Claiming Kara [Fate Harbor 3] (Siren Publishing Ménage Amour)

by Caitlyn O'Leary

  “I told you all I was going to teach a glass blowing class in New Mexico. I didn’t want anyone to know in case it didn’t go well. I guess I must have known they’d blow me off again.” Kara’s voice continued to tremble, and her mother just held her closer.

  “Tell me what happened, baby,” her mother urged.

  “They were so happy to see me. I thought they were going to ask me to stay, Mom. I really did. I planned it for the end of long-lining season so they’d have time for me.” Kara tried to stop the tears, but the memories, both good and bad, struck like lightning from a clear blue sky. “It started out so perfect, you know? They had been trying to build the business so they could hand it over to their younger brothers. They wanted to make sure that it could support their families and cover the schooling costs for Sully and Timothy.” Ilsa nodded encouragingly. She knew the story well, Ben and Quinn were the oldest of a large family. Their father had died when they were young, so they had taken over the family fishing boats up in Sitka, Alaska.

  “Anyway, what they really wanted to do was come down to Seattle. They had it all planned, they told me. They had found a charter business that wanted to sell, and they were going to buy it. They were going to move here to be with me, and we were going to start a family…” Kara couldn’t continue.

  “Finish it, baby,” Ilsa demanded.

  “One of their boats sank.” Kara sobbed. “Nobody died,” she rushed to assure her mother. “The Coast Guard does a great job. But this was the second time they had to put our life together on hold.”

  “I don’t understand. Why didn’t you just stay up there with them?” Ilsa asked.

  “Because they know how dangerous fishing is. Their dad died while fishing. Every season close to a hundred fishermen die each year in Alaska, and Quinn didn’t want to put me through that. He refused to let me stay.” Kara finally had her emotions under control, remembering her anger at the men she loved for making that decision on her behalf.

  “Let me guess. They used their money for the charter business to buy another boat up in Sitka?”

  “You got it in one, Mom,” Kara said, dry eyed. “So, I came back home and told you all that my glass-blowing class had been a success. That’s when I decided it was time to start dating men who would want to make a life with me now.”

  “Honey, Ben and Quinn want to make a life with you,” Ilsa insisted.

  “Their brothers are big boys. They wanted Ben and Quinn to go to Seattle. Randy, the next oldest, said that they could make it all right with just the one boat, that he and Kyle could get a loan for a second one and be fine. But Ben and Quinn wouldn’t listen, especially Quinn, because Randy has a wife and children. They needed income for their Mom and the other boys’ college, and there were still Timothy’s legal bills. Mom, I really believe that deep down they must not want me, because they always find some excuse to let me go or send me away. If they really loved me, they would do anything to keep me. I’ve been throwing myself at them for five years. Well, I finally learned my lesson.” Kara’s voice was calm.

  Ilsa looked at her daughter and thought through what she said. She couldn’t really argue with Kara’s logic. “Okay, honey. I understand, I won’t bring them up again, all right?”

  “Thanks, Mom.” Kara hugged her mother. “And I’ll talk to the dads after dinner and apologize. I didn’t realize what I was doing.”

  “Can you do one more thing for me, Kara?” Ilsa asked as she held onto her daughter’s shoulders, looking her in the eye.

  “Anything,” Kara promised.

  “Make sure you don’t rush into anything. I want my baby girl to be happy.” This time it was Ilsa with tears in her eyes.

  “Mom, I want to have a family. I want to raise kids like you did. I want a good man to do that with. That’s going to make me happy,” Kara stated firmly.

  “Okay, honey.” Ilsa kissed her daughter. “Let’s get the rest of this food out to the hungry hoard.”

  After dinner, her mom hustled her three brothers out the door so that Kara could have some alone time with her dads, Conn and Leif, Sr. She wasn’t sure where to start, and as usual, it was her papa, Conn, who had just taken her into his arms.

  “I love you, munchkin. No matter what you have to say, we’ll understand. It’ll be all right,” the big man assured her.

  “Papa, I’m so sorry, I didn’t mean to hurt you.” She sniffled into his sweater.

