Chapter 5
Riley held her coat, which earned him more points, along with the door to his truck that he opened for her. The front of the black pickup boasted a plow blade.
Nikki had never been on a date in which the guy opened her car door. Her grandmother would wholeheartedly approve of Riley McCarthy. Hell, she already did after the excellent job he’d done on the roof.
When they were on their way to Domenic’s, she said, “I meant to tell you that the roof looks really good.”
“I’m glad you think so,” he said. “As roofs go, that one was a bit of a beast with all the cutouts and dormers. Not to mention the sheer size of it. But we got it done.”
“My grandmother was very happy with the job you guys did.”
“That’s good to hear. My cousin Mac says she’s a really nice lady.”
“She is. She had young kids to raise on her own after her husband dropped dead at work. He just keeled over at his desk. They said he was dead before anyone realized something had happened. She raised her kids on her own, including my mother.”
“That’s really admirable. I can’t imagine having to raise kids on my own.”
“She was a trouper. Fortunately, my grandfather had good insurance and owned a successful company, so she didn’t have to work while they were young. But later, when they were all in school, she ended up taking over the helm of his company and ran it for thirty years.”
“That’s amazing. What kind of company was it?”
“Manufacturing. They make components for jet engines. My aunt is the CEO now.”
“Very cool. Did your grandmother ever remarry?”
“Nope. She’s never even been on a date since my grandfather died. She said she had her great love and no one could ever take his place.”
Riley sighed.
And that sigh caused something inside Nikki to shift to accommodate the possibility that he might be different, better than most of the men she’d known in the past.
“I’m sad for someone I’ve never even met,” Riley said, further cementing her instincts where he was concerned.
“There’re pictures of them together at the house. You can tell just by looking at them that they were so happy.”
“I’d love to see them.” He turned the truck into the parking lot at Domenic’s and pulled in next to a large black SUV. “You’re going to get to meet my cousin Mac and his wife, Maddie,” Riley said, nodding to the SUV.
“Oh cool. Gram loves him—and his father.”
“Everyone does.” They met at the front of Riley’s truck, and he placed a hand on her lower back to usher her into the restaurant.
She told herself not to overreact to the proprietary gesture that was probably ingrained in him, but it gave her a flutter inside that she hadn’t felt in so long, she almost didn’t recognize the emotions coursing through her for what they were—excitement, desire, anticipation.
Among the other diners, Nikki recognized Riley’s cousin right away due to an obvious family resemblance.
Like Riley, Mac had dark hair and piercing blue eyes.
After he checked in with the host, Riley took hold of her hand and led her to his cousin’s table.
“Hey,” Mac said, smiling up at Riley. “Fancy meeting you here.”
“Hi there,” Riley said. “This is Nikki Stokes. Nikki, my cousin Mac McCarthy and his wife, Maddie.”
“Nice to meet you,” Mac said, standing to shake her hand.
“You, too,” Nikki said, shaking hands with both of them.
“You’re Mrs. Hopper’s granddaughter, right?”
“That’s me, the one with the leaky roof.”
“She’s a doll,” Mac said. “I love working for her.”
“She likes you, too. She says you’re a handsome devil.”
“Oh dear God,” Maddie said, groaning. “Do not tell him that. He’ll be even more unbearable than he already is.”
While Mac scowled playfully at his wife, Nikki and Riley cracked up laughing.
“How’d you score a get-out-of-jail-free pass tonight?” Riley asked them, adding for Nikki’s benefit, “They have three kids under the age of six.”
“Yikes,” Nikki said.
“You know it,” Maddie said, taking a healthy sip of her wine. “My mom and Ned hosted a sleepover, so we could get a night off. I told Mac we could do anything as long as I didn’t have to cut anyone’s food.”
“You don’t have to cut Mac’s food?” Riley asked.
“Not anymore.” She smiled up at her husband, who was an older, equally handsome version of Riley. “He’s coming along nicely.”
“You’re a miracle worker,” Riley said. “You even got him potty trained.”
“I wouldn’t go that far,” Maddie said.
“I can hear you two,” Mac said, making Nikki laugh.
“We’ll let you get back to your date night,” Riley said. “See you in the morning.”
“Bright and early,” Mac said.
“Yeah, yeah.” With his hand on her lower back, Riley directed her toward the table the host pointed to, where menus had been left for them. Riley held her chair and waited for her to get settled before taking his own seat.
“They’re funny,” Nikki said.
