Blackout After Dark: Gansett Island Series, Book 23

by Marie Force

  “Haha,” Abby said. “I never have been before now.”

  “Yes, you have,” Slim said, kissing her forehead. “We can’t wait to meet your babies.”

  “And I can’t wait to meet yours,” Abby said. “They’re going to have to add on to the island school to accommodate all these kids.”

  “This is amazing news,” Laura Lawry, Adam’s cousin, said. “Look at you—go big or go home, huh?”

  “I’m gonna go big, all right,” Abby said. “I’m hoping I won’t explode toward the end.”

  “You won’t.” Laura was the mother of twins. “You’ll just feel like you’re going to.”

  “Awesome.”

  Charlie and Sarah came over to congratulate them, along with Sarah’s sons John and Jeff, who’d come home for the party.

  While they were talking to them, Owen Lawry joined them. “What’s this I hear? Four?”

  “That’s what they tell us.”

  “Holy crap.” He high-fived Adam. “Well done, my man.”

  “I’m rather pleased with myself.”

  “Ugh,” Abby said. “Am I going to hear that for the rest of my life?”

  “Probably,” Owen’s wife, Laura, said. “I’m still hearing about his prowess in knocking me up with twins.”

  “Same.” Maddie used her thumb to point to Mac. “It’s a good thing they aren’t the ones who have to carry and give birth to multiple babies, or they’d be crying like little bitches.”

  While Mac feigned offense, the others lost it laughing.

  “You know she’s right, Mac,” Adam said. “Our wives are superheroes.”

  “They are for sure. Have you heard about the no-sex-for-months part of having multiples?” Mac asked his brother.

  “Oh yeah,” Owen said, “that’s the worst.”

  “Wait, what?” Adam said. “No one said anything about that.”

  “I repeat,” Maddie said. “Whiny. Bitches.”

  “Now you’re just being mean to your baby daddy,” Mac said, affecting a pout.

  Spending the rest of the afternoon with the always-entertaining McCarthys as well as their friends helped to put Abby’s fears to rest—for now, anyway.

  Chapter 20

  “I think we have a hit on our hands, sweetheart,” Charlie said as he stood with Sarah to survey their guests, who were eating and drinking, talking and laughing, despite the heat and the power failure that had thrown them into chaos earlier. The sun was inching closer to the horizon, promising a spectacular sunset.

  “Seems like it,” she said. “Thanks to the kids and Seamus for bringing more ice.”

  “It helps to have well-connected friends.”

  “For sure.”

  “Who’s that young lady Jeff is talking to?” Sarah asked.

  “That’s Mac and Maddie’s au pair, Kelsey. I hear she’s a delightful girl.”

  “She sure is pretty.”

  “Indeed.” Charlie looked down at her. “Why are you biting that poor lip?”

  “I worry about him. Even though he seems to be doing so much better than he was, he’s still so young and unsettled.”

  “He’ll find his way, just like the others have. He’s doing great, a college grad and lots of opportunities to explore.”

  “I suppose. Did John say anything to you about an issue at work? I heard him on the phone, but I didn’t want to ask.”

  “He referred to an argument with a superior officer, but I didn’t get the details.”

  “Oh jeez. I hope he’s not in trouble.”

  “I didn’t want to pry, so I didn’t ask any questions. Just let him know I’m available if he needs to talk. He said he’s surprised I’d welcome a police officer into my home after what I went through.”

  “What did you say?”

  “That as Sarah’s son, he’s always welcome in my home and that I don’t blame the police for what happened to me. I blame my ex-wife, who was the one to hurt my daughter and who allowed me to take the blame for what she did.”

  “Thank you for making him feel welcome.”

  “Of course he is. He didn’t lock me up for someone else’s crime. I don’t look at him and see all law enforcement. I look at him and see your son. My stepson. A member of our family.”

  “I love you, Charlie.”

  “I love you, too, Sarah.” He smiled down at her. “Check us out, huh? This amazing house, our beautiful kids, all these incredible friends. How lucky are we?”

