Book 19 Mine After Dark #3
At the restaurant, Riley introduces Nikki to Mac and Maddie, who’ve scored a date night with no children.
Nikki comments to Riley that he looks like Mac.
Riley says Mac is ugly, earning a laugh.
He loves to make her laugh. They talk about her grandmother and growing up after her parents’ divorce.
He talks about his parents’ divorce and how he and Finn couldn’t wait to get out of their hometown after his mother cheated on his father.
They didn’t want to know what everyone was saying.
Riley mentions his father’s fiancée, Chelsea.
Even though it’s weird to see his father with someone other than his mom, Riley likes Chelsea and loves that his father is happy.
Chelsea is quite a bit younger than his father and has never had children, so they’re working on having a baby.
Nikki has an interest in updating Eastward Look, and Riley offers to help her.
She wants to do it herself, and he’s happy to teach her how.
After dinner, Riley and Nikki stop at the Beachcomber for a drink.
Riley introduces Nikki to his dad, Kevin, and his fiancée, Chelsea Rose.
Nikki finds out right away that the McCarthys are all charming.
Kevin and Chelsea are expecting and planning to get married at the end of the month.
Kevin asks Riley to be one of his best men.
When Nikki goes to the ladies’ room, Riley tells Kevin that he likes Nikki, but she seems hesitant.
Keep showing up and showing her she can trust him, Kevin advises.
Since he trusts his father completely, he decides to give Kevin’s idea a try.
The next morning, Nikki calls her grandmother, Evelyn Hopper. She promised her grandmother a daily check-in while she’s on the island alone, but she hasn’t been entirely alone.
“What does that mean?” Evelyn asks.
“I knew you would pounce on that,” Nikki says, laughing. “Riley McCarthy stopped by the other night when he heard I was back. Last night, he took me to Dominic’s for dinner.”
“Oh, that’s wonderful! I absolutely love the McCarthys. Big Mac and Linda are the most delightful people. Riley is his nephew, right?”
“Yes, he’s Big Mac’s brother Kevin’s son. I met Kevin and his fiancée last night as well. Nice people.”
“This is the best news I’ve had in ages!”
“Simmer down, Gram. We had dinner. That’s all it is.”
“But it has potential, or you wouldn’t have gone out with him in the first place. I know how you think, and I’m sure you’re making long lists of all the reasons why you shouldn’t get involved with him.”
“I’m not doing that.” Much. “I was thinking about doing some work to the house while I’m here. Maybe updating the kitchen and bathrooms? Riley offered to help, but I wouldn’t want to do anything without checking with you first.”
“Do it! I’d love that. I’ve been thinking about doing it for years. That’d be a huge help.”
“Really? You wouldn’t mind?”
“Of course not. The place needs a freshening up, but the thought of tackling that on an island was daunting to me. Do whatever you want. It’s your house.”
Nikki tells her grandmother that through Mac, Riley has the inside scoop on getting materials on the island, so they shouldn’t have an issue. “He wants to help me take down some walls,” Nikki says. “In the house anyway.”
“You should let him take down all the walls standing between you and the possibility that this young man could mean something to you. If he’s anything like his uncle, he’s a gem. Will you promise me that you’ll give him a real, honest chance to show you who he really is before you decide anything?”
“Yes, Gram, I promise.”
After a night to themselves, thanks to a sleepover with the grandparents, Mac and Maddie are able to sleep in a little bit.
Maddie is mad at herself for falling asleep when they had a whole night without the kids.
Mac notices that she hasn’t been acting like herself lately and asks if she should check in with Victoria.
She agrees to go see her, and Mac takes the day off to accompany her.
While they are wrapping up at the Wayfarer for the day, Katie Lawry calls Shane to tell him the state police are at the house to see him.
Riley, Finn and Luke go with Shane to find out what’s going on.
When they arrive, State Police Officer Jack Downing and Gansett Chief of Police Blaine Taylor are waiting for him.
“We got a call from Providence Police,” Jack says. “Your wife, Courtney—”
“Ex-wife,” Shane says sharply as Katie slides an arm around his waist. “What about her?”
“She was found dead in her home earlier today.”
Oh, God, Riley thought.
Shane takes a step back, reeling as if he’s been struck. “Did she OD?”
“We don’t know that yet,” Jack says, “but prescription pain meds were found in the home.”
After a long silence, Shane asks, “Why are you telling me? We’re divorced.”