  “Kara, the only thing that hurt was seeing you so upset. Do you need to talk about it, or did you get it all out with your mom?” Conn stroked his hand soothingly down the length of her hair.

  “I told Mom. I didn’t realize I was pushing you and Daddy away. I’ve been such an idiot.” She pulled out of Conn’s arms and walked over to Leif, Sr., who pulled her in for a hug. “I’m so sorry, Daddy. Can you forgive me?” she asked the gentle blond giant.

  “There’s nothing to forgive,” he assured her, “unless you want to count all the times we’ve considered going up to Alaska to kick some Tlingit ass.” He snarled. Kara gave a wet laugh.

  “Yeah, well, I think they have some Viking ancestry mixed in there, as well, so you might end up getting knocked on your ass,” she warned.

  “Right is might, Munchkin,” Conn reminded her with a wicked smile. Kara felt all of her pain drain away as she was surrounded by the love and affection of her two fathers. Ilsa brought out a coffee cake that she had hidden away from her sons, so the four of them ate that with hot cocoa and ended up talking late into the evening, providing Kara with a sense of peace that she hadn’t even realized she had been missing.

  Chapter 7

  That night when she got home, Kara had a lot of thinking to do. She sat down on the back porch and let Butch and Sundance bring her the tennis balls in a halfhearted game of catch as she thought back to the conversation she had had with her mom and dads.

  It was great having her family so solidly on her side. The importance of family was one of the first things that she had bonded over with Ben and Quinn. There were so many things about those men that had made Kara think that they were perfect for her.

  Kara stopped throwing the tennis balls to Butch and Sundance. Her heart hadn’t been in it from the start, and thinking about Quinn and Ben just made her sad. No matter how happy the memories, she knew how the story ended and it was heartbreaking. The dogs whined at her feet. They knew her moods, and each of them pressed their heads against her, trying to offer comfort. She dug in and petted them the way she knew they liked, but even that made her sad, thinking of Newman and Redford. As she brushed away a tear, the dogs began to bark and do a happy dance and ran around to the side of the house.

  Kara knew it had to be one of her brothers. They probably had figured out why they had been booted out after Sunday dinner and wanted to check on her. She really wasn’t ready to talk to Dane or Eric, since they were so firmly entrenched in the Shotbrook corner, but she guessed she’d have to deal.

  She was surprised to see Leif round the corner. He’d only been to her house once by himself since coming home from Iraq.

  “Hey, little sister, it looked like you might need some company tonight,” Leif said as he climbed up on the top step and sat down close beside her. Kara knew that his gaze missed nothing. He’d been very observant before the Army, but since coming home, she’d noticed that he had the equivalent of an artist’s eye, taking in every aspect of his surroundings, maybe not to draw, but definitely noticing every detail. So, she knew that her tearstained face had been noticed, but he didn’t comment.

  “Would you like a beer?” she asked.

  “Not really, I just thought I’d sit for a while and enjoy the silence. I really missed the Northwest while I was in sand country.” He gently put his big arm around her, coaxing her to rest her head on his shoulder. They sat like that for quite some time, the dogs lying quietly at their feet, the stars and moon providing all the light they needed.

  “Did I tell you about the woman Caleb and I met?” Leif aske
d.

  “Nuh-uh,” Kara said, shaking her head.

  “Well, little sister, this is only between Caleb and me. I’m only sharing this with you if you tell me about these men in Alaska. I’ve heard Dane and Eric’s version, but I want to hear it from you. I want to know why I came home after serving four tours to find my sister giving serious consideration to marrying a man who is all wrong for her. Frankly, sis, it’s scaring me to death. Can you tell me, Kara?” When she tried to pull out of his arms, his strength wouldn’t let her, and she realized she really didn’t want to. She’d always felt safe with her oldest brother. He’d been her security blanket all of her life. He was ten years older, and she adored him, and he adored her. She melted back into his embrace. He’d already been in the Army when she became an artist and was getting teased by the rest of the clan. He would never have teased her. He would have understood.

