Her words were like a punch in the gut. But she had no way of knowing. He’d kept his private life hidden when they were in high school, so she’d no way of knowing how hard he’d tried to take on responsibility.
Responsibility that he’d been more than willing accept, but the outcome had been disastrous. His thoughts drifted to his failures with his mother, his sister, the young photojournalist who died under his watch…
“I haven’t always done just what I wanted and had things go my way.” He kept his voice low and controlled. But now was not the time to get into that. Now was the time to make Keely feel better.
“You keep saying I have a choice, but I have no choice. None. It’s my duty.”
He tilted her chin up so he could see her eyes. “Ah, if I could only take away your pain and your guilt.” He could take away some of it if he only told her the truth. But he wasn’t going to break a promise to his sister. He couldn’t.
But he sure could talk to Natalie first thing after they got back. She would understand. She would let him tell Keely what had really happened… unless she couldn’t stand to let people think badly of Kevin now that he was gone.
He let out a long breath of air. How the heck was he going to convince Natalie without breaking his promise to keep Keely’s secret?
He gritted his teeth. He should stop making stupid promises, that’s for sure.
Keely’s phone rang, and she dashed away her tears. She pulled away from him and dug the phone out of her pocket. She glanced at the front of the phone and her eyes widened. “Kat? Everything okay?”
Keely turned her back to him. “Are you okay? Is everyone okay? Who was there? How did it happen?”
Hunt strained to hear the other side of the conversation.
“Did a doctor check you out?” Keely strode up and down the porch as she talked. “I think we can be there in about six hours if we leave now.”
Hunt glanced at his watch. It was late, whatever happened must be bad for Keely to want to start back at this time of night.
“Everything okay?” Hunt mouthed the words. Keely shook her head no.
“Are you sure? We can leave right now.” Keely stopped pacing and turned. “Okay, we’ll leave first thing in the morning, I promise. Get some rest.”
Keely clicked off the phone and whirled to face him, her eyes flashing and an I-told-you-so look firmly plastered on her face. “See? I told you… I told everyone that I shouldn’t leave. There was a fire tonight at the cafe.”
CHAPTER FIFTEEN
They drove the six hours back to Comfort Crossing mostly in silence. Keely had insisted they start out at first light, no breakfast, only a quick stop for gas and coffee. The tension grew between them as the miles rolled away, filling the truck with a stifling, choking pressure. He tried taking Keely’s hand, but she pulled it back and set it in her lap. She sat silently, staring out the window, probably blaming him and berating herself for ever leaving Katherine to run the cafe.
By the time they hit the town limits of Comfort Crossing, his stomach was growling and his mind was a roller coaster, dipping and swirling with thoughts of how to help Keely. He’d hoped that taking her away for a brief trip would help, but now it appeared it had only reinforced her opinion she should never leave town.
“Drop me at the cafe, will you?” Keely still didn’t look at him.
He found a parking space on Main Street near the cafe and Keely hopped out. “I’ll get my things later.” She shoved the truck door closed and hurried into the cafe.
He slid out of the truck and followed her, not sure what they would find. He pushed open the door and stepped inside, momentarily surprised that the normally cheerful brightness of the cafe was replaced by a murky darkness.
Ah, the electricity was turned off, and the windows were covered with soot.
Keely was leaning down, her arms wrapped around Katherine. Natalie came rushing up to him and gave him a quick hug.
“You okay, sis?”
“Yes, I’m fine.”
“What happened?”
“The fire chief said he thinks it was an electrical problem. Started in the back by the door to the patio. Lots of smoke. It smells horrible in here, doesn’t it?”
“Yep. Pretty smoky smelling. Who’s that?” He nodded toward a man with a notebook near the doors to the patio.
“Insurance guy. Checking things out. Katherine called the insurance company first thing this morning.”
“When did this happen?”
“At the end of the dinner rush, so we didn’t have many customers. They all got out quickly. Had a bit of a scare with Kat, though. She got burned when she tried to smother the first of the flames. Luckily Becky Lee was near and grabbed the fire extinguisher. Got the fire out in no time.”