Page 50 of Delivery After Dark (Gansett Island #28)

S hell-shocked. That was the only way to describe the parents who boarded the eight o’clock ferry on the way to their daughter’s graduation in Ohio. They’d been up all night with four baby grandsons, helping out wherever they could as they were changed, fed, soothed, rinse and repeat.

Big Mac went straight to the snack bar for two coffees while Linda landed at a picnic table, too tired to keep her head up.

They were leaning against each other, eyes closed, hands wrapped around coffee cups, when Seamus and Carolina joined them.

“Well, isn’t this a lively group?” Seamus said as they slid onto the bench across the table from them.

“Up all night,” Linda said as she yawned. “Four babies is a lot.”

“How’re the parents doing?” Seamus asked.

“Probably better than the grandparents, since they’re thirty years younger than us,” Big Mac said.

Seamus chuckled at their sorry state.

“How’s the leg, Caro?” Linda asked.

Carolina had fallen in the shower and broken her leg months ago. “Better all the time, but I brought the cane because it acts up when I overdo it.”

“Good call.” Linda returned her head to Big Mac’s shoulder. “Wake me up when we get to Ohio.”

They slept the entire way to Point Judith and on the way to the airport while Seamus drove Big Mac’s truck.

They nodded off in the waiting area before they boarded the plane and then slept all the way to Columbus, waking up feeling slightly more rested but still dragging as they were greeted by Joe, Janey, PJ and Vi in a flurry of hugs and kisses and frantic excitement.

“I thought they were going to spontaneously combust waiting for you guys to get here,” Janey said of her kids as she hugged her parents.

“I thought you were going to,” Joe said to his wife.

Janey laughed. “I almost did. This is what I was picturing every minute of the last few months—the second you guys would arrive for graduation, and we’d never have to be apart again.”

“I’m here for that,” Big Mac said, yawning.

Janey took a closer look at her parents. “You guys look rough. Was the flight bad?”

“They’re hungover from wrangling quadruplets all night,” Seamus said.

“Ah, I see,” Janey said. “We’ll put you down for a nap.”

“No naps!” PJ said to laughter from the adults.

Janey and Joe led the way to where they’d parked both their cars. “Caro, you’re walking so much better than you were the last time we saw you.”

“I’m getting there. Slowly but surely.”

“Will you be ready to swim at the beach next summer, Gran?” PJ asked her.

She slung an arm around her grandson. “You bet I will.”

“In case I forget to tell you later,” Janey said, “this is the greatest week of my life. Not only do I get my degree—finally—but we get to come home to where we belong—finally.”

“Before I forget to tell you, sweetheart,” Big Mac said, “I’ve never been prouder in my life than I am of my new DVM.”

“Thank you, Daddy. Thank you all for making this possible.”

“What Dad said,” Linda added. “We couldn’t be happier to see this dream come true for you. Better late than never.”

“Cheers to Dr. Jane McCarthy Cantrell, DVM,” Big Mac said.

“Surely they’ll sleep at some point, right?” Adam asked Abby after the longest night of their lives. The only one who’d gotten any sleep was Liam, who was now up and running around, full of energy and wanting to know what they were doing that day.

“Dada, we go to the park?”

“Maybe later, pal. Dada is cooked.”

Liam’s dark brows furrowed in confusion.

“The babies were awake all night, and so were we.”

“No babies,” Liam said with a scowl. “Park.”

“How about some breakfast?” Abby took his hand and led him into the kitchen as Ned and Francine arrived with coffee and doughnuts.

“I’d ask how it’s goin’,” Ned said, “but one look at ya tells the story.”

“Bless you,” Adam said as he took a coffee from Ned.

“What can we do to help?” Francine asked.

“You know anything about babies?”

“As a matter of fact, I have twin training,” Francine said. “Take a break. Grandma Francine is on the job.”

“Thank you both,” Adam said, choked up all at once. “You don’t have to…”

Ned squeezed his shoulder. “Yer kids are our kids. Just how it is. Plus, yer down a coupla grandparents for the next little while.”

“This is true.”

“We gotcha covered.”

“You’re the best. Thank you.”

“Our pleasha.”

Francine had Beckett in her arms and was walking him around the room with grandmotherly expertise.

Ned soon followed with Kane on one shoulder and Rory on the other.

With things temporarily under control, Adam took one of the coffees to Abby. “Ned and Francine to the rescue.”

“That’s so lovely of them.”

“We’re blessed with an abundance of grandparents who’ll get us through this.”

“Thank God for them.” Abby sat with Liam while he ate his cereal. “This guy is all out of sorts.”

“Maybe a trip to the p-a-r-k with Dada might fix what ails him,” Adam said, though it was the last thing on earth he felt like doing.

“You might be right. I read that keeping his routine as close to the way it was before the babies arrived will help him make the transition, and trips to the park with Dada are his favorite thing.”

“Park!” Liam banged his spoon on the high-chair tray. “Park now!”

“Jeez, who’s the boss around here, anyway?” Adam said, amused by his son.

“It appears we’ve been relegated to hired-help status for the next eighteen years.”

Adam kissed his wife. “I wouldn’t have it any other way.”

Every time the phone rang for days after Brooks’s visit, Lizzie’s heart stopped as she wondered if this would be the call that would ruin her life forever. By the third day, she was fighting to hold on to what was left of her sanity when Jared’s phone rang.

“It’s him,” Jared said. “Brooks.”

Lizzie couldn’t think or breathe or do anything other than sit perfectly still while her daughter slept in the other room, unaware that her whole life could change as the result of one phone call.

