Blackout After Dark (Gansett Island #21) - Marie Force Page 0,75
hard, she nearly broke his neck.
He’d never had a better hug.
Behind her, he saw Ned grinning like a loon as he looked on. “Ya done good, kid.”
“I thought someone bought it,” Grace said, releasing Evan so she could include Ned.
“They did, and when it went back on the market, Ned called me to ask if we were still interested. That’s when I got the idea to surprise you.”
“Best surprise ever!”
“I’m so glad you think so. On the flight, I started getting a little panicky over buying a house without you knowing about it.”
“You knew how much I loved it when we toured it that day.” She glanced up at him, her dark eyes shining with unshed tears. “Is it really ours, Evan?”
“It’s really ours, and it’s all because of you. Because you loved me so perfectly that I had to write a song about you, a song that went to number one and stayed there long enough to make all our dreams come true. None of this happens without you, my amazing Grace.”
“None of it happens without us.”
“I’m thankful every single day that my amazing Grace is such a stickler for doing the right thing that she had to come back to Gansett to pay me back for buying her a ferry ticket home.”
“I wouldn’t have been able to live with myself if I didn’t pay you back,” she said in the prim, haughty tone he loved so much.
“I wouldn’t have been able to live with myself if you hadn’t come back.” He took her hand to lead her toward the front door. “I was going to come after you.”
“What? You were? You never told me that before.”
“Yes, I did.”
“No, you didn’t. I would’ve remembered that.”
Evan used the key Ned had given him to open the front door. After ushering Grace inside, he turned to wave to Ned. Evan would call him when they were ready for a ride to the pharmacy in town, where they’d left Grace’s car and his motorcycle. Also thanks to Ned, they had what they needed to spend the rest of the day and the night at their new home—food, beverages and a bed. As always, Ned had been an excellent partner in crime. He hadn’t dared clue in any of his family members, as they wouldn’t have been able to contain the surprise.
As they went into the foyer that was the size of their apartment over the pharmacy, Grace looked around, taking it all in once again, her eyes big with wonder. “I never dreamed anything like this, Evan. Or anything like you.”
He put his arms around her. “Welcome home, love.”
Chapter 26
Big Mac invited Oliver to attend the morning meeting at the marina, which happened closer to noon on Sundays.
“What takes place at this so-called meeting?” Oliver asked.
“Very important business,” Big Mac said gravely.
“Otherwise known as coffee, doughnuts and bullshit,” Linda said.
Oliver laughed. “That sounds like my kind of fun. You mind if I go, Dara?”
“Of course not. Have fun.”
“We’ll be just down the hill,” Big Mac said to Oliver, “so you can escape whenever you’ve had enough of the BS.”
“Good to know.” Oliver gave Dara a kiss on the cheek. “See you in a while.”
After the men left, Dara took her coffee and wandered to the deck to check out the view of New Harbor.
Linda gave her a minute before she followed, bringing her own coffee. “That’s our marina,” she said, pointing, “and our hotel.”
“You’ve got your own slice of heaven here.”
“We do. We’re very lucky to live and work in such a beautiful place.”
“When Oliver first told me we’d been hired to run a lighthouse on a remote island in Rhode Island, I thought he was crazy. What would we do on a remote island? But there’s a peacefulness to this place.”
“There is for sure. I’m glad you can see that, especially now. It’s a little crazy this time of year when the tourists are here, but after Labor Day, it settles down quite a bit. Mac and I have a wonderful family and a big circle of friends who’ll welcome you with open arms, if that’s what you want.”
“I don’t know what I want. Every day feels like a new endurance test. Just get through it. That’s the goal.”
“That’s a tough way to live.”
“Believe me, I know.”
Linda didn’t want to push Dara to talk more than she wished to, so she sipped her coffee and watched Big Mac’s truck arrive at the marina and park in the same spot he used