She changed into a bathing suit and cover-up before she left the hospital and headed the thirty minutes to her favorite place in the world—Isle of Palms. She parked along the one main road, grabbed her beach gear, and hauled it the short distance to the beach.
Kenzie closed her eyes and let the sound of waves and the heat of the sun lull her into complete relaxation. It was pure heaven. She read a book and ate a picnic dinner as the sun began to set behind her, finally feeling the craziness from the past couple of days fade away. Okay, and she spent the afternoon thinking of Ryker, too.
“Ugh,” Kenzie groaned as the last of the sun faded from the sky. Why couldn’t she stop thinking about him?
The drive home didn’t help either. She even had the windows down and the rock music turned up. Her hair was flying, she was singing—horribly—and Ryker was still on her mind as she thought about tomorrow.
Kenzie pulled into her driveway and turned off the car. Her house wasn’t that far from Faulkner Shipping. It was in a cute, single-family neighborhood with a lot of young parents and single professionals. Houses had two or three bedrooms and small yards, but her neighbors were friendly and she felt welcome there.
Kenzie hauled her things inside and then jogged out to grab her mail. She waved to her neighbor and reached into the mailbox just as her cell phone rang. “Hello?”
“Kenzie!” the Southern twangy, high-pitched voice yelled over the phone.
“Katie-Jane,” Kenzie said, smiling at the sound of her high school best friend’s voice. KJ, as Kenzie called her, was always so enthusiastic about their hometown and high school days. It didn’t matter they’d graduated from high school ten years ago. KJ was still obsessed with it and everyone they went to school with.
They were from a small rural town in the North Carolina mountains. Asheville was the closest city, about an hour northeast of them. Kenzie was the only one from their high school class of sixty-one students to leave the small town of Hanover. By striking out on her own and moving far from home, she’d committed a cardinal sin in the townsfolks’ view. KJ called about every two weeks to let her know about all the gossip with their high school class and then they saw each other when Kenzie came back to see her family.
“O.M.Geee! Did you get it?”
“Get what?” Kenzie asked.
“Your invitation to the class reunion!”
Kenzie rifled through her mail and found a silver envelope covered in stars. “Just got it.”
“I knew Hailey-Jean wouldn’t send you one so I put mine in the mail the other day. Kenz, we have to talk. I don’t think you should come. It’s going to be too hard for you.”
Duh, it was a reunion. She was the weirdo who moved away. She didn’t care if the current high school team won their football games. She didn’t visit her mama enough, and she definitely didn’t want to see her former fiancé, Bo. In fact, she was already trying to think of an excuse not to go.
“Didn’t get a good band?” Kenzie tried to joke.
“Oh, Kenz. It’s horrible and it’s all everyone is talking about. They’re all saying you aren’t brave enough to show up to the reunion when you’re”—KJ dropped her voice— “single.”
Kenzie didn’t quite know what to say. Yes, she was single, but surely not all sixty other people in her class were married with kids like Katie-Jane.
“I didn’t have the heart to tell you earlier, but it’s about Bo.” KJ paused for effect.
“What about him? Did he die in a hunting accident?” Kenzie laughed, but KJ didn’t.
“Worse! He married Hailey-Jean six months ago.”
Well, crap. That was worse. Her ex-fiancé married her high school nemesis and tormentor.
“I can’t think of two people who deserve each other more. She’ll be everything I refused to be,” Kenzie said honestly. The hatred and pain had faded over the years, but the bitterness was still alive and well.
“You can’t come alone, Kenz. Like, everyone is bringing a date. Everyone. Even Clement has a girlfriend,” she said of the biggest nerd the school had ever produced. Not a cute and sweet nerd either. He was the kind who was mean and constantly pointing out how little you really knew about anything, whether it was history, grammar, comic books or science. “But if you don’t come, then everyone is going to talk about you behind your back. Hailey-Jean is already telling everyone you’re too pathetic to come back home since you’ve failed to get a husband of your own and are just raging with jealousy over her marrying Bo.”
Kenzie rolled her eyes. Yes, that was her town. If you didn’t marry fresh out of high school, you were a failure. Bo was Hailey-Jean’s second husband. She’d married the star of the basketball team a week after graduation and they’d gotten divorced about a year ago.
“I’ll think on it and I’ll call you and let you know if I decide to come. Thanks for the heads up, KJ. You’re a good friend,” Kenzie told her. Even though they’d taken different paths in life, they were still good friends. KJ never thought less of Kenzie for leaving town. She’d literally been the only one to support her, even if she never came to the “big city” to visit her because she was too busy with married life.
“You better call me tomorrow to RSVP and we’ll come up with a plan. The baby is crying. I have to go. Love ya!”
KJ hung up and Kenzie plopped onto her couch. Great. What was she going to do now?
6
Ryker didn’t stand when Nico walked into his port office. Nico took a seat across the desk from Ryker, leaned back, and crossed an ankle over his knee.
“You summoned me?” Nico asked with a trace of annoyance.
“Someone set a bomb off on my docks. Just got the report. And during the chaos, several containers were stolen.” Ryker infused his voice with as much icy steel as he could. He was pissed.
Ryker tossed the arson report on the desk and sat back while Nico scanned it. “You think I did this?”
“Tell me about your cousin,” Ryker responded.
Nico’s jaw tightened briefly and that told Ryker all he needed to know. “He’s family and I don’t talk about family.”
“Then tell me about the Di Maios who are in town.”
“Fat Joey is the head of the Di Maios here. His great-uncle is Michael Di Maio, the head of the crime family.”
Ryker shook his head. “Another Joey? So that’s Fat Joey Di Maios, then your grandfather, Big Joey, and your cousin, Little Joey?”
“Joseph is kind of a popular name for us Catholics. Anyway, don’t let the nickname fool you. He’s ruthless. He never sits back and waits for things to happen. He’s always the one charging into situations like a bull in a china shop. And he doesn’t get intimidated.”
“Mary Alice intimidated him,” Ryker said proudly.
“Mary Alice could intimidate God Almighty. I’d hire her myself if I didn’t fear for my immortal soul. And the ruler she carries.” Nico shivered and Ryker relaxed a little.
“I trust you to handle your cousin if he’s behind this. I’ll handle Fat Joey. This was a courtesy call. If it turns out your cousin did this and you don’t take care of it, no matter how strong you think you and your grandfather are, you all won’t be able to protect him. I’ll take your whole family down without thinking twice. You do not fuck with what is mine. Am I clear?”