An Imperfect Reunion Read online

  Table of Contents

  Legal Page

  Title Page

  Book Description

  Dedication

  Trademarks Acknowledgement

  Chapter One

  Chapter Two

  Chapter Three

  Chapter Four

  Chapter Five

  Chapter Six

  Chapter Seven

  Chapter Eight

  Chapter Nine

  Chapter Ten

  Chapter Eleven

  Chapter Twelve

  Chapter Thirteen

  Epilogue

  New Excerpt

  About the Author

  Publisher Page

  An Imperfect Reunion

  ISBN # 978-1-78651-611-4

  ©Copyright Trina Lane 2017

  Cover Art by Posh Gosh ©Copyright November 2017

  Edited by Nicki Richards

  Pride Publishing

  This is a work of fiction. All characters, places and events are from the author’s imagination and should not be confused with fact. Any resemblance to persons, living or dead, events or places is purely coincidental.

  All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced in any material form, whether by printing, photocopying, scanning or otherwise without the written permission of the publisher, Pride Publishing.

  Applications should be addressed in the first instance, in writing, to Pride Publishing. Unauthorised or restricted acts in relation to this publication may result in civil proceedings and/or criminal prosecution.

  The author and illustrator have asserted their respective rights under the Copyright Designs and Patents Acts 1988 (as amended) to be identified as the author of this book and illustrator of the artwork.

  Published in 2017 by Pride Publishing, Think Tank, Ruston Way, Lincoln, LN6 7FL, UK

  Pride Publishing is a subsidiary of Totally Entwined Group Limited.

  Perfect Love

  AN IMPERFECT REUNION

  Trina Lane

  Book six in the Perfect Love series

  Their plans for a paradise vacation didn’t include bullets and bombs.

  The gang from Boston has decided to celebrate their friendship with a group vacation. The plans are perfect. The setting is paradise. But before they can soak up the sun and sip their Mai Tais, the group finds themselves embroiled in a terrorist attack.

  Scattered to the corners of the island, the group of friends must find their way back to each other. Meanwhile, Ryan becomes the key to unravelling the terrorist organization. Is the group’s love for their partners, and each other, strong enough to survive the turmoil of an attack designed to rip apart the fabric of their country?

  Dedication

  This book is dedicated to all the readers who fell in love with these characters as much as I did. Their stories needed one last chapter, or thirteen in this case. ☺

  Happy Reading!!!!

  Trademarks Acknowledgement

  The author acknowledges the trademarked status and trademark owners of the following wordmarks mentioned in this work of fiction:

  Disney: The Walt Disney Company

  YouTube: Alphabet Inc.

  World Cup: International Federation of Association Football

  Guinness: Diageo

  Adventures in Babysitting: Buena Vista Pictures

  Weekend at Bernie’s: 20th Century Fox

  RV: Colombia Pictures

  Hostel: Lionsgate Screen Gems

  Mr. Hobbs Takes a Vacation: 20th Century Fox

  EuroTrip: The Montecito Picture Company

  National Lampoon: Universal Pictures

  Lasik: Gholam A. Peyman

  Amazon: Amazon.com, Inc.

  Supercalifragilisticexpialidocious: The Walt Disney Company

  Tempur-Pedic: Tempur Sealy International

  Smith and Wesson Performance Center 1911: American Outdoor Brands Corporation

  Beretta 92 FS 9mm: Beretta Holding

  Monster Energy: Monster Beverage Corporation

  Beretta M9: Beretta Holding

  Nike: Nike, Inc.

  Antica Napa Valley Cabernet Sauvignon: Antica Napa Valley

  Thermos: Thermos LLC

  Thumbelina: Hans Christian Andersen

  Sex Wax: Mr Zog’s

  Xanax: Pfizer, Inc.

  Hanjin Shipping: Hanjin Shipping Co. Ltd.

