by Marie Force
“I can’t wait to see what comes with the deluxe package.”
He was smiling when he brought his lips down on hers.
“Best tuck-in ever,” she whispered against his lips.
Their bodies moved together as if they’d been lovers for years, and Paul couldn’t wait to have two days completely alone with her.
Erin was settled on the sofa, her injured ankle propped on a pillow, when she heard a rapping on the door downstairs. She groaned at the thought of having to answer the door.
“Don’t get up,” a voice from downstairs called. “It’s me, Slim. Is it okay if I come up?”
“Sure,” Erin said, giddy that he’d come back.
His footsteps pounded up the metal stairs, echoing through the lighthouse. He burst into her living room, grinning from ear to ear, looking ridiculously handsome, carrying something behind his back and a bike tire hooked over his shoulder. “What’d the doctor say?”
“I saw Victoria, the nurse practitioner, because David was at the funeral. They did an X-ray and determined nothing is broken, thankfully. Just a bad sprain.”
“Glad nothing is broken, but sprains can hurt worse than breaks sometimes.” From behind his back, he produced a bouquet of flowers. “Oh damn, I forgot to get a vase. You don’t have an extra one lying around, do you?”
“Under the sink. And thank you. The flowers are gorgeous. Sunflowers are my favorite.”
“You’re welcome.” He found the vase, filled it with water and stashed the flowers, still bound, in the water in typical guy fashion.
She’d tend to them herself in the morning. “What’s up with the tire?”
“I grabbed it for you on the mainland today so we can fix your bike.”
“That’s really nice of you.”
He brought the flowers to her coffee table and plopped down in the chair across from her, resting his long legs on the table. His dark hair was tousled from the wind or his fingers, and his brown eyes took a measuring look at her that made her skin tingle with awareness. “How long are you going to be laid up?”
“I have to take it easy for a week and wear this glamorous brace, but at least I should be off those evil things in time for the wedding.” She gestured to the crutches on the floor beside the sofa.
“Ahh, a week on crutches. That sucks. Have you ever needed them before?”
“Nope.”
“You’ll hate them after two days.”
“I already hate them. They hurt my hands and my armpits.”
“Poor baby.”
“I know I’m pathetic, so don’t pile on.”
“I’ll try not to,” he said with a grin.
“What’re you doing here anyway?”
“You’re here.”
“I’m not quite sure how to take that.”
“I guess I could be more clear. You’re here. You’re lovely. I want to get to know you better, and you never said whether you’ll go out with me.”
Erin swallowed hard at the “you’re lovely” comment. “No, I didn’t, did I?”
Slim stuck out his lip and shook his head. “I had to fly all day not knowing whether I was going to see you again after we spent the whole night together.”
“Don’t say that like it was something it wasn’t.”
“You can’t blame a guy for trying, can you?”
“I can blame a guy for trying too hard.”
“Touché. I meant what I said about wanting to get to know you. Tell me who you are, Erin.”
“I’m a lighthouse keeper at the moment.”
“What were you before that?”
“Let’s see. I’ve been a hotel concierge, a waitress in five-star restaurants, a nanny, an office manager and, for a very brief time, a student at a hairdressing academy. That was an unfortunate segue, especially for the people I practiced on.”
“You’ve had a very eclectic life.”
“That wasn’t always my plan.”
“What was your plan?”
“Law school.”
“What happened?”
Erin hesitated, but only for a moment. This was her story, and she’d learned to own it. “9/11 happened at the start of my third year of law school. My twin brother, Toby, who was Jenny’s fiancé, was killed in the World Trade Center. I left school, and I never went back.”
“God, Erin, I’m so sorry.”
“Thank you. Over the years, I’ve learned to say that as if it happened to someone else. Toby. His name was Toby. He was my twin, my closest friend. After he died, I couldn’t seem to figure out what I was supposed to do without him. I’ve spent a lot of years spinning my wheels, trying to find the answer to that question.”
“And have you?”
“Not yet, but I’m still looking, so I suppose that’s something, right?”
“That’s more than something. That’s everything.”
It was the absolute perfect thing for him to say.
“I’ll have dinner with you.”
“Yeah?”
“Yeah.”
His smile lit up his face.
“Don’t go getting cocky just because I said yes.”
“I wouldn’t dream of it,” he said, but his cocky grin told the true story. “When am I allowed to take you out for this dinner?”
“As soon as I’m off the crutches.”
“That’s a whole week from now!”
She shrugged, enjoying the game more than she had in longer than she could remember. “Cocky and impatient. Not very attractive qualities.”
“I’m also persistent. If you’re going to make me wait until the crutches are gone, I guess I’ll have to come by to visit every day and make a pest of myself so you don’t forget about me.”
“You’re going to drive me crazy, aren’t you?”
“Baby, that’s the very least of what I want to do with you.”
Erin had absolutely nothing at all to say to that.
Paul’s alarm went off at seven, dragging him out of a deep sleep. He’d gotten four hours of sleep after sneaking back into the house at three. His lips were sore from kissing Hope until they were both crazy from the need for more. Later, he told himself. They’d have the time and the privacy to take the next step.
