she said, “That’s better than any license could ever be, and besides, I already have the best license ever—the marriage license.”
“That’s true. Best license for sure.” He shifted his hand to her rounded abdomen. “How’s the Peanut?”
“Doing well, but sitting on Mommy’s bladder.”
“Let’s get going so you can stretch.”
They got out of the plane and worked together to tie it down before retrieving their bags from the back. Slim took hold of her hand as they walked to the parking lot, stopping only so Erin could use the restroom. “Best thing I ever did was pick you up on the side of the road that night,” he said as he often did.
“Stop saying it like I was a hooker or something!”
“Why stop now? It’s tradition. And holy shit, it’s hot on Gansett.”
“I was just going to say the same thing. The last time it was this hot, Jenny almost roasted to death in the lighthouse.”
“I hope the AC is working at Sarah and Charlie’s,” Slim said. “Or it’s gonna be a hot one.”
“How can it not be working?” Sarah asked Charlie. “It’s brand-new.”
“I’m working on it, sweetheart. Go do something else and try not to worry.”
“Right. Don’t worry about the AC not working on the hottest day of the year when we’ve got a hundred people coming.”
“What’s not working?” Sarah’s son John asked when he came into the kitchen wearing only a pair of shorts in deference to the heat. His blond hair was a mess, and his jaw was covered in scruff. The older he got, the more he resembled his eldest brother, Owen.
“The AC.”
“Oh damn. You need help, Charlie?”
“Only if you know how to fix an AC compressor.”
“I wish I did.” A second later, John called from the kitchen, “Uh, Mom? I don’t think it’s just the AC. The coffeemaker isn’t working either.”
“What?” Sarah left the utility room where Charlie was working on the AC and went into the kitchen. She stopped short when she noticed the power was off to all the appliances. “Charlie! We’ve lost power. That’s why the AC isn’t working. Did we trip a circuit breaker?”
“I’m checking them,” Charlie said.
Sarah’s cell phone rang, and she took a call from Owen. “Hi, honey. You won’t believe what’s going on over here.”
“Do you guys have power?”
“No, we just noticed it’s out. Why?”
“We’re out, too. We’re hearing the whole island is.”
The news hit Sarah like a punch to the gut. “Oh my God. I have a fridge full of food, no way to cook it and it’s hot as hell. This is a five-alarm housewarming disaster.”
Her youngest son, Jeff, walked into the kitchen, brown hair standing on end, face covered in stubble and, like his older brother, wearing only a pair of athletic shorts. She loved seeing her boys a little disheveled, free to be themselves now that they were out from under the ruthless reign of their military officer father, who’d demanded their children always be “squared away.” Whatever that meant.
“What’s going on?” Jeff asked.
“The power’s out, and Mom’s melting down,” John said.
“Literally,” Sarah said, wiping sweat from her brow. “What’re we going to do?”
“Send the boys over to the Surf with Charlie’s truck,” Owen said. “We’ve got a couple of grills we can move to your house.”
“We need extra coolers and ice, too.”
“I’ll give you what I can spare.”
“Thank you, O. That’s great.” Sarah’s mind whirled with contingency plans. Hopefully, the power wouldn’t be out for long and their party wouldn’t be a complete disaster. “The boys will be there soon.”
“I’ll be over to help out in a bit.”
“Don’t worry about us if Laura needs you at the hotel.”
“We’re covered for the day so we could be free to enjoy the party. No worries.”
“Then I gratefully accept your help.”
“See you soon.”
Sarah went to plug her phone back into the charger before realizing there was no point. “Boys, your brother wants you to bring Charlie’s truck to the Surf to pick up a couple of extra grills, some coolers and ice. Can you do that for me?”
“Sure,” John said. “Can we use your grill to make coffee?”
“Do you know how to do that?” Sarah asked.
“Do it all the time when I’m camping.”
“Make it a double, bro,” Jeff said.
“Coming right up.”
While John went out to the deck to fire up the grill she and Charlie had bought for their new house on a trip to the mainland a week ago, Sarah turned to her youngest. “It’s a nice surprise to see you here.”
“Well, I was invited to