Homecoming (Downeast #1)

Chapter 28

Chapter

Twenty-Eight

Kara wouldn’t admit to anyone, even Dan, that she was nervous about seeing Ellery and Jessie again after their recent lunch had devolved into an indictment of Kara’s choices after the Kelly and Matt debacle.

She hoped they could move on from past hurts, but if they couldn’t, Kara wasn’t about to grovel. As Dan and others had said, she’d done what she needed to in order to survive something she’d thought for a time might break her. It hadn’t broken her, but it had made her stronger and more resilient than she’d been before.

“I remember bringing chairs when we went to my niece’s game,” Dan said.

“Oh right! Good thinking. Bertha probably still has some around here from when we were playing sports.” Kara poked around in the garage and found two stadium chairs covered in dust that made her cough and then sneeze. “Found ’em!”

Dan laughed and pulled a strand of cobweb out of her hair.

“There’s no spider with that, is there?”

“I don’t think so, but I’ll keep an eye out.”

He banged the dust off the chairs and tossed them into the back of the Jeep. When they were on their way to Trenton, Dan reached for her hand and gave it a squeeze. “I’m looking forward to meeting your friends in person.”

“I’m glad that’s finally happening.”

“Are you excited to see them?”

“I’m more nervous than excited. The last time didn’t go so well.”

“I refuse to let you feel guilty about anything.”

“Thank you for the reminder.”

“It’s easy to look back, with the benefit of hindsight, and soften the razor-sharp edges of heartbreak and make the villains a little less villainous. But they don’t deserve to be redeemed or forgiven or given a pass of any kind. What Kelly and Matt did, what my ex did, what my so-called best man did, was monstrous. We’re under no obligation to forgive and forget.”

“You’re absolutely right, and that was very well said about how time softens the sharp edges.”

“I read somewhere, after Dylan died, that the human spirit is naturally resilient and how it’s almost impossible to remain mired in a state of intense grief and heartbreak indefinitely. We simply can’t sustain that initial level long term. I remember the first time I laughed after he died, and how bad I felt afterward. Like how can I find something funny when he’s gone forever? But it was just proof that life goes on, whether we want it to or not, and there’s nothing wrong with laughter, joy or happiness after a great loss. The person we’re grieving wouldn’t want us to be sad forever.”

Kara wrapped her free hand around their joined hands. “Sometimes I feel like we don’t pay enough attention, on a daily basis, to the loss of Dylan, and I’m sorry if days go by without us mentioning him.”

“Please don’t be. He’s always with me, and like I said, I can’t dwell in that space all the time. He’d be so happy you and I found each other, and he’d adore you. I know he would. He was never that fond of her , which should’ve been a sign to me. He liked everyone, except people who didn’t deserve it.”

“I wish I could’ve known him.”

“I do, too. Having him around is the only thing that could make my already perfect life better.”

“Your point is well taken about the march of time and how it changes things, though.”

“It’s inevitable, I suppose, that we can’t hang on to that level of distress forever, even if it’s always a part of us going forward.”

“Very true.”

They pulled into the parking lot at the elementary school where the rec league game was being played.

“Damn, that’s a lot of cars.”

“Kendra was thrilled when the girls gave up soccer for dance. She said youth soccer was the craziest thing she was ever involved in, and the games were horrible. If you looked away for one second, you’d miss the only goal of the game.”

“That sounds about right. My sisters hated it when their kids played, too.”

“Is this what’s in store for us in a few short years?” Kara asked as Dan grabbed their chairs from the back of the Jeep and tucked them under his arm. They walked toward the field, holding hands.

“Maybe we can steer Dylan toward baseball instead. It’s not quite as unhinged as soccer.”

“Do we have youth soccer on the island?” Kara had never paid much attention to such things.

“Of course we do. All the kids play.”

“Yay.”

Dan laughed as he dropped her hand to put an arm around her.

Renata spotted them and came over to greet them. “Um, so don’t shoot the messenger, but Matt’s nephew is on the opposing team, and they’re here.”

“Awesome,” Kara said through gritted teeth.

“I didn’t know. I feel bad.”

“Don’t worry about it. It’s a big field.”

“Can I hug you now that I’m finally meeting you in person?” Renata asked Dan.

He put down their chairs and held out his arms to her.

