Blackout After Dark (Gansett Island #21) - Marie Force Page 0,56
was they wanted to do. He’d been teaching them how to fish this summer, and they loved it. They loved anything he suggested they do. More than that, though, they loved having his undivided attention, so he gave it to them as often as he could. Easy enough, since he adored every second he got to spend with them.
Quite some time ago, he’d more or less given up on the possibility of becoming a father, and then Kyle and Jackson came into their lives, first as their neighbors. After their mother died tragically young, he and Carolina had stepped up for the boys. The four of them had become a family that also included Carolina’s son, Joe, and his family, and Seamus’s cousin Shannon and his now-fiancée, Victoria.
He’d been thrilled to get that text from Shannon earlier, after helping his cousin pick out the ring that he’d given Vic.
She LOVED it, Shannon had reported.
That was great news. Seamus adored Vic and how she’d made his cousin smile again, which had once seemed like an impossible task. After Shannon’s first love, Fiona, had been murdered back in Ireland, they’d worried that Shannon would never move on with his life—and he hadn’t. Not really, anyway, until he came to Gansett to visit Seamus, met Victoria and found a new purpose.
In addition, Seamus loved having his first cousin living nearby and working with him on the ferries. They’d been close at home but became more so after Seamus tragically lost his two brothers when they were younger. Life could really kick you in the teeth, he thought as he let the warm breeze wash over his face, which was why you had to take the joy where you could find it.
His life had been all about the joy since he met Carolina and talked her into taking a chance on a smooth-talking Irishman sixteen years her junior. And since the boys had come into their lives and the grandchildren had arrived, the joy had only multiplied.
He wanted for absolutely nothing, except maybe for more time with the loved ones he’d left back in Ireland. But they made do with FaceTime and Skype and emails and group texts and every other way they could think of to stay in close touch. They made it work, and he was very much looking forward to the visit from Shannon’s parents and his own mam. He was still trying to convince his father to come with them.
Seamus pulled into the driveway at home and was surprised to find the yard deserted. Usually, the boys and their crazy dog, Burpy, were running around at this time of day, burning off their overabundance of energy. The stillness had him on edge as he got out of his Gansett Island Ferry Company truck and went inside, carrying three bags of ice that he added to the cooler he’d set up earlier. He’d dropped off six more bags at Charlie and Sarah’s on the way home. Their party was in full swing, but he’d wanted to come home to see his own family.
When he walked in, the first thing he noticed was Carolina sitting at the table, looking shell-shocked.
“What’s wrong?” he asked, because there was no doubt in his mind that something was very wrong. “And where’re the boys?”
“They’re playing with Ethan this afternoon. Hope asked if they could come to keep him entertained, because I guess there’s something going on with Marion. She was fully lucid earlier.”
“Wow.”
“Hope said she’d bring them home after dinner.”
“Now tell me what’s wrong.” He couldn’t move or breathe or do anything but stand inside the door, waiting for her to drop the boot on him.
“We got a letter,” she said, swallowing hard. “From a lawyer in Providence.”
“What’s a lawyer in Providence want with us?”
“They represent the boys’ father, Jace Carson.”
Those words sucked all the oxygen out of his body and made his knees buckle. Grasping the countertop, he held on for dear life. “What does he want?”
“To see his sons.”
“Just like that? Out of the blue? Where’s he been all this time?”
“According to the letter, he didn’t know Lisa died. Do you want to read it?”
“No, I don’t want to read it.” He didn’t want to see anything that threatened their standing as the boys’ guardians. He was their father now, not some sperm donor who’d been nowhere to be found before now.
“Seamus, come here.”
“I don’t want to do that either.” He didn’t want to deal with a letter that could endanger their precious family.