by Bella Andre
“He’s in the back room playing on his phone,” Ashley said. “I keep trying to cut his screen time down, but it’s hard when his father lets it be a free-for-all.” Ashley smiled at Duncan, though her smile didn’t quite reach her eyes. “Hello. I’ve heard so much about you. It’s nice to finally meet you.”
Duncan shook her hand. “It’s great to meet you too.”
Apart from Lola’s father, Ashley seemed the most guarded. Borderline suspicious, even. Lola had explained about her sister’s difficult relationship with Kevin’s father, so Duncan understood why she would want proof that he was good enough for Lola.
“And you already know Turner.” Lola shot her brother a warning glance. “So that’s all of us. I’d say it’s definitely time for you to get that drink.”
Her father handed Duncan his whiskey, then lifted his own glass. “Sláinte.”
Following suit, Duncan spoke the classic Irish toast to good health and happiness, then drank the well-aged whiskey in one long swallow. Though it burned going down, since he clearly had some work ahead of him to win over Lola’s family, a bit of Irish courage wouldn’t go amiss.
Ethan went to refill his glass, but Lola put a hand over it. “Let Duncan have something to eat before you try to drink him under the table.” Then she turned back to him. “You’re in for a real treat tonight. You already know my mom is the best cook in the world, but what she makes at home is even better than what she serves at the café. You have to promise not to tell anybody in town, though. If they knew, all of them would demand her home-cooked food be added to the menu.”
Beth laughed from where she was standing at the stove. “Lola exaggerates. I serve all the same things at the café. There’s just something about being at home surrounded by family that makes food taste better.”
He returned Beth’s smile. “I’ve been looking forward to this meal all week.” And though this wasn’t likely to be a night of relaxed pleasure in the midst of so many assessing gazes, he was also looking forward to spending an evening in a warm family home with people who genuinely cared for one another.
Lola picked up a cabbage dumpling and held it to his lips. “Taste this.”
He was overwhelmed by flavor. “That’s fantastic.”
“I told you,” Lola said. “Best food in the world.”
She wasn’t kidding. He had eaten at some of the best restaurants on the planet, but he’d never had anything quite so delicious. “Where did you learn to cook like this, Beth?”
“County Cork, Ireland. There’s a fancy hotel in town—you might have heard of Ashford Castle?—and I talked my way into the kitchen as a teenager.”
“That’s where I met her,” Ethan said as he moved to give his wife a kiss. “They still haven’t forgiven me for stealing her away and bringing her to America.”
While Lola’s parents had been married nearly forty years, when they kissed they almost seemed like teenagers just falling in love. Duncan knew that was exactly how it would be for him and Lola. They would never lose the spark that had drawn them together.
Lola and her siblings had been so lucky to grow up with their parents as an example of real love. He didn’t doubt that there had likely been some bumps along the way. But love had clearly given them the strength to work through whatever issues cropped up.
Duncan reached for Lola’s hand, lifting it to his lips and pressing a kiss to it. It was his way of silently saying, Thank you for loving me. And thank you for inviting me here tonight to be with the people who mean the most to you.
When she turned to kiss him, he knew she’d understood exactly what was in his heart.
And that it was all for her.
CHAPTER TWELVE
For the next several minutes, everyone worked in concert to get the food dished out and on the large dining table. The room looked out on a beautiful backyard where flowers were profusely in bloom. There was a green lawn where kids and dogs could play, and patio lights hung from the trees. Through the branches, Duncan caught glimpses of the ocean. It was a perfect place to live and raise a family.
Ashley’s son came into the kitchen to wash his hands. “Kevin,” his mother said, “this is Lola’s friend Duncan.”
Kevin nodded hello from the sink. “So you’re the guy she can’t stop talking about, huh?”
Half of Lola’s family laughed, while the other half shot Duncan sidelong glances, curious to see how he’d react.
“I haven’t been able to stop thinking about her either,” Duncan replied easily.
No one in Lola’s family had grilled him yet, but he had a feeling that as soon as they sat down, the questions would start coming.
