Island Promises

CHAPTER TWO

SEEING THE EMBARRASSMENT in her gaze, Shane wasn’t sure what to think about Megan McNeil.

She was either crazy or had considerable grit to show up for her ex-husband’s wedding to another woman. He wasn’t sure which yet.

Even a month later, her rejection stung.

He had really liked Megan. Okay, he might have been a little woozy from pain medication—even a through-and-through round from a .38 hurt like hell—but he could have sworn they’d forged a connection.

His mind replayed their interaction. While she’d helped him out of his uniform she had been sweet and solicitous, a beacon of warmth on a bitter winter night that had turned to hell.

When she asked if he wanted her to call someone for him, he had floundered. His parents weren’t in Chicago, Mom was on one coast, Dad on the other. Having them at the hospital would have been a nightmare of drama and accusations. He could have called Cara, of course, but this was only a minor injury and he didn’t want to bother her.

When he told Megan he didn’t need her to call anyone, she had become even more solicitous and kind. He’d noticed she wasn’t wearing a ring and at some painkiller-induced moment had asked if she was dating anyone. She’d blushed in a way that had completely charmed him, and said that she was divorced but she didn’t have time to date.

He’d never thought to ask if a couple of cute twin girls were the reason she was so busy.

“Was it something to do with hospital policy?” he asked now. “Are nurses not supposed to date patients?”

“I wouldn’t strictly be breaking any rules. But that wasn’t it. Not really.”

She glanced briefly at her daughters—the smaller one with the twisted limbs and her active, inquisitive sister—and then back at him. “As you’ve probably figured out, my life is...complicated. I haven’t dated anybody seriously since the divorce. I’m out of practice and, I’ll admit, I panicked.”

He shifted his long legs in the uncomfortable space, surprised at her candor. “I can be a scary guy, I guess. That’s not necessarily a bad thing when you need to get information out of a perp, but it has its disadvantages when it comes to the dating scene.”

A hint of a smile peeked out at him. “You didn’t scare me. I liked you. A little too much,” she confessed.

“I felt the same way,” he answered. “Which is why I hounded some old guy in Irving Park three times, hoping I’d only misdialed.”

She sighed, and he saw more of that entrancing blush seep over her soft features. “Please, can’t we start over? I’m so embarrassed about the whole thing. It would be great if we could pretend we only met at the gate before boarding the plane. I really don’t want to have to spend the whole wedding trying to avoid you.”

After a moment’s thought, he stuck out his hand. “Hi there. I’m Shane Russell, brother of the bride.”

She gave him a relieved smile and held out a small, capable hand. “I’m Megan McNeil. I, er, used to be married to the groom.”

They shook hands briefly, before her attention was diverted by a question from her daughter.

Shane picked up his book again, aware of a strange mix of relief and disappointment. While his ego was a little appeased to know he hadn’t been completely wrong about the attraction that had simmered between them, it was more than a little disappointing to discover that attraction was doomed to die a fruitless death.

As much as he was drawn to her lush mouth, those blue eyes, those lovely, sweet features, he wouldn’t do anything about it. A month ago, he might have, but she was right. Her situation had just become too complicated.

* * *

THE FLIGHT BETWEEN Chicago and Los Angeles was far easier than Megan expected. The girls were both relaxed and comfortable. She read to them for a while, they watched a movie, they played a game or two, and before she knew it, the flight crew announced they were preparing to land.

“What can I do to help?” Shane asked as they taxied to the gate.

While Nick was a great father, she handled most things on her own these days. The chance to lean on someone else was as novel as it was welcome. “If you could help me with the bags, that would be great. It might take a while, though. I’m afraid we’ll have to wait for the wheelchair to be brought up from the cargo hold.”

“I don’t mind.”

He traded knock-knock jokes with the girls while the rest of the passengers filed out. When they left the plane, the wheelchair was waiting for them.

“This is quite a complicated procedure,” Shane said, as Megan pushed Grace into the terminal.

“I guess you can see why we don’t travel much. The kids and Nick and I went to Disney World a few years ago, but that’s as brave as I’ve ever been with them. Car trips are actually much less complicated than flying.”

