Beach Lane

by Sherryl Woods

  She gave him a smile tinged with sadness. “It’s getting better.”

  He studied her curiously. “Because of Luke?”

  She chuckled. “Luke’s a charming diversion. Nothing more.”

  “Does he realize that?”

  “Absolutely. He’s only pursuing me to protect his sister’s turf. It’s working out for both of us, at least for now.”

  Mack glanced away from her and spied Jess heading their way. He gently extricated his arm from Kristen’s before she could reach them. Kristen chuckled.

  “Ah, it’s the avenging angel,” she said.

  “Isn’t there someplace you need to be?” Jess demanded, her tone unfriendly.

  Kristen stood her ground. “Last time I checked, I worked here.”

  “That could always change,” Jess said, casting a meaningful look at Mack. “Couldn’t it?”

  Mack held up a hand. “Settle down, you two. This is a party.”

  Jess looked as if she had a lot more on her mind, but she glanced around the room. “Where’s your wife?”

  “I haven’t seen her yet,” Mack admitted. “I should probably call the house to make sure everything’s okay.”

  “I’ll do it,” Jess offered. “You should be mingling.” She cast a pointed look at Kristen. “So should you. Separately.”

  Mack watched Kristen begin to circulate, then regarded Jess with amusement. “You didn’t have to step in, you know. There’s nothing going on between Kristen and me.”

  “With women like that, there’s always something going on.”

  “You saw her at your parents’ place. She was with Luke.”

  Jess rolled her eyes. “Oh, please, she’s toying with him. Or he is with her. Nobody bought that act. Now, go and talk to your guests. I’ll track down Susie.”

  Reluctantly, Mack left her to it.

  A half hour later, he finally spotted his wife hovering on the fringes of the crowd. In that unguarded moment she looked withdrawn and very much alone. Apparently none of the O’Briens had seen her yet.

  Wanting to share the night’s success with her, he began working his way through the room, but everyone had congratulations to offer, a toast to make. It was slow going.

  The next time he glanced her way, she was gone. Jess, however, was nearby.

  “I was trying to get to Susie, but she’s vanished again. Any idea where she might be?”

  Jess pointed to the buffet table, where Susie was with Shanna and Kevin. “Have you even spoken to her since she arrived?”

  “I’ve tried, but I keep getting waylaid.”

  “Something’s off with her tonight,” Jess said.

  Mack frowned. “What do you mean?”

  “It’s in her eyes. She just looks sad. I know I’m no expert on Susie, but it worries me, Mack. Find her. See if you can get to the bottom of whatever’s wrong. If you can’t spare a few minutes, I’ll put Will on it.”

  Mack shook his head. “I’ll take care of it, Jess. Thanks.”

  But as he was about to make his way to Susie, the paper’s freelance photographer, Jerry Hastings, dragged Kristen over and insisted on a picture of the two of them. “The next edition won’t be complete without this. And Kristen’s going to want it for the website, too.”

  “Sure,” Mack said, though he was impatient to get to his wife.

  “I think the occasion calls for a celebratory kiss,” Jerry called out as he snapped away.

  Kristen gave Jerry a wry look. Mack shrugged. As he went to press a kiss to her cheek, she turned her head and he caught her on the lips. The kiss lasted less than a heartbeat, but he knew the instant it ended that it had been a dreadful mistake. He looked toward the last place he’d seen Susie, but as he’d feared, she was gone. A survey of the room revealed no sign of her.

  “Dammit!” he muttered. Surely she knew that kiss had meant nothing. It was one of those public relations moments.

  Even as he tried to convince himself of that, he could envision it from Susie’s perspective. A kiss on the cheek might have passed muster for PR purposes, but Kristen had deliberately tried to turn it into something else. Worse, it would likely show up online and in the paper’s print edition unless he made a production out of keeping it out. That could stir its own sort of controversy, with people speculating about why he’d objected so vehemently.

  “Susie missing?” Kristen inquired, not looking entirely displeased by the idea.

