His father, sometimes referred to as the silver fox by the women in town because of his supposed resemblance to Paul Newman, had his face buried in the Harmony Harbor Gazette. He cast a surprised glance over his shoulder when Finn walked in the front door of the brick two-story on Breakwater Way. “I thought you were going to call me for a ride. Don’t tell me you walked home.”
Finn tossed the keys for Olivia’s Lexus on the hall table, debating whether to tell his father the truth. Despite what Olivia thought, he wasn’t trying to shame her or ruin her reputation. He hadn’t flagged her in the system.
Because of her cash and contacts, he’d told her that he had, in hopes she wouldn’t immediately go elsewhere, that the thought he’d flagged her would make her think about what she was doing and realize she needed help—and not the help that came from escaping in a drug-induced haze. “I didn’t want to bother you. Olivia lent me her car. I could use a ride to the manor though. I need to return—”
His father rattled the newspaper and waggled his eyebrows at Finn. “Olivia, eh? I told your brothers you were interested in her. Your old man’s still got it. I saw right through your act.”
“Sorry to disappoint you, but that was no act. The woman is a walking disaster. I’ve never been around anyone so clumsy in my life.”
“Olivia? She’s one of the most graceful and elegant women I know.”
“Okay, are we talking about the same Olivia? Because the one I’m talking about took me out more than once last week.” He was going to list off the incidents at the tide pool, in the closet at the lighthouse, and his almost-encounter with the tree at the brunch, but his dad had only borne witness to the event on Mother’s Day, and he didn’t want to have to explain the other two. Hopefully his dad had missed the more than once part of his remark.
“So what? It was Mother’s Day. A hard day for a woman who lost her child. You should give her a second chance, son. She’s a sweet woman.”
He knew his old man well enough to change the subject. “I’ll just ice my leg and then we can head to the manor.”
“Sure, no problem.” His father frowned. “What happened? Your limp is more pronounced.”
Your sweet and graceful Olivia struck again, Finn thought. Good thing the mark from the stethoscope tube hitting him in the face had disappeared. That would be harder to explain away. “First day back at work. It’ll take some time to adjust.”
“Maybe you should give it another couple of weeks. I’ll talk to Doc Bishop and—”
“No, I’m good, Dad.” Finn didn’t want to stay home. The last thing he needed was more time to think. He didn’t just like to keep busy; he had to. Miller came over and dropped a ball at his feet. “Later, buddy,” he said, giving the retriever a quick rubdown before heading to the refrigerator.
As he pulled out the bag of ice from the freezer drawer, the sound of the fishing boats’ horns came through the open window. He smiled. There were things he didn’t miss about home, but there were plenty he did. He walked to the window. This was one of them, the sights, sounds, and smell of the harbor. If ever he settled down, he’d live by the sea.
His gaze traveled over the rocks he’d clambered up and down as a kid, the trees he used to climb and swing from, the dock he used to…He frowned at the woman sitting on the bench in a familiar white skirt and sleeveless top, wearing a pair of shiny red flat sandals that matched her expensive red bag. It was Olivia. If he hadn’t recognized the outfit, he would have recognized her honey-blond hair. Her clothes were nothing special, but she had beautiful hair, he thought as the sun painted the strands gold.
She was bent over her phone, and then her head came up sharply. From his vantage point, he couldn’t see the expression on her face, but her body reacted as though she’d taken a hit. She seemed to be looking at something on the dock. He followed the direction of her gaze. Three men were talking just down from her. A guy in a hoodie reached into his pocket, pulled out a small bag, and handed it to one of the other men.
Finn couldn’t believe what was happening right before his eyes. That wasn’t completely true. Whether you lived in a small town, big city, or in the country, drugs were readily available. But here and now in front of a woman who was desperate to get her hands on what that guy was apparently offering? It was like the universe was conspiring against all of Finn’s good intentions, against Olivia too. Maybe he was wrong and she was looking at the schooners or the old man fishing. God, he hoped she wasn’t stupid enough to buy street drugs.
