Waiting for Love

by Marie Force

  She’d come back to the island determined to move forward with her life, and that was what she was going to do. The interlude with Adam was never meant to be more than just that—an interlude. If she was determined to learn from her past mistakes, she needed to keep in mind that there was a world of difference between a pleasurable fling and a bona fide relationship.

  “We’ll strike Adam from the list for now since he seems to be otherwise occupied,” Laura said. “Tiffany and I have our assignments. The rest of you keep your eyes open for other possibilities.”

  “What about David?” Janey said of her ex-fiancé.

  “I hear he might be seeing someone, too,” Maddie said with a mysterious smile.

  “Who?” Janey asked.

  “My friend Daisy from the hotel.”

  “That’s an odd pairing,” Tiffany said.

  “Why?” Maddie asked, instantly on the defensive. “Because he’s a doctor and she’s a hotel maid?”

  “I wasn’t even thinking of their professions,” Tiffany said.

  “How did you find out they were seeing each other?” Grace asked.

  “Daisy is babysitting for us tonight,” Maddie said. “She asked if it was okay to have a friend over after the kids go to bed. I told her she’s not fifteen. Of course it’s fine. Then I had to know who…”

  “Naturally,” Tiffany said with a grin for her sister.

  “She told me she and David have gotten to know each other since the latest episode with her nasty ex-boyfriend. Apparently, they came here for dinner last night, so they’ve gone public.”

  “I really like the idea of them together,” Janey said. “She’s so sweet and kind. He needs someone like that.”

  “I just hope…” Maddie shook her head, seeming to think twice about what she’d planned to say.

  “What do you hope?” Janey asked.

  “That he doesn’t do to her what he did to you,” Maddie said softly. “I don’t think she’s as strong as you are.”

  “I can’t say for sure,” Janey said, “but if I had to guess, I’d bet he’s learned his lesson about fidelity. He’s not a bad guy. He made a mistake.” She shrugged. “Who among us hasn’t?”

  “You’re awfully forgiving,” Tiffany said.

  “What’s the point of holding a grudge? I’m happy with Joe, and what happened with David is ancient history. Besides, if David hadn’t done what he did, I never would’ve ended up with Joe, and that would’ve been truly tragic.”

  “You won’t hear me say a bad word about him after he saved my daughter’s life,” Maddie said. “Mac and I are eternally grateful to him.”

  “We all are,” Janey said.

  “So first there was a Mac and Maddie, then a Joe and Janey and now a David and Daisy,” Tiffany said. “How cute are we?”

  Very cute, Abby thought, not mentioning the possibility of an Adam and Abby.

  “So I have some news,” Grace said with a big smile.

  All eyes turned to her.

  She placed her left hand on the table to show off an engagement ring. The table erupted into squeals and congratulations and calls for champagne as they demanded Grace tell them the whole story about the engagement. When everyone had been served a flute of bubbly, Janey raised her water glass in Grace’s direction. “Welcome to the McCarthy family, Grace. We’re so very happy to have you.”

  “Thank you. We’re very excited, but I don’t think Evan has told your parents yet, so try to keep a lid on the news until he gets a chance to tell them.

  “He’d better hurry up,” Janey said. “Voodoo Mama will be picking up a signal.”

  Maddie let out a snort of laughter that set off the others.

  Abby happened to glance at Laura as she pushed away her glass of champagne and closed her eyes. “Is Laura okay?” Abby whispered to Janey.

  “Laura?” Janey said. “What’s wrong?”

  Laura opened her eyes to meet her cousin’s gaze. “Just a little nauseated. Sorry.”

  “Are you still feeling the effects of the stomach bug?” Grace asked. “It’s been more than a week. You should be feeling better by now.”

  “Turns out,” Laura said with a sheepish grin, “it wasn’t the stomach bug after all, but rather a case of twins.”

  “Oh my God!” Tiffany said. “You’re having twins?”

  “Apparently.”

  The news was greeted with more happy noise from the others.

  “It’s a good thing we know the owner of this place,” Sydney said. “Otherwise, we’d be so kicked out of here.”

  “No kidding,” Maddie said.

  “Is it my turn to share a bit of news?” Janey asked.

  “The floor is all yours,” Sydney said.

  “Joe and I have made a decision…”

  “Which is?” Maddie asked.

  “We’re staying here this year after the baby is born.”

  “Oh, wow,” Maddie asked. “That’s big news indeed! What about vet school?”

  “I’m taking this year off to be a mom, and then we’ll see.”

  “Was this your idea or his?” Tiffany asked.

  “Mine. He took some convincing. He wants me to finish school.”

  “I want that for you, too,” Maddie said, “but if I’m being entirely selfish, I’m thrilled you’ll be here this year.”

  “So am I. The closer I come to delivering, the more anxious I was getting about balancing school and motherhood. When I finally told Joe how conflicted I was feeling, he said we’ll take a year off from Ohio if that’s what I want.”

  “Aww,” Grace said. “He’s so sweet.”

  “He really is, especially after he’s gone to such lengths to make it possible for us to live in Ohio during the school year. So we’ll be looking for a bigger place on the island ASAP since we don’t have room for the baby at my house.”

