Page 36 of Making Waves
“In Boston?” She wouldn’t be home that soon since she wanted to spend a few days scoping out Bar Harbor.
“Montreal, actually. It’s only a pre-season game, but one of his friends from college plays on the Canadian team so he’s jazzed about it.” He hauled the swing backward like a carnival ride cranking up. “We should go.”
He released her at the same moment he suggested they attend the game. The resultingwhooshin her belly was as much from Jack’s surprise invitation as from flying through the air.
“We?” She turned to look at him to see if she had misunderstood. By then she was already winging her way back toward him, spinning and twirling as the tire twisted.
“Why not?” He shrugged like a formal, planned date was no big deal. “I can snag us a private flight and we can grab some dinner before the game. You’d have to eat whether you were here or there. We can leave at five o’clock and be back by eleven.”
Another hard push sent her sailing so high she kicked a tree branch with her tennis shoe.
She really had to tell him no. Her whole focus should be buying the inn- a task she’d initiated in part to distance herself from him. So to hop on a plane and jet off to Canada with him for the evening seemed really counterproductive.
On the other hand, hadn’t she secretly envied him on all those globe-hopping trips he’d gotten to take when she’d been stuck in college? When would she have the chance to do anything like that again if not with the Murphys?
“Come on, Ally,” he urged, his voice suddenly in one ear as he caught the swing and slowed her down to a halt, steadying her spinning world. “I dare you to take a risk. It’ll be a blast and I’ll have you back before midnight. What could possibly go wrong?”
She glanced up at him through her lashes, her heart still pounding from the unexpected ride and the thought of more alone time with Jack.
She could list all kinds of things that could go wrong, including ending up back in bed with him. Or worse, falling head over heels for a man who liked to call all the shots. But once her purchase of the inn went through, there’d be no going back to Chatham. If she wanted a few more memories of Jack to tuck away before they parted ways for good, she needed to stock up fast. And bottom line, she had as tough a time walking away from a dare as he did.
“I’ll tell you what could go wrong, hot shot.” She hopped out of the tire swing and stood. Leaning closer, she poked a gentle finger into his rock hard chest. “You could realize what a huge mistake you made when you broke up with me. But if you’re willing to take the chance, I’ll be your date just this once.”
ChapterTen
There were more problems than Jack could name with Alicia’s dream property.
Staring at a crack in the cellar wall the next afternoon, he debated how to tell her about all of them since the owner – hungry for a sale-- didn’t seem inclined to be forthcoming. Jack had stifled his gut instincts about the house the night before after they’d taken the initial tour of the bed & breakfast. Trying to keep the peace and not “burst her bubble” as she put it, Jack had left her to take a room in the inn while he slept on the boat, hoping that after she’d had time to reflect on it, she would see the property’s shortcomings.
Plus, on a personal level, he was doing his damnedest not to push his luck on renewing their relationship. She’d agreed to the date tonight, a positive sign that had helped him keep his eye on the prize when he retreated to the catamaran by himself the night before. She’d been wound up and had wanted to call her father and her brother to tell them about the turn-of-the-century money pit. Jack had given her some space, hoping she’d miss him half as much as he was missing her.
And, of course, he’d hoped her family would help talk her out of buying the bayside inn that had once belonged to a noted area sea captain. But this morning, when he’d met her for a late breakfast in the inn’s restored kitchen, she’d been as upbeat and excited about the hospitality potential as ever. The owner hadn’t said squat about the roof that needed new shingles and that had already left water damage in four rooms. The crack in the cellar wall equaled even bigger problems. So without the owner to caution her about the wooden structure’s drawbacks, Jack would have to be the bad guy – at least until she called in a home inspector to really crawl through the place. Before that happened, she could invest a lot of time and hope into a property that just wasn’t meant to be.
His phone chimed in his pocket and he dug it out, glad for a diversion from a thorny situation. Seeing his youngest brother’s name on the caller ID, he answered appropriately.
“Hey bro. Psyching yourself up for a hat trick tonight?” He turned away from the cellar wall and headed up the stairs to the outdoor entrance on one side of the building.
He hadn’t been one bit surprised when Kyle had gotten called up to the NHL after his years as a college hockey star. The youngest Murphy had excelled in every sport he tried, setting records in all his school sports until he’d started to focus solely on hockey. And while the whole clan still talked smack to him on a regular basis to keep him humble, they were all proud as hell of his accomplishments.
“Actually, I took a puck to the face in our morning skate so I’m not sure if I’ll be in top form tonight. Just wanted to warn you so you didn’t think I’d been out brawling last night.”
Jack winced in empathy as he took a seat in one of the weather-worn Adirondack chairs overlooking the cove where Keith’s boat bobbed in the waves. “Ouch. Where’d you get hit?”
“Nose. But I think the break helped straighten it out from the last time I busted it.”
“You mean the last time Danny busted it for you?” Jack had been on hand to witness one of the few times a brotherly wrestling match had drawn blood. “Will you do me a favor and keep that particular family anecdote under your hat tonight, man?”
The knock-down, drag-out had happened right before Daniel and Jack went into the Navy. Kyle had warned Danny he was wearing his heart on his sleeve by trying to get himself deployed the second he heard camerawoman Stephanie Rosen had been kidnapped by terrorists. The comment had led to an uncharacteristically hostile comeback and, before he knew it, Kyle’s nose had taken a right turn and stayed that way for the last four years.
“Afraid you’ll scare Alicia off if she finds out we’re barely tamed beneath the Brooks Brothers façade?”
He tipped his face into the afternoon sun. “I don’t think she’s bought the façade for a long time. But I never fessed up to the whole mess with Christina and Stephanie being kidnapped since we were keeping Mom’s connection to the Marcels under wraps--.”
Kyle whistled low on the other end of the phone. “What happened to all that older brother wisdom you used to preach about being honest with the ladies?”
Something in Kyle’s voice- a serious note- suggested he wasn’t kidding around anymore. He was really calling Jack on the carpet for teaching his younger brothers one thing while practicing something else.
“You may find this hard to believe, but you don’t always have all the answers at the ripe old age of twenty five.” He regretted the decision, no doubt. “Alicia confused me back then. I think I was looking for reasons to set her free. She was so young and I was--.”