Page 29 of Delivery After Dark (Gansett Island #28)

A fter Morgan left, Sierra floated through her morning routine feeling oddly disconnected from reality.

Everything seemed softer, sweeter, full of possibilities and new beginnings.

He’d said all the right things when she expressed concern about diving all in with him, only to be devastated if or when he decided to return to his life on the mainland.

She recalled when Duke had faced a similar dilemma the first time he was engaged and his fiancée decided she couldn’t handle living full time on the island where Duke had found the first real family he’d ever had.

Duke had struggled with the conundrum of trying to make the relationship work when she didn’t want to live where he’d made a real home for himself, not to mention the successful business he now owned after working there for years.

Ultimately, he’d ended it with her because he couldn’t conceive of living anywhere else, and while he’d suffered over the loss for a time, he’d done the right thing. His friends had agreed that he wouldn’t have been happy living on the mainland, even if it meant he got to be with her.

Now that he was madly in love with McKenzie, he could see that he’d truly done the right thing in letting go of the relationship with Lynn.

He never would’ve met McKenzie if he hadn’t stayed on Gansett and stepped up for her after Hurricane Ethel flattened the home she’d inherited from her grandmother.

Things worked out the way they were meant to.

She believed that and had seen it happen more than once.

Like for her friend Jace Carson. At one time, all the odds had been stacked against Jace, and look at him now, playing a role in the lives of his sons and happily in love with Cindy Lawry.

His story had inspired her to chase her own dreams, which had included finding a partner to share her life with who lifted her up rather than dragged her down.

Would Morgan turn out to be that partner?

She didn’t know yet, but after last night, she’d begun to think he could be.

Her first client of the day was her friend Piper, who came breezing through the door at five minutes before eleven with a coffee for Sierra.

“Bless you,” Sierra said as she took the cup and gave Piper a quick hug. “How’s everything?”

“Couldn’t be better.”

“I take it things are going well with Jack?”

“Can you keep a secret?”

“Duh. Of course I can.”

Piper laughed. “I know, but it’s so weird to say it out loud.”

“Say what?”

“That I think I’m in love.”

“Again—duh. I’ve known that for weeks now.”

“What do you mean?”

“Piper… Honestly… You can’t talk about that man without lighting up like a woman in love.”

“Really?”

“Yes, silly.”

Piper frowned and seemed to be less than thrilled by a development that should’ve made her deliriously happy.

“What’s wrong?”

“I’m not sure how he feels. We’re together every night, and it’s so, so good, and he seems totally into me the way I am with him, but…”

“What?”

“I don’t know. There’s something not quite right, and I’m afraid to ask him because I might not like what he says.”

Sierra put an arm around Piper and guided her into the break room at the end of the hallway, while knowing the delay would throw off her schedule. What did that matter when her friend was in distress? They sat at her little table with their coffees.

“I’m sorry to dump this on you, but my friends at the hotel are so excited about Jack that I couldn’t bring it up with them…”

“What do you think is going on with him?”

“If I had to guess… It’s probably that things got real between us very quickly, and maybe he wasn’t quite ready for that after losing his wife.”

“I don’t think that’s it,” Sierra said. “I’ve seen you two together. The man is wild about you. He barely takes his eyes off you and is always touching you and making sure you’re okay. I think he feels the same way you do.”

“Really?”

“Yes, of course he does.”

Piper rubbed her abdomen. “I just have this feeling, right here… Something isn’t right.”

“You need to ask him.”

“I can’t.” Tears filled her eyes and spilled down her cheeks.

“If he says we’re over, I don’t know if I’d survive it.

And yes, I’m aware that sounds ridiculously dramatic, but it’s true.

When I think about how I almost married the wrong guy…

” She shuddered. “Jack has shown me how it’s supposed to be, and all I want is more of that. More of him.”

“Just say that to him—exactly that.”

“It makes me sick to think about what he might say.”

“You don’t need to worry. I’m sure of it. Maybe he’s wrestling with something that has nothing to do with you, and you’re picking up on the tension. You might be making yourself sick over nothing.”

“You’re right. I need to be a big girl and confront it head on.”

“You’ll feel better after you talk to him, and don’t worry about him wanting out. That’s not it. I’m sure of it.”

“Thank you, Sierra. I really appreciate your advice.”

“That’s what I’m here for. Relaxation and life advice.”

