“But—”
“Please.”
That look again, what she would calldesperate scrutinyif it didn’t sound so dramatic. At last he nodded. Without another word, he rolled up the window and drove off. Kelsey stood on the porch for at least ten minutes, staring down the driveway. Gradually the urgency inside her banked low, and her stomach unclenched.
She went inside, down the hall, and poked her head into Maggie’s bedroom.
“Come in,” Maggie said.
“How’re you feeling?” Kelsey sat on the edge of the bed and tried to examine her aunt’s face, but the lamp was off.
“I’d rather not answer that question for the next day, okay?” Maggie’s voice was taut, exhausted though she’d been out of bed for less than an hour today.
“Okay,” Kelsey said.
“Was it hard, Kels? Working on things with him?”
It should have been hard. Or it should have meant nothing. She should be bitter, or she should be indifferent. Either reaction would make more sense than the warmth inside her when his rich voice replayed in her head, when she thought how her bold young heartthrob boyfriend had become an undeniably powerful and beautiful man.
“Kelsey,” Maggie said.
“It was…um…confusing.”
“Ahh.”
“No, not like that. I just…I think he might…”
“He does.”
“You don’t even know what I was going to say.” But the warmth inside gave a little squirm of pleasure that maybe Maggie did.
“He might wish things had gone differently? He might still care, even if he doesn’t recognize it anymore? I know your leaving was hard on you, Kels. I know it was hard on him too.”
The words hovered on the tip of her tongue.I never let go of him. He let go of me.Not even Maggie would see that one coming. Kelsey had kept it to herself too long, had been the one to move away. But she couldn’t say it without betraying the man she still…
No. No, she didn’t. Couldn’t, for her own sake.
“There’s a cookout at Aaron’s tomorrow,” she said.
“You’re going, I hope.”
“If you’re sure it’s okay.”
“One-hundred percent yes. I haven’t met Aaron’s wife, haven’t seen Jeremy’s little ones in ages. The oldest boy is six by now. Go catch up with everyone, fill me in on Ember Reed, and bring me pictures of the babies.”
Kelsey laughed, reached out in the dim light and set her hand on Maggie’s arm. “If you insist.”
“And speaking of folks I haven’t seen in ages…”
“Mom and Dad are currently contributing to the field of cetology—”
“Well, when are theynotdoing that?” Maggie chuckled.
“—studying humpbacks in Cape Town, South Africa.”
“Oh, sothat’s where humpbacks go in October,” Maggie said as if she’d been trying to solve a mystery.
Kelsey laughed.