Seeing the two of them hugging each other made Kara emotional as a good-looking man joined them.

“Um, this is Myles. My cousin Kara and her husband, Dan.”

“Heard a lot about you both,” Myles said as he shook hands with them.

“Likewise,” Kara said, earning a glare from her cousin.

“Is that right?” Myles asked. “What does she say about me?”

“Please,” Renata said disdainfully. “I never mention your name. Let’s go watch the game.”

Myles and Kara laughed as they followed Renata to where Ellery and Pete had set up camp for their family and friends.

Her friends greeted Kara with hugs and excitement to meet Dan.

Kara received hugs from Ellery’s parents and her sister, who were also thrilled to see her and meet her husband.

Jessie and her boyfriend, Doug, arrived a few minutes later, and more hugs were exchanged.

“You look wonderful, Doug,” Kara said when she hugged her old friend.

“Thanks. It’s been a journey.”

Their group formed a loud cheering squad for Ellery and Pete’s son, Keaton, who scored two goals for his team’s winning effort.

“Pizza’s on us tonight,” Pete said as they prepared to leave.

“Kara.”

She turned to find Matt’s sister-in-law, Hallie, who’d been her friend once upon a time. She was married to Matt’s brother. “Oh, hey, Hallie. How are you?”

“I’m good. You?”

“Doing well.”

“You look great.”

“Thanks, so do you. Um, this is my husband, Dan. Dan, this is Hallie Gallagher.”

As this was awkward enough already, she hoped he’d deduce who she was without her having to fill in the blanks for him.

“I’ve missed you these last few years,” Hallie said.

“Me, too. How’re the kids?” Kara kept her gaze fixed on Hallie as she prayed she wouldn’t be ambushed by Kelly and Matt.

“Getting big. Josh just started eighth grade, and Noah is in sixth. Our youngest, Luke, is in fourth grade. He’s the soccer player.”

“Hey, Kara,” Hallie’s husband, Joe, said.

“Hi, Joe. It’s nice to see you.”

“You, too.”

Kara introduced him to Dan, who shook his hand.

“Are you guys coming?” Pete asked.

Kara wanted to kiss him for giving her a reason to say goodbye to people who would’ve been her in-laws in another life. “It was great to see you guys. Give your parents my best,” she said to Joe.

“Will do.”

They were on their way to a clean getaway when Kelly and Matt, carrying their son, Connor, approached.

Kara cast her sister a warning look that had her backing off as they left with their friends.

“You’re not even going to say hello?” Kelly called after her. “Don’t you want to see your nephew?”

“Keep walking,” Renata said as she turned to deal with Kelly. “Go away, Kelly, and leave her alone. That’s what you wanted, right? Well, be careful what you wish for.”

“I never wanted this! For her to act like she doesn’t know me when we see each other!”

“What did you think was going to happen?” Renata asked. “You made your choices, and now you get to live with them. I hope he was worth it.”

“Let’s go, Renata,” Myles said gently. “The others are waiting for us.”

Kara hated that her hands were shaking. Why did that happen when she hadn’t done anything wrong?

Dan kept his arm wrapped tightly around her as they walked with their group toward the parking lot.

“She has some fucking nerve,” Renata muttered.

“In case I forget to tell you later,” Dan said, “that was well done, cousin.”

“Very well done,” Ellery said. “I can’t believe her.”

“I can,” Jessie said. “Same old Kelly she’s always been, doing what she wants without giving a shit how it affects anyone else and then acting all surprised when people are pissed at her.”

Kara listened to what they were saying as outrage bubbled up inside her. She stopped walking, which meant the others stopped, too.

“Are you okay?” Dan asked.

“Yes, I’m fine. Give me just a second, will you?”

“Kara…”

“I’m okay. I swear.” She turned back toward her sister, who hadn’t moved since they walked away.

She knew Dan would follow her, but she kept her gaze on her targets.

Matt saw her coming and alerted Kelly.

“What do you want?” Kelly asked.

“That’s what I wanted to ask you. What is it that you want from me? When you ambush me in public, what’re you expecting to happen?”

Kelly, who was a petite blonde with gorgeous blue eyes and flawless skin that Kara had envied all their lives, seemed uncertain of how to reply.

So Kara waited.

“I guess I just wish we could fix what’s broken between us.”

