Moonlight Cove (12 page)

“I’ll check,” Will offered at once. “If they don’t, I’ll run across the street. There’s a little café over there that’s open. Why don’t you bring the funnel cake back to the foundation booth and I’ll meet you there.”

“Sounds great,” she said at once.

“Go with Will,” Mick demanded.

Jess looked at Will.

“It’s fine with me,” he said.

“You can carry him and hot coffee?”

“Mick doesn’t need to be carried all the time, do you, buddy? You can hold my hand and walk back like a big boy.”

Mick nodded enthusiastically. “Me a big boy, Aunt Jess.”

Jess watched as the two of them left. Something about the way Will had interacted with her nephew warmed her heart. Mick obviously adored Will, and she hadn’t sensed even a hint of judgment in Will’s tone when it came to the boy. It made her wonder what kind of father Will would be, a thought that gave her pause.

Because thinking of Will in that way was so disconcerting, she focused on the task at hand. She bought the funnel cake, still warm from the grease, and headed back to the booth. As she walked, she broke off a piece and munched it thoughtfully. It might not be healthy, but it sure did taste good. Took her right back to her childhood.

As she approached the booth, Connor caught sight of her and an expression of utter panic crossed his face. He left the booth and sprinted toward her.

“Mind telling me what the devil you’ve done with my son?” he asked, his voice obviously hushed so Heather wouldn’t overhear.

Stunned that her brother could think her so irresponsible that she’d lose track of his son, she scowled right back at him. “Do you honestly think I just walked off and forgot about him?”

“I don’t know what to think. He left with you. He’s nowhere in sight now. It would be just like you to get to talking to somebody or get distracted and lose track of him.”

“Thanks for the vote of confidence,” she said, barely containing her anger. The anger was welcome. Otherwise she might have burst into tears. “Mick is with Will. I assume you trust one of your best friends to look out for your son? Oh, look, here they come now, all safe and sound. Be sure Mick gets the funnel cake.” She tossed it at her brother, not caring if he instinctively grabbed it in midair or let it drop to the ground, then whirled around and walked off.

“Jess!”

She ignored Connor and kept walking, not sure where she was going until she found herself by the water, the sounds of the festival fading behind her. She walked along the water’s edge, trying to still the pounding of her heart, waiting for her tears to dry.

Over the years she’d grown used to the way people, including those in her own family, reacted to some of the decisions she made. If she made a mistake of any kind, it was all too easy to blame it on the ADD.

“Sometimes a screwup is just a screwup,” she muttered, swiping at her tears.

Not that letting Will take little Mick was a screwup. Her nephew was probably safer with him than he would be with her, especially in Connor’s view. Her older brother clearly wasn’t ready to give her any credit for common sense or being responsible, and, dammit, she didn’t deserve his lack of faith.

“You busy beating yourself up for letting me take little Mick?” Will inquired, falling into step beside her.

She frowned up at him. “No, actually I’m berating my brother for having so little confidence in me.”

Will seemed surprised by her response. “Good for
you.” He slanted a sideways glance at her. “You didn’t do anything wrong.”

“I know that.”

“And Connor feels awful for questioning you the way he did,” he added.

“I seriously doubt that. He’s always been very big on jumping to conclusions where I’m concerned. He doesn’t think I have the sense God gave a duck.”

Will chuckled. “But you’ve let him get away with that. You do the same with everyone in your family. You’ve gotten way too comfortable in the niche they’ve put you in, the O’Brien who can’t do anything right. You use the ADD as an excuse as much as they do.”

She whirled on him. “I most certainly do not.”

Will didn’t back down. “Sure you do. It’s easier to fall back on that than to really examine what went wrong in any given situation. I heard you just now, and you’re right. Sometimes a screwup is just that. We all make them, even those of us without attention deficit disorders. After all these years, with all you’ve accomplished, you know that you’ve been able to manage most of the symptoms. Yet you’re very quick to judge yourself when the slightest thing goes wrong.”

Jess sighed. “Okay, sometimes, yes. I guess when you grow up with people not expecting you to get anything right, you stop expecting much of yourself.”

