by Marie Force
Rain continued to fall, harder than earlier, and the windshield wipers beat a steady rhythm.
The one thing that concerned him about staying on the island was whether he had a chance of meeting someone he might potentially marry someday. Women flocked to the island in the summer, for the beaches, the bars and the boys, but most of them were transient. His cousins had found love on Gansett, but that didn’t mean he would. Was he limiting his options by staying indefinitely? Probably, but he wanted to be here for now anyway. He’d probably give it another year and reassess.
Perhaps the reason he’d had such a strong reaction to his father’s news last night was that he’d imagined himself as a young father. Was he jealous of his father? Nah, that’d be stupid. But still… He couldn’t deny his dad’s news had stirred up something in him—something that made him feel unsettled.
As the driveway to Eastward Look appeared on his right, Riley shook off the unsettled feelings to focus on the job that needed to be done. He pulled into the long gravel driveway that led to a large contemporary home perched on the coast.
The front door opened, and a young woman hovered in the doorway, as if she wasn’t sure whether she should come out or stay in.
Riley zipped up the lightweight rain jacket he’d worn to work and got out of the truck, taking the stairs two at a time and landing on the porch in front of the door. “Hey, I’m Riley McCarthy for Mrs. Hopper.”
“She’s not here,” the woman said, tucking a hank of dark hair behind her ear. She was either tanned or Hispanic. He couldn’t tell for sure. Her huge brown eyes dominated a striking face.
“You… You’re Jordan Stokes?” He felt like an idiot for stating the obvious.
She shook her head. “I’m her sister, Nikki.”
“You look just like her.”
“We’re twins.”
He’d never heard that Jordan had a twin. “That’s cool. So, you want me to come in and check the leak?” Was she staring at him, or was that his imagination?
She blinked and seemed to recover her bearing. “Oh, um, sure.”
“Lead the way.” Riley followed her through the house, taking note of the big open rooms, the coastal decorating and the welcoming atmosphere that wasn’t at all the stuffy, pretentious house he’d been expecting. No, this was a place where people could relax and put their feet up on the sofa. He liked it.
Checking out the house gave him something to do besides notice the way Nikki’s shorts fit her excellent ass or how toned and sleek her legs were. He was here to do a job, not ogle Mrs. Hopper’s granddaughter.
They went up to the attic via a staircase from the second floor. He could see whitecaps on the ocean through the dormer windows that looked out on the backyard, where there was an in-ground pool. “How did you discover the leak?”
“A wet spot appeared on the ceiling in my bedroom downstairs.”
Riley made a mental note to make sure that got repaired, too.
“Is it going to be a big deal to fix it?” she asked.
“I’m not sure yet. Do you know when the roof was replaced last?”
Her brows furrowed with worry. “I don’t, but I can ask my grandmother. She’d know.”
“It would help to have that info. You might’ve lost a few shingles in the wind last night, which is an easy fix. But if the roof is old, it’s going to keep happening.”
She crossed her arms in a protective stance that tugged at him. He knew what it was like to fret over every little thing. It was exhausting.
“Try not to worry. I can shore you up for now until we can get up on the roof and see what we’re dealing with.”
“Can you do that today?”
“Probably not. We’ll need ladders and other equipment I didn’t bring with me. I need to get some stuff from my truck, and I’ll get this contained for now. Tomorrow, we’ll come back to do a more in-depth inspection of the roof and see what’s up.”
She bit her lip as she looked up at the wet spot in the plywood ceiling.
“It’s going to be okay,” he said, feeling the need to reassure her.
“I’m not sure how much more we can take,” she said softly, so softly he almost didn’t hear her.
“Excuse me?”
“Jordan… She’s in bad shape. I brought her here because this place has always been home to us, but if the roof caves in…”
“It’s not going to. You have my word on that.”
“And are you a man of your word, Mr. McCarthy?”
As he met her intense gaze, the oddest sensation came over him, making him feel as if his answer to her question was the most important response he’d ever give to anyone. “It’s Riley, and yes, I’d like to think so.”
“That’d be a refreshing change of pace for us.”
She’d been hurt by what happened to her sister. He could see it in the wary way she looked at him and in the protective way she carried herself, as if girding herself for battle.
“How about I talk to my cousin and we try to get those ladders over here today?”
The relief that washed over her features made him feel seven feet tall because he’d done that for her. He’d helped to relieve her burden somewhat. “That’d be amazing,” she said. “Thank you so much.”
“No problem.” Mac would have his head for making a promise like that, but he was going to keep his word to her, no matter what Mac had to say about it.
One of the things that Kevin loved best about living on Gansett was the gatherings the family had for all occasions, big and small. This was a big one. His niece Janey and her husband, Joe, were leaving the island in the morning for Providence, where they would await the arrival of their second child, due in two weeks. They were hoping for a much less dramatic arrival this time around.
Janey had nearly died from a partial abruption of the placenta, which would’ve been fatal had it not been for her ex-fiancé, Dr. David Lawrence. David had saved her life—and her baby son’s life—by performing emergency surgery at a clinic ill-equipped to handle a crisis of that magnitude. David had since taken steps to equip the clinic in case another such emergency presented itself, but no one would rest easy until Janey had safely delivered.
