Now, as soon as Jenny arrived to take over, Shanna led Henry and his grandmother upstairs. The minute he saw his room, Henry beamed.
“This is totally amazing!” he enthused. “Look, Grandmother, there are posters of the Phillies on the walls, and the Eagles, too. They’re my favorite teams.”
“I know,” his grandmother said. She smiled at Shanna. “You couldn’t have done better at making him feel at home. I should head back to Philadelphia now and leave you to get settled.”
“Already?” Henry asked, looking disappointed. “I thought we could have lunch first.”
“I thought so, too,” Shanna said. “Maybe just a quick one at the café next door?”
The older woman looked pleased by their insistence. “A quick one, then.”
Downstairs, Shanna checked to make sure Jenny knew how to handle everything they’d been over. “I’ll be at Sally’s if you need me, and I have my cell phone with me.”
“It’s all good,” Jenny assured her. “Bree has the same kind of cash register, and you showed me how to scan the price tags and fill in the receipt books.”
Shanna grinned. “Sorry. I’m just a worrier.”
“Well, there’s no need. If I have even a tiny doubt, I’ll call you. The cell number is right here.”
Satisfied, Shanna led the others to the restaurant, knowing that this public introduction of Henry would be spread all over town by nightfall.
No sooner had they settled in a booth than Sally appeared, her order pad in hand, curiosity written all over her face.
“Well, now, who do we have here?” she asked, grinning at Henry.
“This is my stepson, Henry Hamilton,” Shanna told her. “And this is his grandmother, Loretta Hamilton. Henry’s going to be visiting with me for a while.”
Sally beamed. “That’s wonderful.” She winked at Henry. “I’ll expect to see you in here often. Now what can I get you?”
Shanna glanced toward her former mother-in-law, who was looking at the simple menu with a bemused expression. This was a far cry from her usual country club fare. “I know you love chicken salad,” Shanna said to her. “Sally’s is wonderful, especially on one of her freshly baked croissants.”
“That does sound good,” Mrs. Hamilton agreed at once. “With a cup of tea.”
“Earl Grey, if you have it, Sally,” Shanna added.
“I do.” Sally turned to Henry. “What about you, young man?”
“I’d like a hamburger, please.”
“What nice manners!” Sally said approvingly. “And Shanna, what about you?”
“I’ll have the chicken salad on a croissant, as well.”
“I’ll be back with these in a minute,” Sally assured them.
Despite the promise of a hasty return, though, Shanna noted that Sally stopped to pass along the latest gossip to several of the regulars on her way to the kitchen. By nightfall, half the town would know that Shanna’s stepson—not her son—was visiting. Maybe word would make its way back to Kevin, though she wasn’t counting on that distinction alone to mend fences with him. It was still evident she’d kept something significant from him.
When she turned back to her former mother-in-law, she saw that she was looking around the casual café with interest.
“I used to go to a place just like this when I was in school years and years ago. My friends and I went every afternoon.”
“To check out the boys?” Shanna dared to tease.
Mrs. Hamilton chuckled. “I certainly never admitted that to my parents, but yes. I imagine that sort of thing will never change.”
“Is that how you met Mr. Hamilton?”
“Oh no,” she said, her expression nostalgic. “Our families had been friends for years. We practically grew up together. It was always assumed we would marry.”
“What about love?” Shanna asked, trying to imagine a relationship based on family expectations rather than passionate love.
At one time, her question might have been greeted as impertinent, but now Mrs. Hamilton merely shook her
head. “Young people today think love can only begin with chemistry and grand passion. In my day, we had those kind of feelings, of course, but we also knew that love and a strong marriage could grow out of friendship, mutual goals and respect.”
“I don’t remember about my real mom, but my dad and Mommy were in love,” Henry said, his expression sorrowful. “Just not for very long.”
Shanna gave him a quick hug. “It was complicated, sweetie. I still care about your dad, and I love you more than anything.”
