Page 38 of Keel

“How did you not kill him?”

She set down her fork and closed her eyes. No question, she had to tell Ansley what she’d done.

She shook her head, not believing how bad she’d screwed up her life. “I messed up big time.”

“I won’t judge you, ever.”

“I was sixteen, and I went downstairs to fix food.”

A shudder ripped through her at the memory of what happened. She relayed the whole story. Ansley moved around the table and hugged her close.

“You didn’t know.”

She shook her head. “My mom had said something was wrong with the oven, but I thought the cooktop was okay.”

“I’m so sorry that happened.”

“I don’t know how I made it through college. When I graduated, I met Forest. He was very rich and love-bombed me. I thought I’d made it. By the time he started controlling me, it was too late. I was too deep and didn’t recognize it for what it was.”

“Sometimes, we just don’t see what’s in front of us.”

“A part of me was addicted to the abuse. I felt that I deserved it because of the fire.”

“You didn’t deserve it. If you knew what would happen, you wouldn’t have started cooking anything.”

She shook her head. “No. But still, I should have known not to leave a stove unattended. If I’d watched the stove, I might have seen the fire start and made it upstairs fast enough to get my parents out.”

“You said they took sleeping pills.”

Frankie nodded. “Their lungs were filled with smoke. The detectives wanted to prosecute me for murder until the autopsy came back.”

“Oh, that’s awful. You lost your parents, and then the police wanted to put you in jail.”

“Yeah, it was pretty bad.”

“So the fire alarm didn’t wake them. You may not have been able to wake them up even if you went upstairs.”

“I’ll never know, and not knowing has screwed me up. I blamed myself for years. I screwed up everything.”

Ansley hugged her close. “Not everything. You’re with Keel, and he’s pretty good.”

Frankie chuckled. “Yeah, he’s good. Probably the best thing that has ever happened in my life.”

“I gotta tell you, I’d be lost without Link. I love him. You may not have that type of relationship with Keel, but he’s a good man.”

She shrugged, trying not to smile too much but failing. “He is cute.”

“Oh yeah. And I’d say it’s more their personality than straight up looks, but yeah, they look great and they are good guys, too.”

“Keel really is a good guy.”

“He is. And you are a good person, too.”

She shook her head. “I’m journaling and doing some work, but it’s hard to change the narrative in my head.”

“You’ll get there. Don’t believe the lies. You are good.”

She didn’t want to believe the words, but with the work she’d been doing, she’d come to realize she wasn’t as bad as she made herself out to be. She didn’t deserve the hell Forest had put her through. If she could go back and change that day, she wouldn’t have cooked anything. She would have pulled out bread and peanut butter instead of heating food on the stovetop.