Beach Lane (4 page)

Grateful that she wasn’t going to give him an argument, Mack tossed the football back to Trace. “Count us out. We’re going for a walk on the beach.”

“In the middle of the game?” Matthew demanded, staring at his sister as if she’d betrayed him.

“Seems like as good a time as any to me,” she said.

Matthew turned to his brother. “Do you have any idea what is going on with her?”

Luke laughed. “Oh, yeah, and if you ask me, it’s about time.”

All the way across the endless expanse of Uncle Mick’s lawn and down the steps to the beach, Susie clung to Mack’s hand and cast sideways glances at his unexpectedly grim expression.

“Was there something you wanted to talk about?” she asked eventually, when the silence had gone on way too long.

“Not really,” he said. The soft sand made walking difficult, but he was eating up the distance as if he had some destination in mind.

“Are we going someplace specific?” she asked, glad for her track experience and long legs. She had no problem keeping up with him, even though she would have preferred a leisurely, romantic stroll.

“Nope.”

“Are we on a deadline?”

He scowled. “Of course not.”

“Then could we slow down? I know I ran track in high school, but I stopped competing years ago.”

He glanced at her. “Sorry,” he said, slowing his gait.

“Mack, if you don’t mind me saying so, you don’t seem happy about going on this walk. Why did you suggest it?”

“Because I didn’t like what was happening back there.”

She studied him in confusion. “Me getting tackled?”

He shook his head. “I knew I wasn’t going to hurt you.”

“Then what?”

He heaved a sigh, stopped and met her gaze. “I came within a heartbeat of kissing you.”

She blinked at the shock in his voice. “Would that have been so terrible? Do you think the world would have come to an end or something?”

“I can’t just start kissing you because I feel like it,” he said angrily. “Not after all this time.”

“Maybe you should leave that decision up to me. Maybe I want you to kiss me. Maybe I think we’ve been waiting way too long to start kissing like crazy.”

“No way,” he said adamantly. “Not now.”

“Why?”

“Because the timing’s all wrong.”

“Because we had an audience?”

“Don’t be ridiculous. What makes you think I’ve ever cared what anyone else thinks?”

“Okay, then, if it’s not because you were afraid that Will, Jake, my brothers and all the rest of them would give you a rough time, what was going on?”

“I told you the timing was bad,” he practically growled. “Now leave it alone.”

“No,” she said fiercely. If he’d wanted, even for a second, to change things finally—and hallelujah for that—and she wanted to change their relationship, why shouldn’t they? They were both consenting adults, for heaven’s sakes. “I’m half of this equation, and I get to have a say in what happens, too.”

“Not now,” he insisted grimly.

“Are you worried because my dad and Uncle Mick were there? Do you not want the pressure of getting those two all worked up, because believe me, I get that.”

“It’s not that,” he insisted.

“Then enlighten me, because I am totally confused.”

“You just have to take my word for it that this isn’t a good time for us to be thinking about getting any more involved than we already are.”

“I’m sorry,” she said, stopping and looking directly into his eyes. “But I happen to think it’s way past time, so if there’s something I’m missing, you need to fill me in.”

“No,” he said. “Once I’ve worked everything out, we’ll talk. Until then, you just have to give me some space, Susie. I mean it. It’s the only thing that’ll work right now.”

She scowled at his edict. He’d obviously made yet another arbitrary decision and was expecting her to go along with it without argument. Well, not this time.

“You want space?” she said heatedly. “You’ve got it. But don’t count on me being at home waiting when you’ve worked everything out to your satisfaction. That’s not how it works, Mack. Either we’re friends or we’re not. Either we’re something more or we’re not. Whatever you want to call what we have, we both need to be all in. Otherwise, what’s the point?”

He regarded her miserably. “Susie, please don’t pick now to start issuing ultimatums.”

“Why not? Isn’t that exactly what you just did? Give me space, or else, Susie. That pretty much sums it up, doesn’t it?”

“Okay, yes. If you can’t accept that I know what’s best, then I won’t have any choice but to walk away.”

Fighting tears, she simply nodded. “Your decision,” she said quietly.

But despite his words, she was the one to turn and walk away. At least she was able to cling to her dignity, if only by a thread, by not letting him see her tears start to fall.

