it.
“How about we do this,” Big Mac said. “We’ll take a walk while you two talk it over. If you decide to stay put, no problem at all. Whatever works for you is fine with us.”
“That sounds good. Let me go talk to Dara. I really appreciate the offer. It’s just that she’s…” He shrugged. “I used to be able to tell you what she’d say about just about anything. But now… I honestly don’t know what to expect.”
Linda wanted to hug the poor guy. “We understand. It’s not at all the same thing, but we lost a child late in pregnancy and had a very hard time afterward. That kind of loss, and certainly what happened to you… It changes a marriage.”
“Yes,” he said with a sigh. “It sure does. Thank you for understanding. I’ll go talk to Dara. We won’t keep you too long.”
“Take your time,” Big Mac said. “We’ve got nowhere to be.” He put his arm around Linda, and they walked away to give Oliver a chance to speak to his wife. “It was good that you told him what happened to us.”
“I told Dara earlier. I hope they don’t think I was comparing the two. There’s no comparison.”
“A loss is a loss. Yes, some are worse than others, but I hope it helps them to know we get it a little bit.”
“I hope so, too.”
Oliver went up the spiral staircase that brought him to the combined kitchen/living room and then went up the second stairway to the bedroom/bathroom. The place was cute, but small. It wouldn’t be as easy for him and Dara to avoid each other the way they had at home. Maybe that was a good thing. Who knew? He didn’t know anything anymore.
Dara was stretched out on the bed, staring up at the ceiling. Every window was open, but the air was thick with heat and humidity that had sweat rolling down his back. “Who were you talking to out there?”
“Mr. and Mrs. McCarthy came back to check on how we’re making out without power.”
“That was nice of them.”
“They asked if we might want to come stay with them. They have extra bedrooms and a generator that provides some AC.”
“Oh.”
“I’d understand if you don’t feel comfortable staying with people we don’t know, but they seem so nice and genuine. Might be nice to have AC in this heat.”
“So, you want to go?”
“Only if you do. I want you to be comfortable.”
“I’m not comfortable anywhere anymore.”
“I know, honey, but it’s hot and not looking to break for days. Mr. McCarthy said it might take that long for the power to come back on. By then, we might be dehydrated from sweating.” He took her hand and knew a moment of pure happiness when she didn’t pull it back. “They told me they lost a baby. Apparently, it messed them up pretty good for a long time.”
“She told me that.”
“I think they want to help.”
“I don’t want their help.”
“Fine, but I wouldn’t mind their AC.”
She glanced at him for the first time since he’d come into the room. “You want to go?”
“Yeah, I think I do. They seem like nice people, and it’s hot as hell here. Not to mention, they probably have a working fridge and coffeemaker, which we don’t have here without power.”
“You had me at coffee.”
Oliver smiled at the first lighthearted comment he’d heard her make since disaster struck. Her obsessive love of coffee was well documented, and although he was encouraged by her enthusiasm for something, it pained him to realize how long it’d been since she’d joked about anything. He gave her hand a gentle tug to help her sit up. “Since we haven’t unpacked, it should be easy enough to relocate for a few days.”
“And if we’re not feeling it, we can come back here?”
“Whatever you want, hon.” Oliver meant that. He’d do whatever he could to help her find some peace. The estrangement between the two of them was almost as painful as the loss of their son had been, and he had no idea how to bridge the yawning distance between them so they could find their way back to each other.
He’d hoped that coming to Gansett Island would help to shake things up, but nothing had gone according to plan on their first day.
They gathered their things, bagged up the perishable food items he’d bought at the grocery store earlier and headed down the stairs.
Outside, they found the McCarthys sitting on the tailgate of Big