“Except we can’t drive to Hawaii,” Grace offered. “Grandma said so.”

“Unless you’re a really good swimmer,” Shane said. “Or know how to ride a dolphin.”

“I rode a horse, once,” Sarah chimed in. “It was brown and had a black tail and mane. It was super fun, but we didn’t go swimming.”

He grinned at her daughter, and Megan’s stomach started whirling as if she were riding a dolphin in wild circles. He really was gorgeous, with sun-streaked brown hair and eyes the deep green of a mossy forest. Add to that how sweet and charming he was with her daughters, and she was in serious danger of making a fool of herself.

They made it to their gate just in time to board the connecting flight that would take them to Lihue.

He again stepped in to help her stow their bags in the overhead bin and settle Grace into her seat.

“Looks like I’m behind you a couple of rows for this leg of the trip. If you need my help on the flight, I can see about trading with someone to be closer.”

Megan told herself she wasn’t sorry for a little space to catch her breath, regain equilibrium. “You’ve done more than enough already. Thank you for all your help. I would have been sunk without you. Girls, can you tell Cara’s brother thank you for helping with our bags?”

“Thank you,” Grace said, her voice soft but her smile genuine.

“Thanks!” Sarah held out a little fist to give him a bump, something she did with Nick all the time.

He chuckled and obediently pressed his knuckles against hers, then added a complicated little side twist and top pound that made Sarah grin.

“Safe flight,” he said, before moving a few seats behind them to allow the other passengers to board. She did her best not to feel a little bereft.

“He’s nice, Mom,” Grace said. Her eyes drooped with fatigue, and Megan hugged her close, making room for her daughter to rest her head in the crook of her arm.

“Yes. Yes, he is.”

To her relief, Jean again sat near them to help entertain the girls on the long flight. By the time the captain turned off the seat belt sign, though, it was obvious the excitement and anticipation of the day were taking their toll on the girls.

They started to become petulant and cranky with each other and with her. The mood might have shifted quickly into frustration if she hadn’t pulled out their story again, ducked her head to theirs and read quietly to them. After only a few pages, both girls’ eyelids grew heavy. They fell asleep at almost exactly the same moment, as they often did.

She decided to follow their lead and steal a moment to close her eyes while she had the chance. When she awoke, she found the girls playing quietly with their Barbies, and she realized they would be reaching Lihue in only an hour.

There. Like so many other things in her life, the reality of a transoceanic flight had turned out to be far less painful than she’d imagined.

Still, by the time the plane landed, she and the girls were more than ready to escape the tight confines of their seats.

“We’re going to Hawaii.” Sarah started chanting her little song again.

“We’re gonna swim in the ocean,” Grace added.

“We’re not going to Hawaii anymore,” Megan told them. “We’re here!”

“Can we go swimming in the ocean today?” Sarah asked.

“I don’t see why not. But we have to make it to our hotel first.”

They were again last to leave the airplane. She was deeply grateful when Shane stopped to help them.

“You made it!” he said to the girls.

“Finally!” Sarah said with an exaggerated, long-suffering tone that made him smile.

They walked down the concourse to find Nick and Cara waiting for them with magenta-edged flower leis. “Welcome to Hawaii, girls!” Nick said. He put one over each of their necks with a kiss on the cheek and then added one for Megan, too.

“Thanks again for dragging them all the way out here. You’re the best ex a guy could ever want.”

She rolled her eyes as the heady scent of plumeria drifted to her. “I do my best.”

The bride and groom were distracted by others in the wedding party, and Megan began heading toward the baggage claim area.

“Oh, look at all the flowers. It’s so beautiful,” she exclaimed as they moved through the open-air terminal.

“Is this your first trip to Hawaii?” Shane asked.

She nodded. “You’ve been before, I take it.”

“A few times. Only once to Kauai, when I was a kid.”

He waited and helped her retrieve their checked luggage, and even carried the bags outside for her into the sweetly scented air. “You’re staying at the resort with everyone else, right?”

“Yes. That’s the plan. Cara made all the arrangements for us.”

“I’m renting a car. I can give you a lift to the resort.”

“Nick and Cara have arranged for a wheelchair taxi to pick us up. Thank you, though.”