Back at the house, Susie managed to slip around to the parking area without anyone noticing her. Fortunately she’d driven earlier, and her car keys were tucked in her pocket. Mack could get home under his own steam. It would serve him right, though, if every one of the O’Briens declined to give him a ride.

She was about to pull out of the driveway when Shanna tapped on the window, a worried expression on her face.

“Why are you leaving without even saying goodbye?” she asked. “Did you and Mack have a fight? Everybody inside has been speculating about what’s going on ever since the two of you took off together. Add in the fact that Laila and Matthew got into some kind of argument and she left in a huff, and it’s turning into an interesting day.”

Momentarily distracted by that bit of news, Susie said, “Laila and Matthew argued? What on earth would they argue about?”

“I have no idea,” Shanna admitted. “But it caused quite a stir when she left. Now you’re doing the same thing. Curiosity is at a fever pitch.”

“Then is it any wonder I don’t want to come inside?” Susie asked wryly. “I’m not in the mood for talking right now.”

Shanna studied her face, clearly saw the dampness on her cheeks and sighed. “Then you did have a fight,” she said with real regret. “I’m so sorry.”

“Not really,” Susie replied wearily. “Mack doesn’t fight. He just makes decisions and expects me to abide by them with absolutely no explanation at all. I’m sick of it. If he has all these secrets he suddenly doesn’t want to share with me, that’s his right, I suppose, but it makes me feel like an irrelevant outsider.”

“Oh, sweetie, I’m sure that was never his intention. He’s just the kind of guy who’s used to relying on himself. Isn’t that what he’s had to do for years now?”

It was true, Susie was forced to admit. Mack’s family had been a far cry from the O’Briens. He didn’t even know who his father was, and from an early age he’d been more of a grown-up than his irresponsible mother. As his confidante through a troubled adolescence, she knew better than anyone how tough it had been on him to maintain a facade of good cheer when his home life was a shambles.

College would never have been an option if it hadn’t been for an athletic scholarship. He’d taken any odd job available to pay for extras, and he’d worked as an unpaid stringer for the Baltimore paper just to prove himself. His work ethic as much as his knowledge of sports and his writing ability had earned him his coveted column.

“You’re right,” Susie reluctantly admitted to Shanna. “I know Mack isn’t used to leaning on anyone, not even Will and Jake. I guess I just hoped I was different, that he trusted me enough to let me help. He used to.”

“Maybe that was before you were the problem,” Shanna suggested gently. “Besides, what did you do the second he trusted you enough to say he needed time? Instead of taking him at his word and giving him time, you got in a snit and bolted on him.”

“I’m not in a snit,” Susie said, not liking the characterization.

“Really?”

She sighed. “Okay, maybe a little bit of a snit.” She regarded Shanna plaintively. “You’re not saying I have to go over to his place and wait for him and apologize, are you? I don’t think I could do that right now.”

Shanna laughed. “Heavens, no! That would definitely be asking too much. I’m just saying that when he does come to you, and he will, you should keep an open mind. Really listen when he decides to talk.”

“I’ve always listened.” She regarded her friend curiously. “I don’t suppose you have any idea what’s going on, do you? Has Kevin said anything?”

“Not a word, but he’s the last to know anything. He’s so wrapped up with his work with the foundation and their attempts to protect the bay, he has no idea what’s going on with me and the kids, much less the rest of the family or this town. Trust me, when I do manage to snag his attention, local gossip is not on my mind or his. We’re trying to make a baby.”

Susie finally had a reason to smile. “Really?”

Shanna nodded, though she didn’t look especially happy. “Sadly, accomplishing that requires two people to be in the same room, preferably in the same bed, and awake. It’s not as easy as you’d think.”

“It will work out,” Susie assured her. “You two are such wonderful parents for Henry and Davy. Any child you have together will be totally blessed.”

“Thanks. Now, as for you and Mack, be patient, Susie. I know things will work out with the two of you the same way you know Kevin and I will find a way to make that baby. It’s just destined to happen.”

“Patience isn’t my best trait, but I suppose it won’t kill me to give it a try,” Susie replied.

“Mack’s worth it, don’t you think?”

“I’ve been waiting all these years, so I must believe that,” Susie said.

