Book 26 Hurricane After Dark #3
Jack says they should hang out during the storm, and when it’s over, she should let him take her to dinner. She thinks both ideas are great and promises she’ll stay safe at the hotel while he checks in at the Public Safety Building. He shocks her when he kisses her cheek before he walks away.
Laura is thrilled to see Piper and thanks her for saving the day.
Piper tends to the front desk while Laura checks on Owen and their sick kids.
Piper uses the time to search for information about Jack.
The third item on the list is a newspaper article about Jack’s late wife, Ruby Downing, who’d chronicled her four-year battle with breast cancer on Instagram and had more than one million followers at the time of her death.
Piper clicks on the link to Ruby’s account and then on her last post, in which she announced that she and her sweet husband had made the difficult decision to end treatment.
She’d quoted Saint Timothy. “I have fought the good fight. I have finished the race.” She thanked her doctors, nurses, extended family and friends who’d stood by her and Jack through the highs and many lows of her illness.
“But most of all, I thank my love, Jack, without whom I would’ve given up a long time ago.
Make the most of every day, y’all. You never know how long you have. Peace out.”
Piper is still searching through pictures and stories about Ruby when Laura returns an hour later. She tells Laura she isn’t sure if she should pursue her attraction to Jack, knowing what she knows now. Laura encourages her to see how it plays out, but to proceed with caution.
Piper takes calls from Oliver Watkins and Slim Jackson, looking to move to the Surf to ride out the storm. With all their reservations canceled due to the storm, they have room for the islanders who need a place to stay.
“Don’t charge anyone who comes in today,” Laura says.
“We’re happy to provide shelter for those who need it, although I sure do hope this old girl will still be standing when it’s over.
” Laura takes a tentative look around the nearly one-hundred-year-old building.
“She creaks and moans during a Nor’easter.
I can’t fathom what a hurricane will be like. ”
Piper is truly nervous about what’s coming their way and hopes the grand old hotel that’s begun to feel like home will survive the storm.
Big Mac McCarthy stands at the sliding glass door looking down over his “kingdom,” such as it is—the marina and hotel that has been their life’s work.
He and his wife, Linda, have put everything into making their businesses a success and have recently branched out with other endeavors, including the Wayfarer in South Harbor and the old alpaca farm that’s being turned into a “shabby chic” wedding venue.
“It’s looking wild out there, love,” Linda says when she joins him at the window. He puts his arm around her. “Sure is, and the storm isn’t even here yet.”
“Are you feeling all right?”
She’s asked him that a hundred times since he had vertigo, but he understands that he’d worried her, so he answers the question the same way every time. “I’m feeling great, except for this bitch Ethel threatening my island.”
“She’s got nothing on Gansett Islanders.”
“Let’s hope so. Have you talked to Janey again?”
“Just now,” she says with a sigh. “She’s distraught.”
“Poor kid.”
A knock on the door precedes an invasion of adults, kids and a dog named Burpy. Carolina and the kids will stay with Mac and Linda while Joe and Seamus take the ferries out of harm’s way.
Seamus goes to Carolina and bends over to whisper something that makes her tear up as she hooks a hand around his neck and kisses him.
Then he turns to the boys and holds out his arms to them. “Be good lads while I’m gone, you hear me?”
“We will,” Jackson says as he and Kyle cling to Seamus.
“It’ll be okay,” Seamus tells them. “Don’t worry. Take good care of Caro, okay? She still needs lots of help.”
It’s a heartbreaking scene to witness, Big Mac thinks, as he watches Seamus and Joe talk to their loved ones.
PJ and Viv are in tears, saying goodbye to their daddy.
“You guys should just go,” Linda says. “This won’t get better with time.”
“She’s right, mate,” Seamus says to Joe. “Let’s get to it.”
“Please come back to us,” Carolina says when Joe leans over to kiss his mother.
“We will,” Joe says. “Don’t worry.”
“Hahahaha, right.” Carolina wipes away tears. “What do we have to worry about?”
Joe takes Seamus by the arm to lead him out of the house. “Let’s go.”
Seamus looks back at Carolina as Joe moves them toward the door.
Linda huddles with PJ and Viv. “Now, now, loves. Daddy will be back before you know it. And in the meantime, Grammy has ice cream and s’mores and new games and lots of fun stuff planned.”
“Ice cream,” Viv says, immediately brightening.
Linda laughs. “I thought that might get your attention. Come on, boys,” she says to Jackson and Kyle. “Let’s have dessert before dinner.”
