Treading Water (19 page)

“
I should be able to come
out for a weekend before then. Do you think you can come here for
Thanksgiving?”

“
I’d hate to leave my
mother, but she’s been spending more time at her sister’s anyway. I
suppose we could probably come.”

“
I’m sorry it’s so
complicated, honey.”

She tipped her head back to kiss him. “Me,
too.”

“
Could I ask you
something?”

She shifted to study his face in the dark.
The dim cabin light cast a faint glow on them. “Sure.”

“
Would you ever consider
moving here to live with me? With us?”

Her eyes widened. “Seriously?”

“
Very
seriously.”

“
I don’t know, Jack,” she
said, her voice infected with a stammer. “I can’t imagine how I
could… There’s Eric and his school, my job, my mother…”

“
It’s messy. I know it is.
And it’s terribly unfair that you’d have to be the one to move. I’d
be out there in a minute if I could, but I just can’t. Not now
anyway.”

“
I know.”

“
We haven’t known each
other that long, but everything about us feels right to me. I want
so much more than occasional weekends together.”

“
I want more than that,
too. You know I do. But I can’t imagine leaving my whole life in
Chicago.”

“
I promised myself I
wouldn’t even mention this to you until after Frannie and Jamie’s
wedding. I wanted to give us more time to get to know each other,
but this last month has shown me I don’t need it. I know I’m asking
so much, and all I have to offer in return is my love for you and
Eric.”

“
And that’s no small
thing,” she said, caressing his face. “As much as I want what
you’re offering, it’s an enormous step for me. I don’t know if I
have it in me after what happened with Alec.”

A flash of anger took him
by surprise. “You can’t
possibly
be comparing me to him.”

“
No, love, never.” With her
hands on his face she touched her lips to his. “I don’t know if I
trust
myself
anymore. You’ve made me a lovely offer, and I don’t take it
lightly. I know what you’ve been through, what your family’s been
through, so I get that it’s a big deal for you, too. Can I have
some time to think about it?”

“
I guess that’s not too
much to ask,” he said.

“
And can we put it on the
back burner, so we don’t spoil this wonderful weekend
together?”

“
That’s not too much to ask
either.” He leaned in to kiss her. “Let’s talk about it again after
Frannie and Jamie’s wedding. That gives us more than two months,
okay?”

“
Okay.”

He wrapped his arms around her. “I love you,
Andi. I love you so much.”

“
I know you do.”

“
My whole world had tipped
upside down until you came along and made everything right
again.”

“
Jack,” she said with a
sigh. “I love you, too. If I had only myself to consider, I’d move
today. Right now.”

He tilted her chin up to kiss her again.
“I’ll do my best not to pressure you.”

Andi laughed. “And you’re known for your
patience?”

“
I’m working on
that.”

Frannie and Jamie boarded the boat wearing
grim expressions.

“
What’s wrong?” Jack
asked.

“
That tropical storm has
taken a turn away from the Carolinas and is headed due north,”
Jamie said.

“
The new track puts Block
Island right in the path,” Frannie added.

“
Shit,” Jack said, thinking
of Quinn and the wedding. “When will it be here?”

“
Monday night.”

The Sunday wedding went off smoothly despite
the frantic work going on around the island to prepare for the
direct hit of a significant tropical storm. Jack and his group did
what they could to help get Haven Hill buttoned down before they
sailed back to Newport early on Monday, ahead of the storm.

At home, Maggie, who’d tended to Eric’s
every need all weekend, insisted he stay in her room and pulled out
the trundle from under her bed for him. Jack wondered how she would
ever let Eric go back to Chicago. After putting the younger two
kids to bed, he called to check on Clare and her nurses, who
reported being tucked in to ride out the storm.

While the wind howled outside, Jack spent
most of the night making love with Andi in the guest room.
Suffering through an attack of guilt over being with another woman
in Clare’s house, he left Andi’s room before dawn. If she agreed to
come live with them, there’d be adjustments for everyone—including
him. He hoped the extra days they’d get thanks to the storm would
convince her they could make it work.

The slow-moving hurricane continued well
into Tuesday, and after the storm finally ended, Jack was relieved
to hear that Clare was fine and there was hardly any damage to his
property.

With the power out on Aquidneck Island,
Jamie and Frannie came over to spend the evening with them. Frannie
was all but living with Jamie these days, but she still helped Jack
with the girls.

The fireplace cast an amber glow over the
family room as Eric and Maggie played a card game.

Jill used the firelight to read by, and Kate
played her guitar. She tended to be the more introverted of the
three girls, so Jack had been surprised and amazed when she led
them in a sing-along earlier. He was again taken aback by how very
good she had gotten.

As the fire burned down, Frannie and Jamie
sat together on one sofa, Jack and Andi on another as they worked
on a second bottle of wine. He had a generator for the refrigerator
but had told the girls they could do without power for one night.
After some grumbling they’d been good sports overall.

Andi stretched and yawned. “This was the
most relaxing day I’ve had in years.”

Jack grinned at her, thrilled to have their
time together extended. “Did you ever get through to the
airline?”

“
I tried, but they left me
on hold forever. I didn’t want to waste the power on my phone
waiting, so I hung up.”

“
Oh, too bad,” Jack
said.

Frannie laughed. “You’re all broken up,
Jack.”

He put his arm around Andi. “It’s not funny,
Fran. Andi’s missing work, and Eric is out of school. It’s terrible
how they’re stuck here with us.”

Jamie made a barfing noise that made the
others laugh.

Frannie and Jamie left a short time
later.

Jack and Andi hustled the kids off to bed,
walking them through the dark house with flashlights and
candles.

