by Marie Force
He had a new spring in his step that filled her with optimism as he poured himself a cup of coffee.
“I need you to be ready at six tonight—”
“Grant called—” She stopped when his words registered. “What did you say? Ready for what?”
“I’m picking you up at six and taking you out.”
Linda’s heart did a silly little jig as she caught a glimpse of the sexy young man who’d swept her off her feet with alarming ease forty years ago. “Where’re we going?”
“That’s a surprise, but wear jeans and something warm. Don’t get dressed up.”
“Um, okay. Sure.” She was game for anything he wanted if it meant they got to spend some quality time together.
“Now what were you saying about Grant?” he asked.
“He and Stephanie are organizing an impromptu going-away party for Abby tonight.”
Big Mac raised a bushy brow. “Grant and Stephanie are having a party for Abby?”
Linda smiled at the way he said that. Yes, it might seem odd that their son and his new girlfriend were having a party for his ex-girlfriend, but Linda also thought it was very sweet of them to give Abby a proper send-off. “I thought the same thing, but he said someone needed to do it, so why not them?”
“They’ve come a long way in a short time, those two.”
“They’re madly in love,” Linda said with a smile. It did her heart good to see her kids settling down with loving partners. Three down, two to go. “Speaking of madly in love, Evan never came home last night. He told me he was playing with Owen at the Tiki and hanging out with him afterward, but Doro Chase told me she saw him with a woman at the Lobster House. I did a little digging and found out it was Grace, the one who stayed here last weekend. Remember?”
“Of course I remember. Pretty girl.”
“Very pretty. Grant told me she came out to the island yesterday to pay back the money Evan gave her to get home after her date abandoned her on the island.”
“Interesting.”
“I’m glad you think so. I liked her for him.”
“Now, Lin, don’t get ahead of yourself. Just because he had dinner with a gal—”
“And stayed out all night.”
“—and stayed out all night, doesn’t mean the boy is changing his ways.”
“We would’ve said the same thing about Mac right before he met Maddie,” Linda reminded her husband. She couldn’t remember the last time they’d had one of their regular conversations that involved her plotting and scheming in their children’s lives and him holding her back from doing something she’d regret. “Doro also said she saw Owen and Laura walking arm in arm in town.”
“Is that right? Well, good for Laura—and for Owen. He couldn’t do any better than my lovely niece.”
“I agree, but she needs to get over what happened with Justin before she jumps into something new.”
“She’s a cautious gal. You don’t need to worry about her. At least we know Owen is as straight-up as they come, unlike that douche bag she married.”
“Mac! Language!” Linda said what he expected from her, but she held back the urge to giggle like a schoolgirl. Her beloved husband was coming back to her, one day at a time.
“Just callin’ it like I see it.”
“Why did you put your coffee in a travel mug?”
“Mac is picking me up in ten minutes.”
“To go where?”
“Can’t tell you. It’s a secret.”
He looked so pleased with himself that Linda had to work very hard to keep the delight from showing on her face. She couldn’t wait to find out what he had up his sleeve but was wary of overreacting or doing anything to endanger their fragile accord. “So what’re we doing tonight?”
He came over to her chair, propped his good hand on the back and leaned in so he was an inch from her face.
Startled by the almost predatory look on his face, Linda held her breath.
“Nice try, my love, but you’ll have to wait and see.” He leaned in to give her a lingering kiss.
Wanting to keep him there awhile longer, Linda reached up to curl a hand around his neck and took the kiss to the next level.
By the time he pulled back from her, he was breathing a little harder.
“That was a dirty trick,” he said with a sexy grin.
She smiled. “I learned from the best.”
That seemed to please him. “Six o’clock?”
“I’ll be ready. Did I mention that Grant and Stephanie asked if they could have Abby’s party here?”
“That’s okay,” he said, giving her one last kiss. “We won’t be home.”
Chapter 15
Leaving the Beachcomber before dawn, Evan set out for the bluffs at the island’s southernmost point and sat on the grass to watch the sunrise. Hours later, he was still there, trying to figure out what the hell had happened in that small hotel room.
He’d had plenty of sex in his life, but calling what happened between him and Grace “sex” didn’t do it justice. With her, the “deed” had bordered on a religious experience. Just thinking about it had him hard and wanting more.
“For crying out loud,” he said to the morning breeze. “Give me a freaking break!”
Evan felt like some alien force had taken him over without his permission and changed who he was. The unsettling thought only heightened the anxiousness he’d been riddled with since he woke up in her arms earlier.
Upon realizing where he was and who he was with, his very first thought had been to get the heck out of there before this got even more complicated. What had he been thinking, sleeping all night with her? He’d known from the first instant he met her that she was different from most other woman. Not only was she innocent—truly innocent, he thought with a groan—but she was too nice and too sweet to be dallying with the likes of him.
A vicious round of sneezing left him dazed as his watery eyes reminded him that in the throes of hay-fever season, the last place someone with allergies like his should be sitting was in a field full of pollen.
