The Courage To Love (Love On The North Shore) (23 page)

The hope from a moment ago disappeared and her heart plummeted.

“Or at least I thought I did. When Ma told me about your accident, my heart stopped. The thought of you hurt or worse scared the shit out of me and I realized how much I need you.” Sean rubbed the back of his neck and looked away. “Since I walked out on you in Boston life has sucked, Mia. I never planned on it, but I love you.”

His eyes once again met hers and the uncertainty she spotted pulled at her heart. “Sean, I—”

“Let me finish,” he said, holding her gaze. “I know I was an ass in Boston and I know you could have any man you want. But if you give me another chance I promise to do everything I can to make you happy.”

Hope again bloomed. “You don’t need to do anything. Like I told you that night, I love you. Nothing has changed that.”

His shoulders dipped as he relaxed a little. “You mean the world to me.” He crossed back to her side. “I love you Mia.” Then, as if she were a fragile butterfly, he leaned over and kissed her lips.

“I won’t break.”

The rough skin on his fingertips trailed down the side of her face. “You’re in pain already. I don’t want to do anything to add to it.”

“At least sit next to me.” She patted the empty space on the bed. “There’s plenty of room.”

In all the time they’d spent together, she’d never seen him move with such slow careful movements. Despite her best efforts, she laughed at him.

“What?” He settled himself next to her, his hand wrapped around hers.

She touched his cheek again. “Nothing. I’ve just missed you. I still can’t believe you’re here.” Content for the first time since leaving Boston, she rested her head against him.

For a long while, neither spoke or moved. Only when a nurse came in to check Mia’s vitals did Sean release her hand.

“It’s time for your pain medicine.” The nurse in light pink scrubs handed Mia water and a cup containing pills. “I’m leaving in half an hour and Kate will be your nurse again tonight.”

Mia took the medicine and waited for the nurse to leave. “Go back to your room for a little while and get some rest. You look tired. Maybe get something to eat, too,” she said as the door closed. “This medicine knocks me out.”

Sean shook his head. “No, I—”

“That wasn’t a suggestion. You look about ready to fall asleep. I’m not going anywhere. Get some rest and come back in a few hours.”

He clenched his jaw tight, a telltale sign he wanted to argue. “Fine, but I’ll be back with dinner. What do you want?”

“Pizza.” To hell with counting calories today.

When Sean finally left, she stopped fighting gravity and let her eyelids close. Darn, the pain medicine kicked in fast. Taking in a slow deep breath, she let her mind wander as it drifted toward sleep. Never in a million years had she expected Sean at her bedside, but he’d been there. Happiness started around her heart and spread outward. He’d dropped everything and traveled across the country because he loved her. That action alone reinforced how different he was from other men she’d dated in the past. That difference was only one of the reasons she loved him.

Somehow it’ll work. “We’ll figure it out,” she said as she turned onto her good side and let sleep take her.

***

For three days now, his unease had been growing. It’d started the moment Mia checked out of the hospital and returned home insisting that he stay with her rather than in a hotel. Eventually, he needed to get back. At least until Sherbrooke Enterprises took over management at the bed and breakfast, he remained responsible for all the maintenance. So far neither of them had mentioned how they’d handle their relationship in the long term. With his mother turning things over at The Victorian Rose there wasn’t anything holding him in North Salem. Yeah, he had friends there and the new house, but he’d leave it all behind if Mia asked. And there lay the problem. She hadn’t asked him to stay in California.

Sean turned the page of the magazine he held and focused on the next article in an effort to ignore the edginess. Next to him, Mia sat with her leg propped up, painting her fingernails as if she didn’t have a care in the world.

“We should talk,” Mia said next to him. “I know you need to get home, Sean. Your life is in North Salem.”

Sean closed his eyes as the fear and unease he’d held back for days boiled over. With slow deliberate motions, he closed the magazine and set it aside. “I don’t need to stay there though. Say the word and I’ll come back here once the new manager takes over.”

“No. You don’t have to do that.”

A twinge of pain shot through his cheek as he bit down on it. If she wanted to end things already before they even gave their relationship a fair shot, he wouldn’t argue. Obviously she had thought more about their relationship and decided she’d been wrong about how she felt.

“Okay, whatever. I’ll go back now if you want.”

She slapped his leg as he began to stand. “Sit back down, will you? Man, you’re impatient. You didn’t let me finish.”

“Go ahead,” he said as he remained seated on the edge of the couch.

“I can live anywhere. I spend most of my time here because it’s convenient, but that doesn’t mean I have to stay here. And honestly, being in North Salem made me realize how much I miss the East Coast and my family. Even before we met, I’d considered taking a little break from Hollywood.”

Her words seeped into his brain and rekindled hope in his chest despite his best effort to kept it away. She hadn’t actually said she’d come back to Massachusetts with him.

“I need to finish work on this movie. Thanks to this, I don’t know when.” She pointed to the cast on her leg. “But I have nothing else planned. I thought I’d come back with you. Maybe I can help you work on the house. Then when we’re ready for a change, we can come back here or go wherever we want.”

“Are you sure? You only spent a month in town. Compared to out here North Salem is as exciting as a graveyard.”

This time she slapped him hard enough to make his leg sting. “It’s not that bad,” she said with laughter in her voice. “Besides I’ll be closer to my Gram and Pop and you’ll be close to your mom and sister.”

Once again his emotions took a turn. “My sister lives in Virginia,” he said knowing full well Mia referred to his half-sister Taylor and not Charlie.

“That’s not who I meant and you know it, Sean.” Her voice took on a more serious tone. “Whatever mistakes your father made, they had nothing to do with Taylor. You don’t have to do it right now, but you should let her into your life.”