  “What were you thinking just then?” Mack demanded. “Not only was that kiss bad PR because it insinuated there’s something more between us, but you crossed a line, Kristen. You know what’s going on with my wife and you deliberately did something you knew would hurt her.”

  For a fleeting instant he thought he detected shame in her eyes, but then she shrugged.

  “It wasn’t a big deal,” she insisted. “I can’t help it if she thought otherwise.”

  “If you honestly believe what you’re saying, then you’re not the kind of woman I always thought you were.”

  “You were with me because I was sexy, Mack. My high moral standards had nothing to do with it.”

  “You’re wrong. I liked you, Kristen. It was never just about the sex. For all of my faults, I never slept with anyone just because they were easy.”

  She looked momentarily taken aback by that.

  “I have to get out of here and find my wife.”

  “You can’t leave now,” she said, looking shocked. “This party’s a professional obligation.”

  “And I have a personal obligation that’s more important,” he declared. “Make sure our guests have a great time.”

  Unfortunately, when he went looking, Susie was nowhere to be found.

  23

  Susie knew almost the second that she walked out of the newspaper offices that she was making a mistake, but her pride simply wouldn’t allow her to turn around and go back.

  That very public kiss between Kristen and her husband had been humiliating. Even if she knew without a doubt that Mack had no feelings for Kristen, there wasn’t another person in that room likely to believe it.

  A braver woman—a woman who’d been told she was in remission, for example—might have been able to walk across the room with her head held high and stake her own claim. Susie wasn’t that woman. Not tonight, anyway. Tonight she was facing a whole boatload of insecurities.

  She’d never had to fight that hard for anything in her life. Jess had been right when she’d noted that things had always come easily for Susie. Until Mack. And even he was a piece of cake compared to beating cancer. Now she was in the battle of her life, for her life. She had to give her full attention to that, or nothing else would matter.

  As always, when her spirit was crushed, she ran to Gram’s. All the adults in the family had their own keys to the cottage. It was meant to be their refuge, whether Nell was there or not. Tonight, of course, she was at the party with everyone else.

  Susie let herself in, brewed a pot of tea, then settled on the sofa, thinking of another night just like this one when she’d done the same thing to escape from the painful truth—that she didn’t really trust Mack to stick by her side. Oh, she’d told him she did. She’d even convinced herself of it for a time, and allowed Will to persuade her that Mack was a steadfast guy, despite his track record with other women.

  Though it was a pleasantly warm spring evening, she shivered at her dark thoughts and wrapped the quilt more tightly around her.

  It wasn’t long before the front door opened and Gram came in, her expression filled with worry.

  “I thought I might find you here. You caused quite an uproar by leaving the party without even speaking to your husband.”

  “He seemed to be otherwise occupied,” she said bleakly.

  Gram gave her a chiding look. “Oh, please, you know better than that. There’s only one woman on this earth for Mack Franklin, and you’re it!”

  Susie wasn’t entirely consoled by her grandmother’s certainty. She was too
caught up in her own misery to be entirely rational. “Things change.”

  Her grandmother’s gaze narrowed. “What’s changed? Not Mack’s feelings. I know that for a fact. Nor yours.”

  Susie drew in a deep breath, then blurted, “My cancer’s not in remission.” She felt hot tears scalding her cheeks. “I was so sure I’d beaten it, Gram. I prayed so hard.”

  Nell immediately sat beside her and gathered her into her arms. “Oh, my sweet child, that doesn’t mean you’ve lost the war, just that there’s more fighting to be done.”

  “I know. And I’m willing to do whatever the doctor suggests, but how can I drag Mack through more of this? I need to let him go.” Even as she said the self-sacrificing, supposedly noble words, she knew she wouldn’t do it. She needed him more than ever now. Maybe it was selfish. Or maybe it was the depth of her love, but she wasn’t ready to let go.

  Nell sat back and shook her head at Susie’s words. “Now, that is without a doubt the silliest bit of logic I’ve ever heard. Mack doesn’t want to go anywhere.”

  “We both know down deep that he thought the chemo would cure me.”