A grin broke across his face. “More than snow?”
“Definitely more than that,” she said, playing the once-familiar game.
“More than rainbows?”
“Absolutely.”
“More than flowers?”
“You bet.”
He paused, his expression thoughtful, before offering the final challenge. “More than hot fudge sundaes?”
Shanna sighed heavily. “Hot fudge sundaes are really amazing,” she said as if she were torn. Then she tickled him until he giggled. “Yes, more than hot fudge sundaes.”
When she looked up, Mrs. Hamilton was watching them with tears in her eyes. “Excuse me,” she said hurriedly. “I need to visit the restroom.”
As Shanna watched her go, she experienced a fresh understanding of the woman who’d once held her in such disdain. Though she might seem stiff and unyielding, she truly did love her grandson. Enough to let him go.
Not a day went by that Kevin didn’t hear from someone about the boy who was now living with Shanna. Her
stepson, it seemed, not her son, but he couldn’t see how that made much of a difference. The boy was obviously a big part of her life, and she’d kept his existence a secret. How could he forgive that?
Other people in town obviously didn’t have the same dilemma. They were practically bursting with excitement over the news. Mick had hardly been able to contain the fact that he’d put furniture together for the boy. Bree and Jess were the worst, of course.
“He’s such a cutie,” Bree enthused.
“I know,” Jess said. “I saw him with Shanna at Sally’s on the day he arrived. He’s darling. Don’t you think so, Kev? You met him the night he dropped in for a visit, right?”
As he had that night, Kevin walked out of the room without a word. This was not a topic he intended to discuss, much less dissect, with anyone. Least of all his nosy family.
Bree, however, had no intention of letting him off the hook so easily. She was right on his heels.
“I thought so,” she said, jabbing a finger in his stomach. “You’re in a snit because she kept something from you.”
“It’s a pretty big something,” he growled. “She’d apparently walked away from a child.”
“Just like Mom and Georgia,” Bree said knowingly.
“Sure, yes, just like Mom and Georgia. Are you saying you approve of that?”
“First of all, I wouldn’t be judging her without knowing all the facts. And second, since I do have facts, I’m here to tell you it was nothing like what either Mom or Georgia did. If you would climb down off your high horse and talk to the woman, you’d find out just how different it was.”
“There’s nothing she could say—”
“Oh, stuff a sock in it and stop being a judgmental jerk without learning all the facts,” Bree said, cutting him off. “You won’t know if there is unless you actually listen to her.” She gave him a knowing look. “Unless you’re clinging to this just to put some distance between the two of you because you’re scared you’re falling in love with her.”
Kevin tried to keep his expression neutral so Bree wouldn’t see that she might be right. Instead, he challenged her. “If you know I’m wrong, why don’t you fill me in?”
“Because you need to be talking to Shanna, not me. It’s called communicating, Kevin. You need to learn how to do it.”
He scowled at her. “Hey, that goes both ways, you know. It’s not as if Shanna has been beating down the door here to fill me in.”
“I’m willing to bet she’s been leaving messages for you for days,” Bree retorted.
He felt his face flush at the accusation. “She left a few,” he admitted. “But if she really cared what I thought, she’d have come over here to make me listen.”
Bree groaned. “Do you actually hear yourself? That’s nuts, even for you.”
“Thanks so much,” he growled. He suspected he was being irrational, but, dammit, he thought he was justified in being ticked off.
She shook her head. “Heaven save me from two idiots with more pride than sense. Do I have to conspire with Jess and Abby to get you in the same room? Trust me, you won’t even see it coming if I have to resort to that. The three of us are a lot sneakier than Gram, and she’s already working on her plan to get you back together. You can count on that.”
“No question about your capability when it comes to meddling,” he muttered. And he didn’t mean it as a compliment.
But at least she’d warned him. He’d have to be on guard from here on out, because the last thing he was in the mood for was a cozy chat with another woman who could abandon her son, or even a stepson with whom she’d obviously had a very close relationship.
