The Magnolia Cafe(64)

Keely sat back and her whole life tilted off axis. Everything she’d believed, the reasons for taking over the cafe… it was all… wrong. Her mother had known the truth too, about the cause of the accident, about the fact her father had refused to take responsibility for his heart problems.

Why had she spent all these years trying to make her mother happy? Gain her approval. Win her mother’s forgiveness. Forgiveness that wasn’t needed in the first place.

“Are you okay?” Hunt locked his gaze on her.

“You know what? I think I am. For the first time in a long time, I think I am.”

~ * ~

Hunt helped Keely board up the window to the cafe and clean up the broken glass. They’d picked up scattered menus, napkins, and broken dishes. He’d mopped the floor, twice, and uprighted tables and chairs. Keely had finally sent Katherine and Becky Lee home.

“I’m just going to run home for a few minutes. It’s getting dark, and I want to check on Natalie and the boys. I’ll be back as quick as I can.”

“You don’t have to come back. It’s okay.” Keely stood in the middle of the cafe with a smudge of dirt across her cheek and a tired look etched across her face.

“No, I’m coming back. Do you want to take a break and walk over there with me? A break would do you good.”

“I don’t know. There is so much still to do.”

“We’ll be back. Come with me.” He held out his hand to her.

Keely nodded and placed her hand in his. They walked out onto the street. Keely stopped and slowly looked around. He followed her gaze. Across the street, Doc Baker was helping the lady who owned the dress shop. He was nailing a piece of plywood on the front window of her shop. Bella’s brother, Gil, had gone through town with sheets of plywood from his hardware store, giving them to anyone who needed to board up windows. A group of high school kids were collecting limbs and debris from the streets and sidewalks. A handful of men were up on top of the roof of the store on the corner, securing blue tarps to cover a gaping hole.

She turned to Hunt. “You see that? That is Comfort Crossing at its best. Helping each other. Pulling together. I know I’ve always said I want to travel, and I do, but this town? I love this town. I’m just now realizing how much. I can’t imagine ever living somewhere else. I would still always want to call Comfort Crossing home.”

He looked at the townsfolk helping others, already cleaning up the mess the storm had wreaked on the town. She was right, it was a good place to call home. A place where neighbors helped neighbors, and even a tornado couldn’t keep them down for long.

They held hands, and he led her down the streets to Natalie’s house. The street lights that normally would have come on by now, stood as silent sentries, lining the streets. As they got to Natalie’s house he was glad to see there wasn’t much more damage than a few limbs he’d have to cut up.

He opened the front door and held it open for Keely to enter. “Natalie?”

“I’m back here.”

Hunt and Keely crossed to the kitchen. Natalie sat at the table in the flickering candle light, sipping tea.

“Hi, you two. Want some hot tea? I remembered Kevin had a camp stove. I used it to cook for the boys and made some tea. Are you hungry? Nothing fancy, but I have left over mac and cheese.”

“That would be really nice.” Keely sank into a chair at the kitchen table, and Hunt sat beside her.

Natalie walked over and grabbed two bowls of macaroni and cheese and some hot tea.

“Thanks, sis.” He took a bite of the meal. “Where are the boys?”

“They’re upstairs making a tent out of blankets and sheets. They have a couple of flashlights and they’re pretending they’re camping.”

Hunt shook his head. “They sure bounce back from things quickly, don’t they?”

“Faster than I do. I’m exhausted.”

“Nat, now that we’re here, I need to tell you something.” He looked over at Keely, then Natalie. “It’s about Kevin. He didn’t cause Katherine’s accident.”

“What?”

“Katherine said she remembers a car swerving into her lane the night of the accident, but she avoided it. A little bit down the road she was trying to put a CD into the player, and she dropped the disc. She leaned over to get it and lost control of the car. It had nothing to do with Kevin.”

The light danced across Natalie’s cheeks and tears started to roll. “Oh. If only Kevin could have known that. All those years of blaming himself. All the guilt and responsibility he took on his shoulders.”

Just then the kitchen door blew open and a gust of wind snuffed out the candles.