“Oh, good, you know. Busy with all the little ones. You must be excited about a new niece or nephew coming soon.”

“I can’t wait. I love being an uncle.”

Joan smiled affectionately. “I’m sure they adore you. How long are you here?”

“Not sure yet.”

“Well, I won’t keep you, but it was lovely to see you.”

“You, too.” He hugged her again. “Tell my cousins I said hello.”

“I’ll do that.”

Adam walked more swiftly as he covered the last half mile to North Harbor, forgoing a stop at the pharmacy to see Evan and Grace. With his mother’s sister in the know that he was home, he needed to see his mom before Joan called to gloat that she’d seen him first.

The McCarthy’s “White House,” as the islanders called it, came into view, and Adam accelerated to a jog. He burst through the front door just as the phone rang.

“Of course I knew he was coming,” Linda said testily as Adam slid to a stop in the kitchen. She scowled playfully at him and held out a hand to him. “Is that the only reason you called?” Linda paused before she said, “Thank you, Joan. I appreciate that. I’ll talk to you soon.”

“Sorry,” Adam said with a grin as he squeezed her hand. “I ran as fast as I could after I saw her in town.”

“No one is faster at spreading island gossip than my dear, darling sister.”

“I wanted to surprise you.”

Linda hugged him. “And you did. What a wonderful surprise.”

Adam returned her embrace, comforted by the scent of home, his mother’s familiar perfume and the warmth of her affection. He hadn’t realized how badly he needed all of that until he was in her arms. He held on much longer than he normally did now that he was all grown up. He’d been through hell in the last couple of days, thinking about what could’ve happened to his family if even one of his brothers had been killed in the accident, let alone all three. Not to mention the work calamity at the same time.

When his mother pulled back from him, he was surprised to see tears in the eyes of the normally indomitable Linda McCarthy.

“Sorry,” she said, dabbing at her eyes. “I’ve been a wreck the last few days. I suspect I’m driving your brothers crazy hovering over them.”

“You? Drive us crazy? Never.”

“Oh, hush up. I promised Dad I wouldn’t check on them today, but I’m not sure I can keep that promise.”

“How about I do it for you?”

“Oh, Adam! Would you?”

“Sure I will. That’s why I’m here. I wanted to do some hovering of my own. Reassure myself they’re really okay.”

“That’d be such a big help. They’re sick of me, but they’ll be thrilled to see you.”