Homecoming (Downeast #1)

Chapter 26

Chapter

Twenty-Six

Kara thought she was prepared to see Kirby in jail. She was dead wrong about that. The sight of him in an orange jumpsuit broke her heart and had tears rolling down her face. “Can I hug him?” she asked the guard.

“For a second.”

Kara went to her brother and held on tight for as long as she could, until the guard said, “That’s enough.”

She wiped her face as she sat next to Dan, across a table from Kirby. “I’m sorry to be so emotional.”

“It’s all right. I’m glad to see you, even if I hate that it’s happening here.” He looked exhausted and hadn’t shaved in days, which was jarring. She’d never seen him with stubble or a beard, as he was always meticulously groomed when he wasn’t at work.

Kara reached across the table for hands roughened by hard work. “Everyone knows you had nothing to do with this. It’s all anyone is talking about.”

“Keith didn’t either. I was there when we drove away from her. I dropped him off at home. He said he was exhausted and heading straight to bed. I might’ve checked his location a little later to make sure he stayed put. He did.”

“That’s good info, Kirby,” Dan said. “I’ll be sure to mention it at the hearing.”

“How do you think that’ll go?”

“I’m cautiously optimistic. We’ve got a few things to introduce that’ll take the prosecution by surprise and should give the judge enough reason to dismiss the charges, but that’s never a guarantee.”

“I’m going crazy in here. You’ve got to get me out.”

“I’m doing everything in my power to make that happen. You have to stay strong, no matter how this goes. The truth is on your side.”

“Why do I feel like that doesn’t matter at all?”

“It does. Of course it does.”

“But you’ve made a career out of exonerating wrongly accused prisoners. Don’t act like there’s no chance I’ll be convicted even though there isn’t a shred of evidence connecting me to her.”

Dan sighed as he sat back in his seat. “I’m not going to lie to you. It happens. More often than it should, but there’re almost always extenuating circumstances, just enough for prosecutors to create a convincing narrative. There’s nothing like that in your case.”

“But there is for Keith?”

“His situation is trickier. He was with her and had sex with her in the bathroom at the bar. He’d been seeing her over the summer.”

“I knew that.”

“He also knew how she’d gone through a rough breakup with her high school boyfriend, Billy Norton, who wasn’t taking it well. Tanya swore she saw Billy in the Barnacle Friday night. We’re reviewing video as we speak to look for him. If we can show he was there, then we’ve got someone with an actual motive for murder. Maybe he was outraged to see her carrying on with Keith. Maybe she’d agreed to meet him after she parted with you and Keith, and that’s why she didn’t want a ride home. These are all possibilities that can be introduced to create reasonable doubt about your involvement and Keith’s. What reason would he have to kill her when she hung out with him willingly many times before?”

“Wow,” Kirby said. “Hearing that makes me feel a lot better.”

“Please don’t give up hope,” Kara said. “Dan will never stop fighting for you no matter what happens at the hearing.”

“Thank you,” Kirby said to Dan before shifting his gaze to her. “And you, for coming back here when it’s the last place you want to be.”

“It’s been good for me to come home. I hate that it was because of this, but it’s been nice to be here.”

“Have you seen Kelly?”

“Once, for a minute, but it was no big deal.”

“Good. Keep your distance. She hasn’t changed one bit after everything.”

“I wouldn’t expect her to change at this point, but I’d like to know Connor at some point.”

“When he’s older and can decide for himself.”

“That’s the plan.”

“When are you due?”

“November.”

“Do you know what you’re having?”

“We chose not to find out for sure, but I think it’s a boy.”

“What will his name be?”

“Dylan—either way—after Dan’s late brother.”

Kirby looked at Dan. “I didn’t know. I’m sorry.”

“Thanks.”

“What happened to him?”

“He died years ago in Afghanistan.”

“Oh wow. I really am sorry.”

“Me, too.” Dan put his arm around Kara. “I’m looking forward to meeting Dylan Torrington the second.”

