Mac helped Thomas into his new “big-boy” bed and tucked the covers in tight around him, the way he did every night.
“Now remember, no getting out of bed unless you have to go potty,” Mac reminded him. Since Thomas moved from the crib, they’d woken to a visitor in their bed on many a night and were trying to get him used to staying in his own bed.
“Okay, Dada.” He reached his chubby arms up for a hug, and Mac melted into his sweet embrace. Blowing kisses on the boy’s neck that made him squeal with delight, Mac tried to remember what it’d been like to be a confirmed bachelor with no plans for a family of his own.
Then he’d knocked Thomas’s mother off her bike in an accident that turned out to be the best thing that ever happened to him. Now he couldn’t imagine life without Thomas or his mother. That another child would soon join their little family filled Mac’s cup to overflowing.
“Love you, buddy,” he said, giving Thomas one last noisy kiss.
“Love you, Dada.”
His speech reverted to baby talk when he was tired, and his blue eyes were struggling to stay open at the moment. “See you in the morning.” From the doorway, Mac watched Thomas roll to his side and pop his thumb into his mouth. He’d be out cold in under a minute. Hopefully, he’d stay that way until at least seven the next morning, which was probably wishful thinking. His son was an early riser, and Mac had adjusted his own internal clock to match Thomas’s, especially since Maddie had been stuck on bed rest.
Anxious to check on her, he headed for the stairs, set the gate that would keep Thomas contained if he got up and stopped short when he realized the music had stopped and everyone was gathered around the sofa.
Sensing trouble, Mac couldn’t quite seem to make his feet move to take him down the stairs where he’d no doubt learn something he didn’t want to know. His sister looked up, saw him there and gestured for him to come. The urgency in her gesture and the expression on her face stopped his heart.
“Maddie.” On shaky legs, he raced down the stairs. The group parted to let him in. He took one look at her pale face and caramel-color eyes wide with fear and knew his worst nightmare had come true. Dropping to his knees next to her, he took her hand.
“I’m so sorry,” she said as tears spilled from her eyes. “I should’ve listened to you.”
“What do you mean—”
Her sharp cry sent a bolt of fear racing through him as she released his hand to brace her extended abdomen.
Janey squeezed his shoulder. “She’s in labor, Mac. Her water broke a few minutes ago.”
“Did someone call for Cal? We need him!” He spun around, looking for Abby. “Did you call him?”
Abby looked down at the floor. “He’s…ah…”
“He’s off-island,” Joe said. “He left earlier today because his mother had a stroke in Texas.”
Mac’s mind went blank as Joe’s words registered. When Cal hadn’t come to the party, Mac had assumed he was working.
Jesus
… No doctor. A tropical storm. No way off the island. This was far worse than all the dramatic scenarios his overactive imagination had conjured in the last few weeks.
“Victoria, the nurse midwife, is on her way,” Abby said. “She’ll be here any minute.”
“It’s time for everyone to go home,” Linda said, taking charge. “We’ll let you know as soon as we have some news to share.” She ushered the subdued group from the house.
“Janey!” Maddie panted her way through another contraction. “Stay. Please.”
“I’m not going anywhere, honey,” Janey said, smoothing the sweat-soaked hair off Maddie’s forehead.
Mac’s brothers squeezed his shoulder in support as they departed. His mother told Evan to take their father home because she was staying. He heard Joe say that he’d stay, too, in case they needed him.
“I’m not going anywhere until my grandbaby is born,” Big Mac bellowed, sounding more like his old self than he had in weeks. “It’ll be okay, son,” he said, bending to embrace Mac’s shoulders. “She’s young and strong, and everything will be fine.”
Though he clung desperately to his father’s reassuring words, Mac’s heart raced with fear, and his eyes were glued to Maddie.
“Mac…” Her voice was tense and her breathing erratic. “Need you.”
Those two small words punctured the layer of shock, snapping him out of the stupor. It didn’t matter if they were stuck on an island in a storm or the doctor was gone or that she hadn’t listened to him. Right now, the only thing that mattered was that she needed him, and he wouldn’t let her down.
