Evan watched until Grace’s ferry was out of sight. There’d been something strangely endearing about her, and he was sort of sorry to see her go. Not that she was his type or anything—far from it. She was the kind of girl who had “forever” tattooed on her forehead in permanent ink, whereas Evan had “one-night stand” stamped in temporary ink on his.
The truth of it, he thought as he walked over to the Sand & Surf Hotel to see if Owen was around, was that he’d liked talking to her. Even though she had to be reeling from what her so-called boyfriend had done, she’d still managed to laugh and spar with him and entertain him with her inappropriate-laughter stories.
She was a nice girl. Too nice for him, that was for sure.
At the Surf, he peeked in the windows but found no signs of life, so he continued on toward his parents’ North Harbor home. The tooting of a horn stopped him, and he turned to find his father’s best friend, Ned Saunders, pulling up to the curb.
“Give ya a ride?”
“I won’t say no to that,” Evan said, hopping into the passenger seat and kicking at the coffee cups littering the floor. “It’s hot as hell.”
“Whatcha doing out and about so early? Ya usually sleep in after a gig.”
“I took a friend to catch the ferry.”
“Ahhh,” Ned said with a knowing smile. “I gotcha.”
“Not that kind of friend.” Evan filled him in on what had happened the night before with Grace.
“I think I met her. She asked about hotels, and I told her the island was all booked up for the long weekend. Nice of ya to help her out.”
“Just doing what my dad would expect me to do in that situation, especially since she was stranded at our marina.”
“A real pretty gal, as I recall.”
“I guess.” Evan knew better than to show too much interest in a woman, especially when he was home on Gansett where the rumor mill ran on fumes. Throwing gas on the fire wasn’t in his plan for the day. “Let me ask you something, Ned.”
“Anything ya want.”
“Are you worried about my dad?”
Ned’s deep sigh answered for him. “He just ain’t himself, is he?”
Evan shook his head. “He seemed to be getting better, but now it’s like he’s going backward or something. I don’t know if it’s Janey’s wedding or baby Hailey arriving during the storm or what. But something set him back.”
“Might be time to take him back to the doctor. Maybe David could help.”
“I doubt Dad would want to see the guy who cheated on his daughter.”
“Well, David did save baby Hailey,” Ned reminded him. Mac and Maddie’s baby arrived a month early during the recent tropical storm, and David’s quick action had prevented a tragedy when Hailey emerged blue and not breathing. “Yer daddy is no doubt grateful about that.”
Evan thought about it for a minute. “Would you mind dropping me at Mac’s rather than my folks’ place?”
“No problem.”
“So how’re the wedding plans coming?” Evan asked and watched in amazement as Ned’s ruddy cheeks reddened.
“Fine.”
Hooting with laughter, Evan jabbed at the older man’s arm and started humming “Here Comes the Bride.”
“Let’s see how funny ya find it when it’s yer turn.”
Evan shuddered. “That’ll never happen.”
“Sure it won’t. Betcha brother Mac was singing the same song five seconds before he knocked Maddie off her bike.”
“He’s made for fatherhood and family life. That’s so not my scene.”
“Yet.”
“I plan to follow your path and settle down at sixty something.”
“Don’t be a fool,” Ned said with an uncharacteristic sharpness that took Evan by surprise. “I missed out on everything. Never got to have kids of my own and had to share yer daddy’s family.”
“Sorry. I didn’t mean to…you know…”
Ned waved off the apology. “Biggest mistake I ever made was not fighting fer my gal. I just let her go. Took more than thirty years to get her back.” Ned’s voice softened to a tone just above a whisper. “If ya find the right one, don’t be a pigheaded fool and let her get away. Ya’ll regret it the rest of yer life.” He navigated the twists and turns of Sweet Meadow Farm Road and pulled up to Mac and Maddie’s spacious home.
Evan started to get out of the car but stopped and turned back to Ned. “You were a damned good second dad to us, Ned. You still are. The way I see it, all you missed out on were the bills, the dents in your car and the enforcement of a staggering set of rules, most of which were broken on a regular basis.”
Smiling, Ned cleared his throat and reached out to squeeze Evan’s shoulder. “That’s real good of ya to say, son.”
“I only speak the truth, and I know the others would agree.”
