by Debbie Mason
So yeah, it wasn’t a conversation he wanted to have with his brother. He picked up a wooden tile. “You’re as bad as Lex. Hand me that hammer, will—”
“Where is she? Where is my daughter?”
Griffin turned at the raised, gravelly voice and was surprised to see Ava’s father, Gino DiRossi, wheeling his chair into the ballroom. The old man wore a navy knit hat and padded plaid jacket. His pal Jimmy followed behind. The two men used to work on the boat together. The way Jimmy was twisting his hat in his hands, he’d obviously brought Gino and was second-guessing the decision. Griffin understood why when Ava’s old man wheeled farther into the room. Gino was drunk and…beside himself with fury. “Ava!” the old man bellowed at the top of his lungs.
“You might want to stay out of his way,” Liam murmured before climbing off the scaffolding.
His baby bro was right again. Ava had been the light of her father’s life. It’d been just the two of them for so long that Gino hadn’t been overjoyed to discover there was another man in his daughter’s life. Especially when that man turned out to be a Gallagher. He’d been even less happy when Ava got pregnant at eighteen and they got married. Griffin would have married her even if she hadn’t been pregnant. Gino had softened a bit when they lost the baby six months later. Griffin believed it was because the old man finally realized how much Griffin loved his daughter.
Sophie rushed into the ballroom. Either she heard Gino or someone had alerted her to the situation. “Uncle Gino,” she said as she reached his side. Gino squinted at her, and she added, “It’s me, Sophie. Tina and Giovanni’s daughter. Why don’t we go to my office, and I’ll—”
Stabbing a finger at her, Gino snarled, “I know who you are. You’re just like the rest of the Gallaghers. Trying to steal my daughter away from me. I’ll not have it, you hear. I’ll not have it!”
Liam, who had quickly crossed the room to his wife’s side, drew her away from Gino. “Calm down, Mr. DiRossi. No one’s trying to take Ava from you. Sophie will go get her now.” Liam turned to his wife. “Soph.” She glanced at her uncle, nodded, and then hurried off.
Everyone in the ballroom pretended to be working, but no one was talking, no one was hammering. They were waiting to see what would happen next. Griffin’s gut twisted at the thought of how Ava would feel if there was a scene. He didn’t want to draw Gino’s attention to him—he was pretty sure it would make matters worse—but he wanted his brother to take the old man somewhere private. “Liam,” he called out, lifting his chin at the entrance.
His brother nodded. “Why don’t we get a drink at the bar while we wait for Ava, Mr. DiRossi?”
Gino’s lip curled, his bloodshot eyes narrowed at Griffin. “You didn’t think I saw you? Didn’t know that you were in town causing trouble for my girl again?” He started to wheel the chair toward him.
Jimmy grabbed the push handles, turning the chair toward the entrance. “You don’t want to do this, Gino. Come on. Let’s go have a—”
Gino shoved Jimmy’s hands away and spun the chair around. The old man had obviously retained his upper-body strength. He’d been a strong man back in the day, short and barrel-chested with powerful hands the size of baseball mitts.
“I’m not here to cause trouble for anyone, Mr. DiRossi. I’m just helping out my family. I’ll be gone in a couple days. Why don’t you go with Jimmy and Liam—”
“I don’t believe a word out of your mouth, Gallagher. You ruined Ava’s life once. I won’t let you ruin it again.”
Griffin clenched his jaw to keep from laying into the old man. If anyone had ruined Ava’s life, it was Gino. Every phone call home before his mother and sister died, his mother would find some way to mention Ava. His mother had almost been as heartbroken as Griffin when their marriage ended. She’d loved Ava like a daughter and was worried about her. She never admitted it to him, but her knowledge of Ava’s life was too intimate to have come from town gossip. He’d always suspected they remained close after the divorce. His fingers tightened around the hammer he picked up, and he turned away before he said something he’d regret.
“I’m talking to you. Don’t turn your back on me!” Gino shouted.