  “The men in Alaska are Ben and Quinn Shotbrook, and you would like them. They are good and honorable, but they don’t want me, so I need to move on,” she said succinctly. Kara was proud that she said that without emotion, without a betraying tremor.

  “According to Eric and Dane, they love you and want to marry you. They adore you.”

  “Leif, you want to tell me about a woman you and Caleb met. Do you love her?” Kara asked.

  “We don’t know her well enough to love her,” Leif answered honestly.

  “Well, they know me well enough. They’ve told me they love me, but they give excuse after excuse for us not to be together. I say actions speak louder than words.” This time she couldn’t stop the tears from forming.

  “Can you tell me? Can you explain it to me?” Leif asked.

  “I’ll try. I can’t go over all the details. It’s just too painful,” she cautioned.

  “Tell me what you can.”

  Kara took some time to gather her thoughts. “Leif, I went into it knowing it wasn’t going to last. You met Burt on leave.” Kara laughed at her brother’s snort of derision at the sound of her first boyfriend’s name. “Yeah, well, I thought it was time to put him into the past where he belonged.”

  “I think that was a fine idea. So, how old were you then, about twenty-four?” Leif asked.

  “Twenty-five, but who’s counting. Anyway, I met Ben, and he was amazing. I decided he was the one, but then I met his brother…” Kara’s voice trailed off.

  “So it was kind of like Mom with our fathers.”

  “Exactly!” Kara said, happy that Leif understood. “Oh, Leif, I don’t want to go into specifics, especially with my brother, but it was so much more than physical. I felt cherished.” She stopped talking, just rested her head on his shoulder for a few minutes, listening to the wind in the trees.

  “I knew that Ben was going to have to go back out on the boat the next day, and I’d never see him again. I knew that going into it with them, but it was worth it. But then they changed things. They said they wanted to stay with me as long as I was in Alaska. Leif, it was glorious. I tried to provide for them, and they said I did. But I don’t see how it was even close, considering how cosseted and loved they made me feel. They talked me into staying longer so that I could meet their mother. They even talked Dane and Eric into staying longer so that they could get to know them.

  “Dane and Eric ended up getting two more weeks of vacation. The five of us went fishing, spent a lot of time with the whole Shotbrook clan. God, Leif, it was almost like just spending time around our dinner table. And then there was Auntie Dot’s diner, it was just like Hart’s only she was nicer to me. Ben, Quinn, Eric, and Dane got to be thick as thieves.

  “Ben and Quinn called the dads for permission to marry me. Can you believe it?” Kara felt her throat close up again and pushed her face into her brother’s chest, trying not to cry. “I didn’t know. Dane told me after they proposed. They proposed right in front of everybody at a family dinner. They said they wanted to make a life with me, but for a while it would have to be in Alaska.”

  “Baby girl, I can see why Dane and Eric thought so highly of them.”

  “It gets even better. Quinn had a plan so that they didn’t have to be commercial fishermen anymore, because he didn’t want to be in such a dangerous profession and have me worrying all the time. He had everything worked out so he could put his younger brothers through college and everything. Did I tell you that Ben and Quinn were the oldest of seven brothers?” she asked, her voice wobbling. Leif pulled her in closer.

  “Dane and Eric did,” Leif said softly.

  “They told you about Timothy, didn’t they?” she asked in a quiet voice.

  “I want to hear it from you, Kara.”

  “I’d met him, I knew something was wrong. But you could tell that nobody in the family wanted to see it. It was the only time that the three of us really argued. I had seen meth use by some of the artists at ASU, and it’s not always easy to spot. One of my best friends in college ended up overdosing and dying from it. That’s how I knew.”

  “I know I would have hated to hear that about any one of you,” Leif admitted. “I don’t think I would have believed it, even if there were signs.”

  “I had to come back to Seattle. I’d said yes to them. I was in the process of selling this house, and figuring out how to move my studio up to Alaska, and still maintain my relationships with the Seattle galleries. They came down to visit for two weeks. Mom, Daddy and Papa loved them. They brought me Butch and Sundance, Redford was the daddy…” Her voice trailed off again, and the dogs looked up at the sound of their names. They eventually lay back down when they realized nothing was going on.

