Chapter 15 #2
The next hour was among the most grueling Dan had ever endured as Grant’s brothers gently told Betsy the story of how her son had died and how Grant had let go of Steve, just for a minute to go after Dan, and then had been unable to find Steve again.
Betsy had wept silently as they told her what they knew and had thanked Grant for trying to save both men.
“I wish I could’ve saved them both.”
“Thank you for telling me what happened.”
Someone had called Stephanie to tell her what was happening at the McCarthys’, and she arrived to take Grant home.
After they left, Dan asked Mac to drive him to the dock so he could see Kara. Reeling after what he’d learned about the accident, he needed to be with her.
“You should come to Luke’s tonight,” Mac said as he drove down the hill. “It’d do you good to be among friends.”
“I’ll see how I feel a little later.”
“Can I say something?”
Dan liked Grant’s brothers a lot and had become closer to them since he’d been on the island. “Can I stop you?”
Mac uttered a quick laugh. “I don’t know you very well, but I can guess how I might feel after hearing what you just did.”
“And how’s that?”
“Guilty, overwhelmed, questioning why you lived and he died, wondering how you possibly go forward from here knowing what you now know.”
“Pretty accurate assessment.”
“Here’s the deal. He died. You lived. There’s no changing that fact. So it would seem to me that there isn’t much point to beating yourself up over something you had no control over.”
“You remind me a lot of my brother, Dylan.”
“How’s that?”
“Always the big brother.”
“I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to overstep.”
“You didn’t. I miss him. It’s been a long time since I’ve been big-brothered.”
“He died?”
Dan nodded. “Afghanistan. Long time ago now.”
“I’m so sorry. I didn’t know.”
“Thanks, and thanks for the words of wisdom. I appreciate them.”
“Any time you need a big brother, it’s one of the few things I’ve ever been truly good at.”
Crooking a brow at Mac, Dan said, “By whose estimation?”
“My own, of course.”
Despite the pain it caused his battered ribs, Dan laughed harder than he had in more than a week. “Thanks for the ride.”
“Come to Luke’s.”
“I’ll try.”
Frustrated by how long it took him to do even the simplest things, Dan eased himself out of the truck and shut the door, waving at Mac as he drove off. Dan walked slowly down the main pier, scanning the pond in search of Kara’s maroon launch, but didn’t see any sign of her.
He took the ramp to the launch dock and eased himself onto the bench, which was empty of passengers. The throbbing in his ribs and arm indicated the Advil was wearing off.
Sitting alone, watching the action in the harbor, he had time to absorb what he’d learned that afternoon and to think about what Mac had said.
Dan thought of his parents, who’d already lost one son tragically, and his two older sisters, who’d lost a brother.
Dylan’s death had been horrible for all of them, and Dan was grateful his family had been spared another sudden loss.
They hadn’t yet heard about the accident when he’d called to tell them he was okay, which was another thing to be thankful for.
Despite all that, it was difficult to separate his own gratitude from the profound sense of grief he felt over Steve’s death.
He’d spent only a morning with Steve, but had enjoyed his company, his sense of humor and his expertise with the boat.
Steve had called himself the lucky one, the only member of his group who’d escaped the stomach bug that had taken down the rest of his crew as well as many others on Gansett that week.
Dan was pondering the deeper meaning of luck and fate when Kara’s launch came into view, zipping between boats as she made her way back to the dock. She was almost there when she noticed him waiting for her.
Her expression was full of consternation and questions as she competently brought the launch to a smooth stop against the dock, looped lines over cleats, conversed with disembarking passengers and offered a hand when necessary.
After the last passenger had gone up the ramp to the main pier, she got off the boat and came over to him.
Hands on hips, ball cap perched on her head, she gave him a look of annoyance that any mother would respect. It occurred to him right in that moment that she’d be a wonderful mother someday. “What are you doing here, Torrington?”
“I was missing you.”
“How’d you get here?”
“Grant and Mac.”
Kara sat next to him on the bench and took a close look at him. “Are you in pain?”
“A little.”
“Did you take your pills?”
“Earlier.”
