Chapter 29 #2
“Yes, it was,” Evan replied with a cheeky grin.
Owen laughed at the exchange. He expected nothing less from his best friend than a joke in the midst of his wedding ceremony. Owen took Laura’s ring from Frank and slid the simple platinum band she’d requested onto her finger. “With this ring, I marry you, Laura McCarthy.”
She followed suit, sliding the same simple platinum band onto his finger. “With this ring, I marry you, Owen Lawry.”
“By the power vested in me by the State of Rhode Island, I’m honored to pronounce you husband and wife. Owen, you may kiss my daughter, but keep it clean.”
“Don’t you dare,” Laura said as she leaped into his arms and kissed him passionately right in front of her father, their families and friends.
What else could Owen do but kiss her back?
“That was not clean,” Frank muttered when they finally broke apart, breathless and laughing from the sheer joy of the moment.
“It is one of the greatest honors of my life,” Frank said, “to introduce for the first time as Mr. and Mrs., Owen and Laura Lawry.”
Their friends and family broke into a rousing round of applause as Owen took Holden from Evan and reached for Laura’s hand to walk toward the steps where they would greet their guests as they went up for the reception at the hotel.
One by one, their friends expressed their congratulations before heading up the stairs: David and Daisy, Jenny, Alex and Paul, Victoria and Shannon, Jared and Lizzie, Tiffany and Blaine, Luke and Sydney, Big Mac and Linda, Mac, Grant, Laura’s Uncle Kevin and his sons, Riley and Finn, who looked a lot like Mac and Adam with their dark hair and mischievous blue eyes.
Owen had met them for the first time the night before, and though they were both still in their twenties, they fit right in with their older cousins and their group of friends.
He’d heard Riley asking Janey if she still had a dog named after him, and Janey retorting that the dog had come with the name.
To which Riley had barked in response. Finn planned to stick around for the rest of the summer to help Shane with the affordable-housing project he was trying to finish before the cold weather set in.
Riley and Finn hugged Laura and shook hands with Owen. “Thank you for taking her off our hands,” Finn said.
Laura slugged him.
“Ow,” Finn said, rubbing his arm dramatically. “That’s not very bridal of you.”
“She fights dirty,” Owen said to high fives from his wife’s younger cousins.
“I like him,” Riley said.
“Normally, I do, too,” Laura replied.
“We’ve got them fighting, bro,” Riley said to Finn. “Our work here is finished.”
Pleased with themselves, the brothers went up the stairs.
“They’re too funny,” Owen said to Laura’s Uncle Kevin, who rolled his eyes.
“Positively hilarious.” Ten years younger than Big Mac, Kevin had light brown hair and the McCarthy blue eyes. Like his older brothers, though, Kevin was funny and dedicated to his family. Owen had liked him instantly. “I can’t take them anywhere. What’d they say this time?”
“Something about Owen taking me off your hands,” Laura said.
“We are thankful for that,” Kevin said gravely.
“Apple, meet Tree,” Laura said, tipping her cheek to receive her uncle’s kiss.
“Congrats, hon. So happy for you.”
“Thanks, Kev. I’m thrilled you guys could be here. Where’s Aunt Deb? Did she make it over this morning?”
Kevin’s smile dimmed as he shook his head. “She couldn’t come after all.”
“Oh. Is everything okay?”
“That, my dear, is a story for another day. This is a happy day, and I’m so glad to be here with you and the rest of the family. It’s been far too long.”
“Yes,” Laura agreed. “It has.”
After Kevin had walked up the stairs, Laura said, “That doesn’t sound good.”
“No, it doesn’t, but try not to worry about it today. Today’s our day.”
She leaned into his one-armed embrace. “Other than the day Holden was born, best day of my life.”
“Mine, too, Princess.” He kissed her forehead and then her lips. “Mine, too.”
Kevin McCarthy trudged up the stairs, his heart heavy after his niece asked about his wife.
He couldn’t exactly tell her—on her wedding day—that Deb had left him for a younger guy.
Yeah, he was that cliché. He couldn’t tell Laura that her Aunt Deb wanted more than what she had with him, that she felt her life was passing her by and leaving her behind.
He’d begged her not to go, to consider counseling, to fight for their twenty-seven-year marriage. But his pleas had fallen on deaf ears, and now he was left to explain to his family why his wife had chosen to sit out their niece’s wedding.
