Chapter 15
Riley arrived back at Eastward Look and was thrilled to find Nikki home from a morning shift at the Wayfarer.
They’d both been working so much this summer that they sometimes went a full day without seeing each other.
Those days absolutely sucked. They’d agreed to take this afternoon off so they could go to Charlie and Sarah’s party, but those agreements were always contingent upon no crises arising at the Wayfarer that required the general manager’s attention.
And there’d been a lot of crises in the first summer since the iconic island hot spot reopened.
She’d dealt with everything from alcohol poisoning to drug overdoses to people trashing hotel rooms, day-trippers passing out in the bathrooms and one full-on fistfight between a man and a woman in which the woman had punched the guy unconscious and gotten them both arrested.
Good times.
For the most part, the first season for the new Wayfarer had been a roaring success, but it hadn’t been without its challenges. Nikki fully embraced every one of them, acting on behalf of the family she’d marry into in November.
Riley walked into the house to find her in the kitchen they’d renovated together, smiling as she looked at her phone.
“Did you get Finn’s text?”
“Haven’t checked my phone in a while.”
“He and Chloe got engaged.”
“What? When? I was just there!”
“I guess after you left. You took the generator?”
“I did, and thanks again for agreeing they needed it more than we do.”
“That was a no-brainer. I can’t imagine what she’s dealing with. She doesn’t need to be sweltering on top of it.”
They’d thrown open the windows at Eastward Look, and while there was a nice breeze, it was thick with heat and humidity that had her hair going curly.
He was about to tell her he loved her curls when her phone rang.
She grimaced, probably expecting a work issue.
But her expression shifted to surprise when she saw the caller ID.
“Who is it?”
“My half sister.”
To his knowledge, she hadn’t had any contact with her father or any member of his family in the time they’d been together. “Are you going to take it?”
“I guess…” She pressed the green button.
“Hi, Kendall. What’s up?” Her brows furrowed and her shoulders hunched ever so slightly as she listened to what her sister was telling her.
“When?” After another pause, she added, “I’m sorry for your loss.
” More listening. “No, it’s not my loss, too, Kendall.
I don’t think so. Yes, I’ll tell Jordan. Thank you for calling.”
Nikki ended the call, put down the phone and glanced at him. “So I guess my father died yesterday.”
“What? Oh my God. Nik…” When he would’ve hugged her, she held up her hand to stop him.
“You don’t have to comfort me, Riley. He’s nothing to me but a bad memory of a childhood spent in chaos.”
“He was your father, Nik. It’s okay if you feel something after hearing he’s died.”
“I feel nothing for him.”
“What happened?”
“He had a heart attack while driving and crashed on the freeway.”
“Oh my God. Was anyone else hurt?”
“I don’t think so. Kendall didn’t say.” She glanced at her watch. “We should get going so I can see Jordan before the party.”
“You still want to go to the party?”
“I know it’s really hard for you to believe, growing up with someone like Kevin McCarthy as your father, but my father wasn’t like yours.
He cared more about winning, about defeating my mother, who had mental health and addiction challenges, than he did about us.
We were pawns in his chess match and were forced to live with his new family and to see firsthand how he treated the children he actually loved.
So, yes, I still want to go to the party. ”
“Okay.”
“I don’t want you to think I’m heartless.”
“I could never think that about you.”
“I feel for his other kids and his wife. They must be shocked and devastated.” She kissed his cheek. “I’ll be ready to go in a minute. We’ll swing by Jordan and Mason’s on the way.”
While she went upstairs, Riley tried to wrap his mind around what she’d told him.
Of course he understood where she was coming from, because he’d heard about her difficult childhood and how she and Jordan had been stuck between warring parents.
He knew they blamed their father for most of the drama and had hated living with him and his new family during the school year.
But to feel nothing at all when learning of his passing…
That was hard for Riley to understand, because for him, losing his father would be one of the most devastating things that could ever happen.
He pulled his phone from his pocket, saw Finn’s text and responded.
Huge congrats. So happy for you guys. Welcome to the family, Chloe!
Then he started a second text to only his dad, so as not to send bad news to Finn when he was celebrating his engagement.
Nikki’s father died yesterday. She just heard.
They were estranged, but she’s totally calm about it.
Hard for me to understand, because if it was you…
He sent the text.
