One Day in Apple Grove (21 page)

“But I thought you said—”

“I told her to stand back because I didn’t want her to get hurt, but does the stubborn woman listen to me?”

“I was afraid, Jack,” Cait said from where she stood on the other side of the screen door.

“I know,” he said. “Are you ready yet?”

Her eyes filled and she walked outside to stand in front of him. “I’m listening.”

“I’m sorry about this morning, Cait. I shouldn’t have shut you out.”

His father handed him the ice bag first and then held the bottle of pain relievers and water.

“Grace already gave me some aspirin.”

“All right. Here,” his dad said, urging him toward a deck chair. “Sit down, son. I can tell your leg pains you.”

Looking at Cait and only Cait, Jack said, “I’ve been to the VA but wasn’t due for more therapy for a few weeks. There are times when I’m there again—in Iraq and it’s happening all over again.” He closed his eyes, breathing deeply to calm his racing heart. When he opened his eyes, Cait squeezed his hand. “Sometimes,” he whispered, “it seems like a dream.”

His father and mother stood off to the side, but he motioned for them to come over. When they all sat down, Cait pulled her deck chair closer to Jack’s, so she could keep holding his hand.

“I need to tell you,” he said to Cait, “and my parents need to hear this too.”

His mother was sitting on the edge of her seat until his dad took her hand and patted the back of it. His mom scooted back in the chair but didn’t let go of his dad. Jamie laid down on Jack’s feet and looked up at him. The warmth and unconditional love surrounding him and shining in Jamie’s dark brown eyes gave Jack the courage to start.

“I was caring for the wounded in our battalion when an IED struck.”

“We know you were, Son,” his father said. “That’s why they gave you that medal.”

Cait looked over at his father and then back at Jack. “Yeah,” he said to Cait, “the one you found this morning.”

Drawing in a calming breath, he rasped, “Cait’s dad got me started talking today. It’s better if I just get it all out at once, and then I won’t have to talk about it again.”

“There’s where you’d be wrong,” Cait told him. “You need to acknowledge it and not bury it, so it won’t sneak up on you again.”

He shook his head. “I’m OK now and have my focus back. For a while, little things used to set me off—but therapy’s helped and the imagery the doctor suggested has been working.

“We weren’t even supposed to be there…wrong place, wrong time. Napolitano was my friend—the squad leader. I was stitching him back together, but once the IED hit, he insisted that I take care of his men first. I didn’t know he’d been hit again…if only I had just worked faster.”

He locked gazes with Cait and didn’t look away while he told the story. When he was finished, he grabbed both of her hands in his. “Can you understand why I felt so guilty?”

Tears filled her eyes, but she didn’t seem to notice. “Honestly? No.”

“Dad? Mom?” he asked, knowing his parents had heard every detail.

When they looked at him as if he were crazy, Cait pulled him to his feet and into her arms. “Face it, Gannon, you’re a hero.”

He wanted to say something, but the warmth of her embrace filled the empty spots he’d exposed in his soul. Her love seeped in, binding the wounds, healing the hurt. Humbled, he buried his face in her hair and said a silent prayer of thanks that she hadn’t walked away from him.

“Why don’t you and I start supper?” his mother said, tugging on her husband’s arm to get him moving.

“Cora, wait,” he said, but she shook her head.

“They need more time to sort this out, John. You come on inside.” Reluctantly, he went.

“I’ve really missed them,” Jack said, listening to the snippets of conversation and his father’s grumbling as it drifted out through the screen door.

“They love you.”

He looked into Cait’s eyes, encouraged by the love reflected back at him. “Cait, I know I’ve made a mess of what we’d started, but can you find it in your heart to give me another chance?”

“You don’t need one.”

“Don’t I?”

“You haven’t used up the first one yet.” She waited a moment before adding, “Thank you for giving me a chance to gather my wits and courage to hear the rest of your story.”

“So you still love me?”

She rolled her eyes. “Duh.”

“How can you make light of this, Caitlin?”

“Because I want you to understand that while it is huge for you, I don’t see it the same way.” She cupped his face in her hands and brushed her lips against his. “I remember the look on your face at graduation, when they announced you were headed to the Great Lakes A School and that you were going to be a navy corpsman.”

She let her hands glide down his neck to his chest and then around his back. “You were so handsome, standing there so straight and so tall. I never thought you’d look twice at me. You were Meg’s age…I was just a kid.”

“I still think you don’t understand.”

