Book 26 Hurricane After Dark #12
“For how long?”
“As long as you want me to be.”
The ferries arrive back in port shortly after nine p.m. Crewmembers move quickly to secure the lines and get everything buttoned up so they can get home to their loved ones as quickly as possible. Deacon vibrates with tension and anticipation as he waits for permission to disembark.
“I’ll never be able to thank you all enough,” Deacon says as he shakes hands with Joe, Keith and Colin. “You saved my life.”
“Glad we were in the right place at the right time,” Joe says. “Do you need a ride home?”
“No, thanks,” Deacon says. “Julia is waiting for me.”
Deacon Taylor, who’s loved being on the water his entire life, has never been so happy to step foot onto dry land. He walks directly to Julia, who’s standing outside her car with Pupwell on a leash next to her.
He wraps her into the tightest embrace in history, both in tears as they reunite.
“Shhh, love,” he whispers, kissing the tears off her face. “Everything’s all right now.”
Seamus and Joe arrive to a party at Big Mac and Linda’s.
“Look at this, Joe. They threw us a welcome-home party.”
PJ and Viv, seeing their dad, let out shrieks of excitement as they run to him.
Seamus goes right to Carolina, dropping to his knees next to her chair and extending his arms to her.
She embraces him tightly. “Thank goodness you’re home safe.”
Kyle and Jackson come running down the stairs and are on him before Seamus has a second to prepare for the attack. He wrestles them into submission and kisses their faces until they beg for mercy.
“I heard you lads were a big help while I was gone.”
“We were,” Kyle says. “We got everything Caro needed.”
“Thank you for taking such good care of her.”
“We had fun,” Jackson says. “Was it super-duper crazy on the ferry?”
“So crazy. We had twenty-foot seas at one point.”
“Dear Lord,” Carolina says.
“It was so much fun,” Seamus says, grinning at her.
“Crazy Irishman.”
Mac receives the call he’s been waiting for from John Lawry.
John reports that Jeff and Kelsey are settled at the hospital in the same room and that Jeff is being evaluated and Kelsey will have surgery on her arm.
No one blames Mac or his family for what happened.
Mac says they feel responsible and will take care of any bills.
Owen is on edge, waiting for his mother’s call. He hates that he had to tell her that Jeff has been badly hurt, but she already sensed something was up, or she wouldn’t have flown home a week early. The door opens, and Laura comes into the apartment, smiling when she sees him sitting on the sofa.
Just that quickly, the tight knot of anxiety in his gut loosens somewhat. That’s what she does for him.
Owen lifts her chin for a kiss as his phone rings. “That’s probably her.” Keeping his arm around Laura, he reaches for the phone on the coffee table and takes the call from his mother. “Hey, Mom.”
“What’s going on, Owen? And don’t say nothing because I know my children and—”
“Mom. Listen. Jeff was in a building that collapsed in the storm.”
She gasps.
“He and Kelsey were hurt. Jeff was hurt badly. His pelvis is broken, and it was touch and go at first. We were finally able to get them off the island last night, and they’re at Rhode Island Hospital.
Kelsey broke her arm and had surgery earlier.
They’re still figuring out what Jeff needs, but he’s in the best possible place now—all thanks to David Lawrence, who saved his life by operating on him here.
And before you get angry, we all decided it was best not to tell you since there was nothing you could do in Italy. ”
“Oh, my goodness,” Sarah says, sounding tearful. “He’ll be all right, though?”
“We hope so, Mom, but it was bad. If David hadn’t operated to stop the internal bleeding, he wouldn’t have lived long enough to get to Providence.”
“Thank the Lord for David.”
“We’ve been saying that for years now.”
“What about the medication?”
“The doctors are aware of his addiction and are doing what they can to keep him comfortable without narcotics.”
“That’s a relief. You poor kids, having to go through such an awful thing.”
“We’re all right. Johnny is with him in Providence.”
“We’ll go right there from here. Charlie is saying we’ll rent a car.”
“Let me know when you’re there. Johnny is staying at Frank’s, and there’s plenty of room for you guys, too.”
“That’s very helpful, honey. Tell him thanks for us. Thank you for taking care of everything while I was gone.”
“We all pulled together. You should know that Deacon was also missing at sea for a brief time, but he was found by Joe Cantrell and Seamus O’Grady when they took the ferries out to sea to escape the storm.”
“Thank God he was found. Poor Julia. I’ll call her when I can.”
“Sounds good.”
“Love you, son.”
“Love you, too, Mom.”
The next morning, Seamus, Carolina, Shannon and Victoria survey the yard where Shannon and Victoria are due to be married in a week’s time. It’s littered with debris and downed trees. “We’ll get it cleaned up and right as rain,” Seamus assures her. “Don’t you worry.”
“What? Me worry?”
“I told you that’s what he’d say, love.” Shannon puts his arm around her. “We’ll be ready.”
“Will we have power?”
“Even if we don’t, we’ll figure something out,” Carolina says from the front seat of Seamus’s truck.
“Your job is not to worry,” Seamus tells Vic. “Leave the worrying to us.” He goes to the truck to lift Carolina out to carry her to the house, stepping over a tree trunk as they go. “Boys, get the bags and then go change into your work clothes. We’ve got a wedding to prepare for.”
Duke hopes he is doing the right thing when he pulls into Blaine and Tiffany’s driveway and parks his truck. He grabs the stuffed bear he’d rescued from the wreckage of McKenzie’s house. The bear looks much better after the bath he’d given it last night.
When McKenzie opens the door, she makes his day by smiling.
She thanks him for finding the bear and bringing it to her.
He asks what her plans are for the cabin and then offers her the apartment over his garage while she rebuilds.
She gratefully accepts his offer. He’ll be back later to get her and Jax.
As Duke goes out the door and down the steps to the driveway, he fears he’s made the biggest mistake of his life by asking her to stay at his place. She turns him into a bumbling, tongue-tied idiot. But the strangest thing is, he can’t wait to come back to get them.
“And Julia didn’t say why they were coming by?” Shane asks Katie, who’s straightening up before her sister and Deacon arrive.
“No, just that they wanted to share something with us.”
“Will you stop cleaning up for your sister? This place is immaculate, as always.”
“How about some good news?” Katie asks, looking up at him.
“I’m here for that, too.”
“During the storm, I asked Vic to do blood work because I thought I might be pregnant, and I wanted to be sure.”
“And?” he asks, breathless.
“I am.”
“Oh, my God, Katie. How did you keep this from me?”
“I wanted to wait until we could celebrate properly.”
He hugs her tightly. “How are you feeling?”
“Anxious but happy.” A miscarriage earlier in the summer had devastated them, but they agreed to try again right away.
“I have a good feeling that this one will stick.”
“I really hope so.”
Deacon pulls his truck into the driveway at Katie and Shane’s and parks behind Frank McCarthy’s silver sedan. “Frank is already here.”