“Don’t worry about yer daddy. We’ll get him through this.”
“I hope you’re right.”
“I’m always right,” Ned said with a knowing smirk. “Ask yer brothers and Joe and Luke. They’ll tell ya.”
“I’ll take your word for it. Thanks for the ride.”
“My pleasure. Ya called before ya showed up here, didn’t ya?”
“No,” Evan said, taken aback. “Why do I have to call my own brother before I go to his house?”
Ned chuckled. “Ya got a lot ta learn about women, son, especially when they just had a baby.”
“Great,” Evan said as he closed the door to Ned’s cab with a little more force than required.
With a cheerful toot of the horn, Ned drove off.
As Evan took the stairs to his brother’s deck, it occurred to him that Ned was right. He probably should’ve called first. Before Mac had gotten married and become a dad, it wouldn’t have been necessary for Evan to ask permission to see his brother. In fact, he’d once decided to spend a weekend with him in Miami and jumped a plane to surprise Mac. They’d had a freaking blast, and it made Evan mad to think he needed to
call
before he showed up at his own brother’s house. If his
wife
didn’t like it, too damned bad.
“What the hell crawled up your ass and died?” Mac asked as he opened the screen door for Evan.
“Nothing.”
“Hey, Evan,” Maddie called from the kitchen. “Nice to see you. Want some coffee?”
“No, thanks.” Evan immediately felt terrible for the nasty thoughts he’d directed at a sister-in-law who’d never done anything to deserve them. The fact she even spoke to him after what he’d done to her when they were in school was a damned miracle, and he would do well to remember that. “How’s the baby?” he asked, because he knew he should.
“Sleeping
now
, of course.” Mac shared a grin with his wife. “She’s a night owl.”
“She’s got her days and nights mixed up,” Maddie said as she came into the room and pressed a kiss to Evan’s cheek.
“You’re awfully perky considering you had a baby a couple of days ago and probably haven’t slept since,” Evan said.
Mac slipped an arm around Maddie. “My wife is a warrior.”
“She must be to give birth to a McCarthy.”
Maddie flashed them a winning grin. She kissed Mac and shooed them toward the deck. “Go have some brother time. Everything is under control here—for the moment, anyway.”
“Call me if you need me,” Mac said as he followed Evan outside.
The brothers took the stairs to the yard and strolled across the meadow where Mac and Maddie had exchanged vows just over a year ago.
“What’s going on, Ev? You look all weird in the eyes.”
“Do I?”
Mac nodded.
“Something’s up with Mom and Dad. They’re fighting. A lot. I’m worried that Dad’s backsliding. Remember how good he was when the baby was born? All excited and
him
again?”
“Yeah. He was great when Maddie was in labor. I never could’ve gotten through it without him.”
“He’s back to being grouchy, the way he was before the wedding. Mom is doing her best to give him some room, but it’s not easy when all he does is bite her head off. If he does that when I’m there, imagine what goes on when they’re alone. I’m afraid it’s probably even worse than I think.”
Mac stopped walking and turned to face his brother. “Why do you say that?”
“I met this girl last night. She’d had a really rough night.” He told Mac about Grace’s boyfriend ditching her at the marina. “I took her home, put her up in Janey’s old room, and Mom never said a word. She didn’t grill me or give me the third degree or invite her back to the island for our wedding. She didn’t do any of her usual
Linda
stuff. Well, she did cook breakfast for Grace before I took her to the ferry.”
“Thank God for that much. Otherwise, I’d think she’d been abducted by aliens.”
“Exactly! And it was all Dad could do to say hi to her, which isn’t like him.”
“That is strange. Normally, he’d be after her life story.”
“That’s what I thought, too. I’m worried about them, Mac. I’ve never seen them so at odds.”
Mac scratched at the stubble on his jaw. “Maddie was saying that Mom seems distracted. I figured it was the baby’s arrival and all the excitement of Janey’s wedding. I guess I’ve been preoccupied myself. I haven’t been paying attention.”
“Who could blame you? You’ve had a lot going on.” Evan glanced at the sprawling contemporary his brother called home and then back at Mac.
“What?”
“It’s still kind of funny seeing you all domesticated. I never thought I’d see the day.”
“Neither did I, but when the right one comes along…” Mac shrugged.