  “He hoped it would. He prayed that it would. We all did. That doesn’t mean one of us is just going to write you off and move on to other things, or to other people. That’s what this self-pity is really all about, isn’t it? Kristen, and the kiss?”

  At Gram’s words, Susie sat up, let indignation flow through her. “Did you see that woman? She’s nothing but a brazen slut. I don’t care how valuable Mack thinks she is to the paper. And what about Luke? She kissed my husband right in front of him, too. Maybe he was only dating her for my sake, to keep her away from Mack, but what if he fell for her?”

  Gram merely looked amused. “I doubt Luke’s heart is broken. Yours shouldn’t be, either. That kiss was the act of a desperate woman. It meant nothing to Mack. If anything, it probably demonstrated the kind of woman she is.”

  Even though in her heart she knew better herself, Susie wasn’t quite ready to let the incident go. “I didn’t see Mack shoving her away.”

  “Because your husband knew that causing a scene would only make matters worse. He had quite a lot to say to her afterward, though. I don’t think I’ve ever seen him so angry.”

  Susie felt a moment’s delight in that news, then shrugged. “It doesn’t matter. Kristen’s not the problem. Not really. Oh, she’s a healthy alternative to me, but I know Mack doesn’t love her.”

  “If you understand that, then I don’t see the problem,” Gram said. “Please don’t be one of those self-sacrificing people who walks away from something just because you think it’s for the best, Susie. Mack has a say in your future, too. And he’s not the kind of man who turns his back on something just because it’s hard. You know that. It’s one of the reasons you love him. What happened tonight is a little blip. It’s insignificant, and in no way does it measure up to enough to cause the two of you to split up for good. If you let that kiss—or even the cancer—have that kind of power over you, then you’re not the O’Brien woman I thought you to be.”

  Susie managed a smile. “You always believe that O’Briens have more strength than other mere mortals.”

  Gram grinned. “Because we do. Now, you mend fences with that man of yours. I intend to go to Ireland next Christmas, and you’re going to be right there celebrating the holidays with me. I won’t have it any other way.” She gave Susie a sly look. “Besides, you promised.”

  Susie rested her head on her grandmother’s shoulder, feeling better for the tough love that wouldn’t allow her moment of self-pity to cause her to do something rash. “Then I guess I’ll have to live up to my promise, won’t I?”

  “I’m counting on it,” Nell told her in no uncertain terms.

  Laila had watched Susie slip out of the party, her expression stoic, but the tears gathering in her eyes giving away just how hurt she was by the kiss Kristen Lewis had planted on Mack.

  “What is wrong with men?” Laila inquired irritably of Matthew.

  “Hey, I haven’t done anything wrong,” he said. “As for Mack, he was hardly to blame for that kiss.” He glanced around the room. “Have you seen Luke? I should probably find out how he’s taking it.”

  “Forget Luke. It’s your sister you ought to be worrying about.”

  Matthew’s expression darkened. “She saw it? I didn’t think she’d shown up yet.”

  “Oh, she was here, and it hurt her, Matthew.”

  He heaved a sigh. “Why don’t you find her? I’ll check on Luke. And then we can all give Kristen a piece of our minds.”

  “As much as I would love to gang up on that woman right now, let’s focus on Susie.”

  After they’d circled the entire room with no luck, Jess informed them that Susie had taken off and Mack had gone after her.

  “That’s good, I guess,” Laila said. “I hope he can make this right.”

  “He will,” Jess said with confidence. “Now let’s try to get these people out of here without causing a scene. I want to get over to Mom and Dad’s. The family’s going over there to wait to see whether Mack can get Susie to listen to reason. Are you guys coming?”

  Laila wasn’t sure it was a good idea, but Matthew immediately said, “Of course we are.”

  Jess nodded. “Then I’ll see you there. Try to be diplomatic when you’re encouraging the guests to leave. And whatever you do, do not let Kristen find out there’s going to be an after-party at my folks’ place.”

  After Jess had moved on, Laila regarded Matthew curiously. “Are you sure you want me to go to Mick and Megan’s?”

