Chapter 16
Mac stood and grabbed his coffee. “Let’s go inside where we can talk without these clowns disturbing us.”
“Who ya calling clowns, boy?” Ned asked with pretend indignance.
“You know exactly who.” Mac gestured for Julia to lead the way toward a table inside the large building where the marina’s restaurant was housed. “Can I get you a coffee?”
“That’d be great. Thanks.”
“Cream and sugar?”
“Just cream, please.”
“Coming right up.”
He was a handsome guy with dark hair and his father’s blue eyes.
Mac returned with a coffee and a plate with three sugar doughnuts.
The smell of the doughnuts made Julia’s mouth water.
She took a sip of coffee as he nudged the plate toward her and tossed some napkins on the table.
“You have to try one of my mom’s famous doughnuts.”
Julia chose the smallest of the three and took a delicate bite. The sweet, greasy flavor exploded on her tongue. “Dear God, that’s good.”
“Right? Our whole family is addicted to them.”
“I can see why.”
“So let me tell you about the job. A couple of years ago, when I moved back to the island, I started a small construction company that’s grown to the point that I just can’t manage it all on my own, especially in the summer when I’m helping to run this place, too.
My wife, Maddie, is expecting twin girls in September, and they’ll be our fourth and fifth children. The oldest is in kindergarten.”
“Holy cow.”
“Right? I need help, and I need it now.”
“I need a job, and I need it now.”
Mac laughed. “I’d say that makes us a perfect match. Owen says you’ve been an office manager for years in Texas?”
“Yes, I worked for a manufacturing company most recently. I loved the job until we got a new boss. We weren’t a good fit.”
Mac winced. “I hate when that happens.”
“Me, too.”
“Well, I’m the only boss you’d ever have on this job, and I’d like to think I’m pretty easy to work for. We have a lot going on all the time, so it’s really busy.”
“I like to be busy, and I’d do anything I could to make life easier for you. I’m not the kind of employee who can’t be asked to do anything outside of her job description. If something needs to be done, tell me, and I’ll do it.”
“That’d be so awesome, and there’s no job description. We’d be making it up as we go.”
“I’m fine with that.”
“Are you here only for the summer?”
“For right now, but I’m open to staying if the job is working out for both of us. I’m a little worried about being here in the winter. I’ve never done a winter on Gansett.”
“I was the same way when I first moved back here, but I’ve come to really appreciate the slower pace of winter after the insanity of summer.”
“Running two businesses that’re booming in the summer, I can see why you love winter.” The puppy chose that moment to wake up, whining and growling. “Stop it. Be nice. We’re at an interview, and we want Mac to hire us.”
“You’re already hired, and so is he. Our office needs a dog to keep an eye on things.”
“Really? You won’t mind if I bring him?”
“Absolutely not. You’ll be there by yourself a lot, so it’d be good for you to have the company.”
“That would be great.” And then she caught herself. “If I get to keep him, that is.”
“Why wouldn’t you?”
“I’m sure someone must be looking for him. If they come back and want him…” She shrugged.
“Finders keepers.”
“Owen said they shouldn’t get him back because they let him fall off a boat.”
“I agree with Owen.”
“I’m hoping they’re far away from here by now and that I get to keep him.”
“I hope so, too.” He detailed a generous salary and benefit package that included vacation and sick time. “Will that work for you?”
“Um, yes, that would be great.” She wanted to weep from the relief of knowing she would soon have a decent paycheck to help her dig out of the financial hole she’d fallen into.
“I can help you find housing if you need it.”
“My sister Cindy rented your cousin Finn’s place. I’m hoping she wants a roommate.”
“That’d be perfect. It’s within walking distance of my office in town. When can you start?”
“Is tomorrow too soon?”
“Absolutely not. I’ll warn you that everything is a bit of a mess, so you’ll have a heck of a job at first.”
“That’s totally fine. I’ll get you whipped into shape in no time.”
He gave her the address of the office in town. “I’ll meet you there tomorrow at nine?”
“I’ll be there.”
“Tonight, we’re having a gathering at the Wayfarer to thank all the people who helped us renovate and get ready for the season. I’d love if you could stop by to meet my team and see some of our work.”
“Sure, I can do that.”
“Any time after six. And feel free to bring a friend. There’ll be dinner and entertainment from your brother and mine.”
“Sounds good. I’ll be there.”
Mac reached across the table to shake her hand. “Thank you so much, Julia. I’m looking forward to working with you.”
“Me, too. Thank you.” He would never know how desperately she’d needed the job or the relief she felt at having landed it, in no small part, she was certain, because Owen had put in a good word for her. Whatever it took.
They walked out to rejoin the others, and Julia was surprised to see that Owen had waited for her.
“Say hello to my new office manager,” Mac said.
The others responded with applause that made Julia feel thankful for the series of unfortunate events that had brought her home to Gansett.
Owen stood and gave Julia a hug. “Congrats.”
“Thank you for helping to make it happen.”
“Anything for you, kid.”
The expression brought back a lifetime of memories. She and Katie and Owen had done whatever it took to survive their upbringing.
Anything for you had become their motto.
Knowing they had each other had kept them going during the worst of times, and it had fortified them between crises.
To know that bond remained in place, unshakable by time or distance or marriage or anything else, was the reminder Julia needed that she was never alone in this world as long as she had Owen and Katie to prop her up the way they always had.
Overcome by emotion, she squeezed her brother’s arm. “Back atcha.”
“I know.”
