Chapter 18
Julia put Puppy Pupwell down to walk and headed for the pharmacy to fill the script. Hopefully, they wouldn’t mind if she brought him inside, because there was no way she was leaving him alone outside.
Gansett Island had always been a dog-friendly place, which was another thing she’d loved about it as a child.
Her father wouldn’t allow them to have pets, but each summer, she made friends with dogs she encountered on the island and then missed them the rest of the year.
The first thing she’d do when she returned was to look for her friends from the summer before.
In Texas, she hadn’t been able to get a dog because of Katie’s allergies.
After Katie decided to stay on Gansett, Julia had held off on getting a dog of her own because she worked too many hours and it wouldn’t be fair for the dog to be alone most of the time.
It had been a huge relief when Mac said she could bring Puppy to her new job.
At the pharmacy, a woman named Grace waited on her. Julia recognized her from the wedding. “Ah, the maid of honor,” she said after reviewing the prescription.
“That’s me.”
She extended her hand to Julia. “Nice to meet you. I’m married to Evan McCarthy.”
Julia shifted the puppy so she could shake Grace’s hand. “That makes us practically related.”
“I know! Are you hanging out on Gansett for a while?”
“For at least the summer. I just got a job managing Mac McCarthy’s construction office.”
“Oh, that’s awesome. He needs the help. He’s my brother-in-law.”
“There’re so many McCarthys. It’ll take me a year to figure out who goes with who.”
Grace laughed. “It won’t take that long. You should come to the party at the Wayfarer tonight. I’ll introduce you to the whole family.”
“I’ll see you there. Mac invited me so I could meet everyone.”
“Perfect. And I’ll make sure Laura and Katie invite you to our girls’ nights. We have a lot of fun.”
“That sounds awesome.”
“I’ll get this taken care of for you right away.”
While Grace worked, she kept up a steady conversation with Julia, who told her the story of how she’d come to have the puppy.
“That is so amazing! You jumped right in after him!”
“I never hesitated. The minute I saw him, I had to get him. I’ve been a dog lover my whole life, but I’ve never actually had one of my own.” Julia glanced down at Puppy Pupwell, sleeping in her arms, and prayed she’d get to keep him. Despite her best efforts, she was already attached.
Grace rang her up and handed over the prescription. Fortunately, she had health insurance from her old job until the end of the month, and her new insurance with Mac would kick in next month. With her ongoing health issues, Julia couldn’t afford to let her insurance to lapse.
“Thanks again, Grace. I’ll see you tonight.”
“Looking forward to it.”
As she walked the short distance back to the hotel, her phone chirped with the sound of a cash register.
She withdrew it from her back pocket and juggled the phone and the puppy, who’d protested when she tried to put him down.
Her eyes nearly bugged out of her head when she saw the message on her screen.
Mike had sent seventy-five hundred dollars.
The phone chimed again with a second alert for the same amount.
Right there on the sidewalk where anyone might see her, Julia broke down into tears of relief and gratitude.
And in that moment, the door to her heart swung wide open to let in Deacon Taylor.
Even as her better judgment screamed that it was far too soon for doors to be opening, Julia knew it was already too late to stop what had been inevitable from the first time she talked to him at the wedding.
He was going to mean something to her. She’d known it then, and she knew it now for certain.
What exactly he would mean to her remained to be seen, but after he’d gone all out to get back the money that’d been stolen from her, she had all the proof she needed that he was someone worth letting into her life—and her heart.
Deacon was on his way back to South Harbor to end his day when he received a tearful call from Julia.
“Hey, what’s up?”
“He sent me the money.”
“Oh my God. That’s fantastic news.”
“Thank you so much, Deacon,” she said, sniffling. “I’ll never be able to properly thank you for doing this for me.”
Her tears, even happy tears, gutted him. “It was my pleasure to make sure that scumbag paid you back and got what’s coming to him.”
“I’ll never forget this.”
“Are you at the hotel?”
“Yes, I just got back.”
“I’ll be there soon.”
“Deacon...”
“I know, honey. I’m on my way.”
Elated to hear the news from Julia, he made a quick call to Lieutenant Webb to let him know the transfer had been completed.
“I want to thank you for alerting us to this guy,” Webb said. “We’ve found that he has a long record of scamming people. We have three documented instances so far and expect to find more.”
“Wow.” He hoped it would help Julia to know she’d helped to put a stop to Mike’s criminal activities. “Thanks for letting me know.”
