Chapter 6
“Tell me we’re doing the right thing here,” Seamus said as Joe drove them to the ferry landing in town.
“We are,” Joe said. “Without those two boats, we’re out of business, and you know that.”
“I do, but we’re risking our lives to protect a business when we both have so much to live for.”
“The first couple of hours will be bad, but after we get outside the cone, we’ll be fine.”
Leaving his family behind with a monster storm bearing down on them went against everything Seamus believed in as a husband, father and man, but protecting the business that provided for all of them was critical, too.
“I’ve never been so torn between what I needed to do and what I wanted to do.”
“I feel you,” Joe said. “Poor Janey is in Ohio having a stroke about this.”
“Tough place to be with a storm coming toward everyone she loves.”
“Yeah, for sure,” Joe said. “How bad do you think it’s going to be afterward?”
“Hard to tell. The power grid is old and limited, as we learned during the blackout, so we might be without power for quite some time.”
“Thank God for generators.”
“I’m glad I let Mac talk me into getting one at the house after the blackout,” Seamus said.
“Same, but we can’t ever tell him he was right.”
“Understood,” Seamus said with a chuckle.
At the ferry landing, Joe parked in the employee lot. They grabbed their bags from the back of the truck. They’d packed clothes and enough food and water to last three days. Hopefully, they’d be back within a day or two, but they’d prepared for a variety of scenarios.
Seamus’s cousin Shannon came out of the office with three of the other mates who worked on the boats, each of them carrying multiple bags.
“What’re you doing here?” Seamus asked them.
“We’re going with you,” Shannon said.
“No,” Joe said. “We don’t want to risk anyone else.”
“What’s your plan for throwing off lines and such?” Shannon asked in the familiar cadence of home. “We’ve already decided you’re not going alone, and we’ve packed everything we need, so let’s do this.”
The four men walked toward the two vessels that were backed into port.
“What do you think?” Seamus asked Joe.
“I’d rather have the company than not, and they seem determined.”
“Then let’s get this show on the road.”
They boarded the boats, fired up the engines and cast off the lines, all within ten minutes.
Seamus had to admit that Shannon was right. It would’ve been tricky to leave without help, especially with the wind blowing as hard as it was.
Joe signaled for Seamus to take the lead, so he put the engines into gear and pointed the helm toward the breakwater. After they left the pier, Shannon and Danny, the other mate, came up to the wheelhouse.
“Hold on, boys,” Seamus said.
As they cleared the breakwater, the boat rolled hard to the right and then the left.
“Holy shit,” Shannon said, laughing. “This is awesome.”
Damned fool, Seamus thought. None of this was awesome or fun or exciting. It felt wrong to be leaving his loved ones behind. He cast a glance out the window behind him, watching as Joe took the same wild ride out of the harbor, and breathed a sigh of relief when the other boat had righted itself.
Seamus estimated the seas at about eight feet, which made for a wild, roller-coaster ride as they headed east toward Martha’s Vineyard. “If you guys leave the wheelhouse, I want you tethered,” Seamus said.
“We’re one step ahead of you,” Shannon said, raising his sweatshirt to show Seamus that he’d already donned the harness. “Don’t worry, boss man. We’ve got this.”
Seamus hoped he was right about that.
Oliver Watkins moved through their bedroom in the top floor of the lighthouse, tossing clothes into bags and gathering what they needed for their dog, Maisy.
Hopefully, Laura wouldn’t mind having her at the hotel.
He hadn’t thought to remind Dara to ask when she called.
Gansett Island was the most dog-friendly place he’d ever lived.
It was a safe bet that they’d welcome Maisy.
At least he hoped so.
It was strange, even years later, not to be packing for the little boy they’d lost tragically. Oliver still felt like there was something he was supposed to be doing, someone he should be caring for who wasn’t there anymore but who was always with them.
Grief was strange that way, resurfacing at the oddest times to remind you that life would never be the same without the person you’d lost. But he and Dara had learned over the last few months that life could be sweet again and there was still joy to be found even as they would mourn their son for the rest of their lives.
They’d been watching the storm for days, hoping it would change course and miss the island.
Depending on which model they believed, anything could still happen.
He wasn’t taking any chances with Dara and the baby she was carrying.
But with things looking more dire by the hour, they’d decided to get out of the lighthouse and move into town before the worst of the storm hit during the night.
“I can hear you moving around up here like a caged tiger,” Dara said as she came up the spiral staircase to the bedroom. “You need to chill out. The storm is still hours away.”
“I want you somewhere safe.”
She put her arms around him and rested her head on his chest. “We’ll be fine.”
“You seem quite sure of that.”
“When you’ve been through what we have, what’s a Category 2 hurricane to us?” Taking the lighthouse keeper job on Gansett had been the best thing they could’ve done for themselves. Being on the island, among new friends, had helped them find their way back to each other.
“When you put it like that…”
“Everything else is minor compared to losing Lewis.”
It’d taken tremendous courage to decide to try for another child. As the weeks passed, they got more excited to meet their new little one. The next seven months would seem like an eternity, but Oliver was determined to enjoy the time alone while they could, starting with a night or two in a hotel.
“Are you ready?” he asked her.
“Whenever you are.”
“I hope this place will still be here after.
“It’s withstood big storms before,” she said. “I’m sure it’ll be fine, but I’m glad we don’t have to stay here to find out.”
“I am, too. Even though the Surf is right on the coast, at least we won’t be completely alone there.”
“That’s my thinking as well, although I’m looking forward to some storm snuggling.”
“That sounds perfect to me.”
Oliver carried their bags down the two flights of stairs and out to their SUV. Then he went back for the bag of food she’d packed to share with their hosts, as they fully expected to lose power during the storm.
