“If he doesn’t talk about it, how will he get past it?”
“Give him some time. Keep doing what you’re doing. Let him know you’re there for him. That’s all you can do.”
“It makes me crazy to know he’s so upset but keeping it all inside.”
“It’ll come out eventually. When he’s ready.”
“Yeah, I suppose you’re right.”
“Hey, so listen. I’m going to be off-island a couple of days next week. Is that okay?”
“When are you going to stop asking us for time off?” They’d made Luke a partner in their business more than a year ago.
“Old habits die hard,” Luke said with a chuckle.
“I hope you’re going somewhere fun before the madness begins with the season.”
“Not fun, exactly, but a step in the right direction. Syd’s having a reversal of her tubal ligation.”
Mac grimaced. “What the hell does that mean?”
“It means, you jackass, that we might be able to have kids of our own. If it works.”
“Hey, that’s cool. Kind of a big step for her, huh?”
“A very big step. It took me a while to convince her that what happened to her kids couldn’t possibly happen again.” Sydney lost her first husband and young children to a drunk driver. “She’s worried she’ll be a crazy overprotective mother who never lets the poor kid out of her sight.”
“You couldn’t blame her for that.”
“No, but I told her I’d be there to keep her from going too far overboard. Of course that’s if it even happens. There’s a chance the surgery won’t work, and even if it does, she may not conceive.”
“I’ll be hoping it goes your way. We all will.”
“Thanks. Like I told her, if it doesn’t, we’ll adopt. There’re other options, and we’re keeping them all open.”
“Good plan. Let me know how it works out, okay?”
“I will. We’re keeping it kind of quiet. Syd doesn’t want everyone asking questions.”
“No one will hear it from me.”
Luke crooked a skeptical eyebrow.
“What? I said I won’t say anything, and I won’t.”
Laughing at Mac’s indignation, Luke went back to work.
Mac thought about Grant for a long time, wondering what had his brother so upset and wishing there was something he could do about it.
Chapter 16
A steady thump, thump, thump woke Laura from a sound sleep. Even though she’d been asleep for hours, her eyes didn’t want to open. Exhaustion clung to every inch of her.
“Laura? Princess, are you in there?”
Only two people called her Princess. Was that her dad? What was he doing here? Laura pushed aside covers Owen must’ve put over her and crossed the room on wobbly legs to open the door.
“Did I wake you?” Frank McCarthy asked. As always, he was impeccably dressed with every one of his silver hairs in place. “I’m sorry. Owen thought you’d be awake by now. He sent me up.”
Thrilled to see him, Laura stepped into his embrace and held on for dear life. “What’re you doing here, Dad?”
“I talked to Shane yesterday, and he said you were still feeling poorly. Since I have a couple of days free from court, I wanted to come see my kids. I hope that’s okay.”
“It’s more than okay.” She released him and took his hand. “Come in. What time is it?”
“Almost four.”
“Jeez.” She’d been asleep for three hours! “Did you see Holden?”
“I did,” he said, beaming with delight over his grandson as he had since the day Holden was born. “Owen has him downstairs. They’re ‘working’ at the registration desk.”
“That must be something to see.” Owen was doing both her jobs so she could sleep the day away. Laura sighed, furious at herself and her body for betraying her. With the season about to get under way there was so much to be done, and all she wanted to do was sleep—that was, when she wasn’t puking.
“He’s grown so much in just a couple of weeks. I couldn’t get over it.”
“A lot happens the first year. He’ll be walking before we know it.”
“What’s wrong, Princess? You’re so pale. Are you okay?”
Laura stepped into the tiny kitchen off the sitting room. “Did Owen say anything about what’s been going on?”
“Nothing in particular.”
“He’s a coward,” she said with a small smile for her dad as she poured a cola for him and an ice water for herself.
“Why would you say such an awful thing about your wonderful fiancé?”
“Come sit.” She carried their drinks to the sofa and curled up in the corner with her legs under her.
Frank settled next to her and rolled up the sleeves of his light blue dress shirt. The color brought out the blue of his eyes. “You really ought to invest in some leisure clothes, Dad.”
“What’s wrong with my clothes?” he asked with a teasing grin at the old argument.
