Kelly winced. That stung. It was hard to bat away criticism when it was wrapped around a kernel of truth. “I just want us to be like we used to be.”

“I wish that for you as well, Kelly. You and Daniel need to talk to someone.”

“When I suggested that we talk to someone—perhaps not at Crossroads—Daniel got defensive and refused.”

“I can see why.”

“But—”

“He was protecting his reputation, which, at one level, is fair. Would you get a builder to build your new home if you discovered his own house was falling apart?”

No, she wouldn’t.

“So maybe remember that when you two talk about what to do next. I’m more than willing to help. But regardless of what you do, I encourage you to do it fast.”

“Why? What’s happened?”

“Daniel just left here ranting about secrets that appeared in photographs—”

Photographs.

“—and he scared me. Daniel has always been a rational, in-control guy. I’ve never seen him like this. And when I asked him about the group photo, the one we took on your deck, he exploded and ran out.”

Kelly felt a growing reaction—an old, familiar one. A compassion for the man she loved. He wasn’t concealing another woman; he was genuinely in trouble.

“He was talking about secrets being waved around like photos. I’ve got no idea what he was talking about.”

Kelly did.

“Gramps’s camera. It’s special.”

“How could it be special?”

“I’m about to find out. Did Daniel ever show you a contract he had with the guy who develops his photos?”

An impolite throat cleared from over her shoulder. Kelly looked up into the disapproving gaze of the elderly gatekeeper to the academy’s seat of power, flicking glances to the clock on the wall like ninja stars. “I’m sorry, Mrs. Whiteley, but the principal can’t wait any longer for your husband. He’ll see you now or not at all. At least not today.”

*  *  *

Kelly closed the last drawer in Daniel’s filing cabinet. She’d found no paperwork carrying a Simon’s Film Lab logo or anything remotely resembling a contract. His cabinet had given up no secrets, just like his desk. Just like her husband.

She sat on the edge of Gramps’s recliner and surveyed Daniel’s sanctuary, fighting off the feeling of intrusion—a guilt mixed with the anger still pulsing through her after Daniel hadn’t made it to the principal meeting. But she’d been forced into the intrusion, and that was the honest truth.

Then a comment Daniel made when he’d accused her of breaking into Gramps’s briefcase wandered through her mind. Why was he so paranoid about that briefcase?