Keely. She wore a pair of pink velour pants, her fur short boots, an oversized sweatshirt, her hair down and wet, and just like that, he saw it.
Bliss.
Maybe a memory, maybe just his imagination, but in his mind, she walked down stairs onto a stage, a million-dollar, stage-worthy smile on her face, her hair glittering, ready to wow the crowd.
What was Bliss doing here, in the backwoods of Alaska?
Vic. Right. And her story about her mom, her rejection by her father rushed back, filled in the gaps...
Aw, Bliss. Under all the glamour and grins was a woman who just wanted to be known. Loved.
She saw him and smiled. Took a breath.
Wait—did she look nervous?
He walked over to her as she came down the stairs. “Hey. New duds?”
“Gotta love the discard barrel. But I did get a bath. I might live.”
He couldn’t stop himself. “I know.”
She’d reached the bottom of the steps. “Right? Something about a warm bath—I could have used a few bubbles though. Still, they have this homemade shampoo soap—”
“No. Iknow, Keely.”
She stopped on the bottom step, and it could be his imagination, but the blood seemed to drain from her. “You do?”
“What you were going to tell me before”—he cut his voice down, just in case she did mean for it to be a secret—“I know. And it’s okay.”
She swallowed again and looked away. But in that flash of a moment, her eyes blurred with tears.
What—? “It’s not a big deal.”
“It’s a very big deal,” she said quietly, her hazel-blue eyes on his, holding them. Almost a spark in the gold of her eyes. “And it’s about to be a bigger deal. Maybe. Or maybe not. I don’t...” She closed her eyes, a tear winked out, landed on her cheek. She brushed it away, almost angrily, and turned back to him. “I’m just such a coward.”
He frowned, and something shifted inside him, because,what?
“Not here,” she said and grabbed his hand.
Then she walked him to a small room in the back of the lodge.
A quiet room with a bench overlooking the lake. “What’s this?”
“A prayer room.” She let him go. Backed up, her arms folded. “How’d you find out?”
Oh. “Why didn’t you just tell me?”
She blinked. “Because ... frankly, it’s ... it’s still an open wound. Something I can’t...” She shook her head. “I know I should be at peace with it by now. Four years is a long time, and really, she is fine—orwasfine—I don’t know.” She sighed, turned to look out the window. “I don’t know what to do.”
He’d frozen on the wordsopen woundand had nothing by the time she got toshe is fine.
He slowly walked over to her. Hesitated a moment, then settled his hands on her shoulders. “Keely. I think you and I might be talking about different things. I was referring to the fact that you are actually, I think, Bliss?”
She stiffened. Put her hand to her mouth. Finally let out a long breath.
When she turned, she wore a stricken expression. “I ... should have said something. But I guess I thought maybe you knew and just didn’t want to...” She sighed. “River recognized me. And I know a couple of the teenagers did. I thought you were helping me keep it on the DL.”
“Do you want it on the DL?”
