Summer Sunsets (16 page)

I nudge her shoulder. “No,
you don’t know what they’re saying. You think you do, but it could
be anything. We’ve been friends forever, Skye. That’s a lot of ammo
over the years. Don’t you remember when Ms. Owens caught us playing
Hide and Seek in her garden out back? I thought she was going to
have a coronary right there. I got grounded for two
weeks.”

Skye laughs. “I’d forgotten
about that.”

I nod toward the burger on
her plate. “You haven’t eaten much, Skye. Maybe you’d better finish
that.”

She exhales loudly with a
sighing sort of sound. “Yes, Mother. I’ll be sure to do
that.”

“
Good.” I pat her leg and
stand. She looks at me questioningly.

“
Where are you
going?”

I point to a far table.
“Dessert is that way, and I spotted brownies.”

With that, she busts out
laughing because she knows my weakness just as well as I do. I love
brownies, doesn’t matter what kind. “I should have known, Hollow
Legs.”

“
Yeah, yeah,” I mutter,
stepping away. “I’ll even bring some back for you.”

“
Thanks.”

I head to the table, and my
mother meets me there. Glancing over my shoulder at
Skye.

“
Devin, is Skye all right?”
she asks, cutting me a piece of brownie and piling it on a
plate.

“
She’s fine, Mom. Really
good.”

“
She looks kind of nervous.”
She hands me the plate and our eyes meet, telling me she’s worried.
Again.

“
Mom, she thinks you don’t
like her because of everything that happened. It’s hard for her to
adjust.”

Mom starts cutting another
piece. “I never said I didn’t
like
her. I just worry about how things are going
between the two of you.” She starts to set the brownie on the other
plate, but it begins to fall. Without thought, I shove my plate
under and catch it so she can relocate it to the other
plate.

“
I know you’re worried, Mom,
but Skye isn’t like that anymore, and no matter how much you think
I ought to look at other girls, I know what’s right for me. And
it’s her. It’s
always
been her.”

Averting her gaze, Mom kind
of ducks her head and nods. “Yeah, I know. You two have been
inseparable since you were little. I just thought time and distance
might…change things.”

“
They did,” I agree. “They
made it painfully clear don’t want to be without her.”

“
Give this one to Skye. She
needs to eat something. She’s too skinny.” Mom pushes the plate
with the other brownie into my hand.

“
Thanks. I’ll tell her you
sent it.”

As I turn and head back to
my chair, I feel Skye’s gaze lingering on me, her lips tugged into
a nervous frown. Maybe I should take that as another confirmation
of how she feels about me because if it didn’t matter what my
mother thought of us, how much could she really think of me as more
than a friend?

“
Devin? Is that
you?”

The voice stops me, and I
turn to find my dad’s secretary, Brenda Marcos, right there. It’s
been years since she’s seen me, so I know what’s coming as I look
into her face and find more wrinkles there than the last time I saw
her. Her blue eyes are a little more faded with time, but she
smiles nonetheless, and the late afternoon sunlight seeps through
her honey hair, dyed though it probably is.

“
Hey, Brenda.” I offer her a
smile, and she reaches out to tug me into a soft
embrace.

“
It’s so good to see you,”
she whispers before pulling back and giving me a good once-over
that reminds me of my mother’s. “You look more and more like your
father every time I see you.”

“
I’m sure I do.” I nod
absently. No, she’s not looking at me at present, just at the
ground, averting her gaze. I know she’s uncomfortable here. She’s
never been one for crowds. “I should get back to Skye.”

Brenda slowly turns and
focuses her attention on Skye, and a smile crosses her face. “She’s
beautiful. Is she your girlfriend?”

I nod. “Something like
that.”

Setting her hand on my
shoulder, she nods. “I’m sure there isn’t a luckier girl to be
found.”

“
Thanks.” I take a deep
breath and wonder if Skye feels that way. Hell, I can’t even bring
myself to formally call her my girlfriend, but it doesn’t matter.
Skye’s as much a part of me as my arm or leg.

Skye’s staring into space
when I finally sink back into my chair and offer her the plate with
a brownie. “Mom sent this over for you.”

She slowly turns to face me
and reaches to take the plate. “Thank you.” For a moment, we
quietly enjoy dessert while my father’s guests chat. By the time
we’ve finished, I think Skye has had pretty much all the
socializing she can stand, and I’m pretty tired of it,
too.

When she finishes, I take
the plate and nod toward the house. “So are you ready to start that
chick flick marathon?”

She glances at my Mom.
“Won’t your parents be upset you left so quickly?”

Shrugging, I grab her hand.
“Hey, I did the obligatory showing-up thing. I came, I chatted, I
ate. What else is there?”

Rising, she shrugs. “You’ve
got a point, and who am I to argue with Devin logic?”

“
A wise woman.” I toss the
plates into the trash and lead her back toward the house, offering
a few passing “hellos” and nods as we go. Still holding her hand, I
slide open the back door and lead her through the house.

As we step off the front
porch, there are still guests arriving, and I waive them inside
before we head back to my Jeep. I open the door for Skye and tuck
her inside before getting in and starting the engine.

Although I know this may
not be the ideal time, I’ve finally decided to take my chance as
best I can with the future I want to make. I don’t know what she’s
going to say or even if I’ve given her enough reason to believe in
me. Is a life of loyalty and desire enough for her? Would that she
could look through me and know what’s there, but she can’t. No one
can.

I take a deep breath and
start driving, not to the video store to rent movies and not even
to Skye’s house. Instead, I go to the park where we used to lie on
cement tables and look at the stars—so many memories that remind me
of how good things can be between us. I know she remembers them,
too. Yes, it seems like forever ago, but it wasn’t so
far.