He put the call on speaker. “This is Jared James.”

“It’s Brooks.”

“Hi, Brooks. We’re glad you called.”

Were they glad? Really? That would depend on what he had to say.

“I’m sorry it took a few days to reach out. I can’t imagine how hard this is for you guys, and I’m also sorry for putting you through this. It’s just that… Well… I needed to see her. My daughter.”

Lizzie’s heart fell into her stomach as it became clear she wasn’t going to get the outcome she’d hoped and prayed for.

“It was a shock to find out she existed, and I hope you understand that I needed to see her.”

“We do,” Jared said as his warm hand on hers made her realize how cold she was. “We get it.”

“Look, I’m not out to upset her life—or yours. It’s obvious that you love her very much. It’s just that… Well, I’d like for her to know me. And my parents. Do you think that might be possible?”

“Yes,” Lizzie said without hesitation. “We’d be fine with that.”

“Really? You would?”

“All we want is to be able to raise her as our daughter.” Lizzie’s gaze was locked on Jared’s as she hoped he agreed. “If that means we share her with you on occasion, we can live with that.”

Jared nodded and squeezed her hand.

“I… I didn’t think… Despite what you said the other day…” A soft sob echoed through the phone. “I thought you’d say no.”

“We’re not saying no,” Jared said. “Does this mean you won’t contest the adoption?”

After a long pause, Brooks said, “I won’t contest it.”

Oxygen flooded Lizzie’s system as her chest expanded for the first time since Kendall had told them Violet’s father had reached out. Tears poured from her eyes and Jared’s.

“Thank you,” he said for both of them. “Thank you so much.”

“Thank you for letting me be part of her life. I promise not to get in the way.”

“You’re welcome in her life—and in ours. We’ll stay in touch, okay?”

“That sounds good. Tell her… Tell her I love her, will you?”

“We will,” Jared said.

They said their goodbyes, and Jared ended the call.

Then Lizzie was in his arms, sobbing her heart out as he did the same. And then they were laughing even as the tears still flowed.

“She’s ours,” Lizzie said. “She’s really going to be ours.”

“She’s always been ours. We’re just making it official.”

“We need to text Kendall and Dan.”

“I will.” He held her as tightly as he ever had. “In a minute.”

The days flew by in a flurry of preholiday madness for Sierra, as many of her regular customers treated themselves to some relaxation amid the chaos of preparations, family gatherings, parties, shopping and wrapping.

At six o’clock on the twenty-third, she closed the studio door for the next ten days, excited for a much-needed break and visit to Providence to see her dad and extended family.

If only a sense of dread wasn’t hanging over the festive season as she tried to keep herself from completely losing her heart to a man who might or might not be leaving the place she called home before too much longer.

They’d spent every night together for weeks.

She’d never felt closer or more connected to a man than she did to Morgan, and despite her best efforts to contain her feelings for him, she’d fallen deeply in love for the first time in her life.

What should’ve been the happiest time ever was overshadowed by unanswered questions that kept her awake long after Morgan had drifted off to sleep at night.

She was running on fumes and letting her emotions rule her, but how could she help it? Her phone buzzed with a text from her dad.

Got time to talk?

They’d been playing text-tag for days, and even though she was eager to see Morgan, she took a few minutes to call her best pal.

“Is this my long-lost daughter who has no time for her old man these days?”

“Um, hello? I’m not the one who’s been hosting parties every day for weeks.”

“I’m getting out of the holiday party business next year.”

“You’ve said that every December for twenty years.”

“This time, I mean it.”

“I’ll believe it when I see it.”

“When am I going to see you ?”

“I’m on the noon boat tomorrow, so around one or so.” Tell him. Tell him you’re not coming alone. Why are you being so weird about this? “So, um, Dad, you didn’t have much to say about me bringing a friend home with me. I hope it’s okay.”

“Because you never said what kinda friend you were bringing.”

“The boyfriend kind.”

“Well… This is an interesting development. My little girl using the ‘boyfriend’ word.”

“I know, right?”

“What’s his story?”

“Remember how I told you that two local men were killed in the storm?”

“Yeah, and I read about them. Sad stuff.”

“Definitely. One of them was his brother, the last remaining member of his immediate family.”

“Not that lawyer who got himself in trouble?”

“No, the other one. He owned the gym out here, and Morgan, his brother, has been here since September, dealing with Billy’s business and estate. We’ve gotten to know each other, and I don’t want him to spend Christmas alone.”

“Course not. Bring him. The more the merrier.”

“He’ll stay in my room with me—and you’re not going to make a thing of it. You hear me?”

“I hear ya.”

“What? No arguments? No reminders of how I was raised or what my mother would have to say about me living in sin?”

Her dad chuckled. “Clearly, I don’t need to tell you any of that. All I’ll say is I’ve waited a long time to see you find someone who makes you happy. If your Morgan does that, then all is well.”

“Thank you, Daddy.”

“I can’t wait to see you, Boo.”

“Same. I’ll text when we’re on the way to Providence.”

“I’ll make the manicotti for you.”

“Guess what? Morgan loves Mancini’s.”

“Find out what his favorite is, and I’ll make it, too.”

“Love you.”

“Love you, too, baby girl. Can’t wait to see you.”

“Same here.”

Sierra was relieved to have him on board and excited to meet Morgan as she took the stairs to home, planning to shower and change before he arrived for dinner.

After he’d completely rewired her building, she planned to take him out for a nice dinner to thank him for all the time he’d spent on the project.

But when she threw open her door, she stopped short at the sight of candles, a bottle of wine and a sexy man waiting for her.