If for Any Reason (Nantucket Love Story #1) - Courtney Walsh Page 0,97

about this.”

She smiled at him. “If it all goes bonkers, you can come right back here with me.”

He sighed. “Okay.”

Colin approached the small circle. When he reached them, two of the kids turned their attention to him.

“Hi,” he said.

One of the little girls, Brooklyn, looked up at him and gave him a crooked, gap-toothed smile. She scooted over and moved the elements of her lunch out of the way so Colin could sit down.

He looked over his shoulder at Emily, who was inexplicably choked up. She gave him a thumbs-up and watched as he sat down in the group.

Moments later, he was laughing and smiling right along with the other kids.

Emily picked up her salad and walked back to where Marisol was standing.

“Good job, boss,” she said.

And Emily took the compliment, because for the first time in . . . maybe ever, she felt like she had done a good job.

And she decided it was the kind of feeling she could get used to.

CHAPTER 35

MID-AUGUST 1989

JD was standing on the deck of one of the yachts, cleaning it after it had been returned by a weekend renter, when he spotted Alan and Eliza Ackerman near the club.

His heart dropped.

He hadn’t spoken to Isabelle in two days, and they’d agreed to talk to her parents together, but nothing about their being here appeared to be coincidence.

One of the other guys threw a wadded-up towel at JD, who forced a laugh as if pretend nonchalance could substitute for the real thing. He picked up the towel and tossed it back just as Isabelle’s parents reached the edge of the dock.

They didn’t say a word. Instead, they stared him down as if he knew why they were there, which, of course, he did.

“Can we help you?” another worker named Shane asked the couple, whose focus never wavered.

“I think they’re here for me,” JD said.

“Oh.” Shane nodded.

“I’ll be right back.” He stepped off the boat and onto the dock, moving away from where his coworkers continued to clean. He could feel Alan and Eliza following him, and before he faced them, he drew in a deep breath, exhaling as he turned around.

“Do you have any idea what you’ve done?” Eliza spat.

“I talked to Isabelle a couple days ago,” he said.

“So you do know,” she said.

“I’m sorry. We never meant for this to happen.”

Alan’s face changed. “I bet you didn’t, but you did mean to take advantage of our daughter.”

“I didn’t, sir,” JD said. “I love her.”

Eliza’s laugh mocked him. “Well, now I know where she got that ridiculous idea. Do you really think you have what it takes to provide a good life for our daughter—and now, for a child?”

“I’d do anything for Isabelle.”

They exchanged a tense glance.

“If you want to do what’s best for Isabelle, then you’ll leave her alone,” Alan said.

“Sir?”

“Son, our daughter is used to a certain way of life. She’s come to expect certain things. Things you won’t be able to provide. Pile onto that a baby, and you’re looking at a recipe for disaster.”

“You want to get rid of me?”

Eliza straightened. “We want what you want—the best for our daughter and for our grandchild. Surely you want that too.”

“Of course I do.”

“We can give them a good life,” she said. “We can make sure every need is met.”

JD didn’t look away.

“We have to think logically here, son.” Alan again, calling him “son,” which was really starting to wear on JD’s nerves. “The best thing for both of them—for all of you—would be for you to walk away.”

“That way, you could finish school without the added pressure of a family. You don’t want to drop out now, do you, when you’re halfway through?”

“There might be a way for me to keep up with my classes and still work full-time,” he said.

“Doing what? Waiting tables? Cleaning yachts?” Eliza’s superiority also grated on his nerves.

“If that’s what it takes.”

“That’s not a life,” Eliza said. “Not for our daughter, anyway.”

JD looked away, pretending to be engrossed in a seagull in the distance. “We don’t care about that stuff.”

“You think you don’t,” Eliza said. “She thinks she doesn’t. But as soon as it gets hard and she doesn’t have instant access to whatever she wants, reality will set in.”

JD shifted. “And if I don’t leave her?”

Alan straightened, gave his pants a tug, and let out a sigh. “Well, then you’ll be forcing our hand, son.”

“Forcing your hand?”

Eliza leveled her gaze at him. “If you choose to go through with this ludicrous plan to marry