Fool for Love (24 page)

"You'll find out soon enough. Nothing
stays a secret for long on this island." She'd been thinking about the
conversation she needed to have with Doc for days, but now that the moment was
upon her, she was struck with nerves.

"Is something wrong? Besides the
thing with David?"

"Everything's fine. It's just that
I've been, um, thinking…"

"About?"

"Vet school."

His eyes widened. "You don't say!
That's wonderful news. I've been saying for years it was a travesty you didn't
go after college."

"I know," she said. "I
should have. I see that now."

"Have you applied?"

"I let Ohio State know I'm interested
in taking them up on their six-year-old offer. I haven't heard back yet."

"What can I do?"

"Write me a new recommendation?"

"Done."

"Thank you so much," she said,
relieved.

"You know I've been thinking about
retiring," he said tentatively. "But if I thought you'd be ready to
go in a couple of years, I'd be willing to wait."

"Wait? For
me
?"

"I'd love nothing more than to turn
this practice over to you, Janey."

She sat back in her chair, flabbergasted.
"Wow."

"You're a natural. You'll sail
through vet school because of what you already know."

"Thanks to you."

"And you. You took advantage of every
opportunity to learn and grow. I'll write you the most bang-up recommendation
letter they've ever gotten." Full of fire, he got up to leave. "We'll
get you in. Don't worry. Probably be next year, though."

"I know," Janey said. That was a
long way off. "You're the best for being so willing to help."

Doc flashed an impish grin. "Won't
hurt that I'm also a generous alum," he said on his way out the door.

He was the reason she'd chosen Ohio State
in the first place. She'd worked at the clinic all during high school, first as
an unpaid helper and later as the Saturday receptionist. Hearing his stories
about the school and the program had made her want to go there, too.

As she gazed at the flowers Joe had sent,
she wondered how she'd manage to have the two things she wanted. Her stomach
ached when she realized it might come down to a choice. In the past, she'd
chosen David over her own dreams. The one thing she knew for certain was she
couldn't do that anymore.

Never again would she put someone else's
dreams ahead of her own.

"Penny for your thoughts."

Janey looked up to find Mac standing in
the doorway. "Oh, hey. What're you doing here?"

He eyed the flowers on her desk.
"Just wanted to see my sister. Is that okay with you?"

"That's
all
you want?"

Shutting the door behind him, he dropped
into the chair. "Are those from Joe?"

"Maybe."

"Why didn't you tell me?"

"Because I didn't want to."

A flash of hurt crossed his face.
"Why?"

"Gee, let's see. Could it be your
propensity to overreact or maybe it's your tendency to treat me like I'm
twelve?"

"Janey—"

"I'm a grown woman, Mac. I can sleep
with anyone I want to, and believe it or not, it's none of your business."

"You're right."

Shocked, she stared at him. She hadn't
expected such easy capitulation. "I am?"

"I hate the idea of anyone hurting
you. When I first heard about what David had done, I honestly thought I could
kill him."

Hearing that, Janey softened. "You're
the best big brother any girl could ever have. You know I love you as much as I
love anyone. But you've got to let me live my own life, even if it means I get
hurt once in a while."

"I'm trying."

Janey scowled playfully at him. "Try
harder."

"So you and Joe…"

"Me and Joe." Thinking of him
brought a smile to her face.

"He's had a big bad thing for you for
years."

"So I've heard."

"You really didn't know?"

"Maybe deep down. But when I was with
David, I never let myself go there."

"And it was really your idea to, you
know…"

"Sleep together?"

He swallowed hard. "Yes."

"It was all me. He tried to tell me
it was a bad idea, that I'd regret it."

"And did you? Regret it?"

"Not for one second. He's amazing and
sweet and he loves me so much, Mac. I've never had anything even close to what
I have with him."

"I guess that's saying something in
light of how long you were with David."

"What I had with David wasn't
anything like this."

"So you're in love with Joe?"

"I don't know. I'd like to be, but I'm
not sure yet."

Mac glanced at the flowers. "He's not
exactly being subtle, is he?"

Making a face at him, she said, "It
would hurt me if this caused a rift between you and him."

"It won't," he said almost
reluctantly.

"He loves you so much, and he's thrilled
to have you living back here again. I couldn't bear to come between the two of
you. That would hurt me more than anything."

 "I needed to hear you say he
didn't take advantage of you when you were down."

She got up and went around the desk.
"He didn't. And you already knew that because you know
him
."

Mac stood and reached for her. He hugged
her for a long time and then kissed her forehead. "Love you, brat. I just
want you to be happy."

"I'm working on that."

"Let me know what I can do to
help."

"Stop being such a buttinsky and
forgive Joe."

"I will."

"And Maddie."

"Already did."

"Good. I adore her. She's absolutely
perfect for you."

He smiled. "I agree. Do something for
me?"

"Sure."

"If I promise to not overreact and
overwhelm, will you not keep me in the dark? I like knowing what's going on
with you."

She went up on tiptoes to kiss his cheek.
"I'm making some plans and decisions. As soon as I know more, I'll tell
you all about it."

"I'll look forward to that." He
checked his watch. "I'd better go. The boys are coming in on the one
o'clock boat."

"I can't wait to see them," she
said of their three other brothers. "This will be a fun week, and at the
end of it, you'll be married. Hard to believe, huh?"