Joe and Janey were taking no chances this time around, thus the two weeks they would spend at Frank’s home in the city, close to the top hospital for women and children in the region. Tonight, the family was gathered at their home to send them off and to wish them well with the delivery.
Madhouse was the word that came to mind when he walked in and encountered the traveling circus known as the McCarthy family. Mac’s son, Thomas, and his niece Ashleigh were the oldest of the kids, and they would start kindergarten after Labor Day. Thomas’s sister, Hailey, and Laura’s son Holden tried to keep up with the older kids. Every one of them was screaming, as were Laura’s twins, Jon and Joey, and Janey’s son, P.J.
Too bad Chelsea had had to work. It might’ve done her good to take in the mayhem unfolding all around him.
Was he out of his mind to be considering wandering back into that fray?
Watching Mac telling Thomas and Ashleigh to quit running in the house and to take the other kids outside to run in the yard, Kevin tried to picture himself chasing after a little one two years from now when he’d be fifty-five and way past the point when he’d thought he’d be wrangling babies.
Not that he didn’t have the energy or stamina. He’d always had plenty of both. The big question was whether he wanted that for himself, and he honestly didn’t know if he did. As he greeted his brothers, his sister-in-law, Linda, Frank’s girlfriend, Betsy, and his nieces, nephews, grandnieces, grandnephews and a litany of friends who were like family, that question hung heavily over him.
Luke and Sydney Harris had brought their baby daughter, Lily, and watching Luke with his little girl had Kevin wondering what it might be like to have a daughter. The closest he’d come to a daughter was watching his nieces Janey and Laura grow up. He’d only met his third niece, Mallory,
recently when she came to find her father, Big Mac, after her mother died, but she already felt like a surrogate daughter to him.
Big Mac came over to him with two beers, one of which he handed to Kevin.
“Thanks.”
“How you doing?” Big Mac asked. “Thought about what you told us last night all day.”
“You got any answers for me?”
“Nah,” Big Mac said with a guffaw. “I ain’t touching that one.”
“Thanks a lot.”
“I know you’re the one everyone turns to for advice, but if you need someone to listen to you for a change, I’m here. I’ll help if I can.”
“I know, and I appreciate it.”
“Hell of a thing,” Big Mac said, watching the family dynamics unfold around them. As usual, the guys had overtaken the kitchen while the women were gathered around the babies in the living room.
“What is?”
“The spot you’re in. Do you give the woman you love what she wants, potentially at the expense of your own happiness, or do you tell her it’s not what you want and lose her in the process?”
“She says I won’t lose her if I decide against having a baby.”
“Hmm.”
“What does that mean?”
“It’s just that if she denies herself something she really wants because it’s not what you want, will she resent you for that someday?”
Kevin sighed. “I don’t know. Maybe. I’m so out of my element on this one, Mac. I don’t know whether I’m coming or going.”
“Can’t say I blame you. It’s a big deal. A lot to consider.”
“I talked to Riley about it last night.”
“And?”
“I think he was too shocked to share his true feelings.”
“You know that in the grand scheme of things, it doesn’t matter what he or Finn thinks, right?”
“And you and I both know that the thought of doing anything that hurts our kids, even if our kids are adults, is unfathomable to us. Besides, the divorce has hurt them enough. I don’t want to pile on.”
“You’ve been a great father to those boys, Kev. They’ve never wanted for anything on your watch. Whatever you do next should be for you. It may surprise or shock them at first, but they’ll get over it. A baby brother or sister is one more person for them to love. It’s not a disease you’re bringing into the family.”
“True.” Kevin rubbed his chest. “I just wish I could separate what I feel for Chelsea from how I feel about becoming a father again at my age.”
“You can’t separate those two things. They’re one and the same.”
“What’re you two boys so serious about over here?” Mac’s wife, Linda, asked when she joined them.
Mac looked to him, raising his brow, letting Kevin know it was up to him whether he wanted to share his dilemma with Linda.
Kevin loved his sister-in-law and had always valued her opinion. He’d like to hear what she had to say about his situation. “Chelsea wants to have a baby.”
“Oh,” Linda said on a long exhale. “Wow.”
“Yeah.”
“Do you want to have a baby?”
“It wasn’t exactly at the top of my to-do list before two days ago.”
“I’m sure it wasn’t.”
“Tell me what you really think, Lin. I feel like an old fool to be even considering this.”
“I love Chelsea. I think she’s been very good for you.”
“I agree.”
“And I don’t think having a baby at fifty-something makes you an old fool. Not if you would give that child everything you gave the boys.”
“I would. Of course I would.” But could he coach Little League and run the athletic boosters and help with scout campouts and supervise fundraisers at sixty-something? Why the hell not? He’d had to do all that while juggling a busy practice, too. If anything, he’d have more time to devote to his third child than he’d had to give to his sons.
