by Marie Force
Leaving Bar Harbor and all the family drama behind had been the best thing she’d ever done for herself, and it had brought her to him, which was the best thing that’d ever happened to him. He’d be damned if he’d ever let these people or anyone else hurt her again.
That was why he stayed close to her as their guests began to arrive. Surrounded by their friends, all of whom had dressed up for the occasion, Dan felt Kara begin to relax. This was their new family, the one they had cultivated together, and being around their friends always made them happy.
He had to give her parents credit, they stayed right by their sides, meeting all their friends and exchanging pleasantries with each of them. Chuck Ballard was tall with white hair, a deep tan and a friendly, engaging manner. A “guy’s guy,” Dan had thought upon their initial meeting, the kind of man others gravitated to. At the moment, he was talking about marinas and the boating business with Big Mac and Linda McCarthy.
Dan had to admit that with the liquor flowing, the endless supply of tasty appetizers, his girl at his side and his friends all around him, this party didn’t totally suck the way Kara had told him it would.
“How ya doing?” he whispered in her ear when they got a break from the socializing.
“Not bad.”
“It’s actually kind of nice.”
“I’ll remember you said that later when you want sex. You’re either with them or you’re with me. You can’t have it both ways.”
He burst out laughing, which earned him a glower from his beloved. “I love you so much, Kara Ballard. You’ll never know how much.”
She crooked her finger at him.
Tipping his head in close to her, he held his breath when she whispered in his ear.
“Knowing that makes all of this bearable.” She curled her hand around his arm and gave a possessive squeeze that made him want to drag her out of there in search of a coatroom. Certainly a place like this had a goddamned coatroom, didn’t it? Probably not, since most of the venues on the island catered to a summer crowd that didn’t wear coats. But it was a hotel, too… The idea had his wheels turning. “Would you excuse me for one minute, hon?”
“One minute and one minute only,” she said.
“I’ll be right back.” He left her with a kiss on the cheek and headed for the registration desk, delighted with his plan to surprise her after the party.
Watching Dan walk with purpose out of the room, Kara wanted to chase after him, but he was probably going to the men’s room or something.
“What a great party,” Abby Callahan said as she gave Kara a hug.
“I can’t take any of the credit,” Kara said, introducing Abby and her boyfriend, Adam, to her parents.
“There’re a lot of McCarthys on this island,” Judith said when she shook hands with Adam.
He laughed and nodded in agreement. “Five in my family, then there’re my cousins Laura and Shane, and their dad, my Uncle Frank. My Uncle Kevin and his family are coming over soon for Laura’s wedding. He’s got two sons.”
“I suppose we’re hardly ones to talk,” Chuck said with a laugh. “We’ve got eleven kids, including Kara.”
“The thought of that makes me feel faint,” Abby said.
“I was pregnant for years,” Judith said.
Kara was well aware of exactly how many months her mother had spent pregnant, because she’d heard the number ninety-nine all her life.
“It’s nice to meet you both,” Adam said. “We love Kara.”
At that moment, Kara loved him right back.
“She’s a wonderful daughter,” Chuck said with an affectionate squeeze for Kara.
It took everything she had not to push him away like she had for the last two years after he and her mother threw a fancy wedding for Kelly and Matt, as if their relationship hadn’t left Kara completely flattened. Her dad was trying. She’d give him that much, but not much more. Where the hell was Dan?
“So are you guys going to be next?” Kara asked Adam and Abby.
Abby blushed while Adam stammered. “Um, well, not really quite there yet, are we, babe?”
“Not yet,” Abby replied with a smile for him.
“Sorry,” Kara said. “Didn’t mean to put you on the spot.” She wondered if Adam had noticed the same flash of pain in Abby’s eyes that she had seen. If Kara wasn’t mistaken, Adam was the only one who “wasn’t there yet.”
“This is a great party,” Adam said, seeming eager to change the subject.
“Thanks,” Kara said. “Typical Judith Ballard production. Nothing but the best.”
