Chapter 32
Piper tried to shake off the sick feeling that had overtaken her the second she’d encountered Jack at a party after he said he couldn’t hang out that night. Like she’d said, he didn’t owe her anything, but damn, it smarted to realize he had blown her off to come to a party.
He could do whatever he wanted. It wasn’t like they were in an exclusive relationship.
“Was that Hot Cop I saw?” Laura asked quietly.
“Yeah.”
“What’s going on?”
Piper shrugged. “He said he couldn’t hang out tonight.” Her phone buzzed with a text. She withdrew it from her pocket, read the message from Jack and then jumped up. “I have to go.”
“Where?”
“To Jack. I have to go to him.”
“Do you want me to drive you?”
“No, that’s okay. He just left. I’ll catch up to him.”
“Please be careful out there. It’s dark, and the roads are a mess.”
“I will. I’ll check in later.”
Piper said thank you to Mr. and Mrs. McCarthy, wished the newlyweds the best of luck and rushed out the front door.
She had a rough idea of where the Coast Guard station was, and Jack had said their barracks were located next door to the station.
Piper hadn’t done much running since high school track, but she took off at a sprint, determined to catch up to him.
It was dark, cool and damp, but the wind had finally died down, and the rain had stopped about an hour ago.
Her legs and lungs quickly protested the unexpected workout, reminding her of how long it had been since she’d been a runner.
She kept her eyes focused ahead, looking for him as she ran along the road that ringed the island’s perimeter. About a mile from the McCarthys’ home, she spotted him up ahead, walking quickly, head down, hands in pockets. “Jack!”
He stopped, turned and stared at her, incredulous. “What’re you doing out here?”
“Looking for you.”
“It’s not safe, Piper. It’s dark and… It’s not safe.”
She threw her arms around him and held him as tightly as she could.
It took him a minute to respond, but then his arms encircled her, as she tried to catch her breath after the mad sprint.
“You silly girl. What’re you doing?”
“After I got your text, I wanted to hug you. I just wanted to hug you.”
They stood there for a long time.
“I’m sorry,” he said.
“Don’t be. I understand.”
“It’s a lot, Piper. I’m a lot.”
She pulled back so she could see his face. “It’s not too much for me. I swear it isn’t.”
“I forgot her birthday.”
“It’s been a wild few days. Anyone could lose track of the date with everything that’s been going on with the storm. You should be kinder to yourself. That’s what she would’ve wanted for you, isn’t it?”
“Yeah, but—”
“No buts, Jack. I didn’t even know her, but I can’t, for the life of me, think she’d want you doing this to yourself.”
“She wouldn’t.”
“Then don’t, okay? I’m sure you took beautiful care of her while she was here.”
“I did what I could.”
“I know you did.” She pushed the damp hair back from his forehead. “I’m sorry you’re hurting.”
“I’m sorry I hurt you.”
“You didn’t.”
He tipped his head as he studied her. “Not even a little bit?”
“I’m over it.”
A horn tooted as a woody station wagon came to a halt next to them. “Heard you kids was walking home in the dark,” Ned Saunders said. “Get in. I’ll give ya a ride.”
Jack smiled and shrugged and then followed Piper into Ned’s cab.
“What the heck are ya doing out here in the dark anyway?” he asked when they were buckled into the back seat.
Jack reached across the seat for Piper’s hand. “We were just heading back to my place at the barracks.”
“Shouldn’t be walking these roads in the dark. Gonna get yerselves killed.”
“We won’t do it again,” Jack said with a smile for Piper.
Going after him had been the best thing she’d ever done, and she’d do it again in a hot second.
Ned dropped them at the barracks a few minutes later, refusing payment. “Be safe, ya hear?”
“Yes, sir,” Jack said. “Thank you for the ride.”
“Any time.”
Jack took her hand and led her into the barracks. “This place is nothing special,” he said.
“I’m sure it’s fine.”
They went up to the second floor, where Jack used a key to open the door. “After you.”
Piper went ahead of him into a room that was nothing more than a double bed, a dresser and a desk.
“Bathroom’s in there,” he said, pointing to a door.
“It’s nice,” she said.
He laughed. “Sure it is.”
“What else do you need?”
Jack put his hands on her shoulders. “Nothing now that you’re here with me.”
“I’m here, Jack.” She looked up at him as she placed her hands on his hips.
“I promise I won’t run away when things get hard.
What happened today is sure to happen again, and it’s okay.
I don’t expect you to keep those feelings hidden from me because you think I don’t want to hear about Ruby.
I’ll always want to hear about her because she’s part of you. ”
Dropping his forehead to hers, he closed his eyes. “You have no idea how much that means to me.”
“I can’t know what you’ve been through, but what I see is a man who loves so deeply that even years after he lost his wife, he still loves her so much that he aches to realize he forgot something important.”
“I never want to forget,” he said gruffly.
“You never could. She’s always with you.”
“I want you with me, too.”
“I’m right here.”
“For how long?”
“As long as you want me to be.”
