Page 63 of The Cottage on Blueberry Bay

But Quinn had never had the nerve to ask such a personal question for fear someone might interpret Quinn wanting to know about Lisa’s family’s money. Because a poor fisherman’s son was only curious about money if he wanted to steal it from them. There would be no other reason for him to wonder about their trust funds and properties along the coast of Maine and their strange connections to powerful people.

Quinn walked to the back door, where he’d find Bruce’s caretaker.

“How’s it going, Eileen?” he asked as she opened the door for him.

She was eating something at the kitchen counter while watching a soap opera.

“Who’s sleeping with whose husband?” he asked.

“Looks like Nicolas’s new wife kissed his brother, Adam,” she said, shaking her head.

“That Adam Newman is never going to change,” he said, making Eileen smile.

“It’s good to see you, Mr. Michaud,” she said cheerily. “He’s in his study this afternoon.”

Quinn nodded and walked through the kitchen to the main part of the house. The place felt like a grand hotel, not someone’s home, as he heard his footsteps echo throughout the large dining room. He walked through the front hall, past the curved staircase, and down another hall to the end, where Bruce sat in a leather recliner.

He knocked on the door.

“Good to see you, Bruce.” Quinn had never gotten used to calling his father-in-law by his first name. The owner of the law firm where he had started his career would always be senior partner Bruce Gerard.

“Quinn,” he said. “Kyle didn’t make it?”

“He had football,” Quinn said.

This satisfied Bruce for now.

“What couldn’t wait until Sunday?” His voice came out short and hard, as though Quinn’s visit was an inconvenience. He’d never liked the fact that his daughter had married Quinn, the nameless associate that he liked to boss around.

“Isn’t Kyle starting his senior year?” Bruce asked, not understanding the reason for Quinn’s visit.

“Yes, he has one more year.” Quinn took a deep breath. “And I’ll need to start paying for college.”

He hoped Bruce would pay for college like he had promised Lisa.

“Seems to me families go to the government for that kind of thing,” Bruce said gruffly. “Not a grandfather he can’t bother to stop by and see.”

Quinn gritted his teeth. “I’ll come back to work for you.”

Bruce’s mouth had opened to say something, but this stopped him. “Really? You’d come back to the firm?”

Quinn wanted nothing more than to tell this man where to shove it, but instead he nodded. “Yes, I’ll come back to Portland.”

“Well, I thought you were too good forourkind.” Bruce fixed his cuff links. He still wouldn’t let it all go.

“Lisa wanted Kyle to go to college,” he reminded Bruce. What was he doing here? He should just take off and figure things out another way, but he knew Bruce would be on Quinn’s side about fishing for lobsters. He didn’t want his grandson to captain some fishing boat where he could lose his life. Quinn wasn’t going to lose any more of his family if he could prevent it.

“If I come back to work,” he said, “I want you to promise to pay for Kyle’s college.”

“Then what?” Bruce huffed. “You want me to pay for his apartment and wife next?”

Quinn squeezed his fists. He didn’t need Bruce. He could go to another law firm that would pay enough so he could afford college and the house and all the expenses. It may be Ginny’s house by right, but it had been his measly earnings that paid for it all. The electricity, the heat, the bills, the food, the taxes, the third mortgage his parents had decided to take out for an addition.

“It was good seeing you, Bruce,” Quinn said, giving a small wave.

“You’ve become more sensitive than I remember,” Bruce said. “If you come back, you’ll need to promise me that you’ll give me time. Not some four-year stint and leave when you get Kyle through college.”

What was he doing? He should just leave, keep Bruce out of his life.

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