  “While they were down here, Timothy got high and stole a car. Levi was trying to talk him out of it, but there’s no reasoning with someone high on meth. We asked Levi why he got in the car with him, but he can’t remember. Anyway, he was in the car when it crashed. Tim hit another car head-on. Timothy wasn’t hurt badly, but Levi was in ICU. The woman in the other car was in critical condition as well. Timothy was in jail. We all flew up to Alaska. I think Quinn was mad at me for being right. It was awful.” She buried her face in Leif’s neck, holding in her tears. She’d cried enough.

  “Then what happened?”

  “I stayed up there with them for three months. Levi needed physical therapy. His back had been damaged, and he had to relearn to walk. Then there was Timothy’s trial. The woman came out of her coma, and she was eventually fine. I think that was why Timothy’s lawyer was able to talk the court into keeping his case in juvenile court. Between the medical bills and the lawyer fees, the family was financially wiped out. They had to mortgage the house and both the boats. I offered my savings and you would have thought I had suggested they make a deal with the devil.” Kara’s voice rose a couple of decibels as she remembered that particular fight. “A week later they said they needed to put off any permanent plans for the future, and they understood if I needed to find somebody else.” Leif turned and pulled her into his arms for a full hug, and Kara wrapped her arms tightly around the big man.

  “Oh, little sister, they didn’t understand you at all, did they?”

  “That’s just it, Leif, I thought they did. How could they say they loved me, hear me say I would marry them, and then expect me to find someone else?” Kara choked back a sob. Leif stroked her hair and crooned nonsense for long minutes.

  “Please, Leif, can you tell me about this woman you are going to look for?” Kara begged. She just needed something, anything, to take her out of her own memories.

  “Not until you finish it. I know you, Kara. I know you didn’t leave it like that. There had to have been some trigger to have you getting together with the cold-fish doctor.” Now she remembered why she both loved and hated her oldest brother.

  “He’s not a cold fish, he’s a nice man,” she defended. “You haven’t even met him.”

  “Your dogs don’t like him. Enough said,” Leif said in his decisive, commanding officer’s voice.

  “Damn gossips,” Kara mutter
ed. “Fine—my dogs don’t like him. I like him, that’s what matters. I’m going to sleep with him, and I’m going to marry him.”

  “How long have you been going out with him?” Leif asked.

  “Five weeks.”

  “And you haven’t slept with him?” he demanded in an incredulous voice. “Well, someone is a cold fish, and I’m betting it’s not the one who was thinking about marrying two men.”

  “Well, I don’t know him that well. He might have been considering two men at one time.” Kara giggled. Leif chuckled with her.

  “Okay, so now that we’ve established that Jim is a cold fish, and you shouldn’t marry him, why don’t you tell me about how you tried to lure back your men? Because I know my baby sister, and she definitely didn’t let it end with them sending her home,” he said, grinning down at her.

  Kara gave her brother a squeeze and smiled right back at him. “You’re right, I didn’t. But I had to wait a long time. I waited until Tim was out of juvie and they were back on track, financially. I stayed in touch with their Aunt Dorothy and she gave me a heads-up when she thought the time was right to make a move. First, I sent them flowers. Lots of flowers.” She grinned evilly, and Leif shouted with laughter. “Yeah, Quinn hated that. Dorothy called me. She said it was the funniest thing she’d ever seen. Quinn is always going to be the harder case.”

  “Is he the oldest?” Leif asked.

  Kara nodded. “Now he’s thirty-three, and Ben is twenty-seven.”

  “How old were they when their dad died?” Leif asked.

  “Twenty-two and sixteen,” she answered, “and the youngest boy, Levi, was eight.”

  “God, that must have been tough,” Leif commiserated.

  “But they got through that. They’ve gotten through everything life has thrown at them. Sometimes, I think that’s the problem. They’re so used to sacrificing that they just don’t know any other way. When they finally have an opportunity to take what they want, they just assume they can’t, that they have to take the hard road instead,” Kara said, shaking her head dejectedly.