Abby smiled, pleased with him, with their day so far, and filled with anticipation about what else might happen before the sun went down.

Chapter 10

Chapter 10

Every day Ned Saunders went home after the eleven o’clock ferry arrived to check the mail—and to have lunch with Francine. Lately, the mail was the more important item on his agenda. Surely any time now the letter they were waiting for would arrive, and he and Francine could get busy planning the rest of their lives.

As he drove his cab toward home, Ned grappled with growing frustration. It’d been almost two weeks since Bobby Chester had agreed to file for divorce from his ex-wife Francine, who also happened to be the love of Ned’s life.

When was Bobby going to come through with the papers? Ned had personally seen to it that Bobby had Francine’s new address, and he’d hired Dan Torrington before the boat accident to make sure Bobby kept up his side of the deal they’d made when he insisted on spending time with Maddie and Tiffany before he would file. That had happened two weeks ago, so what was the delay?

Since Dan was down with his injuries, Ned didn’t want to bug the guy, but the waiting was making him crazy. Francine, on the other hand, was matter-of-fact about it, telling him every day that it would happen when it was meant to. Whatever that meant. If the papers didn’t arrive soon, Ned was going to the mainland to have yet another conversation with Bobby. Enough was enough already.

Francine said they had everything they needed. A piece of paper, she claimed, wouldn’t change anything. They rarely disagreed, but he didn’t agree with her this time. That piece of paper would change everything. It would make her his wife. It would make her and her girls and their children his family. He wanted that more than he’d let on to her or anyone. He wanted it more than he’d ever wanted anything.

With his heart pounding, he slowed the cab and approached the mailbox at the end of the long driveway leading to the home he shared with Francine. He pulled open the mailbox and saw a large brown envelope that filled him with excitement. Was this it? At long last…

When he saw the return address from a lawyer’s office in Providence, he let out a happy shout. “Halle-freaking-luia!” Mail in hand, he hit the gas and flew down the dirt road, skidding to a stop in the yard where Francine was on her knees planting impatiens in gardens that had suffered from years of neglect before she moved in with him.

“What in the devil has gotten into you, old man?” she asked as she stood and rubbed her hands together to rid them of dirt. She missed the streak of mud on her cheek, which only made her more adorable to him.