Ready for Love

by Marie Force

  “Mac said his father’s hurt bad.”

  “He hit his head. We think on the boat’s swim platform. It looked pretty grim.” A shudder rippled through him. Knowing how close he was to Mr. McCarthy, Syd could imagine how concerned he was. “That drunken son of a bitch had no business running a boat, that’s for sure.”

  “God,” Sydney said, shuddering. “You all could’ve been killed.”

  With his index finger, he tilted her chin so he could see her face. He wiped away her tears and kissed her. “I’m not going to die, Syd. I promise.”

  “You can’t promise that.”

  “Yes, I can.”

  She smiled at him, appreciating what he was trying to do. “How’s your ankle?”

  “It hurt like a mother until they gave me some good drugs.”

  “I’ll take care of you,” she said, nuzzling his neck. “For as long as you need me, I’ll be there.”

  He tightened his hold on her. “They said it could take forty to fifty years to heal.”

  Sydney laughed through her tears and stayed with him until the X-ray technician arrived.

  Janey had to get out of there. She couldn’t bear to sit in that room watching her father’s ashen face, hoping for some sign of life from one who was always so much larger than life. The waiting was simply unbearable.

  She left her mother with Mac, Maddie and Stephanie and went outside to get some air. Joe had been on the mainland for the day, checking on his house over there, which they had closed up when they moved to Ohio for the school year. When she called to tell him about the accident, he said he’d be there as soon as he could. At times like this, living on an island truly sucked.

  He’d made so many sacrifices to support her dream of attending veterinary school, and now with their wedding just over two weeks away, she might have to ask him to make another one.

  No way could she get married without her dad there to give her away. They’d have to postpone it until he was able to be there with them. That was all there was to it. The thought of putting off a wedding they’d looked forward to for a year had new tears filling her eyes. One again her entire life had been upended in an instant, and she was reeling.

  She thought she was seeing things when a Gansett Island Ferry Company truck came roaring into the parking lot, skidding into the final turn.

  “Oh, Joe,” she said, running to him.

  He met her halfway and lifted her right off her feet.

  “How did you get here so soon? I only called an hour ago.”

  “Slim flew me over,” he said, referring to one of the island’s pilots and a friend of the McCarthy family. “Faster than the ferry. How is he?”

  “I don’t know. They won’t tell us anything, just that head injuries are hard to predict. He looks awful. You need to prepare yourself.”

  “Aw, baby, who prepared you?”

  A sob erupted from her chest, and she clung to him. “Seeing him in that bed. . .” She shuddered. “I’ve never been more afraid in my life.” The scent of the ocean and Joe’s favorite clove cigarettes comforted her as much as his strong embrace. “We’ll have to put off the wedding.” Saying it out loud seemed to make it real.

  “We don’t have to worry about that today. Let’s see what the next few days bring.”

  Janey drew back so she could see his face. “I can’t get married without him. I just can’t.”

  “Neither can I. He’s been a father to me, too.”

  Relieved that he agreed, Janey kissed his cheek and then his lips. “I should’ve known you’d get it. Don’t you always?”

  “We’ll still get married, honey, but if we have to wait a bit longer so he can be there with us, then we’ll wait.”

  “Thanks for understanding.”

  “I love you love you, Janey,” he said as he always did. “No matter what happens, I’ll be right there with you, okay?”

  Nodding, she said, “Put me down so I can take you to see Dad.”

  “I will.” He pressed his lips to her neck. “In a minute.”

  Grant’s pounding head woke him from a sound sleep. Rolling over, he moaned at the shaft of pain that sliced through his skull. He’d awoken in this condition far too often lately. In fact, nearly every day since his mother called to tell him about Abby’s engagement.

  Since no one had bothered to tell him she’d been dating, the news had caught him completely off guard and totally unprepared. How could she even think about marrying someone else? There was no way she could possibly love that guy. Not as much as she loved him.