“Tell your friend she did the right thing reporting him.”
“I’ll do that. It’ll mean a lot to her. Will you keep me posted on what goes down with him?”
“You got it. Thanks again for the info.”
“Thank you for the quick action. You can’t begin to know what it means to her to get that money back. She gave the son of a bitch everything she had.”
“I’m glad we were able to get restitution for her. I’ll be in touch.”
Deacon stashed his phone and fist-pumped the sky, thrilled to have helped right a terrible wrong for Julia.
That had been his favorite part of being a cop, getting justice for people who deserved it.
They didn’t always get justice, but when they did…
That was a good day. Today had been a good day, and he was determined to help her celebrate.
He pulled into the town dock to secure the boat and was dismayed to find his brother waiting for him with the usual stick up his ass and the pissed-off expression he wore whenever Deacon was nearby.
Deacon expertly docked the boat and began securing the lines before shutting down the engine. “Chief. How lovely to see you.”
“How’d it go out there today?”
“Great. I managed to collect on ninety percent of the occupied moorings, and Colby is working on the other ten percent. I wrote one ticket for speeding in the pond and pulled a fishing net out of the water.” He gestured toward the mangled net on the deck. “Not good for marine life or propellers.”
“Sounds like a good first day.”
“It was. Did you need something?”
“Nope. Just checking on you.”
Deacon wanted to tell him he didn’t need to be supervised, but he bit his tongue. Fighting with Blaine would keep him from Julia that much longer.
“Tiffany wants me to invite you to dinner some night.”
“Does it cause you pain to invite me to your house?”
“Yes, it does.”
Deacon threw his head back and laughed. “You’re such an idiot.”
“So you like to tell me. Dinner or not?”
“Sure. I can’t tonight, but maybe tomorrow?”
“Fine.”
“Can I bring Julia?”
Blaine stared him down for a long moment.
Deacon refused to blink.
“What’s going on with her?”
“We’re friends.”
“That’s all?”
“Is that any of your business?”
“It will be if my friend Owen is unhappy because my brother broke his sister’s heart. Then it becomes very much my business.”
Carrying the net to drop in the dumpster, Deacon got off the boat and brushed by his brother on his way to the ramp that led to the parking lot where he’d left the bike that morning.
Blaine grabbed his arm and spun him around. “Don’t walk away from me when I’m talking to you.”
Deacon pulled his arm free. “Fuck off. I’m not on duty and don’t have to put up with your crap. My off-duty life is none of your business.”
“Until you do something to piss off one of my friends, and then it will be.”
“I hope you sit around at night holding your breath waiting for that to happen. That’d be a good use of all the extra time you seem to have to waste bothering me.”
“If you hurt Julia Lawry, I’ll hurt you.”
Deacon walked away before he did something stupid like flatten his new “boss.” He fumed all the way home, where he showered and quickly changed his clothes before setting out for the hotel on the bike.
He absolutely hated the way his older brother thought he was nothing but a fuckup.
He drove past Tiffany’s shop and decided to stop to get a present for Julia.
He parked, went inside and was happy to see his sister-in-law behind the counter.
“Hey,” she said, smiling warmly at him. “How was your first day?”
“Good until the very end.”
“What happened?”
“Your husband happened. He’s such a pain in my ass.”
“Sorry to hear that.”
Deacon shrugged. “Whatever. It doesn’t matter. He said you want me to come to dinner.”
“I do. Maybe tomorrow night?”
“I’d love to. Can I bring a friend?”
“Of course. A friend named Julia maybe?”
“Maybe. I want to get something for her. I want something pretty and sexy but not too sexy, you know?”
Tiffany rolled her lips together to keep from laughing.
“What?”
“You’re cute.”
He rolled his eyes. “Are you going to help me or what?”
“I’ll help you.” She came around the counter. “What message exactly are you trying to send?”
He had no idea what that meant.
Thankfully, she realized that. “Are you looking for ‘I like you a lot’ or ‘I’d like to get to know you better’ or ‘I think you’re hot, and I want you in my bed’?”
“Um, all of the above?”
Tiffany laughed. “Which one is at the top of the list?”
“I like you. A lot.”
“Aww, that’s so sweet.” She sorted through racks of frilly bits and lacy things, her brows furrowed and her lips pursed. Clearly, she took her business seriously. “How about this?” She held up a dark maroon silk robe. “It would be lovely with her dark hair.”
