Up to the Challenge

you’ve got charters booked for the next six weeks.”

Patty interrupted before Joe could argue further. “You kids have businesses of your own. We’ll find someone to run the restaurant through Labor Day, then reevaluate for fall.”

“I’ll do it,” Lucas said.

He might as well have pulled a pin on a live grenade and held it over his head. Everyone fell silent, exaggerating the incessant chirping of the machines monitoring Tom’s every heartbeat.

“You’ll what?” Joe asked, stepping forward. Sid stood her ground between the men. This was no time for Joe to do something stupid.

Lucas crossed his arms, revealing impressive muscle below the rolled up shirtsleeves. “I said I’ll do it. I’ll run the restaurant while Dad recovers.”

“You heard the part about six weeks, right?” big brother asked. Beth tugged on Joe’s belt loop and he stepped back.

“I may miss a clue now and then, but I got that part.”

Sid wasn’t sure if Lucas meant to take a shot at Beth, but that’s what he’d done. Joe stepped forward again.

“As much as I want out of this hospital, I’m not getting kicked out because of you two.” Tom hit a button on the bed rail, sending the mattress into motion. Once he was satisfied with his new position, he released the button. “Lucas, I appreciate the offer, but are you sure you can get away from the law firm?”

Lucas leaned on the bottom bed rail. “I’m sure. Do you trust me to run your restaurant?”

Tom frowned. “I won’t dignify that with an answer.” He turned to Joe. “If he runs the place while you run the charters, can you cover some nights?”

“I’ll be there whenever you need me.”

“Nights,” Tom said again, as if passing down a final judgment. “Then it’s settled. You boys will run it together. I expect the place to still be in one piece when I come back. Understand?”

Both brothers nodded but neither spoke. Tom’s head dropped, the brief exchange apparently taking what little energy he could muster.

Patty gripped her husband’s hand and turned to Beth. “You’re running the art store, right?”

Beth straightened like a soldier called to attention. “Yes, but only until Lola and Marcus come back from New Orleans.”

“How long is that?”

“Another month.”

Patty nodded. “Sid?”

“Yeah?”

“I’m not letting Tom out of my sight, and that puts us two people down instead of one,” she said. “Could you help cover for me?”

“If Joe recruits one of the high school kids to run the charters with him.” Sid looked to Joe for his reaction and got a nod of approval. “Then I’m there. But I just need to be available for mechanic work if a call comes in.”

“I’m sure we can work around that,” Patty said. “It’s all settled then. Beth can work with Joe to cover nights, and Sid will help Lucas during the day.”

With Lucas? Sid hadn’t thought that far ahead. She’d never experienced seasickness in her life, but the thought of working side by side with the guy for whom she’d secretly pined for more than ten years made her queasy. Or not so secretly, since Joe knew. And thanks to Sid’s brother, Randy, Beth did, too.

Sid made eye contact with Beth, reading the unspoken question in her eyes.

This is good, right?

Then she turned to Lucas to catch his reaction. He looked like someone had just shit in his shoe.

Not from where I’m standing, she thought.

Life was about to become a living hell. Or rather, even more of a living hell than it had been since his fiancee had fallen in love with his brother. Lucas didn’t regret having been the one to convince Beth and Joe not to become martyrs for his sake. Lucas had loved Beth, or thought he had the night he’d proposed. And he loved his brother for all they understood each other, which wasn’t much.

Something had happened to Beth back in May when he’d left her on Anchor with his family to head back to Richmond for a case. The change could have been caused by Joe, or the island, or maybe the distance from Lucas and the law firm where they’d worked together. Whatever the reason, the Beth he’d left behind was not the woman waiting when he returned.

In fact, she’d been Elizabeth to him. He still struggled to call her Beth. Back in Richmond, he didn’t have to call her anything. The gossip in the office had been a pain in the ass, but faded into ancient history as soon as Van Dyke got caught boffing his assistant in the janitor’s closet.

Beth claimed she’d never set out to hurt him. She’d been living a lie for a long time, pretending to be someone else to make people happy, and somehow he’d become part of that lie. One more person she’d set out to please. The truth was, whether he’d brought her to Anchor or not, their life together never would have worked out.

Which drove him nuts, but he wasn’t about to let Beth know that. Or anyone else. So she’d picked his brother over him. Nothing new there.

Through no effort of his own, and exuding no discernible charm Lucas could see, Joe had always come out on top. People loved him. More importantly, they respected him. They listened when he talked, cleared a path when he crossed a room.

Being Joe Dempsey’s little brother was like playing second fiddle to a set of spoons, which was why Lucas preferred to live elsewhere. In Richmond, he was the star attorney. The up-and-coming counselor. Or he had been until Beth dumped him for Joe.

“Hey there,” came a soft voice from behind him. Speak of the devil. “This is a really nice thing you’re doing.”

Lucas kept his eyes on the vending machine before him. “Yeah. Well. Mom and Dad need me. I’m here for them.”

Beth leaned on the corner of the machine. “And you’re sure this won’t be a problem? Getting away from the firm?”

He should have known she’d wonder about that. “Not a problem.” Lucas pushed the number-letter combination for barbeque chips, then watched the steel rod turn. The chips stayed put. “Damn it.”

Beth ignored the expletive. “Leaving in the middle of a case isn’t going to cause issues? No one wants you to jeopardize your career.”

Lucas smacked the glass between him and the chips. Nothing. “I’m not in the middle of a case.” Another smack. The chips didn’t budge.

“Oh,” Beth said. “Then you just wrapped one up? Did you win?”

Meeting her eyes for the first time, he blurted, “I’m on leave. I lost three cases in a month and Holcomb suggested I take a leave of absence until I’ve ‘regained my focus,’ as he put it.” Lucas turned back to the machine to stare at the unattainable bag of chips. There was a metaphor in there somewhere.

His former fiancee stayed quiet, indicating she might hopefully be ready to drop the subject. No such luck. “I’m sorry. How long have you been off?”

“Two weeks.”

“And you didn’t tell us?” she asked. “Were you going to come down here?”

He shook his head, filtering through the possible replies. He picked honesty. “If what I need is focus, Anchor is the last place I’m likely to find it.” Then before he could stop the words, he said, “That’s more like returning to the scene of the crime.”

Beth inhaled sharply and his gut churned. He’d sworn he wouldn’t do this. “Look. I’m sorry. I didn’t mean that.”

Beth shook her head. “No, it’s all right. We knew this was going to be a transition.” She blushed. “That’s not the right word. I mean—”