Dan returned in time to shake hands with Adam and kiss Abby on the cheek. “Glad you guys could come on short notice.”
“A McCarthy never misses a chance for free booze,” Adam said.
“I’ve heard Grant say that very thing a hundred times,” Dan said.
Jenny Wilks and Alex Martinez walked over with Alex’s brother, Paul, and another woman.
“Congratulations, guys,” Jenny said with kisses for Dan and Kara. “What a great party!”
“Thank you,” Kara said, leaning in. “Secretly, I think engagement parties are kind of stupid. They’re like pre-weddings. Same people, different day.”
“See?” Alex said. “That’s what I say, too. I’m glad you agree, Kara.”
“You don’t need to tell her that engagement parties are stupid when you’re at hers,” Jenny said, making Paul laugh at his brother’s distress.
“She started it,” Alex said with a cheeky grin.
“This is Hope Russell,” Paul said. “She’s come to save our lives by helping out with our mom. Hope, this is Kara Ballard and Dan Torrington, the happy couple suffering through this stupidly awesome party.”
“Nice to meet you both,” Hope said. “I was assured that crashers were welcome.”
“Always,” Dan said. “The more, the merrier around here.”
“Totally,” Kara said. “We’re glad you could join us. How are you liking island life so far?”
“I love it,” Hope said. “My son does, too, which is the best part.”
“Make sure you all get something to eat, or my mother will consider herself a complete failure,” Kara said.
“You don’t have to tell me twice,” Alex said.
They headed for the buffet table while Kara and Dan introduced Blaine and Tiffany Taylor to her parents.
“Blaine is the island’s police chief,” Dan added.
“That must be a nice quiet job in a place like this,” Judith said to laughter from Blaine and Tiffany.
“In the winter it is,” she said. “In the summer, I hardly see him.”
“And what do you do?” Judith asked Tiffany.
Kara choked on her champagne as Dan nudged her.
“I own a lingerie store in town,” Tiffany said. “Naughty & Nice. In fact, that beautiful dress of Kara’s came from my store.”
“The naughty side,” Dan added.
He would pay for that later, Kara thought, not daring to make eye contact with her mother.
“I’ll have to stop in to see your place,” Judith said.
“Any time,” Tiffany said, giving Kara a saucy wink.
“I’d like to be there for that,” Kara said.
“Me, too,” Dan added, making everyone laugh except for Judith, who didn’t get the joke.
“She sells more than lingerie and party dresses there, Mom,” Kara said.
For a moment, Judith seemed stumped, and then she said, “Oh. Oh.” Color flooded her cheeks.
“It’s a long, cold winter out here, Mrs. Ballard,” Tiffany said. “We have to find a way to stay busy.”
“Well, yes, I’m sure it is. I’m going to see where your father has gone off to.” Judith scurried away.
“That was awesome,” Kara said as she shook with laughter. “You’re the best.”
“Happy to be of assistance,” Tiffany said.
“You’re just a walking, talking scandal, my love,” Blaine said
with a grin for his wife.
“Thank you,” Tiffany said. “I do what I can for the people.”
The sound of silverware striking crystal caught their attention.
“If everyone could find a seat, please,” Chuck said as his wife stood next to him, beaming.
“Oh God,” Kara said under her breath. “What’s this all about?”
“Kara? Dan? Could you join us up here?”
“Whatever it is, let’s get it over with so we can get to my surprise for later,” Dan said as he took her hand and led her to the front of the room.
“What surprise?”
“Be a good girl in front of our guests, and I’ll tell you.”
“I don’t want to be good.”
“Remember that later.”
As they took their positions with her parents, Kara felt the eyes of everyone on her and wanted to die of embarrassment. She hated being the center of attention and always had, which her parents certainly knew. That had never stopped them from forcing her out of her comfort zone whenever they felt the need to. Today was no exception.