With elbows propped on knees, he ran his fingers through his hair as bits and pieces of lyrics danced through his mind. The words were softer and more heartfelt than usual, which only added to his anxiety. One night with Grace and he was spouting poetry, for Christ’s sake!
It wouldn’t do. It simply wouldn’t do. Furious at himself and at her and the pollen that made him so miserable this time of the year, he got up to brush the grass and dirt from his rumpled khakis. As he stormed down the path that led to the road, Evan wondered if she was awake yet. Was she questioning where he’d gone and why? Was she expecting him to call her and make plans to get together again today?
He hoped not, because that was not going to happen. There was no way he could spend more time with her, not when he felt so churned up and out of sorts afterward. Did that make him an asshole? Probably, but at least he hadn’t abandoned her on an island with no money and no place to stay.
He’d been honest from the beginning about what she could—and couldn’t—expect from him. He didn’t owe her a damned thing. Just because the sex had been un-freaking-believable didn’t change who or what he was. He wouldn’t allow it to.
Despite the early morning heat and humidity, he walked the long way home to North Harbor, avoiding downtown and any chance of running into Grace. She was leaving tomorrow, and he’d be steering clear of town between now and then. If that made him a coward, so be it. He had no intention of ever seeing her again.
The second she awoke, Grace knew she was alone. That didn’t stop her from sending a hand to the other side of the bed just to be certain. The sheets were cool. He’d been gone awhile. Perhaps she’d dreamed the entire thing. Then she shifted from her side to her back, and every muscle screamed in protest. She definitely hadn’t dreamed it.
Releasing a deep sigh of contentment, she relived the extraordinary night with Evan. Although she ached in some delicate places this morning, s
he wouldn’t change a thing about what had transpired between them.
Wondering if he’d left her a note, she got up and pulled on a robe to look around the small but well-appointed room. Through the open window, she heard the horn for the nine o’clock boat from the ferry landing across the street and the squawk of seagulls. When she didn’t find a note or any sign that Evan had ever been there, she shrugged off the disappointment and stepped into the bathroom. Eyeing the claw-footed tub, Grace decided a good long soak in the hottest water she could tolerate was exactly what her aching muscles needed.
Floating in the steaming water a few minutes later, Grace wondered if he would call to make plans for the day. She could always call him, of course, but she was old-fashioned that way and decided to wait for him to make the first move. As she thought about seeing him again, her emotions were all over the place—giddy and excited and anxious and nervous. Would their easy rapport disappear now that they’d been intimate? What would he say? What would she say? Would she even be able to look at him after what they’d done the night before?
Grace decided she needed a sounding board to figure out what it all meant—and as much as it would embarrass her to admit it, she owed Stephanie fifty bucks. Laura was the closest, right across the street at the Sand & Surf. Hopefully, she was around this morning and available for a chat.
Grace pulled the drain plug on the tub and reached for a towel. While she was reluctant to leave the hotel and possibly miss a call from Evan, who didn’t have her cell number, she needed someone to talk to. She also needed to meet with the Golds to discuss the purchase and sale agreement.
In her suitcase, she found a dress she’d bought as part of her new post-weight-loss wardrobe. She’d never worn it before, but as the silky fabric molded to her new slimmer shape, Grace felt sexier than she ever had in her life. Evan had done that for her. Not only had he made her feel beautiful, he’d made her feel cherished and sexy, too.
As she slid her feet into sandals, she couldn’t wait to see him again.
Owen’s first thought when he woke up later than usual was that he wanted to kiss Laura again—badly. As he lay in bed staring up at a water stain on the ceiling, he went over all the reasons it couldn’t happen, but knowing why didn’t stop him from wanting more of her. During the long evening at the Tiki, he’d been forced to put aside his plan to stay far away from her and acknowledge the painful crush that had taken him over.
The ten days she’d been gone to the mainland to unravel her marriage and pack up her old life had been ten of the longest days of Owen’s life. He’d been tormented by thoughts of what she must be going through and filled with the desire to do anything he could to make it better for her.
Seeing her on the hotel porch yesterday, knowing that she’d finally come back, counted right up there among the best moments of his entire life, which scared the hell out of him. He had no business being so happy to see a woman who was technically still married to someone else, not to mention pregnant with that someone else’s kid. He certainly had no business wanting her naked and horizontal under him in his bed. That was for sure!
“Ugh,” he groaned as he got up and shook off the cobwebs from a restless night. “Don’t even go there. It’s not gonna happen, dude.”
He took a quick shower, finger-combed his unruly hair, and threw on shorts and a T-shirt. As he took the stairs to Laura’s third-floor apartment, he told himself he was only going up to check on her and to make sure they were still friends after he’d crossed the line by kissing her.
All the way up, Grant’s words from the day before about not missing out on the most important thing in life filtered through Owen’s mind, making his legs feel like they were made of lead.
On the third-floor landing, he stopped short when he heard telltale retching sounds. Goddamned morning sickness! She was plagued by it.
This morning, however, in addition to the usual retching, Owen heard sobs, too. “Poor baby,” he whispered as he realized her pain had become his, too. How and when that had happened was anyone’s guess. “No one should have to go through that alone.”