“Then I saw the distant look in your eyes when you came home on leave. You weren’t the same. I couldn’t imagine the things you’d seen and done for our country, but my dad could. He reminded us that war is hell and that some men are scarred by it physically, some mentally, and then there are some who quietly do their duty, never asking to be recognized, just wanting to do what they’d been trained to do—some of them patching the wounded back together—like you.

“And I see you as the auburn-haired doctor who came home to fill his father’s shoes and take over his practice when your dad retired and your parents announced they were moving to Florida.”

She watched his eyes as she added, “You didn’t have to do that, but otherwise everyone in Apple Grove would have had to drive nearly an hour to get to the next closest doctor in Newark. Do you realize how important you are to this community? Mr. Weatherbee, Mrs. Winter, all of our older residents who can’t always drive into town when they’re sick? You continue your dad’s practice of making house calls. Who the heck does that these days?”

He shook his head. Far be it from him to interrupt Caitlin Mulcahy when she was on a roll.

She laid her head on his chest and whispered, “You didn’t have to throw yourself on top of those marines. But you did. You didn’t even think twice. You just did.”

Easing back, she let her gaze meet his. “If I could take away the horrors that you’ve seen, the pain you’ve suffered, I would,” she told him. “But it’s all part of who and what you are…the man I fell in love with.”

She kissed him, pouring all of the love inside of her into him, to help him heal. “So yeah, I’m not seeing things from your perspective, but I think I get it.”

Everything inside of Jack felt too big to put into words, but he had to let her know what her words meant to him. So he ignored the pain shooting through his shoulder and wrapped his arms around her, lifting her off her feet and kissing her while he spun them around in a circle.

“You’re making me dizzy!” she squealed until he stopped spinning. With a hand to her head, she motioned toward the back door. “Should we tell them about us?” He eased Cait out of his arms, but he kept a hold of her hand.

Walking inside, he said, “Mom, Dad.” He paused until they were both looking at him, “Cait and I are seeing each other.” He brought Cait’s hand to his lips and brushed the back of it with a kiss. “We’re in love.”

His father looked at his mother and shook his head. “We’re not blind, Son.”

Jack grinned. “She’s been staying here with me, helping me take care of Jamie.”

His father seemed to be fighting the urge to smile. “You don’t say.”

“Now, John.” His mother gave him a look. “Don’t tease. These two have been through enough today.”

“Do you want us to stay with friends, so you can have the house to yourselves?”

“No!” Jack shook his head. “This is your home.”

His dad drew his mom to his side and shook his head. “It used to be. You bought it when we retired, remember?”

“Why don’t you and Caitlin tell us how you two started dating?” his mother said, tugging on his elbow. “After all,” she continued, “you two have known each other all your lives.”

Jack looked at Cait, relieved to see her soft smile. He held the back door open and called Jamie. When the little dog scampered inside, he said, “It all started when a little black ball of fuzz ran out in front of me on Eden Church Road.”

***

“Your parents are great, Jack,” Cait said as she snuggled against him. Unable to keep her hands to herself, she trailed the tip of her finger from his breastbone to his navel, dipping it in and then drawing circles across his abs.

He grabbed a hold of her hand to hold it still. “I think so too.”

When he let go, she slid her hand over his hip around to his backside and squeezed.

“Woman, you wore me out,” he groaned.

“Really?” she asked, slowly working her hands up from his backside to his waist and then back down to grab hold of his cheeks while she pressed a kiss over his heart. “Well, I guess if you’re too tired…”

She found herself on her back, looking up into his dark and desperate sapphire eyes. “I can see I’ll have to try harder tiring you out.” He slid his hands to her wrists and pulled her hands over her head. With a wicked smile, he dipped his head and traced a path from the hollow of her throat down to her navel.

“Jack,” she sighed, quivering from his touch.

“Mmm…not now,” he grumbled, “I’m busy.” He dipped the tip of his tongue into her navel and then drew a circle around it before continuing along the path that would lead him to wild honey—and a taste of heaven. He looked up and locked gazes with her. “I forgot to have dessert.”

Caitlin bucked beneath the ministrations of his talented tongue and wicked lips. Just when she was certain she’d reached her limit, she lifted her hips up off the bed, driving his tongue deeper, and herself over the edge, free falling into madness.

She could hear his soft chuckle and felt the bed shift, but she couldn’t move; her bones had liquefied. When his hands released her, he stroked his hand across her shoulders and down her arms to link hands with her.

“And now for the good part,” he rasped, plunging into her life-giving warmth. “Open your eyes, love,” he urged. “I want to watch the way they glaze over when I take us over the edge.”

