Page 71 of Secrets at Seaside
TONY CHECKED HIS cell phone for what felt like the hundredth time. Still no message from Amy.
“Dude.” Pete shook his head. “She’ll call when she’s got something to tell you. Sit down, have a drink, and chill.” Pete patted the wooden dock.
They’d spent the morning out on the schooner that Pete had refinished two summers ago, and they’d been back at the marina for about twenty minutes. Tony lowered himself to the dock beside Pete and accepted the beer he handed him. “I’m just worried about Amy. What if things didn’t go well with Duke? You know her. She’s sensitive. She’ll feel bad about letting him down for weeks.”
“She does have that whole heart-of-gold thing going on.” Caden sat on Pete’s other side and waved off the beer Pete offered. “Someone’s got to uphold the law. I’m the designated driver.”
Pete shook his head. “Always the cop.”
“I’m drinking one beer, that’s it.” Tony held up his beer bottle.
“You guys all cool with this whole group-wedding thing?” Caden asked.
“Pfft. Why not?” Pete tipped his bottle back and took a long swig. “If it makes the girls happy.”
“Hey, you guys and the girls are my family as much as my mom is. I’m all for it.” Tony set his beer down on the dock. “Besides, weren’t Bella and Jenna waiting for Amy to get engaged before they got married? Oh, and Leanna, of course.”
“Yup.” Caden ran his hand through his hair with a sigh. “Call me backward, but I want to get married sooner rather than later. I haven’t told Evan yet, but Bella and I would like to try to have a child together.”
Tony smiled. “I think Amy’s biological clock is ticking pretty loud, too.”
“Jenna’s, too.” Pete held his beer between both hands. His eyes grew serious. “Tony, um, I don’t know if this is out of line or not, but Jenna told me what you guys went through.”
A sharp pain cut through Tony’s chest. “Yeah? That’s okay.”
“I’m sorry, man.” Pete gave him a brotherly pat on the back. “That must have been rough.”
“Yeah. I lost my mind a little back then. That’s for sure.” Tony finished his beer and set the bottle beside him again.
“Bella told me, too. I can tell you that raising a kid at a young age wasn’t easy. I don’t mean to minimize what you went through. I’m just saying…You know what I mean. I’m really sorry.” Caden had taken on full responsibility of Evan when he was still in college. He’d dropped out to take care of Evan and had become a police officer because the schedule allowed him to work nights and spend more time with Evan during the day when he was a baby.
“I know. Thanks, man,” Tony said. “She’s worried about having another miscarriage. I think that might be one reason she wants to stay here at the Cape, to be with the girls. She needed them back then, but she’d closed herself off.”
“Well, she’ll have their support, that’s for sure. But you’ll have ours, too, Tony.” Pete blew out a loud breath. “I think it’s a good thing that they’ll all be together. It feels like it was meant to be this way.”
Tony glanced up at the sound of fast footfalls on the dock. Amy was running down the dock in her summer dress and bare feet, arms flailing, hair flying behind her like a mane. She was running too fast. Tony rose to his feet to slow her down and she plowed into him, sending both of them over the edge of the dock and into the water. Amy flapped her arms and legs. Her eyes were wide and her cheeks puffed out as she held her breath. Her hair flowed in slow motion around her face as Tony grabbed her beneath her arms and pushed her up through the surface. Both of them gasped for air.
“Are you okay?” He held her against him, kicking to keep them both afloat as she caught her breath.
“Yes.” Her head kicked back with an uninhibited laugh, which made Tony laugh.
“You guys all right?” Pete threw a life jacket into the water.
“I’ve got her. We’re fine.” Tony tucked the life jacket under one of Amy’s arms.
“I’ve got you, but hold on to that. Are you sure you’re okay?”
“Fine. Fine.” She pressed her lips to his. “Duke and I worked it out.”
Tony grabbed the edge of the dock with one arm, keeping a firm grip around Amy. “That’s great. I think. Is it what you want?”Are we moving to Australia?
“Yes!” She kissed him again, a wet, sloppy kiss as she panted to catch her breath. She let go of the life jacket and wrapped her arms around his neck. “We can live here.”
“Here? Here!” He gave her another wet kiss, completely forgetting that he was keeping them up. They sank below the surface, mouths sealed together. Both of their eyes opened wide under the water, and as they rose to the top, they were both smiling.
They broke through the surface again, and they laughed and kissed each other again. Pete and Caden shook their heads.
She swiped at the water in her wide eyes. “And I talked to my dad. I told him we were getting married and to back off of my work stuff.”
