Book 12 Kisses After Dark #4
Shortly after Shane gets to his room, he realizes his mistake and races to find Katie.
Unfortunately, he runs into Owen, who questions his motives towards Katie.
Shane convinces Owen that he cares about Katie and wants to make things right with her.
Owen tells him he knows where the girls are, and he’ll take him—eventually.
Sydney waits for Luke to come home. With both Big Mac and Mac off island, Luke was stuck running things at the marina.
“Very happy to see you.”
He lifts her into a hug. “You see me every day.”
“And I’m always happy to see you but today is special.”
“How so?”
“Put me down, and I’ll show you.”
He let her slide down the aroused front of him but kept a firm grip on her hand.
She towed him into the bathroom that adjoined their bedroom and stepped aside so he could see the objects she’d arranged on the countertop.
“What’s all that?”
“Take a closer look.”
He leaned in, his brows furrowed adorably the way they did when he was concentrating on something. And then, as she watched, his eyes widened with surprise and pleasure.
“Really?”
Sydney nodded, tears filling her eyes. “Ten tests. Ten positives.”
“We’re pregnant?”
“We’re pregnant. It’s not official until Victoria says it is, but ten tests—” She didn’t get to finish the sentence, because he was kissing her. Sydney wasn’t sure whether the dampness on her face was from her or him, but what did it matter?
Jenny was first to arrive for girls’ night out, followed by Grace, Stephanie, Abby and Janey.
Soon after, Laura and Katie came in. Laura was still upset that Courtney had dared to show up just as Shane was starting to be happy again.
Soon, Maddie and Tiffany arrive, and they rally around Maddie, hoping to provide a much-needed distraction after the trauma of losing the baby.
Owen forces Shane to wait an hour, then drags him to dinner with the guys, most of whom are his cousins.
When they see how upset Shane is, Evan, Adam and Grant take him to crash girls’ night, much to the dismay of the other men, who had promised to give the ladies more time before their usual crash.
Once at Luke and Sydney’s, Shane goes right to find Katie and asks her to talk to him. Katie joins Shane on the deck.
“I’m so sorry, Katie. I’ve been trying to get to you for hours now so I could say that to you.
I was completely shocked to see her, and I reacted badly.
It kills me that I hurt you and made you cry after you put such faith in me.
I’ve loved every minute we’ve spent together.
I told your brother earlier that you’ve been more right for me in five days than she was in five years. He said I ought to tell you that.”
While Katie believes Shane wants to be with her, she asks him for time to think, which he reluctantly gives her. Shane goes home to the Surf, where he spends the night wondering what happened to his perfect day.
Katie cries herself to sleep and wakes to a thunderstorm. She hears a soft knock on the door, and then Shane is there holding her. “I thought you might be scared.”
Thrilled to see him and overwhelmed by his kindness, she takes his hand and all but drags him into the room, closing the door behind her. They get into bed, and Shane reaches for her. Katie snuggles up to him as another loud boom of thunder makes her whimper.
“It’s okay, honey. I’m right here.” He holds her close as the storm rages, reassuring her with soft words and the gentle caress of his hand on her back. Katie falls asleep in his arms, no more certain that she belongs there than she’d been earlier but comforted nonetheless by his tenderness.
Katie starts receiving letters from Shane the next day.
He tells her he sent Courtney away and wants to be with her and only her.
She catches her grandfather delivering the notes and learns her grandmother has more letters for her, but Adele insists on following Shane’s delivery instructions.
Katie waits another hour before her grandfather delivers the next note.
“How many more are there?” she asks her grandfather.
“I don’t know. Don’t shoot the messenger.”
“Love you, Poppy.”
“Love you, too, pumpkin. For what it’s worth, he seems like a nice guy.”
“He is.”
“Don’t let me keep you. Go see what he has to say. You know you’re dying to.”
“I am!” With a smile for her grandfather, Katie steps into her room, closes the door and tears open the envelope.
Dear sweet Katie, More food for thought…
Since we’re both sticking around on Gansett this winter, how about we get a place together?
One with a fireplace. I love fires in the winter.
Do you? Are you convinced yet that I’m serious about you?
