Chapter 4
Duke insisted on carrying the baby and most of the groceries upstairs to her new apartment. As McKenzie followed with two of the bags, she was filled with a warm feeling of homecoming, which was odd since she’d never stepped foot in this place until an hour ago.
But he’d made her feel so welcome and had gone above and beyond to make sure she and Jax would be comfortable. While he made a second trip to the truck, she asked herself when was the last time someone had considered her needs and tended to them the way he had?
Never.
One of her earliest memories was standing on a kitchen chair making scrambled eggs for herself and her mother while her mom was in one of her low periods.
She didn’t recall learning how to scramble eggs.
Maybe she’d been born knowing how. That wouldn’t surprise her.
She couldn’t remember a time when her mother had taken care of her.
It had always been the other way around.
That could be why she often put up with crap she never should’ve tolerated in her relationships with men, always hoping to find someone who’d put her first. Thankfully, she was mostly prepared to stand on her own two feet, except for when a hurricane came and knocked down the cabin in which she’d planned to make a home for herself and her son.
The part of her starved for someone who gave a shit about her wanted to wallow in Duke’s TLC, but she knew better than to go there. If she’d learned anything, it was that there was no point in investing that kind of hope in other people. They always disappointed her.
Jax’s father was the latest in a long line of people who’d let her down.
“Thank you again for everything, Duke. I don’t know what we would’ve done without your help.”
“Happy to do it. I’m right across the yard if you need anything.”
“That’s good to know.”
He gave the baby’s foot a little tweak that made Jax giggle. “Sleep tight and don’t let the bed bugs bite.” He quickly added, “Not that there are any of those in here.”
McKenzie laughed. “I’m not worried about that.”
“Okay, then. Sleep tight, both of you.”
“We will, thanks to your kindness.”
“No problem.”
McKenzie walked him to the door and watched him go down the stairs, whistling a chirpy tune as he went.
Though she knew she had nothing to fear from him, she still flipped the lock on the screen door before she went to feed and bathe Jax and get him down for the night in the portable crib. Thank goodness for the new friends who’d made sure they had everything they needed, including the car seat.
She and Jax went through their usual ritual of a final feeding, story and snuggle before she tucked him in with Mr. Bear. He was rubbing his eyes, which was always a good sign that he was ready to sleep.
With the baby down for the count, McKenzie made herself a salad and sat on the sofa to eat.
This was the time of day when loneliness set in, making her aware of how alone she was in the world, other than Jax, of course.
He was the purest joy in her life and had been from the second he was born, even if single motherhood had been the most daunting thing she’d ever faced.
She’d made it through the first nine months, a day at a time, most of it living with her mother until that’d become untenable.
Desperately needing a change, she’d decided to come to the island to check out the cottage her grandmother had left to her, even if the idea of living on a remote island with an infant had been almost as daunting as single motherhood.
She’d loved the time they’d spent there before the storm hit.
Now that Duke had taken care of her most pressing need for a roof over their heads, she had to figure out what to do about the cottage.
The insurance company had told her an agent would be coming to the island this week to survey her damage and that of a few other residents.
Once she knew what the payout would be, she could determine the next steps.
In the meantime, she’d been putting off viewing the damage personally because she’d been afraid to see the cabin destroyed.
Tomorrow, she’d go over there to sift through the rubble and hopefully find some more of her things.
Thankfully, her grandmother had paid the insurance for three years, which would end next year, so the repairs should be covered.
Or so she hoped, but she had no clue how to go about rebuilding a house on Gansett Island.
One thing at a time, MK. The words came to her in her grandmother’s voice, which made her smile because that’s exactly what Rosemary would’ve said if she’d been there.
And she was right. Today had been a good day, thanks to Duke, Tiffany and Blaine, new friends who’d stepped up for her when she needed them most.
In the morning, she’d begin the process of figuring out her next steps. Duke had been on the island for years and knew everyone. He’d mentioned Mac McCarthy, who ran a construction business. Maybe Duke could put her in touch with Mac.
McKenzie went to close the inside door and spotted Duke sitting next to a fire under lights that’d been strung through the trees, giving his firepit area a magical vibe. He was working on something, but she couldn’t see what.
She checked on Jax, who was sound asleep.
After cracking the window in his room so she’d hear him if he awakened, she went down the stairs, crossing the yard to the firepit and stopping short when she saw what Duke was doing.