“I’ll see you there, then. Girls, aloha.” He made the hang loose sign.

“What does that mean?” Grace asked.

“That’s called a shaka. It’s a Hawaiian greeting that kind of means hello, howzit, thank you, aloha. All that stuff.”

Sarah caught on immediately and did the same gesture back to him, twisting her wrist back and forth with delight, but Grace struggled with the fine motor skills necessary to stick her thumb and pinkie out at the same time.

“That’s not right,” Sarah told her sister, and Grace huffed a little with frustration.

“Here, like this.” The big, rangy cop bent down to her level and took her little hand in his to help her make the gesture.

“There it is. That’s it. Perfect.”

She beamed at him, and he grinned right back and kissed her on the forehead. As Megan watched them, something warmer and sweeter than the Hawaiian breeze settled in her chest.

Off the airplane, the girls seemed to gain a fresh wave of energy. All the way to the resort, they chattered excitedly with their driver, Pete, a big, warm native Hawaiian who was delighted to show them around his beautiful island.

“There it is! There’s the ocean,” Sarah said every time the road to their resort passed through the dense trees that opened up to that impossibly blue water.

The resort was beautiful, lushly landscaped with fringy palm trees, banyans with tangled, twisting trunks, bright explosions of colorful flowers. Megan had never seen anything as exquisite.

“You girls have a great time, now,” Pete ordered them after he helped them out and handed their bags to a waiting bellhop. “I’m gonna be checking to make sure you are.”

Sarah and Grace giggled at him and did their best shakas, which earned a wide grin and the gesture in return.

“Shootz. That means I’ll see you lateh.”

“Shootz,” both girls chorused at him with delight.

Megan had a feeling they were going to have a very interesting vocabulary before this trip was over.

By the time they checked in with the helpful hotel staff and caught a small wheelchair-adapted golf cart to their cabana, her own words failed her.

“Wow! The ocean is in our front yard!” Sarah exclaimed.

The ocean was their front yard. Their small cabana was perhaps twenty-five feet from the surf, with a wide lanai featuring a plump upholstered wicker settee and two chairs overlooking the water.

Inside, the cabana had two bedrooms, a small living area and kitchen, and a comfortable, wheelchair-accessible bathroom. The cabana’s location and size were luxuries she was completely unaccustomed to.

She needed to unpack, but while the girls were exploring their temporary home, she leaned against the lanai railing and watched baby breakers ripple to the shore. She was aware of a vague sadness, a melancholy emptiness. The cabana was beautifully romantic, the sort of place meant to be shared with someone special.

“It’s so blue,” Sarah exclaimed softly from beside her, and Megan forced herself to shake off her mood. She had someone special to share it with. Two incredible daughters. She was truly blessed.

“I want to swim in the ocean, Mom. Can we?” Grace asked.

“Yes!” Sarah exclaimed. “Can we go now?”

“Don’t you want something to eat first?” she suggested. “We can order room service and swim after an early dinner.”

“No. Swim now, then eat!” Grace said.

In that moment, Megan resolved to savor this. She might feel out of place watching her ex-husband marry the love of his life, but they were here in one of the most beautiful places on earth, with a vast ocean in front of them. She wouldn’t waste a moment feeling sorry about all she didn’t have. Instead, she would focus on her many gifts, starting with these two wonderful daughters.

“Let’s do it,” she said, gripping two hands in hers. “I think I know just where to find our suits.”

CHAPTER THREE

YEAH. HE COULD get used to this.

After settling into his cabana, Shane grabbed one of the cold beers in the refrigerator—thoughtfully arranged by his sister, he guessed, and headed out to his oceanfront lanai.

He stretched his legs, which still felt achy and cramped after a long day of trying to cram six feet, two inches of height into a space obviously designed for juvenile pygmies.

He took a sip of beer just as his sister walked up the steps.

“Hey there,” he said. “How’s my favorite bridezilla?”

She made a face. “Admit it. I’ve been amazingly bridezilla-free.”

“You have,” he agreed. “You picked a great place. The resort is beautiful.”

She smiled. “Better than the pictures online. All the reviews were right.”

