McCarthys of Gansett Island Boxed Set Books 1-3 (51 page)

“You can’t ask me that!”

“I just did, and you swore you’d tell me the truth.”

“I’m not going to talk to you about that.”

“You just answered my question,” Janey said softly.

“How?”

“If it wasn’t better, you would’ve said so.”

“Now you’re just playing games with me.”

“No, I’m not,” she said. “It’s over, David. We both know it, so let’s not make a mockery of all we shared in the past by hanging on to something that died a long time ago. It’s too bad we both refused to see that. We could’ve saved ourselves a lot of trouble.”

“I thought for sure you would come back to me when I told you about the cancer,” he said sadly.

“I wish I was a better person. I wish I could forget what I saw that day in your apartment and be there for you during your treatment. But I can’t do that. The old Janey might’ve done that, but I’ve changed in the last week, and I can’t go back to who I was before I saw you with her.”

“I’d give anything to take that back.”

She was on the verge of saying she would, too. “You know, you may not understand this, but in hindsight I’m kind of glad I saw you. It probably stopped us from making a huge mistake.”

“I’ll never believe we would’ve made a mistake by getting married.”

“We would have, and it would’ve been so much worse to find that out after the wedding.”

He took her hand again, and she let him. “It’s really over?”

“I’m afraid so. But I hope we can still be friends. I’ll want to know how you’re doing, how you’re feeling, how the treatment is going. Will you keep me informed?”

He nodded. “I’d like for us to be friends, too,” he said, reaching for her.

Engulfed in sadness, Janey leaned into his embrace.

David kissed the top of her head and held her tight against him. “I’m sorry I hurt you. After all the time we were together, you deserved much better from me.”

Tears burned her eyes. Since she couldn’t dispute that statement, she didn’t try.

“Can I ask you something?”

Janey pulled back from him. “Sure.”

“Is it better with him? With Joe?”

Her face heated under his scrutiny, and she was grateful for the dark. “I’m not answering that.”

His face lifted into a sad half smile. “You just did.”

Chapter 17

After everyone left, Maddie cleaned up the kitchen while Mac carried items in from outside. They worked together for about fifteen minutes before she realized he was giving her one-word answers and otherwise not speaking to her. A cold ball of dread lodged in her belly. She’d seen him chase Joe after the confrontation between Janey and David but hadn’t had a chance to ask him what had transpired. By now she had a pretty good idea.

“That’s the last of it,” he said as he put the grill utensils in the sink.

“It was a nice party.”

“Uh-huh.”

“Why don’t we leave the rest for the morning and head up to bed?”

“I’m going for a run.”

“
Now?
”

“Yeah.”

“But it’s so dark! You could get hit by a car.”

“I’ll wear a vest.”

“Mac. . .”

He turned to her, and what she saw on his face stopped her heart.
 

“Why don’t we just talk about it and get it over with?”

“Get what over with?” he asked.

“You’re clearly mad at me.”

“No, I’m disappointed.”

“I couldn’t tell you! You would’ve lost it, and Janey didn’t need that when everything else was such a mess. She begged me not to tell you, and I agreed that was the best thing at the time.”

“So you chose her over me.”

“No.” Her heart ached from the sadness she heard in his voice. “I’d never choose anyone over you or Thomas. You know that.”

“We have a deal, Maddie—a deal
you
insisted on.”

“I know, and I was so torn, but I thought you’d want me to do anything I could to help her. That’s what I tried to do.”

“I wish you had told me. I would’ve been cool about it.”

She shot him a look full of skepticism.

“What? I would’ve been!”

Maddie went to him and curled her arms around his neck. “Do you know one of the things I love best about you?”

“No,” he said, his body rigid and unyielding. His arms dangled loose at his sides, even as she tightened her hold on him.

“Your fierce love for your family. It’s overwhelming and beautiful and it makes you you. As much as you love them all, though, Janey holds a special place in your heart. While you might wish to believe otherwise, you would
not
have understood Joe hooking up with her the same night she found David in bed with another woman. And you would
not
have believed Janey initiated it.”

He tried to wiggle free of her embrace, but Maddie held on tight.
 

“I guess we’ll never know how I would’ve reacted, because no one told me. Am I such a jerk that you guys got together and decided to keep this from me?”

“It wasn’t like that at all. We were protecting you until some time had passed and you would’ve been more reasonable about it.”

“So I’m not a jerk, but I
am
unreasonable?” He reached for her arms to draw them down and away from him.
 

“Mac, honey, come on. Try to understand.”

“I need to get out of here for a while. I’ll be back.” With that he turned and dashed up the stairs to get changed.
 

Frozen, Maddie watched him go, her heart racing. He had never rebuffed her like that before, and she began to wonder if she might lose him over this. “No,” she whispered. “That can’t happen. It just can’t.”

But as she finished cleaning up her sparkling new kitchen and got ready for bed, the thought nagged at her. A life that had once been empty and difficult without him was now joyful and magnificent—or it was until today. First her mother’s disapproval and now this. . . Just what they needed a week before their wedding.

Wearing one of the silk nightgowns he loved so much, Maddie got in bed and pretended to read a book while she waited for him. Her thoughts wandered back to the day she met him. He’d accidentally knocked her off her big clunker of a bike when she was on her way to a housekeeping shift at his parents’ hotel. With her knee, elbow and hand bleeding, she’d been unable to work at the hotel or help out at her sister’s daycare. Mac had stepped in for her, taking her place at both jobs so she wouldn’t lose either of them, and taking care of her and Thomas until she recovered from her injuries. He’d been taking care of them ever since.

