“My pleasure, honey.”
* * *
Oliver waited until the morning meeting of the minds at McCarthy’s Marina had mostly dispersed for the day before he went looking for Luke, who’d wandered out to the main pier to land a boater. As he tied the last of the lines around one of the pilings, Oliver said, “You make that look easy.”
Luke turned to him, grinning. “It is easy when you’ve done it ten thousand times.”
“I suppose so.”
“Sometimes it’s not easy. We were standing right about here when a drunk captain threw his boat into gear and pulled Big Mac off the pier a couple of years ago.”
“Oh wow. Was he hurt?”
Luke grimaced as he nodded. “Pretty badly. Head injury, broken arm. Took him a long time to bounce back.”
“That’s scary shit.”
“It was a very bad day, but thankfully, he’s back to his old self now.”
“He’s a good dude.”
“He’s the best man I’ve ever known. I showed up here as a fatherless fourteen-year-old asking for a job. He gave me that and so much more.”
“He and his wife have been wonderful to us since we arrived.”
“That’s how they are.”
“All of you have been. We appreciate it.”
“How are things at the lighthouse?”
“Better than they were when we first arrived.”
“There’s something about this place,” Luke said, resting his arms on the piling and looking out over the vast Salt Pond.
The scents of seaweed, salt air, diesel fuel and fried food had become familiar to Oliver after spending part of every day at the marina.
“It cures a lot of ills,” Luke continued. “Some people find it too slow, too sleepy, too boring, and it can be all those things. But if you take the time to look beyond that, you’ll like what you see.”
“I already do, and Dara does, as well. She’s coming back to herself, if that makes sense.”
“It does. I saw it with my own wife.”
“I actually wanted to ask you about her,” Oliver said haltingly. “I hope it’s okay to say I heard about what happened to her first husband and children.”
“It’s okay.”
“I wanted to ask if we might get them together, Dara and your wife, that is. Dara and I… We’re, well, talking about maybe having another baby, and Dara, she’s struggling a bit with the idea.”
“Sydney would be happy to talk to her.”
“She would? Really?”
Luke nodded. “She’s very supportive of people who’ve been through things like what happened to her and to you.” He gazed off at the pond again. “When Jenny Wilks came to live in the lighthouse, she was still reeling after losing her fiancé in the 9/11 attacks. It was years later, and Jenny would tell you she was still stuck in first gear. She’s since become one of Syd’s closest friends. Jenny’s would-be sister-in-law, Erin, her late fiancé’s twin sister, who was the lighthouse keeper after Jenny, is also one of Syd’s good friends.”
As Oliver listened to him, he realized there was a community of fellow travelers on Gansett. “Everyone has been through something,” Oliver said.
“Some worse than others.”
“Yes, for sure.”
“Why don’t you and Dara come for dinner tomorrow night?”
“I don’t want to invite myself over.”
“You didn’t. I invited you.”
“We’d love that, Luke. Thank you.”
“Of course. That’s what friends are for.”
Before Oliver had lost his son, he would’ve said he had all the friends he needed. Since arriving on Gansett, he was learning a man could never have too many friends.
Chapter 19
“What the hell is wrong with you today?” Jordan asked Gigi after a grueling morning taking surfing lessons from a local pro while the cameras tracked their every move.
“Huh? Nothing’s wrong with me.”
“Do you know how hard it is to film witty dialogue when the other person in the scene has nothing to say?”
“I said stuff.”
“Not enough, Gigi, and you know it. What’s going on?”
“I’m just tired, and I suck at surfing.”
“We both suck at surfing. That’s the whole point. We’re going to have to redo this entire morning because you wouldn’t engage. And Mason doesn’t even want me surfing now that we know I’m pregnant. I promised him I’d be super careful, so I don’t want to have to do this again.”
“We can redo my parts and splice them. You’re all set.” Gigi wanted to scream because redoing her parts would keep her on the island even longer. After last night, she wanted out of there as soon as possible. Today would be a perfect day to leave.
Matilda approached the two of them, loaded for bear. “That was terrible. We got jack.”
“My fault,” Gigi said, squirming inside the confining wet suit. “I’ll make it up to you.”
“You’re damned right you will. I should fine you for your lackluster performance today.”
“I’m not allowed to have one off day in an entire summer? Fuck that shit.” Fuming, Gigi walked away and ignored Matilda’s demand that she come back. She went straight to her car and had backed out of the parking space before the show runner could catch up to her. Fuck it all. Fuck everything. And mostly fuck Cooper James and his sweet tenderness and gorgeous face. He had no right to do this to her, to knock her so far off her game that she’d forgotten how to be funny.
Her job was to be funny, and she couldn’t do that when her head was all over the place.
She was finished with him and this goddamned island and everyone who lived here. It was time for her to go home, where things made sense.
Except, for a little while longer, “home” was here on Gansett Island, right next door to the man who’d caused her to be so out of sorts. As she sped away from the day’s location, she knew she was being a brat, but there was no way she could find her groove today, so she was doing everyone a favor by stepping away. She’d send a text to Matilda to apologize later and would be back to work in the morning with a new attitude.
The show had given Gigi something she’d never had before—serious financial security. Her law practice kept the lights on and allowed her to lease a gorgeous car to help sell herself as a Hollywood player, but the truth was that until Jordan had asked her to join the show and be her comic relief, Gigi hadn’t had much of a financial safety net.
That safety net was one more reason to love Jordan. She’d known what it would mean to Gigi to have that cushion and had included her in the show. At the beginning, neither of them could’ve possibly known the show would be a runaway hit that would make them both into major celebrities with huge followings and all the associated nonsense that went with stardom.
One of those things was big-time endorsement deal offers that were waiting for both of them in LA. They were wanted for cosmetics, shapewear, swimsuits, liquor and cars, to name a few. In short, they had their pick of what they wanted to do and had put off making any decisions until the season on Gansett was in the can.