  Cub Scouts: The Scout Association

  Steri-strip & Tegaderm: 3M Company

  Sponge Bob: Nickelodeon

  Solarcaine: Bayer AG

  Mission Impossible: Paramount Pictures

  Scooby-Doo: Hanna-Barbera Productions

  Glock 22: Glock Ges. m.b.H

  Hawaii 5-0 & 5-0 Task Force: CBS Television Dist. / Paramount Home Media Distribution

  Wet ’n’ Wild water park Tornado & Surfsliders: Premier Parks LLC

  Bluetooth: Bluetooth SIG

  Phone Clip: Cochlear Ltd.

  Twitter: Twitter, Inc.

  Jeep Renegade: Fiat Chrysler Automobiles

  Alaskan Airlines: Alaska Air Group

  Channel Two: Fox Television Stations LLC

  Google Maps: Google, Inc.

  Sterling submachine gun: Sterling Armaments Company

  Great Escape: United Artists

  Taser: Axon Enterprise, Inc.

  Chapter One

  May 2016

  “Alannah Nicole McGuire!”

  Calleigh stood with her arms crossed, tapping her foot, and counted to ten under her breath while she waited for her five- almost six-going-on-sixteen-year-old daughter to deign to grace her mother with her presence.

  A pixie with a mop of curly black hair and sapphire eyes peered around the doorframe to her bathroom.

  “Yeah?”

  “Can you tell me why all my makeup is out and there is powder and eyeshadow dust all over the vanity?”

  “I was using it.”

  Of course. That makes perfect sense.

  “Why? You know you’re not supposed to go digging in your fathers’ and my bathroom.”

  “But I needed it for our tea party.”

  She almost didn’t want to know. Almost.

  “Why did you need makeup for a tea party?”

  Alannah blinked, looking exactly like Rick when he was confused.

  “Because we needed another girl.”

  Calleigh did some quick math in her head. Their house was bursting at the seams for the annual Memorial Day get-together. She knew that Mikey, Brandon and Deshawn were outside kicking the soccer ball around in the backyard. That left Charlie and Gabriella as Alannah’s partners in crime.

  “Can you show me?”

  Alannah rolled her eyes, apparently assuming that her mother was too stupid to figure out the clear logic of her mind. They left the master bedroom and went down to the second floor where the kids’ and guest rooms were located. Alannah headed for her room and when Calleigh stepped into the best replication of a fairy princess forest, outside of a Disney movie, she had to hold back the giggles.

  Poor little Charlie—Vic, Miranda and Chase’s five-year-old—was sitting at the play table. He wore a gold plastic tiara, Alannah’s bright pink Easter dress and a smile. Calleigh had to give her daughter credit on the makeup job, even if it did look as though the blush, eyeshadow and lipstick had been applied for an outlandish drag show rather than a Sunday afternoon tea party.

  “Wow,” she said slowly. “Charlie, sweetheart, are you okay?”

  He nodded and picked up his tea cup, pretending to take a drink. Gabriella poured some for Alannah and the three of them proceeded as if the Queen of England were in residence.

  “Oh, my God!”

  Calleigh turned at the exclamation. Rick stood behind her, admirably
trying to hold in the laughter that was pouring out of his eyes. “They’re going to kill you.”

  She pushed him back a couple of feet so the kids weren’t paying attention to them. “Oh, no. That was all your daughter’s doing.”

  “You’re the one who showed her what makeup was.”

  Conor snuck up behind Rick and wrapped his arms around their husband’s waist. “An’ yisser the one who showed her de YouTube videos with makeup artists.”

  Rick groaned and leaned back against Conor’s shoulder. “She kept asking me how the people in the circus got to be so colorful.”

  Calleigh gave both her husbands a quick kiss. “As much as I love seeing you two, why are you here and not supervising Chase on the grill out back? You do remember last fall when he turned the burgers into black briquettes?”

  “He’s safe. Grapenuts and Logan are keeping an eye on him. It completely confounds me how a nationally renowned plastic surgeon is utterly unable to work a basic grill.”

  Conor nibbled on Rick’s ear. “I think he likes ter act de maggot so that everyone will take over an’ he can be a total dosser with a drink an’ snack, while de kip of us do all de work.”

