Page 162 of Homecoming

“What is happening?” Kara asked Renata.

In the years since she’d last seen her uncle, his dark hair had gone gray, and there were lines on his face that hadn’t been there before.

“My dad texted your dad to say how relieved he was to hear the good news and that he knew Keith and Kirby were innocent from the start,” Renata said. “Your dad wrote back, thanking him and saying it was nice to hear from him. They talked back and forth a bit, and your dad invited him to come to the party.”

“Stop it. For real?”

“He’s here, isn’t he?”

“I can’t believe it,” Kara said as she watched her mother hug her brother-in-law. “We’ve wished for this for so long.”

“It only took your brothers being charged with murder to get you home and to patch up a decades-long rift between our fathers.”

“It’s weird, isn’t it, how good things can come from something so awful?”

“For sure.” She glanced at Kara. “Does this mean you guys are leaving soon?”

“Probably, but we haven’t made any plans yet.”

“I know you’re looking forward to getting back to your island, but I’ll miss having you close by.”

“I’m always just a text, a call, a FaceTime away.”

“I know, but it’s not the same.”

Kara nudged her with her shoulder. “You’re going to be so busy with your new man that you won’t have time to miss me.”

“Hush.”

“I won’t hush.”

“I’ll always miss you when you aren’t here.”

“I’ll make sure I’m here much more often going forward. I promise.”

“And I’ll come there, too. I promise.”

“I’d love that. We’re looking forward to having the whole crew there next summer.”

Renata rested her head on Kara’s shoulder as they watched their fathers laugh together for the first time in forever. “Love you, cousin.”

“Love you, too.”

Chapter

Thirty-Two

Chuck whistled loudlyto get everyone’s attention. “Mom and I are so delighted to have all of you home for dinner,” he said when he had their attention. “I can’t recall the last time that happened.”

“Christmas, fifteen years ago,” Kellen said.

“If Kell says it was that long ago, he’s probably right,” Chuck said. “At any rate, it’s been far too long, and it took something awfully upsetting to make it happen. Keith and Kirby, we’re beyond relieved to put this episode behind us and to have you back home where you belong. And we’re deeply and forever thankful to Dan for everything he did to make it happen, and to both Dan and Kara, for dropping everything when we called to come running when we needed you. It’s been so great to have you both home, and we hope you’ll be back soon. We’ve missed you very much since you moved away, sweetheart, and we’ve loved this opportunity to be with you and to get to know Dan even better. Although we could’ve done without the whole arrested-and-charged-with-murder aspect.”

“You and us both,” Keith said with a small grin for Kirby.

Kirby raised his bottle of Sam Adams to Dan. “Thank you, brother. Thank you so much.”

“I’m glad it worked out.”

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