Chapter 26
“It’s the right thing to do, isn’t it?” Kelsey asked Owen when they were alone in her room.
“It’s the only thing we can do. David said he’ll die for sure if he doesn’t at least try to stop the bleeding.”
“I can’t believe this is happening,” she said on a sob. “We were so happy last night.”
“I heard he proposed, and you accepted.”
“He did, and I did. We were so excited, and now… He might die because of me. When we heard the loud crack before the building collapsed, he dove on top of me. He saved me, Owen.”
“He loves you.”
“And I love him.”
“I’m sure that’s why he’s fighting so hard to stay here with you.
” He sat on the edge of her bed, careful not to jostle her.
“I’m going to be honest with you. When he changed his plans, quit his job in Florida, gave up his new apartment to stay here with you, I thought he was making a big mistake.
He’d worked so hard to get through college and to have this amazing opportunity, but he said the career would still be there when he was ready for it.
‘All I want,’ he said, ‘is to be with Kelsey. She needs to be here for another year, so we’re staying here. And then we’ll see about my career.’”
She continued to sob as he spoke.
Owen handed her a tissue. “After seeing you guys together a few times, I understood why he’d done what he did. I could see that you two genuinely love each other. Maybe you’re too young to be making such major life decisions, but you’re both adults, and who was I to stand in the way of true love?”
“I love him so, so much. I never expected anything like this when I took the job with Mac and Maddie.”
“Funny how that happens, huh?”
She nodded. “I can’t lose him, Owen.”
“He’s going to fight so hard for you. I think maybe his love for you is what’ll keep him alive.”
“I really hope so.”
Piper waited until after lunch to text Jack to see how things were going. She chastised herself for feeling weird about texting him when she had no reason to feel that way. “For God’s sake, girl, it’s just a text.”
“Did you say something?” Dara asked as she came into the kitchen to get ice water from the dispenser on the fridge.
“I was second-guessing my decision to text my new guy.”
“Ah, I see.”
“And of course I feel ridiculous for second-guessing myself.”
“New relationships are such a minefield.”
“Especially when he’s a widower and this is his first foray since the tremendous loss. And please, keep that between us. He doesn’t say much about it.”
“Oh, yeah, for sure. That’s a lot, and don’t worry, I’d never breathe a word of it to anyone.”
“Thank you.” Her phone chimed with a text.
“It’s him.” She scanned the words in which he said the island was a mess of downed trees and power lines, beached boats and several collapsed houses, but only two people had been seriously injured that they knew of so far, though another was possibly missing.
She responded to him. One of the injured is Owen’s brother Jeff.
I heard he’s in bad shape. I’ll be by the hotel a little later. Will you be there?
Yes.
See you then. Can’t wait.
“Oh wow,” Dara said, “look at that smile.”
“I’m seriously gone over him, even after I vowed I wasn’t going to let that happen again for a while.” She paused before she added, “My ex-fiancé called off our wedding earlier this year. It’s way too soon, and yet…”
“And yet,” Dara said with a knowing smile. “The best things happen when you least expect them.”
“Oh, what’re we talking about?” Erin asked when she joined them in the kitchen.
“Relationships that come out of nowhere,” Dara said.
“That’s one of my favorite subjects since it happened to me with Slim.”
“How did you guys meet?” Dara asked.
“The first time was at a Tiki Bar gathering with a bunch of people there,” Erin said.
“The second time, he came to my rescue when I was riding my bike back to the lighthouse from town and got a flat tire—and then sprained my ankle when I was walking the bike. He gave me a ride home, and we’ve kind of been together ever since, even though we were apart a lot of the time at first. He works in Florida in the off-season, so we kept in touch by text and hours-long phone calls and FaceTime chats. ”
“I love that story,” Dara said.
“How did you meet Oliver?” Piper asked.
“We met at Howard University during our sophomore year and have been together ever since.”
“You were lucky to meet your ‘one’ so young,” Piper said.
“We always felt lucky until, you know, life intervened.”
“I’m so sorry about your son,” Erin said.