Evan was hearing that same refrain a lot lately. “No regrets?”
“Not a single one. When it’s the real deal, it’s the easiest thing in the world.”
“Don’t you ever miss your old life?”
“Nope.”
“And you’re okay with the idea that there’ll only be
one
woman in your bed for the
rest of your life
?”
His brother held back a laugh. “Totally fine with it.”
“Really?”
“Really.” Mac gave up on trying to restrain his laughter. “What’s with all the questions?”
Evan’s skin felt hot, as if he had hives or something. “There’s an outbreak of matrimony going on all around me. I’m trying to understand the allure. That’s all.”
Mac hooked an arm around Evan’s shoulders. “Believe me, my friend, when the allure finds you, you’ll understand.”
“Um, okay. Whatever you say.” Glancing up at the cloudless sky, Evan took a moment to appreciate the crystal-clear September day before he returned his gaze to his brother. “What’ll we do about Mom and Dad?”
“I don’t suppose there’s much we can do. Whatever’s going on between them, they need to work it out.”
“What if they can’t?”
“I doubt it’s that dire. They’re solid, man. They’ll figure it out.”
“Let’s hope so.”
Linda McCarthy watched her left-handed husband struggle to shave right-handed and had to restrain herself from going into the bathroom that adjoined their bedroom to offer help. She’d learned the hard way that it was better not to offer assistance. He didn’t want it, especially from her.
She sat on the bed, waiting as patiently as she could even as she churned with worry and fear. For the first time in nearly forty years of marriage, she was afraid for them—and utterly unprepared for this crisis. They’d never had one. Somehow they’d managed to navigate through life’s craziness, run a business and raise five children without hitting a single speed bump.
It was ridiculous. She knew that, of course. Every marriage had its ups and downs. Except theirs was more about the ups than the downs. The one thing in her life Linda had always been certain of was the man she’d married and the bond that had sustained them for decades. And now, as she watched him awkwardly run a comb through his thick gray hair, she was certain of nothing.
They’d had more arguments in the last six weeks than in their whole life before then. Nothing she said was right. Nothing she did was right. From the minute Stephanie called from the marina to tell her about the accident, Linda’s well-ordered life had been turned upside down.
Not even their daughter’s beautiful wedding or the dramatic arrival of their granddaughter had managed to jar him out of the funk he’d slipped into. He’d rallied on both days, filling her with irrational hope that faded the next day when the funk returned.
The situation had progressed to the point where she’d decided outside intervention of some sort was probably needed. If only she could find a way to broach the subject without risking the wrath of a man who’d never shown an ounce of wrath before cracking his head in an accident that had nearly killed him.
It wasn’t fair. He’d done nothing to deserve this.
They’d
done nothing to deserve it. A drunken boater had done this to them, and she’d be damned if she’d let that criminal steal the most important relationship in her life. And so when her husband emerged from the bathroom, she took a deep, fortifying breath and forced herself to look up and meet his stormy gaze.
“We need to talk, Mac.”
“’Bout what?”
Linda wiped her sweaty palms on her pants. “About how you seem so unhappy, and if you’re unhappy, so am I.”
He retrieved a pair of shorts from the drawer. Watching him awkwardly work his way into them pained her. Her husband wasn’t awkward. He wasn’t angry. And he wasn’t cold to her. Ever. Well, except lately.
“I’m not unhappy.” He pulled a T-shirt over the broad chest that still rippled with muscles even as he closed in on seventy. “I’m pissed. I’m sick of this goddamned cast, and I’m sick of everyone looking at me like I’m addled, especially you.”
Okay, that was totally unfair. Keeping a lid on her own anger, Linda stood to face him. “I am
not
looking at you like you’re addled, but you’re certainly not yourself. In fact, you’re so far from yourself I don’t even know who you are anymore.” She went to him and rested her hands on his chest. “I miss you, Mac. I miss
us
. I can’t bear the tension between us.” Tears clogged her throat, which infuriated her. Linda McCarthy wasn’t a crier.
His good arm curled around her, drawing her in close to him. The loving gesture shocked her. It’d been so long since he’d held her that the sheer relief of being near him overwhelmed her. As his fingers caressed the back of her neck, her eyes burned with tears. “I hate this,” she said.
“I’m sorry. It’s not your fault.”