Chapter 18
Eighteen
After a truly wonderful and relaxing afternoon with her new fiancé, Kara brought the launch to a smooth landing at the dock. She wasn’t at all surprised to see her sister sitting on the bench where customers waited for a ride to their boats.
Fortified by her time with Dan and the things he’d said to her when he proposed, Kara busied herself tying up the boat and shutting down the engine, all the while pretending Kelly wasn’t watching her every move.
As a petite blonde, Kelly had always attracted a lot of male attention.
Kara, who’d felt like an next to her younger sister, realized Kelly no longer had the power to hurt her.
At some point over the last two years—well, mostly since she met and fell in love with Dan—she’d moved past what’d happened with Kelly and Matt.
She wished she were a more forgiving person, but some things couldn’t be forgiven.
The last time she’d seen her sister, they’d had a screaming fight.
Both had said things that could never be taken back.
Not that Kara regretted a word of what she’d said that day.
Nor did she regret the two years that’d passed since then with nary a word between them.
She had no earthly idea what her sister was trying to accomplish by showing up like this and thinking she could force Kara to deal with her and her husband.
“I’m right here,” Dan said quietly, his hand warm on her back.
Kara nodded, grateful for what he’d done earlier and for his presence beside her now. She took a deep breath, grabbed her bag and got off the launch.
As she stood, Kelly appeared wilted from the heat. There was no sign of Matt or the baby, for which Kara was thankful. “It took you long enough to come back.”
“I didn’t realize I answered to you.”
“Your employee had no idea where you were. Shouldn’t he know how to get in touch with you?”
“He knew exactly where I was. He chose not to tell you.” First two points were hers, Kara thought smugly. “Is there something I can do for you? I have plans.”
“You know why I’m here. You don’t have to act so surprised to see me.”
“Why wouldn’t I be surprised to see you?
I don’t want you here, and you know that, which is why you tried to blindside me with your visit.
You thought you could force me to deal with you and your darling little family.
” Kara leaned in closer, and Kelly took a step back. “Sorry your plan failed so dismally.”
“You’re so hard and bitter. I pity you.”
Kara laughed, which she could see infuriated her sister.
“You pity me? Whatever. I really ought to take this opportunity to thank you and Matt for betraying me. You truly did me a favor.” Kara glanced at Dan, appreciating the pride she saw in his gaze.
“I’m engaged to someone who’s ten times the man Matt will ever be, and the sex…
Whoa.” Kara fanned her face. “I had no idea what I was missing out on, so thanks for that, too.”
Next to her, Dan made a sound that was half grunt, half laugh. No doubt, her comment had pumped up his already overinflated ego.
Kelly’s face got very red, and Kara wasn’t sure if she was embarrassed or enraged. Probably the latter. She’d never wanted anyone to have something better than what she had. “Wait, so you’re engaged? Since when?”
“Why do you sound so stunned? Were you under the illusion that I was hiding under a rock, licking my wounds while you two rode off together into the sunset? Sorry to disappoint you, sis, but I’ve been just fine.”
Kelly’s eyes darted between Kara and Dan. “Where have I seen him?”
“Probably on TV. He’s a famous lawyer. He saves people’s lives. What does Matt do again? Oh right, he attempts to make money for people. Last I heard, he’s not all that good at it, unlike my fiancé, who is very, very good at making money. Aren’t you, honey?”
“Yeah, that’s one of several things I’m pretty good at,” Dan said suggestively, earning major points with Kara.
“So, again, I say thank you,” Kara said with a wide smile that seemed to further ruffle her sister.
“Who wants a man who’s all talk and no action in more ways than one?
” High on her own success, Kara winced dramatically.
“Oh sorry, I guess you want that guy. Well, congratulations. He’s all yours.
My fiancé and I have somewhere to be, so enjoy your visit. ”
Kara took Dan’s hand and started for the ramp that led to the main dock.
“Burn,” Dan whispered under his breath, making Kara laugh.
“Kara! Wait! I want to talk to you! I waited all day.”
Kara spun around and pointed a finger sharply at her sister. “No, you wait. When I told you two years ago that you were dead to me, I meant it. I have nothing to say to you or your husband. Go home, Kelly. There’s no reason for you to be here.”
“You have no interest in your nephew?”