Careful to avoid his intelligent gaze, she said, “But then I do something right, I turn the inn into a real success, and I forget for a while that I even have ADD. You’re right. I manage it. I think that’s why it hurts so much when Connor looks at me the way he did just now, as if I haven’t changed at all.”

Though Will’s expression was sympathetic, he tried
to reason with her. “He was just scared, Jess. You can’t blame him for that.”

“He was scared that I’d lost his son,” she said. “Like little Mick was some loaf of bread I’d wander off and leave behind.”

“It was one second of panic,” Will said. “Give him a break. You know Connor loves you. Nobody is prouder of you and your accomplishments than he is.”

She closed her eyes. That’s what made it worse in some ways. She counted on Connor as more than a brother. He was, in many ways, her best friend. His doubts cut right through her.

“I know,” she said softly.

“You ready to go back now?”

“Sure.”

“Good, because we’re missing all the excitement.”

“What excitement?”

“Thomas and Connie dancing around each other like two shy teenagers with their first crushes.”

Jess laughed at the image. “They are a little bit like that, aren’t they?” Then worry kicked in. “You don’t think anyone in the family is going to give them grief over this, do you?”

Will regarded her incredulously. “Of course they will. It’s what O’Briens do. It’s like some rite of passage.”

Jess thought about that and knew it was true. And yet Will, even knowing that, still wanted to be with her. That told her quite a lot about the depth of his feelings.

Back at the foundation booth, Jess spotted her uncle standing next to Connie, his gaze on her as she made a book sale and chatted with a customer. There was a
warmth in his eyes that had been absent since the end of his second marriage.

“Look at him,” she said, nudging Will in the side. “He’s really taken with her, isn’t he?”

Will studied the duo, then smiled. “It’s nice to see. Connie deserves to have someone special in her life. She’s been on her own way too long.”

“My uncle doesn’t have the world’s best track record when it comes to women,” Jess fretted. “What if he hurts her?”

Will glanced down at her. “You’re worried about the two of them?”

“A little. I love Uncle Thomas, and Connie’s one of my best friends. I want to see them both happy, but with each other?” She shook her head. “I just don’t know. It’s a little scary.”

Will laughed. “You think all relationships are scary.”

“Don’t you?” she challenged.

“Okay, you have a point, but the only way to have love in your life is to take a leap of faith. Otherwise you’re just sitting on the sidelines while your life passes you by.”

“Don’t you owe it to yourself to at least improve the odds? Isn’t that what Lunch by the Bay is all about? Looking for compatibility is smart, right?”

“Think about it for a minute,” Will said. “Thomas and Connie have a lot of things in common. They’re not a couple of young kids rushing into this impulsively. I’m sure they’ve weighed the pros and cons.”

Jess gave him an incredulous look. “Have you weighed the pros and cons about me?”

He grinned. “Of course.”

She studied him with a narrowed gaze. “And how’d it turn out?”

“You already know the answer to that.”

“So, more pros than cons?”

“Yes, Jess,” he said patiently, his eyes lit with amusement. “You only have one thing going against you—in my eyes, anyway.”

Curious despite her reservations about even having this conversation with him, she asked, “What’s that?”

“You don’t have half as much faith in yourself as I do.”

Surprisingly touched by his words, she looked away.

Will tucked a finger under her chin and forced her to face him. “You have a lot to offer a man, Jess. Any man. I hope it’s me, but if things don’t work out, please don’t forget that.”

“You really mean that, don’t you?” she said.

“I never say anything I don’t mean,” he assured her.

“But I’m such a terrible bet, Will,” she said. “Okay, I know this flies right in the face of what you were just saying, but I don’t stick with things. That’s the truth, and I might as well admit it. My dating history sucks.”

Will didn’t seem impressed by her warning. “Don’t you think I know that? They were just the wrong guys.”

“Abby’s told me the same thing, but what if you’re both wrong? What if it’s me?”

He leveled a look into her eyes that melted something inside she hadn’t even realized was frozen: her heart.

“It’s not you,” he said quietly. “I
know
that, Jess. I know it.”

He sounded so sure, so reassuring, that she was
almost convinced that maybe the time had come to finally take that leap of faith.

