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  Copyright information

  This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, and incidents either are the product of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously, and any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, business establishments, events, or locales is entirely coincidental.

  Kel’s Keeper

  Copyright © 2019 by K.C. Wells

  Cover photo by Ben Fink Productions

  Cover Design by Meredith Russell

  Cover content is being used for illustrative purposes only and any person depicted on the cover is a model.

  The trademarked products mentioned in this book are the property of their respective owners, and are recognized as such.

  All Rights Reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, including electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, or by any information storage and retrieval system without the written permission of the Publisher, except where permitted by law.

  Acknowledgments

  As always, thank you to my beta team. Your eyes see so much that I miss

  Thank you to Kath Malone, who provided the title of this book.

  It suits the story perfectly.

  And finally, thank you to Alexander Cheves, whose post ‘29 Things You Should Look for in a Daddy’ is what inspired me to write this book in the first place.

  Table of contents

  Chapter One

  Chapter Two

  Chapter Three

  Chapter Four

  Chapter Five

  Chapter Six

  Chapter Seven

  Chapter Eight

  Chapter Nine

  Chapter Ten

  Chapter Eleven

  Chapter Twelve

  Chapter Thirteen

  Chapter Fourteen

  Chapter Fifteen

  Chapter Sixteen

  Chapter Seventeen

  Chapter Eighteen

  Chapter Nineteen

  Chapter Twenty

  Chapter Twenty-One

  Chapter Twenty-Two

  Chapter Twenty-Three

  Chapter Twenty-Four

  Chapter Twenty-Five

  Coming next

  Other titles

  About the author

  Chapter One

  March 2019

  It only took the sight of Joe C. Davidson Park for Kel’s chest to tighten.

  Not far now.

  No sooner had the park disappeared from view than St. Mark’s church caught his eye. That meant his right turn was coming up. That long curve of Jamestowne Drive, with its lush lawns, trees, and virtually identical houses with arched windows and tall gables.

  Any second now, and he’d be home.

  You know they’re gonna hate the beard, right? Not that it was all that much. He’d only started growing it after New Year’s. But given his dad’s lectures on the topic of being clean shaven…. You knew they would freak. And it’s not like it would be the first time, right?

  Too late now.

  And there he was, turning into the street where he’d grown up, pulling into the driveway that ran alongside an expanse of lawn, broken only by a three-tiered fountain that hadn’t worked for years.

  The home he tried so hard not to visit.

  Then it struck him. The driveway was empty.

  Kel pulled up in front of the white garage door and switched off the engine. He got out of the car, shivering as he listened to the birds chirping in the trees, and the far-off sound of a lawnmower. Leaving his bag in the trunk, he removed his phone from his jacket pocket and scrolled through his contacts.

  As soon as the call connected, he knew they were on the road somewhere. “Hey, Mom. Where are you?” He pulled his jacket tight around him.

  “Kelvin! Is something wrong? You always call on the weekend.” In the background was the drone of traffic.

  “That’s because I’m home.”

  “You are? Sweetheart, Kelvin’s home.”

  Kel couldn’t miss his father’s distinctive rumbling voice. “Well, what’s he doing there? He could’ve called to say he was coming. He does know how to use a phone, doesn’t he?”

  Kel tried to ignore the roiling in his belly. “Where are you?”

  “Honey, we’re on our way to the lake. If we’d known you were coming….”

  He heard the unspoken rebuke, even if Mom was less brusque than Dad. “It was a last-minute decision. Looks like I won’t see you this weekend. I’ll be heading back Sunday.” Charlotte was only a two-hour drive from Elon, and he planned on getting back there late afternoon.

  “Oh, that’s too bad. Still, it won’t be long now until you’re home, now that your studies are almost done. When were you thinking of moving back?”

  “Christine, this is a conversation that can wait, surely. You can call him from the cabin, all right?” Kel knew how much his dad hated to be distracted while he was driving. He wouldn’t even turn the radio on.

  “Mom, why on earth are you going to the lake? It has to be about forty degrees.”

  “I know the forecast isn’t all that great. Your father just wanted some quiet time. You could drive out here and join us if you want.”

  “I think I’ll pass.” Two nights by the lake, freezing his butt off, was not Kel’s idea of a good time. Then he reasoned he was exaggerating. The cabin had heat, and any amount of blankets and comforters to snuggle under.

  Fond memories of being there as a little kid. It had seemed like an adventure. As he got older? Not so much.

  “But what are you going to do by yourself for two days?”

  “Listen, have a safe trip to the lake. I’ll call you over the weekend, okay?” Kel just wanted to end the call. He waited until his mom had disconnected, then hauled his bag from the trunk and hurried up to the house.

  Stepping into the airy hallway was like stepping back into his childhood. Nothing had changed. Nothing ever changed.

  The grandfather clock in the hallway still ticked away the minutes. The long rug that covered the varnished floorboards was as faded as ever. On the left, the piano sat in the small room where his mom entertained the ladies from the neighborhood, filled with the deep burgundy velvet-covered chairs that Kel had always been forbidden to sit on. On the right was the dining room, with its burgundy walls, chandelier, and table covered in the same beige cloth that had always been there.

