Page 38 of Keeping Secrets

She shelved the last book that she was holding and returned to the front desk to wait out the last few minutes until closing. One customer hurried up to check out a stack of books before closing time, and she scanned them one at a time, taking in the titles. The young mother had collected a wide range of parenting books; her toddler was screaming and fighting the straps of his stroller while she waited for Keely to scan each of the books.

"Good luck," Keely said brightly as she pushed the stack back across the counter.

"Thanks." The woman’s tone was sarcastic, and she gave Keely a dark look as she scooped up the pile of books and carried it over to dump it in the storage area beneath the stroller.

"I didn’t mean—" she stuttered, but the woman was already walking away. "Have a nice day!"

She grimaced at the fumbled interaction and made a mental note to be extra nice to the woman the next time she came in. The weather was still cold, and a handful of local moms came to the library nearly every day – just to get out of the house, she imagined. With a few minutes left on the clock and no patrons on site, she pulled her phone out and texted her sponsor.

Still up for half moon bay tomorrow?

Of course, she texted back a moment later. Are you okay?

All good. Normal life stuff, some bumps here and there. But yeah. I’m good.

Glad to hear it. We’ll catch up properly tomorrow. She signed off with a string of pink hearts.

Keely took the long way home, cutting over a few blocks so that she could walk along the cliffs. The wind was whipping down the coast, but she had Travis‘s hat to keep her ears warm. She kept meaning to return it, but she hadn’t seen him since he had lent it to her.

It was a gorgeous day, clear blue sky. Pelican Point was so often overcast, with a bright white sky or dark gray clouds, that on blue-sky days it felt as if the whole world had opened up. The ocean shone a brilliant sapphire dotted with whitecaps and crashing waves down below. She loved the dramatic California coastline.

When her nose started to turn numb, she turned away from the coast and cut back to the street that she left on. She pulled her phone out of her pocket and called her brother.

"Hey, what’s up?" Nick answered.

"I just got off work. Are you busy?"

"No, we’re just hanging. Travis is over, and Chloe made cookies."

"You had me at cookies. I’ll be there in three minutes."

She felt a shimmering anxiety at the thought of seeing Travis, something between anticipation and apprehension. Whatever it was, she wasn’t going to let it keep her away from her brother. And anyway, she needed to return his hat.

She walked into the house without knocking and was greeted by the warm scent of freshly baked chocolate chip cookies. She veered away from the living room and headed into the kitchen first.

"Hello!" Chloe exclaimed. "Perfect timing. These have cooled just enough to eat."

"I know, I could smell them from my house."

Chloe’s always wide blue eyes widened even farther. "Really?"

"No," she laughed. "Nick told me."

"Oh." She smiled, abashed. "That makes more sense."

"They do smell amazing, though."

"Do you want some milk?" Chloe asked as she walked to the fridge.

"For sure."

Chloe pulled out one of the half gallon glass bottles that came from a local farm. “I go through one of these a day. No kidding. Pregnancy cravings."

"At least it’s not, like, peanut butter and pickles."

"No," Chloe said with a laugh, "mostly just ice cream and milk."

"That baby’s going to have some strong bones."

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