Do you believe me when I tell you you’re the only one I want? Love, Shane
Hoping to catch her grandfather making another delivery, she throws open the door and gasps when she finds Shane standing there.
There’s nothing left to think about as she jumps into his arms or when he lifts her into his kiss.
Holding her tightly, he carries her inside and kicks the door closed behind him.
“What’re you doing home?” she asks. “I thought I had to wait hours to see you.”
Katie asks about his friend Lisa Chandler and learns she has terminal cancer.
“Apparently, David consulted with his colleagues in Boston, and they agree it’s too far gone for treatment other than making her as comfortable as possible,” Shane said.
“Oh, God.”
“David’s friend Jared and his wife, Lizzie, have donated nurses and equipment to keep Lisa at home. Seamus and Carolina have offered to help with the kids, and there’s a fundraiser next week at the Beachcomber for the family.”
“The Gansett Island community doesn’t fool around.”
Katie wants what he wants, but they need to slow things down and spend more time together. Katie isn’t sure what it feels like to fall in love. Shane shares what it feels like for him.
“Last night, when I couldn’t find you and Owen wouldn’t tell me where you’d gone, I was out of my mind.
I felt like I was going crazy or something, knowing you were nearby and that I’d hurt you badly enough to make you cry.
When I heard that, I would’ve given everything I had to touch you, hold you and tell you how much I care about you and how badly I want to be with you.
I had to wait hours—hours and hours—knowing you were upset because of me.
“And then when I walked into Luke’s house and saw you there, everything that was wound up inside me settled.
Even though nothing had been resolved between us, I felt calm because you were there.
I could see you, touch you and talk to you.
It was like everything I needed to survive was right there in one beautiful, sweet package. That’s what it feels like to me.”
He glances at her. “Why are you crying?”
“Because,” she says, wiping the tears from her cheeks, “that was the most incredible thing anyone has ever said to me.”
Seamus is getting coffee at the diner when he hears about Lisa’s diagnosis. He rushes home to see how he can help. He sees David in the driveway.
“I came as soon as I heard what’s going on,” Seamus says. “How is she?”
“Overwhelmed,” David says, seeming overwhelmed himself.
“There’s nothing that can be done?”
David shakes his head.
“Where are the kids?”
“At home for now. Jared and Lizzie James have pulled off a minor miracle and brought a whole team of people out here to tend to her and the kids.”
“What happens to them?” Seamus asks, relieved to hear that some immediate help has arrived. “After?”
“We haven’t gotten that far. She’s still absorbing the news.”
Seamus nods in understanding. “You’ll let me know if there’s anything we can do to help?”
David assures him that he will.
Seamus tells Carolina about Lisa. He wants to step up for the boys.
Big Mac and Linda hold a party to introduce Mallory to the McCarthy family and their friends.
Mac, who is still devastated over the loss of the baby, wants to stay home, but since Maddie is acting as if everything is normal, they go to the party.
The gathering includes his brothers, their significant others, his Uncle Frank and Betsy, Laura, Owen, Holden, Shane, Katie, Uncle Kevin, Riley, Finn and Mallory, the guest of honor.
Joe, Janey and PJ arrive a few minutes later, Janey seeming hesitant as she’s introduced to Mallory.
“It’s nice to meet you.” Mallory takes the hand that Janey offers. “I’ve heard so much about you.”
“Nice to meet you, too. I’m sorry I wasn’t here the last time.”
“No worries,” Mallory says. “You’re here now.”
“Just don’t call me Brat, and we’ll get along fine.”
Mallory laughs. “You got it.”
Katie and Shane attended bachelor and bachelorette parties for Grant and Stephanie.
When Shane comes home, he’s too drunk to bother Katie.
He finds a note from Katie saying she loves him and that she knows he is preoccupied with something.
She asks him to talk to someone about what’s weighing on him.
Shane wakes early and is upset that Katie noticed his distress.
He thought he was doing a better job of hiding it.
Shane goes to see his Uncle Kevin, the psychiatrist, who convinces him to give himself a break after everything he’s been through, but also encourages him to tell Katie what’s on his mind.
Mac and Maddie are on the way to Grant and Stephanie’s rehearsal dinner when Mac can’t take Maddie’s silence any longer. He pulls over, begs her to talk to him and they finally grieve for the baby they lost. They name him Connor.
