McCarthys of Gansett Island Boxed Set Books 1-3 (88 page)

“Oh, hi, Grant,” she said. “I wondered whose truck that was.”

“Hi, Syd.” Grant reached for his nephew, and Sydney handed him over. “Hey, pal. What’ve you been up to?”

Thomas hugged his uncle. “I saw Buddy, and he has a funny hat on.”

“My dog,” Sydney said for Grant’s benefit. “Cone of shame so he won’t pull out his stitches.”

“Ouch,” Luke said, wincing. “He must love that.”

“He’s still kind of out of it, but in a day or two, he’ll be furious about it.”

Thomas squiggled out of Grant’s embrace and scooted over to check out Luke’s crutches.

“I’m going to split so you guys can eat,” Grant said.

“You’re welcome to stay,” Luke said. “I made plenty.”

“Thanks, but I’m supposed to be babysitting my mom tonight, so I’d better get home.” When Luke started toward the door, Grant stopped him. “Stay put. I can find my way out.”

“Thanks for coming by.”

“Thanks for the pep talk.”

“Anytime.”

After they heard the door close, Sydney turned to him. Something about her seemed different, but he couldn’t figure out what. “You’re giving pep talks now?”

Luke shrugged. “He’s going through a rough patch.” He reached down to ruffle Thomas’s hair. “How’d we end up with this little guy?”

“Mac and Maddie needed some time to themselves, so I took him with me to see Buddy. I figured we could feed him dinner and give him a bath. Mac is going to pick him up later.” She paused and bit her bottom lip. “I hope it’s okay I brought him here.”

“Of course it is. Everything okay with Maddie?”

“Except for Mac driving her crazy wanting to take her to specialists.”

Chuckling, Luke said, “I can only imagine how worked up he must be.”

“At times like this, island life is challenging. He wants her near doctors and hospitals.”

“I can understand that.” Luke took a closer look at her, still trying to put his finger on what was different. “What about you? Everything okay?”

Seeming surprised, she flipped her eyes up to meet his gaze. “I’m fine, why?”

“No reason.” Maybe he was looking for trouble where there was none. “I made spaghetti.”

“That’s perfect—just what I promised Thomas, but you shouldn’t be on your foot. I was going to make dinner for you.”

Propped on the crutches, he leaned in to kiss her. “Now you don’t have to.”

Chapter 25

Dreaming of home and her big comfortable bed, Maddie fought off sleep as Tiffany related the latest chapter in the ongoing drama of her troubled marriage. Sometimes Maddie felt guilty for being so happy with Mac when her sister was clearly miserable.

“So now
he
thinks
I
have been cheating on him! Doesn’t that beat all? When, exactly, do you suppose I have time to have an affair, between taking care of Ashleigh, running the day care and teaching dance?”

“You two need to have an honest conversation about what’s really going on,” Maddie said.

“There’s
nothing
going on! Nothing with him, nothing with anyone!”

“You’ve told him that?”

“Only a hundred times. Get this—he’s made up his mind that I’m having a fling with Rudy from the Beachcomber because he saw me talking to him in the grocery store.”

Maddie’s mouth fell open. “Short, fat, bald Rudy?”

“I know, right? As if that’s the best I could do!” All of a sudden her sister’s eyes flooded with tears. “I’m so tired of fighting with him,” she whispered. “It’s all we do.” She pressed her hands to her eyes, probably hoping to stem the flood. “I can’t do it anymore, Maddie. I just can’t.”

Tiffany and her husband Jim had been having problems for years now, but she’d never heard such resignation from her sister before. “What will you do?”

“I think we need to separate.”

“Aw, Tiff. What about Ashleigh?”

“I’ve stayed with him this long because of her, but all the fighting isn’t good for her. I can’t stand living like this—always wondering where he is, what he’s doing, who he’s doing it with. And then to have
him
accuse
me
! That was it, you know?”

