by Marie Force
“Um, yeah,” Tiffany said warily, sensing where this might be going.
“Are you seeing anyone?”
She still wasn’t sure how she was supposed to answer that question. Was she seeing Blaine? Mostly she was having incredible sex with him. “Sort of.”
Laura leaned in closer. “Do tell.”
“Ah, well, um… Blaine.”
Laura laughed and clapped her hands. “Oh, I love it! I can totally see you two together!”
“Is that right?”
“Definitely. He’s some kind of good looking.”
“You’d better not let your fiancé hear you talking like that.”
“Owen has no doubt that I am hopelessly in love with him, but that doesn’t mean I fail to notice a guy like Blaine.” She leaned in even closer, as if someone might hear them. “He’s got that whole strong, silent thing going on, doesn’t he?”
“He’s a little too silent sometimes.”
“What do you mean?”
“His idea of talking is ‘spread your legs.’”
Laura dissolved into laughter. “What’s wrong with that?”
“Nothing. I guess.”
“It makes it difficult to get to know him.”
“Right.”
“Well, if it’s any consolation, a man who would think to pair up two abused women because they might be able to help each other clearly has a heart of gold.”
“That’s true.” Tiffany thought of the furniture and the bath and the night he’d comforted her after the confrontation with Jim. It occurred to her that with Blaine it was more about actions than words, and his actions said a lot about how much he cared for her.
“What do I get Sarah?” Laura asked, looking around the store with dismay.
“How about some scented bubble bath and candles?”
“Now that’s an idea. She works far too hard and needs to relax more.”
“Let me show you what I have.”
As Laura was leaving with her purchases, Francine came in, took a hesitant look around and then sought out Tiffany. “It looks wonderful, honey!”
Delighted her mother had finally come to see the store, Tiffany said, “Thank you.” She stepped forward to welcome her with a hug. “It’s nice to see you here.”
“I’ve been meaning to come in for days now. I don’t know where the time goes.”
“It’s okay. You’ve been helping out with Ashleigh.”
Francine laid a hand on Tiffany’s forehead. “Fever’s gone. Are you feeling better? You look better. Still a bit pale but better.”
“I feel a lot better—even better since Dan told off Jim and made the eviction thing go away.”
“Oh, thank heavens! That’s excellent news. No one deserves a comeuppance more than Jim Sturgil.”
“No kidding. Anyway, thanks for taking Ashleigh last night.”
“We had so much fun with her. She was raring to get back to camp this morning, so we dropped her off on our way into town.”
“I don’t know what I’d do without you—and Ned.”
“We’re happy to help you. We love spending time with Ashleigh. She’s such a cute little girl and so polite.”
“That’s good to hear.”
“Are you going to show me around the store?”
“Do I have to?”
Francine laughed and gestured for Tiffany to lead the way. Tiffany had thought having Linda McCarthy in the store was nerve racking. That was nothing compared to leading her mother through the beads into the back room.
“Are those…” Francine leaned in for a closer look. “Oh. So that’s what has everyone in town all abuzz—no pun intended.”
Hearing that, Tiffany’s recently ravaged stomach started to hurt again. “What’ve you heard?”
“They were talking in the diner this morning about the town council meeting. Apparently, Royal Atkinson, one of the councilmen, is determined to shut you down.”
Tiffany was filled with nerves at that news. She’d thought Verna Upton had taken care of that for her. “I’ve heard that, but I have all the proper permits. The town clerk signed off on them.”
“Then you should be fine. Don’t let the haters get you down. My daughters aren’t quitters.”
“We learned that from you,” Tiffany said as she led her mother back to the store’s main room.
“Thank you, honey.”
Despite her new worries, Tiffany reached across the counter for her mother’s hand. “It’s so good to see you happy again, Mom.”
“I could say the same for you. That handsome policeman seems awfully taken with you.”
“He’s very…nice.” When she thought of him, as she did so many times each day, her heart fluttered.
“He seems like a lovely young man.”
“He is.” Tiffany flipped a pen back and forth between her fingers.
“What’s the matter? Don’t you feel the same way he does?”
“I do, but… I just got divorced, and after everything with Jim—”
“Jim is a self-centered asshole. I’ve thought so since the first time you brought him home back in high school.”
Tiffany’s mouth hung open in shock. “Why didn’t you ever say so?”
“Would you have wanted to hear it?”
“Probably not.”
“You had stars in your eyes for that boy from the very beginning, but I never thought he was good enough for you.”
“Good enough for me?”
“You heard me right. Just because he went and got himself a fancy law degree—that you paid for, I might add—doesn’t make him smarter than you. It only makes him better educated, and don’t you forget that. If you let him ruin this second chance for you, then he wins, Tiffany. Do not let him win.”
Fascinated by this new insightful side of her mother, Tiffany pondered what she’d said. “You’ve changed.”
“Lord, I hope so,” Francine said with a laugh. “I had three long months in jail to think about my life and the changes I wanted to make when I came home.”
Seeing her mother locked up for passing bad checks on the island had been a low point in her life—and her sister’s.
“And then I saw Ned…” Francine’s entire demeanor softened when she spoke of her fiancé.
