Page 16 of Ten Years Later
Mia: Wow, really?
Dana: Unless you’re busy…
Mia: That’s over two hours. You sure?
Dana: Absolutely.
11 /CURRENT DAY
Keaton spentover an hour cruising back and forth on the main thoroughfare, waiting for someone to go in the gate to Emily’s community. He needed a bathroom, badly, but he didn’t want to miss the opportunity to get in.
What he would do after that, he didn’t know. He simply wanted to see his daughter. Being Saturday, what did she usually do? She probably slept in. Or maybe she walked the short distance to the beach. Perhaps she hung out with friends. She’d be at work later—he saw her name on the schedule—but he couldn’t wait.
Keaton circled the block to approach the neighborhood again when the gate opened.Finally.
A white Lexus came through the exit gate with Mia driving. She stopped, looking both ways, then turned north and away from Keaton onto the main road. Being Saturday and a realtor, he assumed she was heading to work.
Which meant Emily would be home alone.
He took the bizarre coincidence as a sign.
Keaton made quick work of scooting through the exit and driving the wrong way into the community. A couple minutes later, he parked along the curb to Emily’s house. With the blindsopen, daylight streamed through showing her sitting at the kitchen island.
Keaton climbed out and strode up to the door before he fully put together his reason for being there. He rang the bell. The chime danced through the air in a delicate and long rhythm. Emily opened the door before the bell finished its song.
Dressed in a Kiss T-shirt, white shorts, and socks that didn’t match, she frowned. “Zane?”
He loved everything about her cute little outfit, or perhaps—given the early hour—her pajamas. She studied him, blowing on her purple and black wet nails. He got a whiff of polish as she did.
“I thought that was you.” He thumbed over his shoulder at his work truck. “I’m in the area on a job.”
She read the decal affixed to his truck. “‘Brothers’ Painting.’ That’s what your real job is?”
“Yep. I’m doing a mural.”
Her whole face lit up. “Of what?”
“Typical stuff for around here—dunes, the ocean, maybe a rogue dolphin.”
“Rogue dolphin?”
Keaton shrugged. Emily laughed.
He eyed the bland white and gray interior.
“Mom just left for work,” she said. “You’re welcome to come in if you want. That is unless you need to get to your job.”
He knew he should not step foot in their house, but he found himself saying, “I have a few minutes.”
Emily led the way across an immaculate grand room and to the kitchen where she recapped her polish. Open blinds gave a view of a backyard with thick green grass bordered by a white fence that separated them from their neighbor. Beyond that the ocean spread to the horizon. A padded swing covered in stripedfabric sat centered in the yard with a sun shade stretched above it.
“Quite a home you have here,” he said.
“You want a tour?”
“Sure.”
With three bedrooms and bathrooms, a home office, and a grand room, the home décor stayed consistent throughout—white on gray with a splash of silver here and there. My God did it bore him.
