Chapter 21
Caught up in a conversation with his father, uncles and cousins about the abandoned alpaca farm Mac wanted to buy as their next family project, Shane McCarthy realized he hadn’t seen Katie in quite some time.
Listening to Mac talk about what they could do with the old farm had sparked excitement in Shane, who’d love to renovate another island property that had fallen into disrepair. Mac’s enthusiasm was contagious, and they made a plan to get everyone out to look at the place the following week.
Now where had his lovely wife gotten off to? He got up to go find her. “Anyone need anything?”
“Bring more beer when you come back,” Riley said.
“Will do.”
Shane went inside but didn’t see Katie among the women gathered around the massive kitchen island, discussing Sarah’s options for backsplash tile.
“Have you seen Katie?” he asked his wife’s twin, Julia.
“Not in a while.”
“Me either.”
“She came in about a half hour ago,” Sarah said. “I think she went upstairs.”
“I’ll find her,” Shane said, beginning to worry. It wasn’t like her to disappear on him. “You mind if I go up?”
“Make yourself at home, honey,” Sarah said with a warm smile.
She was the sweetest mother-in-law any man could hope to have, and he’d loved her long before he married her daughter.
They’d spent a winter living close to each other at the Surf, working on the renovations and hanging out with Owen, Laura and baby Holden.
That was back when Shane had still been trying to resurface from the nightmare his ex-wife had put him through, and Sarah had been coping with the end of her violent marriage.
Sarah had been a great friend to him then, and after having lost his own mother when he was seven, Shane was thankful to have her in his life to stay.
He went up the stairs and poked his head in a few rooms, but didn’t see Katie. Knocking on the one door that was closed, he called for her.
“Don’t come in here, Shane,” she said, sounding frantic.
Taken aback, he said, “What’s the matter?”
“I…”
“Katie, honey… Open the door.”
A full minute passed before the lock turned, and the door opened a crack. The first thing he noticed was her red, puffy face and watery eyes. “What’s wrong, honey?”
“I… I think I had a miscarriage.”
Shane felt like he’d been stabbed in the heart and had to force himself to say something. “Did you… I didn’t know…”
“I didn’t either,” she said as tears rolled down her sweet face.
“Let me in, honey.”
“I need to clean the bathroom. There’s blood…”
“I’ll clean it. Let me help.”
The door opened fully, and Shane had to bite back a gasp at how much blood she’d lost. “Katie, sweetheart, let me get Vic.”
“No! Just you.”
“Do you feel like you could handle a shower to clean up?”
She nodded.
“Okay, let’s take it nice and easy.” He helped her out of her clothes and into the shower. Alarmed by the amount of blood on the toilet and floor, he said, “Are you sure we shouldn’t get you to the clinic?”
“Yes, I’m sure.”
Since she was a nurse practitioner and knew better than he did, he yielded to her. For now. If it continued, he’d insist she get treatment.
“I’m so sorry,” she said, hiccupping on sobs. “I didn’t even know. How did I not know?”
“Shhh, it’s okay. You would’ve figured it out soon.” He was trying keep his own heartbreak out of the mix while he tended to her. Under the sink, he found cleaning products and had the bathroom back to rights by the time she shut off the water in the shower.
Shane had a towel ready that he wrapped around her, holding her close to him. “Are you hurting?”
“I was. Now it’s more like a dull ache. I thought I was getting my period, but this was way more than that.”
“Are you still bleeding?”
“A little.”
“How about I go ask Julia if she has anything you can use.”
“I can’t use tampons. I need a pad. Probably a couple of them.”
“I’ll ask her to find us some. If she doesn’t have some, someone does.”
“Don’t tell her what happened. Not yet. I need a minute…”
He kissed her forehead. “I’ll tell her you’re having a bad period.”
“Thank you. I’m sorry. I know this is gross.”
“Don’t be sorry, and it’s not gross. I’m just glad you’re okay.”
“I’m heartbroken.” Her chin wobbled as her eyes filled. “We were going to have a baby, Shane.”
“We’ll have others. The good news is that now we know we can.” They’d been trying for a while, so it was a bit of good news mixed in with the sorrow. “This one wasn’t meant to be for whatever reason, but we’ll have babies, sweet Katie.”
He held her while she sobbed, and when she finally calmed, he settled her on the closed lid of the toilet and went to find Julia.
She was outside on the deck, talking to Owen about the set they planned to perform and figuring out how to work around not having power for Julia’s keyboard or their microphones.
“Hey, Julia.” Shane gestured for her to come to him. “Katie’s upstairs and having a bad period. She needs pads. Do you have any?”
“Let me check my bag. Is she okay?”
Shane followed her inside. “I think so. She just feels lousy.”
“That stinks.” Julia rifled through a massive tote bag and found three individually wrapped pads at the bottom. “Would you rather I delivered them?”
Shane forced himself to smile. “I got it. I’m not easily intimidated by girl things.”
“Tell her to let me know if she needs anything.”
“I will. Thanks.” He went back upstairs, moving quickly to get to her as fast as he could. In the bathroom, he handed her the pads. “Julia to the rescue.”
“I can always count on her and that suitcase she carries around.”
“Do you need clothes? I can ask your mom for something.”
“No, I managed to protect my clothes.”
“I’ll, ah, just give you a minute.”
When she emerged from the bathroom, dressed but still pale and looking shocked, he guided her into one of the guest rooms and encouraged her to lie down for a bit.
He shut the door and sent a text to Julia, telling her where they were and asking her to run interference for them.
Katie isn’t feeling well, so we’re going to chill up here for a bit. Tell your mom?
Will do.
Shane opened the windows so they wouldn’t suffocate from the heat and stretched out next to Katie on the bed. His phone chimed with another text from Julia that included the eye-roll emoji.
Mom was freaking out that maybe Katie had food poisoning. Assured her it’s girl trouble. Tell her we said to feel better.
Katie curled up to him, resting her head on his chest.
Shane put his arms around her. “How do you feel?”
She sniffled. “Sad, empty, achy.”
“I’m so sorry, sweetheart.”
“I’ve helped so many patients through this very thing, but until it happens to you…” She took a shuddering deep breath and let it out slowly.
“As soon as it’s safe to try again, we will.”
“Thank you for being so great. You deserve hazardous-duty pay after walking into that nightmare.”
Shane chuckled. “It wasn’t that bad, and I always want to be wherever you are, especially when you need me.”
“I need you all the time, but I might need you even more the next few days.”
“I’m right here, sweetheart.”