  He sat up and fought back a swell of nausea. The drinking had to stop. It wasn’t making anything better. His career and life had gone to shit, and no amount of booze was ever going to change that.

  Dragging his aching head into the shower, Grant set the temperature to freezing and was only slightly more alive after five minutes under the icy water. He added some hot water and washed his hair. I need a plan, he thought. Something to get Abby’s attention. Something that will convince her to give me another chance. He’d talk to Janey who was close friends with Abby. She’d know what he needed to do to win Abby back.

  In the bedroom that had been his growing up, Grant reached for his cell phone and was startled to find numerous missed calls from his mother and Janey. As he listened to the voice mail message from Janey, his heart slowed to a crawl as he heard about the accident at the marina.

  Appalled that he’d slept through their frantic phone calls, he got dressed as quickly as his fumbling hands would allow and went into his parents’ room, hoping his father had left the keys to Mac’s motorcycle where Grant could find them. Finding no sign of them there or downstairs, he ran out the front door, heading for town.

  All he could think about was getting to his father. He couldn’t die thinking Grant was a drunken loser. Grant would rather be dead himself than have to live with that memory of his final hour with his beloved father.

  Despite the painful objections from his head and stomach, Grant kept running until a horn beeping beside him caught his attention. Ned and his cab. Grant had never been happier to see anyone in his life.

  “Git in, boy,” Ned called.

  Breathing hard and sweating, Grant slid into the old woody station wagon.

  “Yer mama sent me to find ya when ya didn’t answer yer phone.”

  “Thanks,” Grant said, embarrassed again to have slept through their calls. “How bad is it?”

  “Pretty bad. Yer daddy was bleeding all over the place. Out cold.”

  “God,” Grant said. “I can’t imagine this world without him.”

  Ned sniffled, and Grant looked over as a tear rolled down a wrinkled cheek.

  “He’ll be okay,” Grant said, reaching out to rest a hand on Ned’s shoulder. “He has to be.” Grant couldn’t conceive of any other outcome.

  “I was cranky with him earlier,” Ned said, swiping at his face. “He was bustin’ my balls like he does. Wish I hadn’t sniped at him.”

  “You two have been sniping at each other for sixty years. He wouldn’t want it any other way, and you know that.”

  “Suppose yer right.”

  They arrived at the clinic, where the family gathered in a waiting room. His mother was sitting with Mac on one side and Janey on the other. Maddie, her mother, Joe and the new woman from the marina restaurant were with them.

  “Oh, Grant, there you are,” Linda said. “I was worried when I couldn’t reach you.”

  “Sorry.” Grant went to his mother and hugged her. “What’re they saying?”

  “Cal is in with him now. We’re waiting to hear.”

  Grant went rigid at the news that Abby’s so-called fiancé was treating his father. Didn’t that beat all?

  As if this situation didn’t already suck badly enough, Abby came rushing into the ER a few minutes later. Without so much as a glance at him, she made a beeline for his mother. “I came as soon as I heard. How is he?”

  His mother hugged Abby and updated he
r.

  Grant couldn’t bear to be so close to Abby and not be able to touch her or hold her. When he needed her more than he ever had before, she was unavailable to him.

  He turned his back on the group and looked out a window so he wouldn’t be tempted to stare at Abby. It seemed like they waited forever before Cal came through the double doors.

  Turning in time to notice Cal’s pleasure at seeing Abby there, Grant wanted to kill the guy. It was all he could do not to stake his claim on her right then and there. But this wasn’t the time or place.

  Wearing a white coat over jeans and a button-down shirt, Cal zeroed in on Grant’s mother. “Mrs. McCarthy, I have good news,” he drawled. Since when was Abby attracted to men who drawled? “There’s no sign of a brain bleed or anything life-threatening.”

  An audible sigh of relief went through the room.

  “We’ve stitched up the cut on his head and set his broken arm. He suffered a rather significant concussion, so when he comes to, you can expect him to be confused and in some pain. We’ll do what we can to keep him comfortable, but I don’t see any need at this time to transport him to the mainland or to bring a neuro over to consult.”

