Gansett After Dark (47 page)

“I thought it was just us and the kids,” Ned said glumly. He was hardly in the mood for another festive party with all the happily married couples in their lives.

“That’s what I thought, too. They must’ve invited the whole gang.”

“Great.”

Ned held her elbow as they went up the stairs to the deck, where the gathered group tossed something at them and yelled, “Surprise.” He held up his arm to protect his face from whatever was flying at him. Rose petals rained down upon them.

“Surprise?” Francine said. She turned to him. “It’s not your birthday or mine.”

Mac and Maddie approached them, holding glasses of champagne and wearing broad smiles. “It’s not your birthday,” Maddie said, kissing them both. “Welcome to your wedding.”

Ned figured he’d heard her wrong until things began to happen all around him.
 

Frank McCarthy stepped forward with a marriage license for him and Francine to sign. Maddie and Tiffany signed as their witnesses.

Next came flowers for both of them, as well as Maddie and Mac and Tiffany and Blaine. Ashleigh, Thomas and Hailey finished out the wedding party he would’ve chosen for himself.

“I don’t understand,” Ned finally said when he could get a word in edgewise.

“You wanted to get married and couldn’t find a date,” Big Mac said, “so Mac and Maddie found one for you.” Big Mac put his tree-trunk arm around Ned. “All you gotta do, old pal, is stand there and get married.”

He was going to cry, goddamn it. Right in front of everyone. He was going to actually cry. Here, standing before him, ready to stand up with him and Francine, was the family he’d always wanted but never had. He spared a glance for Francine and discovered she was already crying.

To hell with it, he decided as he stopped trying to fight his way through the emotional wallop. “’Tis a heck of a thing ya’ve done here,” he said to Mac and Maddie. “Thank you.”

“So you’re happy about it?” Maddie said. “I told Mac if you were mad, it was
all
his idea.”

“It
was
all my idea.”

Maddie patted his face indulgently. “Yes, dear.”

“Well, it
was
.”

“I’m very happy bout it,” Ned said gruffly as he sniffed. “Never been happier bout anything.”

“I
knew
you would be,” Mac said with a big smirk for his wife.

Frank rubbed his hands together. “What do you say, Ned? Francine? Shall we do this? It’s been a full week since I married Laura and Owen. I’m starting to get twitchy for another wedding.”

“I ain’t got a ring fer her,” Ned said, feeling suddenly panicked. They were really going to do this. “I need a ring. She deserves a ring.”

“Gotcha covered.” Mac produced rings from his pocket. “We took the liberty of choosing these for you, but the store said you can return them if there’s something you’d rather have.”

“I don’t know what ta say. Ya thought of everything. Ya even found a way ta get a tie on me.”

“That was the hardest part,” Maddie said, patting her new stepfather’s chest.

Tiffany and Blaine hugged and kissed Ned and Francine.

“This is so exciting!” Tiffany said to her mother. “I almost told you about it five times this week!”

“I kept the secret,” Ashleigh said to her grandmother.

“Yes, you did, sweetheart. I had no idea!”

“Places, everyone.” Maddie clapped her hands. To Ned, she said, “You stay here with Mac and Blaine.”

Ned let her position him where she wanted him. His heart was beating so fast he worried he might pass out or something equally embarrassing. But this was the moment he’d waited so long for, and nothing was going to ruin it for him or Francine. So he took a series of deep breaths, hoping to calm his racing heart.
 

He gestured to Big Mac. “Come ere.”

Big Mac walked over to him. “I’m here.”

“Stay. Need ya right here with me.”

His best friend hugged him. “You got it, buddy.”

Big Mac shook hands with Mac and Blaine as he joined them.
 

Looking around at all the faces gathered before him, Ned saw everyone he loved in this world. The five McCarthy kids, who’d grown up with him as their beloved adopted uncle, his buddies from the morning meetings at the marina and the friends like Luke Harris, who’d become family to him over the years. He wiped his eyes and tried to keep his emotions under control even as he realized he was fighting a losing battle.

Evan and Owen played gentle guitar music as Ashleigh and Thomas came outside, holding hands.
 

Ned loved those kids so damned much. He couldn’t wait to watch them grow up and to spoil them the way any good grandfather would.
 

Next came Tiffany, looking gorgeous and elated as she preceded her equally beautiful sister Maddie through the door. Maddie carried Hailey in her arms, and the baby blew kisses that made his heart melt. Ned held his breath, waiting for Francine to appear, and when she did, she carried a bouquet of white flowers and wore a smile that stretched across her pretty face.

