Read Online Time for Love , The McCarthys of Gansett Island, Book 9 by Marie Force - Free Book Online Page A

Something bad, or so it seems. A few people have tried to tell me, but I want to hear it from him, you know?”
    Sarah nodded. “That seems only fair.”
    “I’m afraid that he’s going to tell me something so awful I won’t want to see him anymore.”
    “If it’s that awful, it’ll be just as well he tells you now before it goes any further. If you ask me, it says something about him that he wants to tell you himself, when he knows it wouldn’t take much digging around here for you to get the dirt on your own.”
    “I had two different people try to tell me today.”
    “Hmm, so then it was big enough that people know about it, whatever it is.”
    “I think it has something to do with his breakup with Janey McCarthy, which has my brain spinning in a number of unsavory directions.”
    “Don’t forget it’s possible for people to make really serious mistakes that they regret tremendously and to learn from those mistakes and never make them again.”
    “I know. Do you think Mark might be capable of learning from his mistakes?”
    “Absolutely not. Mark is a violent, controlling monster who will never change. I don’t think there’s any comparison between his brand of evil and whatever sins David Lawrence may have committed, but you’ll have to be the judge of that. Something tells me that a man who is capable of the sort of kindness and compassion he has shown both of us is someone worth spending time with.”
    “That’s what my gut is telling me, but my gut has been wrong before. More than once.”
    “I bet your gut has gathered some wisdom over the years and is more trustworthy than it used to be.” She covered Daisy’s hand on the table with her own. “The bottom line is you have to decide if you can live with whatever he tells you. If you can’t, there’s no shame in walking away, if that’s what’s best for you.”
    Daisy knew Sarah was absolutely right, but the thought of walking away from David filled her with an aching sadness.  
    *

Piece by piece, Carolina Cantrell removed the china from the hutch in her dining room, cleaning and dusting each item before adding it to the growing pile on the dining room table. How so much grit and grime managed to get inside a closed cabinet was beyond her. It had been somewhat appalling to realize how dirty her house had gotten while she’d been busy carrying on a wild affair with an Irishman young enough to be her son.  
    The Irishman in question came banging into the house, home from work after a long day captaining the ferries. Even though Joe and Janey were back on the island for the summer, Seamus continued to run the Gansett Island Ferry Company that Carolina and her son Joe had inherited from her parents. With the baby due in August, Joe wanted to work as little as possible this summer so he could spend as much time with his wife as he could.
    That left Seamus working from dawn until dusk seven days a week as the tourists began to descend on the island in droves.  
    “What in the name of hell are you doing?” he asked, surveying the mess in the dining room.
    “I’m cleaning. What does it look like I’m doing?”
    “It looks to me like you’ve lost your bleeding mind, love. Why are you cleaning your mum’s china?”
    “Because it’s filthy, and what if your mum decides she wants a spot of tea and takes one of these cups out of the cabinet and discovers that not only am I too old to ever bear her grandchildren, but I’m also a horrible housekeeper? What if that happens?”
    “Caro, love.” His green eyes danced with amusement that irritated her as he placed his hands on her shoulders and kissed her forehead. “You’ve seriously gone around the bend.”
    “Why? Because I want my house to be clean when your mother gets here?”
    “The house is clean. It’s so clean my nose is burning from the smell of bleach and ammonia. If you keep this up, we’ll need respirators to continue living here.”
    She reached for another plate to dust.