Leave it to his Linda to come up with the perfect distraction for four kids who desperately need it, Big Mac thinks.
“Tell me we’re doing the right thing here,” Seamus says as Joe drives them to the ferry landing in town.
“We are,” Joe says. “Without those two boats, we’re out of business, and you know that.”
“I do, but we’re risking our lives to protect a business when we both have so much to live for.”
“The first couple of hours will be bad, but after we get outside the cone, we’ll be fine.”
Leaving his family behind with a monster storm bearing down on them goes against everything Seamus believes in as a husband, father and man, but protecting the business that provides for all of them is critical, too.
“I’ve never been so torn between what I needed to do and what I wanted to do.”
“I feel you,” Joe says. “Poor Janey is in Ohio having a stroke about this.”
“Tough place to be with a storm coming toward everyone she loves.”
At the ferry landing, Joe parks in the employee lot. They grab their bags from the back of the truck. They’d packed clothes and enough food and water to last three days. Hopefully, they’ll be back within a day or two, but they’ve prepared for a variety of scenarios.
Seamus’s cousin, Shannon, comes out of the office with three of the other mates who work on the boats, each of them carrying multiple bags.
“What are you doing here?” Seamus asks them.
“We’re going with you,” Shannon says.
“No,” Joe says. “We don’t want to risk anyone else.”
“What’s your plan for throwing off lines and such?” Shannon asks in the familiar cadence of home. “We’ve already decided you’re not going alone, and we’ve packed everything we need, so let’s do this.”
The men walk toward the two vessels that are backed into port.
“What do you think?” Seamus asks Joe.
“I’d rather have the company than not, and they seem determined.”
“Then let’s get this show on the road.”
They board the boats, fire up the engines, cast off the lines and head out to sea.
Seamus has to admit that Shannon was right. It would’ve been tricky to leave without help, especially with the wind blowing as hard as it is.
Joe signals for Seamus to take the lead, so he puts the engines into gear and points the helm toward the breakwater. After they leave the pier, Shannon and Danny, the other mate, come up to the wheelhouse.
“Hold on, boys,” Seamus says.
As they clear the breakwater, the boat rolls hard to the right and then the left.
“Holy shit,” Shannon says, laughing. “This is awesome.”
Laura and Owen get the kids down for a nap, and Owen convinces Laura to rest as well. She wakes up much later to hear chatter from her family and finds the kids sitting at the table eating spaghetti and meatballs. Thrilled to see them all feeling better, Laura asks Owen the latest about the storm.
“No change. But the good news is the ocean side of the hotel is boarded up, along with the first floor on the street side, and everything is either tied down or brought in. We’re ready for whatever Ethel has in store for us.”
“I hope she takes a hard turn away from us.”
“Me, too, but that’s not looking likely.”
Laura eats the spaghetti, meatballs, bread and salad Owen made. “This is good. Thanks for cooking.” She gasps. “What about the guests?”
“Made the same for them, and they’re enjoying it downstairs.”
“I don’t deserve you,” she says with a sigh.
“Quit that nonsense.”
“I won’t quit it. While I slept for three hours, you cooked for a dozen people and took care of three little kids.”
“They helped me, didn’t you, guys?”
Holden nods. “We helped.”
Laura gives Owen a skeptical look. “I’m sure they were a big help.”
“We was, Mommy. I carried the bread. Jon took the salad, and Jo took… What did she take, Daddy?”
“Dessert,” Owen says.
All three kids perk up at the mention of one of their favorite things.
“And what’s for dessert?” Laura asks.
“Brownies.”
“Daddy made them!”
“Daddy is Superman.”
Julia Lawry paces the length of the dock a hundred times, her dog, Pupwell, following as she waits and hopes Deacon will return from his harbor patrol soon.
The chop in the basin is getting stronger all the time, with the splashing water making the dock slippery as she makes another loop.
If she keeps moving, she won’t go into complete panic about why he’s still out on the churning water long after dark.
The wind whips through the basin, making her worry about being blown off the dock as rain lashes her face.
Pupwell lets out a soft whine.
“I know, baby. Mama is worried, too. Where is he, and why isn’t he answering his phone?”
Julia debates whether she should call Deacon’s brother, Blaine, the chief of police. Technically, Blaine is Deacon’s boss, but they try not to let that get in the way of the sibling relationship they’ve worked hard to repair since Deacon relocated permanently to Gansett Island.
Would he want her to call Blaine? Probably not. But what if he’s in trouble and needs help? She has no idea what to do, and when that happens, if Deacon isn’t available, she calls Owen.