“Let me ask you this… If I’d done to you what you did to me, would you be looking for reconciliation?”

Kelly had the good sense to at least squirm a little. “I don’t know.”

“Yes, you do. You never would’ve spoken to me again, so you’ve already gotten more from me than I would’ve gotten from you if the roles had been reversed. But let me make one thing crystal clear… I don’t give either of you an ounce of thought. I’ve moved on from what you did to me. I have a rich, beautiful life full of people who build me up rather than knock me down. I choose to focus on them rather than on painful things from the past. I’m sure you can understand that.”

“I’m sorry. Is that what you want to hear?”

Kara tipped her head, intrigued to receive an actual apology from her sister, who’d never apologized to anyone for anything in the past. “What is it, exactly, that you’re sorry for?”

“That you were hurt by what we did.”

“Did you think I wouldn’t be? When you started seeing each other behind my back, how’d you think that would turn out?” When Kelly didn’t reply, Kara continued. “You didn’t think about me, did you? You saw what you wanted, and you took it, like you always had before with clothes, shoes, dolls, toys. It didn’t matter what I had, you wanted it, and you took it.”

“It wasn’t like that.”

“Wasn’t it?”

“We… we should go, Kelly,” Matt said, seeming distressed.

“Why?” Kara asked him. “Is it uncomfortable to witness the destroyed relationship between two sisters that you helped to cause?”

“I… um…”

As Kara stood before them, she realized that at some point, they’d lost the power to hurt her and wondered when exactly that’d happened.

“Look, we all have better things to do than rehash the past. Hopefully, you’ve learned that actions have consequences. There’s no reason we can’t be civil with each other for the sake of our children, but please don’t think things will ever be the same between us. Because they won’t. You’ve both shown me who you really are. I’ve chosen to believe you, and as such, I’ll be keeping my distance. I hope you understand. Have a great day.”

Kara turned to walk away and found Dan watching her with unmistakable pride.

“Kara! Wait!” Kelly moved quickly to close the distance between them. “I’ll always be sorry that I hurt you.”

“Thank you for saying so. It matters.”

“If I could just… I’d like to introduce you…” Her gaze encompassed Dan. “Both of you… to your nephew.”

“Of course,” Kara said.

Kelly gestured for Matt to come closer. “Connor, this is your aunt Kara and uncle Dan. Can you say hi?”

The adorable blond boy buried his face in his father’s coat as he said a soft hello.

Kara smiled and ducked her head to waggle her fingers at him. “It’s nice to meet you, Connor.”

He smiled and so did she, because how could she not?

“Thank you,” Kelly said tearfully.

Kara nodded, hooked her arm through Dan’s and walked away from them, feeling as if a massive weight had been lifted that she hadn’t even known she was still carrying.

“Un-fucking- believable ,” Dan said in a low, gravelly tone. “That’s what you are.”

Kara laughed. “Who, me?”

“I’m so incredibly proud of you. That was gutsy and ballsy and all the things.”

“Thanks. It felt pretty good to put it out there, and I’m glad we got to officially meet Connor.”

“Just when I think I’ve seen all the sides of my beautiful wife, she goes and shows me something new.”

“I like to keep you guessing.”

“You do that so well. How do you feel?”

“Relieved. I can run into them now, and it won’t be a big deal. And our children can grow up knowing each other, even if they won’t be close. That’s something anyway.”

“That’s everything.”

In the parking lot, they joined the others, who were eagerly awaiting an update.

“All good,” Kara said.

“Tell me you didn’t forgive them,” Renata said.

“No, I didn’t. But it felt good to say a few things and to meet Connor.”

“She was magnificent ,” Dan said.

“He has to say that,” Kara replied, smiling at him.

“No, I don’t. It’s the truth.”

“I was prepared to call 911 if it came to blows,” Renata said.

Kara laughed. “No chance of that when I’m seven months pregnant.”

“You’re my hero,” Renata said. “The way you went marching back there to confront them. Amazing.”

“I’m tired of the fighting. It’s exhausting carrying around all that outrage. Now she knows where we stand, and I got to officially meet my nephew. It’s over and done with as far as I’m concerned. In other news, I’m starving and ready for dinner.”

“How does pizza with the others sound?” Renata asked.

Kara glanced at Dan, who nodded. “That sounds perfect.”