Chapter 38 #2
“Very good news indeed,” Ned said. “Can’t wait to get them kids back out here where they belong.”
“Still no word about Billy?” Kevin asked.
“Nothing,” Big Mac said grimly. “The Coast Guard has called off the search, but Blaine and his team are still patrolling the Salt Pond. Deacon was out all day today and said he’ll be back out every day until they find him.”
“Goodness,” Francine said. “What an awful thing.”
“It really is,” Big Mac said.
“In other news, you all pulled off a miracle here, Seamus,” Frank said. “I heard you came home to a real mess after the storm.”
“It was bad,” Big Mac said. “I was here for a couple of hours the first day, and I couldn’t believe the difference when I came back today.”
“We had a deadline.” Seamus gestured to his cousin and Victoria, who were slow dancing to a fast song. “I couldn’t let them down.”
“It was a great wedding, Seamus,” Linda said. “I love the lights in the trees.”
“That was a last-minute addition after the power came back on earlier today,” Seamus said.
“He was like a monkey in the trees stringing lights,” Carolina said.
The others laughed while her husband feigned outrage at being called a monkey.
“You know I’m only teasing,” Carolina told him. “None of this would’ve happened without you.”
“It took a village,” Seamus said, “and luckily, ours is the best.”
“It sure is,” Linda said. “Looks like Piper and Jack are having a good time.”
“Laura told me they’re smitten,” Frank said. “She’s thrilled. She loves them both.”
“What a week indeed,” Linda said.
Piper Bennett had decided that slow dancing with Jack Downing was the highlight of her life thus far.
“How’s it going down there?” Jack asked.
“Divine. Everything is divine.”
“No one has ever said that about dancing with me.”
“I find that very hard to believe. You’ve got mad moves, which I already knew.”
“I’m glad you like my moves.”
They’d spent every night that week together, and she couldn’t wait to snuggle up to him later.
Cindy Lawry and Jace Carson danced up beside them.
“How’s it going, lovebirds?” Cindy asked.
Piper smiled at the friend she’d made at the Beachcomber. “It’s going quite well. You?”
Cindy gazed up at her sexy boyfriend. “It’s going very well.”
“Hey, you guys,” Maddie McCarthy said. “Vic’s going to toss her bouquet. Get out there.”
“I don’t believe in dumb stuff like that,” Piper said.
“Oh, come on.” Cindy took Piper’s hand and gave her a gentle tug. “Don’t make me go out there alone. I think we’re the last single women on Gansett.”
“You’re not single,” Jace said, making Cindy giggle.
“You know what I mean!”
Only because she loved Cindy so much did Piper let her drag her to the middle of the dance floor, where several other women stood, looking as awkward as Piper felt.
“Are we ready, ladies?” the DJ asked. “On a count of one, two—”
Victoria let it go early, and Piper had the choice of either catching the bouquet or letting it hit her in the head.
“Lucky duck,” Cindy said.
“Here.” Piper tried to foist the bouquet off on Cindy. “You take it.”
“Oh no, girl. You won it fair and square.”
“Please take it,” Piper said. “We’re so new, and he’s not ready for this and—”
“Here he comes,” Cindy said.
“I didn’t try to win,” Piper said.
“Congratulations,” Jace said to Piper. “You’re next.”
“No pressure or anything,” Piper said to Jack.
“You can stop melting down,” Jack said with a grin. “All is well.”
Relieved by his reaction, she set the bouquet on a table and said, “Let’s go back to dancing.”
The minute his arms were around her again, she felt better.
“Why’re you so worked up about a silly tradition?” Jack asked.
“Do you know what it means to catch the bouquet?”
“Believe it or not, I’ve been to a wedding before. Including my own.”
“We’re not ready for that. I don’t want you to feel pressured or, well, anything but happy with where we are right now.”
“Where we are right now is the best place I’ve been in years, and I’d like to stay there for a long, long time. If that’s all right with you.”
“Yes, Jack,” she said, breathless and falling deeper in love by the minute with this amazing man. “That’s more than fine with me.”
“Can we go home?” Dan Torrington asked his lovely wife. He could tell that she was exhausted, but she would never admit it to him or anyone else. This kid had better be worth the toll he or she was taking on his or her mother.
“Whenever you’re ready.”
“I’m ready. Let’s say our goodbyes.” They made the rounds, which included serious abuse from the McCarthy brothers for leaving early.
“We’re right behind them,” Abby told Adam, shutting him up.
“I’m not sure why we’re friends with these people,” Dan said to his wife.
“It’s because you’ve never had more fun with anyone in your life than you do with us,” Grant said.
“Something like that,” Dan replied. “Call me tomorrow?”
“Will do,” Grant said.
Dan and Kara said good night to the bride and groom, to Seamus and Carolina and the others at their table and then spent the next twenty minutes chatting with everyone from Alex and Jenny Martinez to Slim and Erin Jackson to Mallory and Quinn James as they made their way out of the tent.
Knowing Kara was tired, Dan kept moving them toward the driveway, where they finally made their escape. “Wow, nothing like knowing every person at a wedding, huh?”
“That’s how we roll on Gansett Island,” Kara said. “Everyone knows everyone.”
“It was a fun day. Shannon and Vic seem very happy.”
“They sure do.” Kara had high-heeled sandals dangling from her fingers as she walked on bare feet. “I’m so glad their wedding went off without a hitch despite Mother Nature’s efforts to derail things.”
They’d parked out on the street and had nearly reached Dan’s Porsche when Kara’s phone rang. She fished it out of her purse and looked at the screen. “It’s my mother. She’s called three times. What the hell?” Kara took the call. “Mom?”
“Oh, Kara, thank God you finally answered.”
“We were at a wedding. What’s wrong?”
“You and Dan need to come home to Maine right away. Your brothers have been charged with murder.”
Thanks so much for reading Hurricane After Dark! Turn the page to read Renewal After Dark.