LITMIR.BIZ

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      Connor looked as if he was ready to launch into another diatribe, so Mick cut him off before he could get started.

      “You will not interfere,” Mick told him flatly. “You don’t have to approve of it. You don’t have to like it. But you will stay out of it.” He leveled a hard look into his son’s eyes. “And you will show up for the ceremony with a smile on your face. Is that understood?”

      Connor gave him a knowing look. “Mom’s talking about postponing, isn’t she?”

      “That’s not an option,” Mick said forcefully.

      “But I got to her yesterday and now she’s having second thoughts,” Connor said with a triumphant note. “Good for her.”

      Mick regarded him with sorrow. “Do you care nothing for my feelings?”

      Connor looked shocked by the question. “Of course I do! Dad, can’t you see that I’m trying to protect you? You’ve gotten all caught up in sentiment. You’re not thinking clearly.”

      Mick was none too pleased by his son’s determination to interfere, to say nothing of his confidence that only he knew what was best for his parents. “Connor, I’m a grown man. I don’t need looking after, no matter how well-intentioned it might be. I love your mother. I always have. God’s seen fit to give me a second chance with her, and I won’t let you or anyone else take that away from us.”

      “She’ll break your heart again,” Connor predicted.

      “I don’t believe that, but if it happens, so be it.”

      “You can’t mean that. The last time she left, it almost destroyed you. It almost ruined our entire family.”

      “I thought Bree was the one in the family with a flair for drama,” Mick chided. “What happened was devastating for all of us, no question about it. But look at Abby, Bree and Kevin today. They’re all happily married. Jess has a thriving business she loves. And even you have found your life’s work. We’re more tight-knit as a family than we have been in years.”

      “All of that’s in spite of Mom, not because of her.”

      “Maybe so, but we can hardly claim that what she did ruined our lives. It shaped us, to be sure. It changed her, as well—for the better, I think. She’s stronger and more independent.”

      “You almost sound as if you approve of that,” Connor said.

      “Well, of course I do. I made your mother very unhappy. I wasn’t the partner she needed. I think we’re a better match today than we were back then.”

      “Just how long do you think it will take before this independent streak of hers gets on your nerves?” Connor asked.

      Mick chuckled. “It already has. More than once, in fact. That doesn’t mean it’s not for the best. None of this is your worry, son. All we need from you is your blessing, even if you disagree with the choice we’re making.”

      Looking genuinely distressed, Connor shook his head. “I can’t do it, Dad. Not when this marriage has disaster written all over it. I’ve already told Mom I’m going to draw up a prenuptial agreement.”

      “You did what?” Mick was aghast. “You most certainly will not. I don’t believe in starting a marriage trying to figure out how it will end.”

      “It’s commonplace for someone in your position,” Connor insisted.

      “No!” Mick said, slamming his fist on the table.

      Connor didn’t bend. “Dad, I’ll do whatever I can to protect you, whether you want me to or not.”

      Mick bristled at his unrelenting attitude. “Then you’ll stay away,” he ordered. “From this moment on, you’ll stay away.”

      “Stay away?” Connor repeated, his expression incredulous.

      “From Chesapeake Shores, from our house,” Mick said, his gaze unyielding.

      “I’m not welcome in my own home?” Connor said, looking shaken.

      “Not until you can see your way clear to treat your mother with the respect she deserves and can accept our marriage.”

      Connor’s expression hardened. “Then I guess it will be a cold day in hell before I set foot in Chesapeake Shores again.”

      Even as he spoke, he stood up. He cast one last bleak look at Mick, then, his back stiff with pride, he walked away, never once looking back.

      As he went, Mick felt his heart break. He also knew that when Megan learned of this—and she no doubt would—she might never forgive him for causing a possibly irreparable rift with their son.

       3

      For the next week Mick left the house before dawn and didn’t return until well after dusk. If he’d been able to think of a reason to leave town for business, he’d have been on the first flight out of Baltimore, but lately his out-of-state projects were all running smoothly under the direction of his second-in-command, Jaime Alvarez. Mick wouldn’t undermine Jaime by showing up unannounced. Besides, he had plenty of work nearby with his Habitat for Humanity projects to send him home exhausted at the end of the day.

      He’d been avoiding Megan’s calls, as well. He knew that sooner or later she was going to catch up with him and he’d have to tell her about Connor, but he wasn’t quite ready for that conversation.

      When he walked into the kitchen on Friday night and found both Abby and Nell sitting at the table, he knew his time for avoiding this latest mess was over.

      “Your dinner’s in the oven, probably all dried out,” Nell commented without a hint of apology. “Serves you right for not coming home on time and not calling.”

      “Sorry, Ma,” he said, then glanced at Abby and noted her sour expression. “Everything okay with you?”

      “I think you know it’s not,” she said icily.

      “You’ve spoken to your brother, then?” he said, resigned.

      Abby regarded him critically. “Dad, what were you thinking? You banished Connor. I know he’s stubborn and exasperating, but he’s family.”

      “Apparently he’s also a tattletale,” Mick said, though he knew that was hardly the point. “I didn’t expect him to go running to his big sister whining about it.”

      “What did you expect?” Nell inquired. “That he’d take this punishment of yours quietly? That’s not in his makeup. Surely you know him well enough to know that.”

      “I was hoping to shake him up,” Mick said with a shrug. “I wanted him to see how important my marriage to his mother is to me. I wanted him to accept it and get on board.”

      “Well, I’d say your approach backfired,” Nell said. “He’s angrier than ever.”

      “Does Mom know about this?” Abby asked.

      “Of course not,” Nell answered for him. She directed an accusing look his way as she plunked his reheated food in front of him. “Otherwise he wouldn’t be avoiding her calls.”

      “I’m not avoiding Megan,” he said, though of course he was. “I’ve been busy.”

      “Interesting that being overwhelmed with work hasn’t kept you from speaking to her half a dozen times a day for the past few months,” Nell noted. “Did you think she wouldn’t notice that you haven’t spoken all week? She’s been calling here for days now looking for answers. Did you expect me to lie for you?”

      Mick stared at his mother in dismay. “You didn’t tell her what’s going on, did you?”

      “It’s

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