  That is a rather genius idea.

  “Hmm, like how the two of you are slaving away right now?”

  “Hey, Miranda and Vic are getting the fruit salad together, Ryan’s keeping an eye on the boys and Clay told us to get out of the kitchen while he’s finishing up the other stuff.”

  “Ah. So the two of you thought you’d sneak upstairs for a little play time.”

  Rick pulled Calleigh into his arms and nuzzled her neck. “You could come with us,” he whispered. “You know how I love being in the middle.”

  She gave Rick a quick grope then stepped back.

  “Tease.”

  She smiled. “Maybe, but in case you forgot”—she pointed into the bedroom—“there are three other ankle biters needing supervision. And maybe some wet wipes.”

  Rick and Conor both peered around the door, snickering. Rick pulled out his phone and snapped a photo of Charlie then sent the message to Vic.

  About thirty seconds later, there was a shout from the floor below. Rick and Conor took off for the third floor as if fire licked at their heels.

  “Cowards!” Calleigh called out.

  She took one last look in the bedroom and decided to go face Charlie’s parents. As she approached the kitchen she heard the excited voices of Miranda, Vic and Clay.

  “Is it safe to come in?” she called out.

  Miranda came running over and gave Calleigh a huge hug. “Are you kidding me? This is the best blackmail material ever!”

  Vic rolled his eyes. “While I can’t say I’m as excited as my wife at seeing our son in pink crinoline, I will say he’s showing off those legs as only a proud Burns man could.”

  Ryan looked up from mixing the bruschetta pasta salad. “I agree with Vic. Yellow is much more his color, or maybe nice sunset orange.”

  Vic took the tray of extra crispy seasoned fries from the oven. There would have been a mutiny from the kids had they only stuck with grilled fruit and veggies and there were no French fries available.

  “You are so gay,” Vic said.

  “Says the man with a male lover of, what, twenty-five years now?” Ryan countered.

  Miranda stirred the lemonade in the big pitcher. “Um, hello. Wife here? He swings both ways.”

  Ryan looked around the room. “Speaking of swinging, where did your two men go off to?”

  Calleigh’s cheeks heated and Ryan chuckled.

  “Never mind.”

  The door to the backyard opened and Chase popped his head in. “Ethan and Logan said that the food is just about done.” He was about to close the door when he peeked back in. “Oh, and, Calleigh, I just wanted to let you know that the acoustics of your house are amazing. Sound from that third floor carries really well.” He winked then disappeared.

  They all looked up at the ceiling.

  “I’m going to kill them,” Calleigh said softly.

  She picked up the video monitor from the counter and hit the talk over button. “Charlie, Gabriella, and Alannah, please come downstairs. Lunch is ready.”

  “But, Mom, we’re drinking our tea!”

  Calleigh winced at the shout that came through the tiny speaker. None of the kids stood up or even appeared to contemplate her request.

  She pushed the button. “Okay, I guess that means we get to eat all the hotdogs and French fries.”

  The next moment it sounded like a herd of elephants were stampeding above their heads. Everyone in the room started to laugh. Calleigh picked up a couple of side dishes and carried them out to the picnic tables they had set up for the gathering. Mikey and Brandon had arranged the place settings earlier. She smiled as she noticed they’d used rocks from the garden to hold down the plates and napkins.

  “Mikey, Brandon, thank you for setting the table!”

  Mikey froze on the spot and put his hands on his waist. “I told you, it’s Michael now. I’m too old for that baby name!”

  “Right, sorry!”

  “Jeez, Mom. Don’t you know that ten year olds don’t go by those silly kid names anymore?” Ethan asked with a smirk. A great cry from the yard assaulted her ears. Deshawn, Ethan and Ryan’s son, stood in the goal holding up the soccer ball he’d just stopped. Brandon kneeled in the grass dramatically weeping as if he’d just lost the World Cup final.

  “Nice stop, D!” Ethan cheered.

  “He looks good, Ethan.”

  “Yeah he’s worked really hard with the psychologist, and is starting to open up a lot more.”

