Chapter 1 #2
“I suppose it’s not impossible. The two of them were friends back in high school. Billy was one of the few people who didn’t turn his back when Sturgil made a mess of things.”
“I was afraid you might say that. Don’t think much of the guy, but I don’t wish him dead.”
He glanced at the clock on the wall in the kitchen and saw it was inching closer to five. “I gotta run. Let me know if you hear anything.”
“You do the same.”
Damn, Duke thought. Sturgil might be missing. He wondered if his ex-wife, Tiffany Taylor, knew that and whether he ought to ask her about it when he picked up McKenzie.
Nah, he decided. Wasn’t his place to tell her, and besides, it wouldn’t take long for word to get out on Gansett that Sturgil might be missing.
“I didn’t think anything of it, you know?
” Tiffany sat at the kitchen table with a cup of tea McKenzie had made for her.
“He missed his visit with Ashleigh last night, but that’s happened before.
I’ve gotten to the point where I don’t even tell her he’s coming because I don’t want her to be disappointed when he doesn’t show. ”
McKenzie wished she knew what to say to Tiffany, who was trying to hold it together since the phone call she’d received from her former mother-in-law, asking if she’d heard from her ex-husband, Jim, since the storm.
McKenzie had pieced together enough to realize the breakup had been ugly, and Tiffany didn’t know how she should feel about him possibly being missing.
“I mean, I’m sure he’s fine. He’s probably off somewhere, oblivious that anyone might be looking for him. Maybe he’s somewhere with no power.”
“I’m sure that’s all it is.”
“It’s such a weird feeling. I’ve secretly wished he’d go away and never come back so many times in the last few years, but hearing he might be missing was so…”
“It’s very upsetting.”
“It is, and I wouldn’t have thought I’d care, to be honest. He put me through hell.”
“I assume you spent a lot of years with him.”
Tiffany nodded. “From high school through to a couple of years ago.”
“At times like this, we tend to focus on the good times and not the bad.”
“That’s true. And here I thought my biggest issue this week was going to be figuring out what to do about my poor squished Bug.” A tree had fallen on her red Volkswagen Beetle during the storm.
“I’m so sorry about that. It was such a cute car.”
“Blaine says we’ll get another one, but that seems so trivial now that I’ve heard Jim is missing.”
She’d no sooner mentioned her husband than Blaine came bursting through the kitchen door, taking them by surprise. “I came as soon as I heard.”
Tiffany perked up considerably at the sight of her ridiculously handsome husband. She wiped a tear from her cheek. “I’m fine. Don’t worry.”
“Don’t do that.”
“What am I doing?”
“Thinking you can’t be sad about Jim in front of me.”
As if a dam had broken, Tiffany dissolved into sobs.
Blaine wrapped his arms around her and lifted her right out of the chair to carry her from the room.
Whoa.
McKenzie fanned her face, feeling as if she’d witnessed a scene straight out of a romance novel. It was a revelation to her that men like Blaine actually existed. She’d certainly never met one like him. The ones she knew were all frogs, with nary a prince among them.
A soft knock sounded at the door.
She got up to greet Duke.
As she opened the door, she realized he’d seemed more… polished than he had during his earlier visits. Had he done that for her? She couldn’t help but notice that he was handsome in his own unique sort of way or that his blue eyes twinkled when he smiled.
“I didn’t want to wake the little guy if he’s napping.”
She couldn’t believe he’d thought of that. Most people didn’t. “That’s very kind of you. Come in. He should be awake any second.”
“Take your time. I’m in no rush.” He lowered his voice even further. “Does Tiffany know about the ex?”
McKenzie nodded. “Her former mother-in-law called.”
“Ah, okay. I know him from the gym. Got a call from a friend asking if I’d heard from him. Was sorta hoping I’d get here and find out he’d been in touch with his daughter.”
“They’ve had no word, and he missed a planned visit with her last night.”
“Crap.”
“I guess that’s happened before, so Tiffany didn’t think anything of it.”
Ashleigh came into the kitchen. “Miss McKenzie, Jax is awake.”
“Thank you so much for letting me know, honey.”
“You’re welcome.”
After Ashleigh had skipped out of the room, Duke said, “She’s her mother all over again.”
“I know. She’s adorable.”
“I really hope for her sake that they find her father soon.”
“I hope so, too. Let me grab Jax and tell Tiffany we’re leaving. I’ll be right back.”
“I’ll be here.”
She stopped and turned back to him. “I just want you to know… I appreciate your generosity so much. I’ll never be able to repay you.”
“You don’t have to. It’s my pleasure to help you out. It’s what Rosemary would’ve wanted me to do.”
He was so very sweet and adorable in a slightly awkward and endearing kind of way.
She’d no sooner had that thought than she stopped herself.
You have no business finding any man adorable or endearing when you’re basically a homeless single mom to an infant with almost everything you own lost to the storm.
You’ve got much more important things to think about than whether your new friend is adorable, so knock that off.
Upstairs, McKenzie retrieved Jax from the portable crib Tiffany had set up for him in the guest room and then broke down the crib to take it with her.
Tiffany had told her to use it for as long as she needed.
The Taylors wouldn’t be traveling for a while with a third baby due soon.
Thankfully, Tiffany was feeling better after a week of intense nausea and heartburn that’d made her miserable.
McKenzie swallowed the huge lump of fear that landed in her throat as she collected the last of their meager belongings into the grocery bags Duke had used to deliver them.
Thinking of him picking through the remains of the cottage to find their things made her heart do that wobbly thing again.
It’d been a long time since anyone had been as kind to her as Duke, Tiffany and Blaine had been.
Jax let out a whine and reached for his bear, which had also been rescued by Duke.
“Oh, we can’t forget Mr. Bear.”
Jax gurgled with delight.
That sound filled her with unreasonable joy, which drowned out the fear.
As long as she had him and he had her, they could get through whatever was ahead for them.
Or so she hoped. The task of rebuilding her grandmother’s cabin was daunting.
How did one even undertake such a thing on a remote island?
She’d managed to avoid having to deal with that over the last week while she helped Tiffany with the kids. Once she was at Duke’s, she’d have no choice but to finally confront the wreckage of the cabin where many happy memories had been made with her grandmother.
“One step at a time, MK. One step at a time.”