Page 13 of Keeping Secrets

"Well, I do still have two more interviews scheduled." But her smile was promising. "I'll call you in a day or two when I've made my decision."

"Thank you very much." She stood and held out her hand. Ingrid shook it, and Keely walked out the door.

In no hurry to leave but wanting to be alone with her thoughts, she veered to the left and walked deep into the stacks. Or as deep as she could in this little library. She soon met with a corner and turned right, wandering past the plastic-covered spines until she found the history section.

By the time she had finished getting to know the library, she was carrying a tottering stack of books three feet high. It was only when she reached the front desk that she realized that she didn't know what their limit was. And she didn't even have a library card.

The second problem was quickly remedied, and luckily her tower, impressive as it was, did not exceed the library limit for twenty books out at a time. She figured that the high number was probably more to accommodate picture books for children than towers like this, but there were just too many good books to be denied.

And now she was wishing that she had driven there. But she managed to stuff five books into her bag, and she clutched the rest in both arms as she walked down the gentle slope on her mile-long walk.

It would be amazing to land a job such a short way from home with so many fascinating books on offer. She was glad that she had gone for it, that she hadn’t let her nerves and low self-worth get the better of her. It was something that she and Michelle talked about a lot – being careful not to believe every thought or feeling or belief that came to visit.

She was learning to base her decisions on her values, rather than her emotions. It was easy in theory, but much trickier in practice.

The afternoon passed in a blink, with Keely curled up on her cozy new couch with her stack of books, bouncing from history to fiction to cookbooks, leaving scraps of paper in each.

It was only when the sky dimmed enough that she was straining to read by the light that came through the window that she realized it was time to walk over to Nick and Chloe's house for dinner.

She pulled her peppermint fudge from the fridge and gave it an experimental nudge to make sure that it had fully solidified. It was ready to go, and so she clicked a cover into place and walked out the door.

She was still wearing the wannabe librarian outfit that she had donned earlier, but she couldn't be bothered to change. Travis would be there too, and a part of her still wanted to put on something more alluring… but the bulk of her wanted to kick that hopeless romantic in the shins.

Travis couldn't be bothered to answer her texts, and so she had no one to impress. She was going to dinner with Chloe, her brother, and her brother's best friend. No need to change… or undo any buttons.

With her homemade fudge in both hands, she walked the short distance to Chloe's place. The door was open in invitation. She walked inside, calling out as she did so, "Anybody home? Everybody decent?"

"Very funny," Nick said dryly. He closed the door behind her and then took the dish out of her hands. "What's this?"

"Fudge."

He brightened. "The peanut butter kind?"

She shook her head. "New recipe. Peppermint dark chocolate."

Nick made a face. "I like the peanut butter kind."

"What are you, six?" She kicked off her shoes and walked into the kitchen, which was rich with the smells of cooked tomato and… seafood?

"Hey." She greeted Chloe with a kiss on the cheek. Chloe had a tomato-smudged apron on over a pretty floral dress. "What's for dinner?"

"Cioppino." Chloe shrugged and smiled. "I hope that's okay. I had a craving."

"It smells amazing." She walked to the stove to see the tomato soup bubbling.

"It's ready, I think." Chloe turned off the burner below the pot. "We're just waiting for Travis."

"Wait no more!" Travis said as he walked into the kitchen with Nick. It was a weak impression of his usual charm, and Keely peered at him, wondering again what was wrong.

Well, if he didn't want to tell her, she didn't need to know.

She deliberately turned her back on him and focused her attention on Chloe.

"Can I help you serve it up?"

"That would be great." Chloe opened the oven to peek inside, and the rich smell of garlic bread wafted out. "Nick, would you pull down four bowls?"

Nick handed the bowls to Keely as Chloe turned off the oven and pulled the garlic bread out. After a few moments of busyness, they all settled down around Chloe's kitchen table.

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