More than an hour passed before he finally returned, sweaty and breathing hard as he came into the bedroom and made a beeline for the shower without a word for her. He stayed in there long enough that Maddie deduced he was still avoiding her.
 

Slipping out of bed, she tugged the nightgown over her head on the way into the bathroom and stepped into the spacious, steamy shower.
 

He startled when she put her arms around him and hugged him from behind. “What are you doing?” he asked.

“Hugging you.”

“I thought you were asleep.”

“Were you hoping I’d fall asleep if you stayed gone long enough?”

“Maybe.”

Maddie urged him to turn around. “I could never sleep knowing you’re mad with me.”

“I’m not mad.”

“Disappointed. Same difference. You’re not happy, so I’m not happy.”

He shrugged. “It’s all so screwed up. How could Joe let that happen, especially when she was such a mess?”

“It was all her. He tried to tell her it was a bad idea, but she worked on him until he caved. I’ll tell you what I told her earlier: I think she was halfway in love with him before any of this happened with David.”

Mac shook his head. “I don’t think so.”

“I do.”

“And what makes you so smart?” he asked with a hint of amusement that buoyed her sagging spirits. “You haven’t known us that long.”

“Janey said the same thing,” Maddie said with a small smile and a lot of relief. At least they were talking. “I happen to know that when a man pays special attention to a woman, when he looks at her like she’s the most beautiful creature in the world and hangs on every word she says, of course she starts to have a little crush on him. How can she not?” Reaching for his bottle of soap, she smoothed some over his chest and was gratified when his lower half sprang to life as she massaged him.

“And you have some experience with this, do you?”

“Mmm hmm.
Recent
experience.”

His face shifted into that devilish grin she so adored. “I know what you’re doing.”

“What am I doing?” she asked, full of innocence.

“You think if you get me all worked up that I’ll forget you kept something rather important from me after we made a deal to never do that.”

“It was wrong of me, Mac. I know that now, and I knew it then. But it was what Janey needed at the time, and I really,
really
want her to be my very best friend. Do you know how long it’s been since I had a friend I like as much as I like her?”

He combed his fingers through her long wet hair. “How long?”

“Since my friend Sydney used to come for the summers with her family when we were in high school. We were so close, but we grew apart when she stopped coming out. I saw her a couple of years ago when she was here with her family.”

“She’s Luke’s ex-girlfriend, the one who lost her husband and kids, right?”

Maddie nodded, still saddened by her friend’s terrible tragedy. “Yes.” Maddie had written to her after the accident but hadn’t heard back from her.
 

“Well, you’ll be glad to know I’ve decided to forgive you.”

Maddie looked up at him, a smile tugging at her lips. “Is that so?”

“I asked you to help me take care of my sister, and that’s what you did. I suppose I can’t fault you for not breaking her confidence.”

“She’s all grown up, Mac, and she has to follow her own heart, even if it leads her to Joe.”

“I know that,” he said through gritted teeth.

“Wouldn’t you love to see them together?”

“Of course I would. I just can’t bear the idea of any guy—even him—taking advantage of her.”

“He didn’t, Mac. I promise you, he didn’t. He tried to tell her it was a bad idea, but she convinced him it was what she wanted.”

“Are they together now?”

“Not officially. They’d planned to keep it quiet until after the wedding. I’m not sure what’ll happen now that David blasted them out of the closet.”

“So what? Joe spent a couple of nights with her and that’s that?”

“They’ve got a lot to work out.” She squeezed out more soap and massaged her way down his back to his muscular backside.
 

He groaned. “Your evil plan seems to be working quite well,” he said, glancing down at his erection.
 

Maddie giggled and ran soapy hands over his most sensitive parts.

“Mmm.” He reached for her and pulled her in close, capturing her mouth in a deep, passionate kiss.

“Will you do something for me?” Maddie asked when they came up for air.

His hands moved over her, awakening her body. “Anything.”

“Don’t run away the next time you’re mad or disappointed or upset. Stay with me and work it out?”

“I will.” His hands coasted over her back. Suddenly, he lifted her and pressed her against the wall.

Maddie gasped when warm skin met cold tile. She ran her fingers through his wet hair and then skimmed them over the stubble on his jaw. “Promise?”

“I promise.” He kissed his way up her neck and rolled her earlobe between his teeth.

Maddie arched her back, seeking him. “Mac. . .”

“Tell me what you want.”

She clutched a handful of his hair and wrapped her legs around his hips. “You. Only you.”

He entered her in one swift stroke that stole the breath from her lungs.
 

She held on tight as he took her hard and fast against the wall. “Oh,
God
, Mac. . .”

When he bent his head to suck on her nipple, they reached the finish line at the same exact instant.

Maddie came back down to find him gazing intently at her.
 

“I love you so much,” she said.
 

He kissed her nose. “I love you, too.”

“I was so afraid. . .”

Mac leaned into her, keeping her pressed tight against the wall. “Of what?”

“That I’d lose you over this. We had a deal, and I didn’t keep my end of it.”

“Let’s make a new deal, okay?”

She nodded.

He moved the damp hair off her face and trailed his finger over her cheek. “No matter what happens, no matter how big a fight we have or how mad you make me or how crazy things get, I will never, ever leave you.”