Book 8 Waiting for Love #3
The McCarthy family dinner is the usual comedy show, and Adam loves every minute of it.
He’s determined to keep his problems to himself so he can support the others in the emotional aftermath of the accident.
He’s thinking about his ex-girlfriend and business partner, Sasha, who sold him out.
When did things go so wrong between them that she’d do such a thing to him?
He has no idea. He’d planned to bring her home to meet his family, and he hates himself for missing her.
Big Mac wants to know what he plans to do about the fact that he got screwed out of his company.
He’s not going to do anything because he doesn’t care enough to fight for the business.
They owe him a ton of money and have sixty days to pay him.
After that, he’ll see what’s next. He doesn’t want his dad fretting over the situation.
A few weeks at home will cure what ails Adam, Big Mac says.
Sasha texts that she’s sorry, that she loves him, that she made a mistake, and that she wants to talk. He has nothing to say to her.
Adam, Mac, Janey and the others find out about Carolina and Seamus.
Carolina is so mortified to be “coming out” to the McCarthy kids, who were like extra children to her growing up, that she breaks out in hives.
When they leave the dinner early, she realizes Seamus is angry that she’s so upset about being there with him that she broke out in hives.
After he takes her home, Seamus leaves until she can make peace with the situation.
He tells her to call him when she’s truly ready to be a couple.
Grant goes to see David Lawrence, needing a prescription to help him sleep.
His mind is racing. David asks what he sees when he closes his eyes, which is the one question Grant can’t answer.
Nothing really, he says, which isn’t true.
David gives him seven days of sleep medication, but Grant is worried about what will happen after the seven days are up.
He’s afraid he might have to tell people what really happened after the sailboat accident.
“Do yourself a favor and unload on someone,” David advises. “Before it eats you alive.”
Stephanie arrives at the McCarthy’s home and is surprised that Grant isn’t there.
She has no idea where he is. The family discusses how Evan is burying himself in work at the studio, but Grant isn’t working at all.
Mac says it was tough out there. Not only were they fighting to survive, but they had hours to wonder what had become of their brothers and friends.
Adam offers to go looking for Grant. He assures his mother that his brothers are fine, but she knows better. They’re not fine.
Linda calls Big Mac’s brother, Kevin, a psychiatrist, and asks for his help.
He specializes in posttraumatic stress. He advises giving them some space to process what happened.
If they’re not doing better soon, Kevin will come out to the island.
Adam thinks his dad needs Kevin, too, since he can’t talk about the accident without crying.
After Grant leaves the clinic, David makes a note to follow up with him in a few days.
He’s known Grant a long time and can tell something isn’t right with him.
When Daisy comes by to bring him food, again, Victoria teases him about his not-so-secret admirer.
David says they’re just friends, but he can’t deny he’s begun to look forward to Daisy’s daily visits.
He asks her to keep him company while he eats.
Adam goes into town looking for Grant and stops at the Sand & Surf, where he finds his cousin Laura lightheaded from recovering from the stomach flu.
Laura suggests that Grant might be with Abby, who is back on the island.
Since Laura isn’t feeling well, Owen takes her upstairs to bed while Adam watches the front desk until Sarah comes down to relieve him.
Charlie arrives, and Adam witnesses the spark between Sarah and Charlie.
He thought he had that with Sasha, but it turned out to be a lie.
Stephanie comes into the hotel and is upset that no one can find Grant.
When she’s not working, Kara’s routine has become focused on Dan as he recovers from a broken right arm, broken ribs and other injuries from the sailboat accident.
Every night after work, she brings him dinner and helps type his book, which is due soon.
He’s grumpy and out of sorts, and she’s wondering if she’ll ever see the Dan from before the accident again.
They’re both afraid to talk about what’s going on between them since the accident.
They finally discuss that terrible day and how they thought of each other constantly.
Dan says he’s wanted her from the first time he ever saw her and asks her to go steady.
Big Mac can’t stop thinking about how he nearly lost three of his sons.
Luke finds him on the main pier at the marina.
He knows Big Mac is pissed with him. About what?
Big Mac asks. That Luke wouldn’t let him go out in the fog to look for the boys that day.
