Chapter 21
A s she stepped through the doors of the massage studio, which was called Refresh and Renew, a warm, earthy scent greeted her. Whatever it was made her want to settle in for some relaxation of her own. As if that was going to happen any time soon.
Sierra was at the reception desk, chatting with a blonde woman who handed over her credit card.
“That was amazing,” the client said. “Thank you so much for squeezing me in.”
“My pleasure. I’m glad it worked out. Your hubby is the best for setting it up.”
“You know it. After being marooned for days with three little ones and no power, he knew I needed it.”
Sierra returned the credit card with a receipt to sign. She leaned around the client to say hi to McKenzie. “Be right with you, McKenzie.”
“No rush.”
“McKenzie has come to save my ass. She’s a whiz with QuickBooks.”
McKenzie would never use the word whiz , but before she could say so, the blonde woman at the desk turned to her.
“I’m Laura Lawry, owner of the Sand & Surf Hotel, and if you know QuickBooks, I want you to work with me like yesterday. Or actually more like last year…” She added a sheepish grin that made McKenzie laugh.
“Nice to meet you.”
The two women shook hands.
“Will you help me? Please ?”
“Of course. I’ll stop by in the next few days if that works.”
“That’d be perfect. This is truly turning out to be the best massage I’ve ever had.”
“We aim to please,” Sierra said.
“I have two friends who work out of the hotel who will want you, too. Is it okay to tell them about you?”
“Sure, thank you.”
“No, McKenzie, thank you . This will change my life! Give me your number.”
As McKenzie recited her number, Laura punched it into her phone.
“You’ll definitely hear from me.”
“Sounds good.”
After Laura left, McKenzie stepped up to the reception desk. “This must be what it feels like to be the Good Witch of the North.”
Sierra laughed. “For sure. It’s something we’re sorely lacking here, and everyone runs small businesses. Once the word gets out, you’ll have more business than you can handle.”
“That’d be incredible. It never occurred to me that I might be able to do something like this here.”
“Well, now you know. Let me show you my setup, and we’ll see if you can straighten me out.”
“Sounds good.”
Kelsey was late getting to the hospital to see Jeff. The bulky cast on her arm made everything take twice as long as usual, especially showering and attempting to dry her hair. She’d been so frustrated by trying to blow-dry with her left hand that she’d given up and let her curls take over.
When she walked into his room, she was surprised to find Jeff sitting up in the chair next to the bed. He had a blanket over his lap, and his face was pale and pinched with pain.
“Look at you out of bed!”
“And what a treat it was getting here.”
Kelsey winced. “Are you okay?”
“I’m told I will be, eventually, but the pain is pretty tough.”
Her heart ached for his suffering. As a recovering addict, he’d refused all narcotics, which had him relying on Tylenol and Motrin, which barely made a dent.
“I wish there was something they could do for you.”
“There’s plenty they can do, but I’m not willing to risk it.” He held out his hand to her. “Come sit next to me and tell me why you looked annoyed when you came in.”
“I did?”
“Uh-huh. What’s up?”
“This stupid cast is a pain. I can’t dry my hair, so it’s gone wild with curls. I look ridiculous.”
“You look beautiful, as always.”
“You have to say that as my fiancé.”
“I don’t have to say anything, and I only speak the truth.”
Kelsey moved her chair to his right side and then took a seat, reaching for his hand.
He kissed the back of her hand. “Hi there.”
“Hi.”
“I’m sorry your arm is making everything harder.”
“Oh please, it’s nothing compared to what you’re dealing with.”
“It’s not nothing, so don’t say that.”
“It’s a nuisance more than anything. I tell myself it’s temporary and to get over it.”
“My mom would’ve helped you with your hair, you know.”
“I didn’t want to ask her for that.”
“Why not, hon? She’d have been happy to do it. She’s a professional mom.”
“I know. It just feels weird. I mean, I wonder if she’s mad at me that you’re so badly hurt.”
“What? Of course she isn’t.”
“You got hurt protecting me.”
“Which I’d do again in a hot second, and she knows that. She’s not upset with you. She’s incredibly thankful we both survived. She wouldn’t have wanted to deal with me if something had happened to you.”
“You’re very sweet.”
“It’s the truth. You said I jumped on top of you without thinking. I don’t remember that, but I want you to know that I’d do it again a thousand times if it meant keeping you safe.”
“Let’s hope this is the only time you’ll ever have to protect me that way.”
“I’ll do it any time it needs to be done.”
“I can’t bear that you got so badly hurt.”
He squeezed her hand. “I’ll be okay.”
Kelsey’s phone chimed with a text. She took back her hand so she could check it. When she saw it was about her overdue cell phone bill, she frowned. She opened her bank app to see how much she had left and whether she could pay at least half the outstanding balance on the phone bill.
She saw a lot of zeros.
What the hell?
After blinking a few times, she saw there was one hundred thousand dollars in her checking account. “Oh my God,” she said softly.
“What?”
“Look.” She showed him her phone with the bank info on the screen.
“Whoa. Where’d that come from?”
“I have no idea. Where’s your phone?”
“On the charger.”
She got up and went around the bed to retrieve the phone from the charger and brought it to him. “Check yours.”
He clicked around on his phone and then looked up at her. “I have the same in my account.”
“What the heck?”
“It’s Mr. McCarthy,” Jeff said. “He would’ve done that. He feels responsible for his building falling on us.”
“But that’s insane. He can’t just give us two hundred thousand dollars!”
“It looks like he already did.”
“That’s crazy. We have to give it back.”