“I love how you found each other again all these years later.”
“He’s the best thing to happen to me in a very long time. Don’t be a fool with Blaine, Tiffany. He’s a good man, the kind of man you and Ashleigh deserve. Don’t be so jaded by what happened with Jim that you let fear drive you away from him. Do you hear me?”
“Yes, ma’am,” she said reflexively, the way she had as a child.
The bells on the door jingled, and Tiffany looked up to make eye contact with her father as he came into the store. “Um, Mom…”
Francine turned and recoiled at the sight of her ex-husband. “What’re you doing here?”
Bobby Chester scowled. “I came to see my daughter, not that it’s any of your business.”
“It’s absolutely my business. I don’t know what you’re hoping to prove by forcing these girls to see you—”
“I’m not hoping to prove anything. I only want to know them. That’s it.”
“You had ample time to know them when they were children.” Francine stepped forward and smacked Bobby right across the face.
Before Tiffany could say a word, Bobby had her by the arm to keep her from hitting him again.
The bells jingled again as Ned walked in. “Ready to go, doll? I’ve got just enough time to run ya home before the next boat.” He stopped short when he saw Bobby gripping her arm. “Ya got one second to let her go, or I’ll drop ya on yer fat ass.”
Tiffany wasn’t sure what was more shocking, that her mother had actually hit her father or that Ned had threatened him.
Bobby released her and stepped back. “She hit me.”
“Good for her,” Ned said. “Someone shoulda smacked ya years ago, leaving yer wife an
d kids the way ya did. Now listen here. By now ya’ve seen Maddie, over the express wishes of all of us who love her. So yer gonna end this foolishness and give yer wife a divorce. Ya got me?”
“Who’re you to tell me what I’m gonna do?”
“I’m the man who loves Francine and her girls as if they’s my own, and I’ve had just about enough of yer happy horseshit.”
Listening to Ned tell off her father, Tiffany realized two very important things: She loved the man who loved her mother, and she loved Blaine—with her whole heart. As soon as she got the chance, she was going to tell him so. Her mother was right—if she let fear drive her away from Blaine, Jim would win. She couldn’t let that happen.
Bobby grunted at all of them and then turned and hightailed it out of the store.
Francine threw herself into Ned’s arms. “You were positively magnificent! Wasn’t he magnificent, Tiffany?”
“Positively,” she said, smiling at her mom. She couldn’t wait to tell her sister about this. “And in case you were wondering, Ned, we love you, too.”
His eyes got all misty looking. “Aww, shucks, gal, now don’t go doin’ that.”
Tiffany stepped around the counter to hug him. “I’ve never had a father,” she said. “Better late than never.”
“Cut that right out,” he said, sniffling as he returned her embrace. He stiffened in her arms and pulled back from her. “What’s in there?” he asked, pointing to the beads.
Francine took him by the hand. “Mind if I show him?” she asked Tiffany.
“Um, please… By all means. As long as I don’t have to do it.”
Laughing, the happy couple went into the back room as the bells jangled yet again to admit Patty.
“Hey, boss.”
“Hi, there. What’re you doing here? You’re off today.”
“I know, but I was thinking with the first day of Race Week fogged out, we might want to ‘work the street,’ as you would say.”
Intrigued, Tiffany leaned forward on the counter. “What’ve you got in mind?”
A soft giggle came from the back room.
Patty glanced at the beaded curtain. “Who’s in there?”
“My parents.”
Patty’s eyes got very wide. “Yikes. Kinda embarrassing, huh?”
“Just a tad.” Tiffany prayed they didn’t buy anything. “So, what about this idea of yours?”
“Oh, right.” Patty clapped her hands and went to the racks, holding up two racy sailor outfits. “What do you think?”
“You’re brilliant, but I can’t afford to pay you for today.”
“That’s okay. I wasn’t doing anything, and this’ll be fun.” She held out one of the outfits to Tiffany. “Shall we?”
Tiffany thought for a minute about how Blaine had promised to “punish” her if she strutted her sexy wares in public again, but with all the racers heading back into port due to the fog, she’d be crazy not to try to drum up some business. She also considered what Royal Atkinson and the rest of the town council, as well as her landlord and vindictive ex-husband, might have to say about it and decided she didn’t care. She had the same right as everyone else to earn a living in this town, and their threats weren’t going to stop her.
“I’m in.”
Blaine pulled into the pharmacy parking lot and took a moment to gather himself before he walked into the store. He hated having to do this kind of thing. Thankfully, it didn’t happen very often on the island—nowhere near as often as it had in his past job, when he’d often had to tell people their loved ones had been hurt or worse. That Mac and his brothers were his good friends made today even more difficult.
He found Grace in the back of the store at the pharmacy counter.
She smiled when she saw him coming. “Morning, Blaine. How are you?”
“I’m… Ah, could I speak with you for a minute? In private?”
She tuned right into his distress, and her smile faded as she came down the steps to meet him. “What’s wrong?”
He took her aside, away from customers. “The boat Evan is on.”
“What about it?” she asked, taking a step back from him as if to escape from whatever he was about to say.
