by Marie Force
“You’d better have a very good reason for calling so early.”
“I do. I need some help today. Dad and Luke are both off-island, so I’m alone at the marina. Can you give me a few hours?”
Evan bit back a moan. After the awkward dinner with Grace’s parents, he’d been awake for hours trying to decide if her not telling her parents about him was a bigger problem than he’d thought.
“Ev? Are you there?”
“I’m here. I’ll be there shortly.”
“Great, thanks,” Mac said.
Grace turned over in bed and curled up to Evan. “Everything okay?”
“Yeah. Mac needs some help at the marina today.” He kissed her forehead and got up to grab a shower and shave. When he emerged from the bathroom a few minutes later, she had a travel mug with coffee waiting for him. He put on shorts and a T-shirt, all the while trying to think of what he should say to her. Everything between them had been so good, and even though he understood why she’d done it, he couldn’t help being hurt that she’d kept their relationship a secret from her parents. “Thank you,” he said when she handed him the mug.
“Are you okay?” she asked, perceptive as always.
“I’m fine, why?”
“You’ve been a little…distant since dinner.”
“Because we only had sex once last night, I’m distant now?” The words came out sharper than he’d intended, causing her smile to dim. “Sorry. I didn’t mean to say that.”
“If something is wrong, I wish you’d talk to me about it.”
“Nothing is wrong.” He took the mug and kissed her. “See you tonight.”
The unusually awkward exchange stayed with him as he walked the short distance to the marina at North Harbor. About halfway there, he realized he’d forgotten to tell her he loved her. Hell, she’d forgotten, too, and they never forgot that.
The morning at the marina passed with a flurry of activity as boats began to arrive for Gansett Island’s annual Race Week festivities. It was well after one before Evan and Mac had things under control and headed for the restaurant to grab lunch.
“Thanks for the help this morning,” Mac said over bowls of clam chowder and a basket of clam cakes.
“No problem.”
“You’re quiet today. Everything okay?”
Evan shrugged and focused on his chowder as he debated whether he wanted to air his troubles to his happily married brother.
“How are things at the studio?”
“Coming along. The space is almost ready, and the equipment will be here next week.”
“I still can’t believe we’re going to have a recording studio on the island.”
“Neither can I. It’s all thanks to Ned’s financial support, and I finally heard that my friend Josh is going to take me up on my offer. You can’t have a recording studio without a first-rate sound engineer, so all the pieces are falling into place.”
“That’s awesome. So why do you look so messed up? And don’t say it’s nothing. I know you better than that.”
Evan put down his spoon and wiped his mouth. “Is it weird that Grace and I have been together since last fall and she hadn’t said a word about me to her parents?”
“How do you know that?”
“Because I met them yesterday when they came over to surprise her. The surprise was on me—and them.”
“What did she say?”
“I guess their relationship is sort of dysfunctional, but I wonder…”
“About?”
“Do you think maybe she’s ashamed to be shacked up with a loser who doesn’t have a real job?”
“You’re not a loser, Evan. You had a tough break with your record company going belly up. You’re rebounding with the studio.”
“But maybe that’s why she didn’t tell them, because we have no idea how the studio will do. She probably doesn’t want them to know she’s living with a guy who’s barely employed.”
“I’m sure that has nothing to do with it. It’s not like you’re leaching off her. You’re paying your own way.”
Evan fiddled with his spoon as he contemplated what Mac had said.
“You need to talk to her. Ask her if that has anything to do with why she didn’t tell them.”
“Part of me doesn’t want to know.”
“It probably has nothing to do with you, Ev.”
“She said it didn’t, but still… I wonder.”
“You won’t know if you don’t ask her.”
Stephanie, their brother Grant’s fiancée, came rushing into the restaurant looking frazzled. “Oh, hey, guys. How’s the chowder?” She looked so different since she decided to grow her red hair longer. Evan was so used to her spikes that he almost didn’t recognize her.
“As good as always,” Mac said. “What’re you doing here?”
“Checking on things and doing the food order for next week.”
“How long can you continue to run this place while you’re trying to get your own restaurant open?”
“Are you complaining?”
“Not at all,” Mac said. “I’m only reminding you that we’re more than happy to hire a new manager if need be.”
“No need. I’ve got it covered.”
“If you’re sure…”
“I’m sure. You’ll be at the opening?”
“Wouldn’t miss it,” Mac said.
Evan nodded in agreement.
“See you then.”
As Stephanie walked away, Kara Ballard came in. She was running the new launch service in the Salt Pond, delivering boaters from the anchorage to McCarthy’s. Waving to Mac and Evan, she ordered lunch and then came to say hello while she waited for her food.
“How’s it going, Kara?” Mac asked.
She wore a Ballard’s Boat Works ball cap with her shoulder-length honey-colored ponytail pulled through the back of the hat. “Great. Business is really picking up with the boats arriving for Race Week.”
“The pond will be wall-to-wall by the weekend,” Mac said.
Kara started to say something but faltered. “Damn it. What’s he doing here again?”