The morning of the wedding, Ned shows Shane a house for rent. It’s everything he’s hoping for, and the best part is that it’s within walking distance to the Surf, where his baby nephew lives.
Stephanie wakes up on her wedding day at Charlie’s house and hears giggling coming from her father’s bedroom.
Knowing he’s happy with his love, Sarah, and living a life free of the past warms Stephanie’s heart.
Her best friends come to help Stephanie get ready.
With tears in his eyes, Charlie says his daughter is “breathtaking.”
Grant and Stephanie are married on the deck of the Sand and Surf. At the end of the evening, Shane takes Katie to see the house he found, although he’s worried he made such a big decision for both of them.
They sit in the corner of the empty living room. Always the lady, Katie curls her legs under her, tugging her skirt down to cover her knees.
“I want to tell you a few things that normally I’d prefer to keep to myself for several reasons. One, I hate talking about this stuff, and two, it really has no bearing on you, us, or how I feel about you. But it’s important to me that I be honest with you, so I want to tell you, okay?”
“Okay…”
He hates the trepidation he sees on her face and hears in her one-word answer, but he knows he has to come clean with her.
“Earlier this week, when you wrote me your adorable note, you said you’d noticed I had something on mind.
You told me that if I couldn’t talk to you about it, you wished I would talk to someone.
You were right. I did have something weighing heavily on me, and I talked to my Uncle Kevin, who’s a psychiatrist.”
“What was weighing so heavily on you?”
“The things that Courtney said to me… I was messed up afterward. I didn’t want to be, because I’ve come so far from that situation, and I have so much in my life now to be grateful for.
I’d started this awesome new relationship with you, and I was happy again for the first time in a very long time.
So much of that happiness was because of you. ”
“Did Kevin help?”
“He helped a lot. We talked it through, and he said a lot of things that made so much sense, but one thing in particular really resonated with me.” He takes hold of Katie’s hand and links their fingers, needing to touch her while he talks about his past for what he hopes will be the last time.
“He said that with this new information about what really happened, it was no longer possible to make Courtney the villain in our marriage. I couldn’t hate her anymore, and I had to find a way to deal with the things she told me without derailing my new life. ”
“And have you? Have you dealt with it?”
“Not entirely.” He gave her the honesty she deserved.
“But I will in time. The important thing for you to know is that I have absolutely no desire to go back to her. I loved her very much for a long time, but I don’t love her anymore.
I love you. You’re the one I want to be with.
I want to live here with you or somewhere else, if this place doesn’t do it for you.
I want to be close to our nephew and the new babies when they’re born.
I want to spend time with my family and friends and your family when they come to visit. ”
He leans his forehead against hers. “I want to be with your mom and Charlie, Laura and Owen and Holden, and I want to help out with my friend Lisa and her kids, who are going to need all the friends they can get. I want to be here with you. I want a life with you. I know we haven’t known each other long, but it took me no time at all to know you’re special, and the more time we spend together, the more proof I get that my initial gut feeling about you was spot-on. ”
“Shane…” She takes a deep breath and places her free hand over her heart. “You take my breath away.”
“In a good way?”
“In the best way possible.”
His relief at hearing that was overwhelming.
“I love you, too,” she says. “I want all the same things you do and a couple of other things that it’s too soon to tell you about.”
“No, it’s not too soon. Tell me. I want to know so I can help you get everything you want.”
“I’ve mentioned this once before, but when I was younger,” she says tentatively, “before I understood just how screwed-up my family really was, I pictured myself with a lot of kids. I’m thirty-two, so the reality of a big family is starting to slip away.”
“Then we ought to get started on this project of yours sooner rather than later.”
She stares at him, seeming astounded. “You’re serious.”
“Completely serious. I remember you telling me before about the horde of kids you want to have. My life has been on hold for a long, lonely time. I’m ready to get busy living again, and in case you haven’t noticed, I love babies.
Well, I love Holden, but I’m sure I’ll be crazy about our kids, too.
I want the same thing you do, and there’s no time like the present to get busy living. ”
“Is this really happening?”
“It’s really happening, and it’s amazing, and it’s only going to get better.”