When he touched her this way, there was no room for thoughts of anything other than more of him. Part of her suspected he knew she was powerless to resist him and used it to his advantage.

  From behind her, he unbuttoned her jeans and pushed them and her panties down to right above her knees.

  “Seamus, wait! Someone could walk in—”

  “We’ll hear them.” His breath was hot against her ear as he slid his erection between her cheeks, arousing and stirring her. When had he freed himself? How did he do this to her every time?

  Reaching around her, he shut off the stove and then turned them around. He shocked the hell out of her when he bent her over the kitchen table.

  Carolina knew she should put a stop to this, but then his hands were under her top, squeezing her nipples, and it was all she could do to breathe as he entered her from behind.

  “Ah, Christ,” he muttered. “If there’s anything better than this, I haven’t found it yet.”

  Since she completely agreed, Carolina had no choice but to hold on to the table and go along for the ride, helpless to resist him as always.

  “Mmm,” he said against her ear, sending goose bumps down her spine. “So hot, so wet, so tight.”

  He loved to tell her exactly what he was feeling when they made love, which was at times embarrassing and at other times hugely arousing.

  “You like hearing that, huh?”

  “How can you tell?”

  “You just got even wetter.”

  Carolina wanted to die on the spot. She was so far out of her league with this man who wasn’t afraid to lay it all on the line, to say what he thought and how he felt. Nothing had prepared her for him or the way he made her feel by taking her hard and fast on the kitchen table in the middle of the day.

  His fingers kneaded her bottom as he drove into her, making her cry out from the impact and the overwhelming sensations he drew from her body every time they were together.

  “Yes, love, tell me you love it as much as I do.” He flexed his hips. “Tell me.”

  “Yes, yes, I love it.”

  He reached around to stroke the hard bundle of nerves that throbbed for him as he continued to pump into her. “Tell me you love me.”

  “I love you, Seamus. I love you.” The words were no sooner out of her mouth then she was coming hard and crying out from the sheer joy of being loved by him.

  “I love you, too,” he said, as he pushed into her one last time and let go with a cry of completion. After a long pause, he added, “More than anything.” He rested on top of her, breathing hard and pulsing with aftershocks. Keeping his arms around her, he was careful not to rest too heavily upon her.

  “I’m sorry,” she whispered.

  “For what, love?”

  “For making you feel like I was ashamed to be seen with you in town. I’m not ashamed. It’s… It’s all so new. I need some time to get used to it.”

  He withdrew from her and helped her to stand, steadying her when her legs wobbled under her. “You take all the time you need. I’m not going anywhere.”

  “Promise?”

  With his arms around her, he touched his lips to her forehead. “Ah, love, where would I go when everything I want is right here?”

  Carolina relaxed against him and closed her eyes, filled with the certainty that while others might not understand what she was doing with him, she could no longer picture a life without him.

  Now if she could just get through dinner with the McCarthys, she’d be well on her way to starting that five-alarm Gansett scandal that Linda predicted. May as well get it over with, because she had no plans to let him go.

  Chapter 4

  Adam stashed his stuff in his old room and then left the house to walk down the hill to the marina in search of his dad and Mac. The first one he saw, though, was Luke Harris, co-owner of the marina and a longtime friend.

  “Look at what the cat drug in from the big city,” Luke joked as he hugged Adam. “Good to see you, man.”

  “You, too. How’s everything going around here?” The marina seemed completely f
ull and hopping with people, dogs, bikes, scooters and other forms of chaos occurring on and around the main pier. Adam was relieved to see business as usual.

  “Not bad. How about you?”

  “I’ll be better when I see the boys. How do they seem to you?”

  “Mac acts like nothing happened. From what I hear, Evan is working around the clock to get the music studio open. Your dad is a bit more sentimental than usual.”

  “More sentimental?”

  Luke laughed at that. “You heard me right. He was profoundly affected by what happened.” Luke sighed and shook his head. “It was a very long day for all of us, but somehow it was worse for him because he couldn’t go out and look for them. The fog was so thick…”

  “He must’ve been beside himself.” Adam ached for his sweet dad, who would’ve been tortured by having to wait hours for word about his boys.

  “That’s putting it mildly. I had to get between him and the Chris Craft a couple of times that day.” Luke referred to the classic boat he’d restored for Big Mac years ago. “He’s been pissed at me ever since.”

  “I know it’s hard, but try not to take it personally.”

  “I’m trying.”

  The way he said the two words told Adam a lot about how difficult it had been for Luke, who viewed Big Mac as the father he’d never had. “How’s Syd?”

  Luke’s entire demeanor softened. “She’s great.”

  Adam gave him a nudge as they walked toward the restaurant. “Marriage seems to agree with you, old man.”

  “I rather like it.”

  Adam stopped abruptly and turned to Luke. “You didn’t mention anything about Grant.”

  Luke glanced down at the parking lot. “He’s not doing too well. Something’s not right, but he’s all locked up. We’ve all tried to get through to him, but he’s not talking.”

  “I saw him earlier, and I have to agree.”

  “Maybe having you around will get him talking. You two have always been close.”

  “When we were younger, but not as much now,” Adam said, filled with regret to realize it was true. He’d been so focused on his work that he’d let a lot of important relationships slide while he focused on others that turned out to be less important than he’d thought.