  “The luckiest people I know.”

  “Who had the shittiest luck ever until they found each other and everything changed.”

  She crooked her finger to bring him down for a kiss.

  “Um, excuse us, you lovebirds.”

  She released Charlie and turned to Big Mac and Linda. Sarah’s went hot with embarrassment. “Sorry.”

  “Please don’t be,” Linda said. “You two are adorable together.”

  “Not sure how I feel about being called adorable,” Charlie said gruffly.

  “You should feel pretty good about it,” Linda said. “I’m so, so happy for you both. Your house is absolutely gorgeous, and we wish you many, many happy years here.”

  “Thank you so much, Linda,” Sarah said, hugging the other woman.

  “Congratulations, guys,” Big Mac said. “It’s a beaut. One word of advice? Get one of those whole-home generators that’re all the rage. We love ours. Damned grateful for it today.”

  “That’s at the top of my list of priorities,” Charlie said.

  “We’re going to check on our new lighthouse keepers,” Linda said. “They just arrived today, and we’re worried about them being out there without power.”

  “It’s good of you to check on them,” Sarah said.

  “Thanks again for having us,” Linda said. “It was a wonderful party.”

  “Thank you for coming and for the gifts that you weren’t supposed to bring.”

  Linda laughed. “Our pleasure. Let’s get together again soon. Our place next time.”

  “We’d love that,” Sarah said.

  “I’ll call you.”

  After the McCarthys had walked away, Charlie said, “Look at us, making couple friends and everything.”

  Sarah laughed at the way he said that, with his usual gruff-sounding disdain for everything, which he said was hardwired into his DNA after fourteen years in prison. But he laughed more now, smiled more, joked more and teased her every day. “Look at us, living the dream.”

  “You said it, sweetheart.”

  Leaving Charlie and Sarah’s, Big Mac directed his truck toward the lighthouse. “Your idea to check on the Watkins was a good one, Lin..”

  “They just got here, and it’s so hot with no power. It’s a heck of a welcome party.”

  “I hope they accept the invite to stay with us until the power comes back. That was a good idea, too.”

  “I have all the good ideas,” Linda said. “You should know that by now.”

  “Heh,” he said, grunting out a laugh. “I walked right into that one, didn’t I?”

  “That was a softball.”

  “How about our Adam and Abby?”

  “Quadruplets! It’s unbelievable. After what they went through… Life sure can be funny.”

  “I can’t imagine having four infants. That’s going to be madness.”

  “Yep, but we’ll all be there to help. We’ll get them through it.” Linda directed the air-conditioning vent to point directly at her. “It’s such a miracle when you think about it. How they told Abby she might never conceive, and now this.”

  “I was thinking the same thing. I’m so happy for them. They’re such great parents to Liam. They’ll be fantastic with the squad, too.”

  “Is that what we’re calling them?”

  “What else should we call them?”

  “Squad works.”

  A few minutes later, they arrived at the lighthouse property, where the gate was still open. They drove down the long driveway that ended at the
lighthouse and parked next to Oliver and Dara’s SUV.

  As they got out of the truck, Oliver stepped out of the lighthouse and seemed surprised to see them. “Hey, guys. I was just going to walk out and close the gate.”

  “We wanted to come check on you to see how you’re holding up without power.”

  “We’re doing okay. I went into town earlier and got a couple of bags of ice. We’re hoping that’ll hold us over until it comes back on. Have you heard anything about when that might be?”

  Big Mac rubbed the back of his neck as he grimaced. “Could be a couple of days.”

  “Days as in multiple days?”

  “Afraid so. It was four days the last time this happened.”

  “Holy crap.”

  “We feel bad this happened the day you arrived,” Linda said.

  “It’s not your fault,” Oliver said. “I suppose we’ll survive.”