“Don’t you have wedding plans to arrange?”

“Not right this minute. I came to check on you. I’m sorry I didn’t have much time to spend with you on the flight.”

“That’s what happens when you fly first class. No time for the little people.”

He gave a mock wince when she socked him and she gasped. “Oh! I forgot all about your shoulder injury. I’m so sorry. Did I hurt you?”

Cara had always been too tenderhearted for her own good.

“Not at all,” he answered. “I was shot in the other arm.”

His teasing earned him another smack on the same shoulder, which made him smile.

She didn’t smile back. Instead, she sank down beside him on the rather uncomfortable settee, her features troubled. She twisted her fingers together on her lap and gazed out at the lovely setting, tension radiating from her.

He waited for her to tell him why she had really come. When she didn’t say anything, he finally spoke up. “Okay, what’s wrong?”

She glanced at him, her eyes a murky green. “Have you heard from Dad?”

He and their father tended to avoid each other whenever humanly possible.

“Not lately,” he answered.

“I had a voice mail from him when we landed. He’s coming to the wedding, after all. He’ll be here tomorrow and he’s bringing...wait for it...wife number five. Sherri or Sharon or something like that. The message was a little garbled, but I figured out they were married last weekend in Reno. Isn’t that great?”

He listened to her listless tone and wanted to punch something. Trust Hal Russell to do whatever he could to screw things up if at all possible. He didn’t know how to answer her and had to take a few deep breaths to keep from spewing anger that had absolutely nothing to do with her.

“Oh, Cara.”

“Mom is arriving tomorrow, too. She’s going to flip when she finds out.”

“She can deal,” he answered sharply, determined to make sure of it. “Don’t worry, kid. This day is about you and Nick, not about Dad and his wedding du jour or Mom and her drama. I won’t let either of them ruin your big day.”

“Do you really think you can stop them?” she asked.

“I’ll figure something out, even if I have to handcuff them in their cabanas.”

She laughed at that. “I would love to see that.”

He smiled. “Let’s hope it doesn’t come to that. I only brought one pair, though I could probably round up a zip tie somewhere. Don’t worry, I’ll talk to both of them, make sure everybody keeps things civil.”

Their parents despised each other, which had certainly made for an interesting childhood.

Cara leaned her head against his shoulder. “I love you, Shane. Have I told you that lately?”

He threw an arm around her, wishing, as always, that he could do more to make things easier for her. Though four years younger, Cara had been about the only stable thing in his tumultuous childhood. By necessity, they’d clung together to survive the storm-tossed seas of divorce, remarriages, custody battles, family court hearings.

“Love you back, kid.”

They sat that way for a few moments while the sea whispered against the sand. Finally Cara sat up, looking up the beach toward a few of the other cabanas.

“Oh, look. Megan’s taking the girls swimming.”

He followed her gaze and found Megan wearing a hip-skimming, pink swimsuit cover-up, carrying Grace on her back. Sarah skipped along beside them holding a basket full of beach toys.

The late-afternoon sunlight glowed in her burnished hair. A few feet above the wet sand mark, Sarah threw out a towel and Megan carefully lowered Grace onto it.

The scene touched a soft chord inside him, for reasons he couldn’t have explained.

“She’s pretty awesome, isn’t she?” Cara murmured.

“I just met her,” he lied. “She seems to be.” He spoke in a guarded tone, not liking the note of insecurity in his sister’s voice.

“I’m not jealous of her, I promise. You can get that worried look out of your eyes. I like her too much. I know both she and Nick tried hard to make their marriage work. They care about each other, but I don’t think they were ever really in love. The marriage was shaky from the beginning, and just never recovered from the stress of the girls being so sick at birth. It’s just...I want to be a good stepmother, and I’m not sure where to start, especially when she’s so great with the girls. Why would they need me?”

“They strike me as pretty easy girls to love. That’s about all they need from you, isn’t it?”

She sighed. “I hope that’s enough. I’m going to be a stepmother. I’m suddenly feeling bad for the rotten way I treated wives two, three and four. I can’t feel guilty about Sherri or Sharon or whatever her name is, since I haven’t met her yet.”

