by Marie Force
Finn unlocked the phone and showed Blaine the texts and voicemails he’d received from Missy. “I haven’t read them all—”
“You probably should have.” Blaine’s expression grew serious as he scrolled through them. “‘If you’ve got someone else, you’d better let her know to watch her back. I’ll fucking stab her.’ That was the most recent one.”
Alarmed, Finn immediately thought of Chloe. “I’ve been seeing Chloe Dennis.”
“I’ll have patrol keep an eye on things at the salon, and I’ll give your friend a call and let her know what kinds of charges she might be looking at if she keeps up this behavior. Is this her number?”
“No, she borrowed someone’s phone to call me after I blocked her.” He found the number in his contacts. “This is her number.”
“Unblock the number. Let’s give her a call.”
“Right now?”
“You busy doing something else?”
Finn wished he was anywhere else on earth than about to sic a cop on Missy, but she’d brought this on herself. Maybe if he kept telling himself that, he could beat back the nausea. He unblocked her number, put through the call and handed the phone to Blaine, who put it on speaker.
“It’s about fucking time you called me back.”
“It’s not Finn.”
“Who is this?”
“Chief Blaine Taylor, Gansett Island Police Department. I’m here with Finn, who showed me the texts and messages you’ve left for him, and you may not be aware that the things you’ve said in your texts could result in charges. Felony charges.”
“Did he tell you what he did? Leading me on for years and then trying to dump me right before he comes home after I waited all this time for him?”
“Ma’am, we’re not talking about what he did. We’re talking about the threats you’ve made against him in texts and voicemails that would be admissible in court should Mr. McCarthy choose to press charges.”
“Mr. McCarthy can go fuck himself!”
“Shall I take that to mean he won’t hear from you again? Because if he does, I’m sure my friends at the Connecticut state police would be happy to pick you up and take you into custody as the kinds of threats you’ve made are taken very seriously by law enforcement.”
A loud click served as her answer.
“Nice young lady,” Blaine said, handing Finn’s phone back to him.
“Yeah,” Riley said, “she’s a real prize.”
“If you hear from her again,” Blaine said, “I want you to let me know right away. I’ll make good on calling in Connecticut state police.”
“I will. Thanks, Blaine.”
“Thanks a lot,” Mac added. “I appreciate the assist.”
“Happy to help any time. This is my brother, Deacon.” Pointing to them, he said, “Deacon, you know Mac. These are his cousins, Riley and Finn.”
Deacon shook hands with them. “How you doing?”
“Better now that my brother reported his crazy ex,” Riley said.
“So you’re taking the harbor master job?” Mac asked Deacon.
“That’s his big idea. I haven’t agreed to anything.”
Blaine glared at his brother, who glared right back at him. “He’s taking the job.”
“We’ll leave you to fight that out.” Mac led Riley and Finn out of the police station. “You hear from her again, you call Blaine, you hear me?”
“Yeah, I will. Thanks, Mac.”
“I know it’s hard to go to the cops about someone who has been a friend, but you did the right thing.”
Finn knew that was true, but it still made him sick to have to do it. “Don’t tell the dads, okay? I don’t need mine up my ass about this.”
“I won’t say anything,” Mac said.
“I won’t either,” Riley said.
Mac checked his watch. “This day is getting away from me. Maddie and I are going to the food bank fundraiser tonight, so I need to get back to the Curtis place to do some measuring so I can get the materials ordered.” They got into Mac’s truck and drove back to the Curtis house, where Finn had left his truck.
“I’ll give you a hand with the measuring,” Riley said.
“I’ll see you at the fundraiser.” Knowing his cousin would also be there cemented Finn’s determination to keep the “date” he’d made last night with Chloe. “I’ve got to get the house packed up and do a few other things this afternoon.”
“Nik and I are going to the fundraiser, too,” Riley said. “I’ll see you there.”