“There was an accident. The boat was hit by a freighter… Grace. Grace!” He reached out and caught her as she fainted. “Someone call 911.”
By the time the ambulance arrived a few minutes later, Grace was awake and crying hysterically.
“What happened?” a female voice asked Blaine as the paramedics talked to Grace. “I’m Jenny Wilks, a friend of Grace’s.”
Blaine told her about the accident and that Grace had fainted.
“I’ll stay with her,” Jenny said.
Relieved to have help, Blaine said, “Everyone is gathering at McCarthy’s Marina.”
“I’ll get her there as soon as she’s able.”
“Thank you very much. Tell her to stay strong, and I’ll see her later.”
Blaine left the pharmacy, dreading that he had to go through this twice more. On the way to the hair salon, where he hoped to find Mrs. McCarthy, he tried to call Tiffany’s cell phone and the store line to let her know her sister needed her. When she didn’t answer either time, he wondered if she’d changed her mind about going to work and decided to run by the store after he located Mrs. McCarthy.
At the Curl Up and Dye salon on Ocean Road, he found Linda mid-dye, having an animated conversation with the owner, Chloe Dennis, who also cut his hair twice a year, if that.
“Hey, Blaine,” Chloe said when he walked in. “Did Mayor Upton finally wear you down and talk you into a haircut?” She was tall and curvy, and her hair color changed with her moods. Today she was a redhead.
“Not yet,” he said, glancing at Mrs. McCarthy.
“Everything all right?” Linda asked.
“I’m sorry to say it isn’t.”
“Not my husband,” she said with a hand over her heart.
“No, it’s the boys.”
To her credit, Linda maintained her composure. “What about them?”
Blaine told her about the accident.
Chloe gasped and put a comforting hand on Linda’s shoulder.
“I need to be with my husband.” Linda started yanking foils out of her hair. When she was done, she stood and pulled off the black cape. To Blaine, she said, “Can you take me to him?”
“I will,” Chloe said. “I’ll take you wherever you need to go, Linda.”
“He’s at the marina,” Blaine said. “I need to see Maddie, and then I’ll be there.”
“Thank you for letting me know,” Linda said.
Concerned about her eerie calm, Blaine exchanged glances with Chloe.
“I’ll take care of her,” Chloe whispered.
“Thanks.” Since the salon was only two blocks from Tiffany’s store, Blaine left the truck and walked, staring out at the fog as he went, imagining his friends fighting for their lives in the midst of it. Were they injured or worse? Were they conscious? He doubted any of them had been wearing lifejackets, as they were all experienced yachtsmen. At times like this, Blaine wished he were more religious, because it would take an act of God to bring them all back safely. What if the McCarthys lost three of their sons? That thought didn’t bear entertaining, so Blaine refused to go there.
He was half a block from Tiffany’s store when he stopped abruptly on the sidewalk, shocked to see her prancing around outside the store with Patty. And what the hell were they wearing? Sailor suits? If you could call them “suits.” Tiny scraps of fabric held together with a square knot placed strategically between two sets of full breasts. His cock stood up for a better look at Tiffany, but he willed it into submission by allowing in the anger. He’d told her he didn’t want her doing that! A crowd of men had gathered to watch the two women as they teased and flirted and tried to entice customers into the store. The squeal of car tires tore his attention off her as two cars narrowly avoided colliding in front of the store.
&nb
sp; All the stress and emotion of the last hour bubbled to the surface, filling him with fury as he covered the remaining distance, laser focused on Tiffany. As if he was outside himself watching someone else, he grabbed her arm and marched her into the store, slamming the door in Patty’s face as she scrambled after them.
“What do you think you’re doing?” Tiffany asked, outraged as she pulled her arm free.
Blaine hadn’t been this angry since he’d heard about what Eden had been up to while he worked nights. “What did I tell you about that?”
“In case you haven’t noticed, I’m a grown woman who can do whatever she wants, and the last thing I need is another man in my life thinking he can call all the shots while I watch passively from the sidelines.”
He took her hand and pulled her over to the window. “See those guys over there?” Pointing to the crowd of randy, leering young bucks who’d gathered on the sidewalk, Blaine said, “They’re all picturing you naked right now.”
“So what? They’re never going to see me naked.”
“You’re goddamned right they’re not.”
“Neither will you if you don’t get out of here right now.”
He pulled his citation book from his back pocket. “Not until I cite you for public indecency.”
“You’ve got to be kidding me.”
Blaine knew he’d probably regret throwing his official weight around, but at the moment, he was too damned mad to care about repercussions. “Don’t act like I didn’t warn you. The mayor has been all over me about your ‘advertising’ strategies, and you’ve given me no choice.”
“You absolutely have a choice.”
He pulled two pages from his book. “A citation for you and a warning for Patty. Now put on some clothes and quit creating a nuisance.”
Right before his eyes, Tiffany tore the citations into tiny pieces and sprinkled them like confetti at his feet.
“You’re just begging me to arrest you.”
She held out her hands. “Go for it.”
“If I didn’t have much bigger problems at the moment, I would, so count yourself lucky.”
When she stuck her tongue out at him, it was all he could do not to take her up on the blatant invitation.