Gansett After Dark (18 page)

At that, Ned visibly brightened, and Big Mac looked upon his oldest son with an unreasonable amount of pride. He knew it wasn’t always cool for a man to love his kids the way Big Mac loved his, but when you had five kids as amazing as his, it was damned hard not to be talking all the time about how great they were. At times like this, they did the talking for him.
 

“That’s a great idea, son,” Big Mac said. “What do you think, Ned?”

“I’ll talk ta Francine bout it. ’Tis all up to her.”

“You’ll be a fine husband if you already realize that,” Big Mac said.

“Ya think I will? Really?”

“I’m sure you will,” Mac said. “You love her and her girls like they’re your own. Maddie says all the time that she and Tiffany had no idea what it was like to have a father until you came into their lives. And the kids adore their grandpop. You’re going to be great at it.”

With his chin propped on his hand, Ned blinked a few times.
 

For a second, Big Mac wondered if his old pal would hang on to his composure in the face of such a ringing endorsement.

“Thank you,” Ned said softly. “Means a lot coming from ya.”

Luke Harris joined them, along with some of the other daily regulars who came by for coffee, doughnuts and bullshit every morning.
 

“So hey, before the day gets away from us,” Mac said, leaning in so his father and Luke could hear him. “I need to start spending a little more time at home. This pregnancy is kicking Maddie’s ass, and she needs some help with the kids.”

“No problem,” Big Mac said. “Do what you’ve got to do.”

“I’ll cover for you,” Luke said. “Maybe someday you’ll get to return the favor.”

“I really hope so,” Mac said.

“You know we don’t want to pry,” Big Mac said tentatively, aware that Luke and his wife, Sydney, were trying to have a baby after she’d had a tubal ligation reversal.

“Yes, you do,” Luke said, laughing. “Nothing yet, but we’re having lots of fun trying.”

Big Mac had loved Luke Harris like a son since the fatherless boy showed up at the docks when he was fourteen and asked for a job. He’d been working there ever since. Best thing Big Mac had ever done was make him a partner in the business a couple of summers ago. Luke and Mac were doing a brilliant job of running the place so he could spend more of his time doing what he did best—passing the bull with his friends.

Grant came along a short time later, taking a seat at the table with a coffee in hand. “I have news from the trenches,” Grant said with a triumphant smile that had everyone’s immediate attention.

“Spill it,” Mac said.

“Steph and I are getting married on Labor Day!”

“Oh for shit’s sake,” Ned muttered as the others congratulated Grant.

“What’s wrong with him?” Grant asked, using his thumb to point to Ned.

“He’s having a little trouble fitting his wedding in among all the others,” Mac told his brother. “But I’m happy for you and Steph. That’s great news.”

“Yes, it is,” Big Mac said to his second son, who had found the perfect partner in Stephanie. Big Mac and Linda wholeheartedly approved of the delightful young woman who’d overcome a hardscrabble upbringing to become someone anyone would be proud to welcome into their family. “This is very good news indeed.”

“Happy fer ya, too,” Ned said gruffly. “Don’t think I ain’t. We all got a soft spot for that gal.”

“Thanks,” Grant said. “We’re excited.”

“Ah, here comes our newest Romeo,” Big Mac said, making room at the table for his brother.

“Oh shut up.”

“Holding hands, Uncle Frank,” Mac said. “Looks like someone’s got himself a
girlfriend
.”

“So what about it?” Frank asked testily as he helped himself to one of the doughnuts.

“He’s not even denying it,” Mac said. “It’s worse than we thought.”

“You all need to get busy minding your own business rather than everyone else’s.”

“That ain’t never gonna happen,” Ned said to laughter from the others.

“What the hell fun would that be?” Big Mac asked. “So… You and Betsy. Going steady. This is very exciting.”

“You’re a jackass, you know that?”

“Um, excuse me, but who was up in my grille every time I brought a new girl home? I never got the chance to do that to you because you were with Joann since eighth grade. Now it’s my turn, and revenge is sweet.” Big Mac wasn’t sure if he’d done the right thing mentioning the wife Frank had lost to cancer so young, but Frank just smiled at him, full of the good humor Big Mac expected from his older brother.

“Have your fun, pal. I’m happy to take your abuse, because she’s worth it.”

“Oh, wow,” Mac said. “This is
way
more serious than we thought.”

“I don’t know if serious is the word I would use,” Frank said. “At least not yet, but it does have potential.”

“Good fer ya,” Ned said. “Been a long time comin’.”

“Indeed it has,” Frank said.

“Pardon me,” a female voice said. All eyes turned to a striking, dark-haired woman. She was tall with brown eyes and a cautious manner.

“Help you with something?” Mac asked her.

“I’m looking for Mac McCarthy?”

“That’d be me,” father and son said together, as they usually did.

She looked from Big Mac to his son and then back to him. “Senior,” she said.

“What can I do for you?” Big Mac asked.

“Could I have a moment of your time, please? In private.”

“Uh-oh, Dad,” Mac said. “What did you do now?”

The young woman gave his son a curious look before returning her attention to him. He had no idea who she was, but since she’d asked so politely… “Sure thing. Right this way.”

He led her down the main dock to the very end, where the Salt Pond stretched out before them.
 

“I’m sorry to drag you away from your friends.”

“That’s all right.”

“I’m Mallory.” She swallowed hard as if she were nervous. “Mallory Vaughn.”

“It’s nice to meet you, Mallory.”

“It’s nice to meet you, too. Does the name Vaughn mean anything to you?”

“I can’t say that it does. Should it?”

She withdrew a crumpled piece of paper from her pocket and handed it to him. “You should read this.”

