Epilogue
Mac climbed the stairs to the deck, bringing a plate full of grilled burgers and chicken breasts with him. He delivered the food to the kitchen, where Abby, Stephanie, Owen, Laura and Grace were getting everything else ready. “More coming,” he said.
“We’re almost ready to put it all out,” Laura said.
As he went back out the door to the deck, his cousin Shane and his wife, Katie, were coming in, carrying a huge plate of cookies.
“Oh, I want one now,” Mac said. Katie’s cookies were to die for.
She held the plate so he could take one for himself and one for Maddie.
“Thanks, Katie.”
“You’re always my best customer, Mac.”
“I’m wondering if I could pay you to make me a couple dozen every week.”
“Talk to my business manager.” She used her thumb to point to Shane. “I’m sure we can work something out.”
“You can’t afford my wife’s cookies,” Shane said.
Mac laughed. “I’ll pay any price for regular access.”
“I’ll take that under advisement.”
“You do that.”
Mac glanced toward the right side of the deck, where Owen and Julia Lawry had set up to play later on with Mac’s brother Evan and Niall Fitzgerald, another local musician.
He went to the left corner of the deck, where he’d arranged Maddie’s lounge in the shade. Baby Mac slept in her arms as she gabbed with friends and family, her caramel eyes dancing with happiness the way he liked them best.
He took a quick look to make sure Thomas and Hailey were still running around in the yard with the other kids, being supervised by Blaine and Tiffany.
“Excuse me, ladies,” he said to the other women, who included Maddie’s friend Daisy Babson and some of the others she used to work with at the inn. “I need to have a word with my wife.”
“Great party, Mac,” Daisy said. “Thanks for having us.”
“Thanks for coming.”
Mac took a second to hug Sydney, who had her daughter, Lily, in her arms. Lily had her mother’s strawberry-blonde hair and hazel eyes. “How’re you ladies doing?”
“We’re okay,” Syd said with a small smile. “It took about three days for my hands to stop shaking.”
“Totally understandable.”
“We’re counting our blessings.”
Mac leaned in to kiss her cheek. “As are we, and you two are high on our list.”
Sydney blinked back tears. “Thanks, Mac, and thank you for all the food and everything you guys have done for us.”
“Anything for you.” To Maddie, he said, “Make room for your baby daddy.”
She scooted over to give him room to sit on the lounge with her.
He handed over the cookie he’d stolen for her.
Her pretty face lit up with pleasure. “Is that one of Katie’s?”
“You know it.”
After adjusting baby Mac to find a more comfortable position, she took a big bite of the cookie and moaned.
“Don’t do that. It makes me think of appetizers.
” He loved the sound of her laughter almost as much as the sight of her happy smile.
Having their friends and family around always did wonders for whatever was weighing on them.
This party, as well as the break their loved ones had arranged for them, had gone a long way toward alleviating their stress.
“I had an idea for appetizers,” Maddie said between bites of cookie. “Something we’ve never done.”
Mac’s heart nearly stopped at the thought of her thinking such things. Once upon a time, she never would’ve said that sentence out loud. “There’s something we haven’t done?”
“Uh-huh.”
“What is it?”
After making sure that no one was looking or listening, she pushed her breasts together and touched a finger to her impressive cleavage.
Mac nearly choked on his cookie. “Seriously?”
Her face flushed with color as she gave him a shy look that made him immediately hard. “Why not?”
“Stop.”
“You don’t want to?”
“For fuck’s sake. Of course I want to. I want to right this very fucking second, but I can’t because you threw this at me when everyone we know is at our house.”
She laughed so hard, she shook with it. “Think of it as something to look forward to.”
“Sure, as I walk around entertaining our guests while sporting a huge boner.”
Her laughter had others looking at them.
“Nothing to see here, folks,” Mac said, scowling. “Carry on.”
“Is Maddie laughing at you, bro?” Grant asked.
“So what else is new?” Lowering his voice, he said to his wife, “You’ll pay for this later. Dr. David didn’t say anything about spankings.”
“Oh, can we? Please?”
“I’m going to die of boner-related high blood pressure before this party is over.”
“Don’t do that. I need you too much.” She leaned her head on his shoulder. “Thanks for having the party. You were right. It was just what we needed.”
“Can I get the part about me being right in writing? I’d like it signed, dated and notarized.”
“In your dreams.”
Mac didn’t need to dream. Not anymore. He had it all, as long as he had her, their kids, their family and friends and the beautiful island they all called home.
Mac McCarthy Junior threw one hell of a party, Mason decided as he took in the action from Mac’s huge deck and even bigger yard, where half the town seemed to have gathered for the impromptu get-together.