“Thank you. We’re doing much better since we’ve been here. Not sure what it is about this place…”
As Erin and Dara talked about how great Gansett had been for them in helping to put their lives back together after loss, Piper felt a burst of hope for herself—and Jack. Maybe this magical island would do the same for them as it had done for so many others.
“What’s your story, Piper?” Erin asked.
“Well, I grew up in Western Connecticut, went to college in New York, graduated three years ago and have since held a progression of boring, unsatisfying jobs. I was about to get married earlier this year when my college boyfriend-slash-fiancé, Ben, decided he wasn’t ready after all.”
“Oh no,” Erin said. “That’s terrible. I’ll never understand why men propose or women accept or vice versa if they aren’t sure it’s what they want.”
“It was shocking, to say the least, but I’d had some doubts myself. I’d felt him pulling away for a while before he finally said the words. In a way, it was a relief, which was a sign that it wasn’t the right thing for either of us.”
“But it still must’ve been devastating,” Erin said.
“It was. Especially for my mom. She loved him.”
Dara and Erin laughed at the face Piper made as she poured ice water from a pitcher into their glasses.
“How did you end up on Gansett?” Dara asked.
“I came for a reset weekend, got attacked by a guy I met in a bar, came running back to the hotel, where Laura was such an incredible support to me as I reported the assault. Then she offered me a job, and here we are.”
Erin stared at her with big eyes. “You got attacked…”
“Thankfully, I managed to escape before he got what he wanted, but it was a frightening episode, to say the least.”
“I hope he’s in jail,” Dara said.
“He is. He took a plea, which saved me from having to testify. It’s all over and done with now, but you know, that sort of thing tends to stay with you.”
“It sure does,” Erin said. “I had a near miss in college that haunted me for years.”
“Same,” Dara said. “Thank God for the self-defense classes my father insisted we take before we left home. My sister, Monique, said when it happened to her, the guy didn’t walk right for months afterward.”
“What is it about men who think they can just take what they want?” Piper asked.
“No kidding,” Erin said. “It’s revolting.”
“In other news…” Piper felt like she was acquiring two new girlfriends, one confidence at a time. “I’ve met someone new.”
Erin grinned at her. “Are we allowed to ask who he is?”
“It’s Jack Downing, the state police officer.”
“Oh, he’s yummy,” Erin said.
“Is he?” Piper asked. “I haven’t noticed.”
“Like hell you haven’t,” Dara said.
They shared a laugh.
“I don’t think I’ve met Jack,” Dara said.
Erin got busy on her phone and pulled up Jack’s state police photo in a matter of seconds.
“Oh yes,” Dara said emphatically. “I approve.”
“Wow, I haven’t seen that,” Piper said. “That’s a very good photo.”
“A ‘very good photo,’” Erin said with a snort. “Yes, it is.”
Piper went to the door to the kitchen and looked to make sure they were truly alone. When she returned to the counter where the other two were seated on barstools, she leaned in, keeping her voice down. “Here’s the thing. He lost his wife to breast cancer three years ago.”
“She must’ve been so young,” Dara said.
“She was thirty-two. Diagnosed at twenty-eight.”
“So unfair,” Erin said.
“Seriously,” Dara said. To Erin, she added, “I promised Piper we wouldn’t tell anyone about his loss, since he doesn’t talk much about it.”
“My lips are zipped,” Erin said.
“I’m his first ‘new friend’ since she died,” Piper added.
“That’s a lot,” Erin said. “How do you feel about it?”
“I feel pretty good, especially after last night.”
“Oh?” Dara raised an expressive brow. “Do tell.”
“We, uh, decided to ride out the storm together.”
“Ride it out, huh?” Erin asked. “Is that a metaphor?”
They lost it laughing.
Laura walked into the kitchen and stopped when she encountered their laughter. “What’d I miss?”
“Piper was telling us how she rode out the storm,” Erin said, waggling her brows.
“What’s this?” Laura asked, laser-focused on Piper. “Has there been a development with Hot Cop?”
“You could say that. How’s Jeff?”
“David is doing risky surgery, which I’m trying not to think about, so tell me everything about you and Hot Cop and give me something else to think about.”