But after a thoroughly frustrating day like today, it was really, really hard to remember why.

4

J
eff O’Brien felt as if he’d always lived in the shadow of his older brother. Mick was like a force of nature, the kind of man who was confident in his own skin, a talented architect with amazing vision. Though Jeff had worked with him on the development of Chesapeake Shores, he’d merely overseen the construction details and ultimately the sales. The town had been built according to Mick’s specifications and modified to fit with Thomas’s ideas on doing the least harm to the bay. They were the visionaries behind it.

The three O’Brien brothers had butted heads repeatedly. Mick won most arguments through an absolute sense of self-confidence that couldn’t be shaken by law or reason. The only time he’d been trumped was when Thomas had used legal means to ensure that Mick adhered to the strictest interpretation of environmental regulations. Mick had never entirely forgiven him, or Jeff for siding with him. He’d labeled Thomas a traitor and told Jeff he had no backbone. Jeff hadn’t bothered trying to contradict him, which had only further infuriated Mick.

Things were easier among the three of them now that they’d wisely decided against working together. Ma insisted that some level of family obligation bring them together on Sundays and holidays and, over time, they’d managed to handle the occasions with a certain amount of grace and goodwill.

Still, Jeff couldn’t deny that it grated when he’d heard about Mick threatening to interfere in Susie’s relationship with Mack Franklin. Now that Mick’s own children were all happily married, apparently he’d decided to take on Jeff’s.

Personally Jeff had never understood the need to meddle in someone else’s life. He and Jo had raised Susie with good values and good sense. Whatever was going on between her and Mack, he trusted her to get what she wanted out of it. Susie had never been some shy little wallflower. She was every bit as stubborn and determined as anyone else in the family.

At least, he’d felt that way until he’d seen her with Mack on Thanksgiving, recognized the sparks flying during that traditional family football game, and then seen his daughter come back from a walk with Mack with tears on her cheeks. For the first time, he’d wanted to throttle a man for making his little girl cry. He’d told Jo about it that night.

“She has a good head on her shoulders,” Jo insisted. “And she’s loved Mack as far back as I can remember. All we can do is be there for her if things don’t work out the way she wants them to.”

“I suppose,” he’d said. “Are you sure I can’t sit him down and knock some sense into him?”

She laughed. “You could, but then you’d be just like Mick. Is that what you want?”

The suggestion had been enough to keep him away from Mack. For now.

He glanced at the list Susie had given him of things he needed to do on Saturday morning. Bringing her into the real estate management company had been the smartest thing he’d ever done. She could organize an army battalion without batting an eye. He could easily see her with a houseful of kids underfoot, handling the chaos with total competence and ease. A part of him longed for the time when she’d do just that. Watching his older brother with his grandkids had made Jeff just a little envious.

“Are you heading over to Shanna’s now, Dad?” Susie called out to him. “I told her you’d be there first thing to check on that plumbing. Dwight’s good, but we don’t want to take any chances that he missed something.”

“On my way,” he assured her, then paused after taking a closer look at her pale complexion. “You okay?”

She looked startled by the question. “Of course. Why wouldn’t I be?”

“You don’t look so hot, and you took off pretty suddenly on Thanksgiving.”

“I…I didn’t feel well,” she said, then hurriedly added, “Then. I didn’t feel well
then.
I’m perfectly fine now.”

“Something you ate? I haven’t heard about anyone else feeling ill.”

“Maybe nobody else got thrown on the ground as many times as I did right after dinner,” she retorted with a faint grin.

Jeff recognized the perfect opening. “About that,” he began.

“Dad, leave it alone,” she said tersely, her expression forbidding.

“You sure? If you ever want to talk, your mother and I, we’re always on your side. You do know that, don’t you?”

She managed to pull off a reassuring smile that Jeff didn’t entirely buy. “Of course I know that,” she promised. “Now, get started. It’s going to take you all day to get through that list I gave you, and Mitzi Gaylord is coming in at five to sign the contract for the Brighton house.”

“On my way,” he said, still oddly reluctant to leave his daughter.

A few minutes later, though, he was in the bookstore when he overheard someone make a comment about Mack’s column not being in the paper. He realized he’d noticed the same thing this morning at breakfast, but hadn’t seen any reason to be alarmed by it.