  “We were going to ask you,” Linda said, glancing at Big Mac, “if you might like to come and stay with us while the power is out. We have a big house with plenty of empty bedrooms and a whole-home generator that’s giving us just enough power to run window AC units in the bedrooms on low. It’s not ideal, but it’s better than nothing. And we’d be happy to have you.”

  “Oh, well, that’s very kind of you to offer. I’m not sure Dara would want to impose that way.”

  “It’s no imposition at all,” Big Mac said. “Like Linda said, we’re the ultimate empty nesters with bedrooms we’re more than happy to share to make you more comfortable than you’d be here with no power.”

  Oliver seemed to be considering it.

  “How about we do this,” Big Mac said. “We’ll take a walk while you two talk it over. If you decide to stay put, no problem at all. Whatever works for you is fine with us.”

  “That sounds good. Let me go talk to Dara. I really appreciate the offer. It’s just that she’s…” He shrugged. “I used to be able to tell you what she’d say about just about anything. But now… I honestly don’t know what to expect.”

  Linda wanted to hug the poor guy. “We understand. It’s not at all the same thing, but we lost a child late in pregnancy and had a very hard time afterward. That kind of loss, and certainly what happened to you… It changes a marriage.”

  “Yes,” he said with a sigh. “It sure does. Thank you for understanding. I’ll go talk to Dara. We won’t keep you too long.”

  “Take your time,” Big Mac said. “We’ve got nowhere to be.” He put his arm around Linda, and they walked away to give Oliver a chance to speak to his wife. “It was good that you told him what happened to us.”

  “I told Dara earlier. I hope they don’t think I was comparing the two. There’s no comparison.”

  “A loss is a loss. Yes, some are worse than others, but I hope it helps them to know we get it a little bit.”

  “I hope so, too.”

  Oliver went up the spiral staircase that brought him to the combined kitchen/living room and then went up the second stairway to the bedroom/bathroom. The place was cute, but small. It wouldn’t be as easy for him and Dara to avoid each other the way they had at home. Maybe that was a good thing. Who knew? He didn’t know anything anymore.

  Dara was stretched out on the bed, staring up at the ceiling. Every window was open, but the air was thick with heat and humidity that had sweat rolling down his back. “Who were you talking to out there?”

  “Mr. and Mrs. McCarthy came back to check on how we’re making out without power.”

  “That was nice of them.”

  “They asked if we might want to come stay with them. They have extra bedrooms and a generator that provides some AC.”

  “Oh.”

  “I’d understand if you don’t feel comfortable staying with people we don’t know, but they seem so nice and genuine. Might be nice to have AC in this heat.”

  “So, you want to go?”

  “Only if you do. I want you to be comfortable.”

  “I’m not comfortable anywhere anymore.”

  “I know, honey, but it’s hot and not looking to break for days. Mr. McCarthy said it might take that long for the power to come back on. By then, we might be dehydrated from sweating.” He took her hand and knew a moment of pure happiness when she didn’t pull it back. “They told me they lost a baby. Apparently, it messed them up pretty good for a long time.”

  “She told me that.”

  “I think they want to help.”

  “I don’t want their help.”

  “Fine, but I wouldn’t mind their AC.”

  She glanced at him for the first time since he’d come into the room. “You want to go?”

  “Yeah, I think I do. They seem like nice people, and it’s hot as hell here. Not to mention, they probably have a working fridge and coffeemaker, which we don’t have here without power.”

  “You had me at coffee.”

  Oliver smiled at the first lighthearted comment he’d heard her make since disaster struck. Her obsessive love of coffee was well documented, and although he was encouraged by her enthusiasm for something, it pained him to realize how long it’d been since she’d joked about anything. He gave her hand a gentle tug to help her sit up. “Since we haven’t unpacked, it should be easy enough to relocate for a few days.”

  “And if we’re not feeling it, we can come back here?”

  “Whatever you want, hon.” Oliver meant that. He’d do whatever he could to help her find some peace. The estrangement between the two of them was almost as painful as the loss of their son had been, and he had no idea how to bridge the yawning distance between them so they could find their way back to each other.

