Chapter 5
Nina nodded to her, and Mallory felt the eyes of thirty people turn to her. In the past, that would’ve intimidated her, but after years in the program, she had certainly done this before.
“I’d been sober more than ten years when my mother died last year.
” She paused when the others offered condolences.
“Thank you. It was a tough loss. For my entire life, it’d been just her and me.
She got pregnant when she was really young, and her parents disowned her.
My father was never in the picture. I had asked about him many times, but her answers were always vague.
As I got older, I wondered if maybe she didn’t know who he was. ”
Mallory took a moment to get her emotions under control.
“I found a letter in her things about a week after she died. In it, she finally gave me my father’s name, and as soon as I could, I came to Gansett to find him.
I thought maybe I’d just say hello and let him know he had a daughter he’d never known about.
But that’s not what happened. My father is an amazing person with an equally amazing family.
I found out I have a stepmother, four brothers, a sister, two nephews, a niece, four cousins and two uncles, not to mention sisters-in-law and a brother-in-law.
“To say it’s been overwhelming to have them in my life is putting it mildly.
I thought I’d come so far from when I’d used alcohol to cope with an earlier devastating loss.
It’d been years since I’d been tempted to take a drink.
Until I was faced with meeting my father and his entire family, and I forgot all about ten years of sobriety in my desire to fit in and go with the flow and not have to explain that, no, I can’t have that glass of wine or a beer because I’m an alcoholic.
I’ve never been afraid to tell people that, but for some reason, I couldn’t bring myself to tell these people. ”
“Do you believe they’d think less of you if you told them?” Nina asked.
“No, not at all. It’s just that my relationships with them still feel so new and fragile.”
“Perhaps you begin with your dad, and go from there,” Mason suggested.
Mallory noticed that Quinn nodded in agreement.
“That’s a good idea,” she said to Mason.
“No one says you have to tell anyone,” Quinn said. “My family has no idea I’m an alcoholic. They know I don’t drink, but they think it’s because I’m a fitness freak.”
The insight from a man of so few words surprised her. “You make a good point,” Mallory said. “It’s not like I owe anyone the information.”
“You owe it to yourself to make your life here on the island manageable, though,” Andy said.
“If anyone asks, and I doubt they will because people tend not to notice what’s so obvious to us, just tell them you’re dieting or alcohol gives you a headache.
There’s always something you can say to take the attention off the fact that you don’t drink. ”
“Thank you all. This is very helpful.” And it was all stuff she’d heard before, but it helped to talk about it in relation to her new family.
The meeting ended a short time later, and Mallory told Mason she’d see him at the barn next Tuesday.
“See you then,” he said with a wave as he headed for the door.
Mallory waited for Quinn, who was talking to Nina.
While feigning interest in her phone, she took advantage of the opportunity to take a closer look at him.
Standing maybe six foot two or three, he had a muscular build and close-cropped dark blond hair.
He wore faded denim jeans and a navy-blue Henley.
Long sleeves were pulled up to reveal strong forearms. As he listened intently to Nina, he gave her his undivided attention.
Mallory wondered what it would be like to be on the receiving end of Dr. Quinn James’s full attention. A shiver went through her, making her tremble and feel ridiculous at the same time. Sure, he was a good-looking guy, but that didn’t mean she had to get silly over him.
Then he was walking toward her, and Mallory shook off her inappropriate thoughts.
“Ready?” he asked.
“Whenever you are.” Duh. Of course he’s ready, or he wouldn’t be asking if you are.
“How’d you get here?” he asked.
“Rode my bike.”
“We can toss it in the back of my truck if you want.”
“Sure, that works.”
He didn’t say anything else as he held the door to let Mallory go out ahead of him.
She’d worn jeans and a lightweight sweater in deference to the chilly spring air and hoped her jeans looked as good on her as his did on him.
More silliness. Knock it off, Mallory. He’s taking you on a tour of a building, not his bedroom.
It had been a long time since she’d found any guy particularly attractive, so her thoughts were surprising, to say the least. She’d been frantically busy with work for so many years that things like men and dating and sex had fallen pretty far down on her list of priorities, well behind the sleep she craved after long weeks at work.
Months after her layoff, she was well-rested and more relaxed than she’d been in years. Even moving couldn’t compare to the stress of a regular week at work.
