Crap. It really was him.
She drilled her eyes into his. “I thought I made it clear that you aren’t needed here.”
Owen shrugged. And chuckled.
She wanted to lift her crutch again and jab him in the gut. Or lower. Instead, she turned to Rafe. “Honey,” she said, carefully choosing her words, “would you please wait by the terminal? I need to speak with your father.”
He winced, then stepped away, having received the message that his mom wasn’t pleased.
“I get it,” Owen said. “I’m not welcome. But our son thought it would be fun. You know, like a family vacation.” His robin’s-egg-blue eyes bored into her.
Maddie cursed herself for the years she’d wasted—before and after the divorce—pretending that she and Owen got along. She’d done it for Rafe’s sake because she was a mother, and she supposed that’s what mothers did. And fathers, too, she now knew. She also now knew that families often screwed things up despite their best intentions.
“It won’t be fun,” she said to Owen now. “For starters, I have too much to do, including having to negotiate every physical step I take. And I don’t want to have to deal with playing nice in front of Rafe. Besides, there’s no room for you at the cottage, and I doubt you’ll find anywhere on the island to stay; rooms here have been booked for a year or more.” She had no idea if that was true. “Please, Owen. Get back on the ferry.”
He smirked. “I can’t. We came in my car, which I left in Falmouth. If I go now, Rafe will have to drive your car back to Green Hills, so you’ll have to leave this place sooner than you might have planned because he has responsibilities and a life back home. From what I hear, so do you.”
Rafe also must have told him about the tenure possibility.
People walking past them—some strolling, having just arrived, others hurrying to catch the boat—were giving them lots of elbow room, keeping a safe distance from the negativity they must be exuding. Maddie was embarrassed; she despised public displays of anything. Not to mention that Rex was in his truck, hopefully unable to read their lips.
“It’s hard to believe our son will start his senior year at Amherst,” Owen said, straightening the collar of his Armani linen shirt, one of his favorite summer go-tos; he once told her that though the Armani was costly, the price would be higher if it had run-of-the-mill breast pockets.
“It seems important to Rafe to spend quality time with both his parents,” he kept yammering. “Who knows where he’ll land after graduation?”
She knew that Owen was annoyed with Rafe for not yet having picked a grad school. She wondered if her ex feared that his plan to bring their son into his business might now be threatened thanks to her inheritance. Unless he got his hands on it.
“Excuse me.” A woman in a neon vest suddenly stood next to them. “You’ll have to move. You’re too close to the vehicle queue, and we need to load the three forty-five.”
Adjusting the crutches, Maddie said to Owen, “Go get Rafe. I’m in a silver pickup in the lot.” She clumsily turned away but held her chin up high as she made her way back to Rex, hoping that the drama wouldn’t ruin her friendship with the nicest man she’d met in years.
* * *
Maddie didn’t think it would be amusing to introduce Rex to Rafe and Owen. But when Owen didn’t seem to know what to say beyond muttering, “Nice to meet you,” followed by looking at his shoes—Gucci loafers, naturally—she found it hilarious. What was even better was when they agreed there was only room in the truck’s cab for three of them.
“You’ll have to ride in back,” she said to Owen. “With the suitcases and the wheelchair.” She wished that—like with the old farmer who’d driven her from Evelyn’s house—sheep were back there, too. One might have drooled on the Armani and the Guccis.
Perhaps embarrassed for his father, Rafe said he’d climb into the back, too, so Maddie would have more room, what with her cast.
Once everyone was settled, Rex gave Maddie a side glance and a half smile, then backed out of the parking space and drove off the lot.
“My son’s excited to be here,” she said. “But I think his father smells my pending inheritance. His wife’s a big spender, and he has twin daughters who already are expensive.”
Rex nodded. “He has a lucrative career?” So the restaurateur and chef knew designer attire when he saw it, though Maddie supposed there hadn’t been a lot of that at the Graybar Hotel.
“He’s in finance,” she said flatly.
“Well, then,” he said, “chances are he won’t need to steal any of my tools back there.”
Maddie tried unsuccessfully to suppress a laugh.
Then Rex reached over and put his hand on hers. “Guys like that don’t scare me.”
She turned her hand over and lightly squeezed his. “Thanks. Because he scares me sometimes. But please don’t tell him.” With Rex sitting next to her, she felt better. Her father had always remained neutral about Owen, so, for once, Maddie had someone on her side. Physically, maybe as well as literally. It was also nice that neither she nor Rex needed further conversation on the subject.
When they reached the secret turn-off that led to the pine grove behind Grandma’s cottage, he looked at her and said, “You have my number. Call me if you need the cavalry. I can drum up a battalion of musclemen in a heartbeat.”
She said that though that sounded sexist, she would definitely call. Then she thanked him for an unforgettable afternoon and, hesitating only for a second, she kissed him on the cheek. He gave her a sweet look that let her know he had liked it.