After he tucked Maggie in, Jack went back
downstairs to make sure all the candles were out and found Andi
watching the last of the fire. “Hey, I thought you were upstairs.”
He sat next to her on the sofa and reached out to stroke her hair.
“What’re you thinking about?”

She smiled. “Nothing. Everything.”

“
Hmm, which is
it?”

“
I loved the storm. Isn’t
that crazy? I should’ve been scared, but it was exhilarating. And I
loved being here with you and our kids.”

He smiled. “You said
our
kids.”

She rested her head on his chest. “Are you
sure you didn’t manufacture the storm to keep us here longer?”

Laughing, he ran his fingers through her
silky curls. “It was kind of tricky getting it to move in the right
direction, but I was able to pull it off.”

“
I’m beginning to sense
that you usually get what you want.”

“
Oh, I sure hope so.” He
took her hand to lead her up to bed. “I really hope so.”

The hurricane disrupted travel along the
entire east coast, and they learned on Wednesday that it would be
several days before the airlines got back on schedule.

“
Any luck?” Jack asked when
Andi hung up the phone in the study. He’d been pretending to stay
busy in the kitchen while he waited to hear how she made
out.

“
The best they could do was
stand-by on Saturday afternoon,” she said as she joined him in the
kitchen.

He tried to hide a smile.

“
Oh, stop it! I can see you
grinning.”

He swept her into his arms and nibbled on
her neck. “Who’s grinning?”

When she squealed and tried to get away from
him, he lifted her off her feet.

“
I didn’t take that
Saturday flight.”

“
No?”

“
I went for the sure thing
on Sunday evening.”

He let out a whoop, swung her around, and
kissed her. “Is this going to screw you up at work?” he asked as he
set her down.

She raised an eyebrow. “Do you really
care?”

He pretended to think about it. “Not
really.”

“
I didn’t think
so.”

Once the girls were off to school on
Thursday, Jack went to the office. He’d wanted to stay home with
Andi and Eric, but he needed to get some work done. With Quinn on
her honeymoon, he knew things would be hectic.

Jamie poked his head in at noon to see how
Jack was doing.

“
Why did I agree to give
her
three
weeks
off?”

“
Because you’re a sucker,”
Jamie said with a smile. “Anything I can do to help?”

“
No, I’ve got
it.”

“
Were you out at the hotel
site this morning?”

“
Yeah. The storm didn’t
really hurt us, so we’re right on schedule. The foundation will be
finished within the month.”

“
That’s good news. How are
things at home?”

“
Great. The airlines are a
mess, so they’re staying until Sunday.”

“
Bonus.”

“
I wasn’t exactly
heartbroken over it.” Jack sat back in his chair and motioned for
Jamie to come in and shut the door. “I asked her to move here to
live with us.”

Jamie seemed stunned. “What’d she say?”

“
She wants some time to
think about it, so we’ve agreed to talk about it again after your
wedding.”

“
I can see why she’s
hesitant. Can you?”

“
Sure, I can. But I don’t
want to be doing this every month or two long-distance thing
forever. I want her with me, but I don’t want to push her into
doing something either of us will regret. I’m also worried about
how the girls will take it. I haven’t mentioned it to them because
she hasn’t said yes yet.”

“
You’ve got to look at it
from her perspective. She’s got an established life out there, a
career, and a son to think about.”

“
I worry it’ll be too much
for her to give up, that what we have won’t be enough to replace it
all.” Verbalizing his greatest fear made Jack ache with
worry.

“
I’ve seen the two of you
together—this comes down to logistics, not feelings.”

“
I guess we’ll see what
happens.”

“
You’ve got four more days
to show her what domestic tranquility Harrington-style would be
like,” Jamie said with a grin.

“
Believe me, I
know.”

Chapter 14

Watching Andi’s plane lift off, Jack already
yearned to have her back. They’d had such a wonderful week
together. He’d noticed the girls beginning to appreciate Andi’s
gentle sweetness as much as he did. One night he came home from
work to find her at the table, helping Maggie with long division.
When Andi looked up to find him watching them, her smile had
stopped his heart.

This time, saying good-bye to Andi had also
meant saying good-bye to the boy who’d become so dear to him.

Jack replayed their long visit as he drove
home from the airport and remembered all the moments that added up
to one simple truth for him—he loved her and needed her more all
the time. He could only hope she would reach the same
conclusion.

She’d promised to come to Rhode Island for
Thanksgiving, but that was five long weeks away. In the meantime,
they were back to phone calls and the online video chats the girls
had suggested they try.

He got home from the airport and came in
through the kitchen, where Jill was getting a glass of water.

“
Did they get off okay?”
she asked.

“
Right on time. Shouldn’t
you be in bed?”

“
I’m going now. I had some
homework to finish.”

He kissed her cheek. “See you in the
morning.”

She walked toward the stairs but turned
back. “Dad?”

“
Yeah, hon?”

“
I like her. I didn’t want
to, but I do.”

“
I’m glad. Thanks for
telling me.”

“
Good night.”

“
Night.”

Andi called at twelve thirty to let him know
they’d arrived in Chicago.

“
Next time I might not let
you go,” he said.

“
Is that so?”

“
You know it
is.”

After a long pause, she said, “I’m thinking
about it, Jack.”

He’d thought of hardly anything else in
days. “Good.”

“
I’ll talk to you
tomorrow.”

“
I can’t wait.”

At the end of her first day
back to work, Andi wandered over to David’s office. His secretary
was away from her desk, so Andi looked in to see if he was busy.
“Knock, knock…”