The thought of that next step had him hard and needy in a matter of seconds. “Christ,” he muttered as he ran his hands through his hair and then got up to face the first half of the day, which promised to be challenging. His mother hated leaving the house, let alone the island, and he expected her to be contentious when she realized what was happening.
He took a cold shower that woke him up and cooled what was left of his ardor. There’d be time for that later. But first they faced the monumental task of getting his mother to the hospital on the mainland.
Paul dressed in shorts and a polo shirt and then packed a bag for two nights away. From his bedside table, he withdrew the box of condoms he’d bought earlier in the week and tossed them into his duffle bag. Just in case. Ha, he thought. Who am I kidding?
After that make-out session last night, there was no just in case about it. He wanted her. She wanted him. They were going to be alone in a hotel room for at least one night and maybe two. He planned to make the most of the time they had alone together. He zipped the bag closed and brought it with him to the kitchen, where Hope was once again overseeing breakfast for Ethan and Marion.
If she ever got tired of the endless sameness of each day, she never let on, and she never showed a moment of frustration with either of her charges. She was all about patience and serenity, which was just another thing to admire about her.
Ethan was cranky this morning, fussing at Hope about the crust on his toast, the fact that she was leaving and why he couldn’t come.
Paul glanced at her, offered a smile and tipped his head toward Ethan, asking her permission to intervene.
She nodded tentatively, as if she wasn’t sure she should let him help her out. He wanted her to be able to count on him, even when it
came to Ethan.
“Hey, pal,” Paul said, “Alex told me they’re going to start harvesting some of the pumpkins while we’re gone. I thought you might be able to help out after school if you’re up for that.”
Ethan’s big eyes got even bigger. “Really? Like I could actually get the pumpkins out of the pumpkin patch?”
“Yep, but only if you want to.”
“I want to! Can I, Mom?”
“Sure, as long as you do exactly what Mr. Alex tells you to do and don’t get in the way.”
“He won’t be in the way,” Alex said as he came into the kitchen, dressed for work. “Will you, Ethan?”
“No way. I’ll be such a big help.”
“I have no doubt,” Alex said, smiling.
“Run over and brush your teeth and grab your backpack,” Paul said. “I’ll walk you up to the bus if it’s okay with your mom.”
“It’s fine with her,” Ethan said as he tore out the door at top speed.
“Wow, nice save,” Hope said with a warm smile for Paul. “He was winding up to a full-blown meltdown over me leaving.”
“Pumpkins to the rescue,” Paul said. To Alex, he added, “And thanks for letting him help. He’s been watching them for weeks now.”
“Happy to have him,” Alex said as he downed his first cup of coffee standing up, like he did every day. “Don’t worry about a thing while you’re gone. Jenny and I will take good care of him.”
“Yes, we will,” Jenny said when she joined them, her hair wet from the shower. “We’re looking forward to it.”
“You guys are so nice to do this when you have so much else going on,” Hope said.
“You do us a huge favor every day just by showing up,” Alex said.
“Well, you do pay me to show up,” Hope said, making them all laugh.
“Still,” Alex said, “it’s no small thing you do around here, and we appreciate it. I hope you enjoy the break from the routine and relax.”
“I will, thank you.”
Ethan came barreling back into the house at full speed as usual. He took his lunch from his mother and paused to endure the hug and kiss she bestowed upon him before going to kiss Marion.
“Be a good boy,” Marion said, fixing his hair the way she used to do for her own boys.
“I’m always a good boy.”
Amused by his witty reply, Paul followed him out the door and up the lane to the bus stop.
They were halfway to the road when Ethan looked up at him. “Could I ask you something?”
“Sure you can.”
“You’ll take good care of my mom while you’re gone, right?”
Stunned by the heartfelt question, Paul nodded. “You can count on it.”
“My friends Kyle and Jackson… Their mom died.”
“I know, buddy.”
“I don’t want that to happen to my mom.”
They arrived at the bus stop, and Paul squatted to bring himself to Ethan’s eye level. “Nothing is going to happen to her,” Paul said, his hand on Ethan’s shoulder. “I’ll take very good care of her. You have my word on that. And a man’s word is a solemn promise.”
“Okay.” Ethan surprised him by hurling himself into Paul’s arms and hugging him tightly, making sure to let go well ahead of the bus’s arrival. God forbid such things be seen by his friends on the bus.
“We’ll call you,” Paul said as the bus came to a stop.
“’Kay.” Ethan bounded up the stairs and waved from his seat the way he did every day.
Looking at that little face framed by the bus window, Paul realized he was falling for the son as much as the mother.
Chapter 15
Marion fought them every step of the way. From refusing to shower to battling over the clothes that Hope laid out for her, they were already drained by the time they got her into Paul’s truck for the ride to the ferry landing. When she saw where they were going, she began to rage all over again.
“Turn this car right around and go home,” she said. “I’m not leaving the island.”
“You have a doctor’s appointment in Providence, Mom.”
“Whatever for? There are perfectly good doctors right here. Now take me home.”