The sight of that face and that smile settled and calmed him. In a few minutes, she would be his wife, and they’d get the rest of their lives together. Nothing had ever made him happier than that did.

The rest of it was a blur. Vows were spoken, rings were exchanged, and Frank pronounced them husband and wife. Ned hugged her and kissed her—probably longer and deeper than was technically appropriate, but who the hell cared? Francine,
his Francine
, was finally his wife, and it was all because their kids had loved them enough to do this for them.

Standing hand in hand with his new wife, surrounded by the family he’d always wanted, Ned Saunders considered himself the luckiest man on earth.

Acknowledgments

It takes a village to bring a book to market, and I’m so very lucky to be surrounded by a wonderful group of helpers. First and foremost on “Jack’s” Team, my right-hand wing woman Julie Cupp, who runs the whole show so I can write. I have no idea how I ever did this without her. Thank you, Julie, my major domo! And to Holly Sullivan, who reads every word before anyone else does, I love you and I love working with you! My niece, Isabel Sullivan, helps me with EVERYTHING and brings her adorable “business associate,” aka my grandniece Harper, over for regular visits that brighten my days. Isabel has also become a faithful reader of mine in the last few months, which makes me so happy. Love you, Bean!

Thank you to my one of my favorite BFFs, Lisa Cafferty, CPA, who has saved the day for me in every possible way since she joined our team in November. I am so relieved to have her expertise and sharp eye on the business side of the house every day. Nikki Colquhoun (Julie’s BFF) takes on every task we throw her way with endless wit. I so appreciate her contributions. Another of my longtime BFFs, Cheryl Serra, has joined the team as our director of publicity. She’s AWESOME and full of energy and good ideas—thank you, Cher!
 

Linda Ingmanson, copy editor in chief, drops everything for me any time I need her, and I so appreciate her sharp eye and her sense of humor. It’s so fun to work with you, Linda, and I’m grateful for your contributions. Joyce Lamb is the last set of eyes on many of my books these days, and she is also terrific to work with. Kristina Brinton is the brilliant graphic designer who creates most of my self-published book covers, including
Gansett After Dark
as well as the three new covers we just did for
Maid for Love, Fool for Love
and
Ready for Love
. With that update, all the Gansett Island book covers are now Kristina’s, and I’m truly thankful for her amazing work. My beta readers, Anne Woodall, Ronlyn Howe and Kara Conrad, are always happy to read for me, and I appreciate their contributions.

On the home front, my husband, Dan, does just about everything, which gives me so much more time to write, and I’m thankful to him for taking care of us so I can do my thing. My kids, Emily and Jake, are always supportive and understanding of what I’ve got going on, and I love the people they’re growing up to be. They make me laugh every day, and I need that!
 

Sarah Spate Morrison, family nurse practitioner, is always willing to take a medical question—or six—and comes back with all the info I need to keep my stories as authentic as possible. I appreciate her help, and Sarah, happy birthday!

To my wonderful, amazing, incredible readers—you will never know how much I appreciate and enjoy you all. I read every one of your emails, your Facebook posts and your tweets, and you make me smile ALL THE TIME with your love for my crazy made-up worlds. You often ask me how long I’ll continue to write Gansett Island books. I’ll say the same thing I always do—as long as you love to read them as much as I love to write them, we’re good. Love you all and thank you so much for making every dream I ever had come true.

xoxo

Marie
 

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Gansett After Dark
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Turn the page for a sneak peek of
 
I Want to Hold Your Hand
, Green Mountain Series, Book 2.

I Want to Hold Your Hand

Green Mountain Series, Book 2

by

Marie Force

Chapter 1

A new boy moved to town over the summer. His name is Caleb Guthrie. Hunter and Will like him, but I haven’t decided yet
.

—From the diary of Hannah Abbott, age twelve

    
Hannah Abbott Guthrie looked forward to the second Thursday of every month, when she met her high school friends in St. Johnsbury for lunch and an afternoon at their favorite spa. The tradition began after Hannah lost her husband, Caleb, in Iraq almost seven years ago. She’d continued to meet the girls every week long after the first awful wave of grief passed into the new reality of life without Caleb.

Like her family, her friends had been there for her one thousand percent, and Hannah loved her “escape from it all” days passionately. This time, she was even considering the possibility of taking her friend Becky up on the standing invite to spend the night in St. Johnsbury so she wouldn’t have to drive home after the relaxing afternoon.