“Thank you so much for joining us today to celebrate the engagement of our daughter Kara to Dan Torrington,” Chuck said after Judith had ensured everyone had champagne. “Kara is the sixth of our eleven children and has always had the strong independent streak that led her here to Gansett to start the launch service in your Salt Pond. We were thrilled to hear of her engagement to Dan Torrington, a man who was certainly no stranger to us. Dan, we’ve admired your work for years, and we look forward to welcoming you into our family.”
As everyone clapped and raised their glasses, Kara went along with it because she was expected to. But part of her wanted to stop everything and ask her parents if they were happy for her for the right reasons. Was it because she’d found the perfect man for her? Was it because he was rich and successful? Or was it because knowing she was happy with him made them feel a little less guilty about the way they’d treated her?
Dan leaned in to kiss her cheek. “Smile,” he whispered. “You’re supposed to be happy today.”
She thought about the way he’d proposed to her, after her sister tried to ambush her earlier in the summer with an unexpected and unwelcome visit. Dan had literally run for her when he discovered Kelly was on the island with her husband and new baby and intended to take Kara by surprise, forcing a confrontation he knew Kara didn’t want.
Thinking about the day they’d spent hiding out from the rest of the world and his adorable, romantic proposal, suddenly it didn’t matter anymore why her parents were happy for her. It didn’t matter that her sister had stolen her boyfriend and the rest of the family had acted like that was no big deal. Nothing mattered but the man who stood beside her, wanting to spend the rest of his life with her.
Kelly and Matt had actually done her a favor. If they hadn’t betrayed her, she never would’ve felt the need to leave Bar Harbor. She wouldn’t have come to Gansett or met Dan, and that would’ve been truly tragic. She’d loved Matt, but not the way she loved Dan. Nothing could compare to that.
Kara could tell she surprised her fiancé when she turned to him, gave him a big, warm smile and then leaned in to kiss him right there in front of everyone. As their friends whooped it up around them, she curled her hand around his neck and slipped him a hint of tongue. When she ended the kiss, he stared at her, confounded, as if trying to decide what had come over her.
Happiness had come over her, pure and simple.
She laughed at his befuddlement and then hugged him, loving the way his body fit against hers, as well as the scent of his cologne and the rough scrape of his whiskers against her face.
“You never fail to amaze me, babe,” he said close to her ear, sending a shiver all the way through her body.
“I love you.”
“I love you, too.”
The clatter of smashing glassware interrupted the moment as everyone turned to see what all the noise was about. Beside her, Dan gasped at the sight of Jim Sturgil, Tiffany’s ex-husband, as he pushed past a waiter carrying a tray of champagne glasses and knocked the tray out of the waiter’s hand, sending more glass smashing to the floor.
“What the hell?” Dan said.
Out of the corner of her eye, Kara saw Blaine get up from the table where he’d been sitting with Tiffany, her sister Maddie, Maddie’s husband, Mac, and Mac’s parents. Tiffany stared at Jim, her eyes big and her face suddenly pale.
“Is everyone having a good time?” Sturgil asked, his voice slurring. His eyes were wild looking, and his white shirt was dirty and hanging untucked over torn pants. He looked like he’d been on a multiday bender. “Is everyone celebrating the man who’s ruined my life? You ruined my life, Torrington! Everything was fine until you showed up here with all your money and connections, and now everyone wants the big celebrity to be their lawyer, and no one wants me! I am this island’s lawyer. Not you! You need to go back to your fancy life in LA and leave us alone. No one wants you here.” From the table where a man in a chef’s coat and hat had been carving tenderloin, Jim picked up a large knife and began swinging it around.
“Don’t take another step,” Blaine said in a tone Kara had never heard from him before.
“You! You stole my wife and kid! My own kid likes you better than she likes me!” He swung the knife in Blaine’s direction. “I ought to gut you the way you’ve gutted me.”
“You did this to yourself, Sturgil,” Blaine said calmly but firmly. “You can toss all the accusations around that you want, but you have only yourself to blame for your problems.”
Jim lunged at him with the knife, but Blaine jumped out of the way.
Dan dropped his arm from around Kara’s shoulders and moved across the room to help Blaine.