Dara followed him to the car, with Maisy on a leash. “I can’t believe I forgot to ask if it’s okay to bring her.”
“I’m sure it’s fine,” Oliver said. “Gansett is so dog-friendly.”
“I hope Laura doesn’t mind.”
As they left the lighthouse property, Oliver put the car in Park and went back to shut and lock the gate.
The grounds would remain closed until after the storm had passed.
Over the last couple of days, they’d watched the seas get progressively rougher as the surf crashed against the rocky shoreline below.
“I’m glad not to be on the ferry today,” Dara said.
“I saw the last one coming in when I was in town. It was rocking and rolling.”
“I feel sick just thinking about it.”
“It’s strange to realize that there’s no way on or off the island for the next little while.”
“Don’t remind me. My parents and sister are having a fit over us being stuck here. They’ve been calling and texting all morning. Monique said she should’ve stayed for the parties.”
Oliver grunted out a laugh. “She would focus on that.”
“My sister is nothing if not consistent.”
“Did she ever say whether she hooked up with that Coast Guard guy? What was his name?”
“Linc, and no, she didn’t say anything, which is odd. She usually kisses and tells.”
“Do you?”
“Of course not,” she said with a laugh.
“Even to her?”
“Even to her.”
“I mean, I wouldn’t care if you did. It’s not like we’re big news anymore.”
“Yes, we are.”
He looked over at her. “How so?”
“For a long time, everyone was very concerned about whether we would hold it together. I was concerned about that.”
“I know,” he said with a sigh. “I was, too.”
“So the fact that we seem to have answered that question somewhat definitively is big news all around.”
“I suppose so. It’s crazy…”
“What is?” she asked.
“Before we lost Lewis, if someone had asked me if there was anything in this world that could tear us apart, I would’ve said no way.”
“Same.”
“Life certainly has a way of showing us who’s boss, huh?” he asked.
“For sure. But what matters is that we somehow managed to hang on to each other despite the worst possible thing. That makes me so thankful, because I couldn’t imagine losing you, too.”
“I’m glad that’s behind us, but it’s a reminder that we need to keep our eye on the ball—always.”
“My eye is on the ball,” she said, reaching over to give him an intimate squeeze.
Since he hadn’t seen that coming, he nearly swerved off the road. “Cripes, woman! A little warning would be nice.”
Dara laughed so hard, she snorted. “What fun would a warning have been?”
After he’d parked in the Surf lot, he leaned across the center console to kiss her. “This is what I missed the most. The easy fun. The silliness.”
“Me, too. I’m glad it came back.”
“I’m glad it all came back. Let’s try hard to never lose it again, okay?”
“Deal.”
He insisted on carrying all their bags through increasingly stronger wind to the main entrance to the hotel.
Piper greeted them at the check-in desk. “Hi there! How’s the weather?”
“Sporty,” Oliver said as Dara tried to straighten her hair after the wind had messed it up. “And getting more so by the minute, or so it seems.”
“Yikes. Well, let’s get you guys checked in.”
“We hope it’s okay we brought Maisy,” Oliver said.
“No problem at all.” Piper handed over a key to room 210. “That’s second floor to the left. Please let us know if there’s anything you need. Laura also said to tell you she and Owen are making dinner tonight and to come down around seven if you’re interested.”
“We brought some stuff to contribute.” Dara handed her the bag of food. “And we’d love to do dinner. Tell them thanks for us.”
“Sounds good,” Piper said.
Oliver withdrew a credit card from his wallet.
“Oh, there’s no charge during the storm. Please make yourselves at home.”
“No way,” Oliver said. “We want to pay.”
“Boss’s orders. You don’t want to get me in trouble, now do you?”
“That’s very nice of you guys,” Dara said. “Thank you so much.”
“Our pleasure. We’ll see you at dinner.”
As they went upstairs, Oliver said, “There’s no other place on earth like Gansett Island.”
“I was thinking the same thing. Everyone on here is so nice and welcoming.”
“We need to talk about what we’re going to do when our lighthouse tenure ends.”
“I want to stay.”
“I do, too.”
“That was easy.”
Oliver inserted the key in the door to room 210, which was on the town side of the building. That was probably intentional, as the oceanfront rooms would take the brunt of the storm. “If there’s anything left after Ethel has her way with us, we should look at some houses.”
“Isn’t Ned Saunders the one to talk to about that?”
“He is. I’ll ask him the next time we have coffee at the marina, if we get to do that again this season. Big Mac said they might not reopen after the storm.”
“That’d be a bummer.”
“It would.” Oliver had come to look forward to starting his days with Big Mac, Ned, Mac, Luke, Big Mac’s brothers, Frank and Kevin, and the other guys who gathered at the marina each morning for coffee, doughnuts and bullshit.
There was a lot of the latter, and he enjoyed every minute with them.
They also included him any time they decided to spend an afternoon fishing or doing whatever fun thing they got up to.
When Big Mac was involved, there was always fun to be had.
“Mac said his dad always says that any time they have a big storm in September, and they usually reopen.”
“I hope they do, and by the way, this room is gorgeous.”
“It is.”
“Laura told me a while ago that when they redecorated, they tried to bring back a lot of the original charm that’d been muted over the years.”
“They did a great job.” Oliver noted the shining wood trim, wallpaper that had been made to look vintage and inviting white bedding on a king-size bed. “How about a nap before dinner for my baby mama?”
“Your baby mama wouldn’t say no to that.”
They kicked off their shoes and slid into soft cotton sheets.
“This is lovely,” Dara said. “It feels like a vacation.”
“Everything on this island is like a vacation.”
“That’s why we love it so much.”
When she snuggled up to him and rested her head on his chest, he put his arm around her and kissed the top of her head. “Best hurricane ever.”