Page 6 of Delivery After Dark (Gansett Island #28)

A fter the chief and his wife had moved on to visit with others, Oliver turned to Morgan. “That was really nice of you to think of Ashleigh.”

Morgan shrugged. “I feel for a kid struggling to understand things most adults can’t handle.”

“Dara and I lost our three-year-old son in an accident. I was a fully grown man and almost didn’t survive that loss. I can’t begin to imagine how a child would cope with such a thing.”

“I’m sorry about your son.”

“Thanks. We’re doing better, but it stays with you, as you certainly know.”

“It reshapes you into a whole different version of yourself.”

Oliver glanced at him, moved by the profound observation. “Yes, it does. That was well said.”

“If you ever want to grab a beer with someone who gets it, I’m your guy.”

“Thanks, Morgan. I’ll definitely take you up on that.”

“Please do. I need it as much as you do.”

Everyone wanted a moment with Morgan, so Oliver went to find Dara and Monique, who were seated again at their table with Linc.

“How’s he doing?” Dara asked.

“He seems to be okay, all things considered. Are you guys ready to head home?”

“I am, but Monique is going to hang out with Linc in town.”

“And what are your intentions, young man?”

The other three stared at him, mouths agape.

Oliver snorted with laughter. “I wish you could see your faces.”

“I can’t believe you said that!” Monique said, sputtering.

“You can’t?” Oliver raised a brow in her direction. “Really?”

“Well, I believe it, but I don’t have to like it.”

“Anyway, Linc, what exactly are your intentions toward my much-loved sister-in-law?”

“I, uh… Well…”

Oliver rolled his eyes. “Articulate.”

“Leave him alone, Ollie,” Dara said.

“It’s a fair question,” Linc said. “Let me just say that I like Monique a lot. I thought about her all the time after she left, and we’ve talked a lot on the phone and by FaceTime.

” He glanced at Monique, who seemed to be holding her breath.

“I’m very happy she came back and that I get to spend some time with her while she’s here.

You can rest easy that she’ll be very safe and well cared for with me. ” He looked back at Oliver. “Okay?”

“I can live with that.”

Monique rolled her eyes at him. “Go away.”

“Your sister is rude,” he said to Dara as he helped her up.

“And you’re a pain in my ass,” Monique said.

Oliver grinned at her. “You love me.”

“It’s a good thing I do, or I might be tempted to punch your lights out.”

“Easy, killer. Don’t show Linc how crazy you are right out of the gate.”

Linc rocked with laughter.

“I apologize for my husband and sister,” Dara said to him. “If they aren’t bickering, they aren’t happy.”

“I see that,” Linc said.

“Midnight curfew,” Oliver said as they walked away. “Don’t be late.”

Monique gave him the finger.

His work there was finished.

After he’d spoken with what seemed like a hundred different people, Morgan took a seat at the bar next to Sierra.

Jace put a fresh draft beer on the bar and pushed it toward him. “On the house, my friend.”

“Thanks, Jace. Appreciate you guys opening the bar early for the reception.”

“No problem at all. We were glad to do it.”

When Jace moved on to see to other customers, Morgan turned to Sierra, taking in her spiky dark hair, multiple ear piercings and colorful sleeve tattoos that were on full display due to the tank-style top she wore that showed off some of her considerable curves.

“Thanks for being there today. Meant a lot to me.”

“Oh. Sure. How’re you doing?”

“Today’s been a bit of a roller coaster. I hate the reason for this gathering, but the people on this island have restored my faith in humanity since Billy died.”

“I’m glad you’re feeling the love. It’s a special place.”

“Billy used to tell me how great it was and how much he loved living here, but until I experienced it for myself as an adult, I didn’t really get just how incredible it is.

I never would’ve gotten through these last few months without all the support that came my way from people I’ve known all my life and others I’d never met. ”

“They knew Billy. That’s enough for them.”

From behind them, Niall Fitzgerald rested a hand on Morgan’s shoulder. “Just wanted to say hello and tell you I thought your eulogy was beautiful.”

“Thanks, man.” Morgan turned to shake Niall’s hand. “Nice of you to be there and to sing for Billy. I appreciate it, and Billy would have, too.”

“He was a friend. Looked forward to seeing him every day at the gym.”

“So many people have said that.”

“He was a bright light around here. He’ll be missed.”

“Thanks again. Appreciate it.”

