Page 3 of Homecoming

The thought of going back to Maine for any reason made her sick. That her family was counting on her husband to fix a terrible situation for them only made everything worse.

Before her mother had called them home, had she given any thought whatsoever to how they’d stood by Kelly after she made off with the man Kara had planned to marry? Were they recalling the big fancy wedding they’d thrown for Kelly and Matt after their treachery? Kara would bet her life they never thought about any of that, especially at a time like this when the family name and everything it stood for faced the greatest threat yet.

The mighty Ballard Boat Works Company that employed a thousand locals and accounted for a huge chunk of the Downeast economy would take a huge hit if the Ballards’ sons were convicted of murder. The charge alone might be enough to ruin three generations of hard work and sacrifice in building a successful, well-regarded business.

Her dad used to tell them that it only took one fuckup to ruin everything for all of them. He must’ve been having a complete meltdown with two sons charged with murder. Not that Kara believed for a second that Kirby had anything to do with such a thing. She wished she could be so certain about Keith, but she barely knew him, and what she did know of him wasn’t good.

Kara tried to tell herself she didn’t care what became of the business or her family, but she did. And she was angry with herself for caring after everything they’d put her through.

“Hey,” Dan said, drawing her out of her thoughts. “Are you okay?”

“Sure,” she said with an edge of sarcasm. “I’m on the roughest flight of my life on the way to the last place on earth I want to go so my hideous family can shamelessly use mywonderful husband to defend my brothers, one of whom could be guilty, for all I know. Sure, everything is just dandy.”

“It’s going to be okay, honey. I’ll be right there with you, and as soon as we get this dealt with, we’ll come right back to the island where we belong. I’ve already got my best people in LA working on getting as much info as they can about the charges, so try not to worry.”

“It’s hard not to worry. I don’t want to be there, as you know.”

“I get it, love.”

“They’re using you.”

“You think I don’t know that? The minute my name is attached to the defense, this case becomes a whole new ballgame for the prosecution.”

“That’s what they want, and I despise that.”

“It’s fine. I’ll do what I can for them and be on my way.”

“Nothing is ever that simple with my family.”

They’d been scheduled to go to Maine a couple of years ago, after Kara stored the launches for the winter, and they’d almost made it when she’d changed her mind about taking the best thing in her life to the worst place. She hadn’t wanted the Ballard stain to touch her relationship with Dan and had managed to keep contact with her family to a minimum since they’d been together. They’d canceled that trip at the last minute, so this would be the first time Dan had ever been to Maine.

Some of her family had come for the wedding. Three of her brothers had ended up in jail the night before after a bar fight. Dan thought she hadn’t heard about how he’d gotten them out on the morning of the wedding and threatened them with grave consequences if they did anything to ruin her big day. Kara’s friend Tiffany Taylor, wife of Gansett Police Chief Blaine Taylor, had told Kara about the trouble her brothers had gotten into and how Dan had taken care of it.

That’s what he did. He took care of things. He took care of her, and he’d do that in Maine, too. She was certain of it, but if he was off dealing with the mess her brothers had made, he couldn’t be with her every minute of every day while they were there, which would leave her on her own to fend them off.

The thought of dealing with her family took her right back to the years of growing up in the midst of mayhem—and not the good kind.

Kara had seen how other families functioned, especially since she’d arrived to live and work on Gansett. She’d become close to the McCarthys, a family of six siblings and numerous cousins who were the best of friends. Her family wasn’t like that. Sometimes she wondered if they’d sooner stab each other in the back than share confidences.

She blamed the family business for most of the strain.

For as long as she could remember, several of her siblings had been competing to be the one to take over for their father when he retired. Kara couldn’t imagine wanting anything badly enough to fight with her own family members over it. The only thing she’d ever wanted that much was Dan, and she’d always fight for him and their relationship. Nothing else had ever meant as much to her as he did, and she was determined to keep him and their marriage as her top priority in Maine.

The business had come between multiple generations of her father’s family. She had an uncle she barely knew thanks to the rift that’d led her parents to buy out her father’s brother at tremendous financial pain. Once his brother was out of the picture, her father had made a huge success of the business, but at what cost? He was estranged from his brother, and now his own kids were going to end up fighting over the business.

In addition to her sister’s treachery, part of the reason she’d wanted to leave Maine in the first place was because she couldn’t bear to be part of the discourse on what would become of thebusiness after their father retired or died. Even though she’d worked for the company for years, Kara wanted nothing to do with any of that, and it’d been a relief to get away from the constant drama.

The very thought of dealing with that again made her feel sicker than pregnancy and a rough flight put together. In the years she’d spent living on Gansett, she’d found a peaceful, happy life that was in stark contrast to what she’d experienced in Maine. She would protect that hard-won peace, no matter what.

Her phone chimed with a text from her cousin Renata Ballard, who was six months older than Kara and had been among her closest friends growing up, even after their fathers had fallen out.

Heard you and Dan have been called home to deal with the brothers. I’m sorry. Can only imagine how you must be feeling.

Renata and Dan had met many times over the years via FaceTime, becoming friends one call at a time.

I’m pissed to be summoned, pissed to be on the bumpiest flight ever. Generally pissed.

Don’t blame you. You guys can stay with me if you need a place to crash.

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