Night Whispers - Leslie Kelly [26]
A light flicked on upstairs, and Kelsey jerked her head at the sound of footsteps. Fred and Celia’s anxious faces peered over the rail, and she realized they must have woken them with their shouting.
“Is everything all right?” Fred asked.
“Everything’s fine,” Kelsey replied. “Mitch and I were just saying good-night.” She stared coldly at him. “Good night, Mitch.”
Not waiting for his response, Kelsey rushed up the stairs. Her feet hadn’t hit the top step when she heard his door slam shut below. Tears pricked the corners of her eyes, and for the life of her she could not make her key fit into the lock.
Kelsey heard Celia’s and Fred’s low voices. She didn’t protest when Celia approached, gently took the keys out of her hand, opened the door and led her inside.
“Thank you,” she said, as Celia steered her toward her own sofa.
“No problem, honey, you look upset. Let me make you some tea to calm you down.”
“I’m all right,” Kelsey insisted, “though I’m about ready to strangle one overbearing anthropologist!”
Celia smoothed back Kelsey’s hair and then handed her a tissue. Fred’s girlfriend looked like a little wren, with an incredibly expressive face dominated by huge brown eyes and a gentle smile. Kelsey could never imagine her raising her voice, much less screeching at a man loud enough to wake the upstairs neighbors in the middle of the night.
“I’m sorry about this, Celia. I can’t believe we woke you up.”
Celia filled a kettle with water and placed it on the stove. “It’s all right. Though I’m sure Fred’s going to turn five shades of red the next time he sees you because you and Mitch now know that I slept over.”
Kelsey laughed softly, her bad mood quickly evaporating with Celia’s rueful smile. “Oh, right, we never suspected. It’s not as though I can see your car parked across the street when I get home at three o’clock or anything.”
“I won’t bother trying to hide it anymore, then,” Celia said with a grin. “So, do you want to talk about…anything?”
She didn’t, really. What was there to talk about? She knew from the moment she took the job at the station that Mitch and her family would never approve. His reaction tonight had come as absolutely no surprise.
“It was just a typical argument. Mitch heard my show for the first time tonight. He wasn’t pleased,” Kelsey admitted as she curled up in one corner of the sofa.
“I could tell,” Celia said nodding slowly. “From what Fred tells me, you and he have a sort of love-hate relationship?”
“I guess you could say that.” Kelsey kicked off her shoes and tucked her feet beneath her. “Mitch and I have always gotten under each other’s skin. I was a pretty rotten kid, and he was the target of a lot of my pranks. Not that he was much better. He was hell on wheels himself.”
“Mitch? Our Mitch?”
Kelsey grinned at the disbelief in Celia’s voice. “Yes, nice, dependable, studious Mitch. He was a regular juvenile delinquent. He didn’t really straighten up until he was about seventeen.”
“I can’t believe it. I mean, I don’t know him that well, but from what Fred has said, Mitch seems almost…”
“Conservative? Don’t let the brains fool you. He’s somehow managed to keep his emotions suppressed, but I imagine they’re still churning away somewhere deep inside. He just needs someone to remind him they’re there.”
“Volunteering?”
Celia laughed, but Kelsey didn’t join in. “Maybe that’s not such a bad idea.” A slow smile spread across her lips.
“I recognize that look. That’s a Lady Love face. Let me guess, you feel anything but sisterly toward him, right?” Celia asked as she carried two cups from the kitchen.
Kelsey sighed deeply. “Celia, I have been incredibly attracted to that man for years. And now, finally, I know he feels the same way. But when he allows himself to give in to those feelings for a moment, he yanks away as if he’s committed some crime.”
Celia didn’t respond. Kelsey almost regretted taking her into her confidence. She’d never told anyone that she had the slightest