Page 2 of Keeping Secrets

"Just set it on the floor there. I’ll figure it out later."

"That car of yours is falling apart. I can’t believe it got here from Rocky Hill in one piece."

"She’s a good, reliable car." The Jeep was old, roughly the same age as Keely, and it had seen better days. But she’d bought it with her own money, just a few months back. It was hers, and she loved it.

"It’s a wreck."

"It is not! Did you come here just to insult my car and my books?"

"And your mess of a house," Nick teased. Once an older brother, always an older brother. But there was a lightness to their banter that hadn’t been there for a long time; he was glad to have her here, and that warmed her heart.

"We came to help you move in," Chloe said from the doorway. She walked in holding a tray of something that smelled amazing, and Nick hurried to take it from her.

"Here, let me carry that."

"I can carry a lasagna." Chloe rolled her eyes and looked at Keely. "He wouldn’t let me help with the boxes."

"You’re not supposed to carry anything."

She smiled at him as she rested one hand on her growing belly. "Anything heavy."

"The boxes are pretty heavy," Keely said with a wry grin.

"No kidding!" Travis walked in carrying a plastic tote. He looked around for a moment before setting it atop her box of books. "So are we going to break into that lasagna or what?"

"Travis!" Chloe scolded. "It’s for Keely!"

Nick looked at his girlfriend. "You mean that we drove all the way here smelling that lasagna–"

"I can’t believe I let you drive me here. It’s like two blocks."

"--and we don’t get to eat any?"

"That’s way too much for just me," Keely said, "and luckily the kitchen’s not a mess."

"What, you didn’t steal all of Mom’s kitchen gadgets when you moved out?"

"She gave me a few things," she said past the guilt that constricted her throat. She had stolen from her parents, in her darkest days. Nick must have seen the darkness in her eyes, because his expression turned contrite in an instant. She smiled and shook her head the tiniest bit from side to side, letting him know that it was fine. She was fine.

"This kitchen was already set up," she continued, "so I didn’t have to bring or buy much."

She led them through and pulled four plates down from a shelf. The lasagna steamed when she cut into it and served up generous slices.

"There’s some leftover Greek salad in the fridge," she told her brother, "and a pitcher of lemonade."

"Why am I not surprised that you made meals and beverages before you’d even unpacked?"

"How am I supposed to unpack without sustenance?" she shot back.

"Pizza," he said flatly. "You order pizza."

"Or you call Chloe," Travis added, "and she delivers lasagna."

"By car," Chloe said with a roll of her eyes, "even though we live on the same street."

"That’s a long way to walk carrying lasagna," Nick said as he brought four glasses to the table.

"It’s really not."

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