  “Talk to Ned,” Maddie said. “He’s got the inside line on real estate around here.”

  “Joe was going to check with him about it at poker night.”

  “What’ll you do with your place?” Abby asked.

  “Rent it, I suppose.”

  “Sold,” Abby said.

  Janey’s eyes lit up. “Really?”

  “Yep. I need a place, and yours is absolutely perfect.”

  “Yay,” Janey said, clapping her hands. “I love it when everything falls into place.”

  “My turn?” Sydney asked.

  “I was wondering if you were going to spill your beans,” Maddie said with a warm, encouraging smile for her friend.

  “Blame the champagne,” Syd said. “It’s loosening our lips.”

  “Tell them,” Maddie said. “It’s very exciting news.”

  Sydney took a deep breath. “I wasn’t going to say anything because it’s such a long shot, but Luke and I are going to the mainland next week so I can have surgery to reverse the tubal ligation I had after my daughter was born.”

  “Oh, Syd,” Jenny said. “That’s wonderful.”

  “It’s no guarantee that I’ll be able to conceive again. I’m trying to keep my expectations realistic, but I’m a tiny bit excited to be taking the first step, except for the part about having surgery.”

  “We’re excited for you,” Grace said, reaching across the table to rest her hand on top of Syd’s. “We all know what a big step it is for you.”

  The others nodded in agreement. Abby recalled hearing about the terrible accident that had taken the lives of Syd’s husband and young children and admired her courage in trying to have another baby with her new husband.

  “It seems we all have much to celebrate,” Maddie said. “I propose a toast to good friends, good times and new beginnings.”

  Abby was more than happy to drink to that.

  Two hours later, the women were finishing their fourth bottle of champagne and the wide variety of appetizers they’d decided to share when the guys came ambling into the restaurant.

  “Oh my God!” Maddie said when she caught sight o
f her husband and the other men. “They do this every time!”

  “They crash girls’ night out,” Janey said to Abby. “Every, single time. We can almost set our watches by them.”

  Abby smiled at Janey’s obvious pleasure in her husband’s arrival, but all she could see was Adam, grinning as he came toward her with Mac, Evan, Joe, Owen, Blaine and Luke in tow.

  “What happened to poker night?” Maddie asked Mac.

  “No one could beat Ned, so we started getting bored. It was either come here or go find trouble somewhere else. We figured you’d rather we came here.”

  Maddie raised a brow, her expression skeptical. “How long did it take you fools to come up with that story?”

  “On behalf of all the fools, I’m offended,” Mac said, stealing a kiss from his wife.

  Adam leaned in to whisper in Abby’s ear. “Having fun?”

  She loved that his arm was resting on the back of her chair, just shy of touching her. “Lots of fun.” The endless flow of champagne had made her a tad bit giddy. “I think I’ve found my drink.”

  He raised a brow as he took in the empty bottles on the table. “Is that so?”

  “Uh-huh. It’s my favorite so far.”

  “How much have you had?”

  “Just enough,” she said with a wink that made his eyes darken with what might’ve been desire.

  Janey turned to them and gave her brother the death stare. “What did Grant have to say about this?” She waggled her finger between him and Abby.

  “You told my sister?” he asked Abby.

  “They were going to fix you up with Jenny. I couldn’t let that happen.”

  He smiled at her and then turned his attention to Janey. “He, um, he told me not to screw it up the way he did.”

  “And how’s he doing?” Janey asked Abby.

  “So far, so good,” Abby said, her inhibitions lessened by the champagne. “There’s still time for him to mess up, though.”

  “True,” Janey said. “He is a man.”

  “And he’s fully equipped with ears, among other things,” Adam muttered.

  Abby giggled at their sibling banter.

  “If you screw it up, I’ll kill you myself,” Janey said.

  “I stand warned,” Adam said.

  In a matter of minutes, the guys had completely infiltrated their group. With the restaurant emptying of diners, Owen fetched a couple of guitars that he and Evan put to good use.

  Abby couldn’t recall an evening she’d enjoyed more than this one. Throughout the sing-along, Adam kept a warm hand on the inside of her thigh, reminding her of their plans for later. Maybe it was the champagne or perhaps it was the excellent company, but suddenly it didn’t matter that he might be leaving or that she’d allowed herself to get more involved with him than she’d planned to. The only thing that mattered was right now. Tonight.

  The rest would take care of itself. New Abby could handle a fling with a smart, sexy, sensitive man. If only Old Abby weren’t so worried about her heart being broken once again when he left, everything would truly be perfect.

  Grant came awake slowly, disoriented by the dark and the deepest sleep he’d had in more than a week. As it occurred to him that he’d slept without the assistance of sleeping pills, he remembered what’d happened earlier. He’d totally lost it in front of his dad and brothers. Thinking of the scene he’d made and the way they’d come to his rescue brought new tears to his eyes.

  Stephanie’s hand landed on his chest. “You’re awake.”

  “What time is it?”

  “Almost midnight.”

  “Wow.” The last he’d known, it had been around seven when Stephanie suggested he lie down for a while. “Have you been here the whole time?”

