Marking Time (38 page)

“Believe me, I was already busting my own chops about it. But I did the right thing coming here. I knew for sure when we were in Newport this week, but that was probably because you were with me.”

“It’s probably because you’re stronger now.”

Clare shrugged. “Possibly.”

“I’m so proud of you.”

“Why?”

“Because you survived. This terrible thing happened to you, and yet still you can laugh and joke and love. You didn’t let him win.”

“He took so much from me. As bad as it was to lose three years of my life and then Jack, too, you know what was worse?”

Aidan shook his head.

“I lost the thing that defined me—my life as a mother. I left three little girls and came back to two adults and a teenager.”

“But they still need you, especially Maggie. You’ve got more than four years with her before she goes to college.”

“Yes, and I’m going home to her. Soon. But it’s not the same. I have to share her with a stepmother she loves—the stepmother who gave her three brothers, who saw her through her first period and middle school, and God knows what else. Maggie doesn’t belong just to me anymore.”

“What about Kate? She needs you more than ever right now. And even Jill’s certainly not all grown up yet.”

“It’s not the same. It’s not like it was when they were younger and relied on me for everything. I’ve never felt more fulfilled by anything than I did then. Losing that has left a gaping hole inside of me.”

“Maybe you’ll feel better about it when you get back to Rhode Island. You can be more involved in Maggie’s daily life again.”

“Maybe,” Clare said, but she wasn’t convinced. “Thank you for listening.”

“Thank you for telling me.” He kissed her softly. “I hope you’re not mad I didn’t tell you I knew. I didn’t want to push you.”

She caressed his handsome face. “I don’t deserve you.”

“Oh, yes. Yes, you do.” He kissed her then as if his life—and hers—depended on it.

“Wanna see what else is under this dress?” she asked with a saucy smile.

He groaned. “You have
no
idea…”

Much later, while Clare slept in his arms, Aidan was content. With no secrets left between them, they could start to make plans for their future. He already had a few ideas about what that might entail.

“Aidan?”

“I thought you were asleep.”

“Almost. Thank you again for our date.”

He kissed the top of her head. “My pleasure.”

“I love you.”

“I love you, too. And I’m really glad you came to Vermont. I’m sorry about the reasons, but I’m so glad you came here.”

“Me, too.”

A
light snow was falling Friday evening, so Aidan insisted on driving Clare to Burlington to pick up Kate. The roads were slick, and they arrived just as Kate’s flight was announced.

Aidan gasped when he saw Kate coming toward them. “Wow, you weren’t kidding! She’s you all over again!”

Clare smiled up at him. “She’s the tall version of me.”

Seeming to be fighting tears, Kate fell into her mother’s arms.

“Okay, baby. You’re okay.”

Kate clung to her.

Clare let the flood of people move around them as she held her daughter.

“Sorry,” Kate said, her voice muffled by her mother’s coat.

“You’ve had a rough week.” Clare searched her daughter’s face for signs of the changes she knew had occurred recently. But all she saw was the tearstained face of the girl she loved.

“You must be Aidan O’Malley.”

He shook Kate’s hand. “Nice to meet you.”

“My sisters were right about you.”

“How’s that?”

“Oh, nothing,” Kate said with an approving smile for her mother.

Clare returned the smile. “Do you have bags?”

“Just this,” Kate said, referring to the bag she carried on her shoulder.

“Let’s hit the road, then,” Aidan said. “It’s getting ugly out there.”

On the ride home, Kate filled them in on everything that’d happened with Buddy and Taylor and the preparations for the tour.

“So the next time we see you, we might need special passes or something?” Clare joked.

Kate smiled. “From what Buddy says, maybe.”

“You must be very excited,” Clare said.

“I’m scared.”

“Why?”

“Buddy says my whole life will change, that I’ll be working all the time, and it’ll be really crazy.”

“Isn’t that what you wanted?” Clare asked.

“Yes, but it’s nerve-racking now that it’s actually happening.”

Aidan drove them up the winding road leading to his house on the hilltop.

“Wow, awesome place,” Kate said.

“We’re staying with Aidan because Uncle Tony’s house is a mess.”

“That’s cool.”

They settled Kate in one of the bedrooms, and Aidan built up the fire in the den for them. “I’ll be in the garage, if you ladies need me.”