She slowly opened her eyes and let them focus on the face of the man she loved to distraction. “I don’t think I have anything left to give.”

His hips shifted from side to side, undulating before pinning her to the mattress, wringing the last ounce of pleasure from her, sipping from her lips to muffle her cries of ecstasy.

He wrapped his arms around her and rolled until she was on top. Sliding one hand down to cup her curvy backside, he kept the other one around her back, pressing her against his heart.

As she drifted off to sleep, she murmured, “I love you, Jack.”

The last of the knots in his gut loosened, and he told her what was in his heart. “I love you back, Cait.”

Cait and Jack were up early the next day, energized from a good night’s sleep. Cait was patting Jamie on the head and telling him to be a good boy when Jack’s mom came downstairs.

“Good morning, early birds.” Jack’s mother smile reminded Cait of an extremely satisfied feline.

“Morning, Mom.”

“Morning, Mrs. Gannon.”

“Please, call me Cora,” she told Cait. “Mrs. Gannon was my mother-in-law.”

Cait looked at Jack first, and when he shrugged, she agreed. “I have a long day of repairs ahead of me,” she told Jack’s mother. “I’d better get started.”

“Breakfast is the most important meal of the day, dear,” Cora called after. “Be sure you get some.”

Caitlin didn’t laugh until she got outside; she didn’t want Cora to think she was laughing at her. She was laughing because it felt good to have Jack’s mom worrying about her.

“Hey, gorgeous,” Jack called out. “Wait up!”

She paused beside her truck and waited for him. “Hey, handsome.” And wasn’t he just, standing there clean-shaven, eyes bright, and lips curved upward in a smile that hinted he had a secret that he might be willing to share?

“If I don’t have the chance to tell you before tonight, I’m so damned grateful to have you in my life, Caitlin Mulcahy.”

Unease skittered up her spine. “Grateful?”

He pulled her into his arms and she felt his heart pounding, as if he had been running. Looking up into his eyes, she waited a moment before asking, “Does this have anything to do with bugging you until you spilled your guts about what happened in Iraq?”

He didn’t say anything but slid his hands up to cup the sides of her face. “Part of it does, but the rest of it has to do with loving you, Cait.” His voice deepened as he added, “And I do.”

Cait’s heart fluttered before matching Jack’s beat for beat. Sliding her hands over his, she lifted to her toes and pressed her mouth against his—soft, warm, giving. All of the above fit what she wanted to share with Jack…and what she received in return when he kissed her back.

“I’m crazy in love you with, Doc Gannon.”

He was smiling as he bent to kiss her again. “Better ’n just crazy, Mulcahy.”

She was laughing as she got in her truck and rolled down the window. “Say bye to your dad for me.”

“Will do,” he promised with a wave. She was about to back up when she thought of something. Rolling down her window, she called out, “Hey, Jack?”

“What?”

“Just how long are your parents staying?”

“Why?”

Her smile was just this side of wicked when she said, “We haven’t tried out the kitchen table yet.”

His laughter had her smiling on the inside all the way to town. Turning right onto Main Street, she parked behind Mulcahys surprised but pleased to see her father sorting through tools and supplies in their shop. “Hey, Pop! What brings you here?”

He looked down at her and waited a heartbeat before answering, “You.”

“Me? What did I do?”

He snorted. “I have it on good authority that you weren’t listening and Jack dislocated his shoulder trying to break down your bedroom door.”

Cait sighed. “There was a lot more to it than that, Pop.”

“Well, what happened?”

Cait drew in another steadying breath. “Jack and I talked about Iraq, Pop.” She turned back to face him. “He’s so much braver than I thought…and that’s a lot.”

Her dad nodded. “So, you and Jack are good?”

“Yeah,” she said. “We are, but I still think there must be some way for me to help him see what he means to this town and to those men he helped to save.”

Her father agreed. “I think I might know of a way. Let me talk to Jack’s dad and see if we can track down a few of those marines.”

“To have them write a letter to Jack?”

Her father’s face was solemn when his gaze met hers. “I’m thinking of something a little more proactive.”

“Such as?” Cait prompted.

“Visiting Apple Grove.”

Cait nodded. “Since he’s opened up about what happened, he might be ready for a visit in a few months.”

Her dad smiled. “I was thinking about a few weeks from now…say June fifteenth?”

“Founder’s Day?” she asked. “Just what are you up to?”

“I’ll have to ask Miss Trudi to leave about a half hour to forty-five minutes after her annual speech.”