“Papa, what are you doing here? Is something wrong?” Ava rushed to her father’s side, her face flushed with what Griffin imagined was embarrassment. He prayed Gino would let it go now that she was here.
A dark look came over the old man’s face, and Griffin slowly lowered the hammer. There was something in Gino’s eyes that Griffin recognized from a time when he’d drowned himself in the bottle—an uncontrollable rage.
“She told me, she told me what’s going on, and I won’t have it, do you hear? Do you hear me, Ava Marie DiRossi? I won’t have it!” His meaty fingers closed around Ava’s bruised forearm.
At her pained cry, Griffin moved, the anger pulsing through him and taking on a life of its own.
Gino shook her arm, oblivious to her anguish. “You’re leaving with me—”
Whatever he meant to say was lost in a muffled groan when Griffin grabbed his upper arm with one hand, releasing Gino’s grip on Ava with the other. Once he got her arm free, Griffin gently pushed up the sleeve of her sweater. “Look, look what you’ve done to her, old man.”
People gasped, and Ava tried to pull her arm away, pleading, “No, Griffin, no. Please…please don’t do this.”
He released her arm, but he couldn’t, wouldn’t let it go. Everything made sense to him now. The reason why she wouldn’t tell anyone about her arm, the reason for the dark circles under her eyes, and her too-slim, fragile frame.
Sophie and Liam drew Ava away. “Griff, come on—”
Griffin ignored his brother and held the old man’s gaze, closing his hands over Gino’s on the armrests. “You did that to her, old man. Her own father, a man who’s supposed to protect her. It’s not enough that you’re working her to the bone; you’re abusing her too.” There were gasps, a cry from Ava, a flush working its way up Gino’s thick neck to his face. Consumed with fury, Griffin barely registered any of it. “I don’t care if you’re in a chair, you lay one finger on her again, and I’ll—”
“All right, that’s enough.” His brother pulled him away.
His anger still out of control, Griffin whirled on Liam. A firm, heavy hand landed on his shoulder. “Calm down, son. Think of Ava,” his father said quietly.
He hadn’t seen his father come in. Griffin drew in a deep breath and nodded. His father and brother let him go. Gino sat slumped in his chair, his face pale. Griffin couldn’t work up any sympathy for the old man, not after what he’d seen. He didn’t regret what he’d said or done, but as he calmed down, he realized he hadn’t protected Ava from embarrassment; he’d made it worse. His grandmother, Sophie, and Dana were with her, talking in low, comforting voices.
An older woman in a winter white coat walked toward them, a stricken look on her face. “I’m so sorry, lovey,” she said when she reached Ava. “It’s my fault. I shouldn’t have mentioned that Sophie wants you to manage the restaurant.”
Jimmy held Griffin’s gaze as he reached for the push handles. “I didn’t know,” he said, and then wheeled Gino away. Griffin’s father followed them from the ballroom.
“Neither did I,” his brother said, looking to where Ava stood a few yards away. “None of us did. We would have stepped in if we had.” Liam glanced at him. “You went too far, Griff.”
“Yeah? What would you have done if it was Sophie?”
Ava’s arm ached, and her heart hurt for her father. Her eyes filled as she watched Jimmy wheel him away. She wished Dorothy hadn’t told him about Sophie’s offer. But she understood why she did. Just as she understood why Griffin had done and said what he did. Though she wished with all her heart that he hadn’t. He’d humiliated her father…and her. Soon everyone in town would know.
“If you don’t mind, Sophie, I need to leave early. I need to go home.”
Her cousin gently rubbed Ava’s shoulder. “Mayb
e it would be best if you stayed with me and Liam for a while. Just until—”
“I know what it looks like, but it was an accident. My father—” Out of the corner of her eye, Ava saw Griffin walking toward her. She didn’t want to talk to him. Not here, not now. “I need to get my things. Dorothy, would you mind driving me home?”
“Of course not, lovey. I’ll wait for you here.”