“I’m here, baby,” he said.
“So sorry,” she panted. “Should’ve listened to you. You were right.”
“Doesn’t matter now.” He pressed kisses to her face and neck. “We’ll get you through this. I promise.”
“The baby. What if—”
Mac swallowed his own panic. “She’ll be just fine.”
“How do you know it’s a she?”
He forced a smile for her. “Only a woman would create this kind of drama.”
The Maddie he knew and loved would’ve had a smart comeback for such a sexist statement, but Maddie in labor grimaced as another pain required her full attention. “I need to push.”
“Not yet, honey.” Where this calm resolve was coming from, he couldn’t have said. “Wait for Victoria.” He twisted around, looking for some sign that help was on the way.
“She’s coming,” Janey said. “Let’s get her upstairs and out of these wet clothes.”
Grateful to have something to do, Mac slid his arms under his wife and lifted her.
She linked her hands around his neck and rested her head on his shoulder.
Holding his whole world in his arms, he took her upstairs, determined to do whatever it took to get her and their baby through this safely.
Stephanie ran with Grant through torrential rain to his father’s truck. Even though they were both getting soaked, he held the passenger door for her before he went around to the driver’s side.
He sat there breathing hard and gripping the wheel.
“Are you okay?” she asked after a long period of silence.
“I feel weird about leaving. Maddie… God, Steph, if something happens to her, what’ll he do?”
His use of her nickname and his concern for his brother and sister-in-law made her go soft inside. Pushing aside all the reasons why it wasn’t a good idea to continue this odd involvement with him, she reached for his hand, mindful of the bandage covering the stitches in his palm. She cradled his hand between both of hers. “I don’t know her very well, but Maddie seems strong and determined.”
“Of all days for there to be no doctor on the island.” She felt a shudder go through him. “Mac has to be freaking out.”
“I’m sure he’s focused on taking care of her. He’ll have plenty of time to freak out when it’s over and everyone is fine.”
“I would stay, but my parents are there, and Janey and Joe…”
“They have everyone they need most. There’s nothing you can do here except get in the way and add to the anxiety.”
“True.” He blew out a deep breath. “People who get married and have babies are crazy.”
Stephanie laughed. “Certifiable.”
“Thanks for calming me down,” he said, withdrawing his hand from hers to start the truck.
“No problem.” Her hands grew chilly without his warmth.
From the faint glow of the headlights, she could see him concentrating on the road, which was littered with leaves and sticks and other debris. His knuckles were white from the grip he had on the wheel. “The storm seems to have regrouped.”
“Yeah,” she said, gnawing at her lip as she imagined a long night alone in the dark at the marina. She wasn’t a big fan of dark places or being alone in dark places.
It’s just one night
,
and I’m sure the power will be back on soon
.
Grant navigated the twists and turns that led to the marina. As he approached the three-way stop, he angled the truck to the right rather than the left that would take them to the marina. He made a full stop and then took the right toward town.
“Um, hello,” she said. “You forgot to drop me off.”
“No, I didn’t.”
Her stomach quivered. “Where’re we going?”
“To Janey’s. I’m not letting you stay at the marina alone in a storm with no power.”
Why, oh why, did her heart have to do a happy little jig when he said that? He was just being the gentleman Linda McCarthy had raised him to be. It didn’t
mean
anything, and she’d do well to remember that. He was too busy mooning over Abby to even notice her.
“It’s okay. I don’t mind staying there.” She suspected the more time she spent with him, especially the time they spent alone, would only make it harder for her to remember that he was in love with someone else.
“I mind.”
She wanted to call him out on that, accuse him of starting to care about her, but she couldn’t bring herself to risk whatever he might fire back at her. He might want Abby, but for right now, tonight, she had him all to herself. He’d been moved by what she’d told him earlier. He had comforted her and offered to help. Was it possible he was coming to care for her?
Don’t be ridiculous
.
Don’t be a fool and confuse friendship for romance
. The closer they got to Janey’s cozy cottage, the more nervous Stephanie became. There was only one bed. The second bedroom was full of dog beds for Janey’s menagerie of pets. The living room contained two loveseats. Where did he expect her to sleep? Surely not with him. Not again.