In the weeks since they’d first had this discussion, he’d wrangled with his decision. Part of him knew Mia was right. If he started a relationship with Taylor, though, wouldn’t that mean letting his father back into his life as well? While he now knew his father hadn’t been completely at fault for the end of his parents’ marriage, he couldn’t forgive him for the way he’d handled it. A divorce didn’t mean you abandoned your children and disappeared for almost eighteen years.

“I’m still considering it. For now, Mia, that’s all I can say.”

“Fair enough.” Mia leaned over and kissed him.

Using all his willpower, he kept the kiss tender or at least he tried. Mia had ideas of her own though. With her tongue she coaxed his lips apart and teased his tongue with hers. The combination of her kiss and the knowledge that she loved him sent all the blood in his body south. With a groan, he pulled away, his erection throbbing against the zipper of his jeans.

“Stop,” he said his voice full of regret. “You’re going to kill me if we keep this up.”

“I’m fine.” Mia reached up as if to wrap her arms around him and cringed in pain.

“I saw that.” He dropped his forehead against hers. “I want you more than anything, but you’re not ready.”

Mis sighed, and he laughed then pulled back. “I love you,” he said before kissing her forehead.

“I love you, too.”

His heart swelled at the words, but a tiny part of his brain held onto its doubts. He needed to hear it one more time. “Say it again.”

She locked her eyes on his. “I love you, Sean O’Brien.”

The love he saw reflected in her eyes buried the last doubt he had. As gently as he could he pulled her close, content to just hold her.

Chapter 15

With another tug, the carpet finally released its hold on the floor. Once he got the first section loose, the rest followed with ease, revealing dull hardwood beneath. Inch by inch he ripped up the carpet, which was stained by god knew what. He couldn’t think of a worse covering for a kitchen floor.

In the distance he heard his cell phone ring, but he didn’t budge. He wasn’t expecting any calls, and he needed this carpet out of here. It was the only remnant left behind in the kitchen. Already the ancient appliances had been scrapped as well as the cabinets and old countertops. Tom had finished updating the electrical earlier that week, and by some small miracle the plumbing in the kitchen had already been updated by the previous owners. So once this carpet joined the rest of the trash in the dumpster outside, he could begin putting the kitchen back together.

“Sean, phone.” Mia appeared in the doorway balanced on a pair of crutches.

Coming to his feet and walked over to her, he grabbed the phone from her shorts pocket and kissed her. Rather than return to the living room where she’d been sorting through paint samples, she leaned against the door jamb.

“Hello.”

“Sean, it’s your father.”

Damn. Mia’s continued presence in the kitchen made sense now. “Hi.” A month or two earlier and he would’ve hung up without a second thought. Now he waited.

“Today is Taylor’s birthday. I’m having a cake for her tonight. I hoped you would come.” His father’s voice sounded hopeful. “You’re Aunt Bridget is coming, too.”

Now there was a name he hadn’t heard in a long time. Even before his parents’ divorce, he rarely saw her. After getting married she’d moved out to Colorado. On the rare occasion she made a trip to Massachusetts, her visits to his house had been short. Even as a kid he could tell his Aunt and mom didn’t get along.

“I can’t tonight.”

“I see. Taylor will be disappointed.” His father’s disappointment echoed in his voice.

“Mia and I have a party to go to,” Sean added. He wanted his father to know he wasn’t making up an excuse, but at the same time he left out the part about it being an engagement party for his mom and Ray. Some things were just better kept private.

“We’re free on Sunday,” Sean said. Thanks to Mia’s insistence and his own conscience, he’d made up his mind to get to know Taylor even before this phone call. Regardless of his father’s actions, Taylor was his little sister and he felt for her. Not only had she lost her mom, but now she found herself living in a new place. All that would be tough enough for a kid, but to top it off she had no one but her father. “Does that work?”

“Yeah, we’re around all day.” His father’s voice turned upbeat.

Once the arrangements were made, he tossed his cell phone onto his toolbox.

“I think you made the right decision.” Mia came farther into the room and leaned on her crutches.

“What you said about her needing family was true.” Sean wrapped his arms around her. Once again the sense of being just where he belonged washed over him. “I’ll need your help buying a birthday present. I have no clue what a twelve-year-old girl would like.”

“Leave that to me,” she said with a gleam in her eye.

***

With the exception of the ugly cast, the reflection in the mirror pleased her. Free of the heavy makeup she wore before the summer, her tanned skin glowed. Since her return to North Salem with Sean, she’d stopped blow drying her hair straight every morning and tonight it hung loosely around her shoulders a thick mass of natural curls.

In addition to the changes in her appearance, the changes she felt on the inside pleased her as well. Career obligations and Hollywood nonsense no longer filled her days. Best of all the constant sense that something was missing from her life no longer plagued her every day. Now she woke up filled with love and eagerness. She had one person to thank for that.

She watched Sean in the mirror as he buttoned up his dress shirt. Unaware she watched him in the mirror, he reached for the tie on the bed. “It’s too bad you sister didn’t make it up here for the party tonight,” Mia said, watching his face for a reaction.

The topic of his mother’s engagement hadn’t come up much and she suspected he liked it that way. She guessed he was still uncomfortable with the situation, which she understood. If not for his mother’s involvement with Ray all those years ago maybe his parents would have stayed together, and so many lives would be different today.

“Carol should have asked if this date worked for everyone,” Sean said, referring to Ray’s sister. “Or given more of a heads up. Charlie would’ve made sure she had the time off.”

Mia caught the displeasure in his voice. “We can always have our own little party when Charlie and Jake come up next week.”

He gave her a casual shrug, a frown on his face, and went back to work on his tie.