Treading Water (31 page)

“
Of course I
remembered.”

She laughed. “I should’ve known better.”

With his arm around her shoulder, he walked
her to his car. “Yes, you should have.”

“
Where’re we
going?”

“
I thought we’d spend the
night on the boat like we did that weekend you came to visit,” he
said as they drove to the marina.

“
There’s nothing I’d rather
do tonight, but I didn’t bring anything to stay.”

He kissed her hand. “I took care of it.”

She sighed. “I’ll never get used to being
with a man who thinks of everything.”

“
You’d better get used to
it. You’re stuck with me.”

“
Yes, I’m just
so
stuck,” she said with
a smile. “So
blissfully
stuck.”

He’d been to the boat earlier in the day,
and everything was ready for them when they arrived.

They motored toward the bay to see the
hotel’s progress from the water. The exterior was just about
shingled, the roof was on, and the contractors were putting up the
interior walls. They’d had a lucky run with the weather all year,
which had kept things right on schedule.

“
It looks wonderful, Jack.
I can’t believe how close to done it seems from here.”

They lingered for a moment longer to look at
the hotel that had brought them together. Then he steered the boat
across the bay to anchor in Mackerel Cove for the night.

The same Sinatra CD they’d listened to last
time played on the stereo as they dove into the dinner he’d
brought.

As Andi polished off the last brownie, she
said, “I’m so full, and yet still I eat.”

“
I can’t move.” He groaned
as he reclined on the other side of the boat’s comfortable rear
cockpit. The night air was heavy with humidity, and water lapped
gently against the hull.

She gazed up at the spectacular show of
stars. “What a lovely evening.”

He looked over at her. “What a lovely
year.”

She brought her eyes down from the heavens
to meet his. “The loveliest year ever.”

“
No regrets?”

“
Are you waiting for me to
have regrets, Jack?”

“
I keep hoping you
won’t.”

“
I won’t. Not today, not
tomorrow, not ever, so don’t spend one more minute worrying about
that.”

“
You know me so well—better
than anyone ever has.”

The gravity of that statement hung in the
air between them.

“
I feel so disloyal to
Clare even saying that, but it’s true.”

“
Jack,” she sighed. “I hate
the terrible pain I still see in your eyes once in a
while.”

“
It’s better than it was,
but it still gets to me every now and then.”

“
Of course it
does.”

When their song came on, he sat up and held
out a hand to her. “Dance with me?”

She got up to take his hand.

“
We might need a new song,”
he whispered as he drew her in close to him.

“
How come?”

“
Since we’re together every
day now, I don’t have to remember the way you look tonight to hold
me over during the lonely times.”

“
I remember how I felt the
last time we were right here, knowing I had to leave you in a few
days and how hopeless it all seemed. We wouldn’t be here now if you
hadn’t had enough hope for both of us.”

“
Hope was the only thing I
had left then. I don’t even like to think about how differently
things could’ve turned out if you hadn’t had the courage to give it
a try.”

She reached up to kiss him. “I’m so glad I
did.”

“
So am I.”

Jack awoke the next morning to his cell
phone vibrating on the table where he’d left it the night before.
He jumped out of bed to grab it.

“
Dad!”

“
Kate, what is it? What’s
wrong?”

“
Frannie had the babies!
I’ve been trying to call you all night.”

“
The phone was on vibrate.
I didn’t hear it. Is everything okay?”

“
It is now, but she had a
C-section. I guess there was some bleeding or
something.”

“
You’re sure Frannie’s
okay?” he asked as he went in to wake Andi.

“
I’m sure. Uncle Jamie just
called a few minutes ago. They had a boy and a girl. Owen and
Olivia.”

“
I can’t believe we slept
through all the excitement.”

“
Come home! We want to go
to the hospital.”

“
We’re on our
way.”

Maggie Harrington thought the arrival of
Olivia and Owen Booth was the most exciting thing that’d ever
happened. She’d never seen fingers and toes so tiny as she gazed at
them in their bassinettes.

Across the room, Eric signed to his mother,
“She likes them better than me now.” He watched Maggie stare at the
twins.

“
Oh, no, sweetie, she’s
just excited about the new babies. She won’t forget you,” Andi
assured him.

“
I hope not,” he signed,
casting another worried glance at Maggie.

“
We’re going home soon,”
Andi told him.

The new parents took in the chaos from
Frannie’s hospital bed.

“
Are you tired, hon?” Jamie
asked his wife.

“
Getting there. You can
shoo them out in a few minutes.”

Neil leaned over to take another look at his
first grandchildren. He’d handed out pink and blue cigars to
everyone he encountered since leaving Palm Beach that morning.

Jack came into the room with a pizza for
Jamie and found his daughters holding their new baby cousins. Jill
had been in earlier for a brief visit before going back to school.
“Hey, Kate, why don’t you think about taking the kids home? It’s
getting late.”

“
Five more minutes, Dad,”
Maggie said as she held Olivia.

After the kids left, Jack wandered over to
Frannie’s bed. “How’re you feeling, Fran?”

“
Like I got sliced in half
by a speeding train.” She shifted, trying to get
comfortable.

Jack winced. “Sounds awful.”

“
It was pretty scary, but
look at those babies.”

“
They’re beautiful,” Jack
said. They had a dusting of her auburn hair, and Jamie had joked
earlier about being stuck in a house full of hot-tempered redheads.
“I love their names, too.”

“
Thanks. I still can’t
believe I’m finally a mom.”

“
It’ll become real at three
in the morning when they’re both awake and hungry.”