Finn wondered if Riley had just now decided to go so he and Nikki could keep an eye on him. “Sounds good.”
After he parted with Riley and Mac, he drove home with the window down, letting in some of the warm spring breeze blowing in off the sound, where the faint outline of sailboats competing in Race Week could be seen on the horizon.
Finn tried not to think about the ugliness with Missy, the despair over Chloe or anything other than going through the motions to prepare for the move back to Connecticut. Although, with Missy losing her mind, he had reason now to wonder if moving home was still a good idea. One thing he knew for sure was that after meeting Chloe, he couldn’t stay on Gansett and continue to run into her everywhere he went. That was just too painful to endure long term.
For the first time in his adult life, Finn had no idea where he belonged.
Chapter 15
“You’re taking the job,” Blaine said to Deacon after the McCarthys left his office.
“Why? So you can keep tabs on my every move? You’d love that, wouldn’t you?”
“Someone needs to keep tabs on you so you don’t end up back in jail.”
Deacon rolled his eyes. “You say that like I’m a jailhouse regular.”
“For all I know, you could be. I haven’t heard a word from you in months, and then you call in the middle of the night, needing me to pull some strings for you with cops.”
“Sorry to bother you.”
“You didn’t bother me! But what the fuck is going on with you, Deac? Aren’t we a little past the age of bar fights?”
“Maybe you are now that you’re all domesticated.”
“Happened long before I got married. In case you’ve forgotten, I’ve been a cop for a while now.”
“Like you’d ever let any of us forget.”
Blaine had to resist the urge to punch the smug smile off his younger brother’s face. “Don’t turn this around on me. What’re you doing fighting in a bar?”
“I told you. Some dude was hassling a woman. I asked him to knock it off. He didn’t want to, and we got into it.”
“Who was the woman?”
“One of the waitresses.”
“Someone you know?”
Deacon shrugged. “We’ve hung out.”
“In other words, you’ve slept with her and didn’t want any other guy talking to her.”
“It wasn’t like that. She’s a nice girl. A hardworking single mom.”
“The kid isn’t yours, is it?”
“For fuck’s sake, Blaine. The kid is not mine. I like her, and I didn’t like the way that douche was talking to her. It was that simple.”
“Did they arrest him, too?”
“Nope.”
“How come?”
“Everyone said I jumped him. They didn’t hear what he said to her.”
Hands on hips, Blaine studied the face that had always been far too handsome. Deacon had had women throwing themselves at him from the time he was a teenager, including the mother of one of his friends. Deacon had left the island the day after his eighteenth birthday and had rarely returned, not even for Blaine’s wedding.
Deacon was the Taylor family’s black sheep, or so their mother liked to say. Blaine didn’t think the label was fair. Deacon had marched to the beat of his own drum, for sure, but to Blaine’s knowledge, he’d never been in any trouble—until now. The chief of police in the town where his brother had been arrested had agreed to drop the charges if B
laine personally took custody of him and removed him from the area for the time being.
That was how Deacon had landed in Blaine’s office on Gansett Island.
Deacon picked up a framed photo of Tiffany and the girls from Blaine’s desk. “Now that you have me here, brother dear, whatever will you do with me?”
Blaine snatched the photo from him and put it back where it belonged. “I told you—you’re going to be Gansett’s new harbor master for the season, and when the summer is over, we’ll see.” His brother had worked as the harbor master for one of the towns in Cape Cod the previous year, and his certifications were up-to-date. Having him here would solve one of Blaine’s pressing concerns. The mayor had been on him about filling the position, and with Race Week signifying the unofficial start to boating season on Gansett, Deacon’s arrival was very well timed, even if his brother was probably going to be a huge pain in his ass.
“So you plan to hold me hostage here for the summer, keep me out of trouble and let me go after Labor Day, if I behave?”
“Something like that.”
“And where am I going to live during my captivity?”
“In the garage apartment at my place.”