  “What if we want a second opinion?” Grant asked.

  The bastard never even blinked when he said, “I’m afraid I’m all you’ve got at the moment.”

  Grant’s mother tossed him a dirty look and then returned her attention to Cal. “Thank you so much, Dr. Maitland. May I see him?”

  “Of course, right this way.” He gestured to the door. “Abby, may I speak to you for a moment?”

  His mother, Janey, Mac and Abby followed the doctor into the ward. As much as Grant wanted to see his father, he’d wait until the doctor moved on to other patients.

  Joe stood and came over to Grant. “You might want to tone down the violent stares. He’s the only doctor around, and your dad is still in a world of hurt.”

  “I don’t know who he thinks he is stealing my girl right out from underneath me.”

  Joe raised an eyebrow. “Is that how it happened?”

  “I don’t want to talk about it.” Grant was light-headed and queasy and not in the slightest bit interested in rehashing how he’d landed in this boat. “I need some air.” He went outside and leaned against the brick building, tilting his face into the sun and breathing in the fresh sea air.

  Just when he’d been convinced things couldn’t get any more screwed up, here he was relying on his rival to keep his father alive. Even with his vivid imagination, he doubted he could’ve written such a messed-up scenario.

  “He’s going to be all right,” a small voice beside him said.

  Grant opened his eyes and looked down at the woman from the marina restaurant. Her eyes were rimmed with red and puffy from crying.

  “He has to be all right.”

  Grant wasn’t sure who she was trying to convince—him or herself. They’d call her a waif in Hollywood, with her tiny frame and big blue-green eyes. She had multicolored spiked hair that made her look even younger.

  “We haven’t officially met,” she said. “I’m Stephanie. Your dad hired me to run the restaurant this summer.”

  He shook her outstretched hand. “Grant McCarthy.”

  “I know who you are,” she said, her face flushing. “I mean, I’m familiar with your work.”

  “Is that so?”

  She nodded. “Song of Solomon was amazing. It changed my life.”

  Hearing that never got old. “I’m glad you liked it.”

  “I was thrilled that you won the Oscar. You totally deserved it.”

  “Thanks. That’s nice of you to say.”

  “I had no idea you were related to Mr. McCarthy until I heard him telling someone about his son, the famous screenwriter.”

  Grant winced. “He can be a bit effusive at times.”

  “He’s so incredibly proud of you.”

  Did she have any idea how badly he needed to hear that just then?

  “Are you all right?” she asked. “You look kinda green.”

  “Few too many last night.”

  “I have the perfect cure for that.”

  “What’s that?”

  “I’ll go get it and come back.”

  “Oh, no. That’s not necessary.”

  She smiled up at him. “It’d give me something to do. I’m madly in love with your dad, and this has been one of the worst days of my life. What happened at the marina. . .” She shuddered, and her face went pale.

  Grant reached out to her. His hand landed on her shoulder, but when she flinched, he removed it. What was that all about? “It must’ve been awful.”

  “I was so afraid he’d been killed. When they brought him out of the water, he looked bad. Really bad.”

  Grant swallowed hard. “Sounds like he’s going to be okay.”

  “Thank God.”

  “Yes.”

  “You should be in there with him.”

  Surprised, he stared at her.

  “I don’t mean to tell you what to do, but why are you out here when your family is with your dad?”

  “Because my ex-girlfriend is apparently engaged to the island’s only doctor, and I’m better off out here than in there plotting ways to kill the guy who’s keeping my dad alive.”

  “You should act like you don’t care that they’re engaged.”

  “Is that so?”

  She flushed again. “It’s certainly none of my business.”

  “No, please. Tell me why you think that’ll work.”

  “Because your indifference will bother her more than your anger does.”

  “Huh,” Grant said, pondering what she’d said.

