Page 34 of Keeping Secrets
Ingrid came out of nowhere, appearing at her shoulder and making her jump.
"Those look phenomenal. What are the flavors?"
Keely laughed, releasing a burst of nerves, and took a breath. "This one in front is blood orange cake with vanilla bean ice cream. The one with the golden glaze is pistachio cake layered with honeycomb ice cream. And that one is cinnamon cake layered with pumpkin spice ice cream."
"They all sound amazing. Can I have a sliver of each?"
"Of course." The cakes were still frozen solid, and so cutting thin pieces was easy. By the time she had served her new boss a slice of each cake, a line had formed behind her. She spent the next hour serving up cake, basking in words of praise as the phenomenal ice cream cakes became the center of attention.
"You have quite a talent," Sunday told her when she came back for a second slice of the pistachio honey ice cream cake.
"I can’t take all of the credit. The ice cream comes from a local ice cream parlor."
"You are too modest." She accepted a generous slice of cake with a word of thanks. Her expression turned thoughtful. "Would you be able to cater a small event next month?"
Keely’s eyebrows shot up. "Really?"
"It will be here in Pelican Point, a family event, but I would dearly love to hand off the cooking to someone so capable."
"I would be honored."
"Do you have a business card?"
Her cheeks colored, and she shook her head.
"No matter. I will ask Chloe to send me your number."
"Sounds good. Thank you so much."
Sunday shook her head. "Thank you."
She went off through the crowd to find her husband, and Keely looked around to see if anyone was still waiting for a slice of cake. It seemed that everyone was happily engaged in eating and conversation, and so she cut a slice of the pumpkin ice cream cake for herself.
She had been too nervous to eat any of the hors d’oeuvres during the event, but suddenly she was starving.
She had done it. She had prepared all of the food for a big, fancy event. A real grown-up thing. And she had done a phenomenal job.
Maybe this whole adulting thing wasn’t so hard after all.
The next step, she decided, was to be less selfish. For the past six months, that selfishness had been a matter of survival. Her entire focus had been on sobriety and survival, and then adjusting to life out in the real world without her parents hovering.
But now she was doing it, and the people she cared about deserved her support.
Nick had been there for her in her worst moments, and she would do the same for him.
CHAPTER 11
Travis‘s eyes felt gritty and dry. He blinked hard, closing one eye and then the other, trying to find some relief without taking his eyes off the road.
He had snatched a few hours of sleep the night before, not nearly enough to make up for the sleep deprivation of the past few weeks.
Rachel haunted him now more than ever, an unpredictable figure who could turn his life upside down with just a few words spoken to the wrong person. She had told him that she would keep his secret, but how trustworthy was she, really?
He tried to put her out of his mind, but the day-to-day worries of his life were no easier to face than the looming threat of incarceration.
They didn’t know yet what was wrong with Scot, but it was clear that there was something wrong. Seriously wrong.
The doctors had ordered a wide range of tests. Scot was being poked and prodded and measured endlessly, and he had dark circles under his eyes from the stress and exhaustion of it.