  She kissed his shoulder. “Right here.”

  Wrapping his arm around her, he caressed her hair with his lips. “You missed girls’ night out.”

  “There’ll be others.”

  “You were looking forward to it.”

  “This was more important.”

  “I owe you an explanation for why I’ve been behaving so strangely since the accident.”

  “You don’t owe me anything, Grant. If you want to talk to me, you know you always can. If you’re talked out, that’s fine, too.”

  “I should’ve told you before I told everyone else.”

  “There’s no protocol for something like this. You talked about it when you were ready to. I’m glad your dad and your brothers were there for you.”

  “I lost it big-time. I think I scared the hell out of them.”

  “They were more scared when you were silent.”

  “How do you know? Have you all been talking about me?”

  “Maybe a little.” He could hear the smile in her voice as her hand moved in a soothing pattern on his chest and belly. “We’ve been very worried about you. How do you feel now that you’ve let it out?”

  “A little better. It was hard to see Steve’s mom and to hear he was her only child. I wish there was more I could’ve done for him.”

  “Do you realize that everyone considers you a hero for what you did for Dan?”

  “I’m not a hero. Don’t let them say that about me.”

  With her hand on his face, she turned him into her kiss. “Ask Dan if he thinks you’re a hero. You did all you could, Grant. You did more than most people could’ve done. I try to imagine what it must’ve been like… To be separated from Mac and Evan, to not know what’d become of them while you’re trying to keep yourself and Dan afloat in freezing cold water and dense fog for hours. You had to have been terrified and despondent and worried about me and your family and a million other things, yet you took care of Dan and saved his life as well as your own. If that’s not the definition of a hero, I don’t know what is.”

  Touched by her kind words, Grant deeply resented the tears that came despite his desperate desire to make them stop. “I couldn’t help Steve.”

  “I know, but there’s a very good chance that Steve was killed on impact.”

  “We’ll never know that for sure.”

  “No, but you have to find a way to live with what happened. You did the best you could in unimaginable circumstances. No one blames you, not even Steve’s mother. You have to find a way to forgive yourself.”

  “I’m trying.” He used the back of his hand to brush the tears off his face.

  Stephanie shifted onto his chest, pushed his hand away and finished the job, peppering his face and lips with soft, sweet kisses. “I love you, and I’m so proud of what you did out there. I’m choosing to focus on what you were able to do, not what you couldn’t. I wish you’d try to do that, too.”

  “I will. I’ll try.” He tightened his arms around her, drawing strength from her love. “Thanks.”

  “For what, babe?”

  “For staying home with me tonight, for standing by me this last week, for not giving up on me when I would’ve given up on myself.”

  “I’ll never give up on you. I love you too much. Way too much.”

  “Not as much as I love you.”

  “Want to bet?”

  “I’d bet on you any day, baby.”

  “I bet on us. There’s nothing we can’t handle.”

  He would do his best to get past what’d happened. He would try to stop thinking about the awful choice he’d been forced to make. He would focus on what he had rather than what had been lost. As long as he had Stephanie by his side and in his arms, he was confident he’d get there eventually.

  It was after one the next morning when the party at the Surf finally broke up. Fortunately, Abby had traded champagne for water hours ago. Other than a few curious looks, no one had made much of her sitting close to Adam all night, which had been a relief. No one really seemed to care that they were spending time together.

  With his hand on her lower back, he escorted her across the street to the Beachcomber.

  “What’s this about you renting my sister’s place?” he aske
d.

  “She’s decided to take a year off from vet school after the baby comes.”

  “So I heard.”

  “They need a bigger place for the baby. When she said she’d be renting her place, I snapped it up.”

  “I love her house. It’d be perfect for you.”

  Her heart ached at the reminder that she’d be back to living alone, no closer to her one-time goal of being a wife and mother. That was okay, she told herself as they took the stairs to the third floor. She’d make a happy, productive life for herself, and if she fell in love again someday, it would be with someone who wanted her more than he wanted his next breath. Being with her friends tonight, she’d seen that kind of love in action and wanted nothing less than what she’d seen among the other happy couples.

  “What’re you thinking about?” Adam asked as he watched her withdraw her key card from her bra.

  “You ask me that a lot, you know.”

  He leaned forward to kiss her forehead. “It’s because I genuinely want to know what’s going on in there.”

  She smiled at him, amazed once again at how attentive he was. “I was thinking about how happy everyone seems to be. Mac and Maddie, Luke and Syd, Tiffany and Blaine, Evan and Grace, Laura and Owen, Janey and Joe… Engagements and babies… They’ve all found the one they were meant to be with.”

  “I confess to feeling a twinge of envy over that tonight.”

  She opened the door and went in ahead of him. “Really?” she asked, turning to him.

  “They’ve got it all figured out. They know who they’re going to spend forever with. It must be nice to have all the questions answered so definitively.”

  “They’re lucky to have that.”

  He put his arms around her. “I want that,” he said. “I want the answers to the questions.”

  “Despite my statements to the contrary on the ferry the other day, I suppose I do, too.”

  “Have you considered that this, right here, might be the answer for both of us?”

  Abby stared up at him, amazed again.