At the top of the stairs, he noticed his brother Mac waving him over to the bar, where he sat on a stool next to their oldest brother, Frank.
He might’ve been able to dodge Laura’s questions, but his brothers wouldn’t be satisfied with evasions.
Even knowing that, Kevin walked over to them, thrilled to see them, as always.
“Congratulations, Dad,” Kevin said as he shook Frank’s hand. “I think our girl got it right this time.”
“I know she did. He’s the best.”
“I can see that,” Kevin said. “Nice job on the ceremony, too.”
“Best part of the job, especially when you get to marry your own kid.”
“I bet.”
“I have something I need to tell you, Kev,” Mac said as he handed a bottle of beer to Kevin.
“That sounds sort of ominous.”
“Actually, I’m choosing to look at it as good news. It seems I have another daughter.”
“What?” Kevin’s gaze shifted from Mac to Frank, who nodded.
Mac proceeded to tell him about Mallory and her mother, Diana, and how he’d found out about Mallory’s existence.
“Oh my God,” Kevin said. “How incredibly shocking. How are you feeling about it?”
“Don’t shrink me, Kev,” Mac said with a wink and a smile. His older brothers hated when he acted like a psychiatrist around them. Little did they know he could use a shrink of his own at the moment.
“I didn’t mean to.”
“I’m joking,” Mac said. “It was shocking, at first, but I’m settling into the idea of another daughter.”
“How are the kids taking it?” Kevin asked.
“Pretty well, all things considered. They know me well enough to understand that I’m not going to let her walk away and pretend like I don’t know she exists. That’s just not who I am.”
“No, it isn’t. Good for you. It’s the right thing to do.”
“I’m glad you agree.”
“I’m looking forward to meeting my new niece.”
“She’ll be back in the next few weeks for a weekend. Maybe you can join us.”
“I was actually planning to stick around for a while. I’m taking a little time off from work.”
“Is everything okay, Kev?” Frank asked.
“It could be better.”
“Are you going to tell us where Deb is?” Mac asked.
“I don’t know where Deb is. She’s left me for a younger guy, of all things.”
“She left you,” Mac said. “When did this happen?”
“Couple of weeks ago.”
“And you’re just telling us this now?” Frank asked.
“It’s not something I really want to talk about, so I’m sorry I didn’t call you to tell you my wife left me.”
“I didn’t mean it that way,” Frank said, “and you know it. We’d want to be there for you, the way you’re always there for us.”
“I know,” Kevin said with a sigh. He felt bad for snapping at Frank, because he knew his brothers would be concerned.
“I’m all right. At least I will be. Eventually.
If I’m being entirely truthful, this has been coming for a while now.
I’ve known she was unhappy. I just didn’t expect her to actually leave. ”
“I’m really sorry, Kev,” Mac said. “How are the boys taking it?”
“We haven’t told them yet. They think she’s sick and sitting this one out.”
“You have to tell them before they hear it from someone else,” Frank said.
“I know. I will. Soon.” The thought of telling his sons their mother had left him for another man made Kevin feel physically ill.
A gorgeous dark-haired woman approached them, and Frank’s face lit up with a huge smile as he held out a hand to her.
“Lovely ceremony, Your Honor,” she said with a warm smile for Frank.
Kevin watched in stunned amazement as Frank put his arm around the woman and she rested her arm on his shoulder. In all the years since Joann died, he’d never seen Frank with another woman.
“Thank you. Betsy, this is my baby brother, Kevin. Kevin, Betsy Jacobson.”
“Nice to meet you,” Kevin said, raising a brow in his brother’s direction. “Speaking of holding out…”
Frank laughed and looked up at Betsy with affection. “It’s a fairly recent development.”
“Not so recent,” Mac said with a teasing grin for the happy couple. “It’s been going on for a while now.”
Kevin experienced a pang of envy for the happiness his older brother had found after decades on his own. “You’ve got one of the good ones, Betsy.”
“I know.”
“Kevin just told us he’s going to be sticking around for a while,” Frank told Betsy.
“That’s great,” she said. “I look forward to getting to know you better.”
“Me, too.” Kevin looked forward to that and anything else that kept him away from the nightmare unfolding at home.