Her heart fluttered, and her palms were damp. Despite the chill in the air, she was warm from head to toe. The pervasive darkness that enveloped the island only added to the feeling of being isolated, completely alone with the man who’d made her mouth dry and her stomach flutter from the day she met him.
After spending last night in bed with him, she only wanted him more than she had before. While she remembered every detail of what had occurred between them, he didn’t, and that bothered her more than it should have.
For the life of her, she couldn’t come up with a pithy comment or an insult that would put things back on track. The strain of trying to think of something—
anything
—she could say to break the silence that hung between them like a living, breathing being was killing her.
What did it mean that he was bringing her home with him? Was it really about concern for her safety, or did he want a repeat performance of the night before? If he did, would she be willing? She released a deep, rattling breath, trying to calm her rampaging nerves. Even knowing it was a huge mistake to get more involved with a man who still pined for his ex-girlfriend, she couldn’t help but wish the intense attraction she felt toward him might one day be reciprocated.
Since her head was about to explode from overthinking this situation, she should’ve been relieved when Grant finally pulled into the driveway at Janey’s place. But now that they’d arrived, she couldn’t seem to move.
He solved the problem for her by leaping from the car and jogging around to her side. When he opened the door, the wind and rain required her immediate attention. Grant tugged the hood up over her head and reached for her hand. “Come on!”
Propelled by him pulling her along, Stephanie followed him into the house even though everything in her resisted the powerful force that drew her to him. Inside, he helped her out of the wet jacket and told her to stay put for a minute. With tension vibrating through her, she linked and unlinked her fingers, waiting to see what he would say or do.
When he struck a match, she startled from the sound and the sudden flash of light in the inky darkness. He bent and used the match to ignite the wood in the fireplace, sending a cozy glow over the small room. Fabulous.
“That’s better than the dark,” he said as he turned to her.
The sight of him in the firelight—tall, dark, lanky, elegant in a fully masculine way—stole the breath from her lungs. Her face heated with shame and dismay and lust. Mostly lust. She licked her lips and tried to force the memories from last night from her mind, but all she could see was how that fine body had looked without the bulky sweater and damp jeans.
She’d never known a more perfectly beautiful man, and she had no idea how she’d resist him if he wanted a repeat of last night.
Janey helped Mac get Maddie cleaned up and into a fresh nightgown. They layered the bed with towels and blankets and got Maddie settled. Her contractions were about seven minutes apart and growing more intense. Janey could tell her brother was working overtime to hide his panic from his wife. Since her own hands were shakier than usual, Janey could only imagine how Mac and Maddie must be feeling.
“I need to run downstairs for a quick second, but I’ll be right back,” Janey said.
“See if you can find out what’s keeping Victoria,” Mac said as he wiped Maddie’s face with a cool washcloth in the aftermath of a contraction.
“I will.”
Janey dashed down the stairs and signaled for Joe to join her in the kitchen.
“How is she?” he asked.
“Not great. She’s in a lot of pain, and it’s happening really fast.”
“Jesus.” He glanced at the stairs, tension pulsing in his jaw. “It’s so early… The baby…”
“I need to tell you something.”
That brought his attention back to her. “What?”
“David called me the day before the wedding.” She referred to her ex-fiancé, the man she’d been with for thirteen years until she caught him in bed with another woman. She and Joe had married on the day that had once been intended for her wedding to David.
Joe’s face went slack with shock. “Okay…”
“He knew we were getting married, and he wanted to wish me well.”
“Why didn’t you say anything?”
“Because it didn’t matter. It was a two-minute conversation.”
“I’m surprised you took the call,” he said, trying—and failing—to hide his annoyance.
She went up on tiptoes to kiss the pout off his lips. “I took the call because it came from a local number I didn’t recognize.” That seemed to appease her new husband—somewhat.
“Why’re you telling me this now?”
“Because he’s here—on the island for a few days visiting his mother. I want to call him. To help Maddie.”