And no matter what excuses she’d fed Bree, that was the bottom line. He’d seen the way that little boy had looked at Shanna. Kevin had felt his pain, because even though he’d been a teenager, he’d lived something very similar when Megan had walked out on all of them.
As far as he was concerned, what Shanna had done was unforgivable. He’d never understand how believing that somehow turned him into the bad guy.
M
ick was so frustrated with Kevin, he actually considered driving to Annapolis to confer with Thomas. Maybe if he and his brother put their heads together, they could figure out some way to get through Kevin’s thick skull that he was throwing away his best chance at happiness.
Mick knew all about being proud and stubborn. Hadn’t he lost Megan by behaving exactly as Kevin was now? Of course, he also knew from that sad time in his life that there wasn’t anyone on earth who could have gotten through to him. That was the one thing that kept him from going to Thomas for help. Okay, that and the fact that he didn’t want to give his brother the satisfaction of reaching out to him for assistance with one of his own children.
“I don’t know what to do to make things right between Kevin and Shanna,” he told Megan when they were driving from the airport to the house.
“Maybe there’s nothing you can—or should—do,” she said. “Kevin has to work this out for himself. You did.”
“And it took me too damn long to do it,” Mick said. “I don’t want to see him wasting that much time.”
“Neither do I,” she admitted.
Mick glanced over at her. “We could show him by example,” he suggested.
She regarded him with suspicion. “Meaning?”
He warmed to the idea. “If we had a fancy wedding, showed him that two people can get past anything if they want to badly enough, he might reach out to Shanna.”
Megan actually had the audacity to laugh at the suggestion. “Mick O’Brien, you’re incorrigible. I am not marrying you to provide some lesson for our son.”
“Did you hear me suggest that it wouldn’t be about me loving you? I thought that was a given,” he huffed.
“Then maybe you should have included at least a mention of it,” she retorted.
“What’s it going to take for me to wear you down, Meggie?” he asked with exasperation. “I’m running out of ways to prove to you that we can make it work this time. I’m a different man now. We’ll be real partners, share everything. I’ll be underfoot so much, you’ll be calling around the country trying to line up jobs to get me out of the house.”
“Now there’s a scenario it’s hard for me to imagine,” she said.
Though they were miles from the turnoff to Chesapeake Shores and he’d been anxious to get home, Mick made a decision on the spot. He moved the car into the left lane and signaled for a turn. He probably should have taken Megan on this side trip weeks ago.
“Where are we going?” she demanded. “This isn’t the way home.”
“You’ll see,” he said, grimly determined to prove his point to her once and for all. If this didn’t do it, he was out of ideas.
He drove to the site of a small development of af
fordable housing being built as part of the Habitat for Humanity program. He’d personally acquired and donated the land and was overseeing the construction. He jammed on the brakes and cut the engine.
“Look around,” he ordered. “What do you see?”
She surveyed the scene in front of them for a moment, took note of the bustling activity.
“A construction site for a new housing development,” she said, sounding bewildered. “Is it one of yours? It doesn’t look like the kind of community you usually build.”
He explained about the assignment he’d taken on. “I did this for you, so I could be close to home and still do what I’m best at. It was Ma’s idea. She thought I could make a real contribution and impress you at the same time. I provided the land for this one, and I’ve called in favors from a lot of my friends. They’re all pitching in with the construction, and the families who’ll live here are helping out, too.”
Megan stared at him, then at the houses. “I’m astounded,” she said.
He frowned at that. “What does that mean? Shocked beyond belief?”
She nodded. “I can’t believe you’d do something like this, Mick. You’ve always been generous, but this…” Her eyes filled with tears. “Mick, it’s wonderful. What an amazing way to use your talent and experience!”
Her praise was nice, but it wasn’t what he was after. “So, do you get it now?” he demanded. “I’m serious about you and me, Meggie. I’m not retired, but I am spending ninety percent of my time right here, close to home, at this site and a couple of others.” Unable to keep the frustration out of his voice, he asked, “Is that going to be enough for
you, or is there some other hoop you need me to jump through?”