She grimaced. “I can’t wait. We’d like you
and Andi to be their godparents.”

He kissed her forehead. “We’d be honored.
We’re going now so you can get some rest. Call if you need
anything.”

Jack and Andi left the new family and walked
to his car. The stifling heat of the late August day still clung to
the blacktop.

“
What a day,” Jack said as
he held the car door for Andi. “Did we really wake up on the boat,
or was that a month ago?”

She chuckled. “The babies are adorable.
They’re so lucky to have one of each.”

“
A ready-made family. They
want us to be the godparents.”

“
Frannie told me. It’s so
sweet of them to include me.”

“
Do you ever think about
having more kids?”

Amazed by the question, she
looked over at him. “Do
you
?”

“
Not really, but I have
three. You only have one, and you’re younger than I am.”

“
Only seven
years.”

“
I wouldn’t be opposed to
one more if you had the urge.”

“
With your kids so close to
being grown?”

“
Eric’s only six, so we’ve
got a lot of years of parenthood left. What’s a few
more?”

She shook her head. “You never cease to
amaze me, Jack. Just when I think I have you figured out…”

He glanced over at her. “So what do you
think? Want to have one of our own?”

She thought about it for a moment. “I’d love
to have a child with you, but we have a very nice family the way it
is now, and with the twins coming into our lives, I think we’ll be
set for kids. We can always borrow them when we feel the hankering
for babies.”

“
Are you sure?”

She leaned over to kiss his cheek. “I am.
But I love you for asking.”

“
I love you, too.” He held
her hand as he drove them home.

Chapter 23

Other than a quick trip to Chicago in late
September so Eric could see his grandmother, Jack and Andi were
occupied with finishing the hotel in time for the December opening.
By mid-October construction was almost done, and the Chicago-based
interior-design team arrived to put the suites and guest rooms
together. Andi settled into her office at the hotel in late October
and was busy hiring and training staff while making final plans for
the gala opening on December twentieth.

Eric moved to first grade at the girls’
school and was doing well with his sign-language aide. Jack and
Andi had talked about hiring a housekeeper to help with the kids in
the afternoons, but Kate said she would do it, and they agreed to
pay her. She usually made dinner for the family and helped the two
younger children with their homework.

Their lovely arrangement came to an ugly end
the week after Thanksgiving when Jack came home from work early and
caught Kate in a passionate embrace with her boyfriend, Ryan.

“
Are you kidding me,
Kate?
” Jack asked after he showed Ryan the
door.

“
With two kids in the house
who, I’d like to remind you, you’re being
paid
to watch? You know my rule about
having boys here when we’re not home.”

She didn’t answer him, which made him even
angrier. “You’re grounded. No Ryan, no car, no cell phone, no
nothing for one month.”

“
You can’t do
that!”

“
I can and I did. You’ve
betrayed my trust and Andi’s. We were counting on you to watch
Maggie and Eric, and this is what you’re doing? I just can’t
believe it, Kate. I’m so disappointed.”

“
Maggie and Eric were fine.
They were watching a movie! You can’t keep me from seeing Ryan! I
love him.”

“
You might think you love
him, but I won’t stand by and watch you mess up your future for a
boy. You’re grounded, and that’s the end of it.”

She bolted through the kitchen on her way to
the stairs.

Andi had arrived home in the midst of the
screaming match and was waiting for him in the kitchen. “What’s
going on? I’ve never heard you yell like that.”

“
I came home early and
found Kate and Ryan going at it. If I hadn’t come in when I did, I
think they would’ve had sex right there in the study.”

“
She wouldn’t do
that.”

“
You didn’t see what I did.
I still can’t believe it.”

Andi stayed home the next morning to
participate in a conference call from Chicago without the noise at
the hotel. After the meeting, she was in the kitchen making coffee
when Kate wandered in, still in her pajamas.

“
Why aren’t you in
school?”

“
Teacher training day,”
Kate muttered.

“
Are you all right,
Kate?”

Kate shrugged and poured a cup of coffee. In
a rush of words, she said, “Dad doesn’t understand anything.”

“
He’s upset that Ryan was
here when we weren’t home. We’re really counting on you, especially
in the next month.”

“
I’m sorry. I never wanted
to let anyone down. I take good care of the kids, and that was the
first time Ryan’s been here when you guys weren’t home. He stopped
by to bring me some books I left in his car. I know you don’t
believe me.”

“
I do believe you. You’re
not a liar, Kate.”

She seemed to brighten a bit at that. “Could
I ask you something?”

“
Of course.” Andi sat next
to her at the table.

“
How old were you, the
first time you, you know, went all the way?” Kate’s cheeks colored
with embarrassment.

Startled by the question, Andi released a
ragged deep breath. “Well, let’s see, I was in college, so I
must’ve been nineteen or twenty. Why?”

Kate studied her coffee cup. “I was just
wondering.”

“
Are you thinking about
that with Ryan?”

“
Dad doesn’t believe me,
but I love him, and I know he loves me, too.”

Andi fought to stay calm as
her heart raced and her palms went damp. She was in
way
over her head here.
“I’m sure you do, but you’re both still so young. You’ll be in
college next year, and who knows if you’ll even be at the same
school? Are you sure you want to let things get so
serious?”

“
I’m not going to
college.”

“
What?
” Jack would
freak
out
when he heard this.
“What do you mean? Of course you’re going to college.”

“
I’m going to pursue my
music. I’m not wasting four years in college. It’s not for me. I’m
not a straight-A student like Jill.”