Ten would need to push aside his fear and dig deep for his courage. He wouldn’t let his family be harmed, no matter what.
11
Ronan
Everyone’s mood lightened when Fitzgibbon hit the road for Newport. The kids sang songs with the adults joining in. Ronan drew the line when Lizbet wanted a third encore of “Let it Go.”
Forty long and earsplitting minutes later, they arrived in Newport, Gilded Age capital of the rich and famous. The Vanderbilt family had famous mansions named The Breakers and Marble House. There was Rosecliff, built by a silver heiress and modeled after part of the Palace of Versailles, among other famous and equally opulent homes. Ronan would have loved to tour the so-called “summer cottages,” but knew the kids would be bored stiff. Maybe he and Ten could come back for a couples weekend in November for their anniversary.
Fitzgibbon found a place to park and the process of offloading the kids began. “I don’t want to shop for clothes, Dad,” Wolf said, sounding adamant.
“Here’s the deal, pal,” Jude said, kneeling in front of his son. “We’re gonna check out all of the shops and see what they have. If you aren’t interested in what the store is selling, you and I can wait outside. I had a talk with Ten and Jace and they promised to keep the clothes shopping down to a few minutes in each shop. How does that sound?”
Wolf sighed, sounding as if the weight of the world was on his small shoulders. “It sounds okay, but I don’t want to wait while they try stuff on and do model poses in the mirror and take selfies.”
Jude snorted. “I’ll bring that up to Ten and Jace. The girls can put on their own fashion show when we get back to the hotel.”
“That’s good,” Wolf agreed. “I would watch that.”
“Okay, so we’ll shop a little. Grab lunch, and then,” Jude paused and looked around, making it look like he was checking to see if anyone was listening in on the conversation, “we’re getting ice cream.”
Wolf’s eyes lit up.
Jude set a finger against his lips. “That’s between you and I, got it?”
Wolf zipped his lips shut and nodded, sending his shaggy dark hair flying.
Once Lizbet and Ezra were strapped into their double stroller, Ronan took off down Thames Street which was packed with summer tourists. It reminded him of Essex Street in Salem and the pier at Old Orchard Beach. Summer was in full swing and the Newport shops had something for everyone.
The first shop they came to was a clothing boutique. Wolf rolled his eyes.
“Look at the pretty dresses!” Everly waved Aurora toward her.
“Oh, I like the sparkly ones.”
“Unfortunately, this is a store for grownups,” Fitz said. “There won’t be anything in there that will fit the two of you.”
The store was filled with dresses for expensive nights out. Ronan wasn’t so sure they didn’t have kids’ clothes, but he had a feeling if they did, the price would be higher than his mortgage payment.
“Daddy! Here’s the shark store!” Wolf jumped up and down in front of the shop window.
“This looks really cool,” Jude said. He turned to the rest of the group. “We’re going in here.”
“’Harks!” Lizbet cooed, holding her arms out for Cope to pluck her out of the stroller.
“Do you girls want to go into the store?” Ronan asked. “I think I saw some pink tee-shirts and shark stuffies. I bet they’d be good friends with your unicorn herd.”
“Sharks and unicorns?” Aurora asked, sounding like Ronan was out of his mind.
“It will be fun. Let’s go check it out.” Everly held out her hand, which Aurora took.
Ronan followed the girls into the shop. It was filled with sharks as far as the eye could see. Rubber toys, posters, LEGO sets, travel tumblers, mugs. You name it, this store had it. He’d seenJawsfor the first time at Bobby Hale’s sleepover party when they were in the fourth grade. The movie had scared Ronan half to death, but he’d fallen in love with sharks. He was about to join Ten and Ezra, who were looking at t-shirts, when his phone buzzed with a message.
Pulling his device out of his pocket, he saw that it was a text message from Officer Daniels, one of the men who’d arrested Kurt that morning. Ronan caught Jude and Fitz’s attention and motioned them over to him.
“What’s up?” Jude asked. He carried a basket filled with shark toys for Wolf.
“Just got a message from the officer who arrested Kurt.”
