Catch of the Day (Gideon's Cove #1)(99)

He ignores me. “The baby’s mine, isn’t it?” he bellows.

“Jesus, Jonah!” I yelp. “Mom’s gonna kill you!”

People are pointing and talking, then shushing each other. “I love you, Chantal!” my idiot brother shouts. We’re about thirty yards from the dock now, close enough that people definitely hear him. The crowd turns to look at Chantal, who is frozen like a moose about to be hit by a pickup truck.

“Chantal! The baby’s mine, isn’t it? I love you, I want to marry you!”

“Shut up, Jonah!” Chantal yells back.

Oh, to see my mother’s face at this moment! I can’t help it. I start laughing. I hear a splash, and sure enough, my brother has jumped overboard and is swimming to the dock. If the water is fifty degrees, I’d be surprised.

“Jonah! You f**kin’ idiot!” yells Sam.

“Sam, I think I’m gonna hit you!” I call out.

“Steer out to sea, dumb-ass!” he barks.

“Okay, okay! No need for names.” I obey, turning the wheel east. The Twin Menace cruises away from the parade. I decide to just turn the damn engine off and bob there. Safer than anything else I can think of. Besides, now I can watch.

The blessing has been put on hold as Jonah, always a good swimmer, works his way toward his lady love. He makes it to the dock and someone, Rolly, it looks like, pulls him up. I can’t hear him, but I can see my brother clear as day. He pushes his way to Chantal, streaming water, and makes his case, his hands flying. I see her shaking her head, then putting her hand over her mouth. Jonah takes her in his arms and kisses her while my parents look on in stunned horror, and in spite of my reservations about Chantal, I find that my eyes are a bit wet.

Billy Bottoms pulls out of the parade and comes alongside the Twin Menace and jumps aboard as neatly as a mountain goat. His son, Young Billy, waves to me from the wheel of their boat.

“Hey theah, deah,” Billy says. “Looks like your brothah’s gonna be a fathah!”

“Looks like it,” I agree, happily surrendering the controls to someone who won’t get us killed.

The blessing resumes, albeit completely overshadowed by Jonah’s proclamations, and Billy steers us past the dock, where Father Tim and Reverend Hollis dutifully bless us.

“Would you let me off here, Billy?” I ask.

“Sure enough, deah.” Billy maneuvers the boat alongside the dock and I jump out. Christy is waiting for me.

“Holy. Mother. Of God!” she proclaims.

“Ayuh,” I agree.

“Did you know?”

“Not until about five minutes ago,” I say. “Where are they?”

Christy leads me up the ramp and through the crowd. My brother, a blanket draped around his shoulders, is drinking a cup of coffee, gripping Chantal’s hand.

“Hello,” I say.

“Hey, sis,” Jonah says.

“Chantal,” I grind out, “didn’t I tell you Jonah was off limits?”

She grimaces. “Sorry, Maggie.” She looks at the ground. “The damage is done.”

“So it’s his?” I ask.

“Yeah.” She looks nervous, but her hand is in my brother’s.

I take a big breath, then another, then take the coffee from my brother and have a long sip. “Well! Looks like I’m going to be an auntie again!”

What the hell. I give Chantal a big hug, because really, what else can I do? “Break his heart and I kill you,” I whisper.

“Got it. Oh, Maggie, please forgive me,” she whispers back. “He’s just so…”

“Spare me the details, okay? He’s my baby brother.”

“She says she won’t marry me, Maggie,” Jonah says. “You need to work on her, okay?”

“Why would I do anything for you, idiot?” I ask Jonah, smacking his head. “You stranded me out there.”

“And yet here you are.” He smiles, his eyes filling with tears. “Thanks, Maggie. For figuring it out.”

“You’re welcome, dummy.” I give him a hug, too. I guess it’s not the worst thing in the world that could happen.

And then, aware that just about every single member of Gideon’s Cove is standing around us, my vocal cords start doing their special thing.

“I hope you’re all proud of yourselves,” I announce. “For weeks now, you’ve been bad-mouthing Malone, spreading rumors, cutting his lines, all because you have nothing better to do than gossip. Shame on you! Malone did nothing except keep his mouth shut, which is more than I can say for anyone else here. Including me.”

“It was a logical guess,” Stuart speculates. “Malone never denied it.”

“Malone shouldn’t have to deny anything,” I say hotly. “Besides, he wasn’t even sleeping with Chantal. He was sleeping with me. So there.”

Oops.

A speculative murmur goes up from the crowd. My mother frowns, my dad goes white, Christy grimaces, Jonah laughs.

CHAPTER THIRTY-THREE

WE SPEND the rest of the day as the chief entertainment. Ah, the Beaumonts, always good for some laughs. Jonah is beaming with pride. Chantal does a fair amount of eye rolling, but the pall that’s been hanging over her is gone. She seems happy. I don’t know if she’ll stay with Jonah, but hey. Anything is possible.