Blackout After Dark (Gansett Island #21) - Marie Force Page 0,91
him while Cooper scowled at them both and then grimaced, in obvious pain.
“The best part,” Jared said, “is he was on a date with Gigi Gibson at the time.”
“Leave him alone, you guys,” Lizzie said. “He’s injured.”
“And probably mortified,” Jared said.
“I’m getting a drink,” Cooper said. “You guys can eff off.”
“I want to know what happened so bad,” Jared said after Cooper walked away, “but he’s not saying.”
“I can find out from Mason,” Mallory said, pulling out her phone.
“Or better yet, you can ask him in person.” Quinn used his chin to direct her attention toward their friend the fire chief, who’d arrived with his girlfriend, Jordan. She was Gigi’s best friend, so there was bound to be more info forthcoming.
Mason and Jordan greeted the others before making their way to Mallory and Quinn. He’d become one of their closest friends and would be serving as one of Quinn’s groomsmen tomorrow.
“There’s the happy couple,” Mason said.
“We want the skinny on Gigi and Cooper, and we want it now,” Mallory said.
“Uh, I’ve been sworn to secrecy by my beloved,” Mason said.
“Oh, come on!” Mallory protested. “Someone knows what happened.”
“You’ll have to hear it from him,” Mason said. “I’m not talking, or Jordan will cut me off.”
“Honestly… Are you that far gone?”
“Yep. Ready for the big day?” Mason asked, apparently eager to change the subject.
Quinn had no doubt that Mallory would get the details during her next EMT shift.
“So ready,” Mallory said, beaming with happiness.
After losing her first husband suddenly years earlier, she’d told him she never expected to get married again until they found each other. So much had happened since Quinn had accepted Jared and Lizzie’s offer to be the medical director for their senior care facility. He’d come close to saying no, fearing the confines of island life, not to mention living close to family members for the first time since he joined the army after medical school. He liked doing his own thing and valued his privacy, but living near Jared and Lizzie had been fun. They left him alone. He left them alone. And when they were together, it was always a good time. He’d found a friend in his younger brother and a delightful extra sister in Lizzie.
And then he’d found Mallory, and his entire life changed.
“You’re quiet,” Mallory said to him between conversations with family and friends.
“Just thinking about everything that’s happened since I came out here to work with Jared and Lizzie and how I almost said no to their offer.”
“That would’ve been tragic.”
He kissed her temple. “Indeed.” Looking down at her, he said, “This time tomorrow…”
“I can’t wait.”
“Me either.”
Laura Lawry was working the front desk at the Sand & Surf Hotel when one of her guests, Piper Bennett, returned from an outing in town. Laura did a double take when she realized Piper’s face was bruised and her lip was bleeding,
Laura rushed around the registration counter to provide assistance. “Oh my God! What happened?”
“I… A guy… He…”
“Shhh, okay. You don’t have to talk about it if you don’t want to.”
With the poor woman trembling violently, Laura helped her into the sitting room off the lobby.
“We need to call the police, Piper.”
“No,” she said, blinking back tears. “I can’t.”
“The chief of police is my close friend. He’ll know what to do. Please let me call him. Whoever did this to you shouldn’t be allowed to get away with it.”
Piper folded shaking hands in her lap.
Laura forced herself to stay quiet, to give the other woman a chance to wrap her mind around the fact that she was a victim of a crime. She would’ve rendered first aid, but after having been through this before with Owen’s mom the night she arrived on the island, Laura knew it was important to let the police see the woman’s injuries.
“If you’re sure that’s what I should do…”
When she’d checked in the day before, Piper had struck Laura as a sharp, intelligent woman. She suspected shock was dulling her senses at the moment, making her uncertain.
“It’s the right thing.”
Piper nodded and tightened her folded hands.
“I’ll be right back.”
Laura went to her office off the lobby and put through the call to Blaine’s cell phone.
“Hey, Laura. What’s up?”
“I have a guest staying at the Surf who’s been attacked. I’m not sure what happened, but she’s bruised, her lip is bleeding and she’s obviously in shock.”
“I’m on my way.”
“She’s hesitant about police involvement.”
“I understand. We’ll take good care of her. Be there in a few.”