Chapter 26
Early the next morning, Tiffany told her mom and Ned, who’d brought coffee and doughnuts from the marina, that she wanted to go see Maddie.
“I’ll drive ya over,” Ned said.
“I can take the SUV,” Tiffany replied, still mourning for her beautiful Bug.
“No need. I’ll take ya.”
She understood that the dear man who was now her stepfather, and truly the only father she’d ever known, wanted to do something to help. So she let him. “Thank you, Ned. That’d be great. Let me get the girls ready.”
They set out fifteen minutes later, bringing the rest of the doughnuts for the kids to enjoy with their cousins.
Ashleigh had lit up with delight at being told she’d be seeing her cousin and best friend, Thomas.
If anyone could make her feel better, Thomas could.
With only a few months between them, they’d been raised like siblings from the beginning, and he was still her favorite person in the whole world.
She also adored Addie, Hailey, Mac and the twin babies.
But Thomas was her person, and their mothers loved the tight bond their children shared.
From the back seat of Ned’s cab, with her girls strapped into the seats Ned always had handy for them, Tiffany watched the familiar scenery go by while feeling oddly detached from the place she’d called home most of her life.
She’d left only to help Jim through law school.
They’d returned to set up his island practice right after he graduated.
His discontent had set in soon after they came home to the island.
She saw that now. For a long time, she’d tried to pretend that nothing had changed as she went through the motions of being a wife and mother, supporting his dreams the way she always had while fighting for a few of her own.
She’d run an at-home daycare and a dance studio then, trying to do her part to supplement his income while he built the practice.
But nothing she’d done had been enough. After working multiple jobs while he was in law school and giving him a beautiful daughter, he’d simply checked out of their marriage right when they were on the cusp of finally realizing the life they’d envisioned for themselves.
Suddenly, he’d no longer wanted that life—or her.
Tiffany was amazed at how, even after all this time, after years of marriage to a man who worshipped the ground she walked on, that it could still hurt to think about the way Jim had discarded her.
Things had gone rapidly downhill between them, culminating in a messy divorce that had turned most of the island against him and his practice and led to him making a series of disastrous decisions, one of which had landed him in jail after he slashed Dan Torrington’s hand open during Dan and Kara’s engagement party.
Speaking of Dan, she’d gotten a text from him and Kara the night before that she’d failed to respond to.
She withdrew her phone and read it again.
Hey, Tiff, Kara and I were sorry to hear the news about Jim. Like you, I’m sure, we’re shocked and saddened. We’re thinking of you, Ashleigh and your family at this difficult time. Sending much love from Maine!
Thank you so much for your kind note. You’re right that we’re shocked and saddened, which is the ultimate paradox, right?
I wanted him gone, but not like this. I’m sure you understand better than most. Everyone is rallying around Ash, and she’s holding up as well as can be expected.
It’s a lot for a six-year-old to understand.
We heard about why you went to Maine, and we’re sorry to hear Kara’s family is going through that.
With you on their side, we have no doubt her brothers will be exonerated, and you’ll be back here where you belong in no time.
In the meantime, we’ll miss you very much.
Please stay in touch and let us know how you’re doing. Much love back to you!
Two of Kara’s brothers had been charged with murder. Tiffany didn’t know the details, but she hoped that what she’d said was true and their friends would be back on the island soon.
Ned pulled into Maddie’s driveway on Sweet Meadow Farm Road, where Linda’s yellow Bug was parked next to Maddie’s SUV.
Tiffany recalled being intensely jealous of her older sister after she’d fallen for Mac McCarthy and ended up in this palace of a home with him.
Those days seemed long ago now that she’d found her own prince and built a whole new life with him, but the loss of Jim had resurrected a lot of old and unwelcome emotions.
She’d hated being jealous of Maddie and the rift her jealousy had caused between her and her sister for a time.
They were long past that now, thank goodness.
Ashleigh was out of the car and up the stairs the second after the car came to a stop in the driveway.
Tiffany freed Addie from her car seat and gathered the big bag she took everywhere that had them covered for any potential disaster while away from home.
As she shouldered the bag and followed her mom and Ned up the stairs to Maddie’s deck, she realized how long it had been since anything that could be called a disaster had happened.
There’d been a time when it seemed like a new disaster occurred almost daily.
