Page 8 of Keeping Secrets

"Thanks."

Michelle checked the time on her phone. "I would love to stay longer, but I need to get home to relieve the sitter."

"Yeah, of course."

She put some money down on the table and stood.

Keely got up from the table to hug her goodbye. "Thanks for coming all the way out here."

"It’s a pretty drive," Michelle said again. "I don’t get quiet time to myself very often, so I enjoyed it. I won’t be able to make it out here every week, but maybe once a month? Every other week if I can manage it."

"Sounds good."

Michelle gave her one last hug. "You’ve got this, kid. You’re doing great."

Keely swallowed past the lump in her throat. "Thank you."

"Call me anytime, day or night."

She nodded and sat back down as Michelle walked out. The day was young, and she had no plans, so she sat there for a long while nursing her lemonade and enjoying the sensation of standing on the edge of something. At the start of something.

True adulthood, a whole new chapter in her life.

She was ready.

Or… ready to be ready.

It was early afternoon when she got back to Pelican Point, and she had no desire to go inside and sit in her house alone. Time by herself wasn’t the pure torture that it had been six months ago, but too much downtime still gave her a creepy crawly feeling underneath her skin. Better to keep moving and not let the feeling set in to begin with, because it could be hard to shake once it took hold.

She left her Jeep parked close to the cottage and walked down the road to town – "town" being the single charming commercial street that cut through the center of the small peninsula.

The day was cool, and a fierce wind whipped in through the buildings, but the sky was a vibrant shade of blue. The January sun was warm on her upturned face, and she felt a tentative peace settle over her.

First she walked the length of the street aimlessly, just taking in her new town. She had spent time in Pelican Point before deciding to move there, but it was different walking through town with the knowledge that this was her new home.

She desperately wanted to feel a part of the community, and she knew that working in town would go a long way toward making that happen.

When the road gave way to the residential part of town, she turned and walked back. She felt a little nervous going into stores with no résumé in hand and no help wanted signs in sight, but she had to start somewhere. So she challenged herself to walk into each business and ask if they were hiring.

She walked into the hardware store first and felt a small surge of relief when the girl behind the counter told her that they weren’t hiring. She didn’t know the names of even half of the things in there, and that would have been a steep learning curve for her first job in town.

Back in Rocky Hill, she had worked a series of jobs that ranged from boring to soul-crushing. Cashier work, cleaning houses, babysitting the holy terrors that lived next door to her parents. She didn’t want to be too picky, because she knew that the pickings here in town were slim, but she wanted to land a job that she could look forward to. A job that brought smiles to people’s faces, like Chloe did scooping ice cream at Kula.

With the exception of the vape shop where Adam had worked, which she walked past with a repressed shiver, she walked into each of the businesses set along the street to ask if they were hiring. Not a single place said yes, but she got a "maybe" from the little grocery store with its specialty products and wall of local produce. They told her to check back the next morning, when the general manager would be in.

Buoyed by the prospect of a job that she might actually enjoy, she jogged over to the ice cream shop. Chloe had already told her that Kula was not hiring, but she had other motivations for stepping through those glass doors.

"Keely!" Chloe’s smile was sunshine bright. She had cut back on her hours at the ice cream shop to reduce time spent on her feet, but she still served up ice cream with a smile several days a week. "How is your day going?"

"Pretty good. Better once I’ve had some ice cream."

"Isn’t that always the case?"

"I never met a day that couldn’t be made better with ice cream." The falseness of that statement bit at her as soon as it was out of her mouth. She was still haunted by the dark days in her recent past that no simple glimmers like ice cream or sunshine had been able to reach. She pushed the memories back down her throat and away.

Her expression must have changed, because Chloe was looking at her with a quizzical expression.

"What do you recommend?" Keely asked, trying to bring the brightness back into her voice.

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