“You were listed as her next of kin, Shane,” Blaine says.
Katie asks Riley to go get Laura. He sets off to the Sand & Surf to find his cousin and delivers the news. The family rallies around Shane. After a while, Katie steps in for Shane and sends everyone on their way.
After they leave Shane’s house, Frank, Big Mac, Kevin and Ned head to the Beachcomber for a drink.
Frank expresses his concern for Shane, noting how far he’s come from the horror of Courtney’s addiction and their painful divorce.
Nobody who loves Shane wants to see him spiral that way again.
Kevin and Mac remind him that Shane has Katie and the rest of the family to watch out for him and prop him up in a way he didn’t have before.
Knowing his brothers and friends have his back—and his son’s—makes Frank feel a thousand times better than he would have without them around to tell him everything would be okay.
On the way to pick up Nikki, Riley receives a call from his former boss, Clint, begging Riley and Finn to come back to work, offering double their previous salary.
Riley explains that they’re working on some big things, including a family business venture, but he’ll talk to Finn and get back to Clint.
He thinks about the offer until Nikki comes to the door, erasing every thought that isn’t about her.
While making dinner, Nikki and Riley share their first kiss. Nikki pulls away, mentioning that something happened to her in college. Crying, she tells Riley she dated a guy in college who was tired of her not putting out and took what he wanted.
“Oh, my God,” he says, his elation of a minute ago turning to rage at the thought of someone hurting her that way. “I’m so sorry that happened to you, Nikki.”
“It was a long time ago, but sometimes it feels like it only just happened. I’ve mostly kept my distance from men and dating ever since.”
“I can’t say I blame you. Tell me he was charged at least.”
“He was. It was a total nightmare. I ended up leaving school.”
“I’m so sorry you had to go through such an awful thing.”
She smiles up at him, and the ground seems to shift beneath his feet as the most profound feeling of falling overtakes him. He’s never experienced anything like it.
“Whatever happens between us is completely up to you. I’ll never ask you for anything you don’t want to give.”
“You have no idea how much that means to me.”
Finn is acting out of sorts, and Janey calls him out on it when he arrives for a family get-together at her house.
They’ve been close all their lives, and she knows something is bothering him.
He admits that his ex-girlfriend, Missy, has been calling and texting him and wants him to come home.
Janey reminds him that he can’t go backward.
She mentions her thirteen-year relationship with David and how she didn’t realize what was wrong between them until she was with Joe.
He and Missy aren’t meant to be if they’ve spent the last two years apart.
His older cousin, Mallory, and Quinn agree with Janey and urge Finn to wait for the right one to come along.
Everyone is concerned about Shane, and the sadness of Courtney’s death is contributing to Finn’s mood.
When his dad and Chelsea arrive at Janey’s, they ask to speak to Finn alone.
They’re expecting a baby and getting married at the end of the month.
It’s been a very long time since Finn has seen his father look so happy.
When the right one comes along, Janey had said, you’ll know it.
His father with Chelsea—that’s what finding the right one looks like, he decides, even as he continues to grapple with the way his parents’ marriage ended. Life is too short to spend it unhappy.
Riley arrives with Nikki a few minutes later and comes to greet Finn, their dad and Chelsea.
“Hi there,” Riley says, his arm around Nikki. “You know my dad and Chelsea. This is my brother, Finn. Finn, this is Nikki Stokes.”
Gorgeous, Finn thought, even more so than her famous sister, if that’s possible. “Nice to finally meet you,” Finn says, shaking her hand.
“You, too.”
Raising a brow, he gives her an assessing look. “I’m going to call you Nicholas.”
She returned his assessing look with one of her own, immediately earning his respect. “And I will call you Finnbar.”
Riley cracks up laughing at the same time Finn, Kevin and Chelsea do.
“Touché,” Finn says, raising his beer bottle. “To Nicholas.”
“I’ll drink to that,” Riley says meaningfully as Nikki’s face turns bright red.
She elbows him playfully in the gut, making him gasp and taking her up another notch in Finn’s estimation.
Shell-shocked. That’s the word of the day for Mac McCarthy, Junior.
Maddie is pregnant. Again. After their appointment at the clinic, he heard the news about Shane’s ex-wife, and shock had been compounded by more shock.
Both sets of grandparents have offered to stay with their kids so they can go to Janey’s to be with the others, but they decide to stay home.