Page 39 of Kiss Me, Darling

Chris didn’t say anything. He just kept smiling up at me with that goofy grin.

And then it hit me.Reallyhit me. Everything I just said, the passion behind it, the conviction of my why.

He was right. I finally figured out why I did any of this. Acting, producing, writing, it was because telling stories that mattered felt vital. Vital to contributing something of value to the world, and vital to feeding my soul.

And yeah, at this particular moment, I was doing that with vampires. “All right, you’ve made your excellent point. I hear you loud and clear.”

“Cool. That means you and Lucy are going to be good, right?”

All the doubts I felt over the years were long gone. Completely. “Yes.”

“Forever?”

The Kaine brothers were all bitten by the same love bug. I was sure of it. “Yes.”

“Good.”

“So when are you and Liv tying the knot?” If he was going to be nosy, so was I.

He shrugged. “Whenever. I don’t really care.”

“Does Liv feel that way?”

“Well yeah. What really matters is that we love each other. She’s already done the big wedding thing and doesn’t want to do it again. We’ll probably do the courthouse one day.”

My laidback brother. “Why not on a boat? You can fish a little afterward.” I meant it as a joke. You know, because they met (again) on their boats, and their favorite thing to do was go boating and fishing.

But Chris actually thought about it. Then shook his head. “Naw. I still want to put on a suit and Liv to wear a nice dress. But simple, you know?”

“That sounds really nice.”

“And we need to get married in the off season. I always want our anniversary to be separate.”

“You should just have a double wedding with Ben and London.”

He wrinkled his nose. “What part ofsimpledidn’t you understand? No one’s stopping you from doing it, though.”

“Aw come on. We can be an entire Brady Bunch special. Three brothers find love and a triple wedding.” He even moved his hand through the air like it was a billboard.

“That’s a big fat no. Let Ben and London do their thing and move on to their great European adventure.”

His eyes flashed. “And what’s your next adventure? Vampires back in California?”

“I honestly don’t know. What about you?” Vampires yes. Anything else? Totally up in the air.

“Fish. Win another World Series. Break some more records.”

“God, I wish you’d find some ambition, little brother. You’re so lazy.” Chris was laidback and if you met him on the water you’d probably think all he did was fish, but put that kid on a diamond and the sky was the limit.

“I learned from you.” He nodded my way. “I know you like to give yourself a hard time, but seeing how you worked to learn to be a good actor, to land those roles, and be valuable to your crews...I saw who I wanted to be.”

* * *

After Chris leftI wandered around the beach dictating the rest of the scene in my head. I knew something didn’t seem right but, I was so absorbed in the story it didn’t sink in. Not until I wandered down the dock to the boat.

Then it all sank in at once. I got off the dock immediately and called Chris back. “We have a problem.” Then I called Joe and Esther out.

It was a damn shame to see Chris’s beloved boat spray painted with graffiti, and even more disturbing to see the slashes put in the dock itself.

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