“Sure I do, and I expect to have a very meaningful relationship with him—as soon as he’s old enough to see me when his parents aren’t around. Until then…” Kara shrugged. “Nothing to say.” She smiled at Dan. “Let’s go, babe.”
“What about Mom and Dad?” Kelly sounded more desperate by the second. “Don’t you care at all about what this is doing to them?”
“How dare you lay that on me? If you were worried about how a rift between us would affect Mom and Dad, you should’ve kept your hands off my boyfriend. But you didn’t, so that, too, is your problem—not mine. I hope he was worth it, Kel. I really, really do.”
Since Kara had already given her sister far more time than she deserved, she hooked her hand through Dan’s arm and headed for the parking lot.
“Oh my God,” he whispered. “I’m so hot for you right now, I’m about to implode.”
Kara laughed. “I never could’ve pulled that off if I hadn’t had a couple of hours to prepare myself. I owe you big.”
“No, you don’t.” He put his arm around her. “But remind me to never get on your bad side. It’s a pretty darned scary place. The litigator in me is extremely impressed.”
“Goddamn, that felt good.”
“I bet it did.”
“I mean, really, really good.”
Dan laughed. “You honestly don’t plan to speak to her again? Ever?”
“I’ll probably get around to forgiving her. Eventually.” Arm in arm, they walked toward her apartment. “But not today.”
“No, not today. You’ll be too busy having hot sex with your rich fiancé.”
“Didn’t take long for that to go straight to your head.”
“It was actually pretty instantaneous.”
“In case I failed to mention it earlier, I love you, Torrington.”
“Love you right back, Ballard. Now, about that hot sex…”
A few weeks later, Kara paced from one end of Dan’s living room to the other, sputtering with outrage. “Do you see why I ran away from home?”
She was more beautiful than ever when she was angry, especially when she was angry with someone other than him. “I understood that a while ago, especially after I saw Kelly in action.”
“This is what they do! They swoop in where they’re not wanted and make a BFD out of something that doesn’t involve them.”
“Personally, I think our engagement is the biggest of BFDs.” The weekend before, they’d spent a day on the mainland, picking out a ring for her, which had been the most fun out of bed he’d had with her yet as they’d argued about what counted as a suitable engagement ring.
They’d settled on a two-carat stunner that she was now wearing on her left hand.
He would’ve gone for much bigger if she hadn’t kept him in check.
“That’s not what I mean, and you know it.”
“Come here.” He held out his hand to her. “Kara.”
She huffed as she came over to the sofa, took his hand and let him bring her down onto his lap.
“Repeat after me: It’s fine if your parents want to throw us an engagement party.”
“It’s not fine!”
Dan kissed her. “Who cares, babe? What will it matter to us? We’ll have a great time with all our new friends, and your folks will pick up the tab.”
“You don’t know how they are. It won’t be a simple party. It’ll be all fancy and foolish and over the top.”
“Again, I ask, who cares?”
“I care. They embarrass me with their excess, their snobbery and their bullshit.”
“All the friends we’ve made here already know you’re awesome. They’ll see right through your parents’ nonsense while eating, drinking and celebrating the best thing to ever happen to us.”
“Why you gotta make sense when I’m having a fit?”
“Because that’s my job, to talk you down when your family intrudes on your happily ever after.”
“I’m very determined not to let that happen.”
“I understand, and I fully support your desire to be separate from them. But, the fact of the matter is, they’re your parents, and maybe they’re trying to make up for being shitty to you with the Kelly thing by throwing us this party.”
“They got a lot more interested in me and my life when they found out who I’m marrying.”
“Which is unfortunate because you and your life were very interesting long before I came along.”
“It’s a lot more interesting now.”
He smiled as he kissed her. “It’s only going to get more interesting from here. What do we care about a stupid engagement party?”
“They’re so stupid! The same people are coming to the wedding.”
“It’s a free party for us and our pals. Let’s just make it into another fun day in a long line of fun days we’ve already had.”
“Fine.”
“Fine.”
“You better not think less of me after you meet my parents.”
“Kara, my sweet love, I could never think less of you.”
“I hope you’re still saying that after you get a load of your future in-laws.”
“I’ll always say that.”
“We’ll see.”
“I think you’re the last ones we need to invite,” Dan said as he and Kara entered the Sand & Surf Hotel on their way to Stephanie’s Bistro to meet Kara’s parents.
“To what?” Laura McCarthy asked. She and her fiancé, Owen Lawry, ran the hotel.