Marking Time (30 page)

“They’d sniff you out. You do know that you’ll be, officially, the second woman they’ve ever seen me with, right?”

“Yes, I’m getting that picture.” But it didn’t bother her nearly as much as it probably should have.

They arrived at the hospital at five in the morning. Clare had watched him get more and more anxious the closer they got to Chatham.

Aidan grabbed Clare’s hand, and they ran inside. She was proud that she was able to keep up with him, which she took as a sign that she’d made more progress in her recovery from the coma. The tightness in her chest and the occasional coughing fit reminded her of the more recent bout with pneumonia.

They were directed to the third floor where a large group had congregated in the waiting room. From Aidan’s vivid descriptions of her, Clare recognized Colleen O’Malley right away.

“Mum, where is he?” Aidan asked. “I want to see him.”

Colleen stood to hug her oldest son. “I’m glad you’re here in one piece, love.” She bent around him to get a better look at Clare. “Who’ve you got there?”

“This is Clare Harrington. Colin, introduce Clare while Mum takes me to see Da, would you?”

Watching Aidan walk away with Colleen, Clare felt all eyes in the waiting room land on her. “Hello, everyone,” she said.

Thankfully, Colin stepped up and did as his brother asked. Clare met Aidan’s brothers Brandon and Declan, his sister Erin, and brother-in-law Tommy. Brandon might’ve looked like Aidan at one time, but his bloodshot eyes and weathered face put ten extra years on him. The other three siblings closely resembled each other.

“Pleased to meet you all.” Clare took the seat next to Tommy.

“Are you Aidan’s girlfriend?” Erin asked.

Colin shot his sister a dirty look. “Erin.”

“Yes, I guess you could say I am.” Clare maintained eye contact with Erin, who seemed shocked that Aidan had brought someone with him.

“Well, how about that?” Brandon said with a nasty edge to his voice. “The old boy isn’t dead after all.”

“Shut up, Brandon,” Declan snapped.

“How’s your father?” Clare asked Colin, recognizing a friendly face in the tough crowd.

“They think he’s going to be fine,” Colin said. “It was a mild heart attack. His biggest problem right now is my mother.”

“She’s forced him into retirement, effective immediately,” Declan added.

Clare winced. “Well, at least the heart attack wasn’t as bad as it could’ve been.”

“My father would rather be dead than retired,” Brandon said.

Something about him made Clare nervous.

Outside Dennis’s room, Aidan grilled the cardiologist. When he was satisfied that everything had been done to his satisfaction, he went in to see his father.

He stood by the side of his father’s bed with the older man’s work-roughened hand in his.

“I’m sorry you came all this way for nothing,” Dennis said in a weakened voice.

“It wasn’t for nothing, Da. I’m glad you’re okay.”

“He is
not
okay,” Colleen chimed in. “The man had a heart attack.”

“The doctor said it was mild and more of a warning than anything,” Aidan said. “You got lucky, Da.”

“How about you give me a minute with my boy, Mum. Go tell the kids they ain’t getting rid of their old Da today, and send ’em all home.”

She kissed her husband’s cheek. “Don’t let him get worked up, Aidan.”

After Colleen walked out, Dennis sighed. “You gotta get me out of here, son. The heart attack didn’t kill me, but she’s going to.”

Aidan’s knees wanted to buckle with relief at his father’s feistiness. For the first time since Colin called, he was able to draw a deep breath. “You’re not going anywhere until the doctors say you can.”

Dennis groaned. “You were my last hope.”

Aidan laughed. “No luck with the others, huh?”

“Bunch of ingrates. Honor thy father, my ass. Not a one of ya minds me, and you never have.”

“So are you wondering how you got rid of Mum so easily just now?” Aidan asked, raising an eyebrow.

“That
was
kind of easy, now that you mention it.”

“I brought someone with me.”

“Did you, now?” Dennis said with a glint in his eye. “A girl?”

Aidan snorted with laughter. “What do you think?”

“And you’ve left her out there by herself to face your mum and your sister?”

“Shit, you’re right. I’d better get out there before they run her off.”

“Listen, son, before you go rescue your lady, there’s something I need to ask you,” Dennis said seriously.

“What?”

“I think your mum’s serious about this retirement thing.”

“I’m afraid you might be right.”