Right on cue, while everyone was filling their plates, Hudson said, “I hear you’re in investments?”
Duncan nodded. “I invest in small to midsize businesses with a focus on sustainable resources and innovative technologies.”
“How long have you been in the industry?”
“Five years with my own company and another ten working with my brother at the firm our father founded.” Duncan knew better than to leave off the period of time he’d worked with Alastair when they could easily find the information on the Internet. “When our interests diverged, it made sense to start my own company.”
“You’re based in Boston, aren’t you?” Hudson’s wife, Larissa, asked.
“I am. Although…” Judging by Lola’s smile and nod that it was okay for him to tell everyone, he said, “I’m planning on moving to Bar Harbor in the near future.”
Turner piped in, “What will you do about your business in Boston?”
“There are these things called phones and computers,” Lola said to her brother, obviously still irritated with him.
“When someone’s running a business, it usually helps if they oversee it in person,” Turner countered, before shifting his penetrating gaze back to Duncan. “Or are you planning to walk away from this business too?”
Duncan had no doubt that Turner had read at least one of the interviews Alastair had given after Duncan left the family firm. Interviews that made it sound as if Duncan had followed “flights of fancy” rather than buckling down to do the difficult job of keeping a big venture business running. Though nothing could have been farther from the truth, Duncan had opted not to go public with the real version of the story.
Despite the fact that his brother’s goons had destroyed all of Duncan’s corporate records, and thus the evidence against Alastair, Duncan had gone to the FBI to tell them everything he knew. It wasn’t until he was standing on the threshold of the building that he’d had to accept just how futile this plan was. Given that Duncan no longer had tangible data or proof to back up his claims—and certain that none of Alastair’s partners in crime, whether willing or unwilling, would dare say a word against him lest he destroy their lives and families—the only person likely to go to jail for corporate fraud was Duncan. Because Alastair would surely do whatever he could to frame Duncan for the crimes, even though he’d had nothing whatsoever to do with them. And if Duncan went to prison, then he wouldn’t be able to do a damned thing to help the people his brother had defrauded.
But while Duncan had done everything he could over the past five years to make his brother’s wrongs right, he had never been able to sleep well knowing he hadn’t actually taken away Alastair’s ability to commit similar crimes.
Realizing Turner was still waiting for his response, he said, “I’ve recently taken on a brilliant new employee.” Duncan turned to Lola to give her the good news. “Anita has quickly come up to speed, and I should be able to pass over the reins to her even sooner than I anticipated.”
“That’s fantastic!” Lola threw her arms around him, clearly overjoyed. “I’m so happy you’ll be able to spend more time working on your maps.” She told her family, “Duncan is an amazing cartographer. He works by hand in the old tradition, and when he came to my class, I was blown away by his talent and skill.”
“Had you already pla
nned to ask Lola out when you signed up to take her class?” her father asked.
Beth whacked her husband on the arm. “Ethan, don’t be ridiculous.” Lola’s mother shot Duncan an apologetic look. “Please forgive my husband for saying that. We’re all very happy that you’re here. And if everybody could please stop grilling our guest, I’m sure Duncan would like to eat his dinner before it gets cold.” Though Beth’s voice had a soft Irish lilt, there was steel behind her words. Enough that further questions were swallowed, at least for the time being.
For the next half hour, Duncan got a chance to ask a few questions of his own. He found out where Hudson and Larissa lived in Boston—not too far from his own house. Rory told Duncan a bit about his bespoke furniture company, although he mostly extolled the virtues of Zara’s eyeglasses-frames company. Ashley spoke about her role managing the Sullivan Cafés and boutiques up and down the coast of Maine. Cassie promised to put together a box of her special candies for him, while Flynn was incredibly modest about his award-winning screenplays and TV shows. And while Turner was reticent about his animation career, Duncan already knew he was at the top of his field.
Lola’s family was an impressive bunch. Yet again, he was impressed by how Beth and Ethan had encouraged their kids to follow their creative urges.