“Then that’s what matters. The older I get, the more I realize age is just a number. People assign expectations to certain ages, but no one says we have to live up to those expectations. Look at how happy Carolina is with Seamus,” she said of Joe’s mother, who’d married a man sixteen years her junior. “That girl is happier than I’ve ever seen her. Just think what she would’ve missed if she’d let society dictate what she should do.”
“You make very valid points,” Kevin said, intrigued by Linda’s perspective.
“My wife is a very wise woman,” Mac said, putting his arm around his petite, blonde wife.
She smiled up at him. “Said the man who knows that a happy wife is the secret to a happy life.” To Kevin, she added, “Chelsea may not be your wife, but her happiness matters to you.”
“Yes, it does.”
“On another note,” Linda said tentatively, “I heard from Deb today. She said she’s coming over to see the boys and would like to get together. I have to admit, seeing her isn’t at the top of my to-do list.”
“It’s okay,” Kevin said. “I’m over it. You can see her if you want to.”
“I’ll never understand how she could cheat on you after thirty-one years of marriage,” Linda said, her fierce loyalty making him smile. “If I see her, I’m apt to smack her.”
“Easy, killer,” Big Mac said.
“The way I’ve tried to look at it is that no matter what she did, she’s still Riley and Finn’s mom, and she always will be.”
“That may be true, but that doesn’t mean the rest of us have to welcome her back into the bosom of the family she turned her back on when she decided to have an affair.”
“That’s fair enough,” Kevin said. “You can see her or not see her. Either is fine with me.”
“I really don’t want to.”
“Then tell her you’re busy.”
“I think I will.”
“Speak of your devils,” Big Mac said, nodding to the door that Riley and then Finn came through, obviously fresh from after-work showers.
His heart never failed to swell with love and pride when he saw the handsome men who were his sons. “Hey, guys. Long day?”
“This one got us into a roof thing that mushroomed,” Finn said, gesturing toward his brother with his thumb.
“Just keeping a promise to a woman in need,” Riley said with a wink.
“Who happens to be a stone-cold fox,” Finn said, smiling salaciously.
“Knock it off,” Riley snapped. “Don’t talk about her that way.”
Interesting, Kevin thought. It wasn’t like Riley to be so defensive about a woman.
“Is she or is she not a stone-cold fox?” Finn asked, clearly poking at his brother.
“I’m getting a beer,” Riley said, storming off toward the kitchen.
“Leave your brother alone,” Kevin said to Finn.
“I was testing a hypothesis,” Finn said, his gaze shifting to Riley, now in the kitchen, surrounded by their cousins.
“What hypothesis is that?”
“He was weird about Mrs. Hopper’s granddaughter Nikki. Insisted we get over there today to do a more thorough check on the roof, even though we had other work scheduled for today. I think he likes her, and he just kind of proved my point by flipping out.”
“Aww, poor Riley,” Linda said.
“Poor Riley is going to be spending a lot of time at the Hopper place,” Finn said. “The whole roof needs to be done, and it needs to be done soon. It should’ve been done five years ago. More shingles are missing than not missing.”
“Does that mean he’s going to stay on the island for the off-season?” Kevin asked hopefully.
“Looks that way,” Finn said. “He told Mac he’d take the lead on getting the roof done.”
“How about you?”
“Haven’t decided yet. I have until the Tuesday after Labor Day to go back to work in Connecticut, extend my leave of absence or offer my resignation. And now, I need a beer.” He wandered off to join his brother
and cousins in the kitchen.
“It sure would be nice to have them both here long term,” Linda said.
“Yes, it would.” The thought of Riley staying thrilled him, but Finn’s indecision had him hoping his younger son would find a reason to stay, too.
Chapter 7
After dinner, Joe lit the fire pit and helped his hugely pregnant wife into a lounge chair.
“I can’t believe I have to tote this cinderblock around for two more weeks,” Janey moaned, her hands propped on her pregnant belly. She’d been on full bedrest all summer and was getting crankier about her restrictions with every passing week.
“You’re almost there, sweetheart,” Big Mac said, hovering over his daughter as he had throughout her pregnancy.
Kevin knew his big brother wouldn’t truly relax until his daughter had safely delivered her new baby. Nearly losing Janey and P.J. had been a trauma the entire family wouldn’t soon forget.
“Also on the agenda is the big snip-snip for Joseph,” Janey announced, “so he can never, ever, ever get me pregnant again.”
“Thank the Lord for that,” Big Mac uttered to laughter while Joe just shook his head at his wife.
“The snip won’t be that big,” Mac said. “After all, we are talking about Joe here.”
Joe gave his best friend the finger while the others howled and high-fived Mac.
“And speaking of good behavior,” Mac said, “can we talk about my three-month streak of absolute perfection? Who bet on three months?” He held his hand up to his ear. “What’s that? No one bet I’d last that long on my new grown-up streak? Bunch of chumps.”
“He’s right,” Janey said, “as much as I hate to admit that. The longest bet was Maddie’s at a month, so I guess she earns back some of the money she lost betting against him in the past.”
“Excellent,” Mac said. “Now that we’ve beaten you at your own game, I can get back to business as usual around here.”
“Wait just a minute,” Grant said. “Did you and Maddie collude against us?”
“Would we do that?” Mac asked.