After Niall went to set up for his set, Morgan turned back to Sierra. “That Irish accent must have the ladies lining up behind him.”

“He’s not interested in them.”

“Oh, I see.”

“He and John Lawry had been seeing each other, but something went down between them recently. Not sure what, but I don’t think they’re together anymore.”

“Is John related to Owen who owns the Sand and Surf?”

“Owen’s younger brother. There’re a bunch of Lawrys here.”

“I know Owen, Cindy and Julia, who did such a beautiful job today.”

“I was in tears listening to her. She sang some of my late grandmother’s favorite hymns.”

“They were our grandmother’s favorites, too. That’s why I picked them. The only religion we got was when we went to church with her.”

“Same here. It didn’t stick for me, but those hymns took me right back to being with her.”

“You were close to her?”

“She was my favorite person growing up. She died when I was thirteen. That was a rough loss.”

“Mine died when I was fifteen. It sucked.”

Sierra held up her wineglass in a toast. “Cheers to your Nana and mine.”

He touched his glass to hers. “Cheers to Nana.”

Niall had been going through the motions for weeks now.

Get up, go to work at the Island Breeze Recording Studio, perform four gigs a week at the Beachcomber, go home, go to bed, rinse and repeat.

He’d begun to think about relocating back to the mainland to get away from the island and the memories of the man he’d fallen in love with.

John had said he needed some time to think after the intense night they’d spent together during the hurricane.

He’d hoped that night would be the start of something great.

Instead, the opposite had happened. John’s youngest brother, Jeff, had been badly injured during the storm.

John had spent a few weeks in Providence supporting Jeff and his girlfriend, Kelsey, as they recovered from their injuries.

He’d come back to the island a different person, or so it seemed to Niall. No more flirty texts or late nights spent talking and getting to know each other or any of the other things they’d enjoyed together.

It was devastating to have come so close to the real thing, only to have it yanked away like their connection had meant nothing to John.

If only he knew why. Yes, he’d been John’s first significant relationship after another one had ended disastrously, but he’d tried to show him how great it could be if only he were willing to take a chance and open his heart to the possibilities.

Apparently, he wasn’t able to, and Niall was working on trying to accept that, which wasn’t going well at all.

He had to force himself through the most basic tasks each day—showering, getting dressed, eating a little something…

Even playing for the crowd at the Beachcomber wasn’t the usual thrill, as it was all he could do to sing love songs with the conviction needed to be entertaining.

Life was a major drag, with no chance of anything changing to make it better.

John’s silence was an answer, even if it wasn’t the one Niall had hoped for.

Being on this tiny island, in the off-season, made it more likely they’d run into each other somewhere like the grocery store or the pharmacy or somewhere else everyone had to go eventually.

That hadn’t happened yet, and he’d stopped hoping it would. What good would it do to come face-to-face with the one he wanted but couldn’t have? That would only make a bad situation worse.

He sang “Brown Eyed Girl” because familiar favorites usually got the crowd singing, too, which took some of the pressure off him.

Every face in the place was familiar to him since the tourists had left, which was usually comforting.

Now, though, the only face he wanted to see was the only one that wasn’t there.

Many of the island’s year-round residents had turned out to support Billy’s brother, Morgan, and a lot of them had ended up at the Beachcomber.

He’d looked for John at the funeral, since he was a regular at the gym and had been friendly with Billy.

If he was at the service, though, Niall hadn’t seen him.

Perhaps that was strategic on John’s part.

Ugh, he hated thinking about this nonstop.

That was the primary reason he’d stayed single after ending a long relationship back home in Ireland.

He’d had enough heartbreak then and had vowed to steer clear of the whole mess when he came to Gansett.

That plan had worked well until John made him forget all about his plan to stay single. And look at where that had gotten him.

Niall caught Jace looking at him with an odd expression on his face. You okay? He mouthed the question so no one else would hear him ask it.

Why was Jace asking him that?

After realizing he’d zoned out between songs, Niall nodded and forced his attention to the music that’d been his salvation before and would be again. If that didn’t work for him, he had no idea what would.

Tiffany had wanted to come to support Morgan, but the longer they were there, the worse she felt about being away from Ashleigh.

Her mom was with Ash, which was the next best thing to Tiffany herself, but she couldn’t shake the feeling that she needed to be with her little girl around the clock to keep a watch on her, even if that wasn’t feasible.