After he left the room, Kate turned to her mother. “Okay, spill it.”

“What?”

“Oh my God, Mom! He’s
hot
!”

Clare smiled. “So I’ve noticed, but I don’t want to talk about him.”

Kate’s smile faded. “Uh-oh, here it comes.”

“I’m worried about you. What’s going on with you and this older man?”

“I love him. I told Dad that, but he didn’t want to hear it.”

“Kate, you’re eighteen. He’s forty-six. What did you expect Dad to say? What do you expect
me
to say? It’s horrifying to us.”

Kate’s face crumpled. “Don’t say that. How is it any different than you and Aidan? You love him. I can tell by the way you look at him.”

“It’s very different. We’re both adults.”

“I’m an adult, too. Look at what I’m doing, what’s about to happen to me, not to mention all we went through after your accident. How can you say I’m not an adult?”

“Honey, listen to me. I don’t know this man you claim to love. I only know that Dad once thought of him as a friend, so he must have some admirable qualities. But being involved with an eighteen-year-old at his age is not admirable. It’s wrong.”

Tears flooded Kate’s eyes and slid down her cheeks. “It doesn’t feel wrong. Not to me.”

“I don’t want to ruin our visit with tears and arguments. I love you. I’ll support you no matter what you choose, but I don’t approve of this relationship, Kate. I want to be crystal clear on that.”

“What am I going to do about Dad? And Andi? She’s mad at me, too. I lied to her about Reid when I was home at Christmas. She’s really disappointed.”

“If you felt you had to lie, what does that tell you?”

“That’s what she said, too.”

“Come here,” Clare said, reaching out to her daughter.

Kate fell into her mother’s arms. “I don’t like disappointing you. Any of you.”

“You’ve got a lot to think about. We can talk about it some more tomorrow. How about a cup of hot chocolate before bed?”

“I’d love some.”

Clare got Kate settled and went upstairs to Aidan’s room to get her pajamas. When she was ready for bed, she went down to one of the other bedrooms. From there, she could hear power tools running in the garage.

As she got into bed in the unfamiliar room, she wondered why Aidan had built a house with so many bedrooms. Then she remembered he’d planned to sell it.

She thought about Kate and almost felt sorry for her daughter who was in love with a man no one approved of.
Thank goodness for the tour
.
At least it’ll keep them apart for a while
.

Clare must have dozed off, because she awoke with a start when Aidan kissed her. He smelled like shampoo and shaving cream, and when she reached for him, her hands landed on his bare chest.

“Aidan,” she whispered.

“Shhh,” he said, kissing the words off her lips. In the pitch darkness, he drove her wild with his hands and lips, making slow, quiet love to her.

Kate slept late in the morning and then took a walk with Clare on the trails around Aidan’s house, where the sun had already melted most of the new snow from the night before. They were having lunch with Aidan when they heard a car pull up outside.

“Who’s that?” Clare asked.

Aidan shrugged and went to find out.

Kate shrieked when he came back with Jill and Maggie. She leaped up to hug her sisters.

“What’re you guys doing here?” Clare asked, raising an eyebrow at Aidan. “And how did you find us?”

Jill and Aidan exchanged guilty glances.

“We wanted to see Kate and surprise you,” Jill said. “Aidan might’ve helped us out.”

“Aidan’s quite sneaky,” Clare said, hugging Jill and Maggie. “Does your father know where you are?”

This time, Jill and Maggie exchanged glances.

“Where does he think you are?” Clare asked Maggie.

“Visiting Jill at school. For some reason that
no
one
will tell me, he’s really mad at Kate, and he told me not to talk to her.”

Kate winced at that.

“Call him.” Clare pointed to the phone. “Right now.”

“Do I have to?” Maggie asked.

Clare gave her a look that left no room for negotiation.

Maggie shuffled over to the phone.

Aidan held up his hands in defense. “I didn’t approve that part of it.”

“I’ll deal with you later, buster,” Clare said under her breath.

“Oh, goodie,” he whispered.

Aidan went out to the garage the following afternoon to work on the Porsche so Clare could have some time alone with the girls before Jill and Maggie headed home to Rhode Island. Kate was flying back to Nashville the next morning.

