Chapter 3
Fortified by her visit with Adam, Linda rushed into town to meet her dear friend, Carolina Cantrell. Since Caro’s son Joe had married Janey, the two women had been closer than ever, especially now that they were expecting their first shared grandchild.
Linda arrived at the South Harbor Diner only five minutes late, which wasn’t bad, considering she should’ve left ten minutes earlier than she did.
“Sorry, sorry,” she said, dropping a kiss on Caro’s cheek and sliding in across from her.
“Adam was on the noon boat, and he came home just as I was leaving.”
“You must’ve been happy to see him.”
“Extremely. He’s here to see his brothers after the accident.”
Caro shook her head with dismay. “It’s all I think about. How close we came to utter catastrophe.”
“I can’t even let myself go there. When I think about poor Steve’s family and what they must be going through…”
“He was so young.”
“The same age as Evan. It’s unbearable. I’ve been thinking about reaching out to his mother, but I don’t know what to say. My boys made it, and hers didn’t.”
Caro reached across the table to cover Linda’s hand with her own. “Mother to mother, I’m sure she’d love to hear from you.”
“Maybe.” Linda shook off the sadness. “Anyway, this isn’t why you wanted to get together.”
“No, it isn’t.” Caro withdrew her hand and crossed her arms, seeming nervous all of a sudden.
“What is it? Is something wrong?”
“No. Everything is actually quite right for once.”
Linda raised an eyebrow. “What does that mean?”
Caro released a deep sigh and leaned forward to rest her elbows on the table. “Do you remember last fall when I told you I’d met a man?”
Nodding, Linda said, “A much younger man who you wouldn’t name, if I recall correctly.” Caro’s face flushed with color that made Linda laugh. “Are you blushing?”
“Perhaps. A little…”
“Spill it, sister. You’ve had me wondering for months who this younger man is.”
“Seamus,” she whispered so softly that Linda almost didn’t hear her.
“Seamus O’Grady? As in the Seamus who runs the ferry company for Joe?”
“Shhh, keep your voice down. No one knows, well, except for Joe and Janey. They know now.”
“Well, well, well… Girlfriend gets herself a boyfriend and what do you know? She gets the cutest, sexiest, most eligible guy in town now that most of my sons are off the market.”
“He’s not my boyfriend,” Caro said, seeming mortified by the word.
“My apologies. I should’ve said lover.”
Caro cringed. “Oh God, that’s even worse.”
“What would you call him?”
“He defies description.”
Linda howled with laughter. “You have to tell me everything. Leave no detail unshared—especially the part about how you told Joe and Janey. How did he take it?”
“Better than expected, to be honest. He was extremely shocked, but he handled it quite well, all things considered.”
Over salads and iced tea, Caro related the story of how Janey had helped her to find the courage to tell Joe the truth.
“So Joe went down to the ferry landing to confront Seamus. Janey and I were worried that Joe might punch him the way he did David that one time, so we went running after him. Joe wasn’t happy that we suspected he might get violent until Janey reminded him that he does have a bit of a track record. ”
Linda shook with laughter. “It sounds hilarious, even though I suspect it wasn’t all that funny to you.”
“It was excruciating, but your daughter was amazing. She really smoothed things over with Joe, and I think he took it better than he would have without her help.”
“That’s very nice to hear about Janey, but Joe wants you to be happy, Caro. You know that.”
“I do know, but…”
“But what?”
Carolina met her gaze, seeming tortured and uncertain. “Seamus wants to get married.”
“Oh wow! How exciting!” As Linda said the words, she realized Carolina didn’t seem excited. “Isn’t it?”
“It’s so complicated.”
“What’s complicated? Does he love you?”
“Apparently.”
“And you love him?”
“It seems so.”
“Then what’s the problem?”
“Do I really have to spell it out for you? He’s almost twenty years younger than me, for one thing. For another, he says he doesn’t care about having children and a family of his own, but what if someday he regrets that? And what will people say?”
“If I have to guess, I’d bet a lot of the women will be jealous and the men will be looking at you with all-new interest.”
“Ugh, that’s gross! I don’t want their interest.”
“Carolina,” Linda said with a laugh, reaching across the table for her friend’s hands, “do you love him? Do you want to be with him?”
“Yes,” she said on a moan. “I want him, I love him, I was miserable without him.”
“Then what’s the problem?”
“Just because I love him and love being with him doesn’t mean I have to marry him, does it?”
“It seems rather important to him.”
Carolina sagged into her seat. “He’s very old-fashioned sometimes.”
“Probably the way he was raised.”