“Before you go sending it back, stop and think for a minute. We’re going to be out of work for a while. Months, in my case. We both have car payments, insurance, cell phones and other bills to pay while we’re laid up.”
“Not two hundred thousand dollars’ worth!”
“It’ll add up, Kels. Who knows what co-pays and other fees we’ll have to pay from being hospitalized? Mr. McCarthy—and Mac—know all too well how expensive something like this can get. I have no idea how much of the rehab will be covered. They wanted us to have what we need.”
“Jeff… We cannot accept this. It’s not right.”
“We could’ve sued them, and they know it.”
“We’d never do that!”
“They know that, too, which is why they wanted to help us while we recover.”
“I need to call Mac.”
“Go ahead, but don’t tell him we’re giving it back.”
Kelsey found Mac in her contacts and made the call.
“Hey, Kels. How’s it going there?”
“We’re doing well, but we’re in total shock after seeing what’s in our bank accounts.”
“That’s compliments of my dad. He wanted to make this time easier for you guys.”
“We’re shocked, Mac. It’s too much.”
“He doesn’t see it that way. He feels terrible about what happened and is very thankful you both survived. He wanted to do it.”
“I don’t know what to say other than thank you—and please tell him…” Her voice broke. “We have no words.”
“All we want is both of you returned to full health and back on the island where you belong.”
“It’s so incredibly generous.”
“I’ll let him know you got it.”
“Tell him we said…” She glanced at Jeff. “Tell him we’re so very, very thankful for his kindness and incredible generosity.”
Jeff nodded in approval.
“I’ll do that. Don’t worry about anything, okay?”
“You just took care of our biggest worries.”
“I’m glad to hear that.”
“How’re the kids and Maddie?”
“Everyone’s doing well, but we miss you.”
“Maybe I could FaceTime with the kids later?”
“They’d love that.”
“I’ll do it. I’ll text you to make sure it’s a good time.”
“That sounds good. Take care, Kelsey, and hurry back. We all miss you.”
“That’s nice to hear. Thank you again, Mac. Thank you so much.”
“You got it.”
Kelsey realized she had tears on her face after she ended the call. She wiped them away with her sleeve. “I still can’t believe they did that. Can you imagine having that kind of money to just give away?”
“Mr. McCarthy has worked hard for decades at the marina.”
“And the hotel.”
“That, too. I’m sure they’ve made a bundle over the years.”
“Still… I just can’t wrap my head around having money like that.”
“You never know what might happen if we work hard. We could end up like them someday.”
“That’d be something.”
“Sure would. As long as we have each other, I bet there’s nothing we can’t do.”
Kelsey leaned in to kiss him. “What a relief it is to be able to pay the bills.”
“I didn’t realize you were stressing about that.”
“Of course I am. We’re both out of work, and I had fifty dollars left in my account before our fairy godfathers intervened.”
“You should’ve said something. I have some money saved. I could’ve taken care of whatever you were worried about.”
“You have enough to deal with without worrying about my cell phone bill.”
“Keeping your cell phone on is critical to me.”
Kelsey rolled her eyes at him. “You’re being dramatic.”
“Hardly. If I can’t talk to you any time I want, that’ll set back my recovery drastically.”
“Drastically, huh?”
“Yep. So to sum up, I would’ve happily paid your cell phone bill.”
“Well, thanks to Mr. McCarthy, you don’t need to.”
“Do me a favor, will you?”
“What’s that?”
“Don’t stress about stuff on your own. Let me know what you’re thinking. I can’t help if I don’t know.”
“I will.”
A knock on the door was followed by Sarah poking her head in. “Is it safe to come in?”
Jeff waved her in. “Why wouldn’t it be?”
“You kids are madly in love. I don’t want to see anything that can’t be unseen.”
“I think you’re safe in that regard,” Jeff said. “Since I can barely move at the moment.”
Sarah and Kelsey laughed.
“Mom, Kelsey needs some help with her hair. You’d be willing, right?”
“Jeff!”
“Of course I would!”
“Oh my God. I didn’t want him to just blurt that out.”
“Why not?” he asked. “You need help, and my mom is right there. Now you’re all set.”
“What am I going to do with him?” Kelsey asked.
“He’s always been unmanageable,” Sarah said. “It’s a baby-of-the-family thing.”
“Hey! That’s not true.”
“Oh please,” Sarah said. “You had every one of us wrapped around your little finger from the minute you were born.”
“It’s not my fault I was impossibly cute.”
“Yes, you sure were, and you still are.”
“You’re only saying that because you’re thankful I didn’t die.”
“That’s right. And, Kelsey, honey, anything you need, just let me know. You’re part of our family now.”
“Thank you, Mrs. Grandchamp. It’s really nice of you to say that.”
“My name is Sarah, and I mean it. You’re family. It would be my pleasure to help you with your hair.”
“I’m a mess today,” Kelsey said as new tears leaked from her eyes.
“What else happened?”
“Mr. McCarthy, Big Mac, deposited a shit-ton of money into both our accounts,” Jeff told his mother.
“Oh wow. How lovely of him!”
“That’s what I said, too. Kels thought it was too much.”
“It’s way too much,” Kelsey said.
“Things like this can get crazy expensive very quickly. Charlie asked me this morning if you kids were doing okay for money. I was going to try to find a way to bring that up with you today.”
“It’s so nice of him to think of that,” Jeff said.
“Just like Kelsey is family to me, you’re family to him. That’s how this works.”
“Kinda nice to have a dad who cares. That’s a first.”
“You definitely have a dad who cares now.”
Kelsey reached for his hand. “We have a lot of people who care.”
“We sure do.”