She heard Dorothy reassuring Kitty, Sophie, and Dana that she would stay with Ava tonight. She cringed at what they must think of her, of her father. She wanted to turn and tell them to stop talking about them. Her father wasn’t a monster, and she wasn’t a victim. She didn’t want their sympathy, their pity. Instead she hurried from the ballroom, pretending that she didn’t hear Griffin calling her name. She quickly gathered up her belongings from the staff break room.
The way her day had started, she should have known it was bound to get worse. The thought reminded her of her futile attempt to light Colleen’s memoirs on fire. She glanced toward the ballroom, heard what she thought was Griffin’s voice, and decided that she had to try again before she left. She couldn’t bear the thought of him finding the book, especially after today. His temper was one of the reasons she hadn’t told him about Damien. She was afraid Griffin would kill his childhood best friend and spend the rest of his life in prison. What she’d just witnessed in the ballroom seemed to justify her long-ago fears.
As the elevator rattled its way to the tower, Ava placed her bag on the floor and leaned against the rail. She took off her shoes and put on her boots, shrugging into her coat. At least she’d be ready to leave as soon as she’d taken care of the book. As close as it was to the supper hour, she hoped the ballroom would have cleared out when she returned. She knew Griffin well enough to know he wouldn’t leave until he’d spoken to her. Somehow she’d figure out a way to get Dorothy’s attention without alerting him to her presence.
The elevator jerked to a stop on the fourth floor. She peeked around the door as it slid open. No one was around. She drew her passkey from her pocket, as well as several of Julia’s book club flyers from her bag, and then opened the door. Setting her bag on the bed, she rolled the flyers tight. At least this time she’d come prepared.
Ava rounded the bed and started toward the fireplace. She froze midstep. The candelabra had been moved, and there was a large footprint outlined in soot. Her pulse quickened, and her muscles unlocked. She ran to the fireplace, going down on her knees. Taking her lighter from her pocket, she put her head inside. There was no longer a gap between the two bricks. They sat perfectly flush inside the chimney.
The book was gone.
Chapter Six
Looked like his reprieve had ended, Griffin thought as Liam crossed the empty ballroom with a grim expression on his face. Griffin hadn’t been fit company for anyone and had stayed to finish up the walls instead of joining his family in the dining room. He figured Liam was ticked because Griffin had yet to apologize to Ava. He’d planned to, but somehow she’d managed to leave Greystone without him seeing her.
“Don’t bother giving me grief. I’ll call her in an hour. Gino should be passed out by—”
“Sophie just got off the phone with Rosa. They can’t find Gino. Jimmy says he dropped him off at his place. He wasn’t there when Ava got home.”
“What’s the big deal? He probably went to the Salty Dog. It’s just around the corner.” In Gino’s place, it’s something Griffin would have done. At least back when he’d used the bottle to deal with his own crap.
“You don’t get it. Gino rarely leaves the house. They’ve already called the bars in town. I’m heading out to look for him. I thought you’d want to come along.”
“Why? Because it’s my fault he’s missing? That’s what you think, right?” Griffin came down off the scaffolding. There was no question he’d help look for the old man. Guilt didn’t play into it though. Someone had to call out Gino, stand up for Ava. She was the reason he’d help look for her father.
“You accused him of abusing his daughter in front of everyone, Griff. A man like Gino…the man he used to be, that’s not going to be something he can live down. Not in this town.”
“So, what, I was supposed to keep my mouth shut? You saw her arm.”
“She told Sophie it was an accident.”
“Yeah, right,” he said, heading for his room. “I’ll meet you in the parking lot.”
Ten minutes later, Griffin’s face was pelted with snow and sleet as he walked to his brother’s idling Jeep. The wind whistled through the trees, the iced branches clattering as the storm that had been threatening since late afternoon hit Harmony Harbor full force.
Sophie sat in the passenger side of the Jeep.
“Hey, Soph,” Griffin said as he got in the back. He frowned at her muffled “Hi.” It sounded like she’d been crying. “What’s—”
His brother stroked Sophie’s long, dark hair, meeting Griffin’s gaze in the rearview mirror as he pulled out of the parking lot. “Jimmy and his buddies went looking for Gino. They found his wheelchair on the dock. Jimmy’s boat is missing.”