“We’re not going home right now, Mom.”
“Paul Michael Martinez, I’m going to tan your hide if you don’t mind me. I don’t know where you get off talking back to your mother, but Daddy will certainly have something to say about that.”
“Okay, Mom.”
“Now you’re just patronizing me, and I won’t have that either.”
And so it went as he backed the truck onto the ferry, helped her out of the passenger door and walked her up the stairs to a table for the hour-long ride to the mainland. He smiled weakly at Hope, who sat across from him and his mother.
“Who is she?” Marion asked, glaring at Hope.
“That’s Hope, Mom. She’s a friend.”
“She’s no friend of mine.”
“She’s my friend. My good friend.” Paul winked at Hope. “So be nice to her.”
“Don’t tell me what to do.”
The ferry’s horn sounded, indicating their imminent departure.
“Where are we going?” Marion asked. “Where’s George? I never leave the island without George.”
“He’s meeting us there,” Paul told her, feeling guilty, as he always did, for lying to her.
“He won’t be happy to hear how fresh you’ve been with me this morning, young man.”
“I know, Mom.”
Thankfully, the crossing was smooth and Marion didn’t fight them when it was time to return to the truck to drive off the boat. They got stuck in some beach traffic on the way to Providence, but still arrived well ahead of their eleven o’clock appointment.
As Paul was parking the truck, he received a call from work that he had to take. So Hope went to help Marion out of the truck.
“Get your hands off me, young lady. I have no idea who you think you are, but I don’t want you touching me.”
“It’s okay, Marion. I’m a friend here to help you.”
Paul watched as Hope tried to put the shoes Marion had taken off back on her feet. “I’ve got to go,” he told the man who’d called him. “Alex is in charge this week. Check in with him.” He stashed the phone in his pocket and walked around the truck to help Hope. Just as he reached her, Marion hauled off and slapped Hope in the face.
She fell back, and Paul caught her. “Oh my God. Are you okay?”
“I, um, yeah, I’m fine.” A bright red welt appeared on her flawless cheek, and Paul wanted to rage against his mother and the hideous illness that had turned her into someone he didn’t recognize.
“Mom! Apologize to Hope.”
“I will not apologize. I told her not to touch me.”
“She was trying to help you.”
“I don’t need her help. I don’t need anyone’s help.”
Paul wanted to scream from the frustration and anguish that overtook him. More than anything, he wanted to stop everything so he could comfort Hope and ensure she was really okay, but he couldn’t do that until they had his mother safely delivered.
“Let’s go, Mom,” he said firmly, leaving no room for argument.
She seemed to sense he was at the end of his patience, so she got out of the car and let him escort her inside. Two nurses from the memory care clinic that would be overseeing the testing met them. All the pre-admission paperwork had been done in advance, so there was nothing left for them to do but say their good-byes.
“Wait,” Marion said when Paul kissed her. “Where’re you going?”
“The doctors are going to help you, Mom. I’ll be right here to pick you up when you’re ready.”
“It’s okay, Mrs. Martinez,” one of the nurses said kindly. “We’ll take very good care of you.”
“I want George. Where’s my husband? He’d never leave me with strangers. Where’s George?”
She screamed for her husband unt
il she was out of earshot, leaving Paul emotionally spent by the ordeal.
Hope’s hand on his back jarred him out of his troubled thoughts.
He looked over at her and noticed the mark on her face was still red and beginning to swell. “Excuse me,” he said to one of the nurses. “My mother hit my friend. Is it possible to get her an ice pack?”
“I’m fine, Paul,” Hope said.
“Of course,” the nurse said. “I’ll grab one for you.”
“You’re not fine,” he said, touching his fingertip to the angry red mark on her face. “I’m so sorry. She’s never done anything like that before, even when Alex and I gave her reason to.”
“Believe it or not, that wasn’t the first time a patient has hit me. The frustration and anger are part of the illness. I don’t take it personally.”
“Well, I do. I take it pretty fucking personally when she hits you, of all people.”
She smiled at his outburst. “You’re very sweet when you’re protective.”
The nurse returned with a disposable ice pack.
“Thank you so much.”
“No problem. Don’t worry about your mom. We’ll take very good care of her, and we have your number if we need you for anything.”
“I appreciate it. Thanks again.” With his hand on Hope’s lower back, he guided her out of the building and into the warm sunny day outside. His body was rigid with tension and frustration and rage he didn’t know what to do with. How could he justify being angry with his mother when she couldn’t help what she did? No, he was furious with the illness that had snatched her away from them in the prime of her life. She’d worked by his father’s side for decades, and just when she should be heading into her relaxing retirement years, the dementia struck. It was so unfair to her, to all of them.
He opened the passenger door for Hope, and when she was seated, he took the ice pack from her and held it against her face.
She closed her eyes and leaned into his hand. “Feels good.”
“I’m so sorry, sweetheart. I hate that she did this to you.”
“And I hate that you’re so upset about it. I mean it when I say I’m fine and that stuff like this goes with the territory when you work with dementia patients. It’s not the first time, and it probably won’t be the last time.”