“Yeah, they are. We all love her. She’s perfect for him.”
“He looks like you, or I guess I should say you look like him.”
“Ew, I do not.”
“Yes, you do,” she said, laughing.
“I thought you liked me.”
“I do like you.”
“Then don’t say I look like Mac,” he said, making a face.
“That’s not an insult. He’s not exactly ugly.”
“Yes, he is.”
As she cracked up yet again, she realized she’d laughed more in the last hour than she had in years.
He loved her laugh, loved being the cause of it, loved the way she let go of the tension that was such a big part of her when she wasn’t laughing.
As he studied the menu, he wanted to keep her laughing so she wouldn’t think about whatever had troubled her earlier.
When he’d walked into the kitchen and found her staring out the window, lost in thoughts that were obviously upsetting, he’d wanted to wrap his arms around her and make it better.
But he’d resisted that impulse, sensing it might make things worse rather than better.
The incident had confirmed his earlier suspicion that someone had hurt her badly.
The thought of anyone hurting her filled him with rage that he didn’t dare show her, lest he scare her off.
That was the last thing he wanted to do when she seemed to be getting more comfortable with having him around.
“What looks good to you?” he asked.
“I’m leaning toward the cod.”
“I was thinking about getting that, too.”
The waiter came and took their orders, returning with an Amstel Light for him and a glass of pinot grigio for her.
“I haven’t been here in years.” She took a look around the restaurant, which was busy for an off-season weeknight. “We used to come several times each summer. It was one of our favorites.”
“I’m surprised I never ran into you before. I spent a couple of summers working for my uncle at the marina. We were probably here at the same time.”
“When was that?”
“About twelve years ago?”
“I was here! I waitressed at the Lobster Pot that summer.”
“No way. I’m sure I must’ve eaten there. That’s one of my uncle’s favorite places, and I lived with him and my aunt. He was always trying to feed me. They used to tease me about being too skinny.”
“I worked there for six summers. I wonder if I waited on you guys.”
“How funny would that be? But I think I would’ve remembered you. Did you know my cousins?”
“I knew of the family and the marina, of course, but I don’t think I ever met them. They’re older than me, I think.”
Nodding, he said, “They’re older than me, too.”
“We used to come here the second school let out.” Her lips set into a grimace as she seemed to remember unhappy memories. “I couldn’t get here fast enough.”
“You didn’t like school?”
“That wasn’t it. I didn’t like my father, and we had to live with him during the school year. I counted down to summer vacation on Gansett.”
“That must’ve been difficult for you, having to live with him nine months out of the year if you didn’t like him.”
“It was hell. Thank God for Jordan during those years. We survived it together.”
Riley was almost afraid to ask what he most wanted to know. “He wasn't… abusive, was he?”
“No, nothing like that.” Sighing, she took a sip of her wine and seemed to be deciding how much she wanted to tell him.
“My mom… She was an alcoholic with mental health problems that caused a lot of chaos while we were growing up. She wasn’t allowed to have us on her own, which is why we came here in the summers.
Our grandmother had actual custody of us in the summer. ”
He had questions, but he didn’t ask them, hoping she would offer more.
“My dad reacted to my mom’s issues by taking up with someone else while he was still married to her. By the time the whole thing came out, he had two kids with the other woman, and the court still gave him primary custody over my mother and her troubles.”
“Whoa.”
“Yeah, it was lots of fun, but it was a long time ago.”
“Do you see your dad?”
She wrapped her arms around herself in that protective pose he was coming to recognize as built into her DNA.
“He and his new family are no longer in our lives,” she said, her shuttered expression keeping him from asking any further questions.
“We haven’t seen him since the day we graduated from high school.
Sometimes I think Jordan ended up with Zane because of my dad. ”
“How do you mean?”
“She learned at an early age not to set her expectations too high.”
“You must be crushed that she went back to him.”
“I’m numb more than anything. That relationship has been the definition of toxic since day one. I’m glad to have him out of my life, but I sure do miss her. Even if I wanted to shake her half the time lately.”
“It’s got to be hard for you to see her making questionable choices.”
“It is, especially since she used to really listen to me, and now it seems his voice is the only one she hears.”
“I still can’t believe he did what he did to her and she went back to him.”
“I know. I wanted to tie her up and toss her in a closet when I realized what she was doing.” She took another drink of wine. “But instead of doing that, I focused on what I could control, which is my own life, such as it is.”
“How about your mom? Do you see her?”