Chapter 24
Chapter
Twenty-Four
After they left the park, Kara directed him toward Bar Harbor and the home where she was raised. She received a text from Renata that she couldn’t make it to dinner but would catch up with Kara later. When they got to town, she told Dan to take a right. A few more miles passed before she said to slow down and prepare to take a left turn.
“I wouldn’t have even seen a place to turn there if you hadn’t shown me,” Dan said.
“When I was first driving, I’d go by it more times than not until I started to recognize the landmarks.”
As Dan drove down the winding dirt lane that led to Sea Swept, the Ballard home, Kara’s anxiety spiked the way it always did when she went there. “This road… I remember having to steel myself for whatever would be happening here when I arrived. It rarely had anything to do with me, but it was always something.”
“Are you sure it’s a good idea to come here now?”
“It’s fine. None of it has the same power over me that it once did. I’ve moved on from here in every possible way. And in some ways, I’ve moved too far past here, which I’ve been reminded of on more than one occasion.”
“Did you talk to your friends about the clambake Bertha suggested?”
“Yes, and we’re hoping to squeeze it in soon.”
“I’m looking forward to meeting them all in person.”
“They said the same. I think you’re the reason they were all so quick to agree to come.”
“That’s not true, Kara. Quit being hard on yourself over them. You’ve been great about staying in close touch with all of them, and visiting works both ways, you know? It’s not like they didn’t know where to find you.”
“True, but I walked away and never looked back.”
“No, you didn’t. That’s not what happened. You left and stayed gone because it was in your best interest, and I can’t bear to see you apologize to anyone for doing what was best for you.”
She reached across the console for his hand. “Thank you for being my best friend.”
“Thank you for being mine.”
“You really are the best friend I’ve ever had. Right up there with Bertha and Buster and Renata.”
“That’s a lofty bit of praise right there, knowing what they mean to you.”
“As much as I love them, and I love them fiercely, you’re in a whole other category all by yourself. I hope you know that.”
“When I think of how hard you tried to run me off…”
Kara laughed. “Shut up about that! I’m being serious.”
“As am I. You were savage in your contempt for me.” He drove the Jeep around the last bend before the house revealed itself, and then he braked, coming to a full stop. “Shut. The. Hell. Up. ”
“Welcome to Sea Swept. It’s quite something, right?”
“It sure is. Wow. This is where you grew up?”
“Bertha’s house was my real home.”
“I know, but this… Wow.”
“Did you think Chuck and Judith would live in a regular sort of house?”
“I guess not, but still…”
Like everything else in Maine, the house looked different to her with the perspective of time. The gray shingles were more weathered than they’d been, the landscaping a bit overgrown and the roof worn from battling the coastal elements for more than forty years.
They drove past the tennis court and the fenced inground pool before pulling up to the house.
“Park over there,” Kara said, pointing to the right. “That’s the door we use.”
As they were getting out of the car, Kendra pulled up in her Volvo SUV. She put the window down. “Heard you were coming, so we crashed.”
The girls were out of the back seat before the car had fully stopped and ran over to hug Kara.
“Mom says it’s called crashing when you invite yourself somewhere,” Luna said.
Kara laughed. “It’s not technically crashing when it’s your grandparents’ house.”
“That’s what I said,” Aurora replied. “How can we crash at Gram’s house when she always wants us to come over?”
“Exactly.”
Dan came around the car to greet the others. “Ladies.”
“Hi, Uncle Dan,” Aurora said with a shy smile.
“How was school today?”
“I’d rather not discuss it.”
“Math test gone wrong,” Kendra said.
“That happened a lot to me, but I still got into Stanford Law. Don’t despair.”
“Wait, you went to law school, and you sucked at math?” Luna asked.
“Don’t say ‘sucked,’ Luna,” Kendra said, earning an eye roll from her daughter.
“That doesn’t count as a swear, Mom.”
“I did stink at math, and I still went to a top law school,” Dan said as he and Luna followed the others into the mudroom.
“That’s impressive,” Luna said.
“Don’t tell him he’s impressive,” Kara said. “It makes his head swell.”
The girls giggled at the scowl Dan directed her way. “That is not true.”
“Yes, it is.”
“What are we arguing about already?” Judith asked when they entered the gourmet kitchen that’d been redone since Kara was last there.
“Aunt Kara is saying that Uncle Dan’s head swells when someone says he’s impressive,” Luna reported.
“And Uncle Dan says that’s not true,” Dan added.
“Isn’t it, though?” Judith asked with a smile and subtle tilt of her head.
Kara laughed, surprised by the playful teasing from her usually uptight mother. “See? It’s not just me who sees it.”