Griffin swore under his breath, fighting the urge to put his fist through the window. Of all the stupid…His inner rant at Gino broke off at the thought that, if something happened to the old man, Ava would never forgive Griffin. The muscles in his chest constricted, making it difficult to breathe. It hit him then that what he’d been feeling for Ava was a lot more than just concern. The realization made him as angry as her father taking out a boat in a winter storm. He beat back the raw emotion to focus on what needed to be done and dug his phone from his pocket, scrolling through his contacts until he found the name he was looking for—Joe Sullivan.
Griffin and his old friend had planned to grab a beer when he was in town. Sully was with the Coast Guard and coordinated search-and-rescue operations. “Hey, man. It’s Griffin.”
“Thought I might be hearing from you. Hang on.” Griffin heard the buffeting of the wind in the background and Sully shouting orders before coming back on the line. “Hell of a night down here, buddy. I’ve got three men down with the flu, and a distress signal came in five minutes before we got word about Gino. We’ve got a boat taking on water north of the Cape. Cutter is heading out now with most of my senior crew.”
“Any word on Gino?”
“Yeah, and it’s not good. You heading to the South Shore docks?”
The sea-foam-green and sky-blue Colonials along Main Street whizzed by the window. “Yeah, we’ll be there in under ten.”
“Okay, if you weren’t who you are, and I wasn’t in a bind, I wouldn’t ask. But I could use you out there tonight, Griff. I need a rescue swimmer. My guys have gone up with the chopper.”
“You don’t have to ask. I planned on going out with you anyway.”
“Kinda thought you might. Listen, Jimmy told me what went down at the manor. Think you better talk to him so you know what you’re up against. Jimmy,” Sully called out, then added, “Cutter should be here in ten. See you when you get here.”
The Coast Guard station was located west of Starlight Pointe.
“Griffin, it’s Jimmy. Gino, he was in bad way after we left the manor. I shouldn’t have left him on his own. He was off his head, talking stupid. He talked about it before, after the accident, you know? But I never thought…I gave it to him good after hearing what he did to Ava. Shouldn’t have. Should have kept my mouth shut.”
“Spit it out, Jimmy.”
“He said he was gonna end it. That Ava was better off without him.”
As Jimmy confirmed his worst fear, Griffin released a vicious curse. Liam glanced at him. “Griff?”
He held up a finger. “Where would he go, Jimmy?”
“I don’t rightly know. Me and the boys have been racking our brains. Still can’t believe he managed to take out the boat all on his own.”
“Focus, Jimmy. There has to be a place that means something to him.”
“Lots of places he
liked to fish, but a night like this, doing what he planned to…Jumping Jesus, I know. I know where he’d go. Should have figured it out before now. Didn’t think of it until you said—”
“Jimmy,” Griffin said, frustration leaking into his voice.
“Okay, okay, there’s a little spit of land near Twilight Bay. He spread his wife Maria’s ashes there. Said it was their special place.”
“Let Joe know.” Griffin disconnected, his fingers tightening around the phone.
“What’s going on, Griff? Why are you—”
He met his brother’s eyes, lifted his chin at Sophie, and shook his head. She twisted in the seat to look at him. “I want to know what you know. For Ava’s sake, I have to be prepared. Please, Griffin.”
By the time Liam pulled alongside the road just down from the docks, Griffin had repeated his conversation with both Jimmy and Sully. “I’m going with you,” Liam said.
Once again the muscles in Griffin’s chest banded tight. Given that his brother fought fires for a living, the reaction was over the top, but Griffin couldn’t help himself. Liam was his baby brother, after all. Nothing was going to happen to him on Griffin’s watch.
He hadn’t been able to protect his mother and sister; he’d damn well protect his baby brother. “No. It’s going to be rough out there tonight, Liam. I can’t be worrying—”
“Griffin’s right. You’re not…”