“Janey heard from Libby at the Beachcomber that they’d hired a new bartender for the off-season and that his name is Jace Carson. She remembered that was the boys’ father’s name and thought we’d like to know he’s on the island.” Carolina paused before she looked up at her husband. “What do you suppose it means that he’s here?”
“I have no earthly idea, but you can bet your ass I’m going to find out.”
Seamus didn’t sleep a wink that night as one dreadful scenario after another had him gripped with anxiety. Jace had agreed to leave the boys with Seamus and Carolina, where they’d been doing as well as could be expected after tragically losing their mother to cancer.
The four of them had become a family in the months since they’d lost Lisa, and the possibility of anything upsetting that, especially the boys’ biological father deciding to move to their island, didn’t bear consideration.
What did it mean that he had moved to Gansett?
That question plagued Seamus during that long night and had him at the front desk of the Beachcomber at seven in the morning asking where to find their new bartender.
“He lives in employee housing,” the manager, Libby, said. “He’s not in some kind of trouble, is he?”
“No, nothing like that.” While the entire island community knew he and Carolina had taken in the boys, only their family and closest friends knew the boys’ father had come back on the scene recently. “I just wanted to see him about something.”
“He’s in room seven out back. You know where it is, right?”
“I do. Thanks, Libby.”
“Sure, no problem.”
Seamus walked through the hotel and exited out the back door, crossing the crushed-shell driveway to the employee housing. Room seven was on the second floor. Seamus took the stairs two at a time and banged on the door. He waited a full minute before he started banging again.
The door flew open to reveal Jace, bare-chested, hair standing on end and a scowl on his face.
“What’re you doing here?” Seamus asked.
“I was sleeping until you started making a racket.”
“What’re you doing on Gansett Island?”
“Working.”
“You just suddenly decided to get a job here, of all places?”
“It wasn’t sudden. After I saw the boys, I wanted to live closer to them so I could see them more often.”
“And you made this decision without so much as a conversation with me? I thought we had an understanding, you and me.”
“We did. We do. I’m not here to disrupt their lives or yours. I’d just like to see them once in a while.”
“You could do that without moving here.”
“It’s easier if I live here.”
“Tell me the truth… Is your endgame to try to get custody of them?”
“No.”
“You swear to God? On their lives?”
“I swear to God on their lives that’s not my plan.”
Seamus took the first deep breath he’d had in hours. “It feels strange, you moving here with no word to me after I let you see them.”
“It was a spur-of-the-moment decision when I saw the job opening at the Beachcomber.”
“A simple text could’ve taken care of giving me a heads-up so I didn’t have to hear through the grapevine that the boys’ father had moved here.”
“I’m sorry I didn’t tell you. I should have.” Jace propped an arm on the doorframe. “Ever since I saw them…”
“What?”
“I realized how much I miss them. I fucked up everything, you know? My marriage, my kids, my job. Everything. Since I got clean, I’ve been trying to make amends. I can’t do that with Lisa, and I’ll always regret that she died before I had the chance to make things right with her. But the boys… I still have a chance with them.”
Seamus swallowed hard. “I don’t know what you’re expecting to happen.”
“I don’t expect anything except maybe the opportunity to see the boys whenever I can.”
“You didn’t have to move here for that to happen. I told you we’d let you see them.”
“I’ve been looking for a fresh start. When I saw the bartending job opening at the Beachcomber, it felt like a sign.”
“Aren’t you in recovery?”
“Booze wasn’t my drug of choice.” Jace folded his arms. “Look, man, I get why you’re wound up. You and your wife stepped up for the kids, and you don’t want me or anyone else to upset their new life.”
“They’re doing really well.” A lump of emotion suddenly appeared in his throat. “A lot better than they were when Lisa first passed.”
“The last thing in the world I want to do is hurt them any more than I already have, even if they don’t remember me hurting them in the past.”
“That’s good to know.” Seamus looked the other man in the eye. “So where do we go from here?”
“That’s up to you. I’m here, and I’d like to be as much a part of their lives as you and your wife see fit. I’m not looking to displace you as their father figure. I just want to be a friend to them. And you. If you’ll have me.”
Seamus felt himself relax ever so slightly. “Aye, I hear you. I’m just trying really hard not to feel threatened by you.”
“I promise you don’t need to be. I’m not playing any kind of game here. You have my word on that. I just…” He rubbed at the stubble on his jaw. “I wanted to be closer to them, but you’re absolutely right that I should’ve talked to you about it first.”
“I’m glad we agree on that.” Seamus took a deep breath and let it out. “Carolina and I are having a clambake on Labor Day, in the afternoon, if you’d like to come by.”
“I’d like that very much.”
“I guess we’ll see you then.”
“Thank you, Seamus.”
Seamus nodded. “No more surprises, okay?”
“I hear you. No more surprises.”
Satisfied that they understood each other, Seamus went down the stairs, feeling much better than he had when he’d arrived. He pulled out his cell and called Carolina.
“Did you see him?”
“I did.”
“And?”
Seamus conveyed the gist of their conversation to Carolina. “I invited him to come by on Labor Day, and now I’m realizing I probably should’ve talked to you about that first.”
“It’s fine. As long as he’s not here hoping to wrestle custody from us, I can live with them seeing him occasionally.”
“Aye,” he said, sighing. “Me, too. I feel like I can breathe again for the first time since you told me last night what Janey had heard.”
“Same.”
“I never expected parenthood to be so…”
“Stressful?” she asked, laughing.
“Yeah. Stressful is a good word.”
“It’s that, but so many other things, too.”
“Very true. Those boys and you, our little family… You’re my whole world, Caro. Anything that threatens it makes me crazy.”