The McCarthys of Gansett Island 1 - Maid for Love - Marie Force,
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//-->Published by HTJB, Inc.Copyright 2011. HTJB, Inc.Cover by Rae Monet DesignsISBN: 9780983475439This ebook is licensed for your personal enjoyment only. This ebook may not be re-sold or givenaway to other people. If you would like to share this book with another person, please do so throughproper retail channels. If you’re reading this book and did not purchase it, or it was not purchased foryour use only, then please return it and purchase your own copy. Thank you for respecting the hardwork of this author. To obtain permission to excerpt portions of the text, please contact the author atmarie@marieforce.com.All characters in this book are fiction and figments of the author’s imagination.www.marieforce.comThe McCarthys of Gansett Island SeriesBook 1:Maid for LoveBook 2:Fool for LoveBook 3:Ready for LoveBook 4:Falling for LoveBook 5:Hoping for LoveBook 6:Season for LoveBook 7:Longing for LoveBook 8:Waiting for LoveBook 9:Time for LoveBook 10:Meant for LoveAuthor’s NoteMy favorite place in the world is Block Island, located twelve miles off the southern coast ofRhode Island. A tiny slip of land with a Great Salt Pond in the middle, Block Island is the place timeforgot. You won’t find a stop light on the island or a hospital. Internet connections are sketchy at best,and good luck finding a hotel room or a spot on the ferry for your car in the summer if you haven’tplanned months in advance. What you will find is peace and quiet and beaches and bluffs and quaintshops and a laid-back atmosphere that soothes the soul.The island has played an important role in my life from the time I was a small child arriving on myparents’ boat, through a college romance and now as a favorite family vacation spot each summer.I’ve never been anywhere that inspires me more. Block Island pops up often in my books, so Isuppose it was only a matter of time before I made up my own version of the island and set a seriesthere. Thus Gansett Island and the McCarthy Family were born. “Gansett” is a tip of the hat to RhodeIsland’s Narragansett Bay, one of my favorite places to spend a summer day.Maid for Loveis the first book in the series.Fool for Lovecomes next thenReady for Love,Falling for Love, Hoping for Love, Season for Love, Longing for Love, Waiting for Love, Time forLoveandMeant for Love,with much more to come!I love to hear from readers! Contact me atmarie@marieforce.comand join mymailing listfornews of upcoming books.Welcome to Gansett Island! I so hope you enjoy Mac and Maddie’s story. Stay tuned at the end fora sneak peek at Joe and Janey’s story,Fool for Love.xoxoMarieFor the late Bob Broz, the “Big Mac” of my childhood.Chapter 1Madeline Chester retrieved her nine-month-old son Thomas from his crib and checked her watch.She was due at the hotel for the morning housekeeping shift in fifteen minutes. After a diaper change,she handed Thomas his bottle, grateful that he could now hold it himself.He let out a squeal of delight that drew a smile from Maddie.“You like that, huh, buddy?”His pudgy legs bounced about on either side of her hips, and she tightened her hold on him whileattempting to tame his soft blond hair. She grabbed the diaper bag, the tote she took to work, retrievedher lunch from the refrigerator and headed out the door. Across the yard, she entered her sister’shouse through the screen door on the back deck.“Morning,” she called out.“In here,” Tiffany said from the living room where she sat amid three babies and a variety of toys.One of the babies was her daughter, Ashleigh, born just a month before Thomas. The other twoTiffany cared for as part of her in-home daycare business.Maddie kissed Thomas, whispered that she loved him and plopped him down on the mat with theothers. “I’m running late as usual.”“Go ahead. We’re fine.”“I’ll be back by three.”“See you then.”Tiffany watched Thomas for free during the day in exchange for Maddie taking over the daycarefrom three to six while Tiffany taught dance classes in her studio under the apartment Maddie rentedfrom Tiff and her husband Jim. The delicate balancing act left Maddie worn out at the end of everylong day.She jumped on her bulky old bike and set off for McCarthy’s Gansett Inn on the other side of theisland. Checking her watch one more time, she groaned when she saw how close she was cutting it.From his vantage point in the ferry’s wheelhouse, Mac McCarthy watched the bluffs on theisland’s north coast come into view and felt the vise around his chest tighten. Just the sight of theisland where he grew up made Mac feel confined.“Never gets old, does it?” Mac’s childhood best friend, Captain Joe Cantrell, owned and operatedGansett’s thriving ferry business.“What’s that?” Mac asked.“The first view of the island. Always gives me a thrill to see it appear out of the fog.”“Even after all the times you’ve seen it?”“I still love it.”Mac studied his old friend. Time had worn some lines into the corners of Joe’s hazel eyes, and hissandy hair was now shot through with streaks of gray that hadn’t been there on Mac’s last trip home.“You ever wish you’d done something else?” Mac asked. “Gone out in the world a bit?”Joe took a long drag off his trademark clove cigarette and flicked the ashes out the open doorway.“Go where? Do what?”“Those things are gonna kill you,” Mac said, nodding to the cigarette.“No faster than working twenty hours a day is gonna kill you.”“Touché,” Mac said with a chuckle.“Are you planning to tell mama bear about your night in the hospital?”“Hell no! She’d freak out all over me. That’s the last thing I need.”
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