Thanks to Blaine and their blissful relationship, she’d known a kind of peace and tranquility that had eluded her all her life before him. Unlike Maddie, she had no memories of their father living with them on the island. He’d been long gone by the time Tiffany was aware of his absence.
A shrink would probably have a field day with her latching on to her high school boyfriend, the first “man” to ever come close to filling the void her father had left.
With hindsight that came from being in a loving relationship with Blaine, she could see that Jim had never been capable of giving her what she needed most.
So how was it possible that his death had left her feeling completely flattened by grief?
It made no sense.
They stepped into the usual chaos in Maddie’s open-concept home, which was littered with toys and baby equipment and shrieks of excitement at the arrival of cousins.
Addie squirmed in her arms, wanting to be put down to join the fray.
“Welcome to Bedlam,” Maddie said as she got up to hug Tiffany.
The sisters held on to each other for a long time while Linda, Ned and Francine tended to the kids.
“I’m sorry we didn’t make it to the marina last night,” Maddie said.
“Don’t be. I can’t get two kids out of the house. Not sure how you manage five of them.”
“It’s a s-h-i-t show.”
“I know what that spells,” Thomas shouted.
They laughed as they pulled apart.
Maddie put her hands on Tiffany’s face. “How are you? Really?”
“I’m heartbroken, and I can’t, for the life of me, understand why.”
“Aw, honey.” Maddie hugged her again. “Of course you are. You were with him for ten years, had a child with him. Despite how it ended, he was a big part of your life.”
Tiffany hated that she was once again crying over the man who’d broken her heart plenty of times when he was still alive.
A tug on her leg had Tiffany pulling back from her sister’s embrace.
Addie looked up at her. “Mommy sad.”
Tiffany bent to pick up her little lady. “Mommy’s okay. Don’t worry.”
Addie wiped the tears from Tiffany’s face. “No sad, Mommy.”
“No sad.” She forced a smile for her daughter. “All better, thanks to Addie-pooh.”
The little girl flashed a big, satisfied grin that reminded Tiffany of Blaine. People said she was another Tiffany mini-me, but at times she embodied Blaine’s smug grin to perfection.
She put Addie down to go back to playing.
“Mommy is allowed to be sad,” Maddie said.
“I know, but I gotta keep it together in front of the kids.” Tiffany wiped the remaining dampness off her face, determined to stay focused on her children, nieces and nephews, the sources of so much joy. “What’re you hearing about Abby?”
“Total bed rest for the remainder of her pregnancy.”
“Damn,” Tiffany said with a gasp as Liam ran past with baby Mac. “How’s that gonna work?”
“They’re trying to figure that out now.”
“You should go home to pack and get Liam,” Abby told Adam after he’d slept curled up to her all night in the narrow hospital bed.
He’d gone to the hotel to shower and change and had returned an hour later with breakfast sandwiches for both of them.
“I don’t want to leave you. I can ask the parents to pack for us and to bring Liam.”
“I think you should do it. You know best what we need and what Liam will want. It’s too much to ask of others, even the grandparents.”
“When I think of leaving you here, going to that damned island and not being able to get back to you if something happens… I feel like I’m having a heart attack.”
“Don’t do that.”
Adam finally cracked the smallest of grins, the first she’d seen since David and Vic had recommended the flight to the mainland.
Abby reached out to him.
He took her hand.
“This is going to be a long slog for both of us. You’re not going to be able to be here every second of the day and night. You can’t run yourself ragged worrying and not sleeping or eating right or working out. We have to manage your stress as much as mine.”
“Yours is what matters most.”
“No, Adam, that’s not true. I can’t do this without you, so please… I need you to promise me that you’ll care for yourself the same way you are for me and Liam.”
“I hear you. And I promise.”
“If you leave now, you can grab an Uber to the ferry and be back on the last boat tonight. Call Seamus. They always save a spot for emergencies. He’ll get the car on for you.”
“Are you sure you won’t do something dramatic, like have four babies while I’m gone?”
“I’ll do everything in my power to keep that from happening. But if it does, no matter what, I’d never blame you for not being here when I was the one who sent you.”
“Okay, then,” he said with a deep sigh. “I’ll go, and I’ll be back as fast as I possibly can.”
“Kiss me and make it a good one to tide me over until you get back.”
Smiling, he leaned over the bed rail and laid a hot, sexy kiss on her.
“Now that is what I’m talking about.”