“That could be a while.”
“That’s fine.”
Jack tipped up her chin for a kiss. “Thank you.”
“For what?”
“For being amazing. For being just what I need. For understanding. For all of it.”
“No problem.”
He kissed her again, and as she opened her mouth to caress his tongue with hers, she felt her heart open to accommodate the very real possibility that she might fall in love with this man. If she hadn’t already.
The ferries arrived back in port shortly after nine p.m. Crewmembers moved quickly to secure the lines and get everything buttoned up so they could get home to their loved ones as quickly as possible. Deacon vibrated with tension and anticipation as he waited for permission to disembark.
“I’ll never be able to thank you all enough,” Deacon said as he shook hands with Joe, Keith and Colin. “You saved my life.”
“Glad we were in the right place at the right time,” Joe said. “Do you need a ride home?”
“No, thanks,” Deacon said. “Julia is waiting for me.”
“We’ll see you around campus,” Joe said as they walked off the boat together.
The other guys had backpacks and bags.
Deacon had the clothes on his back, all of which were borrowed, as well as a bag full of his wet clothes and his survival suit tossed over his shoulder. “I’ll wash the clothes and get them back to you.”
“No rush, man,” Keith said.
Deacon Taylor, who’d loved being on the water his entire life, had never been so happy to step foot onto dry land. He walked directly to Julia, who was standing outside her car with Pupwell on a leash next to her.
He wrapped her into the tightest embrace in history, both in tears as they reunited.
“Shhh, love,” he whispered, kissing the tears off her face. “Everything’s all right now.”
They kissed like they hadn’t seen each other in years, with no care whatsoever for the guys whistling at them as they walked to their vehicles.
“You can never scare me like that again,” she said, kissing him everywhere she could reach.
“I won’t. I promise.”
“I don’t want to let you go even to drive home.”
“Give me ten minutes in the car—and a shower—and then you can hold me all night long.”
She held him for another five minutes before she released him. “I was so afraid I’d never see you again.”
“I would’ve swum back to you if I had to. I was seriously thinking about it when the ferries showed up.”
Julia trembled. “I’m so glad it didn’t come to that.”
“I am, too. Let’s go home, love. We’ve got the rest of our lives, and I can’t wait to enjoy every second of it.”
Seamus and Joe arrived to a party at Big Mac and Linda’s.
“Look at this, Joe. They threw us a welcome-home party.”
PJ and Viv, seeing their dad, let out shrieks of excitement as they ran to him.
Seamus went right to Carolina, dropping to his knees next to her chair and extending his arms to her.
She embraced him tightly. “Thank goodness you’re home safe.”
“Aw, shucks. You’re going to make me think you love me.”
Carolina swatted him on the head. “Stop that nonsense.”
“So you do love me?”
“Much to my dismay, I do.”
He couldn’t help but laugh at the testy way she said that. “I guess you’re stuck with me.”
“Looks that way.”
Kyle and Jackson came running down the stairs and were on him before Seamus had a second to prepare for the attack. He wrestled them into submission and kissed their faces until they begged for mercy.
“I heard you lads were a big help while I was gone.”
“We were,” Kyle said. “We got everything Caro needed.”
“Thank you for taking such good care of her.”
“We had fun,” Jackson said. “Was it super-duper crazy on the ferry?”
“So crazy. We had twenty-foot seas at one point.”
“Dear Lord,” Carolina said.
“It was so much fun,” Seamus said, grinning at her.
“Crazy Irishman.”
Seamus released the boys and went back on his knees to kiss her. “Missed you fiercely.”
“Same.”
He flashed his most satisfied grin and earned himself another bop to the head.
Joe cuddled with PJ and Viv, who clung to him in a way they hadn’t in a long time. “Did you guys have fun with the Grammys and Pop?”
“So much fun,” PJ said. “And with Kyle and Jackson.”
“I’m glad you had fun. What do you say we give Mommy a call to let her know I’m back on the island?”
“She’s been really worried,” PJ said, his blond brows furrowed.
Joe pulled his phone from his back pocket and put through a FaceTime call to Janey, who answered on the first ring.
“Oh, look at you guys! Back together.”
“Yep and heading home to you as soon as we can,” Joe said.
Viv had her head on his shoulder and her thumb in her mouth, but she perked up at the sound of her mother’s voice.
“Miss you guys so, so much. I’ll never complain about the noise again.”
“You hear that, kiddos?” Joe asked.
“Mommy has to study,” PJ said. “Shhhh.”
His parents laughed.
“We’ve got him well trained,” Joe said.
“Puppies,” Viv said.
“Hang on a second.” Janey swapped the view on the phone so they could see the dogs on their beds in the living room. “They miss you guys.”
“We miss them, too. I’ll figure out our trip home tomorrow.”
“I’ll be waiting for you.”
“Love you, Mommy,” Joe said.
“Love you, Mommy,” PJ said.
“Wuv you, Mama,” Viv added.
“Love you, too. All of you. More than anything. Hurry home.”
“We’re coming.”