He walked her home through the battered streets of Comfort Crossing. The boys came running out of the carriage house before he even got Bella to the door.
“Mom.” Timmy wrapped his arms around Bella.
“Mom, you’re safe. Where were you?” Jeremy hugged her.
“I was locked in a room in a building on Main Street. Owen found me and got me out.”
Jeremy looked up at Owen like he was some kind of hero. “Thank you Mr. Campbell—Owen—for finding my mom.”
“You’re welcome, son. Kind of glad to have her back with us, myself.”
Bella smiled at him and took his hand. “Come on, let’s all go inside. We have lots to talk about.”
CHAPTER TWENTY-THREE
Keely looked out the door and down the street. Weirdly, a trampoline rested against a lamppost. A few buildings looked like they were totally destroyed. They were so lucky at the cafe. She wondered if their house had damage, though a police officer had come by to check on them and said most of the damage was along Main Street. She’d better call and check on her mother.
Hunt and Natalie came through the door right then. Jamie launched himself into his mother’s arms. “Mom.”
Jesse and Jackson came running up from the back room and Natalie wrapped all three boys in a hug.
“You should have seen Uncle Hunt. He got us all out of the truck and into the cafe. Miss Katherine and Miss Keely had us come back with them in the pantry.” Jesse danced around in front of his mother.
“It was dark,” Jamie added.
“But Uncle Hunt used his phone to light the room. It sounded like a train was going to squash us like a bug.” Jackson added to the story.
“I’m just glad you’re safe.” Natalie still held Jamie in her arms.
“Miss Katherine kept us safe, too. She let me sit on her lap. She said we’re going to have big stories to tell now.” Jamie squirmed out of his mother’s arms and went to stand by Katherine.
“Hunt, I think it’s time you talked to Katherine and Keely.”
Keely watched as a look went from Natalie to Hunt. He nodded.
“I’m going to take the boys home. I think now is as good as any time to tell Katherine the truth.” Natalie turned to the sisters. “Thanks for helping to keep my boys safe.”
“Let’s go boys. We’re going to walk. It appears Uncle Hunt parked the truck under a tree that decided to crash through the windshield.” Natalie herded her boys out the door.
“What was Natalie talking about?” Keely turned to Hunt.
Hunt pulled a chair over to sit next to Katherine. “I have something to tell you. It should have been told long ago. It wasn’t mine to tell, but now that Natalie said it’s okay, I’ll tell you the truth about your accident.”
“What are you talking about?” Keely came over and sat beside them.
“The accident. It was Kevin’s fault.”
“What do you mean?” Keely interrupted him.
“Kevin was driving home from work that night. He fell asleep at the wheel and swerved into the other lane at an oncoming car. He said he looked in his rearview mirror and thought the other car was okay. He left the next day to go to stay with his uncle for the summer. When he came back, he heard about the accident.”
“That’s why he was always doing stuff for us, wasn’t it?” Keely thought of the many times Kevin had helped them out. She’d thought he’d just felt sorry for them.
“The accident wasn’t Kevin’s fault.” Katherine put her hand on Hunt’s. “It was mine.”
“No, he said he drifted over to the oncoming lane.”
“Oh, he did. I didn’t know that was him. But I swerved to miss him. That didn’t cause the accident. I reached over after that to put a CD in the player in the car. I dropped the disc and leaned over to get it. I lost control of the car. Not Kevin’s fault. Not at all.”
“So it had nothing to do with Kevin?” He turned to Keely. “And it wasn’t your fault for not letting her use your car. Had nothing to do with the stick shift.”
“What? You thought my accident was your fault?” Katherine turned to her sister.
“You wanted my car that night and I wouldn’t let you drive it because of our silly fight over that red sweater. I know you weren’t comfortable driving Father’s manual transmission.”
“Oh, Keely. None of this was your fault either. I did fine with Father’s car. I would never have parallel parked it on a hill or anything, but I could drive it just fine. I was just young and made a poor choice. I should have kept my eyes on the road, not messing with the CDs.” Katherine shook her head. “I didn’t know you blamed yourself. Mother knew the truth. I told both Mother and Father what had happened. I thought you knew and were just being kind to me not to throw it in my face what a stupid thing I did.”