“Pop—”

He had his hand on the office door and was about to walk through. “Trust me, string bean.”

She sighed at the nickname. “If I have to.”

“You do.”

Cait didn’t have time to wonder what he was up to; she had a list of jobs that would keep her busy straight until five o’clock.
Time
to
get
moving
.

***

Joe didn’t waste any time tracking down John Gannon. Before he could even ask her to give them a chance to talk privately, Cora Gannon told him, “I think I’ll head into town and see if I can catch up on the latest down at the diner.”

She was smiling when she bent to pat Jamie on the head on her way out the door.

“Smart woman,” Joe said.

Jack’s dad was grinning when he motioned for Joe to have a seat at the kitchen table. “Married me, didn’t she?”

Joe had to agree. Sitting across from Jack’s dad, they discussed what John knew about Jack’s injuries and the events surrounding them and Joe’s idea to help Jack have closure. When he found out about the Christmas cards Cora continued to send, Joe knew what he wanted to do.

“So, we each take three of the starred names from Cora’s Christmas card list,” he suggested. “I still can’t believe she sends cards to everyone of the men who served in Jack’s battalion.”

“That’s my Cora,” John said with a soft smile.

“So,” Joe said, “we see if any of the men who were wounded that day are willing to come to Apple Grove.”

John’s eyes met Joe’s. “It’s a good plan. I think it’ll work.”

“It wouldn’t be this easy if your lovely bride hadn’t been so dedicated to sending Christmas cards to our service men and women.”

“She started that first Christmas Jack was in Iraq, wondering if there were marines or sailors who didn’t have family to send them cards. It snowballed from there.”

“Why did she make a note of the marines who’d been injured that day?” Joe wanted to know.

“Cora activated the prayer chain as soon as we heard about it but wanted to make sure every person on the chain knew the names of the marines who’d been injured when Jack was.”

Joe shook his head. “You’ve got a gem there, John.”

Jack’s dad grinned. “Don’t I know it!”

Fingers crossed, Joe Mulcahy and John Gannon began their quest.

***

Cait was so tired she wanted to crawl onto Jack’s bed and close her eyes—just for a little while. But she knew if she did, she’d sleep through the night. She was torn between being grateful that Mulcahys had so much work and wishing they didn’t have quite so many jobs.

As she walked up to the house, Jamie barked and the back door opened. “Hey there, sweetie,” she said, dropping to her knees and wrapping her arms around the little dog.

He lavished her with kisses while she giggled. “Jack is so lucky to have you,” she said, burying her face in Jamie’s neck fur.

“He’s lucky to have you too, dear.”

“Hi, Mrs. Gannon. I didn’t see you there.”

Jack’s mother sighed out loud. “Cora, remember?”

Cait nodded. “Um…right, sorry, Cora.”

“That’s better. As far as why you didn’t see me, you were too busy with this little rapscallion.”

Cait grinned. “He is, isn’t he?”

Cora smiled. “Reminds me of our old dog Jake.”

“Jack said the same thing. He really misses that dog.”

“He was family—even if he was furry and used to get mud all over my clean floors whenever it rained. It was so quiet once he was gone.”

“I know. Jack was devastated when Jamie’s owner finally showed up to claim him.”

Jack’s mom smiled. “I heard the whole tale down at the diner earlier today. Those McCormack girls are doing a wonderful job keeping that place running. Hard workers, those girls, but long hours. How do they do it?”

Cait eased Jamie off her lap and stood. “I’m not sure. One thing I do know: they’ve always been hard workers.” She looked up and met Cora’s gaze. “Mrs. McCormack was like a second mother to me. Meg was too, but it was different, being that she was my big sister.”

Cora nodded as she held the back door open. “I understand. Now, why don’t you come on inside? I’ve got some nice solar tea brewed. You can take a glass upstairs with you while you get cleaned up before dinner.”

“Oh, but I have to—”

“Take a break. You can come back down and help me get dinner going if you want.”

“I do.”

Jack’s mom made a shooing motion with her hands. “Then get a move on, Caitlin.”

She grinned as she took the frosty glass and drank it down in one gulp. “Thanks, Cora!”

Jack’s mom was laughing as Cait dashed out of the room.

“That girl,” she said to Jamie, “is the best thing that could have happened to our boy.”

Jamie tilted his head to one side and thumped his tail on the floor.

“And so are you,” she said, giving the dog a treat. “Now, how do you feel about steaks on the grill?”