“I can’t catch a break around here,” Dan said, accepting a Sam Adams from Chuck and taking a deep swig.
“I found out I can go to law school even if I stink at math,” Luna said.
Dan winked at her. “You go, girl.”
“Kolby and Keenan said they might come by after the gym,” Judith said to Kara. “I hope that’s okay.”
“Of course. I’d love to see them.” Her two youngest brothers were roommates and best friends who did just about everything together when they weren’t working. “I saw Kolby for a second the other day.”
“He said he was glad to see you.”
“I was glad to see him, too.” Kara helped herself to a carrot stick and some ranch dip, touched that her mother remembered that she loved that snack. “The kitchen looks beautiful, Mom.”
“You think so? I’m so happy with it. I did exactly what I wanted this time, rather than what the so-called kitchen designers suggested the first time around.”
She’d gone with navy blue lower cabinets, white uppers and a white countertop that had replaced darker cabinets and countertops. A huge island with barstools was the centerpiece.
“I really love it,” Kara said. “Especially the backsplash.”
The painted tiles above the stove featured sailboats with spinnakers with the sailing theme carried through the smaller spaces, too. What would’ve been overdone in a smaller kitchen worked perfectly in this one.
“I do, too,” Judith said with a warm smile for Kendra. “My favorite designer helped me choose everything.”
“You’re definitely designing our house when we’re ready,” Kara said to Kendra.
“Sign me up,” Kendra said.
“This house is amazing,” Dan said. “Did you guys build it?”
“We did,” Chuck said. “About forty years ago, when it cost a fraction of what it would today.”
“He did a lot of it himself on nights and weekends for years,” Judith added. “We thought it would never be finished.”
“And they kept having kids until they filled all the bedrooms,” Kendra said, making everyone laugh.
“That wasn’t exactly the plan,” Judith said. “It just worked out that way.”
“And we’re thankful for every one of them—and their partners,” Chuck said. “Especially lately.”
“We’re so relieved that you’re representing Keith now, too,” Judith said to Dan.
“We’re on it, so try not to worry.”
“That’s easier said than done. Our family has been through some things over the years, lots of ups and downs, but this…” Judith shook her head as tears filled her eyes.
Chuck put an arm around her. “We’ll get through this the same way we’ve gotten through everything else. One step at a time.”
Judith nodded, wiped away her tears and forced a smile. “Of course we will. I made my famous stuffies. Who wants one?”
Luna and Aurora, who were seated at the island to be closer to the snacks, raised their hands.
“Me!” Kara said. “With Tabasco, please.”
“Remind me what’s in these so-called stuffies,” Dan said.
“Magic,” Kara said. “That’s what’s in them.”
“Along with some clams and chorizo and other yummy things,” Kendra said.
“He’ll have one,” Kara said. “He’s like a seagull. He eats everything.”
The girls giggled at the face Dan made.
“Is that true, Uncle Dan?” Aurora asked. “Are you like a seagull?”
“I’ve never gone dumpster diving, if that’s what you’re asking, but I do like to eat.”
As the girls giggled their heads off, Kara felt more at home in the house where she’d been raised than she ever had before, thanks in no small part to the presence of her beloved husband.
He made everything better.
After dinner, they lingered over the chocolate cake her mother had made from scratch and served with vanilla ice cream. Dan kept looking at Kara for signs that she was ready to go, but she seemed relaxed and happy in the presence of her family members. He was so happy for her to have this time with them to make new memories, despite their worries for Keith and Kirby.
Kolby and Keenan had kept them entertained with funny stories from their group of friends at the gym and the people Kolby saw daily on his mail route.
“Are you going to come by the office while you’re here, Kara?” Keenan had taken her place as the director of business development. “Everyone would love to see you. They’ve been abuzz over you bringing your hotshot husband home to deal with the current troubles.”
“I’d love to see everyone,” Kara said.
“And I’d love to see this company I’ve heard so much about,” Dan added.
“Come by tomorrow,” Chuck said. “I’ll give you the full tour.”
Kara glanced at Dan. “Do you have time for that?”
“I should. I’m waiting for others to get me info and have done what I can personally at this point.”
“I know we said we wouldn’t talk about it tonight,” Judith said, sounding almost tearful, “but how do you think it’s going to go, Dan?”
“We have a very strong case for dismissal. I believe it’ll turn out to be a severe overreach by the state police in charging them before they had all the facts.”
“Oh God,” Chuck said. “I hope so.”
“I don’t want to get your hopes up quite yet, but I’m feeling increasingly confident that they’ll never get the case to trial. Just keep anything we talk about between us, if you would.”