She stood up, grabbed her purse, and then glanced in the men’s direction, hesitating for a minute as though politely waiting for the transaction to be completed. Disappointment and anger twisted his gut. He couldn’t believe she was going to do it. Something about the way the taller guy reached in the back pocket of his jeans drew Finn’s attention.
He focused on the guy’s profile. He knew him. He was sure of it. And if it was who he thought it was, he had to stop Olivia. He had to stop her anyway, but unless she wanted to end up behind bars, he had to do it before she got any closer to the men and made her intentions known. But there was no way he’d make it down there in time.
Wrenching open the screen, he yelled, “Olivia!” As he suspected, his voice didn’t carry above the boats’ motors or the seagulls.
“Son, why are you yelling for Olivia?” His dad’s confused yet hopeful question came from the living room.
It was a good question. Why should it bother him that the woman was going to wind up in jail? She wasn’t family or a friend. In fact, it’d be easier if he didn’t have anything to do with Olivia Davenport. Because sometimes when he looked at her, the sorrow in her eyes grabbed him by the throat. Her loss reminded him too much of his own.
“Better get your ears checked, Dad. I hit my knee on the fridge and yelled O Lordie.” He rolled his eyes at his pathetic excuse and then went back to tracking Olivia, praying she’d come to her senses on her own.
She took a step toward the three men.
He should have known better, he thought, scanning the room. His gaze landed on his best shot. “Come here, boy.”
Miller galloped to his side. Finn grabbed the tennis ball from the dog’s mouth. But as soon as he drew back his arm, Finn realized throwing it through the window would limit the amount of power he could get behind it.
Cursing Olivia under his breath, he grabbed a chair and climbed out the window. “When I get a hold of you, Olivia Davenport, you’re goin’ wish—” His knee hit the window frame, and he broke off on a loud curse.
“Finn, what’s going on—”
“Just having a game of catch with Miller, and he nipped me.” The dog barked enthusiastically at Finn’s announcement, bouncing from one side of the kitchen to the other. “Yeah, yeah, as soon as I save Olivia from herself,” Finn grumbled, lowering himself to the ground.
Turning to scramble carefully over the rocks, he quickly searched out his best vantage point. She was walking toward the men, who just then had turned to look in her direction. He imagined her giving them her wide, innocent smile and drew back his arm and fired the ball.
“You were about to buy drugs in front of an undercover cop. What did you want me to do?” Finn asked Olivia, who sat in the passenger seat of the Lexus holding an ice pack to the side of her face.
“How many times do I have to tell you? I wasn’t buying drugs.”
“Give me some credit. You were at the clinic not thirty minutes earlier practically begging me to give you drugs.”
“You make it sound so lurid and sleazy. I wanted my prescription renewed, that’s all.” She moved the ice pack to her temple and winced. “Did you ever think of calling out to me or calling my cell phone instead of beaning me in the head with a ball?”
“I tried shouting at you, and I would have called your cell phone if I had your number, but I don’t. You wouldn’t have answered anyway. Instead of yelling at me and giving me grief, you might give some thought to thanking me.”
“I never yelled at you.”
“Yeah, you did. Just ask my dad and anyone else who was down on the dock.”
Olivia drew in a deep breath and then slowly released it before glancing at him. “All right, thank you for trying to help me”—she made one air quote because her other hand was occupied—“even if it was misguided and unnecessary and you gave me a concussion. And I appreciate you keeping those same misguided accusations to yourself and telling your dad you were trying to see if Miller would jump out of the window and go after the ball. Though, if you ask me, you should have come up with something more believable.”
“My dad believed me. He should, seeing as I did the same thing to Max, our first golden, when I was twelve.”
“Yes, but that’s my point. You were twelve. You hadn’t been shot and recovering from your injuries when you climbed out of the window then. It wasn’t very smart, you know. You could have fallen out the window or, worse, tumbled down the rocks.”
