Page 51 of Keeping Secrets

“Really?” She strained to hear them, but their rhythmic calls were lost as the wind picked up.

“They’re just across the highway from here, down on the beach. It’s a state park. It’s a long way down, but I guess their calls bounce off the cliffs. They get really loud sometimes. I drive up here after work every now and then, when I need to clear my head.”

“I had no idea. That there were elephant seals here, I mean. I’ve never seen any.”

“It’s high season for them right now. There should be some babies down there by this time of year, I think.” He smiled down at her, his face softly lit by moonlight on one side and the golden glow of restaurant windows on the other. “We could go see them this week, if you’d like.”

She nodded slowly. “I don’t have to work on Wednesday.”

“It’s a bit of a hike,” he warned.

“Good.”

He smiled and led her to the car, where he opened the door for her. She hesitated, reluctant to let go of his hand and end the night. They stood there for a long moment, still and silent, with their fingers interlaced. Their eyes traced the lines of each other’s faces, so close that his gaze felt almost like a caress.

And then he kissed her.

He still smelled of dessert, sweet lavender and rose and pistachio. She probably tasted like chocolate. It was a thorough kiss, though the only parts of them to touch were their lips and their hands. When he finally pulled away, she felt lightheaded.

He disentangled his hand from hers and stepped back, smiling at her and holding the door open. She got into the car, bumping her head slightly on the way in, and he bit back a laugh.

“Are you okay?” He reached a hand out to rest lightly on her head where she had bumped it.

“Yeah. I’m okay.”

He bent down for one last kiss before he closed her door.

They were quiet as he drove back down the hill, but his hand found hers in the dark.

Her phone buzzed with a message, and she checked it automatically.

So? It was Chloe. How did it go?

Keely would reply later. But a voicemail notification caught her eye, and she frowned. It was from a local area code, probably one of the numbers she had called that afternoon.

“Would you mind if I checked a voice message? I called about a dozen farms to find local Meyer lemons, and it looks like one of them got back to me.”

“Of course not,” he said. “Go ahead.”

She hit play and held it up to her ear, trying to remember which farm this number was attached to.

Only it wasn’t a farm.

“Miss Thompson, this is Detective Riegler. I need to speak with you regarding an ongoing investigation into the death of one Adam Walsh. Would you please give me a call back tomorrow? I just have a few questions for you.”

Keely’s hand shook as she lowered the phone to her lap. She glanced sideways at Travis, and from the look on his face, she knew that he had heard the call as well.

She didn’t know what to say. Even thinking of the time she had spent with Adam made her feel sick. Suddenly the night’s amazing food wasn’t sitting so well in her stomach.

They were silent the rest of the way home.

“See you Wednesday?” she asked weakly when they arrived at her house.

“Sure.” He could barely meet her eyes.

Did he think less of her for ever getting involved with Adam? Had the call broken the spell of the night? Why hadn’t she waited to listen to that stupid voice message?

She wanted to say something, anything, about what he had overheard. But she felt shaky and sick. Her legs trembled as Travis walked her to her door.

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