The ferry ride was endless, and the drive to Providence even worse. Carolina felt like she was coming out of her skin as they sat in traffic on Interstate 95. She strained to see what was causing the delay.

“Relax, love,” Seamus said for the ten thousandth time since they left the house.

“I don’t want to relax. I want to see my kids.”

“And you will. Very soon. Looks like an accident up ahead. Once we get past that, it’ll be smooth sailing.”

“This trip has been anything but smooth sailing.”

“I told you it was going to be rough out there today.”

“And I told you I didn’t care.” The bumpy ferry ride had made her queasy, but thankfully, she hadn’t gotten sick. Even if she had, she’d still be on her way to see Joe, Janey and baby P.J. Judging by the phone call she’d received from her son earlier, he was equally elated that she was finally able to come see them.

They were in Seamus’s company truck because he wanted to bring back some lumber for a project he planned to do at the house. Carolina had barely heard him when he outlined the improvements he wanted to make to their house. What did she care about a leaky roof and other such things when she was about to meet her grandson?

Inching along in bumper-to-bumper traffic, she felt as if the universe was conspiring to keep her away from her loved ones, but she refrained from sharing that thought with Seamus. He would tell her she was being foolish, which she was. Nothing other than a series of regrettable events had kept her from her grandson.

First, there’d been the thorn bush she’d fallen into when she made the mistake of playfully running away from Seamus after they’d made up from one of their regular arguments. Then came the virus that had hung on through Seamus’s mother’s entire visit, which led Carolina to joke to the good-natured Nora O’Grady that her son had taken on an invalid. And today, rough seas and lousy traffic had made for a tedious morning.

After about thirty minutes of inching along at less than five miles per hour, they finally broke free of the accident that had snarled traffic on the interstate.

“Drive like you’re being chased,” she said to Seamus.

“What good will you be to baby P.J. if you arrive at the hospital through the emergency room?”

“Don’t talk. Drive.”

He laughed, which made her want to punch him—except for the fact that he was driving her to see her grandson.

When he parked at the hospital a short time later, Carolina was out of the car before he’d even turned off the engine.

“Hold your horses, woman, will you?”

“I will not hold my horses. You need to hurry up.”