They’d nearly come to blows over it. At the time, Big Mac wasn’t pleased, but he can see that Luke was right to stand in his way.
“You’re one of my kids, Luke Harris. I could never be truly pissed at you. ”
“Shit… You gotta put it that way, huh?”
Big Mac hugs him. “‘Fraid so.”
Luke returns the embrace and pats him on the back. “Thank God they’re all right.”
“Yes. Thank God. And thank you. You did the right thing, but then again, you always do. You’re a good man, and I’m proud to call you one of my own.”
When Luke steps back from him, Big Mac sees a tear in the younger man’s eyes. They’d all done their share of weeping lately.
“You can’t possibly know how much that means to me,” Luke says.
“Go on home to your wife, son. Everything’s okay here.” And it was, Big Mac thinks, as he watches Luke walk up the pier to the parking lot. Everything is okay. If he keeps telling himself that, someday soon, he might believe it.
Big Mac goes home to Linda, who’s worried about Grant. Something big happened out there. They end up in bed, talking about how lucky and blessed they are.
Still looking for Grant, Adam goes to the Beachcomber.
The bartender, Chelsea, tells him she hasn’t seen Grant.
Some of the Race Week sailors are teaching Abby Callahan how to do tequila shots.
Adam finds her in a circle of men, wearing a sexy outfit and bright red lipstick.
She looks amazing. In all the years she dated Grant, Adam had thought she was pretty, but now…
He realizes she’s hot. He pushes through the group of men to retrieve her, making up a story about their six children waiting for them.
She’s mad at him for ruining her fun. She was planning to sleep with one of those guys.
“Go home, Adam. I don’t need you to save me from myself. ”
Adam gets a text from Stephanie that Grant is home safely.
Abby realizes he’s worried about Grant. They all are, he says.
He tells her he heard from Sasha, and he’s not planning to reply to her.
They end up resting on Abby’s bed, facing each other as they talk.
When she burps—loudly—they lose it laughing.
He tells her there’s no need for her to become someone else when she’s perfect the way she is.
“That’s very sweet of you to say,” Abby replies, “but there’s lots of stuff wrong with me.
I can’t keep making the same mistakes over and over without trying to learn something from them. You know?”
He confesses to having inappropriate thoughts about his brother’s ex-girlfriend.
She admits to having trouble reaching orgasm because she never feels she has a man’s full attention.
She got very good at faking it. She falls asleep, and Adam sets up her phone so he can track her location to keep her safe from herself.
Despite warning alarms from his conscience, he’s decided that if anyone is going to help her go a little crazy—in bed and out—it’s going to be him.
Owen, who’s dreading his father’s upcoming trial, helps take care of baby Holden.
Laura is still feeling awful after having the stomach bug.
A thought occurs to Owen… Is it possible she might be pregnant again?
Laura is shocked. Holden is only three months old!
She can’t be pregnant again. They haven’t exactly been careful, Owen reminds her.
She’ll see Victoria the next day to find out if it’s true.
Stephanie keeps a watchful eye on Grant, who’s still withdrawn as he sits at the bar at her restaurant, not talking to anyone, which is wildly out of character for him.
When they get home, she confesses that she feared he might be with Abby.
He didn’t know she was home or that she had broken up with Cal.
He’s hurt that she’d think he’d cheat on her.
He loves her, and she shouldn’t ever worry about that.
Despite his assurances, she’s lonely for him and wishes he’d tell her what’s weighing so heavily on him.
Abby is mortified and hungover. She can’t believe she told Adam about her orgasm issues and that one of the men she complained about was his brother.
She wants to die and then finds Adam asleep on the bed next to her.
Even while dating Grant, she’d thought Adam was the handsomest of the McCarthy brothers, which is another of her deep, dark secrets.
“I’d like to volunteer to be your partner in crime,” Adam says. “We’ll do anything you want—in bed or out. Skinny-dipping, motorcycle rides, tattoos, tequila shots, all-nighters and as many orgasms as you can handle. Whatever you want, whenever you want it.”
Abby stares at him, incredulous—and intrigued. “You’d get a tattoo for me?”