They shared a look that contained a lifetime of devotion. There was literally nothing they wouldn’t do for each other or their siblings, a fact that had been tried and tested more times than either of them cared to remember.
“I need to get to the clinic to meet Maddie,” Mac said.
“Is everything okay?” Big Mac asked.
“Yep. Just a routine check. Vic wants to see her weekly since she’s expecting twins this time around.”
“Let us know how she is,” Big Mac said.
“Will do. See you tonight, Julia.”
“See you then.”
“You’re going to the party at the Wayfarer tonight?” Owen asked.
“Yes, he invited me to come to meet everyone.”
“Awesome. I’m playing, and Laura is going. Mom and Charlie are watching the kids.”
“Sounds like a fun night out.” Julia wondered if Deacon might want to go with her. She said goodbye to the other men and walked to Owen’s truck with him. “He seems really great,” she said of Mac when they were on their way back to town.
“He is. Everyone likes him. He’s fun and funny and hardworking and desperately in love with his wife and kids. Their family is a lot like ours, without the horror-show father, of course. His dad is one of the best men I’ve ever met.”
“He was so nice.”
“He always is. Not only did he raise his own five kids, but he was like a father to Joe Cantrell, who’s now married to his daughter Janey, and Luke Harris, who lost his dad really young and ended up working at the marina.
And when he found out about Mallory, the daughter he never knew he had from a previous relationship, he welcomed her into the family with open arms.”
“What it must’ve been like to grow up with a dad like him rather than what we got.”
“No kidding.” Owen glanced over at her. “John told me he got a letter from Dad.”
“What? When?”
“A couple of months ago. He wrote to John because he’s a cop, thinking John might be able to help him get special favors in prison.”
Julia stared at Owen, shocked to the core. “Tell me John ignored him.”
“He did, but he said getting the letter screwed him up for a few weeks.”
“Of course it did. Just when we think that son of a bitch is out of our lives, he pops back in, acting as if he has a right to anything from us.”
“I’m going to call him and tell him if he ever contacts any of us again, I’ll report him to the prosecutors. He’ll get time tacked onto his sentence if they tell the judge he’s harassing us.”
“You shouldn’t do that, O. You don’t need to hear his voice and fall into that rabbit hole again.”
“I’ll gladly do it if it means keeping him away from us.”
“Have the prosecutor do it. Call him and not Dad.”
“I suppose I could do that.”
“Please do that. I don’t want you talking to him ever again.”
“Trust me, that’d be fine with me. I’ll call the prosecutor.”
“Good,” Julia said, releasing a deep breath. Just thinking about her father triggered massive anxiety for her, Owen and the rest of their family. “I hate him so much for what he did to all of us.”
“I do, too. And oddly enough, I hate that I hate him. I hate having that in me for anyone.”
“I know what you mean. I feel the same. It’s like we were assigned this burden as kids that we can never escape no matter how far we run or how much time goes by.”
“Finding out that he was abused as a kid helped to explain some of the why of it,” Owen said, “but you know what? I was abused as a kid, and it never occurs to me to take out my frustrations about that on my own children.”
“You could never do what he did. He wanted us to forgive him because of how he was raised, but I don’t know if I ever can. He had a choice about how he wanted to live his life, and he chose wrong.”
“Yes, he did.”
Owen drove the truck into the back lot at the Sand & Surf and parked in an empty space.
After killing the engine, he turned to look at her.
“I’ve mostly escaped from it, Jule. Having Laura and the kids has been the best thing to ever happen to me.
I’m so busy being happy with them that I have very little time to think about shit from the past. I think Katie would say the same thing since she’s been with Shane and got the job at the clinic. ”
“I can only take your word for it. I’ve never been busy enough or distracted enough for it to totally disappear for me.”
“It doesn’t ever totally disappear, but it becomes more manageable when you replace the hate with love.”
“I’m so happy for you. After all the battles you fought for the rest of us, you deserve all the good things more than anyone I know.”
“You deserve it, too, Julia. You fought most of the battles right along with me.”
“Not like you did.” She would never forget the night their father had broken Owen’s arm and then passed it off as an accident at the hospital. Or when he’d had Owen charged with assault for daring to defend himself. Those were some of many times she’d wished she had the courage to commit murder.
“Still,” Owen said. “I want you to be happy. I want you to have more love than you do hate.”
“I’m working on that. The job will help me to stay busy. It’ll be good to throw myself into a new challenge. Mac said he needs everything.”
“You’ll love working for him.”
“I think so, too. Well, I’d better take Mr. Pupwell for a walk before my appointment at the clinic. And yes, I’m going to the clinic, so you can text Katie and tell her you did your job as my keeper while she’s gone.”
Owen grinned. “I’ll let her know.”
“You do that. I’ll see you later. And thanks again for the ride, the recommendation and everything else.”
“You got it.”
He went inside while she took the puppy for a walk through the parking lot, hoping he would quickly learn that peeing was meant to be done outside, not on the shirt of one’s mother.
Stop. Don’t do that. Don’t get attached. Protect yourself from getting hurt.
She’d spent a lifetime trying to avoid getting hurt, for all the good that had done her. Hurt was almost all she’d ever known. Puppy looked up at her, making sure she was still there before continuing to sniff around the bushes.
“Go pee, buddy.”
Magically, he lifted his little leg and peed. “What the hell? I have to tell you to pee?” She couldn’t wait to tell Deacon that. He’d crack up.
Deacon.
Just that quickly, she was back to thinking about kissing him the night before and wondering how long she had to wait before she could do it again.