She looked shocked by the question, or maybe it was his tone of voice that put that dismayed expression on her face. “Oh, Mick, I never meant for you to jump through hoops proving anything. You certainly haven’t asked that of me, though I need to earn your trust again, as well. I just wanted to be sure, wanted both of us to be sure we could make it work this time. At my age, I don’t want to go through another divorce because we still can’t get it right.”
“Do you think I do?” he asked indignantly. “We’re both old enough and experienced enough to know that marriage takes work, more work than I was willing to put into it last time. Now, though, I’ll do whatever it takes.”
Megan’s gaze locked with his, hers steady and unblinking. “Ask me again,” she said with a hitch in her voice.
Mick regarded her blankly. “Ask you what again?”
She merely lifted a brow.
“Oh,” he said, his heart suddenly hammering. He had to gather his thoughts, get the words exactly right. “Megan O’Brien,” he began eventually, “will you do me the very great honor of becoming my wife, my partner, my soul mate? Will you call me on my mistakes and share everything with me?”
Her lips curved slowly and tears trickled down her cheeks. “Yes, Mick O’Brien, I believe I will.”
Mick tried to sweep her into his arms, but in his big SUV, the gesture was more awkward than romantic. Too bad he hadn’t picked her up in the classic convertible, but this moment was sweet enough. He wasn’t going to waste too much time on regrets.
“I love you, Meggie,” he said, stroking her cheek. “Always have, even when I was being a damn fool.”
She laughed at that. “Me, too,” she admitted. “But maybe this time, two old fools can avoid the same mistakes.”
“I’m counting on that,” he told her, right before he found a way to get his arms around her and kiss her without the dadgum gearshift skewering either one of them. “I can’t wait to get home and share the news.”
“No,” she said at once. “We need to keep this to ourselves for now.”
His temper stirred. “You tell me why we shouldn’t tell the world.”
“Think about it, Mick. Our daughter’s getting married in another few weeks. We shouldn’t steal any of Abby’s limelight. And with our son’s romance currently in a precarious state, it might be like rubbing salt in his wounds.”
Mick sighed. “Are you always going to come up with one excuse or another?”
“No,” she promised, lifting his hand and pressing a kiss to his knuckles. “The minute Abby and Trace are married and Kevin’s sorted things out with Shanna, we’ll make the big announcement.” She grinned. “Though knowing your mother, she’ll figure things out long before then.”
“Ma does have a sixth sense about everything going on in our family, doesn’t she?” he said. He consoled himself by saying, “Well, maybe this will give her time to adjust to the idea.”
Megan nodded. “I want to be sure she understands that my coming back will never displace her.”
“That’ll work itself out, Meggie,” he said with confidence. “Ma loves you.”
“And I, her,” she said. “But the two of us under one roof will take some compromises. I don’t want her to be unhappy, Mick.”
“She won’t be, not as long as she can see how happy we are.”
“I think you’re being overly optimistic, because it’s what you want. You know she’s been fretting about this since we first started seeing each other again.”
“True,” he acknowledged. “But I also know that the two of you will work out the details so you’re both happy. And I’ll do my part to make sure she understands that we want her right there with us. She’ll offer to move back to her own cottage, but she’d be miserable away from all the commotion, I think.”
“Okay, then, we’re agreed,” Megan said. “We wait and we make sure things are right with Nell.”
Mick wasn’t overjoyed by the wait, but he could see the sense in it. “Agreed.”
Megan squeezed his hand. “This will be a good thing, Mick. We can take our time and figure out all the details.”
“What details?”
“I have a job in New York,” she said, as if he needed reminding.
“You’ll quit.”
She frowned at that. “Not without something else lined up,” she said emphatically. “I’m not going to sit around and be dependent on you for my happiness, the way I was before.”
