By the time he got to Jesse’s room, the boy was already sound asleep. He looked so peaceful. It was hard to believe he could be such a ball of energy all day long, creating havoc in his wake, and then crash with an illusion of an angel on his face. Hunt tucked the covers around the boy and switched off the bedside lamp.
He poked his head into Jackson’s room and said good night then went downstairs to clean up the mess that always seemed to follow in the wake of the boys.
He picked up empty glasses and one half full one, a plate from the coffee table, a gum wrapper off the floor. The boys had been playing a video game in the front room, and he switched off the game and the TV. A simple quiet settled over the house. Natalie had drifted back to sleep. He guessed that was a good thing, because the sooner she recovered, the sooner she could take care of the boys before he managed to make some big mistake with them.
He’d come here to help her out, but to be honest, his knowledge of raising kids was limited. More than limited. Oh, he could mow the yard, take care of the truck, make some needed repairs around the house, but as far as helping with the boys, he was clueless. He was trying his best, but he always felt they were getting the better of him and he was pretty sure they knew it.
~ * ~
Keely walked home from the cafe. It was only a short three block walk to their two story home on Juniper Street. She liked walking home at night and unwinding from the stress of the day. Comfort Crossing was a safe town, well as safe as a town could be these days. She walked down Main Street and cut across Fourth Street to Juniper. The moonlight filtered through the large old trees lining the street. A slight breeze had picked up, chilling the air. She quickened her pace, mentally reminding herself it was still sweater weather this time of year and to bring one tomorrow when she left for work.
She climbed up the porch steps and push through the front door. “Hey, Mother. I’m home.”
Really, should a woman of her age be saying that every night?
“We’re in here, Keely.”
Keely walked into the family room where her sister and mom sat half-watching the end of the evening news. Her mother had the inevitable crossword puzzle held in her lap, a mechanical pencil clipped to the precisely folded newspaper. “What’s an eight letter word for trapped?”
My life? No, wait that was two words, and not enough letters. Kelly dropped her purse by the end of the couch.
“Starts with the letter C.”
“Cornered.” She was good at this synonym for her life thing.
“Good business tonight?” Katherine looked up from the book she was reading, her blonde hair spilling across her shoulders in the lamplight.
“Pretty brisk.” Keely looked over at her sister and for a moment could almost picture her as she was when they were teenagers. Vibrant. Alive. The captain of the cheerleading squad, instead of shackled to the chrome and black wheelchair that was her constant companion now.
“You need any help before I head off to bed?” Keely just wanted to crash, but had to at least offer to help Katherine.
“No, I’m fine. I think I’ll stay up a bit and catch a movie. I’m not very tired tonight.”
“Well, call upstairs if you need me.”
Keely walked past her sister’s bedroom, the room that used to be her father’s den. They’d converted it to a bedroom with a wheelchair accessible bathroom after Katherine’s accident. Terms like wheelchair accessible had become part of their daily vocabulary after the accident. That along with the long ramp up the side of the front porch were constant reminders of how their lives had all changed that one night fifteen years ago.
All her plans had gone up in smoke. Well, her sister’s plans too, if she was being honest. Keely had planned to go away to college. She’d gotten a scholarship to the University of Missouri to study journalism. Katherine was going to finish up high school and then step in and learn to run the restaurant. Instead, Katherine had had multiple surgeries and physical therapy, and Keely had stayed home to help her parents with the cafe. The family’s finances had been stretched thin. Then her father had died of a heart attack just one year later. The entire responsibility of the restaurant—and the family’s entire income—fell directly on Keely’s shoulders. Which is where it belonged. Because the whole mess that was their lives was all her fault.
CHAPTER TWO
Keely smacked the button on the top of her alarm. She needed to get moving early today. She scrunched the pillow up behind her head and sat up in bed, leaning against the headboard. A few moments to pull herself together, and she’d be okay. The bird outside her window sang a cheerful good morning, as usual. Keely had put up bird feeders in the backyard. She loved to sit in the window seat in her room and stare out at the birds flitting around the yard, soaring off to unknown places. Their bubbly morning melody raised her spirits.