But then Connor headed their way, and she was reminded that not even her big brother, her best friend, had that much faith in her. How could she possibly risk hurting Will when she knew deep in her heart that the odds of them making it were slim to none?

W
ill stood off to the side with Connor keeping an eye on little Mick, as the women handled the brisk business at their respective booths. Even Jess had been drafted into action, taking donations for her uncle’s foundation. He noticed Connor watching her, his expression filled with regret.

“Jess will be okay,” Will said, trying to reassure him.

“She wouldn’t even look at me when the two of you came back,” Connor said.

“She’s hurt that you thought for even a second that she’d lose track of little Mick, that’s all. She trusts you to be in her corner, and for a minute there, you were just like everyone else, jumping to the conclusion that she’d failed you.”

“I was scared for my son,” Connor said defensively.

“She knows that. It doesn’t make it hurt any less.”

“What do I do? I tried to apologize.”

“Give it time. You two have had spats before.”

Connor shook his head. “This one feels different.
It’s as if I took something away from her, and she can’t forgive me for that.”

Will knew Connor was serious, but he nudged him in the ribs anyway. “No need to be dramatic. This will pass, Connor. I guarantee it.”

“I didn’t know you shrinks were in the business of giving out guarantees.”

“Well, it’s true that when we’re dealing with particularly stubborn, impossible, hard-to-reach clients, we don’t like to promise much, but since you O’Briens are all so reasonable, I think it’s safe,” he said, his expression wry.

“Bite me,” Connor responded cheerfully. “I’m serious, though. Should I apologize again? I hate it that when she looks my way at all, she stares right through me.”

“Hey, there’s nothing wrong with a sincere apology or a lot of groveling. If you feel so inclined, go for it. Just remember that you wounded her, no question about it. I’m just not sure Jess is in a forgiving mood quite yet.”

“Well, I have to do something. That blank look I get when she sees me is killing me,” Connor said. “Keep an eye on little Mick, okay?”

“Got it,” Will promised. “He may move fast, but my legs are longer. He won’t get away from me.”

He watched as Connor approached Jess, said something to catch her attention, then faltered when she gave him a look filled with accusation, pain and betrayal. He couldn’t hear what Connor was saying, but eventually, Jess’s lips curved up just a little. She gave her brother a shove that had him stumbling back a step, then laughed.

“Stop it, you two!” Heather commanded in the tone
she usually used to get little Mick’s attention. “If you’re going to start a brawl, do not do it in my booth.”

“Sorry,” Connor murmured, kissing his wife’s cheek as Will strolled over to join them, little Mick running alongside him. “I had to make things right with Jess. I told her she could beat me up, if she wanted to.”

Heather shook her head, regarding them indulgently. Then she turned to Jess. “And all you managed was that pitiful little shove? I’m ashamed of you. You should have clipped him a good one in the jaw for making you feel bad.”

Connor frowned at his wife. “Hey, whose side are you on?”

“In this instance, your sister’s.”

“Thank you,” Jess said solemnly, though her eyes were twinkling. She turned to Will. “I assume you were behind the groveling.”

“I might have mentioned that groveling is always an option,” Will said. “I assure you, though, that the invitation to beat him up was his. I usually don’t approve of physical violence, however much it’s called for.” He looked from one to the other. “Everything resolved now?”

Connor glanced at his sister. “Are we okay?”

“Yes,” she said, throwing her arms around him. “I don’t know why what you say matters so much to me, since you’re obviously such a big loser.”

“But you love me,” Connor taunted right back.

Jess grinned. “Yeah, I guess I do.”

Connor glanced in Will’s direction, then regarded her intently. “Then maybe you’d consider listening to a little brotherly advice from me.”

“No,” Jess said, her chin tilting stubbornly.

“Stop while you’re ahead,” Will advised.

“I was just going to tell her she ought to take a serious look at you,” Connor protested.

Heather heaved a sigh. “Connor, I love you, but Will’s right. You really don’t know when to quit.”

“I’m just saying—”

“I don’t want to hear it,” Jess said emphatically.

“And I don’t need you interceding on my behalf,” Will added. He turned to Jess. “Want to get something to eat?”