Evan turned to look at who she was talking about and saw his brother Grant’s friend, Dan Torrington, coming into the restaurant. Tall with dark hair and a dimpled smile, he wore a pink dress shirt rolled up over his forearms, white Bermuda shorts and loafers. You could take the lawyer out of LA, but apparently you couldn’t take the LA out of the lawyer. His idea of casual looked ridiculously out of place at ultracasual McCarthy’s Marina, but he didn’t seem to care as he zeroed in on Kara.
“I’ve got to go.” Kara grabbed her lunch and headed for the exit.
“Hey, what’s your rush?” Dan asked as he followed her.
“What’s up with those two?” Evan asked his brother.
“Not sure, but he seems to stop by every day at some point or another.”
“She didn’t seem too happy to see him.”
“Enough about them,” Mac said. “What’re you going to do about Grace?”
“I have no idea.”
“You could start by talking to her.”
Evan grimaced. “Do I have to?”
“Evan…”
“I know, I know. We’ve had it kind of easy up to now. I’m not sure how I’m supposed to deal with this.”
“Everyone has bumps,” Mac said.
“You and Maddie make it look awfully easy.”
“Most of the time it is, but we have our issues, too. We got into it last night because she’s thinking about spending time with her deadbeat dad so he’ll give her mother the divorce.”
“And you’re opposed to that?”
“Hell, yes, I’m opposed to it. The guy left them thirty years ago and then he comes back acting like he has rights. Do you know that after he left, she sat in the window of their apartment for weeks and watched all the ferries arrive, hoping he’d change his mind and come back?”
“Jeez.”
“She was five.
Five years old! What right does he have to come back now and get her hopes up?”
“None.”
“Exactly. That’s my point. Except he won’t give her mother a divorce until Maddie spends some time with him.”
“So she’s doing it for her mom.”
“Yes, but at what cost to her, you know?”
“I can see why you’re upset about it.” Evan thought about it for a minute. “What if you went with her? Then you could make sure he didn’t say or do anything to hurt her.”
“I offered that, but she wants to do it alone, which is what we argued about.” Mac sat back in his seat and crossed his arms. “I hate fighting with her. It screws me all up.”
“I’m sure she knows you’re worried about her getting hurt and that your intentions are good.”
Mac shrugged. “I guess.” He gathered up the trash onto their tray and stood. “I’d better get back to work. I can handle things here this afternoon. Thanks for the help this morning.”
“Any time.”
“Let me know how it goes with Grace.”
“Likewise. With Maddie.”
As Evan walked up the hill on the way back to the pharmacy, he thought about Grace and the blissful months they’d spent together. Nothing could’ve prepared him for what it was like to care more about someone else than he did about himself. He’d thought she felt the same way about him, but now he wasn’t so sure.
The thought of broaching the subject with her made his stomach knot with anxiety, but he needed to know for sure that the reason she hadn’t told her parents about him wasn’t because of his employment situation. He only hoped his need to know wouldn’t cause trouble between them. He’d do anything to avoid that.
Chapter 7
Why won’t he take the hint and go away, Kara wondered as she ate her lunch as fast as she could, wanting to get back on the water and away from the annoyance named Dan Torrington. He’d found an excuse to stop by the marina every day for the two weeks the launch service had been open for business.
“Nice day,” he said from the dock.
She was sitting at the helm of the launch. “Uh-huh.” The boat bobbed in the chop from a passing dinghy, making her feel nauseated after shotgunning the lunch she’d planned to enjoy during a leisurely break that he’d ruined with his presence. Most of the time, she ignored him, but today he ventured down the ramp to the floating dock that housed the launch.
“So how does this work?”
“How does what work?”
“The launch service.”
Wasn’t it rather obvious? “Ah, we give people rides to and from their boats.”
“If someone wanted to go along for the ride, how much would that cost?”
“A ride to where?”
“Wherever you’re going when you leave here.”
“We don’t do that. You have to be going somewhere to come for the ride.”
He puzzled over that for a minute. “Isn’t the goal of this venture to make money?”
Kara hoped her scowl answered for her.
“If I’m willing to pay…say…twenty dollars to ride along, you’d say no to that?”
“If you have money to burn, you should give it to charity.”
His lips quirked with amusement, highlighting very appealing dimples. Kara hated herself for finding his dimples appealing. She knew his type. Nothing good came from spending time with guys who thought they were entitled to take anything they wanted. She’d learned that lesson the hard way.
“It’s a nice day. I’d like to take a boat ride. You have a boat. Are you sure we can’t negotiate a compromise?”
His use of lawyer speak didn’t help his case, not that he needed to know that. “Ask Mr. McCarthy if you can borrow his boat.” Kara gestured to the pristine Chris-Craft that Luke Harris had lovingly restored.
“Since I don’t know the first thing about how to run a powerboat, he’d be crazy to let me borrow his. Besides, I heard he’s off-island today. Something about his brother the judge getting an award from the state bar association. Mrs. McCarthy, Shane, Owen, Laura and baby Holden went, too.”