“Oh, awesome. So you’ll be able to keep tabs on me round the clock. This is like the summer camp from hell.”
“Cut the crap, Deacon. I have no desire to keep tabs on you, but unless you want an assault charge and possible conviction on your record, you’re here to stay for the summer.”
“Does that stick up your ass ever get uncomfortable? I’d imagine it would start to hurt after a while.”
Again, Blaine wanted to punch him, but he resisted the urge. “Feel free to take the next ferry back to the mainland. I’ll give Chief Overmeyer a call and let him know you’re no longer in my custody.”
“You’d just love that, wouldn’t you?”
“What I’d love is to go home to my wife and daughters, who I haven’t seen in more than twenty-four hours, thanks to your shenanigans.”
“You’re such a family man. It’s touching.”
“You might want to try it one of these days.”
“Eww, gross.” Deacon shuddered dramatically. “No way. You can’t put a collar on me.” He tugged on the neck of his shirt. “It would kill me.”
Blaine rolled his eyes. “Marriage is the single best thing to ever happen to me. I highly recommend it.”
“One woman in your bed for the rest of your life? No way, Jose. That’s not for me.”
“If it’s the right woman, you won’t ever want anyone else.”
Deacon waggled his brows. “Variety is the spice of my life.”
“If you cause one second of trouble on my island this summer, I’ll send you back to face the music, you hear me?”
“Yes, sir,” Deacon said sarcastically. “I hear you loud and clear. I think they heard you on Martha’s Vineyard.”
“Let’s go.”
Blaine drove them home in his department-issued SUV, dodging traffic and pedestrians as they went through a town that came back to life during Race Week each spring. It wouldn’t slow down again until after Labor Day. Summer was Blaine’s favorite and least favorite time of year—his favorite because of the warm weather and outdoor time with family and friends. It was his least favorite because the huge influx of tourists that came to the island to party often took him away from his family at the best time of the year.
“How do you stand being stuck here year-round? When we were kids, all we talked about was getting the hell out of here.”
“It’s different now.”
“How so?”
Tiffany. Ashleigh. Addie. That was how, but he wasn’t about to say that to Deacon after the way he’d disparaged marriage and commitment. “It just is. You might see it after you’re here awhile.”
“Doubtful. I’m already counting the days until I can go back to my real life.”
Blaine ignored him and focused on driving, dying to see his girls after one day without them. And yes, he knew that was ridiculous, but so be it. He loved them madly and had missed them. He pulled into the long driveway that led to home and tooted the horn the way he did every night. How old would Ashleigh be, he wondered, before she no longer ran out to greet him after work?
He got out of the driver’s side just in time to catch the five-year-old when she launched off the stairs and into his arms. “Hey, bug.” Hugging her tightly, he breathed in the fresh strawberry scent of her hair that came from the same shampoo her mother used. “How you doing?”
“Good. Where ya been?”
“You know where I’ve been.” She knew everything that went on. He and Tiff joked that she’d been born with the soul of a thirty-year-old. And even though he was “only” her stepfather, he adored every precocious inch of her.
“Did you find your brother?”
“I sure did. That’s him over there.” He turned her so she could see Deacon. “Ashleigh, meet Deacon. Deacon, this is Ashleigh.”
She burrowed her face into Blaine’s neck, going shy as she always did with new people. “He looks like you.”
“I do not,” Deacon said. “He is way uglier than I am.”
Before Blaine could chastise him, Ashleigh giggled.
“Hey.” Blaine gave her a playful shake. “He’s not funny.”
“Yes, he is.”
“Yes, I am,” Deacon said.
Tiffany came out with Addie on her hip, and Blaine’s heart melted at the sight of them. All three of his girls had dark hair and exquisite faces. The girls were the image of their mother, who was the sexiest, smartest, sassiest, funniest, most adorable woman he’d ever met. That he was married to her still amazed him. Forgetting all about his pain-in-the-ass brother, Blaine carried Ashleigh up the stairs to hug and kiss his wife and baby girl.