“Yes, please,” she said at once.

Only as they were walking away together did Will notice the smug expression on Connor’s face. He had a feeling his sneaky friend had just played his hand very, very well.

Jess recognized that she’d just been manipulated by a master—her brother. “I just let Connor get away with practically throwing me into your arms, didn’t I?”

Will chuckled. “Yep. I fell for it, too.”

“Want to go back and beat him up? I think I could take him down with your help.”

Will’s brow rose. “Are you that unhappy to be spending time with me?”

She thought about it for a split second, then admitted, “Not really.”

“That’s progress, then,” he said with satisfaction.

“Don’t be smug. I liked having you on my side earlier, and I liked watching you with little Mick. You seem comfortable with both of us.”

He looked amused by the assessment. “Why wouldn’t I be comfortable with you?”

“I haven’t been very nice to you recently.”

“You’re wary. I get that.”

Jess thought of what Gail had said about having a man truly understand his partner. For the first time she was able to view Will’s understanding of her and his apparently boundless patience as a plus.

“What about little Mick? Are you comfortable with all kids?”

“I’d better be if I’m going to continue hanging around you O’Briens. Grandchildren are popping up right and left.”

She laughed. “They are, aren’t they? What about you? Do you want kids?”

“Absolutely,” he said.

She regarded him with amazement. “You said that without even the tiniest hesitation.”

“Because having a family has always been my dream.” He studied her curiously. “How about you?”

Jess didn’t have an immediate answer. She was afraid if she said what came to mind, it would be far too revealing and would give him something to analyze till the cows came home.

Unfortunately, Will was too perceptive. “Jess, are you worried you won’t be able to handle kids? Did what happened earlier with Connor reinforce that?”

She hated that he’d nailed it so easily…and loved that he knew her so well. Her reactions to Will were getting more and more confusing.

“Yes,” she admitted eventually. “I love all the kids in this family. A part of me has daydreamed about being a mom, but I’m not sure I have the slightest idea of how a mom is supposed to act. All I know is that she doesn’t run off the way mine did.”

“It’s true that for a time Megan wasn’t the best ex
ample. Her leaving was hardest for you because you were so young, but look at the examples Nell and Abby set for you. You couldn’t do any better than learning from them.”

“I suppose,” she said, though she still harbored a lot of doubts. “And then there’s the ADD. I know I was furious with Connor for suggesting I’d run off and leave little Mick behind, but it could happen, Will.”

“It won’t,” Will said with confidence.

“How can you possibly be so sure of that?”

“Because I know the kind of deeply caring woman you are. The fact that you’re aware that you’re easily distracted will make you even more attentive. Your kids will be lucky, Jess.”

She was surprised by the comment. “Lucky? Why?”

“Because you’re impulsive and unpredictable.”

“I thought those were negatives.”

“Not to a kid. You’ll be the fun mom.”

“But kids need reliability. They need stability.”

“Which is why you need a steady, reliable man,” he teased.

“Like you,” she said.

“Of course,” he said, his eyes twinkling. “Exactly like me.”

She shook her head. “What am I going to do with you?” she murmured.

His smile spread. “Seems to me the possibilities are endless.”

For the first time since they’d started this cautious game, Jess let herself relax and remember that she and Will had a long history of friendship that would serve them well. How on earth had she let herself forget that?

There was something different about Connie today. Thomas couldn’t put his finger on it. Her eyes were brighter, her cheeks pinker. It finally dawned on him that she was wearing makeup for the first time since he’d known her. Something told him she’d worn it for his benefit, and that made him smile.

“You’re looking especially lovely today,” he whispered in her ear. The pink in her cheeks deepened to a fiery shade of red that no makeup in the world could match or conceal.

“Stop that!” she said, her voice hushed, her tone indignant.

He laughed. “Stop what? Complimenting you?”

“Yes.”

“The only way that’ll happen is if you stop looking so beautiful. You take my breath away.”

She regarded him with exasperation, hands on her slender hips. “You know, for years now, I’ve been hearing about the O’Brien talent for blarney, but this is the very first time I’ve been on the receiving end.”

“It’s not blarney if it’s the gospel truth,” he insisted.