Maddie took her sister’s hand. “I hate to see you so unhappy.”

A knock on the door startled the sisters.

Still in uniform, Blaine Taylor, the Gansett Island police chief, stood in the doorway. “Um, hi, Maddie. Sorry to interrupt. Is Mac still around, by any chance?”

“You just missed him, Blaine. He went to pick up Thomas.”

“Oh, okay. I’ll catch him in the morning.”

“He’s going to call me when he gets home. Can I give him a message?”

“I wanted to let him know the captain of the boat has been arraigned on operating under the influence, and we discovered an outstanding warrant for failing to pay child support. Officers from the mainland are coming over tomorrow to pick him up.”

“Mac and his family will be glad to hear that. Thanks for coming over to let us know.”

“I wanted to check on Mr. McCarthy, too. He was my Boy Scout leader when I was a kid. Such a great guy.”

“Yes, he is.”

“Well, I won’t keep you. Hope you’re feeling better soon.”

Tiffany sent Maddie a meaningful look.

“Blaine, do you know my sister, Tiffany?”

“I don’t think we’ve met,” Tiffany said with a smile for the handsome officer.

“Good to meet you, Tiffany. You ladies have a nice evening.”

After he walked away, Tiffany made a big show of fanning herself. “If I were going to have an affair, that’d be more like it. Is he single?”

Frowning at her sister, Maddie said, “You need to talk to your husband.”

Tiffany sighed. “I know.”

“Knock, knock,” Francine said from the doorway.

“There you are,” Maddie said. “I was beginning to wonder if you’d heard I was in here.”

“I heard,” Francine said. “Is everything all right with the baby?”

“Just fine.”

“That’s a relief.”

“When were you going to tell us you’ve gotten yourself a boyfriend, Ma?” Tiffany asked.

Maddie winced. She’d planned to ease into the subject, but leave it to Tiffany to put it right out there.

“I haven’t got a
boyfriend
,” Francine huffed.
 

“Sure looked like it to me—and everyone else—when you were holding hands with him.”

Francine glowered at her younger daughter. “People on this island need to mind their own damned business.”

“When have you ever known that to happen?” Tiffany asked.

“How are you feeling, Maddie?” Francine asked, turning her back on Tiffany.

“I’m fine but on bed rest for the remainder of the pregnancy.”

“Don’t worry,” Francine said. “I’ll help with Thomas. We both will, right, Tiffany?”

“Of course we will. Now, tell us about your boyfriend.”

Francine threw up her hands and said, “Ugh!”

“Mac thinks the world of him,” Maddie said. “He’s like a beloved uncle to all the McCarthy kids. In fact, Mac bought our house from him.”

Francine’s eyes went wide. “He did not own that big house!”

“Mom, he owns half this island.”

Francine laughed. “You’re mistaking him for someone else. He drives a cab.”

“That’s only his hobby. Real estate is his business.”

Francine had apparently been shocked speechless.

“Way to go, Mom,” Tiffany said.
 

“I, um, I have to go,” Francine said. “I’ll check on you tomorrow.” She rushed out of the room.

“Was it something we said?” Tiffany asked in a teasing tone.

“Go after her,” Maddie said. “Make sure she’s okay.”

“All right, I’m going.”

“Thanks for coming, and keep me posted on the situation with Jim.”

Tiffany’s smile faded at the reminder of her marital problems. “I will.”

Francine found Ned waiting for her outside in the clinic parking lot, leaning against the dilapidated woody station wagon he used for a cab. Everything about him was dilapidated, so how was she supposed to believe that he actually
owned
half the island?

As she walked toward him, he didn’t seem to blink, but he did smile as if he was delighted to see her. How silly was that? She’d seen him just half an hour ago. But since then, everything had changed, and she was still processing what Maddie had told her.

“Is it true?” she asked, wincing inside because she hadn’t intended to blurt it right out like that. But damn it, she wanted to know.