“Most people wear jeans and polo shirts when they aren’t working.” She’d bought him plenty of both over the years, to no avail. “You need to learn how to relax a little. I’ve been telling you that forever.”
“I know, I know. I’ll have plenty of time to relax after I retire.” His expression clouded a bit at that, but he forced a smile for her. “What’s got you calling Owen names?”
“We had some interesting news yesterday.”
“Nothing bad, I hope?” After losing his wife to cancer when Laura and Shane were still young, her dad had fretted endlessly about their health and safety.
“Depends on your perspective, I suppose. I’m pregnant.”
To his credit, Frank’s expression never changed. “Well, that’s a surprise.”
“It was for us, too. Best of all? We’re apparently having twins.”
“Oh, my goodness, Laura. Congratulations. I think…”
She laughed and squeezed his arm. “Thank you. I think.”
“Holy moly, you’re going to have your hands full around here, huh?”
“Just a little.” She glanced at him. “Are you mad?”
“What? Mad? Why would I be?”
“Owen and I aren’t married yet.”
“Ah, honey.” He put his arm around her and hugged her. “You’re a grown woman about to marry a guy I respect tremendously. We’re talking about a matter of months.”
“I was a little afraid to tell you.”
“Don’t be afraid to tell me anything. I’m so proud of you and all you’ve accomplished. You and Owen are wonderful parents to Holden, and you will be to the new babies, too.”
Laura rested against his chest, comforted as always by his presence.
Owen came in with Holden on his shoulders a few minutes later. The sight of the two of them took her breath away as it always did. They were awfully cute together, and Owen was so good to both of them.
“There’re my guys.” Laura held out her arms to take Holden. The baby let out a squeal of delight to see her and snuggled into her arms. “Did Grandpa surprise you, buddy?”
Holden gurgled and held out a spitty fist to Frank.
“Look at him, already shaking hands,” Frank said with a smile. He glanced at Owen. “I understand congratulations are in order.”
“Oh, thanks,” Owen said with visible relief. “I was worried you’d get out the shotgun when you heard the news.”
“Not my dad,” Laura said. “He’s very
mature
.”
“That’s right,” Frank said, making faces that had Holden giggling. “Come see your very mature grandpa.”
Laura transferred the baby to her dad.
“Twins, huh?” Frank asked, raising a brow in Owen’s direction.
“That’s what they tell us.” He glanced at Laura. “Feeling better, hon?”
“A little. How are things downstairs?”
“Great. We had a couple of walk-ins this afternoon, and Mac and Luke have the gift shop all finished. Abby was in there for a couple of hours measuring for shelf space and making notes. Speaking of Abby… I’ve got a little family gossip for you guys.”
“Let’s hear it,” she said, her dad nodding in agreement.
“Apparently, Abby and Adam are seeing each other.”
“Seriously?” Laura asked, shocked to hear that. “What does Grant have to say about that?”
“I guess he’s being cool about it,” Owen said. “I mean, what can he say, really? He’s engaged to Stephanie, and it’s been over with Abby for a long time.”
“Still,” Frank said. “Dating your brother’s ex. That can be dicey.”
“Girls’ night out ought to be interesting,” Laura said.
“Do you feel up to going?” Owen asked.
“Not really, but since we’ll just be downstairs, I can bail out if need be.”
“That’s true. Luke is having poker night at his house for the guys. I was going to take our little buddy with me, since he’s a guy, too.”
“I’d be happy to stay with him if you don’t want to bring him,” Frank offered.
“That’s really nice of you, Frank, but I’d think you’d want to go to Luke’s and see everyone.”
“I would like to see my nephews in light of recent events. How about I lend you a hand over there, then?”
“Sounds good to me.”
“Do we have rooms left?” Laura asked Owen. “Dad needs one.”
“Don’t worry about me, hon. I’m going to stay with Mac and Linda. I already talked to them. I didn’t want to put you out when you weren’t feeling well.”
Laura stuck out her lower lip in a playful pout. “You wouldn’t have been putting me out.”
“I’ll stay here next time, okay?”
“You’d better.”
“Twins,” Frank said again, making Laura and Owen laugh. “Have you told your mom yet?”