Kevin responded a minute later. Aw, so sorry. That’s too bad. Don’t worry, your old man isn’t going anywhere.
Please don’t. Not done with you yet.
LOL, no worries. Summer needs me.
We do, too. I’m not sure what to make of her non-reaction.
Let her do this her way, son. Her relationship with him was very different from ours.
You can’t compare the two. She blames him for what happened to her and Jordan as kids.
He put them through hell. She’s not going to grieve for him the way you would for me.
Follow her lead on this and don’t expect her to feel things she simply doesn’t.
Good advice as always, Doc. Thanks.
Free of charge, too!
HAHA
There’d been a time, not that long ago, when Riley would’ve resisted his father’s advice with every fiber of his being.
He and Finn had always known that people paid for Kevin’s advice, but he and his brother hadn’t been interested in it for themselves.
However, the older they got, the more they came to realize that Kevin’s advice was usually spot-on, and they were lucky to have him, in more ways than one.
You going to Charlie and Sarah’s? Kevin asked.
Heading there now, but stopping to see Jordan first.
See you there.
Nikki came down the stairs looking fresh and pretty in a dress that fell to midthigh, leaving her sexy legs on full display. She’d refreshed her makeup and brushed her long dark hair.
“You look beautiful, as always.”
“Thanks. You ready to go?”
“I’m with you, babe.”
They went out to his truck, and as they headed for Mason and Jordan’s house, Riley wondered if Jordan would be as blasé about their father’s death as Nikki was.
Nik adjusted the AC vents to cool herself. “I don’t want you to think I’m a jerk, Ri.”
“What? I don’t. Not at all.”
“I certainly didn’t want him to die, but when I tell you he’s nothing to us… I know that’s hard for you to understand. We haven’t had any contact with him in years.”
“I know, and I get that your upbringing was very different from mine.”
“It was a nightmare, mostly orchestrated by him because he used my mother’s illnesses against her, and we were the pawns in all that. He hired private investigators to track her doctor’s appointments and then used that info in court against her.”
“Damn.”
“He was relentless in the way he dragged her through the mud, when she was working so hard to get better so she could be there for us. Every time she seemed to be making progress, he’d do something else to undermine her.
It went on for years that way, and it was never about us or what was best for us.
It was about sticking it to her, because she stopped loving him or some other such bullshit.
He doesn’t even know what happened to me in college with Griffin, because the minute we were legal adults, we walked away from his madness and never looked back.
” She paused before she added, “The worst part about hearing he’s dead is having it drag up all this old shit I haven’t thought about in years. ”
“I’m sorry, babe. I know those were tough times for you and Jordan.”
“It was the worst. Coming here every summer with my mother and grandmother was the only thing that saved us. It’s why I love it here so much.”
“I’m glad you get to live now in the place that meant so much to you then.”
“Me, too, but the only reason I’m still here is because of you.”
“You might’ve stayed. You love it here.”
“Nah, I wouldn’t have. I think about that a lot. When I came back last winter, it would’ve gotten very lonely very quickly if you hadn’t come over the minute you heard I was back.”
“I really did come the minute I heard. I was at the bar with my dad and Finn and some other friends, and something came on the TV about Jordan. Seamus O’Grady said he’d brought Jordan’s twin sister over earlier that day.”
“He was so nice to me. Everyone was getting sick on the ferry because the seas were so rough, and I wanted to be outside, but he said it wasn’t safe. He took me up to the wheelhouse so I could get some air and not be stuck inside with the smell of puke.”
“That sounds like him. As soon as he mentioned Jordan’s twin being back on the island, I slapped a twenty on the bar, asked my dad to borrow his car for the first time in years and drove so fast to your house that I fishtailed coming in the driveway.”
Nikki laughed. “I haven’t heard all that before.”
“I told you that.”
“No, you didn’t. I didn’t realize you came here one minute after you heard I was back.”
“I don’t even think it took a full minute. I ran out of there so fast that Finn came after me, asking me what my plan was.”
“Did you have a plan?”
“Hell no. I only knew that you were back, and I had to see you.”
“You had to see me?”
He put his hand on her leg. “It was a need unlike anything I’ve ever felt. I’d been a mess since you left without saying goodbye.”
“I felt so bad about that.”