Page 91 of Keeping Secrets
“Well, cooking for Miss Frances is still my main gig. She’s started hosting a weekly dinner with friends who come over for mahjong and a weekly tea with another group of friends, so she’s keeping me busy.”
“I love that.”
“Yeah, it’s been fun. And I’ve catered two events in the past couple of weeks. Just small ones, but they went well.”
“And her bookmobile is a hit,” Travis added.
Keely’s cheeks colored as she shot him a grin. The new library program was so dear to her heart that she hardly spoke about it because it was brand new and she was still so nervous about it going belly-up, but he was so proud of her for getting it off the ground.
“Oh, your mobile library?” Chloe asked, excited. “It’s up and running?”
“Yeah, the first couple of weeks went really well. I’ve taken it to a rehab center and three different halfway houses. Places my sponsor works with. It’s a small collection, a mix of self-help and fiction, just escapism. But the women really seem to love it.”
“Oh my gosh, Keely, I love that. You’re amazing.”
She looked down at the baby, cheeks pink.
“Keely, your timer beeped,” Nick said as he walked in from the kitchen.
“Oh, the scones!” She handed the baby off to him and disappeared.
Travis would have been terrified to hold the floppy infant, but Nick cradled him in one arm like a natural-born father. Chloe reached her arms out beseechingly, and he brought the baby to her, supporting the head carefully as he handed him over.
“What about you, Travis?” Chloe asked. “How are things at the Bottlenose?”
“They’re good,” he said. “Same as always.”
He felt a twist of grief as he thought of Scot’s ALS diagnosis, but that was more than Chloe needed to worry about just then. She felt things so deeply, and she was exhausted. He wasn’t going to put that on her, not now. Anyhow, Scot didn’t want any more people knowing than was necessary, at least for now.
Scot had been right when he said that he was never going to get better. But he also hadn’t gotten any worse in the weeks since his diagnosis, and that was something. There was the possibility of him getting much worse very quickly, and for his peace of mind, they had legally transferred everything over to Travis. For now, though, he was stable.
“Scot’s okay?” she pressed.
“His ankle healed up great,” Travis assured her. “He even hosted trivia night this week.”
“Oh, that’s so good to hear!”
Nick gave him a sad look over the top of Chloe’s head. She would find out soon enough. The whole town would, as his symptoms worsened. And they would be there to support him, whether he liked it or not.
For now, though, Scot was okay. Travis had taken over the day-to-day management of the Bottlenose, and Scot showed up most nights to simply to eat his dinner and enjoy the thriving community hub that he had built.
Chloe held her baby close and said, “Everyone’s still talking about that arrest. The mafia guy who killed Adam. It’s all over the Pelican Point Facebook group.”
“That was over a month ago,” Keely said with a groan. She set down the plate of steaming hot scones that she had brought in from the kitchen.
“Yeah, but the trial’s coming up in a couple days.” Nick buttered a scone and handed it to Chloe, who accepted it with a grateful smile.
“He’s going away for a long time,” she said. “And once it’s out of the news, people will forget.”
“Here’s hoping,” Keely said.
“They will,” Chloe assured her. “We’re in the clear.”
“What’s this we?” she teased.
“We’re a family now,” she said around a mouthful of scone. “It’s a we situation.”
Keely beamed at her. “Yeah. I guess we are.”