“So they’re wearing off.”
“Maybe.”
“Dan! What’re you doing here when you should be home on the sofa?”
“It sort of happened like this…” Dan told her about Grant coming to visit, going with him to his parents’ home and the emotional discovery of what’d really happened after the accident. “I was right up the hill from you, and I wanted to see you. I needed to see you.”
“I’m so sorry.” She caressed his face as she contended with a flood of tears. “It must’ve been so shocking to hear all that.”
“It was upsetting, to say the least, and then to have to face Steve’s mom, knowing how it had gone down. Poor Grant was a mess. I knew it was bad for him out there, but I had no idea how bad.”
She hugged him, and Dan sagged into her embrace. Her fingers curled around his nape, cradling him. Resting against her, any doubt that he’d fallen in love evaporated into the soft spring air. They stayed that way for a long time. All the while, Dan prayed for her customers to stay away.
“Kara?”
“Hmm?”
“I want to tell you something right here on the dock where you and I began.”
“Is this where we began? Or was it in Luke Harris’s kitchen when I took one look at you and knew you were going to be big trouble for me?”
He pulled back from her, grinning like a loon. “Big trouble, huh?”
“Very big trouble.”
“I love you.”
Her eyes widened, and her lips parted ever so slightly, making him want to take full advantage of the invitation. “You do?”
On pins and needles waiting for her to say she loved him, too, he studied her expressive face, looking for a sign that she felt the same way. Any sign would do.
“Is that okay?” he finally asked after a very long pause.
“I think so.”
“You think so? What does that mean?”
“You haven’t met my sisters yet.”
He kissed her as hard as he’d ever kissed her before, pouring every ounce of love he felt for her into the meeting of lips and tongues and teeth.
He kissed her until he had to stop because of the screaming pain in his side.
“I don’t care if you have a hundred single, fetching sisters, you’re the one I want. The only one I want.”
“You say that now, but—”
Pinching her lips together, he said, “Kara, listen to me. Please listen. What your ex-boyfriend did with your sister was despicable. It was despicable on both their parts. But I’m not him.
I’ve waited a long time to feel this way again, and there’s nothing I wouldn’t do to continue feeling this way for as long as I possibly can.
I feel this way for you. I love you. Your sisters can go straight to hell for all I care. ”
She was smiling when she leaned in to kiss him, taking the lead this time and blowing him away with the force of her desire. “I love you, too, you knucklehead. I was just testing you.”
Her words filled him with overwhelming relief and satisfaction and a tad bit of annoyance. “That was not nice.”
“I know, but it was funny listening to you send my poor sisters straight to hell when you haven’t even met them yet, and by the way, I only have two, and they’re both married.”
“That wasn’t my fault. You set me up.”
“Has anyone ever told you that you talk way too much?” she asked, kissing him again.
“I’ve heard that a time or two in my life.” Thrilled with her, he lost himself in the kiss, forgetting all about the pain in his ribs and the pain in his heart he’d carried for so long after his ex-fiancée cheated on him.
A throat was cleared behind him. “Ah, excuse me, Kara?”
She broke the kiss and pulled back from Dan.
He turned—carefully—to find one of her drivers standing behind him, looking embarrassed to have caught the boss making out on the dock. For her part, Kara didn’t look the slightest bit embarrassed, which pleased Dan tremendously. Only a few weeks ago, she would’ve been mortified.
“Oh, hey, Tim, is it six already?”
“Yes, it is.”
“Let me get my stuff off the boat, and then it’s all yours.”
Dan never took his eyes off her as she gathered her belongings and went over a few things with Tim. When she was done, she got off the boat and came over to him. “Ready to go?” She held out a hand to help him up.
He took hold of her hand and got up, grimacing.
“We need to get some meds into you.”
“I won’t say no to that.”
They went up the ramp to the main dock, where Dan dropped her hand and put his good arm around her, hugging her as close to him as he could get her.
He kissed the top of her head and was delighted when he felt her arm curl around his waist, her fingers hooking into one of the belt loops on his jeans.
His body ached like a bastard, but his heart… His heart had never felt better.