Things We Never Said (Hart's Boardwalk 3)

Snorts of laughter came from all three, and that propelled Bailey onward to my mortification. “It was a rare day off, we’d been on the beach in our bikinis—stop leering at me, Dermot—and we’d gone to the Ice Cream Shack. But Dahlia leaned against the wall as we waited for our ice cream and got the ties of her bikini caught in an old picture hook on Mr. Shickle’s wall. Instead of patiently trying to untie it, she yanked it.” Her laughter-filled eyes came to me. “Bikini top came off, and Mr. Shickle was rushed to the hospital with a suspected heart attack. In the end, it was only arrhythmia, and he survived, but there left no doubt in the minds of the people of Hartwell that the sight of Dahlia McGuire naked was too much for old Mr. Shickle to cope with.”

My cheeks burned with mortification as my dad and brothers veered between

horror that their daughter/sister had flashed her boobs in public, and hilarity that I had, indeed, sent an old man to the hospital.

“I cannot believe you told that story!”

“What story?” Krista asked as she wandered into the kitchen.

So I had to endure another retelling. Embarrassing! Krista nearly peed her pants laughing. And Bailey succeeded in doing what she’d set out to do.

To take our minds off my mom.

To make us laugh.

Even if it was at my expense.

* * *

The following night most of my family was gathered at Rosie’s. Levi had woken up sick that morning, and although he’d gotten better throughout the day, Darragh and Krista didn’t think it was a good idea for him to go out for dinner. Ultimately, they decided both boys should stay home since they’d have to leave after dinner with Krista anyway, so Darragh had come alone. I was disappointed Krista and my nephews weren’t there and hoped Levi would be well enough to go to Dad’s steak dinner tomorrow for my last night in Boston.

“I will miss the hell out of you,” Davina said as we stood at the bar to order drinks. We’d already all eaten and were now moving onto the drinking portion of the evening. Well, they were. I was sticking to soda water and lime.

I leaned into her. “I’m going to miss you too. But I’ll be back before you know it.”

She seemed to hesitate before blurting out, “If Mom wanted to try to have a relationship with me again and I wanted to see if that could work, would you hate me?”

Of course not. “God, no, Davina. Look, I understand why things are the way they are between Mom and me, and as much as it hurts, I’ve found more peace about that than I could have hoped for a mere month ago. I know now she and I will probably never have a relationship and I’m coming to terms with that. But I wouldn’t wish that on any of you. Or her. So if she makes steps to mend fences, I’d be happy for you, Davi. Honestly.”

She gave me a tremulous smile. “I love you, kiddo.”

I grinned. “I love you too.”

Her smile widened, and she opened her mouth to say something else, but Bailey popped up by my side. “Sorry to interrupt but I need to tell you something.”

“What are you doing?” Dermot appeared behind us.

We all turned. My brother glared at Bailey.

Bailey glowered back. “I’m not ambushing her.”

“This was your idea.”

“I didn’t think it would work and you gave me very little notice.”

“What the hell is going on?” Davina scowled at the two of them.

Bailey swallowed hard and gave me an apologetic look. “Michael is on his way here.”

“What? Why?” Was the room spinning? Because I was all of a sudden very light-headed.

“I do hate you.”

I blinked away the sound of his voice ringing in my head as Bailey replied, “Dermot told me that Michael was there, watching you two leave the station that night and that he looked worried about you. Neither of us believes someone who didn’t care about you would follow you out of the station. Also, hate isn’t a bad thing in this case. The thing you have to worry about is indifference. And it’s clear that Michael is definitely not indifferent to you. So, long story short, I asked Dermot if he thought Michael would turn up for drinks with the family. One last chance at trying to mend the breach, you know.”

Ugh. How had I forgotten Bailey’s second career as a matchmaker? She’d done this to Jessica and Cooper too. “Bailey …”

“Thing is—”