“I want you to come home to run the business.”

Aidan shook his head. “Da—”

“You’re the only one with a head for business. The others will run it into the ground in six months’ time. I need you.”

“I’m sorry, Da. There’s nothing I wouldn’t do for you, but I can’t come back here. I’m just starting to finally get my life together. Coming home would be a step back for me—an unhealthy step.”

Dennis studied his son for a moment. “I understand. I shouldn’t have even asked you, but I’m desperate. I can’t let forty years of my hard work go down the drain, and I won’t have them fighting over it.”

“What about Colin?”

“I just skip over Brandon?”

“He’s not equipped to run a business. Not right now, anyway.”

“We’re going to have to do something about his drinking.”

“Yes, but let’s get you better first. Take another look at Colin, Da. He’s the best of all of us. Sarah always said so. He’s got what it takes, and he has the balls to stand up to the boys. He’s got a lot of Mum in him.”

“Yes, you’re right, he does. I’ll think about that. You’d better go rescue your lady, son. Bring her back to see me later?”

“You got it.” Aidan leaned down to kiss his father’s cheek. “You scared me.”

Dennis patted his son’s face. “I’m not going anywhere.”

“Good,” Aidan said gruffly. “I’ll see you later.”

Aidan walked into the waiting room and groaned when he found Clare and his mother holding hands, their heads bent together in deep conversation.

“
Mum
, what’re you telling her?”

“Don’t be fresh, Aidan,” his mother said with a pointed look at her son.

Clare choked back a laugh.

He shot Clare a warning glare to let her know that laughing right now would
not
be a good idea. “Where is everyone?”

“They went home to get some sleep,” Clare said.

“We’re going home, too,” he said. “Clare’s been really sick, and she’s been up all night.”

“Yes, I heard you took
very
good care of her when she had pneumonia,” Colleen said with a hopeful glance at her son, the former doctor.

Clare hugged Colleen. “Your husband will be just fine. Try not to worry.”

“Thank you, honey,” Colleen said with a wink over Clare’s shoulder at her son.

“Mum, why don’t you come home for a bit?”

“No, love, I’m staying here with Da. I’ll be fine. Go on ahead.”

Aidan kissed his mother and held out a hand to Clare. “We’ll be back later.”

They walked out to the parking lot, where the sun was coming up on another cold winter day. The windshield of the truck had frosted over, so they waited for the heat to kick in.

“Did it take you all of five minutes to bond with my mother?”

“She’s lovely.”

Aidan snorted. “Just don’t cross her. You’ll find out how lovely she is then.”

“I can’t imagine that. How’s your father?”

“Full of piss and vinegar, which is a good sign.”

“Thank God.”

“He’s anxious to meet you.”

Clare muffled a yawn. “I want to meet him, too.”

“First, you’re going to sleep. I don’t want you having a relapse.”

“Yes, Doctor O’Malley,” Clare said with an impish grin.

His eyes clouded. “Don’t call me that, okay?”

“I’m sorry. I was only kidding.”

He kissed her hand. “I don’t mean to be a jerk, but I just can’t hear that.”

“I understand.”

They drove through the picturesque town of Chatham on their way to Aidan’s parents’ home. He took a left onto Shore Road. “I’ll take you to see Chatham Light after we get some sleep.”

“These houses are amazing.”

“None of this was here when my parents moved in. It’s gotten really built up and swanky, but the O’Malleys keep the neighborhood humble. I have to warn you that the paint job on our house was
not
my father’s idea,” he said as they pulled into the driveway of his parents’ colorful home.

“Oh, it’s adorable!”

“It’s ridiculous,” Aidan grumbled. He grabbed their bags and led her inside. They went straight upstairs to Aidan’s old room, where he immediately pulled off his shirt. “God, I’m beat.”

“Um, Aidan, where am I sleeping?”

“Right here with me.”

“I am
not
sleeping with you in your mother’s house. No way.”

“You’ve
got
to be kidding me,” Aidan groaned. “I’m almost forty years old, for Christ’s sake.”

Clare winced. “You have to keep reminding me you’re not even forty yet, don’t you?”

He dropped his jeans. “That’s not the point.”

Clare’s eyes drifted over him with appreciation for his muscular chest and belly.