Cait rushed through her shower, oddly energized by the conversation and cold tea. When she walked into the kitchen, Jack’s mom was mixing something in a large bowl. “What have you got there?”

“Just some blueberry pandowdy for our meeting.”

“What meeting?”

Jack’s mom smiled. “Founder’s Day. We used to hold the meetings here before John and I retired.”

“Can I help?”

“You and Peggy are already down as volunteers to set up and clean up.”

“Is there anything else?”

Mrs. Gannon patted her cheek and shook her head. “You work awfully hard during the day, Cait. Your sisters do too. How is Meg?”

Cait grinned. “She’s great! She and Dan are so happy, and those darling boys, Danny and Joey, are just so precious…even when they’re getting into trouble. Meg’s not nervous at all about having another baby in a few months. She’s amazing.”

They talked about babies and families while Cora had Cait setting the table and slicing cold potatoes for the potato salad.

“I’m not that great in the kitchen,” Cait confessed. “Jack’s a better cook than I am.”

“Well, it’s a good thing one of you can cook,” Cora laughed.

Cait smiled. “He seems OK, doesn’t he?” She paused, adding, “After talking to us about everything, I mean.”

“More than.” Cora patted her hand as she moved past her to the counter. “I worried as any mother would when we’d found out he’d been injured.” She speared the London broil and turned it over, spooning marinade over it a few times before she was satisfied. “When we could finally see him, I knew from the devastation I glimpsed in his eyes that there was something horrific he wasn’t telling us.”

“Did he tell John right away?”

Cora shook her head. “That’s when we started worrying, because if he couldn’t tell his father…it was beyond what Jack could handle emotionally.”

“What did you do?”

“Prayed harder as John pulled strings so that Jack would start seeing one of the doctors at the VA for PTSD right away, and another doctor from the private sector.”

She was washing her hands when a deep voice called out, “Anybody home?”

Cora laughed and tilted her face for her husband to kiss her cheek as he walked into the kitchen. Cait loved the way they looked at one another. Her heart tumbled over when Jack walked in a few minutes later with a clutch of daisies in his hand. When he held them out to her, she hesitated. “Hasn’t anyone ever brought you flowers?” he asked.

How could she say that without sounding foolish? Instead of answering, she shook her head.

“Then it’s about time someone did,” he told her, kissing her cheek as he rummaged in the cabinets for something to put the flowers in.

“They’ll look so pretty in the middle of the table,” his mom said. “Caitlin, be a dear and hold the door for me while I put the steak on.”

“Now just hold on there, Cora,” John said, standing in between his wife and the back door. “Grilling is man’s work.”

“Not until you wash up, dear.” She winked at Cait when her husband and Jack took turns washing their hands in the sink.

Once they’d gone outside, she smiled, and said, “That’ll keep them busy while you and I put the finishing touches on the dining room.”

“Hey, Mom,” Jack called, “we eating outside?”

“That’s right. Caitlin and I are setting up for the meeting in the dining room.”

An hour later, the house trilled with feminine laughter as the ladies arrived, bearing sweets and passing out hugs.

“It’s so wonderful to see you,” Mrs. Winter said, handing Cait a cherry pie. She was tempted to take a picture and send it off to Meg, because for as long as Cait has been working in the family business, Mrs. Winter had only given Meg cherry pies.

Miss Trudi arrived with Mary Murphy at the same time as Mrs. McCormack and Peggy. Cait pulled her friend aside while the others went into the dining room. “I didn’t know you were coming over tonight.”

Peggy shrugged. “Things got busy at the diner after school let out or I would have texted you.”

Cait noticed what she hadn’t the last few weeks—exhaustion pulling down the corners of Peggy’s mouth and darkening rings beneath her friend’s eyes.

“Kate and I have been talking about hiring outside the family to give us more time in the kitchen—me for the pastries and baked goods and Kate for the rest.” Peggy paused. “It’s hard to think of someone besides a McCormack manning the counter and serving our customers.”

Cait laid a hand on Peggy’s arm. “I know exactly what you mean. Most days I feel like a dog chasing after my own tail, trying to keep up with the work orders for repair jobs, hoping I’ll have enough energy to work for a few hours at night on the furniture I’m building.”

“Are you thinking of hiring outside the family?” Peggy asked. “Is your dad OK with that?”

Cait shrugged. “I don’t know. Grace and I have been trying to think of a way to broach the subject. He can’t come back to work full time, even if he swears the heart attack scare was just that.” Cait felt moisture fill her eyes and blinked. “We can’t lose him too.”