“I’m not sure the world is ready for Dan Torrington’s offspring,” Kara said.

Kirby laughed, which pleased her. “I’m sure he’ll be great, just like his dad.”

“Time’s up,” the guard said in a jarring reminder of where they were and what was at stake.

Kirby stood and leaned in to hug Kara again before they were told not to.

“I love you,” Kara said. “I’ll never give up on you, and neither will Dan.”

“Means everything. Love you, too.”

After Kirby was led away, Kara broke down into sobs.

Dan held her, stroking her back and telling her it was going to be okay.

“You were right. I wasn’t prepared to see him in here.” Kara used her sleeve to wipe the tears off her face. “I’d like to see Keith, too.”

“I’ll let them know.”

While he was gone, Kara blew her nose and tried to pull herself together, knowing her brusque older brother would be put off by her tears. Even though she wasn’t close to Keith, seeing him in an orange jumpsuit put a new lump in her throat.

“Fancy meeting you here,” Keith said with a crooked grin for his sister.

“Are you doing okay?”

“I’m just great. Never thought I’d see you in these parts again.”

“Funny how a single phone call can change everything.”

“Thanks for coming even though you had no good reason to.”

“I had two good reasons to come, and I’m glad I did. Other than this, of course, it’s been good for me to be back here. It’s been too long.”

“Well, I, for one, wouldn’t have blamed you if you’d told us to fuck off after everything that went down.”

“I’d never do that.”

“You’re a better person than I am.”

“Duh.”

Keith barked out a laugh that softened his rough exterior. “Good one.”

“Kirby just told me something interesting,” Dan said, filling Keith in on how his brother had checked his location after he dropped him off.

“He’s such a fucking mother hen.”

“Who keeps you out of trouble,” Kara said.

“Yeah, he does, and I feel sick that he’s gotten caught up in this bullshit.” He gave Kara an intense stare. “You know it’s bullshit, right? I may be an asshole at times, but I’m not a murderer.”

“I know that, Keith.”

“That’s the worst part of this whole thing, you know? That people could think I’d hurt a woman. I’ve had my share of fights and scrapes, but always with someone who could fight back. Never with a woman.”

“That’s good to know,” Dan said. “We can resist their efforts to introduce your past charges by saying you’ve only ever fought with men. Never with a woman.”

“Never, ever, ever . If they say otherwise, it’s a fucking lie.”

“I’ll fight for you. I promise.”

“Thank you. I’m sorry again if I was a dick…”

“It’s okay.”

“Nah, it really isn’t. I took it out on you—both times—and it wasn’t and isn’t your fault. You’re trying to help and sitting here with nothing but time on my hands, I’ve come to recognize that.”

Kara was impressed by Keith’s insight and felt her heart go out to him in a way it never had before. She’d tended to avoid him, sensing the potential peril that accompanied him and his rough attitude.

“Thanks for coming, you guys. We appreciate you putting your own lives on hold to help us.”

“Let us know if you need anything,” Kara said.

“Mom’s been bringing me stuff. I’m okay.”

Kara gave her brother a quick hug before the guard led him away.

“Are you okay?” Dan asked.

“As okay as I can be after seeing my brothers in jail.” She followed him through a door he knocked on to have opened for them. “What did he mean about both times?”

“Uhhh, well…”

“Must’ve been the time you got them out of jail on the morning of our wedding.”

Dan stopped short and turned to her. “You know about that?”

Kara patted him on the face. “Dan, honey, wives know everything . For someone so smart, I would’ve expected you to figure that out by now.”

“Seriously, though, how’d you find out?”

Kara headed for the main entrance, eager to get out of there. “I’ll never tell.”

Everything had been weird at work since the night Myles had stopped by Renata’s house. She kept waiting for him to say something about their conversation that night, but he didn’t. In fact, he didn’t say much about anything over the next couple of days. Rather, he kept to himself in his office, with his head down, getting more work done in a day than he normally did in a week, or so it seemed to her.

