Book 23 Blackout After Dark #9
Quinn puts his arm around Mallory. By this time tomorrow, they’ll be married. That is still hard to believe. He’d never pictured himself married to anyone until she came along and changed everything.
She smiles up at him. “What level of nonsense has been happening out here?”
“The usual level.”
“My brothers are nothing if not entertaining.”
“Speaking of brothers,” Quinn says, “here come mine.”
Jared and Lizzie come up to the deck, followed by Cooper, who has a gnarly wound on the right side of his face.
“What the hell happened to you?” Quinn asks his youngest sibling as they exchange a side handshake-hug combination.
“Ugh, go easy,” Cooper says, wincing as Quinn pats his back.
“He’s got two broken ribs,” Jared says, “to go along with the mess on his face, and he’s not talking about how it happened, but apparently, the fire department was involved.”
Quinn tells himself he shouldn’t laugh, but how can he not?
Jared joins him while Cooper scowls at them both and then grimaces, in obvious pain.
“The best part,” Jared says, “is he was on a date with Gigi Gibson at the time.”
“Leave him alone, you guys,” Lizzie says. “He’s injured.”
“And probably mortified,” Jared says.
“I’m getting a drink,” Cooper said. “You guys can eff off.”
“I want to know what happened so bad,” Jared says after Cooper walks away, “but he’s not saying.”
“There’s the happy couple,” Mason says.
“We want the skinny on Gigi and Cooper, and we want it now,” Mallory says.
“Uh, I’ve been sworn to secrecy by my beloved,” Mason says.
“Oh, come on!” Mallory protests. “Someone knows what happened.”
Quinn has no doubt that Mallory will get the details during her next EMT shift.
Laura Lawry is working the front desk at the Sand & Surf Hotel when one of her guests, Piper Bennett, returns from an outing in town. Laura does a double-take when she realizes Piper’s face is bruised, and her lip is bleeding.
A guy she met hurt her. Laura convinces her to call the police.
Blaine Taylor and Jack Downing arrive shortly after.
Blaine takes Piper’s statement and sends Jack to pick up her attacker.
Laura brings Piper up to her apartment and makes her a cup of tea.
She asks Piper to stay with them as long as she needs to and offers her a job that Piper promises to think about.
Piper asks Laura about Jack Downing, the hot cop.
While Laura doesn’t know much about Jack, she reminds Piper that he gave her his card and told her to call him anytime.
She decides that after the day’s upsetting events, she isn’t in the right place to call him, but it’s good to know nice guys are out there when she’s ready to try again.
The morning of their wedding, Quinn and Mallory go for a run and attend their daily AA meeting.
The group gives them a rousing round of applause for attending a meeting when they certainly have better things to do.
They go their separate ways to get ready for the wedding.
Quinn is going to Jared’s house to hang out with his brothers until it’s time to go to the Chesterfield.
Mallory is getting ready at home, with her sister, Janey, serving as her maid of honor and her cousin, Laura, and longtime best friend, Trish, rounding out the wedding party.
Trish, an accomplished photographer, will also be taking the photos.
A few hours of primping later, Mallory stands before the full-length mirror in the Chesterfield’s bridal room and gives herself a critical once-over. “Not bad for a forty-one-year-old broad,” she says, laughing at her own choice of words.
“Not bad at all,” Big Mac says from behind her.
Mallory catches his eye in the mirror and smiles the way she does every time she sees him. All her life, she wondered what her missing father might be like, but nothing could have prepared her for the reality of him. He’s one of the most wonderful people she’s ever known, and she loves him dearly.
She removes a wrist corsage from one of the boxes and gestures for Linda to come to her. “Since my own mom can’t be here today, I was hoping you might be willing to stand in for her,” Mallory says as she slides the corsage onto Linda’s wrist.
“I’d be honored,” Linda says, visibly moved.
“I’ll never have the words to properly thank you for the way you’ve welcomed me into your family. You never so much as hesitated to make me feel a part of things when you certainly didn’t have to, and I’ll always be thankful to you for that.”
Linda hugs her carefully. “We had no idea that we were waiting for you to make our family complete. You made it easy to welcome you, and we love you very much.”
Mallory pins a white rose boutonniere on Big Mac’s lapel and then looks up at him. “I love her as much as I love you. Thank you for this beautiful day.”
“We love you, too, and it’s our pleasure to give you this day.