Addie bounced in her mother’s arms as she tried to get to him. “Dadadadada.”
“Someone missed her daddy,” Blaine said, taking her from Tiffany and holding both girls.
“We all missed Daddy.” Tiffany looked up at him with the green eyes that had slayed him from the first time he ever saw her. Back then, she’d still been married to that asshole Jim Sturgil. Blaine had thought he would die of impatience waiting for her to be divorced. And now that she was his… How many hours until bedtime? Too many.
He kissed her quickly. “Daddy missed you, too.”
Deacon cleared his throat. “Don’t let me interrupt.”
Blaine was going to kill him before this summer was up. No question about it. “Tiffany, meet my brother, Deacon. Deacon, my wife, Tiffany, and daughter Adeline. We call her Addie.”
Tiffany leaned around Blaine so she could see Deacon. “Nice to finally meet you. I’ve heard a lot about you.”
Deacon came up the stairs. “I’m sure you have. All good, I hope?”
“Ummm.”
Deacon laughed. “Believe half of what you hear.”
Though it was the last thing he wanted to do, Blaine released Tiffany, kissed both girls, put Ashleigh down, handed Addie to her mom and took Deacon by the arm. “Let me show you where you’re staying.”
“I guess I’ll be seeing you around,” Deacon said to Tiffany.
“I made dinner. You’re welcome to join us.”
“No, he isn’t,” Blaine said.
“Yes, he is. Come over in half an hour, Deacon.”
Blaine perp-walked his brother down the stairs and across the driveway to the apartment over the garage that also doubled as Tiffany’s dance studio. Since opening the Naughty & Nice boutique, she didn’t give lessons anymore, but she and Ashleigh still used the space to practice from time to time.
He threw open the door to the apartment, and the fresh scent that greeted them indicated that Tiffany had cleaned it ahead of their arrival. “You can thank my wife for cleaning the place for you.”
“That was nice of her.”
“The bedroom is back there. Bathroom over there. Hopefully, a free place to stay here will
make it so you can keep your apartment on the mainland.”
“You’ve thought of everything, haven’t you?”
“Would you rather I left you to rot in jail?”
“Is that a rhetorical question?”
Blaine reached his limit. “I’m going to see my family. Come to dinner if you want. Don’t come if you don’t want to. Show up for work at eight in the morning. Stay out of trouble. Or I’ll send you back to face the charges.”
Before Deacon could respond, Blaine was out the door and down the stairs. He crossed the yard and stepped into the cool comfort of his own home, leaned against the door, closed his eyes and released a deep breath.
He smelled her sweet strawberry scent before he felt or heard her.
“That bad?” Tiffany asked as she wrapped her arms around him and rested her head on his chest.
That was all it took to make everything better. He held her tight against him, breathing her in and letting go of the stress of the last two days. He’d done what he could for his brother. “He likes to push my buttons.”
“Sounds like a sibling.”
“He’s exceptionally good at it.”
Tiffany laughed.
“You can’t find him funny and sleep with me, too. You got me?”
“Yeah, babe. I got you. Don’t leave again, though, okay? I hate sleeping alone.”
Blaine groaned and pressed his erection against her soft belly. “How many hours until bedtime?”
“Way too many.”
“I’m not going to make it. What’re the girls doing?”
“Watching Dora.”
“Oh, I love Dora.” They had joked that their girls would sit through a nuclear bomb if Dora was on the TV. Blaine grabbed Tiffany’s hand and led her to the half-bath off the kitchen.
“Um, what’re you doing?”
“This.” Leaving the door cracked open so they could hear the kids, he turned and pulled her into a hot kiss that made his head spin with desire. His hands moved over her, wanting to touch all of her, as if he hadn’t seen her in weeks rather than just a day.
She broke the kiss, breathing hard. “Blaine.”
“I need you.”
“Later.”
“Now.”