“Last night,” Owen said. “She was thrilled.”
“So am I,” Frank said, removing any doubt that he approved of their unplanned babies.
Laura was greatly relieved that her dad was so happy about the news. As soon as she stopped feeling sick all day, she hoped she would be, too.
Finished with all her measurements, Abby leaned against the counter Mac and Luke had built to hold the cash register and drew a rough sketch of what she envisioned the store might look like when it was finished. The sketch and the measurements carefully recorded in a notebook reminded her of the early days of Abby’s Attic, when she’d had no idea what she was doing or if her store would even catch on.
Now she knew what it took to make a retail venture on Gansett into a success. She only hoped magic would happen a second time. The Sand & Surf gift shop had true potential, located as it was on the front side of the hotel, easily seen by passersby.
She’d toyed with the idea of opening a shop in Austin, but had worried about a small gift shop being lost in the sea of offerings available there. And with everything with Cal unsettled, she’d been reluctant to commit to anything that would keep her tied to Texas if things between them didn’t work out. The professional indecision had only added to her discontent.
As she worked and planned, a new idea had come to her that she couldn’t wait to run by Laura. The job that had started as a summer diversion had grown into something larger in her mind during the afternoon in the still-empty space. Until she had a chance to talk it over with Laura, though, she wouldn’t let herself get too excited about it.
She was so absorbed in her sketches that she didn’t hear Adam come in until he was right in front of her, casting a shadow over her notebook.
“Hey,” she said, feigning annoyance. “You’re blocking my light.”
He tipped his head to take a look at what she was doing. “That’s really good. I didn’t know you could draw like that.”
“Anyone can draw a bunch of straight lines, Adam.”
“You’ve got the whole 3-D thing going on. That’s amazing. I can picture how the store will look.”
Flattered by his praise, she glanced up to find that he was wearing the glasses she found so attractive on him. “Did you finish with the reservation system?”
“Not yet. I need at least another day. Maybe two. I’m rewriting the entire program.”
“How do you do that, exactly?”
“You really want to know? You’d probably find it deathly boring.”
“Maybe so, but I’m interested in the logic behind it.”
“You are? Really?”
“Hasn’t anyone ever been interested in how you approach your work?”
“No. Never.”
“Well, I am.”
That seemed to please him. “I’ll tell you all about it sometime. Are you done here?”
“For the most part. I was just doodling.”
“We’ve already established that those are far more than doodles.” He glanced at his watch. “We’ve got a couple of hours before the evening festivities.” He stretched dramatically. “I’m sort of worn out after working all day, and I was thinking that you must be, too.”
He looked anything but worn out, but she played along because she liked where this was going. “How about we go across the street for a little rest before our big night out?”
“You might be able to talk me into that.”
Rolling her eyes and smiling at him, she closed the notebook and stashed it in her purse, shut off the lights and closed the door to the gift shop. In the lobby, Sarah was sitting behind the registration desk.
“I’ll see you in the morning,” Adam said to her.
“I will, too,” Abby said.
“Thanks to both of you for your help around here.”
“My pleasure,” Adam said.
“Mine, too,” Abby added. And it was a pleasure to be back in the business she had loved so much. Mapping out shelving and planning for inventory had filled her with excitement and anticipation. While living in Texas, she’d missed the thrill of running her own business. She’d been bored and often lonely, which had added to her problems with Cal, who’d been so busy he hadn’t noticed her discontent.
“What’re you thinking about?” Adam asked as they crossed the street to the Beachcomber and scooted in a side door that led to the stairs.
“How much I’m looking forward to having the store open. I missed it while I was away. I hadn’t realized how much until today.”
“I’m sure you’ll make a big success out of it.”
“Thank you for the vote of confidence. I was thinking…”
“What?”
“I haven’t spoken to Laura about it yet, so it may not happen.”
His hand on the small of her back guided her up the stairs in a proprietary way that she enjoyed. “Tell me anyway.”
“I’m going to propose that we call it Abby’s Attic at The Surf. I was thinking that customers who patronized the Attic might be more likely to check out the gift shop if we give it a name they recognize.”
“That’s a great idea. I’m sure Laura will think so, too.”