  “I’ll go get you something to fix up that hangover.” Intrigued, he watched her head for the parking lot. She was nothing like his usual type. In other words, she was nothing like Abby, who was curvy and filled a bra to overflowing. Stephanie, by contrast, was almost boyish with her spiked hair and lack of curves.

  Deciding to take her advice, Grant went back inside to find everyone gone from the waiting room except for Ned, who was sitting next to Maddie’s mother. Francine was holding Ned’s hand and talking softly to him. They never even noticed Grant as he went to the reception desk to ask for directions to his father’s room.

  In the hallway outside the room, a crowd had formed.

  Luke, propped on crutches, was standing with Sydney, Maddie and Mac, who leaned against the wall, visibly exhausted.

  “How is he?” Grant asked his brother.

  “Still out cold,” Mac said. “But his color seems a little better than it was earlier.”

  “That’s good,” Grant said, relieved. The group went quiet, everyone lost in their own thoughts. When the quiet began to grate on his nerves, Grant said, “So what’s going on with Ned and Maddie’s mom?”

  Chapter 19

  “What’re you talking about?” Maddie asked Grant.

  “Dad was ribbing Ned this morning about a hot date he had last night,” Mac explained. “But Ned was being tight-lipped about it.”

  Maddie’s mouth fell open. “My mom and Ned?”

  “She was holding his hand and whispering to him in the waiting room just now,” Grant said. “I was with Dad last night when he saw them together.”

  “Well, I’ll be,” Mac said, laughing. “No wonder why Dad was acting like he’d stumbled upon the hottest scoop on the island.”

  “My mom and Ned?” Maddie said again.

  Chuckling, Mac slid an arm around her shoulders and kissed the top of her head. “Take a breath, babe.”

  “I had an odd conversation with Ned the other night,” Luke said. “He was talking about a girl he’d once known who’d left him for another guy. When he said she still lives on the island, I encouraged him to go see her.”

  “So they were together before?” Maddie asked. “When?”

  “Before she met your dad,” Luke said. “I guess she left him for your dad.”

  “Oh,
” Maddie said. “Wow. I had no idea.” Resting a hand on her belly, she grimaced.

  Mac stood up straighter. “What?”

  “Nothing.”

  “That was not nothing, Madeline.”

  “Just some weird twinges today. Probably Braxton-Hicks contractions.”

  “I want to have you checked,” Mac said. His amusement over Ned and Francine had been replaced by intense concern.

  “It’s fine, Mac.”

  “We’ll let Dr. Maitland decide that.”

  As Mac took his wife’s hand and led her off to find the doctor, Luke noticed the scowl on Grant’s face.

  “What’s eating you?” Luke asked.

  “Not a damned thing.”

  “Whatever you say.”

  “How’s the ankle?”

  “I’m told it’ll hurt like hell once the pain meds wear off.”

  “Thanks for what you did. I heard you took a hell of a risk to save my dad and Mac.”

  Luke shrugged off the praise. “Mac took the bigger risk.”

  “I need to get you home.” Sydney took Luke’s arm. “Doctor’s orders.” To Grant, she added, “They want him off the foot so the swelling will go down.”

  “With me and your dad both laid up, we might need an extra set of hands around the marina,” Luke said to Grant. “Are you willing?”

  “Whatever I can do.”

  “Thanks. I’ll talk to Mac and let you know what we need.”

  “If I can do anything at all for you,” Grant said, “just give me a ring.”

  “Will do. Thanks.”

  “Let us know how your father and Maddie are, please,” Sydney said.

  “I’ll check in later,” Grant said.

  Sydney walked slowly along with him as Luke made his way on crutches to the emergency entrance. They’d wanted him to use a wheelchair, but he had refused.

  “I don’t feel right about leaving while Big Mac is still out of it,” Luke said.

  “I’m sure he’d want you to take care of yourself.”

  “Are you okay? You seem worried or something.”

  “I’m thinking about Buddy. I need to pick him up from the vet.” She bit her thumbnail as she thought it over. “I can’t lift him on my own, so I’ll have to call my dad to help me.”