“Are you… cross-stitching?” Nothing in her life had ever surprised her more.
He gave a sheepish grin and a shrug. “Rosemary taught me how years ago. It’s oddly relaxing. Don’t tell the guys at the shop, okay?”
McKenzie smiled, ridiculously charmed by his confession. “Your secret is safe with me.” And then she had another thought. “The pillows in the apartment… Did you make them?”
“Maybe?”
They’d been the first thing she noticed. “They’re incredible! You’re very talented.”
“I don’t know about that, but it’s something to do at night rather than rot my brain in front of the TV. Not that there’s anything wrong with that.”
McKenzie sat in the Adirondack chair next to him. “She taught me how, too, but it never took with me. My attention to detail isn’t what it needed to be, or so she said.”
“That sounds like her. ‘Duke,’ she’d say, ‘if you don’t apply yourself, you’ll never learn anything new.’”
McKenzie laughed. “I’ve heard that one a time or two myself. I used to say, ‘I am applying myself. This is what I’m capable of.’ She didn’t like that answer.”
“No, she wouldn’t have cared for that.”
“I still can’t believe you’re a cross-stitcher.”
“Messes with my image as a tough guy, huh?”
“Kinda?” She tried to suppress the giggle that gurgled from deep inside but failed miserably.
His eyes danced with amusement, which was when she realized that not only was he handsome, but he was also kind of sexy. “Are you laughing at me by any chance?”
“I’d never do that.”
“And yet…”
“Sorry.”
“Don’t be. It’s funny. A long-haired, tattooed dude like me isn’t exactly the target audience for cross-stitch.
I was next door one day and saw her doing it, asked what it was, and she showed me.
I thought it looked fun and a bit challenging, so she set me up with a simple sampler, and that was that. I’ve been at it ever since.”
“I’m seriously impressed.”
“I see it as a way to be creative without having to expend as much mental energy as I do at the shop when I’m permanently marking someone’s skin with art.”
“I get that. What’re you making?”
He turned the sampler, which was held tight by a wooden loop around it, so she could see it. “I’m making this one up as I go.”
McKenzie was stunned by the gorgeous field of wildflowers in an array of dazzling colors, shapes and sizes. “You’re making it up? Not following a pattern?”
“Nope.” He handed her a drawing done in colored pencil. “I’m following that—loosely.”
“Now, that is seriously impressive.”
“I’ve been freelancing for years, so it’s not that hard anymore. Takes forever to get stuff shipped out here. I started making up my own designs so I wouldn’t get bored waiting for new ones to arrive.”
“You’re very talented.”
“Art is the one thing I got.”
“You’re lucky to have that one thing. I’m still looking for mine.”
“I thought you were a woodworker?”
“I’m a wannabe woodworker. I have the interest but not the skills. Not yet, anyway.”
“What do you do for work?”
“I’ve kind of bounced around from one career to another—my degree is in fashion, but I’ve never really used it. In hindsight, I probably should’ve majored in something that lent itself to a real salary. I was working in retail when Jax happened.”
“So he was a surprise, was he?”
“You could say that. I’d been seeing his dad for a year when I got pregnant.
I was on birth control that didn’t work, which was a shock, to say the least. When I told him I was pregnant, that’s when I found out he’s married with a wife and two kids and wasn’t interested in another.
He told me he’d had a vasectomy, so the baby couldn’t be his.
That was almost worse than the wife and kids, since he knew I’d been faithful to him, which was more than he could say. ”
“I’m so sorry. That’s awful. What a loser.”
McKenzie smiled at the emphatic way he said that last word. “Yeah, he was. He lied to me about everything, and I found out the hard way. But it’s okay. I’d rather raise Jax on my own than have him around a man who lies and cheats and runs from his obligations.”
“That’s the way to be.”
“I really loved him, though, so it was a rough time. It got better after Jax arrived. It’s hard to be sad when he’s the most cheerful, happy little guy.”
“He’s a cutie.”
“He really is. The way I see it, I’ve got a built-in best friend, at least until he becomes a cranky teenager.”
“I bet he’ll always be your best friend.”
“That’d be nice.” She glanced up at the lights. “I like the lights.”
“I do, too. They’re solar. I have them on a timer to come on every night.”