“Well, I heard he was fired,” one of the women said. “That’s why he’s been hiding out the past few days. Who can blame him? His whole identity was wrapped up in that job. I think he was convinced it was his ticket to respectability—not that he needed one as far as I’m concerned. Still, after all he went through as a boy, this had to be a blow.”

“Fired? Are you sure?” a second woman asked. “The paper’s been making a big fuss about him for a long time now. Have you been up to Baltimore? Everywhere you look, his picture’s right there. It’s even on the sides of buses. He’s like some kind of sports columnist superstar.”

Jeff stepped out of the back room and looked around to identify the speakers. One of them was Ethel, whose nearby shop specialized in souvenirs and local gossip. He glanced around and caught Shanna’s eye, then beckoned her to the back.

“Did you hear them?” he asked.

She nodded. “But I have no idea if what they’re saying is true. I only know Mack’s been really upset. He wouldn’t tell Susie why. That’s why they fought on Thanksgiving.”

Jeff nodded, absorbing that news. “I see.”

“Please don’t tell her I told you about the fight,” Shanna pleaded. “She’d hate having you worry about her.”

“Yeah, Susie never wants anyone to worry,” he said. “Thanks, though, Shanna.”

After he’d finished checking to make sure the plumbing had been fixed, he was about to leave when he saw Will browsing through the nonfiction section. Jeff confronted him. If anyone would know what was going on, Will would.

“Have you got a minute?” he asked Will.

“Sure. What’s up?”

“Outside,” Jeff commanded, not wanting Ethel to overhear anything she could pass along to her customers.

When he and Will had walked to one of the benches along the bay and sat down, Jeff asked, “Has Mack been fired from his job? That’s the talk going around town this morning.”

Will’s uncomfortable expression was answer enough. Jeff sighed. “Then it’s true?”

Will nodded. “It happened the week before Thanksgiving. It’s really rocked him.”

“I can imagine,” Jeff said, feeling a certain amount of pity for him. Like everyone else in town, he know how much the job had meant to Mack. It had been his dream, and as Ethel had noted, it had given him the respect he’d always craved. Of anyone Jeff knew, no one had been more deserving of finding a little happiness.

“Has he told Susie?” he asked. “She hasn’t mentioned it to us.”

Will frowned. “I don’t think she knows. Can you leave it alone, Jeff? She should hear it from Mack.”

“I don’t know. Seems to me it’s something she deserves to know before everyone else in town starts blabbing about it. From what I overheard back at the bookstore, it won’t take long for the word to get back to her. Ethel has a pipeline that those TV tabloids would envy.”

“I agree with you. I’ll see if I can get Mack to talk to her today, but frankly, he hasn’t wanted to discuss it with anyone. Jake and I found out only after going over to his apartment and confronting him.”

“Tell him to do it today,” Jeff said. “Or I’ll see to it she finds out tomorrow.”

Will nodded. “Fair enough. I’ll do my best, but Mack’s not exactly listening to reason right now.”

“While Mack has my sympathy, he’s not the one I’m worried about,” Jeff said grimly.

And whatever it took, he was going to try to make sure Susie wasn’t the one who wound up getting hurt because Mack didn’t have the guts to own up to what was going on in his life. There was no shame in losing a job. But there was something wrong with not sharing that news with someone who supposedly mattered.

Susie had been living on her own in a small apartment above the shops on Main Street ever since she’d graduated from college and gone to work for her father. It was convenient to her job, which was just downstairs, and in the heart of downtown Chesapeake Shores, which was lively in the summer and quiet this time of year.

Though the apartment wasn’t spacious—just an open kitchen, living room and dining room area, plus a single bedroom and bath—it suited her, or at least it had until it filled up with her parents and her brothers, as it did on the Sunday after Thanksgiving.

It wasn’t as if she’d been expecting them. They’d all turned up uninvited, armed with coffee and croissants from Sally’s, apparently staging some sort of intervention. She was still trying to get a fix on what had them in such an uproar.

“Okay, slow down,” she finally shouted, hoping to be heard over the commotion. “I can’t even think, much less understand a word any of you are saying.”