“You have nothing to be guilty about. None of them wanted to be bothered with us. You, on the other hand, already care about Grace and Sarah, and they like you.” He’d figured out that much, hearing them talk about the wedding. “Don’t worry, you’ll be fine.”

She leaned her head on his shoulder again for just a moment before rising to her feet. “In the interest of saving my sanity and my nerves, I’m going to choose to believe you about that. I love Nick too much to back out now. Thank you. A bunch of us are going to dinner later, if you’re interested. Around eight.”

“I might be. I’ll let you know.”

After she left, he took another drink from his beer, listening to the light music of the girls’ laughter on the trade winds.

They were having the time of their lives playing in the waves, and he suddenly wanted to be out there with them.

So why wasn’t he?

He battled indecision for another minute before he hurried into the cabana for his board shorts.

* * *

“IT’S SO WARM!” Sarah exclaimed, trailing fingers through sea water. “Remember how cold Lake Michigan was last summer?”

Megan shivered at the memory, which seemed a distant lifetime ago. “Yes. I think my teeth only stopped chattering last week.”

Sarah giggled, bouncing a little on a wave that rolled past them. They were in only about eighteen inches of water, barely to the girls’ chests when they were sitting on the sandy bottom.

“What about you, Gracie?” she asked.

“I love it,” she declared, beaming and wiggling her legs. In the water, Grace enjoyed a freedom of movement she didn’t have elsewhere. She had more control over her muscles, somehow able to countermand the disrupted neural pathways created by the hypoxic brain bleed that had caused her cerebral palsy shortly after birth.

“I think a fish just nibbled my toe!” Sarah exclaimed.

She flopped onto her stomach and stuck her face straight into the water, emerging a moment later with wide-eyed delight on her dripping features.

“It did! I saw four little fish! They’re silver and orange. Can you see, Grace? Can you?”

Grace might have been able to move better in the water, but she’d never mastered her fear of submerging her face.

She peered a few inches above the softly rippling water, straining hard to see into the depths. “I can’t see anything but water,” she complained.

“They’re right there. Try harder.”

“What are we looking at?” a male voice called out and Megan jerked up from her own scrutiny of the depths to discover Shane wading toward them, a pair of board shorts hanging low on his hips.

His shoulders were broad and muscled, and her toes suddenly tingled as if a whole school had started nipping them.

“There are fish down there,” Grace announced, with all the wide-eyed glee of someone declaring the clouds had suddenly turned rainbow colors.

He smiled down at her with a soft tenderness, and Megan’s stomach fluttered. “Is that so?”

“Yes. Sarah felt one bite her toe. They didn’t bite mine, though.”

“Lucky.”

“I wanted one to bite me. I don’t like to put my face in the water, so I can’t see them, but Sarah said they’re there.”

“I saw them,” Sarah declared. “Look, there’s another one.”

Shane obediently lowered his face to the water. “Oh, I see him. You’re right.”

He lifted his head, only inches away from Megan’s. That fluttering went into double time.

“You know, there are boogie boards with snorkel windows on them,” he informed her. “Grace could lie on the board and look right down into the water.”

Sarah snickered. “You said boogie.”

Grace giggled, too, and Megan had to hide a smile as Shane rolled his eyes at her.

He pulled the board out from under his arm. “For your information, missy, this is called a boogie board. It helps you ride the waves.”

He turned to Grace. “Want to try it?”

Grace gave a little nod, though she looked apprehensive.

He held the wide board steady in the small waves while Megan helped Grace stabilize on it.

“Hold on to the sides. That’s it,” Shane said. He supported the board and angled it to take best advantage of the waves. A slightly bigger one rolled to shore and she laughed when she rode up and down on it.

“That made my tummy tickle like the airplane!” she said.

He grinned. “It can do that.”

Megan really tried not to notice how sweet he was to entertain her daughter—or how gorgeous he looked doing it.

All the headaches of traveling with children, especially one with special needs, seemed to float away on the tide as she watched her daughter’s joy at riding the waves.

“Go Gracie!” Sarah yelled, clapping her hands. After a minute she turned to Megan. “Do you think I could have a turn when Grace is done?”