  When they’d met seven years ago Calleigh never would have thought she would see Ethan wearing a proud papa face. But when he and Ryan had announced a couple of years ago that they were adopting an eight-year-old out of foster care, it forced her to reevaluate her friend’s personality. To her, Ethan had always been the margarita-guzzling, smart-ass, hair-band fan. Killer in the courtroom and jester in the living room.

  There was also the matter of both Ethan and Ryan having been workaholics as long as she’d known them. Ethan was an assistant U.S. Attorney, and Ryan was now the special agent in charge of the FBI Boston division. She’d been worried how they would handle the demands of parenthood. But the men had blended the two parts of their lives with only a moderate amount of growing pains.

  It helped that Deshawn was a great kid. He’d been in the system for four years. He was gentle, imaginative and even-tempered. From the moment they’d introduced him to Michael and Brandon the three boys had gotten along great. She knew from Ryan’s bragging that Deshawn did very well in school. Calleigh had seen the shy and very quiet little boy blossom under his parents’ praise, and he now expressed himself well.

  “Has he seen his sisters lately?”

  Ethan frowned and shook his head. “We tried setting up a playdate with their foster parents a couple of weeks ago, but got a call that they couldn’t make it. We try to make sure they talk on the phone once a week. I’m hoping they find a forever home soon.”

  “Would the two of you ever consider taking them in?”

  He sighed. “I don’t think we could. I mean we love Deshawn and he’s really completed our family, but having a matching set of six-year-old girls, too?” He gave a little shudder. “I would have no idea what to do with them.”

  Rick pushed between them and snagged a grape from the fruit salad bowl. “Twins. Double the trouble, double the fun. Believe me, we know.”

  “Mo grian! Mo gealachí! Bring ya’ in!” Conor called out. “Where is de bag of taytos an’ black stuff?”

  Rick handed Conor a glass of water and a skewer of grilled veggies. “No chips or Guinness. We’re going healthy. Remember?”

  “Gabh síos ort fhéin,” Conor said under his breath.

  “If I could, I would, but that’s what I have you for, love.”

  Rick bent over and Calleigh couldn’t help but stare at
her husband’s ass. It was still as tight as the photos she’d seen of his days as a collegiate soccer player. She glanced up and saw Conor’s eyes also trained on the defined globes. Their gazes met and in the aquamarine depths Calleigh saw the promise of a pleasurable evening once their house had cleared out for the night.

  “All right, you three, don’t make me get the hose out,” Chase said as he set a platter of meat on the table.

  Rick handed Conor a bottle of Guinness with a chaste kiss. “That’s because I love you.”

  “Mmhm, and you don’t want to listen to him bitch all night,” Chase said.

  They all piled food on their plates and found a seat around the table. Miranda and Vic were the last to sit down after making sure the kids table was settled.

  “So, I’ve been thinking,” Ryan said.

  “Always dangerous,” Chase mumbled.

  Ryan glanced around before flipping Chase the finger, while taking a drink to hide the gesture from little eyes.

  “It’s been a long time since we took a vacation.” He looked over at Ethan and saw a nod. “I don’t know about all of you, but with work and kids and life in general it’s been four years for us. I haven’t heard about any of you making any big plans.”

  A chorus of heads shook around the table.

  “Well, except for Niall, Trevor, and Matt. I swear those three take a vacation at least every six months.”

  “Three incomes and no kids. Plus Niall travels for his work a lot so they like to take weekend trips around his shoots,” Logan added.

  “I get it. Where are they by the way?”

  “Matt texted a little bit ago. They’re on the way. Apparently Trevor had a slight mishap in the shower.”

  “Is he okay?” Miranda asked.

  Logan snickered. “Yeah. Apparently he fell on Niall’s— Ow!” he shouted and rubbed his leg. “I was going to say tile, you perv,” he said to Clay.

  “Yeah, sure you were.”

  Ryan rolled his eyes. “Anyway. So Ethan and I have been tossing around the idea of planning a much needed vacation for a while, and we thought we’d ask if any of you were interested in putting something together?”