Gansett After Dark Read Free

settled her gently back on her pillow and sat up. “My mom’s going out with Charlie tonight. Why don’t we take dinner down to the beach and let Holden get dirty?”
    Laura looked at him intently before she nodded in agreement. “Sure, that sounds like fun.”
    He leaned over to kiss her. “I’ll go to the store and get something for dinner. Be right back.” Owen left the apartment feeling like he’d dodged an emotional bullet. He knew she was only trying to help him, but her sweetness and desire to help made him feel raw and unable to face the firestorm that lay ahead of him. Somehow he had to find a way to talk her out of coming with them, and he only had a few days left in which to do it.

Chapter 2
    For a long time after Owen left, Laura lay on the bed, thinking about what he’d said. He really didn’t want her to go with him, and she understood why. However, she couldn’t imagine letting him face such an upsetting and difficult thing on his own, which left her truly torn by what he said he wanted and what she thought he needed.
    A light tap on the door jarred her out of her thoughts. “Come in.”
    “Just me,” her brother Shane said.
    “I’m in here.”
    He appeared in the bedroom doorway, tall, handsome and deeply tanned from working outdoors all summer. In addition to helping her and Owen at the hotel, he’d been overseeing the building of affordable housing on property left to the town by the late Mrs. Chesterfield.  
    “You’re home early,” Laura said.
    “It’s so freaking hot out. I couldn’t take any more.”
    “Grab something to drink. There’s water and soda in the fridge, and I think Owen’s got some beer, too.”
    “I’d die for a Coke.” Shane went to the tiny galley kitchen and returned with his soda and a cold bottle of water for her that Laura accepted gratefully.  
    “Have a seat,” she said, gesturing toward the end of the bed. He was lean but muscular, too. His light brown hair had bleached to blond in the summer sun.  
    “I’m too dirty.” He leaned against the doorway and guzzled his drink, sighing with pleasure as he ran the can over his face. The time on the island had been good for her younger brother. He’d recovered—as much as one ever did—from the bitter disappointment of his failed marriage to Courtney, who’d hidden an addiction to pain medication from him. “Where’s my nephew?”
    “Taking a nap.”
    “I was going to ask if I could take him down to play in the sand.”
    “We’re going down there for dinner.” She reached for her phone and sent Owen a text, telling him to add a sandwich for Shane. “You’re coming with us.”
    “I am?”
    “You are. I just told Owen to get you something for dinner.”
    His bright blue eyes were filled with amusement. “You’re as bossy as you were when we were kids. You know that, don’t you?”
    “You like it when I take care of you. You may as well admit it.”
    “Yeah, I do. Old habits are hard to break. I keep thinking it’s probably time I got out of your hair around here. You could be making money on my room.”
    “You’re not going anywhere, and we’re making plenty of money on the other rooms in this place, so get that thought right out of your head. We love having you here with us.”
    “Still… I probably need to figure things out and get a life of my own rather than piggybacking on yours.”
    “That’s not what you’re doing. You’ve been a huge help to us with the baby and the hotel. You’re part of our family, Shane. We like having you here. I really don’t want you to go.”
    “Owen probably doesn’t like having your brother around all the time.”
    “That’s also not true. He loves you—almost as much as I do. Watching you two become good friends has been such a pleasure for me. ”
    “If that ever changes, you’ll tell me, right?”
    “It’s not going to change.”
    “Laura…”
    “Fine, I’ll tell you, but I’m not going to change my mind and neither is