Deacon agreed. He could picture her in it, and the thought of that would’ve made him hard if he’d allowed his brain to wallow in that image.
But because now was not the time and certainly not the place, he forced himself to think about what Blaine would say about him sporting wood in front of his wife rather than how Julia would look in that robe.
As always, Blaine was a buzzkill.
“I’ll take it.” Deacon followed her to the counter.
“Can you throw in a bottle of that fancy lotion there, too?” He felt like a total idiot, but then again, he couldn’t recall the last time he’d bought a gift for any woman who wasn’t related to him.
Even his relatives went without more often than not.
He stood at the counter and watched Tiffany go through an obviously well-practiced ritual of wrapping his purchases in fancy paper sealed with a gold-foil Naughty & Nice sticker. “Do you by any chance offer free advice with every purchase of sexy lingerie?”
“Not every purchase. But for you? Sure.”
He thought for a second about how he wanted to word his question. “When you first met what’s his name, was there something different about it or did that take a while?”
Tiffany looked up at him, seeming intrigued by the question. “I knew the first time I saw him that he was different from anyone I’d ever met.”
A distinct feeling of panic came over Deacon at learning it could happen that fast. “Were you guys together from then on?” He felt a little ashamed that he couldn’t recall the details of how Blaine and his wife had ended up together.
Tiffany laughed. “God, no. I was still married to my first husband and going through a contentious divorce. It wasn’t until many months later that Blaine and I were able to act on that initial first impression. And when we did? Phew.” She fanned her face dramatically. “Hot.”
“Gross.”
“Not even kinda.” She flashed a dirty grin. “Tell me the truth.”
“About?”
“Do you feel something ‘different’ for Julia?”
“Um, well… Maybe… Yeah, I guess I do.”
Tiffany laughed again. “You’re a bit of a red-hot mess, aren’t you?”
“I know! I can’t figure out what’s going on. I met her three days ago, and here I am buying her a present and counting the minutes until I can see her again. What the hell is that?”
Tiffany pinched her lips together in an obvious attempt to hold back more laughter at his expense. “Do you really want me to tell you, or would you prefer not to know?”
Deacon shifted his weight from one foot to the other as a prickle of elation mixed with panic settled in the vicinity of his heart. “I’m afraid to answer that question.”
She met his gaze, her eyes dancing with delight. “Could I give you one piece of advice?”
“Please do. I’m at a total loss here.” He gestured to the red-and-white striped bag as he handed over his credit card. “I don’t do this shit.”
Tiffany ran the card and handed it back to him.
“Meeting Blaine, falling in love with him, marrying him… He’s the very best thing to ever happen to me, other than my daughters.
Don’t be a fool and miss out on something that could be the best thing to happen to you just because you ‘don’t do this shit. ’”
Deacon absorbed her words of wisdom, trying to sort out how they applied to his situation with Julia.
“If you feel something different for Julia, Deacon, figure out what it is and be careful with it. She could be one of your best things ever.” She handed over the bag to him.
He had to give her credit—the bag was a work of art by the time she finished with it.
“One other thing I want to say. The Lawrys... They’ve been through some heavy crap. ”
“I know. Julia told me.”
Tiffany seemed surprised to hear that. “Owen and Katie don’t say much about it, so I’d take it as a pretty big deal that Julia actually told you. I would just ask you to be gentle with her. She’s been hurt enough. If you aren’t serious about her, stay away.”
“How can I be serious about someone I met days ago?”
“You’re in here buying her gifts and talking to me about her. I hope you and I will be great friends, but we just met, too. I don’t know you very well yet, but I think it means something that you talked to me about her.”
She was right. It did mean something that he’d unloaded on the sister-in-law he’d only just met.
Julia meant something to him. What exactly, he couldn’t say.
Yet. But Tiffany’s warning about hurting Julia resonated with him.
The last thing he’d ever want to do was hurt her when she’d already suffered enough hurt in her life.
“Thanks for this, Tiffany. The gift and the words of wisdom. For what it’s worth, I think my brother is a lucky man. ”
“You’re damned right he is, and he’ll be getting even luckier tonight.”
Deacon pulled a disgusted face. “You had to go and ruin it, didn’t you?”
Tiffany was still laughing when he left the store, eager to get to Julia. He couldn’t wait to be with her again, even if he still had no idea what it meant that she seemed to be all he could think about.