with her to see what kind of grandmother she might’ve been to the kids.
He pounded his hand against the steering wheel until pain shot up his wrist.
The sun had nearly set by the time he pulled into the driveway to Martinez Lawn & Garden, the business his mother and Paul had been running only a few short years ago. He hooked a left behind the retail store, pulling up in front of the house he and Jenny had built.
His mother hadn’t gotten to see it. He’d hoped they’d have more time.
Alex sat for a long while, once again pondering the irony of him meeting Jenny and Paul meeting Hope because of their mother’s illness. He sure as hell never would’ve moved home to Gansett or been cutting grass at the lighthouse if his mother hadn’t gotten sick. Hope had come to the island to help care for Marion at home.
The cruel sadness of those twists of fate wasn’t lost on him, that in her brief moment of lucidity, Marion had finally gotten to meet the daughters-in-law who wouldn’t be her daughters-in-law if she hadn’t become ill.
He had no idea how long he sat there, lost in thought, before Jenny knocked on the passenger-side window.
Alex unlocked the door and hastily wiped the remaining tears off his face.
Jenny slid into the seat, holding the remote baby monitor. She immediately directed the AC vents toward her sweaty face. “Are you okay?”
“Never better.”
“It was bad?”
“Horrible. When I left, she was screaming for my dad.”
Jenny winced. “I’m so sorry, Alex. What can I do?”
He reached for her hand. “This helps.”
She squeezed his hand. “I wish there was more I could do.”
“I was just thinking how there’d be no me and you without her illness, no Paul and Hope. No Ethan, George or Scarlett. How fucked up is it that we have these happy lives because she got sick?”
“She seemed so pleased with the family we’ve created in her absence.”
“She did.” He swiped angrily at another tear, wishing they would fucking stop. “It’s just so unbearably sad.”
“It’s sad and unfair.”
He nodded, appreciating that she understood. Of course she did.
“Life can be sad and unfair, but it’s also sweet and joyful, often all at the same time.”
“Today was such a tease,” he said on a long sigh.
“I think you should try to see it as a gift. She got to meet me, Hope, the kids. Really meet us, not just exist in the same space with us. We got to talk to her and get to know her better. I’ll never forget that time with her or stop being thankful for it.”
“I’m thankful for all of that. Please don’t get me wrong.”
“I know, it’s the having-it-yanked-back part that’s tough.”
“Yeah.” He took a deep breath and held it for a second before releasing it. “We can go in.”
“It’s so much nicer out here in the AC.”
“We’re getting a generator ASAP.”
“You won’t hear me arguing.”
He looked over at her. “Thanks for being there for me and my mom today. Having you by my side makes everything easier than it would be without you.”
“Same.”
“It might take me a minute to shake this off.”
“Take as many minutes as you need and tell me what I can do to help.”
“I love you, Jenny Martinez.”
“I love you, too, Alex Martinez, and I’m so very glad we met, but I’ll always be sorry your mom had to get sick for us to find each other.”
“Me, too. Can we go in?”
“Whatever you want to do.”
“You know what I want to do?”
“Gee, let me guess,” she said as she followed him from the hot outdoors to the hotter indoors.
“I want a re-creation of our first sweaty week together.”
“Is that right?”
“Yep.”
Inside the door, he turned to keep her from progressing into the house, backing her up until she was pressed against the wood door he’d hung himself. He took the baby monitor from her and placed it on the table where they kept their keys. “We were talking about the mudroom at the lighthouse earlier,” he said as he kissed her neck. “That was where my obsession with the lighthouse keeper began.”
“Did it?”
“You know it did. Shortly after she pelted me with tomatoes.”
“That was my finest hour. And to think, the boys at school used to say I threw like a girl.”
Laughing, he said, “Not that day.” He unbuttoned her shorts, pushed them down and shoved a hand into her panties. Back when they were first together, he used to worry about his lack of finesse at