Chapter 15
Keely tossed yet another dress aside in disgust. There was nothing like a first date to make her hate everything in her closet.
A knock sounded at the front door, and her heart jumped. She looked at the clock on her wall and then double-checked it against the time on her phone.
She still had a solid half an hour before Travis showed up.
Unless she had gotten the time wrong.
She checked the text thread. Still thirty-two minutes before he was due at her front door. Maybe he had gotten the time wrong. She studied the pile of clothes on her bed for a moment, then pulled on her quilted bathrobe and went to open the front door.
”Chloe,” she said in relief. ”What are you doing here?”
”Hello to you too.” Her friend grinned in response as she looked at her hair up in a messy bun and her frayed old bathrobe. ”I thought you could use some help getting ready.”
”Ready for what?” she hedged.
Chloe‘s look turned exasperated, but her smile stayed in place. She nearly always had a smile for everyone, as far as Keely had seen. Whether it was her friends stressing out over some CPR event or sticky-fingered kids smearing their hands all over the windows of the ice cream shop, Chloe spoke to them with a smile. And as far as Keely could tell, those smiles were genuine. Nick had chosen well. He was lucky to have met her to begin with.
Keely took a breath and refocused on the evening in front of her. ”How did you know?”
Chloe shrugged. ”A little bird told me.”
”Seriously, how did you know?”
”My spies at the library.”
”Who was spying on us?” she demanded.
”I’ve said too much already.” Chloe walked inside and closed the door behind her. ”Anyway, we don’t have time for that. Let’s get you ready.”
”Does Nick know?” she asked nervously.
”Not yet. Hopefully Travis will be upfront about it and tell him soon. I figure he’s waiting to see how the first date goes.” She looked down at the bathrobe and shook her head. ”Speaking of which…”
”I have no idea what to wear,” Keely admitted. She led Chloe into her room and gestured at the mountain of clothes. Nearly everything she owned was piled on her bed.
“I was the same before my first date with Nick,” Chloe said with a laugh. “It was a helicopter ride, for Pete’s sake. What’s a girl supposed to wear on a helicopter ride that may or may not be a real date? I had all my girls there talking me through it.”
“Thanks for coming over.”
“Any time.” Chloe sat in Keely’s reading chair and put her feet up. She rested her hands on the round hill of her belly. “So where are you going?”
“That’s the thing,” Keely said. “I have no idea. Some restaurant, I assume. He’s taking me out to dinner. But I don’t know if it’s fancy or casual or what.”
“I see.” She looked thoughtfully at the piles of clothes. “Well, what do you feel best in?”
“What?”
“Which dress or shirt or jeans makes you feel the most confident? The most yourself?”
Keely frowned thoughtfully and began to paw through the pile of discarded clothes with that question in mind. She smiled when she uncovered a wool sweater dress that she had found at a thrift shop. It was garishly colored and high necked, decidedly not a first-date dress. And yet… she loved how the bright colors made her feel. She liked the warm hug of the soft merino on her skin. And she wasn’t exactly unhappy with the way the dress hugged the curves of her body.
She lifted it from the pile and held it up, one eyebrow raised, waiting for Chloe to give it a thumbs down. But she just smiled even wider than usual and said, “Let’s see it.”
Keely traded her old bathrobe out for the dress and instantly felt more herself, confident and excited. She turned to Chloe for a second opinion.
“You think?” Nervousness fluttered in her stomach.
“I love it.”
“It’s not too weird?”
“It’s the best kind of weird, and I love how it sets off your hair. Let’s get those copper tresses out of that mom bun, okay?”
Keely chuckled and freed her hair. She ran a brush through it until it hung in gleaming waves over her shoulders.
“You look amazing,” Chloe assured her. She held both hands out. “Now help me up out of this chair so I can waddle back down the street before Travis gets here.”
She took both of Chloe’s hands and helped her to stand, then gave them an extra squeeze before letting go. “Thank you.”
Chloe gave her a sideways hug, leaning around her own belly. “I’m so happy you’re here in Pelican Point. Whatever happens tonight, I hope you stay.”
“I intend to,” Keely said. “I didn’t come here for him.”
“Are you sure?” Chloe released her and looked at her with wide blue eyes.
“Sure.” It was mostly true. Though now, on the cusp of their first date, she could admit – at least to herself – that Travis’s presence here had been at least part of the draw. “Anyway, I’m about to be an auntie! Wild horses couldn’t drag me away now.”
Chloe’s eyes gleamed with emotion, and she hugged her again. “I always wanted a sister.”
Keely hugged her back. “Me too.”
She released her and brushed a hand over her eyes, then glanced up at the clock. “Okay, I should go. I love you. Have fun tonight.”
“Thank you.”
With Chloe gone and nothing to do but wait, Keely fidgeted nervously. She checked on the lemon curd that she had made that afternoon. It was cool now, and she was tempted to eat the whole bowl, but she shut the fridge firmly and took a shaky breath. Then she opened it again and poured herself a cold glass of mint tea, trying to settle her stomach.
She had no reason to be so nervous.
It was just Travis, after all. She had known him most of her life.
Then again.
It was Travis.
There was a knock on the door, and she jumped, sending mint tea sloshing over the side of her glass. She set it down and dried her hands, glancing at the clock on the stove.
He was right on time.