  He’d hoped that coming to Gansett Island would help to shake things up, but nothing had gone according to plan on their first day.

  They gathered their things, bagged up the perishable food items he’d bought at the grocery store earlier and headed down the stairs.

  Outside, they found the McCarthys sitting on the tailgate of Big Mac’s truck, watching the rather spectacular sunset.

  “See what you have to look forward to every day?” Big Mac said, tipping his chin toward the sky.

  “It’s beautiful,” Oliver said. “Dara and I gratefully accept your kind invitation, but we want you to tell us when you’ve had enough of us.”

  “Oh stop,” Linda said, laughing. “It’ll be nice to have the company. You want to follow us so you’ll have your car?”

  “Sure,” Oliver said. “I just need to close the gate on the way out.”

  “We’ll wait for you,” Big Mac said.

  As they followed the McCarthys to their home, Oliver continued to hope and pray for a breakthrough with Dara, who sat silently next to him, staring out the window, a million miles from him. If the time on Gansett Island didn’t work to give them a reset, he didn’t know what he’d do next.

  Chapter 21

  Caught up in a conversation with his father, uncles and cousins about the abandoned alpaca farm Mac wanted to buy as their next family project, Shane McCarthy realized he hadn’t seen Katie in quite some time.

  Listening to Mac talk about what they could do with the old farm had sparked excitement in Shane, who’d love to renovate another island property that had fallen into disrepair. Mac’s enthusiasm was contagious, and they made a plan to get everyone out to look at the place the following week.

  Now where had his lovely wife gotten off to? He got up to go find her. “Anyone need anything?”

  “Bring more beer when you come back,” Riley said.

  “Will do.”

  Shane went inside but didn’t see Katie among the women gathered around the massive kitchen island, discussing Sarah’s options for backsplash tile.

  “Have you seen Katie?” he asked his wife’s twin, Julia.

  “Not in a while.”

  “Me either.”

  “She came in about a half hour ago,” Sarah said. “I think she went upstairs.”

  “I’ll find her,” S
hane said, beginning to worry. It wasn’t like her to disappear on him. “You mind if I go up?”

  “Make yourself at home, honey,” Sarah said with a warm smile.

  She was the sweetest mother-in-law any man could hope to have, and he’d loved her long before he married her daughter. They’d spent a winter living close to each other at the Surf, working on the renovations and hanging out with Owen, Laura and baby Holden. That was back when Shane had still been trying to resurface from the nightmare his ex-wife had put him through, and Sarah had been coping with the end of her violent marriage.

  Sarah had been a great friend to him then, and after having lost his own mother when he was seven, Shane was thankful to have her in his life to stay.

  He went up the stairs and poked his head in a few rooms, but didn’t see Katie. Knocking on the one door that was closed, he called for her.

  “Don’t come in here, Shane,” she said, sounding frantic.

  Taken aback, he said, “What’s the matter?”

  “I…”

  “Katie, honey… Open the door.”

  A full minute passed before the lock turned, and the door opened a crack. The first thing he noticed was her red, puffy face and watery eyes. “What’s wrong, honey?”

  “I… I think I had a miscarriage.”

  Shane felt like he’d been stabbed in the heart and had to force himself to say something. “Did you… I didn’t know…”

  “I didn’t either,” she said as tears rolled down her sweet face.

  “Let me in, honey.”

  “I need to clean the bathroom. There’s blood…”

  “I’ll clean it. Let me help.”

  The door opened fully, and Shane had to bite back a gasp at how much blood she’d lost. “Katie, sweetheart, let me get Vic.”

  “No! Just you.”

  “Do you feel like you could handle a shower to clean up?”

  She nodded.

  “Okay, let’s take it nice and easy.” He helped her out of her clothes and into the shower. Alarmed by the amount of blood on the toilet and floor, he said, “Are you sure we shouldn’t get you to the clinic?”