It would be just what they deserved if he poked holes in all the condoms he bought for them. Not that he’d actually do that, because he truly didn’t want Janey having any more kids after what’d happened with P.J.  That had been one of the scariest days of his life, and he had absolutely no desire to relive it.

And, as Maddie often told him, it really was all about him.

Now he just had to think of some way to get Janey back for this…

Chapter 12

Chapter 12

Sunday mornings in early August were among Big Mac McCarthy’s favorite days at the marina he’d owned and operated for forty summers now. Many of the boaters left early to head for home, and after they’d seen off the others, he and his boys had time to sit around and shoot the shit.

This year had been the best of times because his brother Frank had joined the morning crew after his retirement in June, and having Frankie back in his everyday life made Big Mac almost as happy as having his four sons living home again on the island. His oldest son, Mac, now a partner with him in the marina, was an everyday regular, and his other three boys made occasional appearances at the morning “meeting,” at which Big Mac and his band of buddies attempted to solve the world’s problems.

His longtime best friend, Ned Saunders, was the first to arrive that Sunday morning, and he grunted out a good morning on his way inside to get a coffee and some sugar doughnuts.

Thinking about the early days here, after he’d persuaded Linda to leave her life in Providence to marry him and come live with him on his island, made Big Mac feel sentimental. She’d taken to the place like the proverbial fish to water, making the restaurant her own with her special brand of class and charm that his customers had responded to instantly. The doughnuts had been an inspired idea that had become part of the magic of the place.

And it was magic. What other word could you use to describe the view he had every day of the Salt Pond and all her many personalities? Some days she was so bright blue it hurt his eyes to look at her. Other days, she was gray and angry and frothy and just as beautiful as every other day. Big Mac appreciated all her many moods.