“Is what true?”

“That you own half this island?” In the darkness, she couldn’t be entirely sure, but she swore he blushed. “
More than half?
”

He shrugged sheepishly. “I dunno. Hardly keep track.”

Francine blew out a long deep breath. “So then what’s all this?” she asked, gesturing to the cab.

“Gets me outta the house. Meet a lotta nice people. Get ta know who’s a’comin and who’s a’goin.”

“Did you really sell that big house to Mac?”

“Yep.”

“How did you. . . where did you. . .”

“Bought the first one ’bout thirty-five or so years ago. Fixed it up a bit, sold it for a profit. Bought another one. Even rich people who can afford houses out here fall on hard times every now and again. Took a few off their hands like the one I sold ta Mac.” He shrugged again. “Didn’t plan it. Just kinda happened, ’tis all.”

“Who’s the real Ned? The cab driver or the real estate tycoon?”

He winced at the word tycoon. “Both, I suspect. Ya got a problem with it?”

She was still trying to process it all. “No, no problem.”
 

“Francine,” he said, reaching for her hands and bringing her closer to him. “Money is nice to have—”

“I wouldn’t know. I’ve never had any.”

“It’s nice to have,” he continued, “but it can’t buy happiness. Being with you again these last coupla days has made me happier than all the money I’ve made with my houses ever could.”

“It has?” she asked, her voice suddenly squeaky.

He nodded. “Come ’ere and gimme a kiss.”

Her face went hot, and her mind went stupid. She glanced over her shoulder and saw Tiffany scurrying away.

Ned stood to his full height and gave her hands a little tug that had her almost tumbling into his chest. He caught her, wrapped his arms around her, and before she could anticipate his next move, his lips were on hers, sweet, gentle and persuasive. His beard was soft against her face, and somehow her arms found their way around his neck to encourage him to keep kissing her.

It had been a long, lonely time since a man had kissed her so tenderly. Maybe since the last time she’d kissed Ned.

He finally broke the kiss. Looking as stunned as she felt, he stared at her for a breathless moment. “Let’s get you home.”

Since Francine didn’t trust herself to speak, she let him guide her into his cab for the ride home.

Luke insisted on driving them to dinner at her parents’ house. After spending much of the day with his foot elevated and on ice, he was going stir-crazy. But that was the least of his concerns. Ever since the night before when she’d arrived with Thomas, Sydney had been distant. Something was clearly bothering her, but he couldn’t get her to sit still long enough to talk to her about it.

She’d fussed over Thomas until Mac picked him up, and then she announced she was tired and went to bed. Even though they’d slept in the same bed, they may as well have been in separate houses. He’d awoken to a note that said she’d gone to check on Buddy and to help Maddie. She had been out most of the day, returning in time to shower and change for dinner. The silence between them was deafening to Luke, and all of a sudden he couldn’t take it anymore. He pulled the truck off the road and brought it to a stop.

Sydney looked over at him. “What?”

“I might ask you the same thing. What’s going on, Syd?”

“Nothing.”

Luke wanted to yell and scream, but that was so not his style. “What happened yesterday that caused you to shut down on me?”

Her eyes widened and her lips pursed, but she stayed silent.

“We’re not moving until you tell me what the hell is going on.”

“We’ll be late.”

“If you’re worried about that, start talking.”

She crossed her arms, and her face was set in a mulish expression he would’ve found cute if he hadn’t been so concerned about what was bothering her.

“Syd. Talk to me.”

She spun around in her seat. “Were you ever going to tell me you’re a part owner of McCarthy’s now?”

Okay, he hadn’t seen that coming. “Eventually. I guess.”

“No, you weren’t.”

“Wait, so you’ve been all frosty to me because you heard that from someone other than me?”

“Why didn’t you tell me? We had all those conversations about your life, our possible life together, and never once did you see fit to tell me that you’re not exactly what you pretend to be.”