Ash had gone back to school a couple of weeks after Jim’s body was found, and she’d done pretty well getting back into her routine. Tiffany was in regular contact with her teacher and had picked her up early a few times when she’d been having a rough day.

Nothing could’ve prepared her or Blaine or their extended family for the challenge of helping a seven-year-old through the sudden loss of her father. Add that to the complicated feelings Tiffany had toward Jim, and it’d been a rough couple of months.

In the last hour, there’d also been a nagging pain in her midsection that was becoming harder to ignore.

She shouldn’t have eaten that piece of pizza from the food table.

Everything gave her heartburn in the third trimester, especially tomato sauce.

She knew better, and now she was paying the price.

Except the pain wasn’t the usual sting of heartburn. This was more like a hard cramp in her side that intensified every few minutes.

“What’s wrong?” Blaine asked.

“Nothing.”

“You keep flinching.”

“Do I?”

He nodded. “Twice in the last ten minutes.”

“I have a weird pain in my side.”

“What kind of pain?”

“The kind that hurts.” She gasped when it showed up again, harder than ever this time. “It can’t be the baby. It’s too soon.”

“Let’s get you to the clinic right now.”

Tiffany bit back a moan. She didn’t want to go to the clinic. She wanted to get home to her girls.

Blaine didn’t give her a chance to object as he helped her up and held her while she got her bearings.

A gush of liquid between her legs caught her by surprise as she looked down to see a watery mess on the floor.

“Oh my God.” Blaine picked her up and rushed her out of there so fast, her head spun as the people they passed went by in a blur of concern and curiosity.

He had her to his police department SUV in a matter of seconds, buckled her in and ran for the driver’s seat.

They launched out of the Beachcomber parking lot with the siren blaring.

“Is that necessary?” she asked of the siren between sharp pains.

“Yeah, it is.”

He drove faster than he ever had before with her in the car and pulled up to the clinic less than a minute later.

Tiffany released her seat belt and was about to get out of the car when he was there to pick her up and carry her inside.

“I can walk.”

“You don’t need to. I’m here.”

Before she could reply, another sharp pain stole the breath from her lungs.

“She’s having pain, and her water broke,” Blaine said to Katie Lawry McCarthy, the nurse at the front desk. “The baby isn’t due for six more weeks.”

“Right this way,” Katie said.

As they followed her to an exam room, they encountered their friend Dan Torrington in the hallway. “What’s up, guys?”

“Tiffany may be in labor six weeks early. What about you?”

“Kara’s in labor right on time. I hope everything is okay with your little one.”

“Same to you,” Blaine said as he deposited Tiffany on the bed in one of the exam rooms.

She was seized by another sharp pain, followed by intense pressure to push.

“Let’s get you undressed,” Katie said, moving quickly to help Tiffany out of her clothes and into a gown.

Nurse Practitioner/Midwife Victoria Stevens came into the room, pulling on gloves. That she didn’t say hello or crack the usual joke or do anything other than get right down to business only added to Tiffany’s considerable anxiety—and Blaine’s, judging by the tense way he held himself.

“It’s too early,” Tiffany said.

“Babies have minds of their own.” Vic smiled as she examined her. “And your baby is coming right now. Let’s get ready to deliver.”

“Is it safe to have him this early?” Blaine asked.

“We’ll do everything we can to make sure mom and baby are just fine,” Victoria said. “I’ll be right back.” To Katie, she added, “Call David. Tell him I need him.”

Terrified, Tiffany reached for Blaine, and he was there to wrap his arms around her and comfort her with his presence. As long as he was right by her side, she could convince herself that nothing could go wrong.

“You’re shaking, baby,” Blaine said.

“I’m so scared.”

“I have total faith in Victoria, David and Katie. They know what they’re doing.”

“What if the baby is too little?” They’d chosen not to find out the baby’s sex, but Tiffany was convinced it was a boy. Everything about this pregnancy had been different from the ones with her girls.

“I’m sure he or she will be strong like Ash and Addie are.”

Tears filled her eyes as her chin wobbled. “I don’t want to lose this baby.”

“You won’t. I have a good feeling about this little person. They’re showing us who’s the boss from the start. Imagine what the teen years will be like.”

She appreciated his efforts to help her think about anything other than the growing need to push and the fear that something could go terribly wrong.