There was no chitchat, no teasing banter about her paper cut or random coffees showing up on her desk along with the lemon Danish he knew she loved.

Damn it all to hell, she missed him.

And that infuriated her. What the hell was wrong with her? She’d told him exactly why she could never date her boss, and apparently, he’d respected her thoughts on the matter by backing off.

So why did she feel like absolute shit?

Renata grabbed her phone and took it outside for a break. Not that she’d done a damned thing to deserve a break, but she was taking one, nonetheless.

She called Kara, thankful to have her best friend close by for once. Until Kara came home, she hadn’t realized how much she’d truly missed having her around.

“Hey! How’s it going?”

“Awesome.”

“What’s wrong?”

“Tell me what you’re up to first.” She wanted to be respectful of why Kara was in town. The arrests of Keith and Kirby counted as real problems compared to her manufactured situation.

“Dan and I just came from seeing Keith and Kirby.”

“How’re they holding up?”

“Okay, I guess. We’re all hopeful for the preliminary hearing on Thursday.”

“What’s the plan for that?”

“I’m not really supposed to say anything about it, but Dan has a strategy that he’s hoping will work.”

“I’ll hope and pray that it does.”

“Me, too. Now, why are you sarcastically awesome?”

“Because I told Myles to back off, and he did.”

“Ummm… Isn’t that what you wanted?”

“I thought it was until he actually did it.”

Kara laughed. “Can you see how ridiculous that is?”

“Yes! I know it is, but it was the right thing to tell him how my parents’ marriage was eventually ruined because of workplace drama.”

“You’re not your mother, and he’s not your father.”

“It’s a similar situation, though.”

“How so? He owns the company outright. It’s not like he has a brother-partner who’s going to be pissed about him secretly dating an employee for years before marrying her.”

“You’re supposed to tell me the many reasons why I absolutely shouldn’t date my boss, not give me permission.”

“If you’d like to send me a script, I’ll follow it to the letter, and then I’ll tell you you’re making a mountain out of what doesn’t even count as a molehill.”

“That’s not in the script!”

Kara, that bitch, laughed again. “You’re being ridiculous. You liked Myles—a lot, as I recall—before he was your boss. In fact, I thought you were on your way to dating him then.”

“The same thing stopped me. He wasn’t technically my boss, but I knew he would be someday soon.”

“Here’s a novel idea. Get another job. Then you’ll be free and clear to date the man you’ve wanted for quite some time but couldn’t allow yourself to have because of the job.”

“I like this job.”

“Do you like him more than the job?”

“How the hell do I know?”

“You know, Renata, which is why you’re all tied up in knots over this. You like him. A lot. You have for a long time. Do you have any idea how often his name comes up when we chat? Myles said this, Myles said that, Myles brought me a mocha shake, Myles did the funniest thing…”

“That isn’t true. I don’t talk about him like that.”

“You do, pal, and you have for years. I’ve been wondering when something was going to come of that. And you admitted, just the other night, that you’re attracted to him.”

Renata moaned. “I hate you since you married that goddamned lawyer.”

Kara cackled with laughter.

“It’s not funny. Your argumentativeness has gotten much worse.”

Kara just continued to laugh and laugh.

“I really do hate you.”

“You do not, so shut your face. I’m telling you the truth, which you say you don’t want to hear, but you really do because you want to date Myles. Among other things.”

“Stop!”

“Not going to stop. Listen, Ren, there’s absolutely no reason you can’t be with Myles if you want to be. If you can’t deal with him being your technical boss, even if he never acts like he has power over you, then leave the job. But don’t turn your back on someone who could become your forever.”

Renata groaned at the word forever , but Kara pressed on, undeterred.

“Take it from me, I tried that, and thankfully, all my efforts to hold Dan at arm’s length failed. It would’ve been a big mistake to turn my back on him simply because of some obstacles that were easily overcome once I decided to take the risk.”

