Page 128 of Untouchable

And her father still mattered to her. The truth still mattered to her. She wasn’t going to sacrifice everything, not even for the way she was feeling right now.

“Our waffles are getting cold,” she managed to say with a teasing smile.

He blinked like he had come back from an intoxicated high. But he gave her a dry half smile in response. “Right. Breakfast. How could I have forgotten?”

26

Kelly was exhaustedall day after the long night and emotional upheaval that morning, so she ended up taking a nap after going to the park with Caleb and Ralph in the morning.

She woke up without a clear sense of time, pulling the throw blanket she was using up over her shoulders. She felt content, comfortable, and kind of fuzzy. Like she used to when she’d woken up late on Saturday mornings in high school, with nothing but a lazy morning waiting for her.

She didn’t hear the news, however, which the Watsons had always blared on Saturday mornings, and the ceiling was totally wrong.

Kelly stretched out her arms and legs, feeling relaxed and satisfied and toasty.

Remembered the Watsons were dead.

Then remembered her father was dead.

Then she remembered Caleb. And everything that had happened last night and then this morning.

She still felt warm but not quite so content.

It was the bitterest kind of irony. That Caleb Marshall had fallen in love—with her, with the woman who had set out not so long ago to bring him down.

She reminded herself that Jack was thinking now that Caleb likely wasn’t even guilty. She just had to wait another week or two until Jack’s guys could get into the storage room and get the final evidence they needed.

Then she could be done. Then she would know the truth.

Then she would have to leave Caleb for good.

The idea of it hurt so much she turned over on her side and curled into a ball. And it hurt almost as much to imagine how Caleb himself would feel when he found out the truth.

Maybe he wouldn’t have to know. Maybe, if she found out he wasn’t guilty, she could just slip away.

He would be hurt. A lot. But he wouldn’t have to feel so utterly betrayed. He wouldn’t have to know how deeply she’d misused him.

It would be better that way.

Wes had been right at the party, although not for the right reasons. She was exactly like Hamlet, trapped in a quagmire of her conflicting emotions and human weakness. Driven by hatred and vengeance but imprisoned by guilt and reluctance. She only hoped—at the end of all this—she’d be able to pull through more successfully than Hamlet did.

The sound of a door opening roused Kelly from her drowsy reflections. She picked up her head from the pillow and blinked in the direction of the door.

Caleb walked into the bedroom, dressed in a white T-shirt and jeans. He’d been working in his home office but hadn’t actually gone into the office.

He’d changed in more ways than one.

“Hi,” she mumbled, trying to clear her eyes of sleep.

Caleb smiled with a fondness that made her gut clench. “You’re awake.”

Kelly pushed her hair out of her face and tried to break the tender mood. “Are you laughing at me?” she demanded groggily, reacting to the warm amusement in his eyes.

Caleb’s smile broadened as he came over and sat on the edge of the bed. “Certainly not,” he murmured, reaching out to stroke the curve of her hip through the throw blanket. “It’s just that your hair is quite… adventurous at the moment.”

Sitting up in bed and putting her hands on her tousled hair, she tried to give him a cool glare. “I thought you liked it that way.”

“I do.” As he drawled the two words, he leaned over to smooth back some of the tangles.