“It was pretty hot,” Piper said as she processed the news about Jeff having risky surgery.
“Which we knew it would be,” Laura said. “I was there when they met. There was a spark of something right from the start.”
“It was so weird,” Piper told Erin and Dara. “I’d just been through this awful experience with that creep, and when I saw Jack, I just felt better knowing he was helping to take care of the situation.” Piper shook her head. “I can’t explain it.”
“You don’t have to.” Erin reached across the counter to put her hand over Piper’s. “We get it. I don’t know him well, but from everything I’ve heard, he’s a great guy. Slim has played cards with him a few times and has nothing but good things to say.”
“That’s great to hear,” Piper said. “I love that about Gansett. If you want to get the goods on someone, it doesn’t take much effort.” To Laura, she said, “I told them how he lost his wife and I’m the first person he’s dated—or whatever you’d call it—since.”
“Dated,” Laura said with a snicker. “Is that what the kids are calling it these days?”
“Stop!” Piper said with a laugh. “We had a nice time.”
“I’m glad you did,” Laura said. “Sincerely.”
“Thank you.”
“Do you feel like this is the start of something important?” Erin asked.
Piper thought about that for a moment, reliving the pleasure she’d found in his arms and the effortless way they connected in bed and out. “I think it could be.”
George Martinez never napped this long, but since his mother could see him breathing thanks to the video monitor on her bedside table, she stayed in bed. She and Alex had grabbed a nap while they could after a mostly sleepless night listening to the storm.
Alex curled up to her back. “Let’s hear it for low-pressure systems.”
“Is that why he’s sleeping so long?”
“Who knows? Whatever it is, it’s a gift that shouldn’t be squandered.” To emphasize his statement, he pressed his erection against her back. “When was the last time we got to have afternoon nookie?”
“Before he was born?”
“That sounds about right. What do you say?”
“Let me brush my teeth first.”
“Hurry. This might be the calm before the real storm of this day.”
“I’m hurrying.”
She rushed through a quick trip to the bathroom and returned to bed with minty-fresh breath.
Alex got out of bed. “I’ll be right back. Get naked.”
“Yes, dear,” she said with a giggle.
He was so blunt, earthy, sexy and absolutely everything to her.
When he returned, she could tell he’d attempted to tame his dark hair with impatient fingers and had succeeded in making it more unruly. His late-day whiskers only added to his crazy sex appeal as he stalked into the room as naked as the day he was born, his cock hard and ready for business.
Alex plopped down on the bed and rolled toward her, kissing her with the red-hot desire she’d become used to in the years they’d been together. She kept thinking that surely it would start to wane, but it seemed to become only more intense as time went on.
He shifted so he was on top of her, gazing down at her with the gorgeous brown eyes their son had inherited. As he sank into her, he threw his head back, exposing his throat. “I never, ever, ever get enough of being inside you, Jenny Martinez.”
And he said things like that, which only added to the heat they generated together.
“Hold on to me, babe.”
She gripped his shoulders as he pumped into her, taking her on a wild ride that led to an orgasm that hit with almost no warning, in a flash of emotion and excitement that never failed to amaze her. How did he do that every time?
“I’ve missed afternoon nookie,” he whispered in her ear, setting off goose bumps that made her shiver.
“Me, too.”
To her amazement, he started moving again, pushing himself up on his arms so he was able to look down on her as he started the whole thing up again. “Is this okay?”
“Mmm, you have to ask?”
“Just making sure you’re with me.”
“Oh, I’m with you.”
“Thank God for that. I don’t know what I’d ever do without you.”
After that, there were no more words, only gasps and sighs and pleasure that made her feel almost drunk in the aftermath.
“I mean that, you know,” he said as she cradled his head on her chest. “I couldn’t live without you.”
“You could.”
“No.”
“You’d be surprised what you can survive.” After having lost her fiancé, Toby, on 9/11, she’d thought for a time her life was over, too. And for a while, it had been. Then she answered an ad for a lighthouse keeper on Gansett Island and found a whole new life with Alex.
“I’d never survive losing you, so you’d better stay right here with me where you belong, forever and ever.”
“That’s the plan.”