Free Fool for Love by Marie Force

comfortable. I
hear the judge isn't due back until next Friday. Isn't that right,
Blaine?"
    "Sure is. He'll arraign you then on
felony assault charges."
    "That ought to be real good for
business," Big Mac added.
    Joe swore under his breath. Stuck in here
for six days ? That hadn't been part of the plan—not that he'd had much
of a plan before the sight of David's smarmy face sent him over a cliff he
hadn't realized he'd been teetering on. No, he didn't regret flattening the
bastard, and he'd be damned if he would apologize.
    "Does Janey know about this?"
Joe forced himself to ask. His gut clenched with guilt and his mouth went dry
as sand when it dawned on him that since he last saw Big Mac McCarthy, he'd
made mad, crazy love to the man's beloved only daughter. The same daughter he'd
called Princess until she turned nineteen and begged him not to.
    "I reckon most of the island knows by
now. The good doctor put on quite a show."
    "Fucking baby," Joe muttered.
"It's the least of what he deserves."
    "Lucky for you, I happen to agree, even
if I don't approve of you taking it upon yourself to even the score."
    Oh, if only he knew …
    "You're a respected businessman, a
pillar of this community," Big Mac continued. "You've got no place
resorting to violence in front of your employees and customers."
    No one had ever had been better at
building Joe up or cutting him down to size when necessary. Apparently, not
much had changed in the nearly twenty years since he and Mac had become adults.
    "I'm sorry to disappoint you."
    "I have a feeling I'm going to be the
least of your worries." Big Mac nodded to Blaine who opened the cell.
    Before Big Mac could change his mind, Joe
made for the open door. "I thought you said I'd have to apologize
first."
    Big Mac's eyes twinkled with mirth.
"I just wanted to see what you'd have to say to that."
    Blaine laughed at the expression on Joe's
face. "Well played, Mr. McCarthy."
    "Glad I'm available to amuse you
both," Joe said.
    Laughing, Big Mac put an arm around Joe's
shoulders. "While you know damned well I don't condone violence, after
hearing about what he did, I probably would've been tempted to punch him
myself. You saved me the trouble."
    Even though he was usually taller than
most men, Joe had to look up at Big Mac. "Did I really break his
nose?"
    Big Mac squeezed his shoulder. "Sure
did."
    "Good."
    Joe had punched David. Joe had punched David in the face , breaking his
nose. Thirty minutes after hearing about the incident at the ferry landing,
Janey was still trying to get her head around it—and trying to decide where she
wanted to go first, to the jail to bail out Joe or to the clinic to confront
her wayward fiancé.
    "I'll take you anywhere you want to
go," Maddie said after Janey vocalized her dilemma. "Mac left us the
truck."
    "Don't you have to work?"
    "I took a few weeks off to get ready
for the wedding." Her cheeks flushed with color. "Your brother
insisted I enjoy every minute of it."
    "That's awesome. He's right. It's a
once-in-a-lifetime event, and you should enjoy it." Janey ached, thinking
about the plans for her once-in-a-lifetime day that wasn't going to happen now.
    "What do you want to do, Janey?"
    "What do you think I should
do?"
    Before Maddie could state her opinion,
Janey's cell phone rang, and she took the call from her father.
    "I've bailed out Joe," he said without
preamble. "He's coming to the marina to have lunch with me."
    Her insides churned with indecision. She
needed to see Joe, to find out what had driven him to punch David, and
mostly to see if he was all right. The Joe she knew and loved wouldn't do such
a thing. So what had happened? Did David say something he shouldn't have? Janey
wouldn't put it past him.
    "Did he say anything about what
happened?" she asked her father.
    "Not much."
    "I'll come by the marina after
awhile."
    "Is there anything I can do, Princess?"
he asked in a soft voice that brought tears to her eyes.
    "I could use a big hug from