Chapter 7 #3
“Oh, shut up.”
“Shut me up.”
“Gladly.”
As Grace poured all the love she felt for him into a kiss for the ages, she counted herself lucky to have found the one who was meant for her. Seamus’s woes made her extra grateful that Evan loved her as much as she loved him.
Since he had an hour before he was due to captain the next boat, Seamus took his time walking back to town.
He felt bad about the scene at Grace’s place.
It was no secret that Evan McCarthy didn’t like him or the attention he paid to Grace.
But they were just friends. Gracie’s heart belonged to Evan, and Seamus’s heart belonged to a woman who didn’t want him.
What a fine mess this had turned out to be.
His boss, Joe Cantrell, was due in on the boat coming now from the mainland, and when he had the chance to talk to Joe, Seamus was seriously considering resigning as manager of the Gansett Island Ferry Company.
Joe would have the summer to find a replacement before he and his wife returned to Ohio for her third year of veterinary school.
Seamus hated to leave Joe in the lurch, especially with Joe’s wife Janey due to deliver their first child soon, but it was too hard to be on the island a few miles from the woman he loved but light years from her.
The fact that the woman he loved was Joe’s mother only made things more complicated in some ways and simpler in others. He couldn’t pine for the mother of his boss, and he couldn’t have her because she couldn’t handle the age difference between them—or her son’s potential disapproval.
If this were happening to someone else, Seamus might’ve found it comical.
But there was nothing funny about this kind of heartache.
For the first time in the more than two decades since he’d come to this country as a teenager, he was thinking about going home to Ireland.
Nothing here made sense anymore. One night with Carolina Cantrell and his entire life had careened off course like a car that lost a wheel on a curve.
He had a posse of sisters, so he’d certainly witnessed heartbreak before.
However, he’d learned it was an entirely different experience when it happened to you.
It sucked the life out of a body. It kept you awake at night, thinking about what might’ve been.
It made it nearly impossible to enjoy any of the simple pleasures that used to make life worth living.
Food didn’t taste the way it used to. Even his favorite Irish whiskey didn’t appeal.
He was a wreck, and he couldn’t continue to function in this condition.
Thus his conclusion that the only possible solution was to leave.
Walking with his hands in his pockets and his head down, Seamus approached the ferry landing deep in thought, which was why he didn’t see the object of his desire leaning against a piling waiting for the boat that carried her son and daughter-in-law to arrive.
He didn’t notice her until he was nearly on top of her, until it was far too late to avoid seeing her for the first time since Luke and Syd’s Christmas Eve wedding.
When he recovered his senses, he realized she looked even better than she had then. She’d cut her hair, and the shoulder-length style suited her. Ironically, it made her look younger. For some reason, it pleased him that she seemed as stunned to see him as he was to see her.
“I, um…” she said. “Joe and Janey…”
“They’re on the boat.” He nodded to the ferry approaching the breakwater. “Word tends to get out when the boss makes a car reservation.”
“Yes, I suppose it does.”
“How’ve you been, Caro?”
“Oh, well, busy. You know.”
“Did you make that?” he asked of the elaborately beaded necklace she wore.
When her fingers covered the beads, he noticed a slight tremble. “This? Yes, a while ago.”
“It’s quite lovely.”
He kept his gaze fixed on her face as he said the words, and watched, mesmerized, as a flush crept into her cheeks.
Realizing he was getting to her, he decided to try one last time. Maybe the passage of months had had the same effect on her. “I’ve missed you, Caro.”
As he watched her process what he’d said, she glanced at the ferry and smiled.
Realizing the moment between them had passed, Seamus followed her gaze and saw Joe at the aft controls, guiding the ferry into port. “Just like riding a bike,” he said with feigned lightness.
“He’s been a natural from the time he was a young boy. My father went on and on about how he’d had to show him only once, and he got it. He just got it.”
Listening to her talk about her son, Seamus finally got it, too. She’d made her choice a long time ago. She’d chosen her son, and nothing he said or did would ever change her mind. It was time to cut his losses and move on.
“Nice to see you, Carolina.”
“Nice to see you, too.”
“Have a lovely visit with your son and his wife.”
Walking away from her, Seamus ached worse than he had before, if that was possible. But at least he had his answer now. He knew what he had to do.