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 planned 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!”