Caro let go of Linda’s hands and flipped a spoon between her fingers. “Speaking of how he was raised… You know what I spend an inordinate amount of time thinking about?”
“What’s that?”
“His mother.”
“His mother?” Linda said with a laugh. “What about her?”
“I’m thinking about it from her point of view.
How would we feel if our sons told us they wanted to marry a fifty-six-year-old woman?
How would we feel if our sons were in love with a woman who could never give them children or a family?
I can’t help but put myself in her shoes and hate me on her behalf. ”
Linda thought about that for a moment and had to admit Caro made a good point.
It would be upsetting to learn that one of her sons would never be a father, but nearly losing three of her four boys gave her a different perspective than she would’ve had before.
“After what happened last week, it’s safe to say that all I care about is my boys are healthy and happy and loved.
That’s all that matters in this life, Caro. What else is there?”
“Children. There are children, and he’d be such a wonderful father.”
“Yes, he would, and if that’s meant to be, then somehow he’ll be a father.”
Carolina recoiled in horror. “There’s no way I’m having a baby at this age!”
“Relax,” Linda said laughing. “As you well know, there are plenty of other ways to become parents.”
“So you don’t think it would be a big fat Gansett Island scandal if Carolina Cantrell the cougar married sexy, young Seamus O’Grady, the dashing Irishman?”
“It’ll be a huge scandal for a week, maybe two, and then people will get over it and go on with their lives.
Look at Tiffany. Her store was all people were talking about until the town council meeting when Blaine basically told them to get a life.
Now the store is accepted, it’s busy, and some of the same people who spoke out against the store have been seen patronizing it. Scandals come and go. Love is forever.”
“I hate when you make sense. It drives me crazy.”
“My children would completely agree with you.”
Moaning, Carolina dropped her head into her hands. “I can’t believe I’m even considering this madness. Marrying a thirty-nine-year-old! I’d be securing my place in hell, that’s for sure.”
“As Mac and I like to say, we’ll be in good company down there.”
That drew a reluctant laugh from Carolina.
“And I’ll tell you something else, I won’t stand for anyone speaking poorly of you around me. You’ve spent thirty years completely alone. No one deserves to be happy more than you do.”
Caro blinked back tears. “Thank you, Lin. I was never completely alone with Joe and you and Mac and your brood to prop me up.”
“If you love this man, we’ll love him, too. I promise.”
The man in question came through the door to the diner and lit up with pleasure when he saw Carolina sitting with Linda.
“Oh God,” Carolina muttered, making Linda laugh again. Glancing up at Seamus, Carolina said, “What’re you doing here?”
“Looking for you, love.”
Linda didn’t think she was capable of swooning, but the heated look the sexy Irishman gave her friend was positively swoon-worthy.
He nodded to her. “Mrs. McCarthy. Nice to see you again.”
“Since you and my friend are apparently an item, you should probably call me Linda to keep me from feeling too ancient.”
The comment was met with a scowl from Carolina and a wide grin from Seamus, who slid into the booth next to Carolina, forcing her to move over to let him in. Carolina’s face was bright red, and she radiated discomfort, whereas Seamus seemed relaxed and at ease with taking their relationship public.
“So she’s been talking about me, aye?”
“That she has.”
He leaned forward, green eyes twinkling. “What’d she say? Anything good?”
Linda couldn’t help but laugh, even though she knew Carolina wouldn’t appreciate it. “I’ll never tell.”
“Darn.” He slipped an arm around Caro, oblivious to the attention they were attracting from nearby tables, kissed the top of her head and drew her in close to him.
“I missed you last night.” To Linda, he said, “Had to spend the night on the mainland because of a meeting this morning. I couldn’t talk her into coming with me. ”
Caro nudged his ribs with her elbow.
“What? Did I or did I not try to convince you to come with me so we wouldn’t have to sleep apart?”
“And that is my cue to leave,” Linda said, putting a twenty on the table as she stood.
“You don’t have to go,” Carolina said desperately as it seemed to dawn on her that without Linda there to block the prying eyes of the other diners, the word would be all over town about her and Seamus before the hour was up.
“I have to get to the grocery store. Adam is home, and the family is coming for dinner. Got to run, but you think about what I said, do you hear me?”
Carolina grumbled something in reply that Linda couldn’t make out.
“You know,” Linda said, as a deliciously evil idea came to her. “You two should join us for dinner tonight. Joe and Janey will be there, along with the rest of the family.”
As Carolina’s eyes went wide with dismay, Seamus said, “We’d love to. What time?”