Harbour Lights

“No, he’s very reliable when it comes to his son. He knew Davy was with me. He called earlier to check on him, but when Ma told him Davy was already asleep, Kevin said he’d be home in a couple of hours.”

“Maybe he’s spending time with one of the girls,” she suggested. “Or Jake. They used to be good friends.”

“Maybe,” Mick said, though he sounded doubtful. “He’s not been in any mood to socialize, though. Jake’s stopped by more than once, suggested a guys’ night out, but Kevin’s refused. I suspect he’s off somewhere by himself, brooding.”

“For hours on end?” she asked, her concern growing. “He was always a social kid, not a loner. This really isn’t good, Mick. I’m worried.”

“You think I should go look for him? I could take a ride around town.”

“He’ll be furious if he thinks you’re checking up on him,” Megan said. “Then, again, it would put my mind at ease if I at least knew he wasn’t in real trouble.”

“Then I’ll go right now,” Mick said at once.

The immediate response surprised her. There’d been a time when Mick wouldn’t have wanted to involve himself in messy, emotional situations. He’d been focused almost entirely on his career. His family had taken a distant second place. It was the reason she’d finally left him.

All that was water long since under the bridge, she reminded herself. Lately Mick had been proving time and again that he’d changed his priorities, that he was putting his family first. More and more, Megan was reminded of the caring man she’d married. That he was as attentive to her as he’d been when they’d first been courting helped, as well.

“You’ll call me when you find him?” she asked him now. “No matter how late it is.”

“I’ll call,” he promised.

“In the meantime, I’ll make my flight arrangements for this weekend,” she said. “Even if he rejects me again, at least Kevin is going to know that I care enough to be there for him.”

“As long as you’re prepared for things not to go smoothly,” Mick said.

“No one ever said the path to reconciliation was destined to go smoothly,” she reminded him. “I still have a long way to go with each of our children.”

“As do I,” Mick conceded.

“The point is to keep trying. Now, go find our boy, Mick. Make sure he’s safe.”

“He’s not a boy,” Mick said.

“I don’t care how old he gets to be, when he’s hurting, he’s still my boy,” she said fiercely. “And I’m always going to want to make it better.”

She had to wonder, though, if this time that was going to be beyond her capabilities.

4

Shanna frowned as a classic Mustang convertible passed by on Shore Road for the fourth time. Though he made a halfhearted attempt to disguise his interest, it was evident the older driver was studying her and Kevin on each pass. There was no question that he was looking at them, because they were the only two people left at the café. They’d been lingering over coffee for a while now. Kevin hadn’t noticed the man’s odd behavior because his back was to the street. When she spotted the car yet again, she reached for Kevin’s hand.

“Turn around,” she said in an urgent undertone. “There’s someone watching us. I thought I might be imagining it, but he’s back again. This has to be the fifth time he’s gone around the block and slowed down right in front of us.”

Kevin regarded her blankly. “What? Who?” He shifted around, took one look at the approaching car, and groaned. He turned back to her with an apologetic expression. “That would be my father.”

“Your father?” She took another look and saw the resemblance: the same square jaw, the same thick black hair, though his had some gray and Kevin’s was cropped short in a way that kept its natural wave under control. If she’d been able to see them at this distance, she suspected the man’s eyes would be the same vivid blue. She turned back to Kevin with a puzzled expression. “Why on earth do you think he keeps circling the block?”

“I don’t know for sure, but if I had to hazard a guess, he’s spying on me.”

Shanna stared at him, then glanced back to note that the car had, indeed, slowed to a crawl. The driver lifted his hand in a casual wave, then made a sharp left into a metered, pull-in parking space across the road.

“Maybe he’s looking for you because something’s wrong at home,” she suggested.

Kevin shook his head and gestured toward the cell phone on the table. “He and my grandmother both know how to reach me.”

“Well, he’s definitely coming this way, so obviously he was looking for you.”

“More’s the pity,” Kevin said grimly. He stood up and met his father before he reached the table. “Dad.”

She watched as Mick O’Brien gave him a jovial slap on the back as if this meeting had been totally accidental. “Son, I didn’t expect to find you here.” He glanced in Shanna’s direction. “And with this lovely young lady.”

Kevin gave a dramatic roll of his eyes. “Dad, this is Shanna Carlyle. She’s opening a bookstore next to Bree’s shop. I was helping her at the shop earlier.”

“Good for you,” Mick said, retrieving a chair from a nearby table and pulling it up to theirs. “Think I’ll join you for a cup of coffee, if you don’t mind.” Then as an obvious afterthought, he added almost hopefully, “Unless I’m interrupting.”

Kevin, his expression resigned, sat back down. “You’re not interrupting.”

“Well, that’s good then.” He beamed benevolently at them as if bestowing a blessing.

It took every bit of restraint Shanna possessed not to chuckle at Mick O’Brien’s undisguised eagerness to figure out what was going on between the two of them. If Kevin weren’t so obviously miserable at having been discovered with her, she probably would have laughed. She hadn’t had anyone so blatantly checking out any of her dates since she’d left home for college, and back then it had been her dad.

“Mr. O’Brien, it’s a real pleasure to meet you,” she said when Kevin remained silent. “I fell in love with this town when I visited last year. I’m so excited that I was finally able to get some retail space to open my shop.”

“You’re exactly the kind of young, energetic person the town needs,” Mick said. “You’ll keep Main Street interesting, just the way it was intended to be.” He paused long enough to order a decaf coffee from the perky young waitress, who’d been hovering nearby, her rapt gaze on Kevin all evening. When she’d left, he asked Shanna, “How did you and my son meet?”

“Dad!”

He blinked at Kevin’s reaction. “What? It’s a logical question.” He winked at the waitress when she brought his coffee. “Thanks, Mary.” He turned his attention back to Shanna. “So, how did you meet?”

“He was looking for Bree yesterday and stopped in my shop. He came back today and saw that I was practically buried under a pile of unassembled bookshelves. He offered to pitch in.”

She was surprised by the look of dismay that passed over the older man’s face.

“Kevin put your shelves together?” he asked, sounding worried.

“He did.”

“And they’re still standing?”

She frowned at his reaction. “Well, of course they are. Why wouldn’t they be?” she asked, indignant on Kevin’s behalf.

“Dad’s not a fan of my construction skills,” Kevin told her.

“You said yourself this morning that you don’t have any,” Mick reminded him. “This isn’t news.”

“Well, he did a fine job on my shelves,” Shanna insisted. “You can inspect them yourself.”

Mick backed down, obviously chagrined at having maligned his son in front of her. “No need for that. I guess I’m just surprised.”