Authors: Marie Force
“Well, it’s true. He was never anything other than kind and wonderful to me, and in return, I treated him as if he’d done something shameful by caring about me. That was wrong of me.”
Joe gripped the back of the chair so tightly his knuckles turned white.
After a long, uncomfortable silence, Carolina looked up at her son. “Would you please say something?”
“When did this happen?”
“Last fall. When I planned to come out here, but the boats were canceled—”
“It happened at
my
house?”
She never wavered when she said, “Yes, but I want you to know I didn’t see him again afterward, except for once at a party at Luke and Syd’s. I told him it couldn’t happen, because…”
“Because why?”
Her mouth twisted into an ironic little smile. “Because of you, Joe, among other things.”
“Me? What did I have to do with it?”
“Joseph… You… God, you’re everything. I knew it would upset you—the age difference, the fact that he’s your employee, the trust you’d placed in him, your ideas about me and how I should behave.”
“I don’t have ideas about you. What does that even mean?”
“I knew you wouldn’t approve,” she said quietly.
“I…” Joe’s chest felt tight, and suddenly he had to get out of there or risk saying something he wouldn’t be able to take back. “I have to go.”
“Where?” Janey asked, alarmed.
“Somewhere. Anywhere. I have to go.”
Carolina stood. “Joe, wait.”
“No, I have to go.” He rushed through the house and out the door, taking deep breaths of the cool morning air as he climbed into his truck. The tires made spinning noises as he pulled out of the driveway and headed for town.
“We need to go after him,” Carolina said to Janey as the truck peeled out of the driveway.
“No,” Janey said, somehow remaining calm despite the storm of emotion. “We need to let him work this out in his own way.”
“Even if that means he’s looking for blood from Seamus?”
“I don’t think he’ll do that.”
Carolina raised a brow. “Did you think he’d break David’s nose?”
“No, but—”
“We need to go after him.” Carolina grabbed her keys off the counter. “Are you with me?”
Janey sighed, recognizing defeat when she saw it. “I’m with you.”
Navigating the first boat from the mainland through the morning fog, Seamus guzzled coffee and tried to stay focused on the task of staring into the murkiness while keeping a careful eye on all his navigational aids. He’d passed another sleepless night fretting over Carolina telling Joe about them and wondering if they were making a huge mistake by telling Joe or if they might be paving the way for a possible future together.
Stop
.
Don’t even go there until you know for sure
. The idea of a future with her was so tantalizing, so delightfully overwhelming that it literally hurt to think about it, especially when it remained possible that her son’s disapproval would derail the whole thing.
He’d never been more relieved to see the breakwater to South Harbor as it emerged from the fog. Before he left the island on the two o’clock boat, he’d check in with Carolina to see what was going on. Otherwise, the waiting would certainly kill him. He walked to the aft controls located in the stern, backed the ferry smoothly into port and waited until the cars began driving off the boat before he locked up the control box and returned to the wheelhouse to gather his belongings and fill in the ship’s log.
After a stop in the main office to check in with the employees there, he headed across the parking lot to his office, determined to wade through the work he’d been putting off for a week now—anything to take his mind off his worries.
He was so preoccupied with his own thoughts that he was through the office door before he noticed Joe sitting behind the desk with a stormy expression on his face. Seamus stopped short, uncertain of whether he should proceed into the office or turn and run for his life. As appealing as the latter option was, he forced himself to stay put and face the music head-on.
“Joe.”
“Seamus.”
“What brings you into town so early?”
“What do you think?”
Filled with nervous energy, Seamus removed his Gansett Island Ferry Company ball cap and ran a hand through his hair. “I imagine you’ve had a talk with your mum.”
“Indeed I have.”
Since this was Joe’s show, Seamus withheld comment and waited on him.
“What I’d like to know is where you get off thinking it’s all right to take up with my mother.”
Seamus knew it wasn’t wise to laugh right then, but damned if he could help the chuckle that escaped from his lips.
Joe’s expression grew even stormier, if that was possible. “I fail to see what’s funny about this situation.”
“No, I bet you don’t. There’s nothing funny about it, trust me. What’s amusing is that you think I somehow had control over it.”
“Of course you had control over it! You’re a grown man, for Christ’s sake.”
“’Tis true, I am, which is why for a whole year I hid the instant attraction I felt for your mum from everyone—even her. The day I met her…” Seamus shook his head in amazement. He’d never forget the moment her eyes met his for the first time and the absolute
certainty
he’d experienced that she would somehow change his life. “It was quite something,” was all he said to Joe.
“I don’t understand—”
Seamus tilted his head and smiled. “Don’t you?”
Joe snorted with disgust. “Don’t even try to compare this to me and Janey.”
“Why not? Didn’t you too yearn for a woman you couldn’t have?”
“Yes, but—”
“Love is love, Joe. I love your mom. I want to be with her. I want to make her happy and take care of her. How is that any different from what you feel for Janey?”
“She’s a lot older than you, for one thing.”
“Is she?” Seamus asked, feigning shock. “I had no idea!”
“Stop trying to be funny. This isn’t funny.”
“Stop acting like a little boy who’s miffed because his mum got a boyfriend behind his back.”
Joe stood and seemed to be fighting the urge to charge at Seamus. “I’m not doing that!”
“Don’t you want your mum to be happy?”
“Of course I do! But what happens a few years down the road when you decide being with an older woman isn’t working for you anymore? Or you want kids of your own? What happens then?”