Aidan marveled at how the girls had filled the house with noise, laughter, and chaos. Oh, and music, too. Clare told Kate he could sing, and she had cajoled him into playing the piano and singing with her. He couldn’t believe her voice. No wonder Buddy Longstreet was out to make her a star.

The door from the kitchen opened, and Maggie came out wearing a scowl.

“Hey,” he said. “What’s up?”

“They kicked me out.”

“Ouch. Why don’t you give me a hand? You’re not one of those prissy girls who’s afraid of a little dirt, are you?”

She snorted. “No.”

He handed her a distributor cap with instructions on how to work the gunk out of the part’s spidery legs.

“Do you know why everyone’s mad at Kate?”

He studied her bright blue eyes and tried to decide how he should answer that. “Maybe.”

“That’s not fair! I’m thirteen now. I’m old enough to know whatever it is.”

“Thirteen
is
practically an adult.” Aidan thought the light dusting of freckles across her nose was about the cutest thing he’d ever seen.

“See? You get that, so why don’t they?”

“Maybe because sometimes being an adult isn’t as great as you think it’ll be when you’re thirteen.”

“I just wish they’d tell me. I can take it. I’m not your average thirteen-year-old, you know. I had to grow up a lot when my mom was sick. They shouldn’t treat me like a baby.”

“You’re absolutely right, but can I tell you something?”

She nodded and worked a greasy rag over the engine part with determination he admired.

“Would you believe me if I told you this thing with Kate is really and truly something you don’t want to know?”

Maggie thought that over for a minute. “So it’s kind of gross, then?”

“Way gross.”

“But she’s not hurt or sick or anything like that, is she?”

“No,” he said. “I promise.”

She worked in silence for several minutes before she turned those potent blue eyes on him again. “Could I ask you something else?”

“Shoot.”

“Are you going to marry my mom?”

He hadn’t seen that one coming. “I don’t know yet.” Leaning against the workbench, he studied her. “Adult to adult, though, let me ask you this—do you think she’d marry me?”

Maggie chuckled. “Duh.
Yeah
.”

“You think so?”

“If she doesn’t, maybe I will,” Maggie said with a big grin.

Aidan roared with laughter. “I should be so lucky.”

Clare surprised Aidan with a trip to Boston for his fortieth birthday the following weekend. When they checked in at the hotel, he was annoyed to discover she’d reserved adjoining rooms.

“What the hell?” he fumed. “You’re not sleeping over here. It’s my birthday. I should get to sleep with who I want to.”

“Relax, honey,” she said, patting his face as she unpacked in her room.

He was still ranting about the separate rooms when someone knocked on the door of his room.

“You’d better get that,” Clare said.

“You’re sleeping with me, and that’s the end of it.”

“Get the door.”

He swung open the door and was startled to see Jill, Maggie, and his entire family—minus Brandon, who was still in rehab.

“Surprise!” they said in unison.

Stunned, Aidan stared at them. “What’re you guys doing here?”

Colleen O’Malley kissed her son’s cheek and pushed past him into the room. “Happy birthday, love. But don’t be telling people you’re forty. That makes me sound so old.”

Aidan fielded hugs from the girls and the rest of his family before he turned back to Clare as his nieces and nephews jumped on the king-size bed. “Been keeping some secrets?”

“Maybe,” she said with the coy grin he adored.

“She rented out the whole floor and invited us all to come,” Dennis told his son. “Mighty nice of her, if you ask me.”

“Yes.” Aidan put an arm around her and kissed her in front of everyone. “Mighty nice.”

Clare’s cheeks flushed with embarrassment. “Stop it.” She extricated herself from his embrace. “You’re all invited to dinner downstairs at seven o’clock.”

“We’re taking the kids to the pool,” Aidan’s sister Erin said to Jill and Maggie. “Do you want to come along?”

“We’d love to,” Maggie said.

The room emptied as fast as it had filled, and the moment they were alone, Aidan turned to Clare. “
Very
sneaky,” he said, backing her up to the bed. “Tell me the extra room is for the girls.”

Nodding, she pulled him down with her. “Surprise,” she said with a smile as she reached up to kiss him. “I had to celebrate that you’re finally in my decade.”