"Not anymore. I can't imagine my life
without Maddie and Thomas."

"I hope someday I'll be that
certain."

"Take your time, brat. Getting it
right is well worth the wait."

"So I've discovered."

He hugged her tight against him. "I'm
here if you need me."

Janey's eyes burned with tears as she
clung to him. "I know." She pulled back and looked up at him.
"Have fun tonight."

"Oh, I plan to," he said with a
wicked grin. "My last hurrah."

"Hearts are breaking up and down the
East Coast."

Mac laughed. "Sure they are." He
left her with a wave.

Janey watched him go, knowing that even
after he was married, he'd still be there for her. In the midst of chaos and
upheaval, there were some things she could count on to stay the same. Her big
brother was definitely one of them.

Janey left the vet clinic and decided to take care of
something that had been on her mind all day. Steeling herself for a fight, she
walked over to Maddie's former apartment, above her sister Tiffany's dance
studio. Janey knocked on the door and waited. And then waited some more. After
several minutes, the door cracked open, and Francine scowled when she saw
Janey.

"What do you want?"

"I'd like to talk to you, if you can
spare a minute."

"I have nothing to say to you."

"You've never even met me. How can
you dislike me so intensely?"

"You're one of them."

"If you're referring to my parents, I
believe you'll recall that my mother gave you ample opportunity to make
restitution before she ever reported you. And she wasn't the first to report
you."

"She took the most pleasure in it,"
Francine grumbled.

"You don't know that. You don't know
anything about her. Or me. Or my brother. You haven't given any of us a chance,
yet you've decided we're no good."

"I know what I see—and what I
hear."

"And what's that?"

"Your mother hasn't exactly been good
to my girl over there at that fancy hotel of hers."

"And she has apologized for that.
After she learned the truth about Maddie—"

"What truth? What're you talking
about?"

"When Maddie told Mac about what my
brother Evan and his friends said about Maddie in high school, Mac made them
all write letters of apology to the
Gansett Gazette
."

Agog, Francine stared at her.

"Maddie was furious at first because
he hadn't yet told her about the letters. But they totally changed her life on
the island. No one thinks poorly of her anymore, Mrs. Chester. My brother did
that for her."

"Well, your
other
brother
caused the whole thing."

"No, he didn't. Darren Tuttle did,
but Mac took care of him, too. Evan just went along with it because he was too stupid
not to. His apology letter was the most heartfelt of the group. He said he'd
always regretted what they'd done to her, and he welcomed the chance to
apologize."

"I don't know what you want from
me—"

"I want you to come to Maddie's shower
tomorrow at my mother's house."

"I most certainly will not!"

"You'd do that to your own
daughter?"

"Don't speak to me about my daughter!
What do you know about it? What do you know about anything?"

"I know she's the best new friend
I've had in a long time. I know my brother loves her with everything he has and
my family has fully embraced her and Thomas. Why would you want to force her to
choose between you and us? Why does it have to be a choice?"

"She's already made her
choices," Francine huffed. "What I think of it apparently has no
bearing."

"How can you say that? When the whole
island thought she was no better than a tramp, she didn't leave because you
insisted on staying here after your husband left. Instead of going somewhere
for a fresh start where no one knew her, she stayed here and put up with all
the rumors and innuendo about her, because you wanted to be where he could find
you."

"She told you that?"

"I totally understand why you'd want
to stay. I'd want the man I love to be able to find me, too."

Francine sagged against the door frame.
"He's been gone twenty-five years. I don't think he's coming back."

"Maybe not, but you have your
daughters and your grandchildren, and next week you'll have a new son-in-law
who'd do anything for you, if only you'd give him a chance."

"You're asking an awful lot of
me."

"Actually, I'm really not. I'm just
asking you to give him a chance. He's going to be your grandson's father. If
you can't do it for Maddie, maybe you can do it for Thomas."

Francine crossed her arms. "I'm not
going to your mother's house."

"You don't have to decide that now. I
wanted you to know you're invited. That my mother and I, as well as Maddie and
Tiffany, would love to have you there."

"You'd love that, would you?"

"Maddie would, so that's good enough
for us."

"You McCarthys like to think you're
better than everyone else on this island."

"No, we don't. My mother was big
enough to admit she was wrong about Maddie. Maybe you can do the same for
us?" Before Francine could answer, Janey turned to start down the stairs.
"Two o'clock tomorrow," she said over her shoulder. "I really
hope you'll join us."

Based on the warm welcome Joe received from Grant, Adam and Evan McCarthy, he
figured they hadn't heard yet about his relationship with their sister. With
dark hair and blue eyes, all four McCarthy brothers resembled their father as a
young man. Only Janey took after their petite, blonde mother.

Evan, a singer-songwriter, had recently
landed his first recording contract in Nashville. He was the first to notice
Joe's arrival. "Hey!" he said. "It's the fifth McCarthy
brother!" Embracing Joe, Evan lifted him right off his feet.

"Dude!" Joe said. "Put me
down, for Christ's sake!" Back on terra firma, Joe noticed that Luke had
arranged tables and set out the food from Mario's. The cards, poker chips and
Cuban cigars Joe had dropped off earlier were sitting in the middle of one
table, along with the beer he'd provided, which had been loaded into a huge
garbage can and iced. Perfect.