From his vantage point on the deck, Mason spotted Jordan talking to Riley, Nikki, Evelyn, Gigi, Finn, Chloe, Kevin and Chelsea, who was holding her baby daughter, Summer.
Jordan glanced up, caught him looking at her and smiled as she waved him down to join them.
Eager to get back to her, Mason grabbed several bottles of water from the cooler and took them with him when he went down the stairs to the yard.
Two weeks after she’d returned to Gansett, he still couldn’t believe Jordan was here to stay and as in love with him as he was with her. He’d been through a lot before he found her, but all the heartbreak had been worth it because it had been leading him to her.
Brendan had signed the divorce papers and had gone live on Instagram a week ago to come clean to his fans, telling them to leave Jordan alone, that she’d been a loving and faithful wife and that she deserved better than what she’d gotten from him.
On that, Mason and the man known as Zane were in complete agreement, and Mason planned to make sure she had what she deserved every day for the rest of her life.
Mason handed Jordan a bottle of water. “Anyone else want one?”
“I’ll take one,” Gigi said. “Thank you.”
Mason was fascinated by the exotic creature who was Jordan’s longtime best friend.
Even dressed “down” in a summer dress and sandals, she was the ultimate fish out of water among the island residents, who were the epitome of casual.
After having spent time with Gigi over the last two weeks, he’d concluded that she would come across as glamorous even if she wore a burlap sack.
And while Gigi was stunning, she had nothing on his sweet love, who slipped an arm around him and leaned her head on his chest.
A week ago, Matilda, the show’s producer and show runner, had visited the island to try to wrap her head around Jordan’s idea of filming the show there.
Jordan and Gigi had put a lot of effort into planning for Matilda’s visit, going so far as to rough up several scripts for the show that had shown Matilda how it might work there.
As always, the chemistry between the two women had jumped off the screen in the short videos they’d filmed ahead of Matilda’s arrival.
They were working the fish-out-of-water angle to showcase life on Gansett, and Gigi had agreed to relocate for the summer to film the season before returning to her real life in LA.
Under no circumstances, she said, would she be caught dead there in the winter.
Yesterday, Jordan had gotten the call from Matilda with the official green light for filming the next season on Gansett that summer.
With David and Daisy having moved into their new home, Gigi had leased the garage apartment at Jared and Lizzie James’s estate for the summer. Next week, she would fly home to LA to pack up what she needed for the summer on Gansett.
Mason and Jordan had celebrated the good news all night long.
“I’ve learned a valuable lesson over the last few weeks,” she’d said to him in the dark of night, which was when they seemed to have their best conversations.
“What’s that?”
“I’m in charge of my life, and if I want something—or someone—I have to go after it—or him—with everything I’ve got.”
“He is very glad you came after him.” He’d never known the kind of happiness he’d found with her and couldn’t wait to see what would come next for them. Whatever it was, he had no doubt it would be fun and funny and sexy and full of love.
“What’d I miss?” Mason asked Jordan.
“We’re trying to tell Gigi that she’ll have more fun on Gansett Island than she would’ve had in LA this summer.”
“I’m still not convinced,” Gigi said disdainfully. “You don’t even have clubs here.”
“We have the Wayfarer,” Nikki said with a goofy grin that made everyone laugh.
Gigi rolled her well-made-up eyes. “That is not a club.”
Mason didn’t think they would change Gigi’s mind about life on Gansett, but one thing was for certain—Jordan was thrilled to have her best friend hanging out for the next few months. If she was happy, so was he.
Big Mac McCarthy and his wife, Linda, came over to say hello. They both hugged and kissed Evelyn, who introduced them to Gigi.
“It’s so lovely to meet you,” Linda said to Gigi. “We love your show.”
“Thank you so much,” Gigi said. “Have you heard we’re filming the next season here?”
“Get out of here,” Linda said, clearly stunned by the news. “That’s awesome. I want to be a guest star.”
“We can probably make that happen,” Jordan said. “We know people.”
“Do you watch the show, too?” Mason asked Big Mac.
“I’ve been known to watch what my wife likes once in a while, and I have to say, the show is fun and funny. Congrats, ladies.”
“Thank you so much, Mr. McCarthy,” Jordan said.
“You’re supposed to call me Big Mac, sweetheart,” he said with a wink for her. “Mason, I spoke with Mayor Upton about the situation at the bluffs, and I think we might be heading toward a deal that would include wire fencing that won’t block the view.”
“That’s excellent news. We saved another tourist out there this week.”
“Heard about that. It helped me to make the case to the mayor.”
“Appreciate your help with that.”
“We don’t need someone getting killed out there before we make some needed changes.”
“Agreed.”
When the conversation moved to other topics, Jordan looked up at him. “My hero,” she said softly so only he could hear her as she smiled up at him.
Mason liked being her hero. It was the best job he’d ever had.
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