“Then you’ll open an art gallery in Chesapeake Shores. Maybe that boss of yours will want to expand down here and open a branch or whatever you’d call it in your business. You could manage this one for him. Or start your own. Whatever you want to do, I’m behind you.”
“Really? You won’t object to me working?”
“Not as long as there’s plenty of time for the two of us. You’ll need an assistant you trust, too, because I want you to travel with me, Meggie. No more separations.”
She nodded. “Agreed.”
He grinned. “See how smoothly things are going to go? We’ve already negotiated through some tricky territory.”
Megan laughed. “We have, haven’t we?”
“It’s going to work out just the way we want it to, Meggie.” He thought of his inability to compromise in the past. Combined with her inability to ask for what she really wanted until it was too late, it had been a disaster. This time was going to be different. “It’ll be smooth sailing.”
She gave him a wry look. “No, it won’t, but every bump will be worth it. I do believe that.”
Mick nodded, satisfied. Maybe that was the key to a successful marriage, knowing there’d be many a bump in the road, but believing that, in the end, love was worth it.
Kevin knew he was in for a hard time when Trace and Jake showed up at the house on Saturday morning, apparently unified in some mission by Abby and Bree.
“I don’t suppose the two of you are here to play a little one-on-one on the basketball court,” he said as he deliberately sipped his coffee.
Jake and Trace settled into rockers on either side of him and set them in motion. They probably looked like three old men about to discuss the weighty issues of the world, but Kevin knew better.
“No basketball,” Jake said. “I have to get to a landscaping job in an hour.”
“And I’m taking the girls over to Myers’s farm to ride ponies,” Trace added.
“Then you’re here because Bree and Abby sent you,” Kevin said glumly.
“Exactly,” Trace said.
“Can we just agree that I already know everything you’re likely to say, and leave it at that?” Kevin asked hopefully.
Jake shook his head. “Nope. They’re worried,” he said.
“I know that.”
“We need to reassure them,” Jake added.
“They think you’ve misjudged Shanna and that you owe her a chance to explain what’s going on,” Trace added.
“I’m aware of that, too,” Kevin said, gathering they were going to work through the entire lecture, no matter what. “Anything else?”
“I believe there was quite a bit more,” Jake said. “But I tuned it out.” He scowled fiercely at the other two men. “Which I will deny if either of you dare to repeat that.”
“They won’t hear it from me,” Trace said. “I pretty much missed the rest, as well.”
“Thank heaven for small favors,” Kevin muttered. “You can go now. Your duty’s done.”
“Are you going to see Shanna?” Jake asked, his expression hopeful.
“Nope,” Kevin replied.
Trace heaved a sigh. “Then our work here isn’t done. We’re supposed to make sure you go to see her and work this out.”
“Are you supposed to drag me into town?” Kevin asked curiously, wondering if they’d actually dare to try. It had been years since he’d willingly been drawn into a brawl, but lately he’d been itching for something to pummel. Maybe these two men would do.
“I believe Bree would recommend force, if necessary,” Jake said. “I’m not for it.”
“Me, either,” Trace said.
“Okay, then. Now what?” Kevin asked.
Jake shrugged. “Beats me.”
“Any more of that coffee?” Trace asked. “I could use some before I go back for the girls.”
“Wouldn’t mind some, either,” Jake said.
Kevin looked at the two of them and shook his head. “Do Abby and Bree have any idea how pitiful the two of you are?”
“Thankfully, no,” Trace said.
Kevin laughed. “I’ll get the coffee. Then, in the interest of brotherhood and all that, maybe I’ll give you a few tips on dealing with my sisters.”
“That would be welcome,” Trace said. “Because the closer the wedding gets, the less and less I seem to understand Abby.”
Jake nodded in commiseration. “Even after all these years, Bree’s still a mystery to me.”
“It’s not just them,” Kevin said before he left. “It’s women, my friends. They’re all an enigma.”