“What happens a few years down the road when you decide being with Janey isn’t as great as you thought it would be?”
“That’ll never happen! I love her with everything I am. What does that have to do with what we’re talking about?”
Seamus only smiled and watched as the realization settled into Joe’s expression and his demeanor.
“You love her that much?” Joe asked in a whisper.
“I love her that much.”
They stood for a long time, hands on hips, neither of them blinking, until Joe finally looked away, eyes cast downward. “I don’t know how I’m supposed to feel about this.”
Seamus was trying to think of what he should say to that when Carolina rushed into the office.
“Oh thank God,” she said, breathing as if she’d been running. “You didn’t hit him.” This was directed at Joe, who scowled at his mother.
“No, I didn’t hit him.” Glancing at Seamus, he added, “But I wanted to.”
Janey waddled in, red-faced and panting. “Did he hit him?”
“Not you, too,” Joe said.
“Sorry.” Janey went to her husband and put her arm around him. “You do have a bit of a history.”
“One broken nose doesn’t make for a
history
, and PS, that guy deserved it.”
“And I don’t?” Seamus edged closer to Carolina. No time like the present for her son to get used to seeing them together. Since Joe hadn’t, in fact, murdered him, Seamus was filled with irrational hope.
“I never said that,” Joe said. “I
chose
not to hit you.”
“And I thank you for that,” Seamus said gravely, which earned him yet another scowl from Joe.
When Seamus tried to take Caro’s hand, she shook him off.
Baby steps.
Carolina focused on her son. “Are you going to be able to live with this?”
“You haven’t given me much choice.”
“Actually,” Seamus said, “that’s not true. You know as well as I do that if you disapprove or express your disappointment or in any way seem put out by it, she’ll throw me over like yesterday’s news. So it does matter. If you’re going to do any of those things, I, for one, would appreciate you doing them now before this goes any further.”
Carolina started to say something in protest, but the challenging look Seamus tossed her way had her closing her mouth.
Everyone looked to Joe, waiting breathlessly to see what he would say or do.
After a long moment, Joe said, “I’m not going to do any of those things.”
“Are you sure?” Seamus asked. “You don’t get to change your mind in a week or a month or a year.”
“Neither do you,” Joe said pointedly.
Seamus, who understood what Joe was saying, nodded in agreement. “Neither do I.”
“It might take me a while to get my head around it, but I won’t stand in the way.” To his mother, he said, “I’d never want to be the cause of your unhappiness. I hate that you thought I would.”
Tears filled Caro’s eyes as she went to her son and hugged him. “Thank you.”
Out of the corner of his eye, Seamus caught Janey wiping away a tear. “Caro?”
She pulled back from her son and turned to Seamus.
“Come here.”
The glance she directed at her son was filled with trepidation.
Joe nodded and squeezed her shoulder.
Carolina took a couple of halting steps toward Seamus.
He held out his arms to her. “Come to me.”
She seemed hesitant to get close to him with her son and daughter-in-law watching, but Seamus knew it was vital that she take this first most important step in front of them.
“It’s okay, love,” he whispered. “Everything’s going to be okay now.”
A sob escaped her as she moved into his embrace and buried her face in his shirt.
As his heart pounded erratically, Seamus closed his eyes, said a silent prayer of thanks to the Lord above and closed his arms around her. “Shhh, don’t cry, my love,” he said, running a hand over her back. “Please don’t cry.”
He opened his eyes to find Janey leading her husband from the room. Joe met his gaze, and the message was clear—
hurt her, and you’ll answer to me
. Seamus gave a small nod to show he understood and then refocused his attention on Carolina. “There, love, it’s all good. Joe knows about us, and nothing bad happened.”
She rested her hands on his hips, her fingertips pressing into his back as her sobs became hiccups. “Nothing bad happened.”
Seamus smiled and tightened his hold on her. “Do you know what that means?”
She shook her head.
“It means,” he said, tipping her face up so he could see her eyes, “there’s nothing standing between you, me and this.” He kissed her softly when he would’ve preferred to kiss her much more intently. But now they had a lovely future stretching before them, and he could afford to be patient.
Carolina, however, wasn’t in the mood to be patient and surprised him with her passionate response. Her fingers clutched his hair—almost painfully—as her tongue tangled with his.
Seamus was on the verge of doing the unthinkable at work when he came to his senses and broke the kiss. “Not here.”
“Where, then?”
Startled by the urgency he heard in her voice, he took her hand. “Come with me.”
“Don’t you have to work?”
“I’ve got three hours until my next run.” All thoughts of the paperwork he’d plan to do had been abandoned.
“That won’t be enough time.”
“We’ve got all the time in the world, love. All the time in the world.”
When Kara’s alarm went off at six, Dan wanted to weep. He’d only been asleep a short time and was sincerely sorry he’d ever agreed to sail this morning. But Mac and the others were counting on him, so he wouldn’t renege. However, he wanted to. All he wanted was more of what he’d had during the night—the best sex of his life.
He glanced over at Kara, asleep next to him with her hair spread out on the pillow and her lips pursed in her sleep. She was so damned gorgeous, and he felt like the luckiest bastard on the face of the earth to have spent the night with her.
Where they’d go from here was the big question. Would this be one magical night, or was it the start of something more? He wanted very badly to know the answer to that question but wouldn’t wake her to ask. Instead, he slid out of bed and got busy gathering his clothes, which were flung about the room.