Page 29 of Homecoming

“You will. Of course you will.”

Kara was so tired she could barely keep her eyes open. Prepregnancy, she hadn’t napped during the day in years. These days, she napped almost every day. She thought of what Renata had said about how it must be nice to not have to worry about money anymore. At times like this, it was nice, but that didn’t mean she’d forgotten what it was like to have to work for everything she wanted.

Her parents had paid for college and helped out until those who went to college graduated, but after that, the Ballard kidshad to fend for themselves. Despite what people thought about them being spoiled rich kids, their parents had a thing about kids being “handed” too much. At times, she’d resented them for their hard line, but she had to admit that philosophy had made her self-reliant at an early age.

She heard Dan tiptoe out of the room and tried to clear her mind so she could rest. But Renata’s comment had hit her in a spot where she hadn’t known she was vulnerable to criticism. If you could even call it that. Even though she and Renata had always been blunt with each other, Kara hadn’t expected to feel different among the people she’d been closest to at home.

But everything was different now, and it’d taken only one day back in town for someone who truly mattered to tell her that.

Dan was puttingthe finishing touches on his motion to dismiss the charges against Kirby when Bertha came in with grocery bags in both arms. He jumped up to take the bags from her.

“Thank you. How’d it go today?”

Buster followed her in with two more bags. He put them on the counter and disappeared down the hallway.

“Not too bad. Keith declined to be represented by me, and I’m filing a motion to dismiss the charges against Kirby.”

She stopped unpacking the grocery bags and turned to him, incredulous. “Keith declined to be represented by you.”

“Yes, ma’am.” Dan emailed Walter, asked him print and deliver the motion to the court in Ellsworth, and closed his laptop. He rarely encountered a jurisdiction that didn’t permit electronic filing these days, but Hancock County happened to be one of them.

“Keith is a goddamned fool,” Bertha said.

“His mother said something to the same effect. She’s going to talk to him.”

“What in the world could he be thinking, turning down representation from a lawyer like you?”

“He seems to have taken an instant dislike to me from the minute we met at the rehearsal dinner.”

“He’s a jackass. I know a grandmother shouldn’t say such things about her own grandchildren, but in this case, it’s true. And you know what? He always has been. From the day he was born with a massive chip on his shoulder, he’s been a troublemaker.” She glanced around the corner and then returned her gaze to Dan, lowering her voice. “He tormented Buster when he was a kid. That earned him no love from me, I’ll tell you.”

“What did he do?” Dan asked, intrigued by the insight into Keith.

Bertha sighed and reached for a whiskey bottle in the cabinet over the stove. Then she tipped the bottle toward him, brow raised in question.

“Yes, please.”

She poured two drinks and brought them to the table to sit with him. “He was just a little bastard, always teasing Buster and poking at his limitations. The other kids loved Buster, especially Kara, and they’d defend him against Keith and his nonsense. I wanted to kick his ass into the middle of next week any time Buster came home crying because Keith was mean to him.”

“What’s the age difference between them?”

“Buster is ten years older than Keith, but he played with the kids when they were younger. He was a late-in-life surprise to my husband and me, but he’s been nothing but a joy to me, especially as I’ve gotten older. That anyone could be unkind to him made me feel capable of murder, even if it was my own grandson. Judith and I nearly came to blows over it a few times when she refused to get involved. ‘Boys will be boys,’ she’d say, which only made me angrier. Honestly, I don’t think she knewwhat to do with him any more than the rest of us did.” She lowered her voice even further when she said, “Needless to say, it doesn’t surprise me in the least that he’s finally in this kind of trouble. It’s been coming all his life.”

“Except I don’t think he had anything to do with killing her. If Kirby is to be believed, she was alive and well when they left her in town.”

“Kirby doesn’t lie, and he’d have no reason to protect Keith, who’s been an SOB to him on more than one occasion.”

“Why would Kirby take the call from Keith to pick him up in town if there’s no love lost between them?”

“Because that’s who he is. Keith has had DUIs in the past, and no one wants the bad publicity that goes along with that sort of thing. It’s hard to articulate how important the company is to the local economy. Everyone knows someone who works there, and it’s the kind of business where reputation matters. Having a Ballard in trouble isn’t good for business.”

Kara wandered into the kitchen, looking sleepy and adorable. “Kendra texted me that they’ve already had several big orders canceled since the news broke about the arrests.”

Dan had to think about who Kendra was. Ah, right, the eldest Ballard, who served as Chuck’s executive assistant. “Is there a group text for your family that I could hit up to ask everyone at once not to text you about the case or the fallout?”

“God no.” Kara made a disgusted face. “That’s the last thing I’d ever want to be part of, and besides, I like Kendra. It’s okay that she texted me.”

Dan reached for her hand and drew her in to sit on his lap. “I don’t want you worried about the implications or fallout or whatever.”

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