Page 50 of Keeping Secrets

She beamed at him. “That is so sweet.”

“I hear they have phenomenal burgers too.” He offered her his arm, and she took it.

Conversation flowed easily all through dinner, moving seamlessly from past to present to future. Mostly they talked about the food, which was phenomenal. They split a huge bison burger and fries to leave room for dessert. There were six desserts on the menu that night, and they ordered them all.

“I get that this was meant to be encouraging,” she said as she took another spoonful of the most decadent chocolate mousse she had ever tasted, “but I will never be able to make anything this good.”

“I don’t believe you.” Travis was working his way through an impossibly delicate slice of cake that tasted of rose and pistachio.

“Not without culinary school,” she amended. “And even then…”

“None of that. You think those big donors haven’t been to every fancy restaurant on the West Coast? They’ve been here for sure. But they asked you to cater their party. Because those cakes that you made for the CPR fundraiser were every bit as good as anything on this table.”

Keely blinked back tears and took a huge bite of cheesecake to buy herself a moment before she replied.

“Any thoughts on what you’re going to make?”

She swallowed and said, “There seem to be two warring factions within the family.”

“What do you mean?”

“Lemon versus chocolate.”

He grinned and scooped up a spoonful of lavender meringue. “I see.”

“So I figure I’ll make at least two desserts. One involving lemon curd, or maybe a few different types of citrus. And another super decadent chocolate dessert, something like this mousse.”

“Everybody wins.”

“Yes.”

They chatted a while longer, working their way through every morsel of dessert. Then Travis got up to use the restroom, and when he came back to the table, the waiter brought him the paid receipt for him to sign.

“Thank you,” Keely said.

“My pleasure.”

She reached for her purse. “I could at least leave a tip.”

“Already done.”

She put her coat on, and they walked out into the night. The wind was loud up in the tops of the towering eucalyptus trees, but they were so sheltered down on the ground that there was only a slight breeze. Through a break in the trees, she could see a bit of ocean where moonlight glinted off the surface of the water.

Travis took her hand and gestured toward the coastline. “Hear that?”

The closeness of him, his hand in hers, fuddled her mind so badly that she couldn’t string two thoughts together. “What?”

“That sound, do you hear?”

She blinked, refocused, listened. “The wind in the trees?”

“No, quieter. Farther away.”

Beyond the susurrus of leaves and the quiet rush of cars on the highway, she could hear a sound like distant drumming. It was punctuated by the occasional squawk, like an oversized bird.

“What is that?”

“Elephant seals.”

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