“None of us will say a word,” Chuck said with a stern look for the rest of the group.
“It’s still so shocking that Kirby was arrested,” Kolby said. “He’s literally never hurt a fly. Remember how he’d capture them and take them back outside?”
“Yes,” Kendra said with a soft smile. “He would say it wasn’t the fly’s fault that he ended up in the house.”
Judith used a napkin to dab at her eyes. “I can’t bear to think of him locked up in a cage. I worry this will break him.”
“It won’t,” Kara said forcefully. “We won’t let it. Tomorrow, I want to see him.”
“I’ll take you,” Dan said. “I think it’ll help him to see you.”
“After that, we’ll swing by the office,” Kara said.
“I’ll take you both to lunch after a tour of BBW,” Chuck said.
“Only if I can go, too,” Judith said.
Everyone looked at Kara, awaiting her verdict.
“Of course,” she said. “That sounds great. But only if we can go to the Travelin Lobster.”
“Whatever you want, sweetheart,” Chuck said.
“Want to see my old room?” Kara asked Dan after they’d cleared the table and helped with the dishes.
“I’d love to.”
“Right this way.”
“No funny business with my daughter up there,” Chuck said sternly.
Dan and Kara laughed.
She placed a hand on her baby belly. “A little late for those warnings, Dad.”
Chuck scowled. “Don’t remind me.”
“I promise to be on best behavior, Chuck,” Dan said, holding up crossed fingers.
Kara smiled as she took his hand and led him upstairs to the room she’d once shared with Kelly. That felt like a million years ago now that she’d barely spoken to her sister in years. Their room was the third one on the left. “That was the bathroom I shared with Kelly and Kendra when we all lived at home. The boys had their own bathroom that we stayed far, far away from. All the rest of the bedrooms were theirs. My parents’ room is on the main floor.”
“Eleven kids overhead. Unfathomable.”
“We weren’t all here for long. There’s fourteen years between Kendra and Keenan. By the time he was in kindergarten, she was off to college. Kellen went to college the following year. It was only super crazy in the summer while they were home. Kingston moved out the day he turned eighteen and never looked back.”
“He’s the lobsterman, right?”
“Yes, he worked with Bertha for years before he got his own boat when he was twenty.”
“That’s pretty cool.”
“I can’t imagine him doing anything else.” She showed Dan into the room where two twin beds remained along with her childhood treasures. Everything of Kelly’s had been removed, leaving her side of the room all but empty other than the bed. On the shelves over Kara’s old desk were some of her favorite books, including Nancy Drew mysteries and a few Agatha Christie novels that Bertha had given her after she’d expressed an interest in the genre.
Dan picked up the trophy she’d won at a summer tennis camp when she was fourteen. “I had no idea I was married to a champion.”
“First place for the whole camp that year. I used to play a lot of tennis, but I haven’t played in years. We had tournaments on the court outside when we were kids.”
“That sounds fun.”
“It was. Kirby always beat me, though. I don’t think I ever won a match against him. Kendra was really good back in the day, too. She played on the high school team.”
“You didn’t play in high school?”
“I’d moved on to lacrosse by then.”
“I never have understood that game.”
“Most people don’t unless they play or have a kid who plays. I was pretty good at it once upon a time.” She held up the letter she’d earned playing varsity lacrosse.
Dan took the letter from her and examined it. “That’s very sexy.”
She rolled her eyes. “Honestly…”
“I’m being honest. It’s sexy to picture you running down a field with your golden ponytail flying behind you as you whip the ball around and score goals.” He shuddered dramatically. “Very hot.”
Kara sat on the bed that still had the quilt she’d picked out when they redecorated the room. She’d gone with flowers, while Kelly had gotten an ugly black thing that Kara had found depressing. Her mother had gotten rid of that at some point, or Kelly had taken it.
“What’re you thinking?” Dan asked when he sat next to her.
“How I used to share this room with Kelly and tell her all my secrets that she then used against me when it suited her purposes.”
“That had to be devastating.”
“It was, but I wasn’t as surprised as I should’ve been. She’d had a mean streak, for lack of a better term, her whole life. You never knew when it would show up. Part of me has always thought that her pursuit of Matt was more about hurting me than it was about having feelings for him.”
“If that’s true, then she sure is stuck with him now.”
“They deserve each other.”
“Indeed.”
“Anyway,” Kara said, forcing a smile, “this is my old room.”
“I’m very happy to be your new roommate.”
She leaned in to kiss him. “You’re the best roommate I ever had.”
Dan put his arm around her. “Let’s get going back to Bertha’s. I want to snuggle my baby mama.”
“Your baby mama would love that.”