She wheeled her bike over to his big silver pickup and watched the play of his muscles as he lifted the bike into the bed of the truck.
Then he held the passenger door for her and waited for her to get settled before he closed it and went around to the driver’s side.
Sexy, smart, mysterious and a gentleman—what a potent combination.
They drove slowly through the congested downtown area. “What is all this?” Mallory asked, taking in the crowds of people and cars that clogged the streets. It was too early in the season for this many tourists.
“The start of Race Week. Races that last all day and parties that last all night. From what I’m told, it gets pretty crazy.”
“I guess so.”
Once they were through the downtown area, the traffic let up, and they made quick time driving to the island’s north end.
Mallory tried to tell herself that the silence between them wasn’t awkward, but it did make her feel uncertain. Should she say something to cut through the silence or stay quiet? Was he always this reticent, or did he talk more around people he knew well?
“How long have you been here?” she asked when the silence had stretched long enough for her.
“I got here two months before we met up at the accident site.”
“What do you think so far?”
“I like it more than I expected to. My brother and sister-in-law and their friends keep me busy, and so far, the remoteness hasn’t made me too crazy.”
“Your brother has made quite a name for himself,” Mallory said. Who hadn’t heard of the young billionaire who’d walked away from Wall Street to move to Gansett Island?
“I still find it funny that everyone knows him. To me, he’s still my annoying little brother.”
“What’s it like to have a brother who’s been so successful?”
“I’m happy for him. He was always a go-getter—from the time he was the littlest kid. He was mowing the neighbors’ lawns by the time he was twelve and incorporated his first business at eighteen.”
“Wow, that’s impressive. Do you guys have other siblings?”
“We have two sisters and another brother.”
“I’m still getting used to having siblings. Finding out you have five of them when you’re thirty-nine takes some getting used to.”
“You’re thirty-nine? You sure don’t look it.”
“Thanks. I’ll be forty in August. That’s hard to believe.”
“I turn forty in August also.”
“What day?”
“The ninth.”
For a second, Mallory was too stunned to speak. “No way,” she said after a long pause. “You were born on August ninth forty years ago?”
“Yep.”
“Me, too.”
He looked over at her, seeming as shocked as she felt. “We were born on the same day. What’re the freaking odds of that?”
“Astronomical.” She was about to remind him he was driving and should look at the road rather than at her when he finally shifted his gaze.
“That’s crazy,” he said.
“We should form a turning-forty support group.”
He made a sound that might’ve been a laugh. “It’s just a number.”
“Are you where you thought you’d be at forty?” The question was probably too deep to ask someone she’d just met, but she’d been asking herself the same thing in recent weeks as she prepared to start over once again.
“Hell no. Are you?”
“Nope. Not even kinda.”
“Where’d you think you’d be?”
“Married with teenagers and a mortgage and two dogs and a job I loved to hate. What about you?”
“Same thing, I guess. I certainly never expected to be starting over on a middle-of-nowhere island. That’s for sure.”
“We have far more than our birthdays in common. Until my mom told me where to find my dad, I’d never even been here, despite growing up in Providence.”
“I’d never been here either until I came to visit Jared and Lizzie over the holidays, and she talked me into being the medical director at their new facility.”
“Did she have to twist your arm?”
“Not too hard. I was looking for a change and didn’t have anything better to do. I figured what’s the harm in giving it a year or two? I could get the place up and running and then turn it over to someone else if I hate living here.”
“Where did you live before?”
“Around. I was in the army for twenty-one years. I got out at the end of last year. I was living in New York City before I came here.”
“Thank you for your service.”
He glanced over at her. “You’re welcome.”
“Could I ask you something that’s none of my business?”
“I guess…”
“Did you hurt yourself?”
“When?”
“Recently. I noticed your limp the first time we met, and wondered if you’d hurt yourself running or something.”
“Once a nurse, always a nurse?”
“Something like that.”
“I’ve got a bum knee that got me medically retired about three years ahead of schedule.”
“Oh. I’m sorry. That’s too bad.”
“Is what it is.” He took a left onto a dirt road that led to a construction site. “Here we are.”
Mallory followed him inside where her brother Mac was working along with their cousins Shane, Riley and Finn, as well as Mac’s business partner, Luke Harris.