It is with great shame that I write a letter that should’ve been written years ago. As a high school student concerned with the approval of my peers, I went along with something that I knew was wrong. It has haunted me ever since. Maddie Chester was branded with a nickname she didn’t deserve. She was never anything but a lovely girl with a sweet personality who didn’t deserve the way we treated her. The nickname she was given in high school was unfair and untrue. I regret the role I played in perpetuating rumors that have plagued her ever since. I sincerely apologize.

Evan McCarthy

Nashville, Tennessee

Maddie read letters from the four other men who’d participated in Darren’s scheme. While none was as eloquent as Evan McCarthy’s, each said roughly the same thing. By the time she finished reading them all, her hands were shaking and her cheeks were wet with tears.

She glanced at the marina and saw Mac at work on the roof. Oh, the things she’d like to say to him right now! Too bad she planned never to speak to him again.

Chapter 14

Chapter 14

Ned broke the bad news to Mac—it took forever to get anything built on the island, especially a house.

“We’ve got three guys in the building business, and they’re all running about two years behind,” Ned said.

“Damn,” Mac said. “I guess that doesn’t bode well for getting someone to help me build a house anytime soon.” No way could he and Maddie survive in that tiny apartment for two years, and it would take at least that long to build a house on his own.

“I’ve been thinking ’bout that,” Ned said. “I’ve got a few properties in inventory that might work for ya, if you’d like to take a look. Nice houses, good views, lots of property.” Ned shrugged. “Might be quicker than building yer own.”

“You got time to show me these places today?”

“I got nothing but time, boy.”

Mac let his guys know he was leaving for a while and followed Ned to the cab. Over the next two hours, they looked at five different properties, and as they drove around, a new idea began to germinate.

“Let me ask you something, Ned.”

“Yep.”

“This building glut—you think there’s room for a fourth guy in the mix?”

“Hell yeah. It’s not just new stuff. Ya can’t even get renovations done in less than a year.”

“One of the things that’s worried me about sticking around here full-time is what I’d do in the off-season.”

“Now ya know.”

Mac laughed, and as simply as that, McCarthy Construction was born.