Book 27 Renewal After Dark #9
The next morning, Ned and Francine drive Tiffany and the girls to Maddie’s house.
Ashleigh lights up with delight at being told she’ll be seeing her cousin and best friend, Thomas.
If anyone can make her feel better, Thomas can.
With only a few months between them, they’ve been raised like siblings from the beginning, and he’s still her favorite person in the whole world.
She also adores Addie, Hailey, Mac and the twin babies.
But Thomas is her person, and their mothers love the tight bond their children share.
“Welcome to Bedlam,” Maddie says as she hugs Tiffany.
The sisters hold on to each other for a long time while Linda, Ned and Francine tend to the kids.
Maddie puts her hands on Tiffany’s face. “How are you? Really?”
“I’m heartbroken, and I can’t, for the life of me, understand why.”
“Aw, honey.” Maddie hugs her again. “Of course you are. You were with him for ten years and had a child with him. Despite how it ended, he was a big part of your life.”
Tiffany hates that she’s once again crying over the man who broke her heart plenty of times when he was still alive.
A tug on her leg has Tiffany pulling back from her sister’s embrace.
Addie looks up at her. “Mommy sad.”
Tiffany bends to pick up her little lady. “Mommy’s okay. Don’t worry.”
Addie wipes the tears from Tiffany’s face. “No sad, Mommy.”
“No sad.” She forces a smile for her daughter. “All better, thanks to Addie-pooh.”
Ashleigh follows Thomas upstairs to his room. He wants to show her the new truck he’s keeping hidden from his baby brother, Mac, who likes to break things.
Thomas looks over at Ashleigh. “I’m, um, really sorry about your daddy.”
“Thank you.”
“Are you… Are you sad?”
Ashleigh nods. “I’m so sad.”
“I’d be so sad if my daddy died. I wish it hadn’t happened to yours.”
“I do, too.”
“Can I give you a hug?”
“Sure.”
Thomas holds out his arms.
Ashleigh hugs him back.
“Does that help?”
“So much.”
“I wish you weren’t sad.”
“Blaine told me I won’t be this sad forever, but I’ll always miss my daddy.”
“I hope happy lasts longer than sad, because sad is no fun.”
Thomas tells her about what’s gone on at school while she’s been out. One kid threw up during lunch, and another broke his little finger at recess. “It was so gnarly.” He shows her what Anthony’s finger looked like after he fell off the swing.
“Ew. I bet that hurt.”
“He was screaming.”
She giggles at the face Thomas makes as he pretends to scream like Anthony did.
“I like it when you laugh.”
“I do, too. Crying makes my eyes hurt.”
“If you ever feel sad, you can call me.”
“I will.”
“Tell your mommy to call my mommy.”
“Okay.”
“I’m hungry. Do you want another doughnut?”
“Yes!”
Thomas takes off toward the stairs.
Ashleigh runs after him, yelling at him to wait for her.
Niall gave John a few days before he went looking for him at the Wayfarer. John is completing a fire inspection. Niall asks why John has gone radio silent on him. “That night… During the storm.”
“That was a great night.”
“Yeah, it was.”
“Are you freaked out about what happened that night?”
“I’ve thought about it a lot.”
Niall takes a step into the room. “So have I. I’ve thought about it nonstop, actually.”
“Yeah, me, too.” John looks directly at him. “It got kind of intense.”
“Yep.”
“I’m not sure how to feel about that.”
“You should feel good about it. This kind of connection doesn’t come along every day, you know.”
“I do know that.”
“Are you not ready for it?”
“I’m not sure.”
Disappointment fills him with a sinking feeling. “How about you let me know when you figure that out, huh?”
“I just need some time.”
“Fair enough.”
“Thanks for coming by.”
“No problem.”
As Niall turns to leave, he wishes he hadn’t sought John out. It’s much better not knowing what he’s thinking than to hear he might be pulling back from the best thing ever to happen to Niall.
After waking McKenzie with coffee in bed and making her breakfast, Duke leaves her the keys to his truck when he goes to work.
She makes her first stop at Sierra’s to drop off the banana bread she made and clear the air.
Sierra glances up at her. “I’m sorry about showing up unannounced. It’s just that… He means a lot to me.”
“I know.”
“It would hurt me to see him hurt—again.”
“The last thing I’d ever want to do is hurt him. He’s the best thing to happen to me in… well… ever.”
Sierra nods. “That’s who he is. When he cares, he cares with his whole heart.”
“We’re both lucky to be cared for by him, right?”
“Right.”
“I hope we can be friends, Sierra. It would mean a lot to him.”
“I hope so, too. Thanks for the banana bread.”