Once they’d finished eating, Duncan helped clear the table and load the dishwasher. But though he’d already eaten several servings of Beth’s delicious food, he should have guessed there would also be great desserts, given that Cassie’s job was spinning sugar into magic.
“I’ve been venturing out a bit from candy lately and baking up a storm,” Cassie said as she gestured to the pie, cake, and photo-worthy petits fours now in the center of the dining table. “Whatever we don’t finish tonight, everyone should take home, because we have so many other cakes and pies at home already.” Ruby, who was sitting on Cassie’s lap, looked intent on eating her piece of chocolate cake as soon as possible.
Everyone served themselves, and then after a round of exclamations about how good Cassie’s desserts were, she said, “I think it’s time for the three of us to make our big announcement.” She looked down at Ruby, who was still happily eating cake. “Right, sweetie?” Ruby smiled through a mouthful of chocolate frosting. Lola’s and Ashley’s eyes were shining as Cassie said, “We’re going to have a baby!” She stroked Ruby’s curls. “Another beautiful baby, that is.”
Beth jumped up from the table on a happy sob to give her daughter and Flynn huge hugs, soon followed by everyone else’s congratulations and cheers.
It wasn’t until they sat back down that Duncan realized the distance between Hudson and Larissa seemed to have grown. He didn’t think it was his imagination that they’d pushed their chairs farther apart, or that their smiles seemed forced.
“How far along are you?” Ethan asked Cassie.
“About ten weeks. I’ll be seeing my doctor on Monday to confirm all the dates and everything else. I haven’t had any morning sickness, fortunately.”
“You are so lucky!” Ashley said. “Kevin, you were totally worth it, but OMG, was I sick as a dog when I was pregnant with you.”
“It’s true,” Lola said to Kevin. “Your mom spent nine months face down in the toilet bowl.”
Kevin made a face. “Ewwww, Mom, that’s so disgusting.” Then he grinned at Cassie. “But it’s totally cool that you’re going to have a baby, Aunt Cassie. I’ll help babysit, like with Ruby, but I’m still not gonna change diapers.”
Lola, who was laughing along with everyone else, let Cassie and Flynn know, “I have no problem with diapers or middle-of-the-night duty.” She beamed at the happy couple. “I’m so excited by the way our family is growing!”
Duncan wanted to have what Flynn and Cassie had. A family of his own. A child he would love and raise with affection, a little girl or boy with Lola’s beautiful eyes and bright spirit.
“We have one more announcement,” Flynn said. He and Cassie both looked ecstatic as they said, as one, “We’re engaged!”
More hugs and tears ensued. And then Ethan said to Beth, “You know what we need to do to celebrate, don’t you?”
“Of course I do,” Lola’s mother said, grinning. “We’ve got to get out the instruments. And we need to dance. We can clean this up later.”
“You’re going to think we’re like the von Trapp family singers in The Sound of Music,” Lola told Duncan. “Or the Brady Bunch when they sang and danced in that Christmas special.” But he could see that she was as excited as the rest of her family about celebrating Cassie and Flynn’s great news in a classic Irish way.
Within minutes, the living-room furniture was pushed aside, and Turner was holding Irish pipes on his lap, which looked quite different than Scottish bagpipes. Ashley was holding a flute and Hudson a fiddle.
“If Brandon were here,” Ethan told Duncan, “he’d be on the bodhran, an Irish frame drum. Tonight, we’ll have to make do by stomping our feet and clapping our hands.” Lola’s father picked up a guitar. “Why don’t we start with a jig?”
Within seconds, Duncan felt like he’d been transported to a pub in Ireland, the catchy, joyful music filling his soul.
Beth took Lola’s hand, saying, “It’s time to kick up our heels.”
Lola shot Duncan a look that seemed to say, What can you do but join the madness? Then she followed her mother to the impromptu dance floor.
And what glorious madness it was.
Duncan had seen Irish dancing on TV, but watching it from mere feet away blew his mind. Lola threw herself wholeheartedly into the dance, her movements perfectly coordinated alongside her mother, both of them exceptionally talented dancers.