For a few moments, Skye
says nothing, not until she sees me pull up in front of the park.
That’s when I kill the engine and frown, trying to gather both my
wits and my words, wondering what I can say that will convince her
this future is right. There has to be something. Now if I can just
find it in the next five minutes.

“
This is the park. What are
we doing here?” She looks out the window and finally turns to
me.

“
Yeah, it is,” I agree,
thinking of the ring in my pocket, wondering if I should take it
out in expectation or leave it inside in doubt. In the end, I just
decide to keep it there and wait. It’s not that I know for sure
what her answer is going to be. I just don’t want to spook her, and
I think that might actually do it. So let’s see what I can
accomplish with words instead.

“
I know it’s the park, but
there’s something I want to talk to you about.”

“
Here?”

“
Why not?” I shrug and turn
to face her. “It used to be one of our favorite places in the
world. Don’t you remember all the time we spent here when we were
in junior high and high school?”

A smile touches her lips,
and she nods. “Yeah, it just seems so long ago. So many things have
changed since then that sometimes I wonder if we’re even the same
people.”

I reach out and brush the
hair from her eyes. “Of course we are. They’re just buried in
there.”

Skye shifts nervously in
her seat. “So what did you want to talk about?” She’s chewing her
bottom lip, and she’s removed her gaze from mine.

“
I wanted to talk about us,
about how I feel about you.”

Her shoulders stiffen, and
she inhales sharply. Her bottom lip falls slightly, as though she’s
going to say something, but no words come out so that leaves me no
choice but to go on.

“
Skye, we’ve been best
friends for years, and I’ve tried to let that be enough, but it’s
not. I—”

“
Don’t,” she whispers, not
looking at me. Her hand clenches the door handle, and it feels like
she’s going to try to claw her way out at the first
opportunity.

“
We need to talk about this.
I need for us to talk about this.”

Without warning, she slips
her fingers to my lips and shakes her head. “I know what you feel,
Devin, and there’s probably nothing I can do to change them. God
knows I’ve made enough mistakes, so you should have already changed
your mind, but it hasn’t happened.”

“
And it won’t,” I admit
quietly.

“
Maybe not,” she agrees, her
hand gently stroking my face. “But I don’t want to jinx it, Devin.
I don’t want to speak it out loud or call it something that might
make it all fall apart. Maybe that’s stupid. Maybe it’s juvenile,
but every time I start to believe the world is settling, something
happens, so right now I just want to be, without deep talks
involving a future neither of us can predict or control. Please.
However you feel about me, don’t use words to control
it.”

Her eyes moisten with
tears, and I hear pain her voice as it trembles over the break of
words. I think of the ring sitting at the bottom of my pocket, and
even though I want to pull it out, I’m willing to consider that
maybe she’s right. Maybe we need the time to get used to being
together. Just because I know I’m in love with her doesn’t mean
she’s ready to admit how she feels about me in broad
daylight.

“
Skye,” I begin, but she
places her fingertips over my lips again, halting whatever I might
be about to turn loose of.

“
Please, Devin. Don’t. Give
me time.”

I look into those haunted
eyes, and I know I can deny her nothing. Besides, I’ve been in love
with her forever. What’s a few more months going to do to change
that?

Then again, I know better
than to ask that. Time isn’t just a healer. It’s also a destroyer,
and right now both Skye and I are dead in its sights.

Chapter
Thirteen

Time seems to drift around
us, and it seems as though everything is unchanging as Skye begins
to slowly let her guard down and allow me back inside the fortress
she’s worked so hard to build. Above us, the sky is open and blue,
aching with summer’s promise, almost like it believes summer won’t
end, and this beauty will live forever, just as the calm waters
Skye and I swim in will never suddenly roil with the waves from
passing boats.
But change, when it comes, is swift. It lacks discretion and
charges in with brute force, and it announces itself in the form of
Skye’s biological father. His visit is unexpected, leaving everyone
in Skye’s family to scramble with his coming. I know because
earlier that day, I’d spoken with Skye. We’d planned to go to a
movie that evening, and I’m just as surprised as everyone else to
find a strange vehicle in front of the house. It’s a new sports
car—a Mustang convertible that looks about as in place in the
driveway as a plastic pink flamingo would be dangling from the roof
above the porch.

As I ring the bell, I have
no idea what I’m walking into, and it’s only when Skye’s mother
answers the door that I get the sense that something is way off.
Her eyes are tired and her shoulders slump, as though she feels
invisible weights pressing them down hard.

“
Hey, Helen,” I say and
reach out to give her a hug.

For a moment, we linger
like that—another clue something just isn’t right here. Call me
slow, but I’m deliberate at least. When she pulls back she frowns.
“Devin, what are you doing here? Did Skye call you?”

I shrug. “We spoke earlier
and set up plans to go to a movie.” I glance at my watch. “It
starts in about twenty minutes.”

She nods and vacant stares
at the convertible. “Well, you might want to reconsider your plans.
I don’t think Skye’s going to feel up to it.”

I point at the convertible.
“Nice ride. Who does it belong to?”

Helen swallows hard.
“Skye’s father.”

“
He’s here?” I manage,
feeling my back and shoulders stiffen.

“
Yeah—not because I want him
to be, mind you.” She nods toward the foyer. “Why don’t you come
in? You’re so close to Skye you might as well be
family.”

Yeah, something I’m still
working on,
I think, and edge inside. “Did
Skye call him?”

“
Gracious, no!” she says,
shaking her head. “He just showed up, wanting to talk to Skye. I
tried to talk her out of it, but you know how Skye is when she
makes up her mind about something.”

“
Yeah, I do.”