  Kel dropped his bag in the hallway and walked through the dining room into the kitchen with its pale sage walls and oak as far as the eye could see. He opened the refrigerator to see what was available. Salad, cooked meat, juice, milk…

  Kel sighed and called up Yelp on his phone, looking for recommendations for pizza. That brought a smile to his lips. If Mom knew I was bringing pizza into the house, she’d have conniptions. The thought did little to assuage his guilt. Be honest now—aren’t you kinda relieved they’re not here?

  Guilt was nothing new to Kel. He lived with it every day.

  Outside, a car door slammed close by. Ah. Luc’s home. Kel could still hear his dad’s words in his head, even though Kel had to have been a really little kid at the time. ‘Kel! Leave Mr. Bryant alone. Don’t bother him.’

  ‘Mr. Bryant’ had bent down, handed Kel back his ball, and said with a twinkle in his eye, ‘You can call me Luc.’

  That had been enough for Kel to consider him a friend and ally. Not that he’d seen much of Luc lately, on those occasions when Kel had come home. In fact, when Kel thought hard about it, Luc hadn’t been around much since Kel graduated from high school. On the rare occasions Kel saw him, he’d gotten a nod of the head, before Luc went into his house next door.

  It was funny how Kel hadn’t noticed Luc’s absence at the time, but he reasoned he’d had a lot on his mind ba
ck then. A suddenly distant neighbor was the least of his worries.

  Kel gave himself a mental shake. Right then, he needed pizza. He’d just have to be careful to get rid of the evidence long before his parents came home.

  He sighed. How did I ever survive growing up in this house?

  Kel closed the back door, shutting out the cold night air. Cutting a pizza box into small pieces before stuffing it into the recycling might seem like going to extremes, but it was better than his mom finding it. He went into the kitchen and poured himself a glass of juice, before strolling into the family room.

  Family room. The words implied games and laughter and movies with popcorn. That last one made him mentally roll his eyes. Hard to watch movies with no TV. Who doesn’t have a TV, for God’s sake?

  And there was his father’s voice again. ‘We don’t take the Lord’s name in vain in this house, mister.’ Kel sighed. His parents might be three-and-a-half hours away, but that didn’t mean he couldn’t hear them inside his head.

  And as for who didn’t have a TV? A preacher’s family, apparently. Kel had watched more TV in the years he’d been at college than the whole of his childhood up to the age of eighteen. Except that wasn’t quite true. Most of his TV-watching had been confined to his grad school days. There hadn’t been much of it during his years at the Mid Atlantic Christian University while he studied for his bachelors. No time for TV when there were bible study groups, church socials, Young Christian Alliance meetings, not to mention studying and prayer meetings…

  He’d fought with his parents to get to go to Queens University in Charlotte. They’d gotten their way about where he studied after high school, and had insisted he didn’t go out of state for his MBA. He’d gone along with that, because doing anything else was unheard of, but he’d put his foot down when it came to the choice of grad school. He was an adult, he’d argued. Surely he could choose his own grad school? Kel knew it had been his mom who’d used what little influence she possessed to get his dad to change his mind.

  He stared at the bookcases that filled one wall of the room. Half of the shelves were taken up with his father’s reference books and several different versions of the Bible, and there was one shelf containing nothing but his father’s own books. With Dad being a noted theological scholar, writer and preacher, the writing was on the wall as to what lay in Kel’s future.

  Kel, it seemed, didn’t have a say in the matter.

  As for the rest of the shelves, they were filled with Kel’s books from childhood, along with a load of books that he’d never touched, despite his dad’s instruction that they’d be good for him. Books on surviving temptation, avoiding sin, and not falling under the spell of the secular world.

  It had taken his first years in college to show Kel not all Christians were like his parents. Most, but not all. There had been one or two students who’d seemed less rigid than the others, and the three of them had spent a lot of time together.

  The clock in the hallway chimed eight, and Kel frowned. Mom hadn’t called yet as Dad had suggested. His phone sat within reach on the coffee table, but he was reluctant to use it. I said I’d call over the weekend, didn’t I? He pictured them busy at the cabin at Lake Lure, lighting a fire, rustling up food, complaining as always that the caretaker hadn’t been doing his job…

  Kel had a much better idea how to spend his evening.

  He went into the hallway, grabbed his bag, and pulled his laptop from it. Providing his dad hadn’t changed providers, Kel could get online and find some movies to watch. Thank God for Netflix.

  He booted up the laptop and checked his emails. There was one from his grandfather, telling him all about the latest mission he was working at in Africa. As a child, Kel had scarcely seen his grandparents. They were missionaries, and spent little time in the US. That had been Dad’s life growing up, and it was only meeting Mom during a visit home that had persuaded him to make a life in the US. When his grandma had died, everyone had expected his grandfather to come home, but no, he’d continued with his way of life, even though he was getting too old for it.

  Kel couldn’t help admiring his grandfather’s spirit. In his seventies, and yet there he was, talking about beginning a trek into a remote region to bring the Lord’s word to the people there.