  Matthew gave her an impatient look. “We’re together, aren’t we? Why wouldn’t I want you there?”

  The tightness in her chest eased at the determination and certainty she heard in his voice. “Then this really is turning into something serious between us?”

  He grinned, sending her heart into a happy cartwheel. “I told you it was.”

  “I’m unemployed,” she commented.

  He laughed. “As if that matters to me. Whether or not you work is entirely up to you. Personally I kind of like the idea of you being there waiting for me if I decide to pop home in the middle of the day.”

  She regarded him with amazement. “You actually mean that, don’t you?”

  “I do.”

  “Well, I happen to like working. I love banking, and the second one of these feelers I’ve put out pays off, I’m not going to be at your beck and call anymore.” She grinned. “Until then, I suppose we could make the most of my availability.”

  “I’m glad you’re able to see the obvious benefits of the current situation,” he said solemnly.

  “Maybe you should consider working from home,” she added.

  For an instant he looked startled, but then he gathered her into his arms and twirled her around. “Now you’re getting into the spirit of this. I always knew you had a wild and reckless streak.”

  Laila seized on those two words—wild and reckless—and added them to the collection she was holding close to her heart. With Matthew it wasn’t that she was turning into someone no one would recognize. He’d simply unleashed new facets of her personality, helped her to become the exciting, well-rounded woman she’d always longed to be. How could she possibly help loving him for that?

  Unlike the last time Susie had gone missing, this time Mack had a pretty good idea where to find her. Like all the other O’Briens, Susie counted on Nell for not only a safe haven, but solid, no-nonsense advice.

  With his heart thudding dully in his chest and after assuring himself that Susie was nowhere in the building, Mack left the party and drove directly to Nell’s cottage.

  En route, he couldn’t help thinking about the last time he’d made this trip looking for Susie. He’d been greeted by the worst possible news, that she had cancer. Now it was entirely likely that the news would be no better. She might be prepared to tell him their marriage was over. Just the thought of it was enough to make
him a little crazy. He couldn’t let that happen. He couldn’t lose her.

  Darkness had fallen before he reached Nell’s. There were lights in the windows, and smoke from a late-spring fire was curling from the chimney. Only the absence of Christmas lights twinkling on a tree made it appear any different from the last time he’d arrived here on a mission to prove to Susie he loved her.

  When Nell responded to his knock, she took one look at him and relief washed over her face. “Thank goodness,” she murmured, hugging him fiercely.

  “Is she okay?”

  “She’s heartsick,” Nell responded. “Now that you’re here, that’ll change.” She reached for her coat, which was hanging on a peg by the door. “I’m going up to Mick and Megan’s. I think I’ll spend the night there. Susie’s in the kitchen, unless she’s heard your voice and gone scurrying off to the guest room. Don’t let her run you off, Mack. She’s going to try. She thinks you want your freedom or that you deserve it, or some cockamamy thing like that. I can’t say much for her logic right now. Whatever she tries to say or do, remember that she loves you.”

  Mack clung to that thought as he pressed a kiss to Nell’s cheek, then went in search of his wife.

  He found Susie, as predicted, in the kitchen, her hands wrapped around a cup of tea, her expression bleak.

  “Go away, Mack. There’s nothing left to say. Not tonight, anyway. I need more time to think.”

  He kept his temper in check. “Thinking, under the circumstances, is overrated. If you ask me, there’s plenty that needs to be said,” he corrected. “Not that you said a single word to me before taking off from the party. Bottom line, if you’ve run out of words, I’ll go first.”

  She blinked at his determined tone, but she didn’t offer a single comment.

  “Okay, then,” he said. “I know now that bringing Kristen here was a huge mistake. Maybe at some other time it wouldn’t have been, but she was like some kind of nagging burr under your saddle from the day she hit town.”

  When she opened her mouth to speak, he cut her off. “Let me finish. I thought what we had was strong enough to handle the presence of a woman who means nothing to me, but I was wrong. Under other circumstances, I think that would have been true.”