Page 34 of Homecoming

“Something you want to say, Kara?” Judith asked, brow raised.

“The best you could?” Her tone was incredulous. “You let him run wild his entire life, and now you’re acting surprised that it’s caught up to him. Not to mention he’s taking Kirby down with him, who most definitely had nothing to do with this.”

“I’m sure you feel better saying that about us,” Judith said.

“I don’t feel good about any of this,” Kara replied. “A young woman is dead, and my brothers stand accused of murder. Do you honestly think I want anything other than to see them exonerated? But don’t sit here and act like you had nothing todo with Keith ending up the way he is. That’sallon you. Both of you.”

Dan had never been prouder of his wife, who’d grown herself a strong backbone in the years she’d lived away from this place. The Kara he’d first met probably wouldn’t have had the stones to say that to her mother. Now she didn’t give a shit, and he thought it was sexy as hell that she felt free to speak her mind to her mother.

“She’s right,” Chuck said. “We did let him and the rest of you ‘run wild,’ as you put it. We love our family, but overseeing eleven kids was a bigger job than we were equipped to do.”

Bertha scoffed. “That’s because you didn’t eventry, and when people like me tried to tell you trouble was coming, you didn’t want to hear it.”

“How long have you been waiting to say that?” Judith asked with a sneer for her mother.

“Don’t, Judith,” Chuck said. “She’s right. She did try to tell us, and so did others. We didn’t want to hear it because we had no idea what to do with him.”

Judith got up and headed for the door. “Nice visit. Tell Buster I’ll see him next time.” She let the screen door slam behind her as she went out.

“I’m sorry about that,” Chuck said.

“Don’t apologize for her,” Bertha said. “Her own self-absorption and inability to listen to anyone else’s opinion is all on her, which you probably know better than anyone.”

Chuck sighed as he stood and glanced at Dan. “Thank you again for your help. We owe you.”

“No, you don’t. I’m glad to help Kirby.”

He gave Kara a kiss on the cheek. “It’s good to see you, honey. I’m sorry it’s under these circumstances.”

“Me, too.”

After he walked out, they sat in silence until they heard the car start outside.

“Well,” Kara said, “that was fun. When can we do it again?”

“Hopefully never.” Bertha got up to finish dinner. “She makes me madder than a wet hen, and she has for her entire life.”

Kara went to her grandmother and hugged her from behind. “Don’t let her get to you. It’s how she is, and we certainly know that by now.”

“Yes, we do.”

“If I could just add,” Dan said, “that I was ridiculously turned on by the way my wife stood up to her mother.”

“Dan! Not in front of my grandmother.”

Bertha rocked with laughter as she turned to hug Kara. “I love you two.”

“We love you more,” Kara said. “And can we talk about Matt stepping up to defend Keith?”

The three of them laughed until they cried, and then they got on with their evening as if the visit from Kara’s parents had never happened.

In the morning,Dan arrived at the courthouse in Ellsworth fifteen minutes before the eleven o’clock arraignment. He’d received the full police report late the night before and was more convinced than ever that the case against his brothers-in-law was short on the kind of hard evidence the prosecutors would need to proceed to trial.

“Let me know how it goes, bossman,” Walter said. “From what people are saying, Kirby’s an innocent bystander who got caught up in a mess.”

“That’s how it seems to me, too, but we’ll see what the court has to say.”

“Good luck.”

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