“Dan!” Kara screamed after him, afraid he would get hurt again after only recently recovering from the injuries incurred in the sailboat accident.
Everyone was on their feet, and Evan and Mac went to help Dan and Blaine, who were confronting Jim. He waved the big knife around in front of him, daring anyone to get close to him.
“Someone should call the police,” Judith said nervously.
“Blaine is the police,” Kara said. “Give him a minute. He’ll take care of it.”
“Jim,” Tiffany said as she walked toward her ex-husband. “What the hell are you doing? Think about your daughter. Put down that knife and quit acting like a jackass.”
“Tiffany, step back,” Blaine said without taking his eyes off Jim or the knife. “Right now.”
“You think I’m a jackass?” Jim screamed at her. “You did this to me, you stupid bitch!”
Blaine roared and pounced on Jim, his arm tight around Jim’s neck as Dan went for the knife.
“Dan!” Kara screamed, feeling as if her worst nightmare was unfolding right in front of her. “No!”
Cornered, Jim slashed at Dan, who grunted when the knife made contact with him before clattering to the floor.
Kara ran for her fiancé, who was bent in half, while Blaine dragged Jim kicking and screaming from the room. “Dan! Dan! What’s wrong? Are you hurt?”
He looked up at her, grimacing in pain. “Just a scratch.”
That’s when she noticed the pool of blood forming on the floor in front of him.
“Someone call for rescue,” Mac said behind her. “Come on, Dan, have a seat.” After getting Dan into a chair, Mac grabbed a napkin that he wrapped around Dan’s right hand. The napkin quickly soaked through, and Mac calmly swapped it out for another one.
“Sorry ’bout this,” Dan said.
Kara cradled his head against her chest. “It’s not your fault. You weren’t the one with the knife.”
“What’ve you done now, Torrington?” his close friend Grant McCarthy asked as he squatted in front of Dan.
“I was safer in LA than I am here,” he said, forcing a smile for Kara’s benefit. “Might be time to go home.”
Kara knew he was joking, but the comment sc
ared her nonetheless. Gansett was their home, or at least she thought it was.
The EMTs arrived a minute later, and Kara stepped back from Dan to make room for them to tend him.
Her mother’s arm encircled her waist. “Are you all right, honey?”
“I will be when I know he is.”
“He did a brave thing rushing at that man with the knife. Who is that guy?”
“Jim Sturgil. He used to be married to Blaine’s wife, Tiffany, and people don’t like him because of the way he treated her when they got divorced.” As she filled in her mother, Kara never took her eyes off Dan. “When Dan came to the island to write his book, people started seeking out his legal advice, and now they prefer him to Jim.”
“So Dan is actually practicing law here?”
“Has been for a while now. He didn’t intend to, but that’s how it worked out.”
The lead EMT signaled to Kara to come with them.
“I’ll call you later, Mom. Sorry about all this.”
“I just hope he’s okay.”
“So do I.” Kara ran after the stretcher that Dan was strapped to.
“Much ado about nothing,” he said to her when she caught up to him. Despite his assurances, his face was pale and his eyes were glassy with shock, which reminded her of the aftermath of the boating accident—a time she’d much rather forget than relive. “Do you like how I got you out of the stupid party?”
“Don’t make jokes.” The instant the words cleared her lips, she regretted sounding so snappish. It wasn’t his fault he’d gotten hurt.
“I’m okay, babe. I swear. It’s just a cut. They’ll stitch me up, and I’ll be good as new.”
Kara forced herself to breathe through the need to cry with relief that he was okay. When she thought about what might’ve happened, she shuddered.
In the ambulance, Dan held out his good hand to her, and she took it, holding on tight to the man she loved with all her heart.
Chapter 17
“What. The. Hell.” Maddie stood with Tiffany, watching the EMTs take Dan Torrington away from his engagement party on a stretcher.
“Goddamned Jim,” Tiffany muttered, mortified and humiliated by her ex-husband’s tirade. At times like this, she had no idea how she ever could’ve loved him. “What was he hoping to prove by pulling a stunt like this?”