She came over to him and rested her hands on his chest, looking up at him with that soft, sweet expression that turned his insides to pudding. Whenever she looked at him that way, the thirty-plus years he’d spent without her melted away, and he was right back in the throes of first love. “You’re a wonderful father and grandfather, and we’re all so very lucky to have you.”

“Oh, well…” Ned couldn’t believe the tears that filled his eyes, too.
“That’s mighty nice a ya to say, doll.”

“I mean it, and I love you, too.” She kissed him, her hands framing his face in a tender caress. “What do you say I sign those papers so you can send them back on the boat this afternoon and we can get busy planning our wedding?”

“I think that sounds like the best idea ya ever had.” He kissed her again, lingering a bit this time. Her sweet kisses made him as crazy for her now as they had when they first met. “Do ya think it would be okay if we put them papers on the late boat?”

“I’m sure it’d be fine. Why?”

He waggled his brows at her. “I got celebratin’ on my mind.”

“Is that right,” she said with a grin. “Anything in particular?”

“Come with me, and I’ll show ya.”

Carolina spent the morning trying to work on some new designs for her jewelry, but ended up staring out the window at the bird feeder while her pencil dangled between her fingers. At times like this, she wanted to go back to the peaceful days before she met Seamus, before she discovered he had feelings for her that he’d gone out of his way to keep to himself for a long time after they first met.

She wanted to go back to last fall, to the night they’d spent together at Joe’s house on the mainland, before she’d known what it was like to be held by him, to be loved by him. Surely she’d been better off not knowing. This, she decided, was a form of purgatory she never could’ve imagined. Knowing he was out there, just a few miles from her, wanting all the things she’d tried to tell herself she didn’t need anymore…

She’d been alone a long time after her husband, Pete, died in an accident when Joe was only seven. After the initial shock of losing her husband so suddenly had faded somewhat, she’d settled into a life that was short on excitement but fulfilling nonetheless. She’d had her son, her work, her friends, a home she loved here on the island and another she’d kept for years in Connecticut until she decided to move back to the island permanently.