He was certainly well informed on island gossip. “Who’s minding the store at the Surf?” she asked and then instantly regretted the question because her goal was to get rid of him, not to continue the conversation.
“Owen’s mom.” He squatted to bring himself to her eye level. The scent of his expensive cologne invaded her senses, making her want to lean forward to get a better sniff. “Will you take me for a ride?”
“If I do, will you go away and leave me alone?”
Damn those dimples. “For now.”
“Fine. Get in, but don’t talk to me when I’m working.”
“Yes, ma’am.” He scrambled on board and slid precariously when the bottoms of his fancy shoes made contact with the boat’s deck. “Whoa.”
“Those aren’t exactly boat shoes,” she said, laughing at the faces he made as he barely saved himself from pitching over the other side and into the water.
He handed her a twenty and took a seat on the bench in the aft portion of the boat.
Kara had expected him to sit near her and was slightly disappointed when he didn’t. Knock it off, she thought. What do you care where he sits?
He rested his arms on the back rail and stretched out long legs. They were nice legs with dark hair. Not too much dark hair. Just the right amount.
When she realized she was staring at his legs, she forced her gaze off him and out to the busy harbor. Why did she have to react to him the way she had since the night she met him at Luke’s house last fall? Every time he came around, she felt edgy and off-kilter the way she had when Matt—
No. Do not go there. Do not think about him. Do not.
As much as she never wanted to think about her ex-boyfriend again, she couldn't help but draw comparisons between two handsome, successful attorneys who walked around like they owned every room they stepped into, as if they were entitled to take whatever they wanted and discard that which they didn’t. She’d already been discarded once and had no desire to let that happen again.
“How do you like living on the island?” he asked after a long stretch of silence.
Kara had never wished more for customers to give her something else to do besides talk to Dan Torrington. “What’s not to like?”
“I couldn’t agree more. I love it here. It’s so quiet and peaceful compared to what I’m used to.”
“Anything is quiet and peaceful compared to LA.”
Damn it, she’d made him smile again. She had to watch out for that. Those damned dimples popped up with no warning and distracted her from her mission to get rid of him.
“Not all of LA is frenetic and crazy. It has its charming areas, too.”
“I’ll have to take your word for that.”
“Ever been there?”
She shook her head.
“You should come out some time. I’ll show you the nice parts you don’t get to see on TV.”
God, he was so much like Matt. He didn’t look anything like Matt, but his entire act was right out of Matt’s manifesto. Effortless charm and that whole aw-shucks-I-have-no-idea-I’m-ridiculously-hot thing were their trademarks. She’d been sucked in once before by that routine, and it wasn’t about to happen again, no matter how appealing she might find him.
Kara reached into her bag and pulled out the book she’d started the night before—anything to distract her from giving too much thought to why he’d decided to fixate on her. She thought he’d have something to say about her burying her nose in a book, but he sat quietly, taking in the scenery and adding to his already impressive tan. Not that she was watching him or anything. No, she was reading and enjoying the story. Or she had been until she read the same sentence for the fourth time.
Since she refused to let him know how distracting he was, she continued to pretend to read for at least ten more minutes before a customer finally showed up. Thank goodness!
“Trouble you for a ride?” the man asked. He too was young and handsome, but he didn’t have dimples, and he didn’t make Kara feel anxious or on guard the way Dan did.
“Sure thing. Hop aboard.” When he was settled, she said, “Where to?”
He pointed to the northeastern corner of the pond.
Kara tossed off the lines and backed the launch out of the slip, using a combination of throttle and rudder to turn the boat in a tight area. Out of the corner of her eye, she saw Dan watching with interest and what might’ve been admiration. She told herself she wasn’t showing off for him. Of course she wasn’t. Why would she show off in front of a man who annoyed her and who she was determined to resist, even if he was often quite irresistible?
On the way through the anchorage, she chatted with the boat owner about the upcoming Gansett Island Race Week activities, the weather, the sailing conditions, her favorite restaurant on the island, and the small New York town where the man lived.
As they got closer to his navy blue sailboat, Kara made a wide turn and brought the launch right in next to the boat, reaching for a stanchion to hold her boat in close enough for the man to disembark.
“Thanks a lot for the ride.” He’s actually quite cute, she thought. “Hope to see you again before I leave.”
“Good luck with the races.”
“Thanks.”
As they pulled away, she took another call on the shipboard radio and headed to the other side of the pond to make a pickup. About halfway there, an air horn sounded, leading her to another pickup.
By the time they returned to McCarthy’s thirty minutes later, Kara had a full boat and people waiting for her on the dock. She loved spending her days on the water and meeting new people, but mostly she loved being anywhere other than Bar Harbor.
Absorbed in collecting money, greeting new customers and helping others off the boat, she almost forgot about Dan.
Almost.
Preparing to leave on another run, she ventured a glance at him. “Are you getting off?”
“I understand each trip is three fifty, so if my math is correct, I’ve paid for three round trips.”
“You’ve paid for two. Three would cost twenty-one dollars.”
Very deliberately, he reached for his wallet, pulled out a one-dollar bill and asked the other passengers to hand it to her.