“Well, truth or fiction, your timing needs some work. You do realize that we’re surrounded by members of your family?”

“So?”

“They’re known for carrying tales,” she reminded him.

Thomas chuckled, unimpressed by her warning. “There’s no one in the family whose opinion worries me,” he said truthfully. “How about you?”

She seemed surprised by his attitude. “Are you really
so confident that people aren’t going to be shocked or appalled if they find out we’re seeing each other?”

“I’ll have you know I consider you to be a perfectly respectable woman,” he said, enjoying the quick rise of color that stained her cheeks again. She was so wonderfully easy to tease.

“It’s not me they’ll be questioning,” she said, practically sputtering with indignation. “You’re the one with the wicked reputation.”

“Wicked, is it?”

“Two wives. That could be considered quite scandalous in some circles. In fact, I imagine your own mother has had quite a bit to say about it.”

“I didn’t have them at the same time,” he countered. “It was all in a perfectly respectable sequence. As for Ma and me, we’ve made peace over my decisions. She learned years ago it was a waste of her breath to try to control me.”

Her lips twitched at his response, and a sparkle lit her eyes. “Do you not take anything seriously?”

Thomas sobered at once. “I do,” he said. “My work and, lately, you.”

She blinked as his words sank in, then shook her head. “What am I going to do with you?”

“Quite a lot, I hope. Shall we start with dinner tonight?”

She hesitated for so long, he thought he might have overplayed his hand.

“I’m not at all sure I’m ready to handle a man like you,” she told him, though her expression was oddly wistful when she said it.

“Connie, my love, I think you can handle anything
life throws your way,” he said with total sincerity. “I’ll be putty in your hands.”

“Somehow I doubt that,” she said tartly. “But I suppose dinner’s not too big a risk.”

“Good for you,” he said. “And tonight we’re going to Brady’s. No more hiding in out-of-the-way places.”

“Are you sure about that?” she asked doubtfully.

“I’ve never been more certain of anything,” he said. He studied her intently. “How about you? Are you worried about Jake’s opinion? Or your daughter’s?”

“I’ll admit they’re going to be surprised, but they’d probably be stunned if I got involved with any man after all these years.”

“Then there’s no one standing in our way, is there?”

“I suppose not,” she conceded.

“Good for you,” he said. Because if there was one thing he knew with absolute certainty, it was that if the two of them were to have half a chance, their relationship had to be open and aboveboard from the start. There was no shame in what they were doing. And whatever doubts his meddling family—or her protective one—might throw at them, it was better to get them out of the way sooner, rather than later.

When Jess got back to the inn late on Saturday afternoon, the kitchen was empty except for an obviously panic-stricken Ronnie.

“Thank goodness,” Ronnie said to her when she walked in. “I’ve been calling your cell phone for over an hour.”

She reached into her purse, then muttered a curse. “Sorry. I guess I left it in the office.” She mentally berated herself even as she admitted the oversight.
Forgetting the phone broke one of her cardinal rules on the weekend: never to be out of touch with the inn. What was wrong with her? This was the kind of slipup that drove her crazy.

“You’re here now,” Ronnie said. “We’ve got a problem.”

“What?”

“Gail got sick and had to leave. She told me to take charge, but I don’t know what I’m supposed to do, and the restaurant’s going to be packed tonight. I took half a dozen reservations myself before I knew she was going to take off.” He gave Jess a pleading look. “Maybe we should close.”

Jess wondered for an instant if he wasn’t right about that. Then again, even if she were dying, Gail wouldn’t have gone off and left Ronnie to take over if she didn’t think he could handle it.

“Let’s take a look at the menu,” she suggested, trying to approach the problem methodically to minimize her own increasing panic. “Tell me which of the dishes you think you can handle.”

He glanced over the three main courses, then shrugged. “I’ve helped her with all of them. I guess I could manage as long as there’s some help in here.”

“I’ll get you help,” Jess said.

She picked up the phone and called Kevin. “I have a crisis.”

Fifteen minutes later, her brother arrived with Abby and Gram in tow. Jess regarded her grandmother with dismay.

“Gram, I can’t ask you to pitch in around here.”