Knowing how she hated for him to see her when she was sick, he stood outside the door for a long time, long enough to make a decision he’d probably live to regret. He withdrew the cell phone from his pocket and found the number for the manager of the bar in Boston that had booked him for two nights during the week as well as weekends from Columbus Day to Christmas. It was a good gig and one he usually looked forward to.
“Hey, Jerry, it’s Owen Lawry.”
“Owen! What’s going on?”
“Listen, something’s come up, and I’m going to have to bail out this fall. I’m really sorry for the short notice.” Owen had no doubt Jerry had a long list of available performers who’d be happy to fill the opening.
“Aw, shit! That’s too bad. Our customers love you. Nothing serious, I hope.”
As he thought of his fair-haired Princess and the dark circles under her eyes that had so concerned him the night before, he realized he was sunk. “I’m afraid it might be.”
“I’m real sorry to hear that. If anything changes, you know where we are. You’re always welcome here, Owen.”
“Thanks for understanding. I appreciate it.”
“Take care.”
Owen had no sooner ended the call and stashed the phone in his pocket when panic set in. What the hell had he just done?
Laura couldn’t take much more of the morning sickness that hit her at the exact same time every day. Sometimes it was nothing more than a bout of nausea that a few crackers took care of, but on most days, like this one, the vomiting went on for an hour or more. By the time she reached the dry-heave stage, she was so wrung out that she had no choice but to curl up in a ball on the bathroom floor to ride it out.
That was where Owen found her.
Laura suppressed a moan when she realized he was hovering in the doorway. She hated that he’d already witnessed her daily puke fest once before. That was more than enough.
“Is it over?” he asked.
“For now.”
He bent to scoop her up off the floor. “Come on, honey.”
Like the ragdoll she was, her head flopped onto his shoulder as he carried her to bed.
When he had her settled under the covers, he returned to the bathroom for a washcloth that he dampened and brought back to the bed to run over her face.
Keeping her eyes closed, she said, “You don’t have to do this.”
“Hush. I don’t do anything I don’t want to do.”
A tear slipped from her closed eye and was wiped away by the gentle sweep of the cloth over her cheek. Laura took hold of his free hand. While she knew she shouldn’t be relying on him this way, especially after what’d happened last night, at some point he’d become her rock. She couldn’t imagine not holding on to him.
“How about some tea? I’ll make it nice and weak.”
Laura opened her eyes and found him watching her with unabashed concern etched into his handsome face. “That’d be nice. Thank you.”
“Sure thing.”
She watched him go—tall, broad-shouldered and handsome in the sloppy way she used to disdain when she was busy looking for a clean-cut preppy to marry. Look at how that had turned out. Back then, before Justin, she never would’ve given a man like Owen a second look. His hair was too long, and he was often in need of a shave, not to mention he was proud of the fact that he lived out of his van and had no permanent job or address.
And yet he was ten times the man her law-school graduate husband had been. No, that wasn’t giving Owen enough credit. He was a hundred times the man Justin was.
Owen’s phone rang, and he took the call while he waited for the water to boil.
Laura couldn’t hear what he was saying, but the rumble of his deep voice was comforting. Her eyes grew heavy, so she let them close. When she felt Owen’s weight land next to her on the mattress, she startled awake to find him holding the mug of tea.
He helped her to sit up and settled her against a pile of pillows that he arranged behind her.
“You’re spoiling me.”
He brushed a stray lock of hair back from her face. “You deserve a little spoiling.”
“Owen… About what happened last night…”
“We don’t have to talk about that, Princess. It’s all good. I promise.”
“It’s just that…” Laura ran a finger around the edge of the mug as she tried to find the words she needed. “I wanted you to know…”
“What, honey?”
Everything inside her went soft and needy when he called her honey. He waited to hear what she had to say, as if nothing had ever been so important to him.
Taking a deep, fortifying breath, she said, “I didn’t want you to think that I…didn’t like it. Kissing you.” She forced her gaze up to meet his and found him staring hotly at her. “That wasn’t the case.”
“Oh. Really?”
“If things were different—”
“You know what the good news is?”
“There’s good news?” she asked with a laugh.
“There’s always good news, and in this case, it’s that your situation won’t always be what it is today. Who knows what’ll happen a month or two from now, six months, a year?”
“True.” She could only hope things would get better. It couldn’t get any worse, could it?
“That was Grant on the phone. They’re having a going-away party for Abby tonight. She’s going to Texas to join Cal since he can’t come back with his mother being so ill after her stroke.”
“Grant is having the party for Abby?”
“Along with Stephanie, apparently.”
“Wow, that’s nice of them. What about Abby’s store?”
“I heard Maddie’s sister Tiffany is taking over her lease and opening a new store next summer.”
“So many changes for everyone.”
“That’s what I’m trying to tell you. Things change. You know that all too well. You’re going through a rough spot right now. No doubt about that, but it won’t always be this way. You’ve got so much to look forward to with a new job and a new baby on the way.”