Thank you for letting me be your dad today and always.
Linda was right, you know. We were waiting for you to make us complete.
” He kisses her cheek. “Happy birthday, my sweet girl, and all the best of everything to you and your new husband.”
Big Mac extends his arm to Mallory. “You don’t need anyone to give you away, but I’m so glad you asked me to.”
She tucks her hand into the crook of his elbow. “I waited a long time to have a dad. I’m not missing anything else with you.”
Mallory’s Uncle Frank, a retired Superior Court judge, presides over the service.
“Friends and family, near and far,” Frank says, with a gesture toward Jordan and the FaceTime call she’s using to help bring in members of Quinn’s family who couldn’t be there, “we’re gathered today for the marriage of my beautiful niece, Mallory Vaughn, and Dr. Quinn James.
Today is also our bride and groom’s birthday.
They were born on the same exact day, which makes this an occasion forty-one years in the making. ”
Quinn glances at Mallory in the same second she looks at him, both of them smiling at the many twists of fate that have delivered them to this moment.
“Mallory and Quinn have written their own vows, and I’m just here to make it legal,” Frank says. After exchanging their vows, they’re both a weepy mess, but they laugh through their tears and exchange rings.
“By the power vested in me by the State of Rhode Island, it’s my great pleasure to introduce for the first time as husband and wife, Dr. Quinn James and Mrs. Mallory Vaughn James. Dr. James, you may kiss your bride.”
“Don’t mind if I do,” Quinn says.
Once the ceremony is complete, Maddie McCarthy texts her sister, Tiffany, telling her she needs her.
Maddie is in labor. Tiffany gets Victoria Stevens, and they start to move Maddie inside so Vic can examine her.
Others on the lawn begin to notice something is going on.
Maddie happens to look up and catch the exact moment when her husband figures out something is wrong.
The stricken look on his face tells the story for both of them. This can’t be happening again.
Mac meets them inside and asks what’s going on.
“I think we’re going to have some babies today,” Victoria says.
“No.” Mac shakes his head. “It’s too soon.”
“The babies seem to have other ideas, and it’s not at all unusual for twins to arrive early,” Vic says. “Tiffany, go get your husband. Tell him to hurry.”
Blaine and Victoria make the decision to call for the life flight helicopter to get Maddie to Providence in case neonatal intensive care is required for the babies. With the power out on the island, they don’t want to take any chances.
As soon as she and Mac are loaded on the chopper, the overwhelming need to push becomes impossible to resist. The first of their twin girls is born as the chopper lifts off from Gansett Island.
Her sister follows twelve minutes later as they approach the landing pad at Women & Infants Hospital in Providence.
When they arrive and get her settled, Maddie sends Mac to check on the babies. He’s led into a large room full of incubators and beeping machines. The girls already in side-by-side incubators, hooked to numerous machines and monitors, a sight that completely overwhelms him.
“Are they…?”
“They’re doing remarkably well,” the nurse tells him. “We want to keep them here for observation for at least forty-eight hours to monitor their oxygenation and other vitals.”
“So, they’re going to be all right?”
“They’re going to be just fine. Do they have names?”
Filled with relief, Mac nods. “The older of the two is Emma Linda, and her sister is Evelyn Francine.” Mac stares down at two perfect little faces. “They’re named for their grandmothers and great-grandmothers.”
“They appear to be identical.”
Mac takes pictures of the girls and goes to check on Maddie. “How are they?”
“They’re beautiful.” He finds the photos and shows them to her.
Maddie stares at the little faces, going back and forth between the two pictures.
“The nurse said they’re doing great. Emma is just over five pounds, and Evelyn is four pounds, six ounces. They’re breathing independently, and their scores were mostly good. She said they also appear to be identical.”
“Which means they’ll be working against us as soon as they realize their power.”
Back at the Chesterfield, Frank tells Betsy it’s time to set a date for their wedding. When he mentions October, she tells him he’s crazy. A collective shout comes from the other guests. “What’s going on?” Frank asks his son, Shane, who’s dancing with his wife, Katie, next to them.
“Power’s back on.”
“Oh, thank goodness,” Frank says.
“Shane, will you please talk to your father and tell him we can’t plan a wedding in two months’ time?”
Katie laughs. “Oh, how fun!”
When Laura and Owen join the conversation, offering to host the wedding at the Surf, Betsy can’t argue any longer.