The last thing he expected was for Lola to reach for him. “Dance with me. We can do one where the man and the woman play off each other.” After Ethan passed his guitar to Cassie so that he could join Beth in the dance, Lola said, “Just follow my lead.”
Duncan’s heart was soon pounding as he jumped and spun and pulled Lola into his arms, her laughter the most beautiful sound he’d ever heard. Though they were surrounded by her family, it felt like it was just the two of them, dancing and laughing and loving each other.
As he swung her close, he whispered in her ear, “I love you.” When she whispered it back, he was happier than he’d ever been.
The doorbell rang just as the song ended. “Moira!” Lola’s mother sounded thrilled to find an unexpected guest at the door. “What a wonderful surprise. If you had told us you were coming up from Boston, we would have held dinner for you. You’re here just in time to dance.”
“My weekend cleared up at the last second, and I thought it would be fun to surprise you.” Moira smiled fondly at everyone. “Hearing the music, seeing the dancing through the window, felt like walking into the local. I almost wondered if I had been magically transported to a pub back in Ireland.”
Moira and Beth had similar accents, and Duncan deduced that they had grown up together. And from the way Lola rushed to give her a hug, he guessed this was the second mother Lola had told him about, the one whose failing business had contributed to her ill health. Fortunately, she looked like she’d recovered from her bout with cancer.
“Moira, I’m so glad you’re here tonight.” Lola took her hand and brought her over to Duncan. “There’s someone I’d like you to meet. This is—”
“Duncan Lyman.” Moira’s smile fell away, her face suddenly ashen. “What are you doing here?”
Duncan didn’t believe he’d ever met Moira, nor did her name ring a bell. But from the look on her face, he had a bad feeling that he was inextricably connected to her all the same.
“He’s here with me, Moira,” Lola said, looking confused as to why her close friend was acting so strangely. “He took one of my drawing classes last weekend, and we—” She looked at Duncan, her eyes full of emotion. “We fell for each other.”
But Moira was shaking her head and backing away as though she couldn’t stand to be this c
lose to him. “He…” When she looked as though she was going to faint, Ethan helped her to one of the couches, while Beth brought her a glass of whiskey. She downed it in one gulp.
“What’s wrong, Moira?” Ethan asked.
But Moira just stared at Duncan, her face even more pale now, if that were possible. “Brilliant Funds was yours, wasn’t it?” Her question came out barely above a whisper. “And you were instrumental in all of our failures.”
The earth actually seemed to stop spinning as Lola turned to Duncan with shock—and disbelief—written all over her face. “Duncan?” She looked like she was going to be ill. “Is this true? Did you have something to do with Moira’s business failing?”
Everyone in the room was silent as they waited for Duncan’s response. Standing in the middle of the Sullivan family, with Moira gazing at him in horror, Duncan felt as though an invisible fist were slamming into his gut, over and over and over again.
Brilliant Funds had been a startup incubator that had promised half a million dollars of funding to each company it worked with as long as company owners first put in one hundred thousand dollars of their own money and then proved their product’s marketability over the first six months. Though Duncan’s signature had been on the contracts, the company had been his brother’s baby, so he’d had nothing to do with the fund. Unfortunately, Duncan had found out too late that Alastair was defrauding and embezzling from the clients of Brilliant Funds.
Lola had told him he was a good man. She’d had faith in him. She’d trusted him implicitly. She’d given her heart to him. And now, he was going to completely betray her trust, her faith, and her love with an honest answer. “Yes, Brilliant Funds was a subsidiary of Lyman Ventures, the company I ran with my brother.”
That was all it took for the woman Duncan loved to jump away from him…and for doubt and stunned disappointment to replace the love in her eyes.
The anguish on Lola’s face made it feel as though a knife had plunged straight through his heart. If only he’d told her everything before tonight, then maybe he could have found a way to make her understand that he’d never meant to hurt anyone—and that he had spent years trying to fix what his brother’s crimes had broken.