Page 72 of Homecoming

“If you’re planning to drag my wife through the mud, I won’t take your calls, Mr. Young. Do we understand each other?”

“Of course. I was just referring to?—”

“Have a good day.”

Dan ended the call and put a hand on Kara’s shoulder.

She crossed her arms, looking madly vulnerable, which pissed him off. “I suppose it was too much to hope that my past with Matt wouldn’t somehow end up part of this story.”

“That’s not going to happen, or his paper won’t get another word out of me. I don’t want you to worry about that coming to light.”

“What? Me worry?”

Dan moved her arms so he could hug her. As he held on tight to the love of his life, he silently vowed to do anything it took to protect her from the ugliness of this situation. “Let’s go fishing.”

Kara couldn’t shakethe feeling of dread that came from the local paper asking about her past with Matt. Being back in town had resurrected a lot of feelings she’d thought she’d disposed ofa long time ago. Recalling what it’d been like to be the subject of gossip was like having acid running through her veins. She’d carried that burning sensation—a combination of shame, heartbreak and outrage—around with her for months before she decided to leave and start over on Gansett Island.

“Talk to me.” Dan drove them to the wharf in the Jeep, following Bertha and Buster in her truck. “What’re you thinking?”

“That I haven’t missed the way it felt to be the subject of intense gossip.”

“You’re not the subject of any gossip. One reporter made one comment.”

“That’s how it starts. Come on, you know that’s all it takes.”

“I shut him down. They’re going to want me as a source as this case unfolds, and now he knows if he makes you part of the story, he’s dead to me. He heard me loud and clear on that.”

“Did he, though?” She looked over at him. “I can’t go through that again. I just can’t.”

“If that becomes part of the story, we’re going home to Gansett immediately. Your family can hire another attorney to deal with the case.” He gripped the wheel tightly, and a muscle in his cheek pulsed the way it did when he was stressed. It’d been a while, she realized, since she’d seen that happen. “I should’ve passed on this from the get-go.”

“No, I needed to come back here. I survived that situation a long time ago. My friends are right. It’s time to come home once in a while and stop acting like Kelly and Matt ruined my life, because they didn’t. They led me to my life.”

“In the shittiest way possible.”

“Totally, but how glad am I that I moved to Gansett?”

“How glad amIthat you moved to Gansett?”

She leaned across the console, which wasn’t easy to do with her pregnant belly, and kissed his cheek. “We’re so, so glad for all of it.”

“That said, I don’t want anyone hassling you, even people you love.”

“It wasn’t a hassle so much as a wake-up call. Ellery’s kids are growing up fast and barely know me. Same with my nieces.”

“Your nieces know you. You’ve made sure of that with weekly FaceTime calls and letters back and forth. You’re always sending them something.”

“There’s no substitute for being here with them, though. I realized that the other night. They’re already so grown-up. I don’t want to miss everything with them.”

“We should have them to the island for a couple of weeks next summer. They’d love it, and they can help us with baby Dylan.”

“That’d be awesome. Great idea.”

She directed him to the wharf where Bertha kept the dinghy that delivered them to the boat on a mooring in the cove.

“Where should we park?”

“Behind Bertha is fine and leave the keys. No one takes their keys on the boats.”

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