Thankfully, they all shut up and looked to her mother. Josephine O’Brien had been a high school and college athlete who, as a physical education teacher, had encouraged Susie’s love of sports and who’d coached her on the high school track team. She’d been the perfect mother for two energetic, athletic boys, and an even better one for a tomboy daughter. When she had something to say, they all listened.

“We’re worried about this ongoing infatuation you seem to have with Mack Franklin,” her mother began. “Especially right now.”

Susie frowned. “Why especially now?”

Rather than giving her a direct answer, Matthew said, “We all like the guy, but he has a lousy history with women, Suze. You know that.”

“Yeah, we thought that’s why you’d refused to date him,” Luke chimed in. “We all thought you’d made a smart decision.”

“Okay,” Susie said slowly. “All this is old news. Mack and I have been friends for a long time now. You’ve never objected to that. And I still don’t know what Mom meant when she said something about it being a bad time for our relationship to change.” She gave them a defiant look. “Not that I’m admitting it has.”

Her brothers exchanged a look as if deciding who should respond to that point.

It was Matthew who stepped in. “You let him tackle you on Thanksgiving,” he said as if it were a crime. “More than once.”

Susie frowned. “I didn’t exactly do it by choice.”

“But you didn’t even try to get away from him,” Luke countered. “No one has ever tackled you before. So, what? Did you want to roll around on the ground with him? That’s how it looked.”

Susie’s temper stirred. “Are you mad because I didn’t fight Mack off or because I didn’t score a touchdown? Since when is it all up to me to win a stupid family football game?”

“Well, we do count on you,” Matthew admitted. “None of us like losing.”

Luke scowled at him. “So not the point. Susie, you looked like you wanted to kiss him, right there in front of everybody.”

“If I hadn’t come over to help you up, I think you would have,” Matthew added. “Are you crazy? This has gone too far, Susie. Or it’s about to. That’s why we’re here, to stop you from doing something you’ll regret.”

“And you think I’d regret kissing Mack?” she inquired, her voice like ice. “Or is it sleeping with him that really worries you? Maybe falling in love with him? Well, I have news for you—it’s too late.” She avoided looking at either of her parents when she said it. She didn’t want to see any sign of shock on either of their faces, but she had to put a stop to this nonsense.

Matthew regarded her with alarm. “You’ve already slept with him? I’ll kill him. I swear I will. He should not be taking advantage of you. We’ve all told him that.”

Susie froze. “Excuse me? Who’s warned Mack to stay away from me?”

“We all have,” Matthew said. “Well, me and Luke, anyway. I think maybe Kevin and Connor have said something, too.”

Susie couldn’t believe what she was hearing. “How dare you interfere in my life like that! If and when Mack and I decide we want to sleep together, believe me, it will be none of your business.”

“Then you haven’t slept with him already?” Matthew asked, sounding relieved.

She groaned at his persistence. “No, I have not slept with him, though I would have if I’d had the opportunity.”

“Then what?” Luke asked suspiciously. “You said it was too late. So, have you kissed him? I guess that’s not so bad. People kiss all the time and it doesn’t mean anything.”

“This is so not about kissing,” Susie declared. “It’s about all of you meddling in my business. Who I kiss or sleep with is none of your business. Haven’t any of you noticed that I’m in my late twenties? In most worlds that’s considered old enough to make my own decisions.” She turned toward her mother, who gave her a commiserating look.

“We’re just concerned, dear. None of us want to see you get hurt,” Jo O’Brien said gently.

Susie didn’t buy the sudden onset of parental or sibling concern. “Oh, come on, this thing between Mack and me, if there is anything, has been coming on for a long time. If you all were so dead set against it, why didn’t you speak up sooner?” she demanded, then waved off the question. “That’s irrelevant. I’m a grown woman. I get to choose my own dates.”

She looked to her father for support. Unlike her uncle Mick, her dad wasn’t known for meddling in his children’s business. They’d grown especially close since they’d been working together. He trusted her judgment. She knew he did. “Dad, you’ve been awfully quiet. Do you have an opinion about this? If you do, I’d like to hear it.”

He regarded her with an uncomfortable expression. “You have a good head on your shoulders,” he began. At a nudge from his wife, he faltered. “That said, this might not be the best time to consider getting closer to Mack. Circumstances have changed.”