Page 52 of Keeping Secrets

He didn’t kiss her goodbye.

CHAPTER 16

Travis was alone in Scot’s office, battling with outdated software as he tried to get everybody paid.

His phone buzzed with another text from Keely, and he tapped the message to see a picture of a box overflowing with plump golden lemons. She had spent the morning driving around to multiple farms and grocery stores in search of the best possible ingredients for her upcoming event.

He had to admire her commitment to doing everything she took on to the best of her ability.

You secured the Meyers! he texted back. Enthusiasm and encouragement were easier to convey in text messages - just add an exclamation mark. In reality, he felt nothing but a creeping dread regarding the interview that Keely had scheduled with a detective later that day.

He had no idea what to do. He didn’t want to just stop texting and ghost her; she deserved better than that. At the same time, he felt like a complete creep for stringing her along without telling her the truth.

But he couldn’t tell her about Adam. Maybe that made him a coward, or maybe it was just prudent to keep her out of it. After all, wasn’t asking her to carry the weight of his secret even more selfish than keeping her in the dark?

He didn’t know.

All he knew was that he was in deep – not only in this situation that could easily land him in prison, but in whatever this was with Keely. He had always loved her like family, but what he felt now was something else entirely.

That kiss… he had never felt this way about anyone. Ever. It felt like she had imprinted herself on his bones, written herself into his cells. He thought about her constantly.

The thought of ending things with her, of hurting her, of never seeing her again… it was too painful to contemplate. Prison was one thing. He could imagine that with unsettling clarity. But even then, he felt as if the worst part of a prison sentence would be never seeing Keely’s face again. Or worse yet, seeing disgust in her eyes when she looked at him.

“You are so far gone, man,” he muttered under his breath.

He shook his head, trying to refocus on the ancient payroll program on Scot’s computer. They needed something new.

And he suspected that new software would require new hardware too, because this old computer was barely chugging along as it was. He was starting to consider just buying some decent payroll software for his laptop and telling Scot after the fact because doing it this way was tedious as hell.

He blunt forced his way through the task and finally printed out the checks for the Bottlenose employees. Scot would need to sign them. If he went to his house now, he could get everyone paid at the start of their shifts tonight.

Wish me luck, Keely texted.

Those three little words went through his body like a shockwave.

She was headed into the police station.

He took a breath and texted back, You’ve got this.

Then he put it out of his mind. She hadn’t been there the night that Adam died, hadn’t even spoken to the man in months. The authorities were grasping at straws, going all the way back to an ex-girlfriend who had nothing to do with any of this.

They had nothing.

He was safe.

Life was good in Pelican Point. He had friends here who were as dear to him as family – even more so, they were what family should be. Scot needed him.

No one was coming for him, and he refused to let fear derail his life.

The only way through was forward.

He shrugged on a jean jacket and went out to face the gray skies and biting wind. He walked the short distance to Scot’s house, and simply moving out in the open took the edge off his anxiety. He spent too much time at the bar. He needed to get out more, move his body out in nature to combat the worries that plagued him.

Hiking through the state park with Keely would be a good start. In spite of all that he carried, all the fear and worry and responsibility, his heart lifted when he thought of seeing her again. He wanted to see the look on her face when she spotted the elephant seals, the absurd males and the lumbering mothers with their adorable pups.

He wanted to hold her hand again, to put his arm around her, to stand between her and the chill coastal wind.

He wanted to kiss her again.

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