“Thanks, but I’m supposed to be babysitting my mom tonight, so I’d better get home.” When Luke started toward the door, Grant stopped him. “Stay put. I can find my way out.”

“Thanks for coming by.”

“Thanks for the pep talk.”

“Anytime.”

After they heard the door close, Sydney turned to him. Something about her seemed different, but he couldn’t figure out what. “You’re giving pep talks now?”

Luke shrugged. “He’s going through a rough patch.” He reached down to ruffle Thomas’s hair. “How’d we end up with this little guy?”

“Mac and Maddie needed some time to themselves, so I took him with me to see Buddy. I figured we could feed him dinner and give him a bath. Mac is going to pick him up later.” She paused and bit her bottom lip. “I hope it’s okay I brought him here.”

“Of course it is. Everything okay with Maddie?”

“Except for Mac driving her crazy wanting to take her to specialists.”

Chuckling, Luke said, “I can only imagine how worked up he must be.”

“At times like this, island life is challenging. He wants her near doctors and hospitals.”

“I can understand that.” Luke took a closer look at her, still trying to put his finger on what was different. “What about you? Everything okay?”

Seeming surprised, she flipped her eyes up to meet his gaze. “I’m fine, why?”

“No reason.” Maybe he was looking for trouble where there was none. “I made spaghetti.”

“That’s perfect—just what I promised Thomas, but you shouldn’t be on your foot. I was going to make dinner for you.”

Propped on the crutches, he leaned in to kiss her. “Now you don’t have to.”

Chapter 25

Dreaming of home and her big comfortable bed, Maddie fought off sleep as Tiffany related the latest chapter in the ongoing drama of her troubled marriage. Sometimes Maddie felt guilty for being so happy with Mac when her sister was clearly miserable.

“So now he thinks I have been cheating on him! Doesn’t that beat all? When, exactly, do you suppose I have time to have an affair, between taking care of Ashleigh, running the day care and teaching dance?”

“You two need to have an honest conversation about what’s really going on,” Maddie said.

“There’s nothing going on! Nothing with him, nothing with anyone!”

“You’ve told him that?”

“Only a hundred times. Get this—he’s made up his mind that I’m having a fling with Rudy from the Beachcomber because he saw me talking to him in the grocery store.”

Maddie’s mouth fell open. “Short, fat, bald Rudy?”