  There was also an email from Troy, one of Kel’s friends from MACU. Troy was plainly excited about his posting to a church in Tennessee, where he was to assist the preacher. Kel envied Troy his faith. Troy genuinely believed God was leading him into the ministry, and the prospect thrilled him. Kel could still see Troy’s face, alight with the joys of life. A face that was difficult to forget, for many reasons…

  And there, at the end of Troy’s email, two lines that sent Kel’s emotions into a confused mess.

  Are you okay? Haven’t heard from you in so long.

  There was a reason for that too, not that Kel was about to share it.

  The idea of watching a movie no longer appealed to him. Kel switched off the laptop, stuffed it back into his bag, then headed to his room. An early night with his Kindle seemed a better prospect.

  His bed had been stripped bare, but Kel soon sorted out sheets, pillowcases, and a comforter. It was strange to have the house so quiet, and he wasn’t sure what he would find to do the following day. Maybe in these circumstances, staying isn’t the best idea. Kel wasn’t entirely sure why he’d decided to come home in the first place. He hadn’t seen his parents since New Year’s, and that had been enough to stir his ever-bubbling pot of guilt.

  I could drive to the lake, couldn’t I? Would it be so hard to spend a night there with them? Kel hated feeling conflicted. I’ll think about it.

  It was a question he was still pondering as he slipped into a warm, dreamless sleep.

  Chapter Two

  The next morning, Kel awoke feeling brighter. Maybe that was the result of a good night’s sleep. Whatever the reason, he resolved to make it a better day. As for surprising his parents at the lake, he’d decided against it. He had another idea how to spend his time.

  After a bowl of cereal and a glass of juice, he was ready to start. He put on his jacket and went out into the back yard. The temperature was warmer than the previous day, and the sunlight felt great on his face. The yard was his mom’s domain, and she was forever pruning and planting. Little had changed since Kel was a small boy. He recalled playing out back with a ball, kicking it against the shed.

  How many times did I wish for a little brother? Someone to play with? The only time he’d been around other kids was when he went to school, and of course the church socials.

  Kel shook off his reminiscences and gazed out at the yard. There had to be something he could do that would put a smile on his mom’s face. What exactly, he wasn’t sure. He was pretty certain he didn’t possess a green thumb.

  “Hey.”

  He jerked his head in the direction of the voice. Luc Bryant was visible above the top of the bushes that separated the properties. He was standing on a ladder that rested against a tree trunk. Kel gave him a wave. “Good morning.” He couldn’t help smiling. “What are you doing up a tree?”

  “Cutting off a broken branch before it decides to break off completely and hit me on the head.” Luc held aloft a saw. He frowned. “I didn’t think you’d be here this weekend, seeing as your parents are away. Not that I’m complaining. I can cross that job off my list.” When Kel gave him a puzzled look, Luc smiled. “Your mom asked me to keep an eye on the place while they were gone.”

  “I see. Yeah, they didn’t know I was coming.” Kel directed his attention to the yard. “I came out here looking for something to do. Not that I have the first clue about gardening.”

  “Your mom keeps on top of everything, to be honest. Her garden puts mine to shame. We’re always chatting about how to improve it.”

  Kel chuckled. “That sounds like Mom.” He sighed. “Well, looks like I’d be wasting my time out here.” The lawn was neatly trimmed, the soil in the flower beds ha
d obviously been recently turned over, and the yard was free of leaves. He turned to go indoors. “Good to see you.” He was glad they could still talk easily after all this time.

  “Kel? If you’re really stuck for something to do…”

  He laughed. “I’m not climbing trees, if that’s what you have in mind.”

  Luc chuckled. “Not exactly. It’s just that today I’m digging a new vegetable patch. This was your mom’s idea. We got talking about growing your own vegetables, and she was raving about the carrots, celery and green beans she grows over there. She helped me pick out a few vegetables to start with, and I’ve laid out a bit of ground for the patch. If you’ve nothing else to do, you could always come over and help me dig.”

  Kel snickered. “Wow. Now there’s an invitation.”

  “Yeah. It was just an idea. I’m certain you’ve got better things to be doing.” He sawed at the branch, and it wasn’t long before he’d removed it, dropping it to the ground.

  Kel was unsure what to do. He didn’t really mind helping Luc—at least it gave him something to do—but he got the feeling Luc was only asking to be polite. His words were inviting enough, but his tone didn’t make it a pleasing prospect.

  Maybe he feels awkward. It’s been ages since we talked.

  Maybe that was it. For Kel, the sight of his neighbor brought back pleasant memories. Luc was about the same age or maybe slightly younger than his parents, but there the similarity ended. Kel remembered laughing a lot as a kid when he and Luc had conversed over the boundary shrubs. Except for that one time when Kel’s football got away from him…

  When was the last time I heard my dad laugh?

  “Luc?” he called out impulsively.

  Luc was halfway down the ladder. “What?”

  Kel came to a decision. “Listen, if you could use the help, I’d love to come over. Not certain how much use I’ll be.”

  Luc rolled his eyes. “Any fool can handle a spade. You might regret it when I’m finished with you. Digging can be hard work.”