Forcing herself to breathe, she went to open the door. Her smile felt shaky, but her energy began to settle as soon as she met his eyes. There was something about him, about his energy. When she was away from him, thinking about him, wondering, she felt incredibly nervous. But when she was near him, she felt content. Settled, in the best way. Safe.
Don’t go looking for fireworks,her sponsor had advised. When you find a man who settles your nervous system instead of throwing it all out whack, he’s the keeper.
“Hi,” she greeted him on an exhale, almost a sigh of relief.
“Hi.” He grinned, and his eyes held hers for a long moment. “Ready to go?”
“Yep.” She grabbed her purse and coat from the table next to the door, then closed it behind her and locked up. “Where are we going?”
“It’s a surprise.” He opened the passenger-side door for her. “If that’s okay.”
“Sure,” she agreed as she climbed in. “That’s okay.”
Her nerves jangled again as he shut the door and she sat there waiting, but they began to settle again as soon as he was seated next to her. They were quiet for a moment as he turned the car around. A mournful bluegrass song played on the car stereo.
“You like bluegrass?” she asked quietly.
“I like just about everything, minus the autotune stuff. Luckily Scot doesn’t allow any of that. He likes the older stuff.”
“Like Elvis.”
“Yeah, a lot of Elvis. He’ll let me play some new stuff if it’s good. Indie music.” The voice on the speakers continued to croon, and Travis glanced at her as he drove slowly through town. “I can change it if you’d like.”
“No, I like it.” The music was sweet and sad. It made her chest ache in a good way. “How’s Scot doing?”
“About the same,” he said quietly. “Doctors are still trying to figure out exactly what’s going on with him. He doesn’t communicate with me much.”
“Seems he communicates with you more than anybody.”
“Yeah, well.” Travis chuckled, but it sounded sad. “That doesn’t say much.”
“I think it says a lot. He’s a private, guarded person – but he trusts you.”
“He’s known me a long time.”
“Nearly as long as I have,” she said with a grin.
He smiled at her, then refocused on the road as he pulled out onto the highway.
“I remember when you and Nick egged the Peterson house.”
He gave her a wide-eyed glance. “I have no idea what you’re talking about.”
“It was after Blake Peterson pushed your bike down into the ravine. Nick took all of the eggs that we were going to dye for Easter, and you two chucked them at his house.”
“We’re upstanding citizens. We would never.”
“You might be upstanding citizens now, but I knew you when you were just a couple of miscreants.”
“You must have me confused with someone else,” he said in a playful tone.
She laughed. “I followed you!”
“You did not! You must have been, what, like seven years old?”
“Yep. But I did, I followed you two out and down the block. I was going to run up and start throwing eggs with you, but then Blake’s grandma came out and started throwing eggs back.” She laughed. “You two ran home so fast you didn’t even see me standing there by the hedge.”
Travis laughed. “I can’t believe you saw that.”
“I was always following you two around town, whether you wanted me there or not. I was so stubborn. And brave.”
“You still are.”
“Which?” she asked lightly. “Brave or stubborn?”
“Brave and strong,” he said, smiling as he added, “and maybe a little bit stubborn.”
She was grateful that his eyes were on the road so that he didn’t see her cheeks flush.
They drove north along Highway One, and the sunset colors took her breath away. The sun was down, but the sky was still painted orange and purple above the ocean, fading to deep blue overhead. The same colors shimmered and sparkled on the windblown water far below.
“It’s so beautiful here,” she breathed at last.
“A long way from Rocky Hill,” Travis said, “even if it is a short drive.”
“That was a strange place to grow up, don’t you think? Such a small town in the mountains, it felt like we were in the middle of nowhere. But really we were so close to the edge of the world, and big cities like San Francisco… it made us all restless, I think. Seems like no one our age stuck around.”
“Including us.”
“Including us,” she echoed.
“We didn’t go far, though.”
“Feels like we did.”
“Yeah, I guess it does.” They were quiet for a moment. Then he asked, “How do you like your library job?”
“I love it,” she said. “Well, parts of it.”
He smiled at her, and her heart sped. “Which parts?”
“Talking to people about books. Even reshelving books, because I’m just being paid to spend time in a library. Anything on the first floor, basically.”
“I thought the library only had one floor.”
“There’s a basement,” she grumbled.
“I see.”
“I do not like working in the basement.” She took a breath. “It’s where we go to catalog new books, fix the ones that are falling apart, that sort of thing. The work is tedious, and being underground makes my skin crawl.”
“Could you request above ground work?”
“I only just started. I can’t ask them to not give me any of the grunt work.”
“It couldn’t hurt to ask.”
“I guess not,” she agreed, though the fear was still there. Fear that at any moment, they would realize that she had zero credentials and zero right to be working there alongside the real librarians. Requesting special treatment this early on would feel presumptuous.
Travis turned off the highway and drove inland, up through a grove of eucalyptus trees. Keely rolled her window down and let the fragrant breeze into the car. The powerful scent was somewhere between menthol and pine, and she could feel her lungs open up. The coastal wind shook the trees, creating a susurrus like water over rocks.
When Travis parked, she climbed out of the car and just looked up at the trees, watching their long leaves move and dance in the last of the day’s light.
“Where are we?” she asked.
“It’s a retreat center. They have a restaurant that I hear people raving about. Apparently they have the best desserts around. I thought it might spark some inspiration for that party you’re catering.”
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.”
“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.
He didn’t kiss her goodbye.