“I fully understood the consequences of my actions and was willing to take the risk to protect you, Olivia. So in my book, that means you owe me.”
“I’m afraid I don’t have any cash on me. Will a check do?”
He wasn’t sure if she was being sarcastic or serious. Either way, he wasn’t impressed. “That’s the thing about you rich girls—you think you can buy your way out of anything.”
“If only that were true,” she said quietly, and he realized she was probably referring to her husband and son.
He didn’t want to think about that now or he’d be tempted to give her a pass. Instead, he planned to use this to his advantage. So he pretended he didn’t hear her. “Well not this time, Princess. I—”
“Princess?” She gave him an irritated look. “You obviously have a problem with people, or more precisely, women, who have money. I don’t know what she did to you…Honestly, I don’t care. But I’m not her. You don’t have a clue about who I am. If you did, you’d know I have never, not once in my life, acted like a princess.”
Since Amber had done a number on him, she hit a little too close to the mark. “Defensive much? It’s just a nickname. Who said it had anything to do with the size of your investment portfolio or how you live? You’re the one who jumped to that conclusion.” He glanced at her. She looked out the window, moving the ice pack back to her red and puffy cheek. “Okay, Sweet Cheeks, here’s the deal.”
She slowly turned her head, a flicker of amusement crossing what he could see of her face. It was replaced with more than a flicker of annoyance when he continued. “You go into treatment. Ideally, I’d like to see you in inpatient care for six weeks, but I’ll settle for you seeing an addiction therapist three times a week.”
“You’ll settle…You want…” Her jaw was clamped so tight that he didn’t know how she managed to squeeze out the words. “You are the most maddening man I’ve ever met. How many times do I have to tell you I’m not addicted to prescription drugs? I do not have a problem. I take that back. I have problems, several of them, one of which is you.”
“Denial. Classic. That’s you, Sweet Cheeks. The classic picture of an addict in denial,” he said as he drove past the open wrought-iron gates and under the stone arch leading into the Gallagher estate. “And you’re apparently suffering from blackouts too because, not more than two hours ago, you were about to buy a bag of opioids from a dealer on the dock.” He waited for a reaction, prepared to catch a flying ice pack if she completely lost control. Though he got the impression that she rarely lost her temper, especially to that degree. So he probably shouldn’t have been surprised when she went completely silent and stared straight ahead. But this felt different, off.
He turned into the parking space at the far end of the lot that faced the side of the manor. He assumed the spot was Olivia’s because he’d seen her car parked there before. Unlike its owner, the Lexus wasn’t the type of vehicle that faded into the background.
He turned off the engine, shifting in the seat to face her. At some point, she’d lowered the ice pack to her lap. Her face, other than her cheek, was completely devoid of color. He winced. “I’m sorry, Olivia. I went too far. In my defense, I’m worried about you.” She didn’t move. It was like the other day at the lighthouse. He wondered if the CT scan had missed something.
He gently cupped her cheek and turned her to face him. Her eyes were wide, her pupils dilated, a whimper coming from deep in her throat.
Afraid she was going into shock, he drew her into his arms and rubbed her back. “I need you to talk to me, Olivia, okay? Tell me what’s going on. Tell me what you’re feeling.”
“She’s here. He brought her here,” she whispered against his neck.
“Who’s here? Who brought who here?” He looked around. There was an older couple walking down the path to the parking lot, a guy with binoculars coming up from the beach, and a stocky man with salt-and-pepper hair and a goatee unloading luggage from a silver Audi with a little dark-haired girl standing at his side.
“Stanley brought her. Stanley brought Nathan’s daughter here.” She pulled away, looking trapped and panicked. “I can’t do it. Nathan named me her guardian, but I can’t do it. It’s not fair that he would ask me to take in the child he had with another woman while he was married to me. It’s not.”
