Waiting for Love (Excerpt Only; The McCarthys of Gansett Island Book 8)

“I’m absolutely, positively, totally and completely done with men,” the woman sitting behind Adam McCarthy announced—loudly—to everyone on the noon ferry to Gansett Island. “Done, done, done.”

The voice was familiar, so he sat up taller, hoping to overhear enough to figure out who she was without having to get involved.

“I’ve followed two men to the ends of the earth and regretted it both times. From now on, I’m off men. You heard it here first.”

A slight slur to her words had him wondering if she’d been drinking. Who cares? What business is it of yours? Ignore her.

“Did I mention I’m done with men?”

Adam had no idea who she was talking to, and figuring that out would require him to turn around. And there was no way he was turning around. He had his own problems and no desire to take on someone else’s, even if it was possible that he knew her. He knew a lot of people. That didn’t mean he had to jump to their rescue when they were on the verge of making fools of themselves.

With the day stormy and the seas rough, the woman played to a captive audience inside the crowded cabin. Adam was used to rough rides. He’d been taking the ferry all his life. Others weren’t so fortunate, and the distinctive sound of barfing soon filled the airless cabin.

Rough seas and rocking boats had never made him sick. The smell of vomit, however… No one was immune to that. He got up and told himself to get out of there. Walk to the door and the fresh air… But curiosity got the better of him, and he made the huge mistake of turning around.

His mouth fell open when he saw his brother Grant’s ex-girlfriend Abby Callahan scrambling for the garbage can.

While she was violently ill, Adam stood paralyzed with indecision. She hadn’t seen him, so he could still get out of there unscathed. And then, as if Adam had conjured him from a dream, Big Mac McCarthy’s voice sounded in his conscience, warning of dire consequences if Adam walked away from a family friend in her time of need.

Not for the first time in his adult life, Adam cursed the values his father had hammered into him and his brothers from the time they were young boys.

He took a deep breath he instantly regretted due to the pervasive smell of vomit filling the cabin, choked back a wave of nausea, walked toward her, took her by the arm, and escorted her outside.

Naturally, she fought him off. “What do you think you’re doing?” Her words were garbled and slurred, and she smelled as if she’d spilled an entire bottle of eighty-proof something or other on her clothes.

“Did you sleep in a bar last night?” he asked when they were outside and both taking deep, gulping breaths of cold, damp, fresh air.

“Adam,” she gasped when she realized who he was. “No, I did not sleep in a bar. I had two drinks on the plane this morning, and the man in the next seat spilled his tequila all over me.”

Adam cringed at the thought of tequila for breakfast. Those days were a distant memory. “As I recall, you don’t drink.”

She wobbled when the boat pitched violently to the side, and he steadied her with a hand to her arm. “I do now,” she said as she pushed him away. “I’m all done being a nice girl who does what everyone expects of her. I’m going to drink and party and curse like a sailor and have sex with strangers and…” Her chin began to quiver.

“Don’t you dare cry.”

“I’ll cry if I want to. I’ll do any damned thing I want.”

“Since this is your first attempt at swearing, you might consider adding a ‘god’ in there.” She seemed to have no idea what he meant, so he elaborated. “Goddamned is a lot more hard-core than plain old damned.”