Page 59 of Keeping Secrets

“Okay.”

“I’ll see you at the next meeting.”

“Okay.”

“Bring me some of those test batches!”

Keely laughed again. “Okay.”

“Do you feel okay to drive now?”

“Yeah. Yeah, I’m safe to drive.”

“Good. I prescribe time with friends or with your brother. Baking if it feels like fun. If it feels stressful, or like work, then just give it a day. I give you complete permission to veg. Curl up with a carton of gelato and watch some TV with a friend, okay?”

“Sounds good.”

“Okay. I’m sitting outside my kids’ school, so I’m going to go. If you’re sure you’re okay.”

“I’m okay.” She took a breath, all the way down to the bottom of her lungs. “Michelle?”

“Yeah?”

“Thank you. For everything.”

“Anytime, kiddo. I’m here.”

Keely hung up. She put the lid back on the box, storing it away for another time.

Life was good. She had a date tomorrow and a party to cater this weekend. She had books and friends and family. Community.

No more looking backward.

It was time to move forward.

CHAPTER 18

Travis felt a twinge of embarrassment as he drove past Nick and Chloe’s place. He’d had the obligatory awkward conversation with his childhood friend to tell him that he and Keely were seeing each other.

Nick hadn’t made much of it. A look, a nod, a change of subject. He was a quiet person. And he knew – they both knew – how significant this was. Nick didn’t have to bluster. Travis knew how important Nick’s little sister was to him – and he had a feeling that Nick knew what Keely meant to Travis as well.

He parked in front of Keely’s place and walked up to the door. She opened it before he had the chance to knock.

She was dressed for adventure, in an old pair of jeans and hiking shoes. She pulled a canvas jacket over her wool sweater and pulled a hat over her red hair. His hat, the one that he had given her weeks ago to protect her ears from the fierce coastal wind. She would need it today.

“Ready to go?” he asked. “I packed lunch.”

“Yep!” She slung a backpack over her shoulder, then closed the door and locked it. “I packed dessert.”

“Awesome. I’ve got a thermos of hot tea in the car too.”

“Perfect.”

He opened the door for her, and she thanked him with a kiss on the cheek before she climbed in. They were quiet on the drive north, but it was a comfortable silence.

No matter how many times he drove this stretch of Highway One, the beauty of it always astonished him. There were dramatic views of the ocean cliffs on one side and rolling hills on the other, stands of wind-bent trees that hugged the road, and old buildings like a lighthouse that stood stark and white against the blue sky.

Keely had liked the bluegrass music she’d heard the last time she was in his car, so he was playing another album by the same group today. Between the sweeping ocean views and the lull of the music, conversation felt unnecessary.

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