now. He carefully balanced the load of firewood in his arms as he kicked off his boots. Peering over the top of the wood, he found Keely where he had left her an hour ago. She was curled up on the sofa in front of the fireplace with a book she'd found-his dog-eared copy of Dickens's
'The snow hasn't let up,' Rafe said. 'The roads are probably pretty bad. But we should be plowed out soon.'
'It's going to be dark soon. If you hadn't thrown your phone away, you could have called and found out when he'd be here.'
Rafe nodded. 'Right.' He wasn't going to tell her that he had a cell phone in his coat pocket in case of a real emergency. A drifted driveway wasn't worth a phone call. The more time he had with Keely the better.
Keely lowered her book to her lap, then turned to him. 'Maybe we should just plan to stay,' she said. 'After all, it's New Year's Eve. It might be nice to ring in the new year in the peace and quiet of the north woods, away from everything going on in Boston.'
Rafe was happy that she'd come to that conclusion on her own. If he'd suggested it, she probably would have fought him all the way. 'There's food in the refrigerator. And I think I've got a bottle of champagne around here somewhere from last New Year's Eve.'
'Leftover from one of your other kidnap victims?' Keely asked, one eyebrow arched.
'No. I've never brought a woman here before. You're the first.' The smile faded from her face and her gaze shifted back to her book. Rafe cleared his throat. 'I was thinking of taking a walk. Would you like to come with me?'
Keely shook her head. 'I don't have any boots. Remember? You burned them up in the fireplace?'
He glanced over at the rug near the door. 'You could wear those.'
'I can't walk very well in those.'
'We'll walk slowly. And I have a down jacket you can wear and a decent hat. You'll be warm, I promise. And we won't go far.'
'All right,' Keely said. 'I could use some fresh air.'
Rafe was glad for the company. Besides, if this day was their last together, then he was going to do all he could to make it memorable. He bent down and helped her put the boots on, then tied the laces tightly until her feet were secure inside. Then he helped her slip into his old down jacket. To top it off, Rafe pushed a plaid hat on her head, complete with earflaps.
'I bet I look beautiful in this getup,' Keely said.
He stared down at her, fighting the urge to pull her into his arms and kiss her. 'You always look beautiful.'
'Let's go,' she murmured.
The wind had died down, but snowflakes still drifted between the trees as they broke a pathway to the lake. The woods were perfectly quiet and, for once, Rafe felt as if the world had slowed down enough for them to relax. 'I'm sorry I can't get you back to Boston today,' he said.
Keely shrugged. 'I'm a little nervous about what's going to happen when I get there. I guess I could use an extra day to figure out how I'm going to do this. It's so easy standing on the outside looking in. I know who I am and I know who they are. But to them I'm just going to be some stranger trying to barge into their lives. I'm worried about how they're going to react.'
'Just barf on their shoes and they'll fall in love with you,' Rafe said.
She glanced over at him and smiled winsomely. 'Will they? I mean, just because we're family doesn't mean they have to accept me. I'm always going to be an outsider. I don't share the same memories as they do.' She stopped walking and stared out at the lake. 'And I'm afraid they might blame me.'
'For not telling them sooner?'
'No. For making my mother leave.'
'How is that even possible? You weren't born when your mother walked out.'
'But I was the reason,' Keely explained. 'When she found out she was pregnant with me, she took off. If it hadn't been for me, she would have stayed.'
Rafe reached out and tucked a windblown strand of hair beneath her hat. There were times when all he wanted to do was drag her into his arms and kiss away her worries. When she talked about her family, she seemed so vulnerable. 'You can't blame yourself, Keely. I used to think it was my fault that my mother had her mental problems. Because I wasn't able to replace my dad. Because she didn't feel safe with me taking care of her. But her problems weren't my fault any more than your mother's choice to walk out on her family was your fault.'
'Still, it's going to be hard telling them. I keep imagining their reactions. Dead silence would be horrible. If they don't believe me at all, I don't know what I'll do. They could yell at me.' She brought a hand to her throat. 'But I have proof.' She pulled her necklace out from beneath her sweater, the necklace she'd worn since the very first time he'd made love to her. 'My mother gave this to me. It's a claddagh. An Irish symbol of love and fidelity. My mother says Seamus will recognize it.'
'Are you going to tell him first?' Rafe asked.
She shook her head, then slipped the necklace back beneath her sweater. 'I don't think so. I think I'll tell one of my brothers and get his reaction before breaking the news to Seamus.'
'And I suppose you're going to tell them about me,' Rafe said.
Keely nodded. 'I am. I think they need to know. Maybe it will help.'
'It will be the end of us,' Rafe said.
Keely nodded. 'I know.'
Her calm acceptance of the fact cut him deep. 'Come on. I have something I want to show you.' They headed off the main path through the woods, then up into a small clearing. The clearing offered a view of the entire lake, the dense forest that surrounded it, the windswept ice and a sunset that colored the sky pink and orange and purple. A hawk circled overhead, dipping and gliding on the cold air. 'We're all alone up here. This cabin is the only place on the lake.'
'No neighbors?'
'Nope. I own the whole lake and the property around it. Or Kencor does. We bought it about five years ago and we were going to develop it. Condos, maybe a resort, some larger vacation homes. But then I couldn't do it.'
'I can see why,' Keely murmured. 'I wouldn't change a thing.'
They sat down on a small boulder and stared out at the lake. 'Whatever happens with your father, Keely, I want you to know that I never meant any of it to hurt you.'
'I know,' she replied. 'And I understand what you need to do. We both have pasts that we need to fix. But my father is innocent. I believe that with all my heart. And I'm going to help my family prove it.'
He took her fingers and brought them up to his mouth, pressing his lips against the back of her hand. 'I hope you do, Keely.'
KEELY PICKED UP the bottle of burgundy and sloshed a bit more into the casserole. Though she prided herself on her cooking skills, she felt like the Iron Chef trying to put together an elegant meal from the food in Rafe's refrigerator. They had a choice of frozen pizza, canned spaghetti, chicken Hungry-Man dinners or T-bone steaks. 'Real manly food,' she muttered.
Luckily potatoes qualified as manly food, as did onions. She was able to make a passable beef burgundy with a bottle of wine she'd found. Whoever had stocked the cabin had also purchased a bag of romaine so she toasted bread for croutons and whipped up a Caesar's salad-without anchovy or Parmesan cheese. As for dessert, they had four different kinds of ice cream. So she'd melted down some chocolate bars for ice cream sundaes.
As she was putting the casserole back in the oven, the lights flickered and Keely waited for the electricity to come back on. It had happened four or five times that afternoon, Rafe explaining that the snow was heavy on the power lines. In truth, it frightened Keely. She felt isolated enough without indoor plumbing. She wandered into the living room and found Rafe poking at the fire.
'Dinner smells good.'
'It's done. The power should be back on soon. In the meantime it'll stay warm, so we can eat whenever we want.' She glanced over at Rafe. 'What if the power doesn't come back on?'
Rafe straightened, wiping his hands on his jeans. 'We'll just have to build a very big fire and snuggle up.' He paused, then smiled weakly. 'I think it might be off for good this time.'
'For the rest of the night?' Keely asked.