“You’re really going to look at me like that and then tell me you won’t sleep with me?”

She walked over to caress his chest. “Uh-huh.”

He captured her mouth in a searing kiss. Molding himself to her, he left no doubt in her mind about how badly he wanted her.

“Aidan,” she gasped. “Stop. Not here.”

He wrapped his arms around her so she couldn’t escape and kissed her again like she hadn’t said a word.

“Where am I sleeping?” Clare asked when she managed to extricate herself from his kiss.

Groaning with frustration, Aidan leaned his forehead against hers. “If a man could die of want, I’d be stone cold dead right now, do you hear me?”

“Soon,” she said with a nervous giggle. “I promise. But not here.”

He released a tortured sigh. “Okay, come on. You can have Erin’s room. My mother will be totally in love with you when she hears about this. But you already know that, don’t you?”

Clare smiled. “What was it you once said? Once a mom, always a mom?”

He gave her a gentle push into Erin’s old room. “Get some sleep, smart mouth. When I get you alone again, you’ll need to be well rested.
Very
well rested.”

Clare shivered with anticipation. Despite the fears that still gnawed at her, she couldn’t wait.

After a full day with the O’Malleys, Clare felt like she’d known them forever. She was halfway in love with Aidan’s father, who made her laugh until she cried as he plotted his escape from the hospital. When she sneaked him a Snicker’s bar from the hallway vending machine, she earned a permanent place in his fragile heart.

Colin and Declan were friendly and courteous in the short amount of time she spent with them, and Erin was frazzled as she dashed in and out of the hospital whenever she could find someone to stay with her children. Brandon disappeared for much of the day, and Clare heard rumblings that led her to believe he had a problem with alcohol. The family was anxious about where he had gone.

Colleen took Clare under her wing, sending the message to the rest of her boisterous family that Clare had been accepted by the only one who mattered. As Aidan predicted, Clare won Colleen over forever by insisting on separate bedrooms. The two women sat up talking long after Aidan went to bed.

“I almost had a heart attack myself when Aidan walked in holding your hand,” Colleen confessed. “I’ve been waiting for years to see that again.”

“It might’ve never happened if Dennis hadn’t gotten sick.”

“Oh, I think you’re wrong. I see the way my boy looks at you. He’d have brought you here before much longer.”

Clare smiled. “Maybe.”

“He’s fragile, you know. Life hasn’t been kind to him.”

“I wouldn’t describe him as fragile. At least I wouldn’t want him to hear us using that word.”

“I wouldn’t be his mother if I didn’t ask you to be good to him.”

“I love him, Colleen. You don’t have to ask me to be good to him. He makes it easy.”

Colleen blinked back tears. “Thank you for saying exactly what I needed to hear,” she said in her lilting Irish brogue. “Let me ask you, has he sung for you?”

“He sings?” Clare asked with amazement.

“Beautifully, but not since everything happened with Sarah and the baby. It’s something else in him that seemed to die along with them. He used to play the piano, too. You’ve seen the piano in his house?”

“Yes, but I never thought to ask him about it.”

“It was Sarah’s. She played, too. When I realized he had a talent, I insisted he take piano lessons when he was a boy. He pretended to hate it so his brothers wouldn’t tease him, but I knew he didn’t really. I keep hoping he’ll find his way back to it again.”

Clare shook her head. “There’s so much to him. It astounds me sometimes.”

Colleen smiled in agreement. “I love all my children, but I have a special place in my heart for that boy.”

“So do I,” Clare said, returning her smile.

“I’m going up to bed. Can I get you anything?”

Clare had been fed to the point of explosion earlier. “Not a thing. I’m going up soon, too.”

“Good night, love.” Colleen hugged her and went upstairs.

Clare listened to the house settle as she thought about Aidan. She loved him even more after seeing him with his family. He’d carried on a wicked banter with his brothers and sister, let his nieces and nephews crawl all over him, and had such genuine affection for his parents that it touched her heart. All combined, it painted a more complete picture of him for Clare.

She was jolted out of her thoughts by a crash in the kitchen and got up to investigate.

Brandon stumbled around in the dark.

Clare flipped on the light, and he turned to her, startled.

“Scared the shit out of me,” he slurred.

Clare took a step back. She could smell him from across the room.

He opened the fridge to get a beer.