Holding her earnest gaze, Big Mac took it from her with a sinking feeling in the pit of his stomach. What was this about? Turning his attention to the paper, he began to read handwriting that obviously belonged to a woman.

My dear Mallory,

Now that I am gone, I feel it is only fair to share the one piece of information I was too fearful to give you in life. You have asked me for years about who your father is, and I had good intentions of telling you when the time was right. Then I got sick, and time became our most precious commodity. I had other things I wanted to do besides revisit my painful past.

Your father is a good man; at least he was during the short time that I knew him. He had an opportunity to start a business on Gansett Island, and since I was tied to my home and family here, there was no future for us. So I let him go to pursue his dream and stayed here to pursue mine. A short time later, I discovered I was expecting you.

“Oh my God,” Big Mac whispered as the dock beneath his feet seemed to move as his entire existence shifted. “Your mother was Diana Vaughn.”

“Yes.”

“So that makes you…”

“Your daughter, apparently.”

Big Mac couldn’t seem to breathe as he stared at the young woman before him and tried to make sense of what she was saying.

She gently removed the letter from his hand and read the rest to him. “‘Your father owns a marina called McCarthy’s Gansett Island Marina. His name is Mac McCarthy, and he will be surprised to know you exist because I never told him I was expecting you. By the time I learned you were on the way, he and I had ended our relationship, and a short time later, I heard he was engaged to someone else.
 

“‘I harbored an irrational fear that he might try to take you away from me if he knew about you, and I couldn’t let that happen. I wish I had been a stronger person for both your sakes, and I’m sorry for what I’ve denied you both through my silence. I hope you can find it in your heart to forgive me and perhaps find him now that you are alone in the world. You should also know I named you Mallory because his real name is Malcolm. I thought you might someday appreciate that connection, however tentative, to the man who fathered you. I love you with all my heart. Mom.’”

Mallory folded the letter and returned it to her pocket. “I’m sorry to shock you this way. I don’t want anything from you. I just wanted to meet you, to fill in the blanks. I’ll go now. It was really nice to finally meet you. This is a beautiful place you’ve got here.”
 

As she turned to leave, something in him rose up, forcing him to react before she got away. “Wait. Don’t go yet.”

She stopped and turned to him. “Honestly, I meant it when I said I don’t want anything from you. I’m perfectly fine. You have your life, and I have mine. I just wanted to put a face to the name. That’s all.”

“You can’t just walk away after telling me you’re my kid,” he said, stammering over the words. He couldn’t recall ever being quite so rattled by anything.

“Why not?” she asked with an amused little smile that reminded him in some small way of Janey.

He couldn’t begin to fathom how this was going to affect his life, his family or his marriage, but he knew he’d never forgive himself if he let her walk away. “Because that’s not how I roll.”

“Excuse me?”

“If you think a kid of mine is going to be out there in the world for all this time without me knowing about her and then walk out of my life as casually as all that, well, that isn’t going to happen. You may not want anything from me, but I want something from you.”

“And that is?”

“I want to know you. I want you to know me. If what your mother says is true, you have five half siblings. Wouldn’t you like to know them?”

“Are you doubting the truth of what my mother said?”

“I don’t want to, but I’d be a fool to accept the word of someone I haven’t seen in more than…”

“Thirty-eight years,” she said tightly. “I’ll be thirty-nine on Wednesday.”

“I have a lot at stake here.”

“I told you. I want nothing from you.”

“Dad?” Mac asked as he approached them. He took a long measuring look at Mallory. “What’s going on?”

“Give me just a minute, son, will you please?”

“Um, sure.” Hesitantly, Mac turned and walked away.

“That’s your son.”

“My oldest, Mac Junior.”

“How old is he?”

“Thirty-seven.”

“How old are your other kids?”

The question was asked in a cool, relaxed tone, but he could see how hungry she was for information about his family. “Grant is thirty-six, Adam is thirty-four, Evan is thirty-two and my baby, Janey, just turned thirty.”

“Four boys and a girl,” she said softly. “I wondered if I might have siblings.”

“You don’t have any others?”

She shook her head. “My mom never married. I was her only child.”

“As I recall, she had a big family.”

“Who didn’t approve of her decision to have a baby on her own.” Mallory shrugged. “We didn’t need them. We had each other.”

“So now you’re alone in the world.”

“Not entirely. I have fantastic friends and a career I’m proud of.”

“What do you do?”

“I’m an emergency room nurse in Providence.”

“That’s very impressive.”

“You really think so?” she asked wistfully, clearly hungry for more than just information.

“I really do.” He cleared his throat and tried to think of what his next move should be. “I need to talk to my wife. Her name is Linda, and she’s the center of my life. She has been since shortly after your mom and I broke up. Do you have a phone number or some way I can reach you?”

She shook her head. “I can see that you’re a nice man. You’re the good guy my mother said you were, but I just wanted to meet you, not turn your entire life upside down. There’s no need to explain me to your family or your wife. That’s not why I came. I got what I needed, and I appreciate your time. I won’t take any more of it.”

“So you’re not one bit curious about your five siblings? How about your cousins? There’re quite a few of them. Laura and Shane both live here on the island. They’re my brother Frank’s kids. He’s up there at the table. He’s a retired Superior Court judge. My brother Kevin is a doctor—a psychiatrist, actually. He’s got two sons—Riley and Finn. They’ll be here in a couple of weeks for Laura’s wedding. She’s marrying Owen Lawry, who’s my son Evan’s best friend. If I were you, someone who doesn’t have much family to call my own, I’d at least want to meet everyone before I decided I didn’t want anything to do with them.”