“My mother would never forgive me for dating my boss.”

“Your mother’s life and mistakes aren’t your burden to carry. Her regrets aren’t going to become yours simply because the situation is similar.”

“I hate you even more when you’re right.”

“You’re making me laugh harder than Dan does, and that’s not easy to do. Are we still on for dinner tonight, or are we in the biggest fight?”

“We’re on for dinner, but you’d better not be smug about being right for the first time ever.”

“ Whatever. Why don’t you ask Myles to join us? I’d love to meet him.”

“That’s not going to happen.”

“Why not?”

“Because.”

“Renata… You’re being ridiculous.”

“I’m not. It’s just, you know…”

“Chris was a long, long time ago.”

“Believe me. I know.”

Hearing his name was enough to make Renata want to crawl into the fetal position with a week’s worth of mocha shakes and Netflix for days and days.

“It’s really hard to take that kind of chance again, after what happened to both of us with our first loves. I can’t tell you how hard I resisted what was happening with Dan, and you know what I realize now?”

“What’s that?”

“How much time I wasted that could’ve been spent being happy.”

“I’ve never been gutsy like you are.”

“Shut all the way up with that shit! You’re the badass I’ve always wanted to be! Remember when that awful girl in school was hassling me, and you punched her in the face?”

“And got suspended and spent six weeks with my broken hand in plaster?”

“That was the coolest thing I’d ever seen, and it’s still right up there in my all-time top ten. Please don’t tell me you don’t have the fortitude to at least try to see if this thing with Myles is the real deal.”

“I thought I had the real deal before.”

“That was nowhere close to the real deal. He was a boy pretending to be a man, and he didn’t deserve you.”

“And Myles does?”

“Myles is a full-grown man with a good job, and he’s nice to you, which is already three thousand steps above what’s-his-name. I like him, and I haven’t even met him yet. Bring him to dinner, and I’ll give you a more thorough assessment after.”

“If I ask him to do something, it’ll give him hope.”

“I’m starting to wonder if maybe you don’t deserve him .”

“That’s rude. You’re supposed to be on my side at all times.”

“I am, Ren. You know I am. Give this guy a chance. I want to dance at your wedding.”

“Shut up before you jinx me, and PS, just because you’re all blissfully married doesn’t mean I want to be.”

“Fair enough, but you deserve to be happy. You just need to give yourself permission to let it happen.”

Normally, if she was gone this long, Myles would come looking for her. That he didn’t even poke his head out the door made her feel oddly sad at having lost something she’d never really had in the first place.

“Should I make the reservation for four?”

“I’ll let you know.” She checked her phone after she received a text. “Hey, Ellery texted to say her kids are playing soccer this afternoon if we want to swing by to watch the game. We could do dinner after that.”

“I’d love to. Send me the info.”

“Will do. She’ll be thrilled if you come.”

“I’m looking forward to seeing the kids.”

“You won’t believe how big they are.”

“I’m excited.”

“I’m texting you the info she sent now. Can’t wait to see you.”

“Who can’t you wait to see?” Myles asked from behind her. “Are you seeing someone else? Is that the real reason you won’t go out with me?”

Renata took a deep breath to calm herself before she turned to him, flashing a big smile. “That was my cousin Kara, who has absolutely no interest in dating me.” She brushed by him as she headed back to the office, working up a good head of steam as she went. How dare he eavesdrop on her conversation and then jump to conclusions?

And no, she didn’t find his obvious jealousy appealing. At all.

Well, maybe it was a little appealing…

No. No, it wasn’t.

Myles appeared next to her desk. “I’m sorry. I had no business listening to your call and then acting like a jackass.”

“No, you didn’t. And for the record, I’m not seeing anyone, which you know because you’re with me every day, and if I was seeing someone, you’d probably be aware of it.”

“Can you come into the office for a second?”

“Uh, yeah. I guess.” What the hell is this about? she wondered as she followed him.