“Any time. Have a great day.”
Happy to have cleared things up with Sierra, McKenzie goes to her next job at Martinez Lawn and Garden.
While talking with Jenny Martinez, she takes a phone call from a number she doesn’t recognize.
Eric has received the letter, and he’s not happy about it.
It feels good to realize she has not a single feeling left for the man she’d once thought was her forever love.
Jenny pokes her head into the store. “Everything okay?”
McKenzie nods. “I’m so sorry about that.”
“Don’t be. You want to talk about it?”
Is it professional to share her personal drama with a new client? Probably not, but Jenny has felt like a new friend from the start. “That was Jax’s dad, who just received the letter my new attorney sent him, letting him know we’re suing for child support.”
“Ah. I take it he wasn’t pleased with this news?”
“Not at all. He’s concerned about his wife and kids—the wife and kids I had no idea he had—finding out he’s got another kid out there, and apparently, he doesn’t have the money to support him.”
“Well, that sucks for him, right?”
McKenzie smiles. “Sure does. I want you to know I’m not a drama girl. I’m so sorry to bring that into your workplace…”
“Don’t sweat it. I just want to hear that you put the fear of God into him.”
“I sure did.”
“Good. I hope he’s crapping his pants worrying about your next move.”
Laughing, McKenzie says, “I think we’re going to be very good friends.”
“I’d love that.”
McKenzie finishes her day at the Sand & Surf, where she meets with Laura Lawry and her manager, Piper Bennett. Then she meets with Stephanie McCarthy from Stephanie’s Bistro and is told that Abby McCarthy, who owns Abby’s Attic, will want to use her services, too.
Duke arrives home and is sad to not see his truck in the driveway.
He heads over to check on the work at the cottage and catches up with Mac and his cousin, Riley.
Mac has heard McKenzie is a bookkeeper and is interested in recruiting her services for the marina and the construction businesses.
“I’ll let her know. Everyone wants her.”
“Not surprised.”
“Do you have another second?”
“Sure. What’s up?”
“I just… ah… I wanted to ask you…”
“What’s on your mind?”
“What you said the other day about meeting Maddie when Thomas was nine months old.”
“Best day of my life.”
“I’m starting to understand how you felt.”
“Oh… It’s like that, is it?”
“Yeah, it is. And I’m thinking about the little guy and how to, you know, do that part right.”
Mac’s entire demeanor softens as he smiles. “The little guy I got out of my relationship with Maddie is one of the greatest blessings in my life. He’s taught me so much more than I’ll ever teach him.”
“That’s really cool.”
“He’s an incredible kid, and I’m lucky to have him as my son.”
“How did you, like, bond with him at first?”
“I spent as much time with him one-on-one as his mother would allow. When I look back on it, it wasn’t intentional at the time, but I formed my own rapport with him separate from what was happening with her. And then at other times, it was the three of us together. Not sure if that makes sense.”
“No, it does. You treated them individually and as a unit.”
“Right.”
“That’s very helpful. Thank you.”
Duke returns to his house through the well-worn path between the two properties that came from his friendship with Rosemary.
McKenzie pulls in, and he goes to the truck to help her with Jax.
The little guy is sleeping, so Duke carries him up to the apartment.
He tells McKenzie about Mac’s interest in her services for the marina and construction businesses.
She’s landed ten new clients in two days.
Duke plants a kiss on the tempting length of her neck. He loves the way she shivers when he kisses her there. “They packed up your stuff from the cottage in bags next door. We can go get it with the truck when Jax wakes up.”
“Sounds good.”
Although she wants to spend time with Duke, she needs to get some work done while Jax is napping.
Duke will get dinner ready, and she and Jax can come over when they’re ready.
As he leaves the apartment to return to his home, he realizes he’s looking forward to everything.
Every. Single. Thing. And it’s all thanks to McKenzie and her little boy.
Life is looking rather sweet lately, and it’s getting sweeter all the time.
McKenzie spends Jax’s naptime completing her initial assessment of Duke’s books and makes a list of recommendations for streamlining processes.
The good news is that his records aren’t in terrible shape.
The bad news is he owes estimated quarterly state and federal taxes that are overdue and accumulating penalties.
He needs to take care of that as soon as possible, and she hopes that won’t be a problem for him.
Once Jax wakes up, she gives him a bath and dresses him in his pajamas.
She packs a bag to spend the night at Duke’s before they go to his house and find him making dinner while singing Chris Stapleton’s “Tennessee Whiskey.” For a moment, she’s struck dumb by the realization that she’s more than halfway in love with him—and that’s before he senses her there, turns and smiles with his whole face.
Yeah, she’s probably more than halfway in love.