Between the way her voice was breaking and how the words were running into each other, Finn was sure he’d misunderstood. There’s no way she could have said what he thought she did. He put his hands on her shoulders. “Liv, you have to calm down and talk to me. Maybe I can help if I understand what’s going on, okay?”
She cast a covert glance over her shoulder. “Do you think he saw me?”
He thought about what she said and guessed. “The stocky guy getting luggage out of the silver Audi?” She gave him a jerky nod. “No, he’s crouched down talking to the little girl. Is that Stanley?”
“Yes, he’s my late husband’s attorney. He and Nathan were very close. He knew all about his affair. Every sordid detail.” She looked down at her hands and then raised her gaze. “My husband was a bigamist. He married a woman, another doctor, when he was still married to me. They had a daughter together. She’ll be six in November. Her name’s Georgina.”
“My God, I’m sorry, Liv. That’s unbelievable. What an asshole. And you’re saying he named you as his daughter’s guardian?”
“Yes, her mother has been missing for six weeks and is presumed dead. She was working in a village in Kenya. That’s where she and Nathan met. They were with the International Red Cross. Stanley flew to Kenya. And given that he’s here, that means Nathan’s wife didn’t leave a will or have friends or family who would take Georgina. Stan…Stanley said if that turned out to be the case, it’s only right that I…that I should honor Nathan’s request.”
“Yeah? Well Stanley sounds like an asshole too. Doesn’t Nathan have any family who can take the little girl?”
“His parents are older. They were devastated when they lost him and, Stanley tells me, deeply ashamed when they learned he had another wife and child. Stanley says he tried talking to them about Georgina’s situation, but they shut him down. The only interest Nathan’s younger brother showed was asking how much was in it for him. He’s single and in a band. Not the life for a child. Stanley believes that Nathan had his reasons for choosing me.”
“And what do you believe?”
“That any minute now, I’ll wake up. None of it makes sense. I don’t know why or how Nathan could do this to me. It’s like he’s reaching out from the grave to punish me one more time. Like he didn’t do enough to hurt me.”
“So this is why you haven’t been sleeping and the reason for the panic attacks and self-medicating?” At her reluctant nod, he said, “You should have told me. You should have told someone. This isn’t a situation you had to deal with on you own, Liv. You have friends here. People who care about you.”
“I know. But if I didn’t talk about it, I could sometimes convince myself it never happened. I didn’t want to be that woman. I didn’t want my life to have been a lie.”
“Sunday, today for that matter, could have turned out differently. You could have wound up in serious trouble because you didn’t open up to your friends. From now on, I want you to promise that you’ll talk to Soph, Ava, or Lexi if you start feeling like you’re in over your head. Okay?”
“I’m in over my head, Finn. I can’t do this,” she whispered, her eyes swimming in tears.
As he gave her hand a sympathetic squeeze, he got a sense someone was looking at them and glanced over his shoulder. The lawyer must have recognized Liv’s car. He was walking their way with the little girl’s hand in his.
The kid was adorable with a tumble of short, curly dark hair. She wore a Red Sox T-shirt and jeans and a pair of light-up red sneakers. As though she sensed him looking at her, she met his gaze straight on. Her big, bright blue eyes were awash with hurt and fear, but there was a proud jut to her small, pointed chin. His heart ached both for the little girl and the woman beside him. Neither deserved to be put in the position they were in.
He turned back to Olivia. “In your place, I don’t know what I’d do. You have every right to be angry and hurt. What your husband did to you, the position he’s put you in, is indefensible. But that little girl doesn’t deserve to be punished because her dad was a loser and an asshole. She’s lost both her parents within the space of a year and was taken away from her home by a man she probably doesn’t even know. She needs someone to make her feel safe and loved.”
“I don’t think I can do it.”
“I think you can.” But as he spoke the words aloud, he felt a flicker of doubt, a sense of unease. What if she couldn’t? What if this was the thing that finally broke her?