“Haha, right.”

“Let’s get your treatment started. You’ll feel better after that, too.”

“I always do.”

While Piper got settled in the room, Sierra refilled her water bottle and ate a protein bar.

She hated to see her friend so upset when things had been going well for her since she started seeing the handsome state police officer.

Several years ago, he’d lost his wife to breast cancer, and Piper was his first serious relationship since that difficult loss.

She’d said once before that she knew the odds were stacked against them, as the first relationship after a loss like that often failed.

She’d been determined to beat those grim odds.

Sierra knocked on the door.

“Come on in.”

Inside the room, she got busy making sure her friend had a nice, relaxing treatment that would enable her to talk to Jack about the things weighing on her.

“Now for breaking news,” Piper said as she lay facedown on the table. “How’d it go with Morgan?”

“It went all night.”

Piper’s head came up off the pillow. “Okay, what? You let me go on and on about Jack when you were sitting on that ?”

Sierra laughed. “Your thing is more important.”

“No way, girl. Spill the tea, and don’t leave out any of the dirty details.”

She gave her friend an overview of the evening’s events without giving too much away.

“Oh, I love this for you!”

Sierra worked on Piper’s neck and shoulders. “Don’t get too excited. I’m trying to keep myself in check over here. Who knows how long he’ll be here before he has to go back to his real life?”

“What’s he saying about that?”

“He’s not sure of anything yet, and he’s being honest about that, thus me trying to proceed with caution, which didn’t go so well last night.”

“Was it fun?”

“Um, yeah, you could say that.”

“So it was good, then?”

“‘Spectacular’ is a better word.”

Piper let out a girlish shriek. “I love this so much!”

“We’re not getting excited yet, remember?”

“How’s that going for you?”

“Not so great. I really like him. And we have a connection, the kind that doesn’t come along very often.”

“I know all about that rare connection.”

“He’s like your Jack in some ways. He’s been through so much. I’m not sure he’s ready for anything like this.”

“I get it. It’s a gamble to go all in with someone who’s grieving a big loss, but it can also be thrilling to bring light and joy back to their lives.”

“That’s a nice way to put it.”

“Every time Jack laughs or smiles, it feels like a victory of sorts. It happens a lot more often than it did when we were first together.”

“Which is another reason why you have nothing to worry about where he’s concerned.”

“We’re not talking about me. We’re talking about you and Morgan.”

“There’s no me and Morgan. We had a fun night. Who knows if it’ll go anywhere from there?”

“I bet it will.”

“I guess we’ll see, won’t we?”

“Yes, we will, and I can’t wait to hear all about it.”

Though he hadn’t slept much during the night, Morgan pushed himself through a workout while Terry watched the gym’s reception desk for him.

As he lifted free weights with much more energy than he should’ve had, Morgan relived his night with Sierra for the third time since he’d left her place, wanting to commit every second of it to memory.

From when he’d picked her up until they parted company this morning, their time together had felt almost magical to him, which wasn’t a word he used lightly.

Not much in his life had been magical . He’d had much more tragedy than magic and was almost afraid to trust his own instincts when trying to describe how it’d felt to be with her.

She’d given him something he hadn’t known he needed until she provided it—soft sweetness, which he wouldn’t have expected from her before last night.

While she was always super friendly and warm, there was an untouchable aura about her, too.

Like she didn’t let just anyone get close, and if you were lucky enough to make the cut, you damned well better be worth it.

Morgan was fairly certain he’d met the moment, but he wouldn’t know for certain until he saw her again.

Duke Sullivan came over to say hello while Morgan was resting between sets. “How’s it going?”

“Good. You?”

“Every day is a good day on Gansett Island.”

“Is that right?”

“Sorry. Shouldn’t have said it like that.”

“What do you mean?”

“You’ve had a few not-so-great days here.”

“I knew what you meant. No worries. And today’s been a great day so far.”

“Glad to hear it. So you know how news travels around here. Heard you were out with Sierra last night.”

“That’s right.” Morgan looked up at Duke, who was muscular and covered in colorful tattoos. “Something you want to say, Duke?”

“Just that she means a lot to me and a bunch of other people. Wouldn’t want to see her get hurt.”

“That’s certainly not my goal.”

Duke nodded, seeming a bit flustered or something. “I don’t mean to step out of line.”

“You didn’t. You’re looking out for your friend. I get it.”